I am always surprised people don’t think of Steven Weinberg in such discussion; he’s is considered by many to have developed one of the most successful theories/predictive models in history; the Standard Model of physics, or Dmitri Mendeleev ... the Periodic Table, Louis Pasteur origins of disease and innoculations; or some of the ancients such as Pythygras, Aristotle, or Archimedes. Which? Probably would tend to depend on your criteria; most impact, best known, most prolific, most number of myths, or?
Tesla was really more of an inventor imo. He was certainly a revolutionary genius, but his methods weren't very scientific... he attributed a lot of his technological discoveries to telepathic help from his cat.
I like that list (probably without Tesla who had genius). I think we can't ignore Aristotle, Sir Francis Bacon, or John Herschel and John Stewart Mill and their debates on Baconism and how to generate knowledge - not that those were the only ones involved. The emergence of scientific method itself is at the root of our progress. The fact of the combined efforts of many can't detract from its importance.
Tesla is the genius why the “lights went on and stayed on” He never hardly slept . He worked 18 hrs a day. Never dated and always had dinner at same place at same time and Alone. He was screwed over by attorneys
Don't forget crazy Tesla is prolly my favorite technological icon, so don't think Im trying to belittle him. But he was as insane as he was genius. Its fortunate he wasn't also evil, or he probably could've destroyed the world.
I think we could quote Marie and Pierre Curie, even if the later have less time to prove his worth. I wouldn't have the skills however to do a top five. By the way, I'm partial, but we could quote also, Laplace, Blaise Pascal (I mean, the pascaline is absolutly wonderfull), Lavoisier (the father of moderny chemistry), poincarré, fournier and fermat. I would have difficulties to do a top five, I would do the following : _ Gutenberg _ René Descartes _ Karl Popper _ Francis Bacon _ Al-Kwarhzimi Even if he is more an inventor than a scientist, I think that Gutenberg deserve a special mention to have invented a way to spread informations in an extremly effective way. I don't consider them as "greatest" because smarter, but more for the bases they created. The first gave a way to spread informations, René Descartes, Francis Bacon, Karl Popper are among the one which have elaborated a scientific method. Al Kwarhzimi for his contribution to mathematics. However, there is many other people that deserved to be named, such Gallileo.
Funny, I noticed I didn’t have Descartes in my list, but I am sure his name popped into my mind. He, and his nephew, Marcel Mauss had a huge impact on my thinking at the right time in my life, particularly, his discussion of what is known as Cartesian skepticism; the foundation of the scientific method. The underpinnings of science IMO, questions, doubt, and skepticism.
Good to remember that the dark ages of the west didn't slow the advance of science in the ME. Nor did Islam.
Dark ages are mostly a 18th century myth, Fibbonacci, William of Ockam, Copernicus lived during middle age in Europe. Yes, by the way, with the revolution of printing, middle age seems less intense, but it didn't lacked of genius.
True. Plus the arts. I was thinkig of Hypocrates, Galen and Avicenna of Persia. Avicenna's Cannon of Medicine was written in 1025 and was taught in Europe up to the 18th century.
Moi! Moi! Moi! Similar to Watson & Crick Just fit the pieces of the puzzle together. I have done that for autism but nobody will listen.
Unfortunately, there is so many genius, that many don't get the aknowledgment they would have deserved.
Newton Leibniz Euler Bernoulli Mandelbrot Faraday Maxwell Rutherford Bohr Einstein Gibbs Lewis Bronsted Watt Planck
Although Faraday received little formal education, he was one of the most influential scientists in history. It was by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena.[1][2] He similarly discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction and diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology. As a chemist, Faraday discovered benzene, investigated the clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early form of the Bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularised terminology such as "anode", "cathode", "electrode" and "ion". Faraday ultimately became the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution, a lifetime position. Albert Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall, alongside pictures of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell.[4] Physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, "When we consider the magnitude and extent of his discoveries and their influence on the progress of science and of industry, there is no honour too great to pay to the memory of Faraday, one of the greatest scientific discoverers of all time
I'm a pragmatist. I believe the value of a theory is based on the practical applications derived from it, not just on how well it describes everything it's meant to describe, and the invention of the first electric motor is a valuable application derived from the theory of electromagnetism.
Relativity is part of space travel today. And, that includes GPS. So, it's pretty practical stuff as well - not just distant pheomena!