# Greatest Scientists Ever: Elimination Game **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [November 5, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825 "2017-11-05T21:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/221 "2017-12-02T05:10:05Z")
I’ll admit I was hoping for more fervent debate — or irate arguments 😃 — in this thread! 🙂 For example, among 25 nominated scientists born before Galileo, only six are left:Archimedes Copernicus Eratosthenes Euclid Ptolemy Vesalius, Andreas If I were voting I’d have been placing frantic KEEP votes on Alhazen, Francis Bacon, Galen, Hipparchus, and especially Aristotle. (And possibly sentimental favorites like Leonardo da Vinci, Pythagoras, and perhaps even Giordano Bruno.) The early elimination of Aristotle — one of the very most influential scientists ever —was a huge mistake. Sure, he got some things wrong, but so did 18th- and 19th-century greats. His insights into geology were millenia ahead of his time, and biology even more so — his insight about [the octopus’ arm being an organ of reproduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectocotylus) was disbelieved until the 19th century. Oh well — it’s not too late. 😛 Hopefully there will be plenty of scope for irate disputes before we finally select the Greatest Scientist of All Time. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/222 "2017-12-02T06:26:01Z")
Here are my thoughts on (((Maurice Hilleman))). AFAIK, he discovered no major theories: his talent was applying what was already known. In [Kuhn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Samuel_Kuhn)’s terms he established no [paradigms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift): rather he engaged in normal science. He developed over 40 vaccines; of the 14 ones in the standard vaccine schedule, he developed eight. I think a guy like that belongs in the top 100. After all, normal science is what makes the new theories worthwhile. And Hilleman was extraordinarily productive. I’m less sure he belongs in the top 36. And personally, putting him in the top 10 seems inappropriate to me. ## Full disclosure: (((Hilleman))) is not on any of the lists in the website below. Then again (((John von Neumann))) was on only 1 of the lists (ranked 51 though). Ok, I took the top 20 from [the first list on this webpage](http://www.adherents.com/people/100_scientists.html) and eliminated them from our current list of candidates. (Some had already been eliminated.) Here are the remaining scientists on the chopping block in spoilers [spoiler] Possible candidates for the ax: Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology Archimedes - math, physics Boyle, Robert - chemistry, physics Crick, Francis - Dna Curie, Marie - radioactivity Dalton, John - chemistry Eratosthenes - math, astronomy Euclid - math Euler, Leonhard - math Fermat, Pierre de - math, optics Fermi, Enrico - atomic physics Feynman, Richard - physics Franklin, Benjamin - physics, etc. Franklin, Rosalind - chemistry, X-ray crystallography Gauss, Karl - math, astronomy Hilleman, Maurice - biology, vaccination; saved more lives Hubble, Edwin - astronomy Hutton, James - geologist Huygens, Christiaan - optics, physics Leakey, Louis - anthropology Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Leibnitz, Gottfried - math, physics, etc. Linnaeus, Carolus - botany, taxonomy Meitner, Lise - atomic physics Mendel, Gregor - genetics Mendeleev, Dmitri - chemistry Neumann, John von - computer science, etc. Pauli, Wolfgang - quantum physics Planck, Max - quantum physics Ptolemy - astronomy Salk, Jonas - medicine, vaccination Tesla, Nicolai - physics, invention Turing, Alan - computer science, etc. Vesalius, Andreas - founder of anatomical sciences Volta, Alessandro - chemistry, physics Watson, James - Dna And here are the scientists on just one list or no list: Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology (just on 1 list) Eratosthenes (just on 1 list) Fermat - not on any of the lists. Hutton - not on any of the lists Leakey, Louis - not on any of the lists. Huh. (((Boas))) is #14 though. Leibnitz - not on any of the lists (the hell?) Meitner - just on 1 list Pauli, Wolfgang - on none of the lists Ptolemy - only on 1 list Tesla - only on 1 list Turing - only on 1 list John Von Neumann - just on 1 list (the hell?), but ranked number 51. Maurice Hilleman - not on any of the lists. [/spoiler] Keep Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Eliminate: Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology (just on 1 list) Eratosthenes (just on 1 list) Fermat - not on any of the lists. Hutton - not on any of the lists Leakey, Louis - not on any of the lists. Huh. (((Boas))) is #14 though. Meitner - just on 1 list Pauli, Wolfgang - on none of the lists Ptolemy - only on 1 list Tesla - only on 1 list ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/223 "2017-12-02T06:39:41Z")
