Theoretical fundamental physics, here. Most folks would probably think Hawking, but I’d personally rate Kip Thorne above him.
Maybe Barry Meyer at Warner Brothers considering the money they just made with The Dark Knight? Maybe Brad Grey at Paramount.
Spielberg can also make pretty much whatever he wants.
Had I trekked the wild road of arts, as my heart implored, instead of yielding to my head’s safe but relatively lackluster suggestion of science avenue, so many years ago, then the top dog in my profession would be the unrivaled virtuoso and cutting edge composer, Franz Liszt*…instead of some generic egghead with a big house and hefty malpractice premium.
- On reread, I see that I disobeyed the “living person” qualifier. My defense, therefore, shall be that Liszt was so far ahead of his time musically, this is about the time he should be alive.
Michael Dirda.