# 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:** 4
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/61 "2017-11-07T17:45:55Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Dmitri Mendeleev – chemistry, periodic table > Max Planck – quantum physics > > Are either or both of these good for a bonus vote? Both were among the ten I was thinking of. 🙂 Unfortunately I neglected to mention the **Limit of One Free Vote per Customer**. 😛 **bordelond** also gets only a single Extra Vote despite that he picked three of mine. Five of my bonus picks remain: an Austrian, a geologist and three “influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/62 "2017-11-07T17:50:02Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > **bordelond** also gets only a single Extra Vote despite that he picked three of mine. > > Five of my bonus picks remain: an Austrian, a geologist and three “influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans.” Wait – which three did I get? 😃 So, one out of Wegener and Hutton was NOT one of your geologists? And hey – Schrödinger is Austrian, too 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/63 "2017-11-07T17:52:58Z")
Kurt Godel is my guess for the Austrian… ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/64 "2017-11-07T17:56:47Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Kurt Godel is my guess for the Austrian… The “physical scientist” description threw me off of Gödel. **Septimus** , for your Austrian – how about: **Wolfgang Pauli Ernst Mach Christian Doppler** ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/65 "2017-11-07T18:05:58Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > The “physical scientist” description threw me off of Gödel. > > **Septimus** , for your Austrian – how about: > > **Wolfgang Pauli > Ernst Mach > Christian Doppler** These are all good guesses, but not the picks I had in mind. Wegener was, though. Warning: there is a limit of nominations 13 per player. By my count you only have one left, **bordelond**. (Of course you may lobby other players to nominate someone for you.) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/66 "2017-11-07T18:16:11Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Warning: there is a limit of nominations 13 per player. By my count you only have one left, **bordelond**. Oops – I thought the names given to play the “game within a game” wouldn’t necessarily count as formal nominations. Unless I’m missing someone, I’ve thrown 14 names into this thread. These 11 are scientists I feel deserve nomination for the “big game”: **Claude Shannon Sir Alexander Fleming Alfred Wegener Al-Hazen Craig Ventner Erwin Schrödinger Thales Carl Jung James Hutton Wolfgang Pauli Ernst Mach** These three, while very accomplished, were named strictly as guesses for the “small game”: **Andrei Sakharov Sigmund Freud Christian Doppler** ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/67 "2017-11-07T18:29:01Z")
(Fair enough, **bordelond**. You’re allowed five more nominations. OK?) During Phase II I hope to reduce our list (already 122 in size, if we count the five remaining secret bonus names.) rapidly down to Thirty-six finalists. For Phase II, each player has Nine votes total. Except that sternvogel, bordelond, and any other lucky bonus pickers each get Ten votes. Unless otherwise specified, votes are OFF votes — you’re asking the scientist to get off of Finalists’ Island. Up to two of the votes may be spent as KEEP (to cancel someone else’s OFF). You may change your votes at any time. Mod will call Cut time at some designated hour — how does 2 pm EST sound? — but not every day. By about 11 am I will try to post whether votes are to be counted that afternoon. A minimum of 3 Off votes are needed to evict a scientist from the Island (4 Off votes if there’s a Keep vote) and more than 3 may be mandated at Mod’s discretion. After a Cut is performed, players’ votes are considered to be still in effect for the next round, with player moving any votes for scientists now off. Comments or questions? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Also please discuss whether the list would be more wieldy if divided into categories. Al-Khwarizmi, Muhammad ibn Musa - math, astronomy Alhazen Ibn al-Haytham - physics, etc. Archimedes - math, physics Aristotle - philosophy, geology, biology, etc. Arrow, Kenneth - economics Bacon, Francis - philosophy Bardeen, John - physics, invention Berzelius, Jacob - chemistry Bohr, Niels - atomic physics Borlaug, Norman - agronomics Boyle, Robert - chemistry, physics Brahmagupta - math, astronomy Bruno, Giordano - philosophy Cannon, Annie Jump - astronomy Copernicus, Nicolas - astronomy Crick, Francis - Dna Curie, Marie - radioactivity Dalton, John - chemistry Darwin, Charles - biology Davy, Sir Humphrey - chemistry Dirac, Paul - physics Doppler, Christian - physics