In an odd way it strikes me as a statement which (intentionally or unintentionally) institutionalises discrimination, because it allows a shrug of the shoulders at the degree to which class status and the sex of the discoverer can prove the determiner of attribution.

Robert Hook was such a succesful demonstrator that many members of the Royal Society would not perform their experiments unless he was there to carry them out. They would not *work* until Hook designed the equipment. Yet he was frequently dismissed as a mere servant/technician.

Did you know a lot of Christopher Wren’s buildings are now being reattributed to Hook? THey were close friends and were partners in an architectural firm, but Wren was the King’s man, and Hook the City’s man.