Greatest Scientist

[Archimedes]

Please give reasons why.

Feel free to include others in your post.

[appianway]

With only four options and a knowledge of science limited to 1st year chemistry and mathematics and 2nd year physics, it's hard to respond (I don't really think that Hawking deserves to be on the list though).

[Russ]

Gauss or Euler, depending on my mood at the time.

[examsman]

Seriously, Hawking?

[slothpomba]

Where are all the biologists?

[Russ]

Hawking wrote his book, that alone gets him on there.

Where are all the biologists?

We're still fighting to be classified as real science

[Chromeo33]

Ed Whitten! Founder of string theory and the man trying to find the one equation that explains everything in our world!

[Chromeo33]

If its greatest impact, I think we've gotta go with Newton!
I mean mechanics and calculus came from him. Without him we wouldn't have cars, planes, VCE physics and methods (the wonderful things in life).

Einstein's theories don't really apply unless you're an astronaut or philosopher or astrophysicist.. I mean I'm not gonna be applying theories of relativity to the way I build a house or car.

[Lasercookie]

Einstein's theories don't really apply unless you're an astronaut or philosopher or astrophysicist.. I mean I'm not gonna be applying theories of relativity to the way I build a house or car.

The most common day-to-day application of relativity is in GPS.

It also applies in nuclear fission/fusion (so therefore military technology and nuclear power etc.) and in particle accelerators. People who work in those fields are not astrophysicists, astronauts or philosophers. Those aren't really day-to-day stuff for most civilians though.  

-not saying that Einstein has had as great of an impact as Newton, just pointing out there are applications of relativity.

[Chromeo33]

Yeah, sorry should've rephrased :\
That's what I meant, they don't really apply to everyone

[slothpomba]

My vote goes to this guy.

He might of not discovered anything that revolutionary but he saved a shitload of people and almost no one knew he existed.

"(Because of Borlaug) Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply."

[Mao]

If we are talking about the greatest paradigm shift, you should probably put down Copernicus and Galileo.

[Bozo]

If we are talking about the greatest paradigm shift, you should probably put down Copernicus and Galileo.

+1

[schnappy]

First instincts make me veer into Newton, but his work was only timeless because the social circumstances of his time allowed him to prosper ('modern' religion evolved in Britain - much more secular than pre-Renaissaince). Don't go crediting all of calculus to Newton, it was Leibnitz who did a lot of it - yes they both did it at the same time oblivious to each other, but leibnitz did a lot of the heavy lifting. Though that's a judgemental statement, it's all relative and Newton deserves some credit for it.

Einstein was great in that he jumped out of the realm of intuition and ruined physics being easy and fun forever.\

I'd be inclined to put my vote in Galileo... because it was his development of Copernicus' work that gave Newton a jolly good start. (Though I'm not sure of this?)

[/0]

I vote Newton. Despite wasting most of his ferocious intellect on bible studies, in his spare time he still managed to revolutionise physics and mathematics.