Greatest Scientists of all Time

[Dinwar]

Smith.

His geologic map of Scotland more or less invented the science of geology. How many of the scientists in the OP's list can say that they did anything close to that? And as far as impacts go, basically the modern world is the result of that map, in that our ability to find fossil fuels (love 'em or hate 'em, they're what power the world just now) is entirely dependant upon the science Smith invented.

I'd also put Lyelle (his Principles of Geology formalized the science) and Huxlley up there as well. If you include Darwin you need to include Linnaeus, because the classification scheme developed by the latter was a necessary precursar to the former and arguably the greater achievement (in that Linnaeus had far less to go on--Darwin put the pieces together, whereas Linnaeus figured out that there WERE pieces). Cuvier should be included.

 

[El Greco]

No love for the Milesian school? Thales and Anaximander were quite prescient in some of the conclusions drawn from their observations.

Yep, there were so many in the olden days. Many of them remain unknown too, even though they've made some revolutionary inventions in their time (eg Ktesibios).

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

I'm of the opinion that people give Darwin credit that properly belongs with Linneaus. It was Linneaus who effectively proved common descent, Darwin proved the idea that mutations came before selection (as opposed to mutations are due to feedback from the environment).

 

[NoahFence]

Jacques Cousteau!

 

[Dinwar]

It was Linneaus who effectively proved common descent,

Not quite. Linneaus developed a systematic method of classifyign life. While he proved that the classification system necessarily had to be a nested hierarchy, it did not immediately follow that it was due to shared ancestry. Linneaus wondered about that late in life, but the hierarchy itself was used to support the Chain of Being as much as the notions of evolution that started to float around after Linneaus' death. He certainly laid the groundwork, but he didn't draw that particular conclusion.

 

[AlBell]

Leon Lederman.

 

[Venom]

My list wouldn't be complete with Pasteur

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

He certainly laid the groundwork, but he didn't draw that particular conclusion.

You're right that he didn't come to that conclusion himself. He had prejudices against the conclusion and he lived at a time when there was great confusion about the age of the Earth. He himself may not appreciate my opinion, but I still think he deserves the credit for the first modern proof of common descent. Many people realized his effort implied that conclusion during his lifetime. IMO if there hadn't been confusion about the age of the Earth his data would have lead to that conclusion being accepted at the time (excepting the usual religious objectors who still persist).

 

[autumn1971]

Aristotle and Democritus. They did unbelievable work for their time. Aristotle is my favorite. From WP:

"His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology."

And about most of those subjects he knew more than the vast majority of his contemporaries.

I would argue that Archemides was an infinitely better scientist than Aristotle. Aristotle was demonstrably wrong every time he wrote about physics, biology, and zoology. Aristotle also used "logic" and "philosophy" to decide how he should interpret the world, and then studiously ignored evidence.

 

[Complexity]

I've never heard of Noether but here's her wiki page. She does appear to be significant without much recognition.

I used one of her theorems in proof in my dissertation.

I remember thinking she was interesting, but never looked into her work more. I have heard several mathematicians express respect for her.

 

[TriangleMan]

Between the Greek/Roman period and the Renaissance much scientific advancement was from the Arabic World. This website lists their top 10 but I'm not sure how many of their accomplishments would rate against Newton, Einstein etc. but I do think the following should get some credit:

Ibn Al-Haytham [I would've ranked him much higher than the website did, he did a lot of work in optics and had he had more time I think he might have invented either the telescope or the microscope]

Omar Khayyam
Ibn-Sina (Avicenna)
Jabir Ibn-Hayyan
al-Khwarizmi

Not mentioned in the article (he lived in the Islamic World but was not an Arab) Maimonides (Mūsā ibn Maymūn)

 

[epepke]

Not quite. Linneaus developed a systematic method of classifyign life. While he proved that the classification system necessarily had to be a nested hierarchy, it did not immediately follow that it was due to shared ancestry. Linneaus wondered about that late in life, but the hierarchy itself was used to support the Chain of Being as much as the notions of evolution that started to float around after Linneaus' death. He certainly laid the groundwork, but he didn't draw that particular conclusion.

Also, the cladists and pheneticists were hammer-and-tongs at each other until the early 1980.