Ok, after we get the top 50 sorted out, which DNA discoverer will be the first to go? (((Watson))) or (((Crick)))? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/224 "2017-12-02T08:35:47Z")
Perhaps both of them, since it seems most of the credit should have gone to their female colleague (whose name I have, to my shame, forgotten)? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/225 "2017-12-02T09:33:26Z")
The number of votes each player gets will be continually _reduced_ as the game progresses and has already been reduced to NINE total (see above), of which at most eight can be Evict votes. > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Keep > Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy > > Eliminate: > Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology (just on 1 list) > Eratosthenes (just on 1 list) > Fermat - not on any of the lists. > Hutton - not on any of the lists > Leakey, Louis - not on any of the lists. Huh. (((Boas))) is #14 though. > Meitner - just on 1 list > Pauli, Wolfgang - on none of the lists > Ptolemy - only on 1 list > Tesla - only on 1 list Sorry, **Measure** — too many votes. Subject to change by you, I’ll ignore the vote on Agassiz this round. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/226 "2017-12-02T22:36:26Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’ll admit I was hoping for more fervent debate — or irate arguments 😃 — in this thread! 🙂 > > For example, among 25 nominated scientists born before Galileo, only six are left:Archimedes > Copernicus > Eratosthenes > Euclid > Ptolemy > Vesalius, Andreas > If I were voting I’d have been placing frantic KEEP votes on Alhazen, Francis Bacon, Galen, Hipparchus, and especially Aristotle. (And possibly sentimental favorites like Leonardo da Vinci, Pythagoras, and perhaps even Giordano Bruno.) > > The early elimination of Aristotle — one of the very most influential scientists ever —was a huge mistake. Sure, he got some things wrong, but so did 18th- and 19th-century greats. His insights into geology were millenia ahead of his time, and biology even more so — his insight about [the octopus’ arm being an organ of reproduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectocotylus) was disbelieved until the 19th century. > > Oh well — it’s not too late. 😛 Hopefully there will be plenty of scope for irate disputes before we finally select the Greatest Scientist of All Time. I had a thought about the vulnerability of the earlier scientists (both because of the greater difficulty of their work surviving, and the fact that ground-breaking insights seem “obvious” to us as we have grown up with them) - possibly now that the List is more manageable we could do a re-order by birth-date instead of alphabetically? (If I was feeling really motivated I’d do it myself … throwing all the work back on the game-master here…) This could make it easier, when considering the List as a whole, to spot Big Steps Up as they occur. (oh yeah, and … I’m baa…aack. We got 400km, got sunburned, exhausted and rained on, then got [flooded out](http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bike-and-boat-races-cancelled-as-rain-and-storms-lash-state-20171202-gzxclr.html) and had to be bussed home 2 days early. It was awesome :D) Also - pronoun check - I’m a she. Not remotely offended … kind of interested though, I always thought my “-a” ending pigeonholed me correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/227 "2017-12-02T23:33:23Z")
Oops. Keep Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Eliminate: Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology (just on 1 list) Eratosthenes (just on 1 list) Fermat - not on any of the lists. Hutton - not on any of the lists Leakey, Louis - not on any of the lists. Huh. (((Boas))) is #14 though. Pauli, Wolfgang - on none of the lists Ptolemy - only on 1 list Tesla - only on 1 list ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/228 "2017-12-02T23:42:24Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Perhaps both of them, since it seems most of the credit should have gone to their female colleague (whose name I have, to my shame, forgotten)? Rosalind Franklin, who happily is on the list. Wilkins is not though. This link characterizes all 4 as discoverers of DNA: > **[Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins](https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/francis-crick-rosalind-franklin-james-watson-and-maurice-wilkins/)** > > These four scientists contributed to the discovery of DNA’S double-helical structure. ## Here’s a proposed ordering: Watson, Franklin, Crick, Wilkins. Comments? Yeah, another week would be good. The list is almost but not quite manageable now. Might be nice to take a break some time in the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/229 "2017-12-04T01:30:46Z")
