I believe I read this in Bill Bryson's `A Brief History of Nearly Everything', which is a great book if anyone is interested in the history of how scientific discoveries are made and how credit is taken for them.

I'll go a step further and say its a great book. My wife has little interest in the history of scientific discovery, and she loved it. The audio book sent our baby to sleep every day for months - play count is just over 100 from memory. Even when heard for the 100th time it is still interesting. Edit: I think a reason that people find science to be a bit dry is that it is often associated with dull library racks of journals on complex subjects with a razor focus. The story behind a particular paper is often far more interesting than the paper would leave you to believe. Something in the publishing process removes the highs and lows of each step and the background to what occurred.