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Who was the greatest scientist of all time?
There's been a verbal battle in my class between three fractions: One says Einstein, the other fraction says Newton and my fraction says Nicola Tesla. What do you guys think? Is there a fourth or even fifth option?
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Francis Bacon, for his contribution to the modern scientific method.
This is a very difficult question to answer. By what criteria are we to judge the “greatest scientist of all time”?
1) most famous?
2) greatest impact on modern life?
3) most revolutionary in his / her time?
Most famous today:
Probably Albert Einstein: A clear visionary whose work on relativity is fodder for both pop-culture and technological advancement, he was nevertheless a part of a larger quantum mechanical revolution that included the likes of Neils Born, Erwin Schroedinger, P.M. Dirac, and Werner Heisenberg (as well as many others). But as far as a “visionary” is concerned, there are many scientists who were visionaries in their days. (Newton and Galileo both made advances that we take for granted today, but that were serious departures from things such as Aristotelian natural philosophy--the “physics” of its day).
Greatest impact on modern life:
Nicola Tesla is an interesting suggestion, and I would argue that he easily trumps Edison, as Edison reportedly relied heavily on Tesla’s work for many of his inventions that revolutionized modern life (source). Although Tesla is a strong candidate because of his many patents, I suggest that Tesla be a candidate for the greatest *inventor* of all time, rather than the greatest scientist.
Most revolutionary:
Isaac Newton is certainly a viable candidate—one who pioneered fundamentally revolutionary ideas that helped bridge the gap from the ancient world of natural philosophy to the modern era of physics and engineering--concepts that are ”self-evident” to us moderns. But many centuries ago, theories such as alchemy were not uncommon, and it would be quite difficult to break free from such worldviews. I think it’s important to recognize the contributions of those who did.
For that matter, Galileo Galilei must be considered, having famously stood up to the “geocentric” popular notion of his day that earth was at the center of the universe, in favor of the “heliocentric” (sun-centered) model (source). He also did pioneering work in gravitation.
In the end, however, I propose Francis Bacon, for his work in pioneering the inductive-reasoning-based modern scientific method (see also here and here). Isn’t this method the cornerstone of all modern scientific endeavor? Without it, would science as we know it even exist?
According to the criteria of scientific innovation and future impact, I say Francis Bacon is the greatest scientist of all time, for his contributions to the development of the modern scientific method. All who have followed have relied upon his work.
This is a very difficult question to answer. By what criteria are we to judge the “greatest scientist of all time”?
1) most famous?
2) greatest impact on modern life?
3) most revolutionary in his / her time?
Most famous today:
Probably Albert Einstein: A clear visionary whose work on relativity is fodder for both pop-culture and technological advancement, he was nevertheless a part of a larger quantum mechanical revolution that included the likes of Neils Born, Erwin Schroedinger, P.M. Dirac, and Werner Heisenberg (as well as many others). But as far as a “visionary” is concerned, there are many scientists who were visionaries in their days. (Newton and Galileo both made advances that we take for granted today, but that were serious departures from things such as Aristotelian natural philosophy--the “physics” of its day).
Greatest impact on modern life:
Nicola Tesla is an interesting suggestion, and I would argue that he easily trumps Edison, as Edison reportedly relied heavily on Tesla’s work for many of his inventions that revolutionized modern life (source). Although Tesla is a strong candidate because of his many patents, I suggest that Tesla be a candidate for the greatest *inventor* of all time, rather than the greatest scientist.
Most revolutionary:
Isaac Newton is certainly a viable candidate—one who pioneered fundamentally revolutionary ideas that helped bridge the gap from the ancient world of natural philosophy to the modern era of physics and engineering--concepts that are ”self-evident” to us moderns. But many centuries ago, theories such as alchemy were not uncommon, and it would be quite difficult to break free from such worldviews. I think it’s important to recognize the contributions of those who did.
For that matter, Galileo Galilei must be considered, having famously stood up to the “geocentric” popular notion of his day that earth was at the center of the universe, in favor of the “heliocentric” (sun-centered) model (source). He also did pioneering work in gravitation.
In the end, however, I propose Francis Bacon, for his work in pioneering the inductive-reasoning-based modern scientific method (see also here and here). Isn’t this method the cornerstone of all modern scientific endeavor? Without it, would science as we know it even exist?
According to the criteria of scientific innovation and future impact, I say Francis Bacon is the greatest scientist of all time, for his contributions to the development of the modern scientific method. All who have followed have relied upon his work.
source(s):
There are many sources available in my answer above. But as Francis Bacon is my pick, here are the sources I cite that refer to him:
http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/ideas/bacon.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/francis-bacon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
There are many sources available in my answer above. But as Francis Bacon is my pick, here are the sources I cite that refer to him:
http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/ideas/bacon.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/francis-bacon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
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Albert Einstein has to be given the honour of one of the greatest scientist of all time due to his works on theory of relativity .
If your class doesn't know the difference between fractions and factions, they may not be good judges of scientific greatness. :)
I'd say Newton. He pretty much invented physics as we know it today, and the methods for doing it. None of the other people's work would even have been possible without what he achieved.
