I think there are better scientists, and also a lot more of them, than previously. There are more journals, there is more peer revue, and there is a far broader and deeper base of knowledge of ocean and atmospheric currents and their heat loads. Biology has expanded far beyond taxonomy and is now an element in diagnosis of the consequences of warming and CO2 buildup in the oceans. Telemetry is vastly improved. The pioneers of science were social anomalies, singularly gifted individuals with enough money to pursue science without the need to make a living. Now, science is a good way to make a living, and those with the talent, do so.  Science is better in every way