The Greatest Scientist of all time....

[Guest telescope4u]

OK.......So in your opinion who was the greatest scientist of all time and why?

It can be any science at any time.

My favourite has to be Newton.

To come up with something as profound as 'Principia' today would be astounding....but to do it 350 years ago....WOW.

[GazOC]

Magnus Pike....

[Ant]

Dike maybe....

Einstein must be up there is the top few surely? What about Hawkin? although I heard about a survey of post grad physics bods - they were asked to mane the top 20 physicists of all time and Hawkin didn't even appear!!!

Ant

[Greg]

Difficult to pindown any particular one scientist.

Isaac Newton - For giving us Laws of physics and a smashing type of telescope.

Charles Messier - My favourite things to look at.

Einstein - Changed the way that we looked at the universe.

Steven Hawkin - As above.

Jonny Ball - I can remember watching him on the telly when I was younger, perhaps i'ts his fault i'm like I am!!

Greg

[The Warthog]

I think a strong case can be made for Aristotle, as the father of scientific method, and the founder of many branches of natural philosophy that did not exist before him.

To quote:

Aristotle, more than any other thinker, determined the orientation and the content of Western intellectual history. He was the author of a philosophical and scientific system that through the centuries became the support and vehicle for both medieval Christian and Islamic scholastic thought: until the end of the 17th century, Western culture was Aristotelian. And, even after the intellectual revolutions of centuries to follow, Aristotelian concepts and ideas remained embedded in Western thinking.

From this online encyclopedia:

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html

Aristotle really built science from the ground up. If he had appeared in the twentieth century, he'd probably have had to operate a souvlaki cart in Athens because his work would already have been done.

[FLO]

OK, I'm going to admit my ignorance and embarrass another SGL member ... all in the same post:

I don't know enough about past scientists to comment about who was best but, after considering present day scientists and speaking personally...

I am going to vote ... Astroman

... for all his efforts at expanding mine and the others knowledge :salute:

Steve

[Grant]

How has nobody voted for Galileo Galilei?? His the father of astronomy He discovered Io, Europa, and Callisto in the same NIGHT!!! then 4 days later he discovered Ganymede.

He was the first to report lunar mountains and craters, whose existence he deduced from the patterns of light and shadow on the Moon's surface. He even estimated the mountains' heights from these observations. This led him to the conclusion that the Moon was "rough and uneven, and just like the surface of the Earth itself", and not a perfect sphere as Aristotle had claimed.

He must've been one hell of a guy

[Greg]

Are we not all great scientists....

To take our telescopes and gaze upwards..........not for financial gain, but for the love of our hobby for what it is and to improve our understanding of the unknown.

I just thought of that!

[Astroman]

Well Steve, I'm flattered, but I'm nowhere near on the scale of the greats mentioned above, or below for that matter. Phattire makes a good point-sharing our knowledge for the fun of it is waht "amateur" means, quite literally.

I always say, Amateur Astronomers are paid by the "Wow!".

Thanks.

[The Warthog]

How has nobody voted for Galileo Galilei?? His the father of astronomy He discovered Io, Europa, and Callisto in the same NIGHT!!! then 4 days later he discovered Ganymede.

He was the first to report lunar mountains and craters, whose existence he deduced from the patterns of light and shadow on the Moon's surface. He even estimated the mountains' heights from these observations. This led him to the conclusion that the Moon was "rough and uneven, and just like the surface of the Earth itself", and not a perfect sphere as Aristotle had claimed.

He must've been one hell of a guy

Yes, but imagine Aristotle with a scope! :shock: Besides, I hear Galileo was a real curmudgeon. Aristotle, on the other hand, was nice.

[spudicus]

Spock

The only logical choice Jim...

[AstroTiger]

My top scientists

Professor Stephen Hawkins wilthout at the top

Albert Einstein

Arthur Edington

Marie Curie

Francies Crick

Hunprey Davy

Micheal Faraday

To name but a few

Btw those those postrag physicists who were asked to name the top physiscists and did NOT name Hawking, were they amercian?

[GazOC]

I can't see how Hawking can compete with the physcists of yesteryear, its not his fault but Newton/Einstien/Bohr just got to the "biggies" first.

[OXO]

Mmmmm just found these post's..

Einstein Num:1

James

Ps:Sorry for the late reply

[radioactive]

Spock

The only logical choice Jim...

ROFLAO

2 Latinum credits to that man

[radioactive]

I cannot say who is my number one favourite scientist so as usual I will give a few to ponder over I have been careful to include both genders in my small list (not a shortlist) I think the telly did a thing on this who the best not very long back anyway for your consideration

Marie Curie

Leonardo Da Vinci

Jacques Yves Cousteau

Louis Pasteur

Dian Fossey

Florence Nightingale

Aristotle

[The Warthog]

Spock

The only logical choice Jim...

What's a baby doctor doing on this list? :?