I would move Wilkins up a bit in your list. Watson was clearly a key figure, and the one most responsible for bringing the key threads of the DNA hunt together (much though I personally think the guy’s a dick … but, not what we’re voting on). Crick’s strength seems to be that he generally got on well with everyone, worked well in a team, and could link up the various different bits of research that were necessary for the program to succeed. I see him more as the “right place at the right time” guy. According to various accounts I’ve seen (eg [here](https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/maurice-wilkins-behind-the-scenes-of-dna-6540179)) there was a fundamental problem between Wilkins and Franklin, that she was told she’d be in charge of the DNA X-ray crystallography, and he was told she’d be his assistant. So a management failure got in their way, which probably shouldn’t be held against them as scientists. My ordering is Watson, Franklin=Wilkins, Crick Incidentally, in reading up more about this I discovered X-ray crystallographer and Nobel laureate [Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Hodgkin) who I now wish I’d known about in time to nominate for The List, because arguably she may be more deserving than either Franklin \*or \* Wilkins. She was an early pioneer of X-ray crystallography of proteins, and had worked her way through Vitamin B12, penicillin and cholesterol by the time the DNA team got going, so some of her work was quite foundational to the whole technique they were using. Her most imressive achievement was probably insulin which took _thirty-four years_ to unravel - an impressive scientific concentration span by anyone’s measure! ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/230 "2017-12-04T02:00:29Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I had a thought about the vulnerability of the earlier scientists (both because of the greater difficulty of their work surviving, and the fact that ground-breaking insights seem “obvious” to us as we have grown up with them) - possibly now that the List is more manageable we could do a re-order by birth-date instead of alphabetically? (If I was feeling really motivated I’d do it myself … throwing all the work back on the game-master here…) This could make it easier, when considering the List as a whole, to spot Big Steps Up as they occur. OK, as it turns out, I was motivated. In case it helps anyone else, here is The List in chronological order (by birth): ~300 BC Euclid - math 287 BC Archimedes - math, physics 267 BC Eratosthenes - math, astronomy ~100 AD Ptolemy - astronomy 1473 Copernicus, Nicolas - astronomy 1514 Vesalius, Andreas - founder of anatomical sciences 1564 Galileo - physics, astronomy, etc. 1571 Kepler, Johannes - astronomy, math 1607 Fermat, Pierre de - math, optics 1627 Boyle, Robert - chemistry, physics 1629 Huygens, Christiaan - optics, physics 1632 Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy 1642 Newton, Sir Isaac - math, physics 1646 Leibnitz, Gottfried - math, physics, etc. 1706 Franklin, Benjamin - physics, etc. 1707 Euler, Leonhard - math 1707 Linnaeus, Carolus - botany, taxonomy 1726 Hutton, James - geologist 1743 Lavoisier, Antoine - chemistry 1745 Volta, Alessandro - chemistry, physics 1766 Dalton, John - chemistry 1777 Gauss, Karl - math, astronomy 1791 Faraday, Michael - electromagnetism, etc. 1807 Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology 1809 Darwin, Charles - biology 1813 Bernard, Claude - physiology 1822 Mendel, Gregor - genetics 1822 Pasteur, Louis - chemistry, biology 1831 Maxwell, James Clerk - physics 1834 Mendeleev, Dmitri - chemistry 1856 Tesla, Nicolai - physics, invention 1858 Planck, Max - quantum physics 1858 Boas, Franz - anthropology 1867 Curie, Marie - radioactivity 1871 Rutherford, Ernest - nuclear physics, atomic theory, radioactivity. 1878 Meitner, Lise - atomic physics 1879 Einstein, Albert - physics 1885 Bohr, Niels - atomic physics 1889 Hubble, Edwin - astronomy 1900 Pauli, Wolfgang - quantum physics 1901 Pauling, Linus - chemistry 1901 Fermi, Enrico - atomic physics 1901 Heisenberg, Werner - quantum theory 1903 Leakey, Louis - anthropology 1903 Neumann, John von - computer science, etc. 1912 Turing, Alan - computer science, etc. 1914 Salk, Jonas - medicine, vaccination 1916 Crick, Francis - Dna 1918 Feynman, Richard - physics 1919 Hilleman, Maurice - biology, vaccination; saved more lives 1920 Franklin, Rosalind - chemistry, X-ray crystallography 1928 Watson, James - Dna ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/231 "2017-12-04T02:17:39Z")
