Why did Edwin Jenner compare himself to Edward Jenner and his wife to Einstein?

Question

In The Walking Dead Series 1 Episode 5 - "Wildfire", the last remaining CDC scientist, Edwin Jenner says (of his late wife):

She was an Einstein and I'm just a Jenner.

I took that to mean he's comparing her to Albert Einstein who was a theoretical physicist and at the same time comparing her to himself (Jenner).

However, Edward Jenner was an English physician and scientist who created the worlds first vaccine (for smallpox).

So, in the world of The Walking Dead a theoretic physicist would be pretty useless, even one as clever as Einstein whereas a developer of vaccines would be really useful.

Were these names and the 'comparison' quote chosen specifically?

Answer 1

Edward Jenner is widely regarded as the founder of immunology, he found the vaccine for smallpox, a groundbreaking achievement that subsequently benefited humankind to an unimaginable degree. Einstein is most famous for his theory of relativity which was also a groundbreaking achievement, but has it actually saved lives? But, people have heard of Einstein and e=mc2 but not many people know who Edward Jenner was, even though he was responsible for saving the lives of millions in the years to come.

Therefore, Edwin's line could've meant he felt he was undervalued as a scientist and that he would rather help people without gaining fame or notoriety. Whereas, his wife was in it for the glory. This would contrast the way he portrays his wife the rest of the time, but it could have been used to show what (if any) negative feelings he had about his wife.

But he most likely meant he thought his wife's abilities were far beyond his and that he should've been the one who got infected because he didn't compare to her. Which is probably the most common opinion of the line.