Who is/was the world's greatest scientist?

Morrus

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
Defining "greatest" in any way you choose, who do you feel is or was the world's greatest scientist - and why?

As a starter to get our brain juices running, I'll just throw a few names out there from history. This is NOT a comprehensive list; it's just for inspiration.

Marie Curie, Alan Turning, Richard Feynman, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Charles Darwin, Leonardo de Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Ptolemy, Archimedes.

Or there are famous living scientists: James Watson, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Jane Goodall, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tim Berners-Lee, Noam Chomsky, Roger Penrose,
 

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I want to say either Archimedes or Euclid. Archimedes was the Einstein of his time, coming up with grand visions that influenced everything after him. Euclid was the Richard Feynman of his time, making the complex understandable.
 

All of the scientists you started with are notable because of their amazing contributions to understanding. But if we're going to say "greatest", I think we should consider a scientist's contribution to humanity. To be truly the greatest, it's not just enough to think great thoughts, you have to use those great thoughts to make the world a better place.

I would like to nominate Norman Borlaug, whose contributions to agricultural science have (arguably) saved more lives than any other single person in history. Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch should also be noted as contenders for inventing the chemical process estimated to fertilize a third of the worlds food supply. Edward Jenner, inventor or the smallpox vaccine, also deserves a note as a runner up.
 

Louis Pasteur for pasteurized milk (didn't he also invent the rabies vaccine?)

that monk with the pea plants, who figured out how inherited traits work (the start of genetic/DNA research)

that other guy, who did that thing, with the you know whats.
 

James Dewar, inventor of the thermos. It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold but how does it know which?!?!
 

Janx said:
Louis Pasteur for pasteurized milk (didn't he also invent the rabies vaccine?)
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Not exactly, but he did some important work in the field.

that monk with the pea plants, who figured out how inherited traits work (the start of genetic/DNA research)
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Gregor Mendel.

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For my part, I think I'd have to say Darwin. His ideas have been so widely influential, not just in the life sciences field as a whole but particularly in understanding humanity, and his findings were so cleverly observed before anyone had a clue what DNA was.

Though I might have to spare an honorable mention to Jonas Salk for refusing to patent the polio vaccine. Sadly, he wasn't influential enough in that regard.
 



jonesy said:
Vacuum. No heat transfer, no change in temperature (of course there is some transfer through the stopper).
My sarcasm detector is fusion powered. Yeah, that's powerful enough.
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Watch out! Your fusion reactor has shut down. Please check it immediately, a chain reaction may be imminent!
 

In terms of impact upon all science in their fields that followed, the two big winners are Darwin and Newton. Darwin's impact on the fields of biology and medicine cannot be understated. Newton, well, he enabled modern engineering as we know it.

Einstein runs a close second to Newton, in terms of the leap of understanding he undertook.

I would take Neil deGrasse Tyson off the list. He is a good scientist, don't get me wrong, but his contribution to the world is not from his scientific discoveries, but instead from his communication and education efforts.
 

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