I think Isaac Newton. His Principia Mathematica has
to have made the largest single leap/impact on the field of science (or more specifically–physics). He also devoloped Calculus–which underlies much of modern science. For these 2 reasons alone, I think, relative to the time, Newton has made the largest contribution to the field of science. A close second, in my book, would have to be Einstien…
Who do you think has made the greatest impact/contribution to a particular branch of science, or science (as a whole) itself?
The real effects of QM on the rest of science are not always clear. Even the Biology revolution grows out of the understanding gained from it, and from the Chemistry that also grew from it.
Gallileo… for introducing the scientific method into research. Rather than simply relying on Authority for an answer, you go do an experiment and find out…
When I saw the thread title, I thought immediately of Newton or Galileo, for the same reasons listed above; I think I would lean towards the latter. More than just his particular contributions to physics, he revolutionized the way science was done in modern times.
A case can perhaps be made (as Scientific American recently did) that Darwin has been the most influential scientist as far as effect on “modern thought”, but for “largest impact on the field of science”, I don’t think he comes close to Galileo (or Newton, or Einstein, or others).
If you look in the index of a typical college math book, you’ll find more references to Isaac Newton than any other individual, typically more than double the entries of any other. Pre-Newton, there were disconnected understandings of the world. Newton was the first human to really put things together. In a very real way, he created science.
I would’ve liked to name one of my two sons Isaac, but my last name (and theirs) is Hunt, so that just wasn’t a good fit.
While Watson and Crick (and Franklin!) made a great contribution, I’d say that the structure of DNA was just waiting to be described. If Watson had broken a leg and taken a year or so off, Linus Pauling might be known as the discoverer of the structure of DNA.
van Leeuwenhoeck (sp?). Not to discount the discoveries, inventions or other achievements of other great scientists . . . but this guy did what he did for a phenomenally long time . . . took strides in directions that were decades . . . centuries, some would say, ahead of the rest of science.
I’d vote for Copernicus in Astronomy, Cavendish in Chemistry, Mendel in Genetics, Vesalius (rather than Galen, Lastgasp) in Anatomy, Lyell in Geology. We should be indebted to the pioneers who lifted us out of the darkness.
Along the lines of what Lemur said about the inevitability of some discoveries, I remember somebody once wrote that Planck’s Constant was always out there, waiting to be discovered, but Mozart’s music would never have been written by anybody else.
The book, “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History” by Michael H. Hart, names Newton as #2, just below Muhammad. An excellent book by the way. FYI, the top ten go:
Muhammad
Newton
Jesus
Buddha
Confucious
St. Paul
Ts’ai Lun
Gutenburg
Columbus
Einstein
I’d have to say that Michael Faraday’s work with electricity and chemistry place him up there, at least in the Underrated Scientist category.
He discovered electromagnetism, thereby laying the framework for such things as electric motors, generators, X-rays, and so forth. It may not be the most earth-shattering work, but it does have widely-reaching implications.
how about Edison or Babbage? only pure scientists? or how about some good ol’ Greeks that laid the foundations, such as Euclid or Eratothsenes? sure, they had some weird ideas thrown in with the good ones, but so did newton. another title to check out is The Discoverers by Boorstin.
