Well...
To be honest, I dont think he suffered from a lack of praise while he was alive- I heard plenty of stories about what a great person he was... No one needed to say what a great scientist he was, although they did, that was just a given- his work spoke for itself. He help create modern physics.
Maybe the shame is that in the popular media, Brittany Spears' fender bender will get more time than the passing of a man that helped shaped the world as we know it...