Who's the greatest scientist of all time?

[n.karthick]

As Alan Briggs mentioned, I feel Charles Darwin is the greatest scientist because he is the one who questioned about our existence and survival, all other scientists explained the natural phenomenon forgetting to think who they are and how they got this knowledge and power to know about Nature.

 

[Alan Briggs]

After I wrote my comments, I reflected on how much science has changed since the era of the early individual independent contributors like Newton, Darwin, Einstein. Then I read the news from CERN.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/09/06/AR2010090603891.html?wpisrc=nl_tech

This validates my concern that progress in science will benefit greatly from scientists with broad communication skills that engages the general population. This seems to be more widely recognized in other fields. I would be very surprised to read that those great Washington institutions, such as the Office of Management and Budget, are to be mothballed for a year due to the record financial that they have generated. A hypothetical example is given here for purposes of illustration.

 

[ja sam glup]

If Tesla counts as a "scientist",

then Tesla.

With Galileo a close 2nd.

 

[Proton Soup]

The answer is clear and the responses are singularly incorrect.

Charles Darwin represents the greatest scientist of all time. No other scientist has created a body of work that has advanced our understanding and view of practically everything including our overall position in the world. No other scientist was so challenged in his views, as advanced in his global explanations and reasoning or broadly accepted by so large a body of people. And yet amazingly, to this day, to so many, the results of his work remains so controversial 150 years or so on. Even the understanding of our political and economic world, although still primitive, controlling all our daily lives, is best understood as an extension of Darwinian theory of the ultimate survival of the successful, that is fittest; that is, where, at least we are all completely driven by Darwin's thinking here.

This ultimate recognition is evidenced where Darwin is prominently featured currently on a major reserve currency recognizing the man who was clearly right on the money all the time.

Surprise runners up include Ludwig Boltzmann who took statistical insight to the finest level that is appropriately recognized in the most fundamental constant in all of science. Newton, Maxwell and Einstein provided the greatest scientific insight in unifying, and ultimately 'simplifying', our understanding of nature. This advancing work has yet to be completed by the greatest scientist of all time who may not even have been born yet.

An answer supporting recognition of any great scientist can never be as important, or as interesting, as the thoughtful understanding that goes behind it.

i would go back further and suggest that Galen set the stage for scientific inquiry

 

[CharmedQuark]

All of these responses deal solely on the scientific achievements of the individual, but we can't forget others such as Carl Sagan who have brought scientific interest and basic knowledge to the masses. Sagan may be greater than all the others based on this point alone.

 

[jreelawg]

Bill Nye because he's the science guy.

 

[Good4you]

Being someone that is interested in physics, and cares less about biology, its odd to say this but...

It seems to me one of the greatest scientists would be someone that greatly advanced a field to provide better human living, and their discoveries would not be easily discovered otherwise.

It seems to me like most things in physics if not discovered by one person would have been soon discovered by someone else, and even if this is not the case (probably especially with some of the more ancient ones) it seems like it takes a long time for their discoveries to have any real world impact.

I would think that someone who discovered certain vaccines or germ theories which saved many lives would have the greatest scientific impact on the masses. I will admit i don't know enough about the subject to say who that might be.

 

[luma]

Sagan

 

[kramer733]

Why does it matter to make all these idiotic ranking lists Americans are so pathologically fond of?

Why are you even in this thread when you aren't answering the question? Dude, this is just a for fun topic. It's like asking. What's the coolest pokemon? It's a question for fun.