# Who, in all of human history, has had the greatest impact upon modern society? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 17, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-all-of-human-history-has-had-the-greatest-impact-upon-modern-society/622264 "2012-05-17T23:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 125
**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:** [May 23, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-all-of-human-history-has-had-the-greatest-impact-upon-modern-society/622264/125 "2012-05-23T17:40:01Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Galileo and Copernicus? Inevitable with the invention of the telescope. While it’s true that scientists and inventors built on the work of their predecessors, some were especially important. If the invention of the telescope is particularly important let me commend to your attention Galileo himself who developed the best telescope of his day, among many other great accomplishments. The suggestion that Copernicus’ discovery followed from the invention of the telescope will need quite a cite, I’m afraid. Copernicus did not use a telescope – it hadn’t yet been invented in his time. > [@Chronos](#): > > On the other hand, what Mendel did _could_ have been done by any farmer at all, all the way back to the dawn of agriculture… And yet, it wasn’t. That, to me, seems to suggest that Mendel _did_ make a major breakthrough. A key question is: _How long would a discovery have been delayed if its discoverer hadn’t lived?_ In the case of Mendel, we know the answer: 35 years. A rather long delay, I think, given the simplicity and importance of Mendel’s discovery to the understanding of genetics and evolution. For this reason, Mendel could be called a great discoverer. Unfortunately, the fact that we know the delay would have been 35 years argues against Mendel’s influence. The only reason we know exactly how long the delay would have been is that … there _was_ such a delay. Though published in a scientific journal, Mendel’s discovery was completely ignored for 35 years. :smack: Mendel’s Laws _were_ an “idea whose time had come” … 35 years _after_ Mendel’s discovery … when four separate researchers independently discovered the Laws and/or stumbled on Mendel’s paper. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-all-of-human-history-has-had-the-greatest-impact-upon-modern-society/622264)._