Cryptic crossword clue
Doctor Ian becoming first scientist 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PHYSICIST

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "scientist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case scientist = physicist.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does PHYSICIST mean?

PHYSICIST noun
  1. A person whose occupation specializes in the science of physics, especially at a professional level.
  2. A believer in the theory that the fundamental phenomena of life are to be explained upon purely chemical and physical principles (opposed to vitalist).

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