**Greatest Geologist:** Might be ((Hutton)). But probably (((Charles Lyell))), who dropped out. ☹ No mention of ((Agassiz)) > **[Who is the greatest geologist of all time?](https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-greatest-geologist-of-all-time)** > > Answer (1 of 5): One contender is Bill Hartmann. > > In 1975 he refined the idea that the moon was the result of an impact, not centrifugal forces. He modeled the giant impact hypothesis and convinced the scientific community that the earth was hit by... [https://www.ranker.com/list/notable-geologist\_s](https://www.ranker.com/list/notable-geologist_s))/reference **Greatest Anthropologist:** (((Leakey))) didn’t make this list of 9: [https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-greatest-anthropologist-ever](https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-greatest-anthropologist-ever) Didn’t make this list, though ((Mary Leakey)) did: [https://www.ranker.com/list/notable-anthropologist\_s](https://www.ranker.com/list/notable-anthropologist_s))/reference **Greatest Biologist** : List of 10: > **[Top ten biological discoveries](https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/what-to-study/ten-famous-biological-discoveries)** > > Biology is a fascinating and diverse subject area. If you’re thinking of studying biology, here are ten famous discoveries to inspire you. (((Aristotle))), ((Leeuwenhoek)) make the list. So does Hooke, discoverer of the cell, who wasn’t on the original list. Glad to see (((Linnaeus))) the taxonomer. (((Darwin))) and ((Mendel)) of course. Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of evolution gets a mention. ((Watson/Crick)). Wilmut & Campbell (first cloners of a mammal) is a silly entry in my view. Might of been fun to include them in the orignal list though. No mention of ((Agassiz)). Not sure why he made the list of 136. Corruption! Bribery! 😃 **Greatest Mathematician** This website puts (((Euler))) in the #1 slot and (((Gauss))) in #2. Riemann, who didn’t make our list, is number 3. I’m wondering whether Gauss’ statistical work would give him an edge over Euler science-wise, though both made enormous contributions. [Top 10 Greatest Mathematicians - Listverse](https://listverse.com/2010/12/07/top-10-greatest-mathematicians/) No mention of (((Fermat))) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/232 "2017-12-04T02:46:18Z")
I’d like to recommend to others to add ((Leakey)), ((Fermat)), and especially ((Agassiz)) to their elimination lists. I’d rather not eliminate 2 ancient astronomers in one go. So I’m going to pass over (((Eratosthenes))) who managed to measure the size of the earth within 211 miles before freaking 200BC. (((Ptolemy))), who lived from 90-168 AD, argued for his namesake failed astronomical model, thinking that the sun revolved around the earth. Sad! ((Claude Bernard)) was one of the first to advocate blind experiments, a cornerstone of the scientific method, a phrase which he used and devoted his life to advancing within medicine. So, Updated list: Keep Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Bernard, Claude [Claude Bernard - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Bernard) Eliminate: Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology (just on 1 list) Fermat - not on any of the lists. Hutton - not on any of the lists Leakey, Louis - not on any of the lists. Huh. (((Boas))) is #14 though. Pauli, Wolfgang - on none of the lists Ptolemy - only on 1 list Tesla - only on 1 list It’s only going to get more difficult! ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/233 "2017-12-04T07:01:40Z")
Scientists currently with 2 or more active votes:Pauli, Wolfgang : 3 Ptolemy : 3 Agassiz, Louis : 2 Dalton, John : 2 Fermat, Pierre de : 2 Hilleman, Maurice : 2 Hutton, James : 2 Bernard, Claude : 3-1 = 1.99 Leakey, Louis : 3-1 = 1.99 Tesla, Nicolai : 3-1 = 1.99 Meitner, Lise : 2-2 = 0 Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van : 1-2 = -1 Franklin, Benjamin : 1-4 = -3 Let me appeal to active players for advice on the rules: (1) Some of the votes (incl. an Evict for each of Ptolemy and Bernard) are from players who haven’t participated for several rounds. Should I just cancel leftover votes from players who haven’t posted within the last, say, 2 weeks? (2) I’d prefer not to eliminate any with just two Evict votes (so Pauli and Ptolemy would be the only evictions, if votes don’t change) but we may need to lower that bar if participation continues to be low. What do others think? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/234 "2017-12-04T07:06:11Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > … **Greatest Mathematician** > This website … [Top 10 Greatest Mathematicians - Listverse](https://listverse.com/2010/12/07/top-10-greatest-mathematicians/) There are better lists of greatest mathematicians on the 'Net. 🙂 The one you mention _omits Archimedes_. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/235 "2017-12-04T13:56:47Z")
Evict: Bernard, Claude - physiology Boas, Franz - anthropology Dalton, John - chemistry Feynman, Richard - physics Franklin, Benjamin - physics, etc. Franklin, Rosalind - chemistry, X-ray crystallography Maxwell, James Clerk - physics Meitner, Lise - atomic physics Pauli, Wolfgang - quantum physics ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/236 "2017-12-04T15:39:55Z")
