One or Several Pioneers? The Discovery of Noble‐Gas Compounds

Abstract For the general public, science history and restaurant menus share a labeling style. Like Melba peach, Soubise sauce, or tournedos Rossini, many a scientific discovery is credited to a single thinker or tinkerer. Such ultrasimplification rubs into oblivion other important contributors or codiscoverers. The discovery of noble‐gas compounds conforms to such a stereotyped and mythic view: according to the standard account, Neil S. …