It's one thing to discover a new theory of gravity, it's another to actually come up with the concepts of mass, force and gravity in the first place.
So if the measure of greatness is the importance and difficulty of what they achieved, I think it's hard to choose anyone else.
I'd say Newton. He pretty much invented physics as we know it today, and the methods for doing it. None of the other people's work would even have been possible without what he achieved.
It's one thing to discover a new theory of gravity, it's another to actually come up with the concepts of mass, force and gravity in the first place.
So if the measure of greatness is the importance and difficulty of what they achieved, I think it's hard to choose anyone else.
I would call it a tie between Edison and Einstein.
1.Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison patented more than 1000 inventions in his lifetime, including the electric lightbulb –a well known symbol for a bright idea, the phonograph, and a transmitter that made Alexander Bell’s telephone a usable instrument on a wide scale.
2 . Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is considered one of the greatest and most popular scientists of all time. Three papers he published in 1905 were pivotal in the development of physics and, to a large degree, Western thought. These papers discussed the quantum nature of light, provided a description of molecular motion -cosmology, and introduced the special theory of relativity.
1.Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison patented more than 1000 inventions in his lifetime, including the electric lightbulb –a well known symbol for a bright idea, the phonograph, and a transmitter that made Alexander Bell’s telephone a usable instrument on a wide scale.
2 . Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is considered one of the greatest and most popular scientists of all time. Three papers he published in 1905 were pivotal in the development of physics and, to a large degree, Western thought. These papers discussed the quantum nature of light, provided a description of molecular motion -cosmology, and introduced the special theory of relativity.
Marie Sklodowska Curie,. 1867–1934
Her discovery of radioactivity was amazing!
She began to investigate uranium, a radioactive element found in pitchblende. In 1898 she reported a probable new element in pitchblende, and Pierre Curie joined in her research. For their work on radioactivity they shared with Becquerel the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.
She ended up dying from the effects of radioactivity.
Now that's a dedication of your life work!
Her discovery of radioactivity was amazing!
She began to investigate uranium, a radioactive element found in pitchblende. In 1898 she reported a probable new element in pitchblende, and Pierre Curie joined in her research. For their work on radioactivity they shared with Becquerel the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.
She ended up dying from the effects of radioactivity.
Now that's a dedication of your life work!
Its hard to compare people of different time periods, but I think Archimedes and Galileo have a good argument, in addition to the three you mentioned. They both came up with concepts that we take for granted now.
While Tesla was great, sometimes I think he gets a little to much credit just because his inventions are so cool.
In the end my vote has to go with Einstein. He made advancements in so many areas, and realized things that were so hard to conceive.
I also found this list of candidates for greatest scientist ever. Ultimately I am not sure we should try and say one is better than another, that just detracts from how ridiculously amazing they all were.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) - Scientific Method
Archimedes (c. 287-212 BC) - Geometry and Mechanics
Galileo Galilei ( 1564-1642) - Astronomy & Physics
William Harvey ( 1578-1657) - Phsyiology
Rene Descartes (1596-1642) - Analytic Geometry
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) - Probability and Projective Geometry
Issac Newton (1642-1726) - Mechanics and Calculus
Karl Gauss (1777-1855) - Pure and Applied Mathmatics
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) - Electromagnetism
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) - Evolution
Evariste Galois (1811-1832) - Group theory
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) - Genetics
Robert Koch (1843-1910) - Bacteriology
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) - Nueropsychology
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) - Relativity theory
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) - Quantum Mechanics
John Von Neumann (1903-1957) - Computer Science
Alan Turing (1912-1954) - Computer Science
Linus Pauling (1901-1994) - Chemistry
Stephen Hawking (1942- ) - Cosmology
While Tesla was great, sometimes I think he gets a little to much credit just because his inventions are so cool.
In the end my vote has to go with Einstein. He made advancements in so many areas, and realized things that were so hard to conceive.
I also found this list of candidates for greatest scientist ever. Ultimately I am not sure we should try and say one is better than another, that just detracts from how ridiculously amazing they all were.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) - Scientific Method
Archimedes (c. 287-212 BC) - Geometry and Mechanics
Galileo Galilei ( 1564-1642) - Astronomy & Physics
William Harvey ( 1578-1657) - Phsyiology
Rene Descartes (1596-1642) - Analytic Geometry
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) - Probability and Projective Geometry
Issac Newton (1642-1726) - Mechanics and Calculus
Karl Gauss (1777-1855) - Pure and Applied Mathmatics
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) - Electromagnetism
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) - Evolution
Evariste Galois (1811-1832) - Group theory
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) - Genetics
Robert Koch (1843-1910) - Bacteriology
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) - Nueropsychology
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) - Relativity theory
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) - Quantum Mechanics
John Von Neumann (1903-1957) - Computer Science
Alan Turing (1912-1954) - Computer Science
Linus Pauling (1901-1994) - Chemistry
Stephen Hawking (1942- ) - Cosmology
Jonas Salk, He invented the polio Vaccine which has saved tons of lives
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