The vote allowance is now NINE votes, of which _ **at most EIGHT may be Evict votes.** _ > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Evict: > > Bernard, Claude - physiology > Boas, Franz - anthropology > Dalton, John - chemistry > Feynman, Richard - physics > Franklin, Benjamin - physics, etc. > Franklin, Rosalind - chemistry, X-ray crystallography > Maxwell, James Clerk - physics > Meitner, Lise - atomic physics > Pauli, Wolfgang - quantum physics @ **Professor** — You show _Nine_ evict votes. You must remove one. (If you don’t cancel one of these votes by the 1 PM deadline, I will exercise Mod tie-breaking power and choose which one to delete!) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/237 "2017-12-04T17:47:21Z")
Okay, don’t EVICT Benjamin Franklin. Sorry for the error. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/238 "2017-12-04T17:50:13Z")
**Elimination Round #12 is over.** The three with 3 votes are eliminated:**[del]Dalton, John - chemistry[/del] [del]Pauli, Wolfgang - quantum physics[/del] [del]Ptolemy - astronomy[/del]** **The next Vote-counting Elimination will be on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at about 1 pm EST. For the next round each player has nine votes total: seven Evict votes, one Keep vote, and a ninth vote which can be spent as either Evict or Keep. _This will be the last round with nine votes_; the vote allotment will be reduced as the game progresses.** After the Wednesday elimination, I plan on _just one further elimination before the Holiday break_; we’ll resume in January. There are now just 49 scientists remaining on the list, shown in a Spoiler:Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology Archimedes - math, physics Bernard, Claude - physiology Boas, Franz - anthropology Bohr, Niels - atomic physics Boyle, Robert - chemistry, physics Copernicus, Nicolas - astronomy Crick, Francis - Dna Curie, Marie - radioactivity Darwin, Charles - biology Einstein, Albert - physics Eratosthenes - math, astronomy Euclid - math Euler, Leonhard - math Faraday, Michael - electromagnetism, etc. Fermat, Pierre de - math, optics Fermi, Enrico - atomic physics Feynman, Richard - physics Franklin, Benjamin - physics, etc. Franklin, Rosalind - chemistry, X-ray crystallography Galileo - physics, astronomy, etc. Gauss, Karl - math, astronomy Heisenberg, Werner - quantum theory Hilleman, Maurice - biology, vaccination; saved more lives Hubble, Edwin - astronomy Hutton, James - geologist Huygens, Christiaan - optics, physics Kepler, Johannes - astronomy, math Lavoisier, Antoine - chemistry Leakey, Louis - anthropology Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Leibnitz, Gottfried - math, physics, etc. Linnaeus, Carolus - botany, taxonomy Maxwell, James Clerk - physics Meitner, Lise - atomic physics Mendel, Gregor - genetics Mendeleev, Dmitri - chemistry Neumann, John von - computer science, etc. Newton, Sir Isaac - math, physics Pasteur, Louis - chemistry, biology Pauling, Linus - chemistry Planck, Max - quantum physics Rutherford, Ernest - nuclear physics, atomic theory, radioactivity. Salk, Jonas - medicine, vaccination Tesla, Nicolai - physics, invention Turing, Alan - computer science, etc. Vesalius, Andreas - founder of anatomical sciences Volta, Alessandro - chemistry, physics Watson, James - Dna Please tell me if you prefer to have the list sorted chronologically, as **Aspidistra** did in #230. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/239 "2017-12-05T06:06:45Z")
**Rule suggestions from MfM, Esq** 1. Evicts should be permanent. But Keeps should be temporary, unless they clearly say that they are voting for their number 1 and/or 2 scientist. 2. I think you should need a minimum of 3 votes to evict. If nobody gets 3 votes during a round, extend the deadline by a week or so. It’s the discussion which is the important part anyway. As I said earlier, the list is approaching a manageable size now. 3. It would be best to sometimes present the list alphabetically, sometimes chronologically. * * * During the break, I hope to present some sort of top 10 list to work off of. I’ll argue that life scientists should be upgraded, quantum mechanical types downgraded, at least within the top 40 list. Newton and Einstein still win the top 2 slots. * * * Keep Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Bernard, Claude [Claude Bernard - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Bernard) Eliminate: Agassiz, Louis - biology, geology (just on 1 list). Why is this guy still standing? Fermat - not on any of the lists. Hutton - not on any of the lists Leakey, Louis - not on any of the lists. Huh. (((Boas))) is #14 though. Tesla - only on 1 list Meitner Leibnitz - it’s for the best. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/240 "2017-12-05T20:15:37Z")
Eliminate: Bernard Crick Feynman Franklin, Rosalind Hilleman Hutton Meitner Keep: Leakey Leeuwenhoek [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825.md?page=13)