Edison, Thomas Alva - invention 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 Fleming, Sir Alexander - medicine, biology Franklin, Benjamin - physics, etc. Franklin, Rosalind - chemistry, X-ray crystallography Freud, Sigmund - psychology Friedman, Milton - economics Galen, of Pergamon - biology, medicine Galileo - physics, astronomy, etc. Gauss, Karl - math, astronomy Ge Hong - philosophy, alchemy Gell-Mann, Murray - physics Godel, Kurt - math Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - natural philosophy Goodall, Jane - primatology Gutenberg, Johannes - invention Haber, Fritz - chemistry; invention (fertilizer, gas warfare) Halley, Edmond - astronomy, etc. Hawking, Stephen - cosmology Heisenberg, Werner - quantum theory Hilleman, Maurice - biology, vaccination; saved more lives Hippocrates, of Cos - medicine Hopper, Grace - computer science Hubble, Edwin - astronomy Hutton, James - geologist Huygens, Christiaan - optics, physics Jenner, Edward - vaccination Jung, Carl - psychology Kepler, Johannes - astronomy, math Keynes, John Maynard - economics Lamarr, Hedy - invention Lavoisier, Antoine - chemistry Leakey, Louis - anthropology Leavitt, Henrietta Swan - astronomy Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van - microbiology, microscopy Leibnitz, Gottfried - math, physics, etc. Leonardo da Vinci - anatomy, invention, etc. Liebig, Justus von - organic chemistry; a great practical scientist. Linnaeus, Carolus - botany, taxonomy Lister, Joseph - antiseptics Lovelace, Ada Byron Countess of - computer science Mach, Ernst - physics, cosmology Marconi, Guglielmo - radio transmission Maxwell, James Clerk - physics McClintock, Barbara - genetics Mead, Margaret - anthropology Meitner, Lise - atomic physics Mendel, Gregor - genetics Mendeleev, Dmitri - chemistry Michelson, Albert - astronomy; speed of light Morley, Edward - astronomy, chemistry, optics, and physics. Mullis, Kary - biology Neumann, John von - computer science, etc. Newton, Sir Isaac - math, physics Nisibis, St. Jacob of - theology, founded early school Noether, Emmy - math Ockham, William of - philosophy Oppenheimer, Robert - atomic physics Pasteur, Louis - chemistry, biology Patterson. Clair - geochemistry Pauli, Wolfgang - quantum physics Pauling, Linus - chemistry Planck, Max - quantum physics Poincare, Henri - math Ptolemy - astronomy Pythagoras - math Ricardo, David - economics Rubin, Vera - astronomy Russell, Bertrand - math Rutherford, Ernest - nuclear physics, atomic theory, radioactivity. Sagan, Carl - astronomy Sakharov, Andrei - nuclear physics Salk, Jonas - medicine, vaccination Samuelson, Paul - economics Schrodinger, Erwin - wave mechanics Shannon, Claude - computer science Smith, Adam - economics Smith, William - geology Tesla, Nicolai - physics, invention Thales, of Miletus - math Thorne, Kip - physics Turing, Alan - computer science, etc. Ventner, Craig - genetics Vesalius, Andreas - founder of anatomical sciences Watson, James - Dna Wegener, Alfred - meteorology, continental drift Wigner, Eugene - physics, symmetry Zhang Heng - astronomy, mechanics ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/68 "2017-11-07T18:37:17Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > (Fair enough, **bordelond**. You’re allowed five more nominations. OK?) Totally OK - thanks 🙂 When does Phase II start? … I see that rocketry/space flight is completely unaccounted for among the nominations. If we’re still in Phase I, let me nominate **Robert Goddard** and **Wernher Von Braun** **Charles Babbage** ’s theoretical work in computing is also worth a nomination, IMHO. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/69 "2017-11-07T18:46:28Z")
I’ll leave at least one more day for Nominations. But participants are free to hurry things along, if they wish, by registering their first round Elimination Votes immediately. How does 24 hours from now sound for the closing of nominations? With the counting of the Round 1 elimination votes 48 or 72 hours after that? > [@septimus](#): > > Unfortunately I neglected to mention the **Limit of One Free Vote per Customer**. 😛 This harsh ruling operates against our best guessers. ☹ How about this: _Anyone, including **sternvogel or bordelond** , gets yet another free vote for picking one of the five remaining bonus names_ … or _two_ free votes for picking _three_ or more of the bonus names. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/70 "2017-11-07T19:11:23Z")
Septimus, help me out in the small game here – from your original list of ten, is this right? - Two important geologists: **Alfred Wegener and \** - Two important quantum physicists: **Max Plank and \** - Two physical scientists, one Russian, one Austrian: **Dmitri Mendeleev and \** - Four very influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans: **One of Fleming, Freud, Jung, or Ventner plus \, \, and \**. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/71 "2017-11-07T19:14:28Z")