 

[Tracy Dalziel]

There could be some women on the list. Marie Curie would be the obvious one but there are other possibilities, maybe Barbara McClintock, Dorothy Hodgkin, Sophie Germain, Rosalind Franklin ... I would definitely agree with the earlier suggestion of Kary Mulliss for PCR and couldn't argue with Pasteur. Someone mentioned Joseph Lister, in that vein you could also have Robert Koch, Van Leewenhoek (Father of Microscopy) and Alexander Fleming.

 

[lionking]

In my opinion, Marie Curie would have been in the top 20, but I couldn't drop any of my top 10.

 

[epepke]

I used one of her theorems in proof in my dissertation.

I remember thinking she was interesting, but never looked into her work more. I have heard several mathematicians express respect for her.

What gets me about her is that she went from one extreme to absolute theoretical purity to applied practicality. Her sheer range and virtuosity were amazing. This basically doesn't happen. Euler came the closest. At least Euler and Noether are the two finalists.

 

[Chris_Halkides]

Entropy

Josiah Willard Gibbs for his work in thermodynamics.

 

[hgc]

Some of my favorites:

James Watson and Francis Crick
Tycho Brahe
Christian Huygens
Archimedes
Sigmund Freud
Gregor Mendel
Alfred Kinsey
E.O. Wilson
Anton von Leeuwenhoek
Robert Boyle
Benjamin Franklin

 

[Soapy Sam]

Smith.

His geologic map of Scotland more or less invented the science of geology. How many of the scientists in the OP's list can say that they did anything close to that? And as far as impacts go, basically the modern world is the result of that map, in that our ability to find fossil fuels (love 'em or hate 'em, they're what power the world just now) is entirely dependant upon the science Smith invented.

I'd also put Lyelle (his Principles of Geology formalized the science) and Huxlley up there as well. If you include Darwin you need to include Linnaeus, because the classification scheme developed by the latter was a necessary precursar to the former and arguably the greater achievement (in that Linnaeus had far less to go on--Darwin put the pieces together, whereas Linnaeus figured out that there WERE pieces). Cuvier should be included.

Smith's 1815 map was of England and Wales, with a part of southern Scotland.(There never was a single map, in fact. It was a series of sheets, often modified). Had he been unfortunate enough to start working in Scotland rather than south west England, his insight of superposition might have been...delayed.

I'd give a shout for James Hutton in any list of great geologists- but I feel science is a cooperative venture. Picking out individuals here and there is bound to miss the majority of influential characters.

 

[Pulvinar]

Sigmund Freud

A scientist? That one is going to take some explaining...

 

[Dinwar]

Smith's 1815 map was of England and Wales, with a part of southern Scotland.(There never was a single map, in fact. It was a series of sheets, often modified). Had he been unfortunate enough to start working in Scotland rather than south west England, his insight of superposition might have been...delayed.

A fair point. I have a copy of the compelation somewhere...I think what confused me is that mine focuses on the southern-Scotland part. Misplaced it in the move a year and a half ago.

I'd give a shout for James Hutton in any list of great geologists- but I feel science is a cooperative venture. Picking out individuals here and there is bound to miss the majority of influential characters.

Yeah...Linneaus himself demonstrates this. He was an amazing scientist, don't get me wrong--he pretty much invented taxonomy as a field of science. However, you can only collect so many flowers in a lifetime by yourself. The naturalists that went on the voyages exploring the New World deserve every bit as much credit as Linneaus does, yet no one knows their names except as the names of species.

That said, we can recognize those who have made major advances. Darwin built upon those who came before, but he still built a magnificent theory. Linneaus used the data others collected, but his books were still his own. Gould owes a great debt to the likes of A. Milne Edwards, but Gould still made his own contribution.

Science is a weird bottom-up construct. It takes all of us, even corporate shills like me--I find fossils in construction sites, and put them in repositories. Check out George T. Jefferson's work sometime to see what good that's done (here's a hint: we know California paleontology because of people like me). People who quietly do their work over the centuries, accumulating knowledge and data, set the stage for those who's insight unifies our data into a coherent whole. What's really cool is that most of the big names in science are perfectly willing to note those contributions. It's what sets us apart from many other institutions (when was the last time you heard a philosopher admit someone else had a good idea, or that they were basing their concepts on a predicessor's work?).