Who are the Best Physicists of All Time?

[Wolfgang77]

My pick for the best physicist would be Einstein. Peter Lynds gets most brilliant up and commer, and Steven Hawking gets most over rated.

 

[LogicalAtheist]

Originally posted by Wolfgang77
My pick for the best physicist would be Einstein. Peter Lynds gets most brilliant up and commer, and Steven Hawking gets most over rated.

Hawking overrated, heh. I don't know if that's possible really.

Einstein is certainly the "best". He rewrote a lot, and first discovered a lot. Newton would have to be second.

Let's face it, if Hawking wasn't handicaped he probably wouldn't get so much attention.

 

[plus]

Peter Lynds appears to be overrated because he has not got a physics university education.

 

[John MacNeil]

Many people confuse intelligence with formal education. Einstein did much of his impressive work while working as a clerk in a patent office, a job he had to take because he couldn't get a position anywhere as a scientist.

 

[marcus]

Originally posted by plus
Peter Lynds appears to be overrated because he has not got a physics university education.

some people may not have heard of him
here's a New Zealand newspaper article about Lynds

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2490785a11,00.html

it is risky to bet on "up and comers" in any category

I would first ask a question about the currently most active
and promising field of research in physics---
and then look for creative individuals in that field.
that way I would come up with the names of living
physicists likely to be remembered 50 odd years
from now as having done landmark work
There arent many I can think of!

 

[plus]

Try looking at the nobel prize winners - although they are more likely to be experimentalists.

 

[Turtle]

1.Einstein 2. Sir Issaac Newton

 

[RSM1000]

Originally posted by Turtle
1.Einstein 2. Sir Issaac Newton

Yeah, Newton and Einstein certainly take the cake.

 

[jb]

Originally posted by LogicalAtheist

Let's face it, if Hawking wasn't handicaped he probably wouldn't get so much attention.

how much do you think ALS affects his ability to think? if not directly, i'd be willing to bet it affects his mind in other ways.

besides, he's propably got better grammar and language skills talking through that computer (i still have no idea how he can find words so quickly), and he's got an awesome chair. (if you have seen the simpsons episode he was in, i think you'd have to agree he needs to get that chair, with the propellors)

 

[Mentat]

Sure, Einstein is probably the greatest scientist of all time. But the greatest living scientist (IMO) is Edward Witten.

 

[zeronem]

http://pangaea.dhs.org/school/hist82/gallery/ae66.jpg

In that site, is a picture of my favorite Scientists of all time.

Although this is a "best Physicist topic". I have to say that I think all Physicist are great in many ways. Were all different minds focusing on Mathematical Physics. But to answer the topic, "Albert Einstein" and "Richard Feynmann" would be the best IMO.

 

[Dx]

2 Thumbs up!

Originally posted by RSM1000
Yeah, Newton and Einstein certainly take the cake.

They got my vote!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In significance I think that Heisenberg rates highly. I really see him as the father of QM. QM is then argued to be the most successful theory in the history of science. Of course, the paradigm change brought on by Einstein already permeates our culture in areas of art, religion, and literature to name a few, in addition of course the scientific point of view. How casually we now discuss concepts like time dilation, singularities, wormholes, and even time machines. Hmmm. I shall employ the principle of superposition:

I vote for Heisenstein!

 

[maximus]

Originally posted by Wolfgang77
My pick for the best physicist would be Einstein. Peter Lynds gets most brilliant up and commer, and Steven Hawking gets most over rated.

that's a little harsh for mr. hawking,don't you think? besides you're forgeting feynnman!