Is Louis Agassiz the other geologist you’re thinking of, **septimus**? ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/72 "2017-11-07T19:58:53Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Septimus, help me out in the small game here – from your original list of ten, is this right? > > - Two important geologists: **Alfred Wegener and \** > - Two important quantum physicists: **Max Plank and \** > - Two physical scientists, one Russian, one Austrian: **Dmitri Mendeleev and \** > - Four very influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans: **One of Fleming, Freud, Jung, or Ventner plus \, \, and \**. That’s correct. Louis Agassiz is NOT the other geologist. I picked Freud not for any personal preference but since he is a celebrity thinker I thought others might have overlooked. ETA: The three influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans may all be somewhat obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/73 "2017-11-07T20:19:01Z")
**Tyson, Neil deGrasse** - astrophysics, science popularizer ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/74 "2017-11-07T20:36:25Z")
I only have two nominations left … but I’ll offer up two fields that are underrepresented - Paleontology is missing altogether. There are big names, but not necessarily household names. - A slew of 18th- and 19th-century scientists who advanced the practical use of electricity. Davy and Faraday are on the list, at least. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/75 "2017-11-07T21:17:40Z")
With all the other astronomers nominated, we should not overlook Hipparchus, of Nicaea - astronomy, etc. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/76 "2017-11-07T21:19:05Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > ETA: The three influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans may all be somewhat obscure. I am wondering if one or more of these thinkers are associated with Eastern medicine. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/77 "2017-11-07T21:48:56Z")
They were born in France, Germany and Poland. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/78 "2017-11-08T10:39:09Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > - Four very influential thinkers associated with medicine or the study of humans: **One of Fleming, Freud, Jung, or Ventner plus \, \, and \**. On the circulatory system we could go with **William Harvey** or, if you prefer, [**Ibn al-Nafis**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_al-Nafis). > [@bordelond](#): > > I only have two nominations left … but I’ll offer up two fields that are underrepresented > > - Paleontology is missing altogether. There are big names, but not necessarily household names. **Mary Anning**? I know there are two men (whose names I have forgotten) who were competing to discover the most new dinosaur fossils at the end of the 19th century but Anning did some stellar work from a very young age and is a personal fave. ETA: What about **Ignaz Semmelweis**? Massively important and persisted in the face of fierce resistance. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/79 "2017-11-08T13:12:15Z")
Please submit your final nominations soon. I intend to close nominations in 2 or 3 hours, and _ **Elimination Voting will begin** _. (I may accept a tiny number of nominations after the deadline, but only for great scientists clearly overlooked, who would be strong candidates for the Finalist List.) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825/80 "2017-11-08T15:31:11Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I only have two nominations left … but I’ll offer up two fields that are underrepresented > > - Paleontology is missing altogether. There are big names, but not necessarily household names. > - A slew of 18th- and 19th-century scientists who advanced the practical use of electricity. Davy and Faraday are on the list, at least. Ack! Only two nominations … and four names to narrow down. \ OK, I’ll throw in: **Othneil Marsh** (paleontologist) – he did have a main adversary at the time, but that other paleontologist is more noted for finding lots of species rather than advancing scientific thought. Marsh – besides being a prodigious fossil collector himself – was the first to draw the evolutionary line between dinosaurs and modern birds, helping to refine Darwin’s theories. **Alessandro Volta** (physicist) – laid the ground work for the widespread use of electricity in modern life. Invented the voltaic pile battery and proved that electricity could be generated chemically. Volta’s work also disproved that electricity was an artifact of living things – a popular theory at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-scientists-ever-elimination-game/800825.md?page=5)