Greatest scientist in history

[WillJ]

Well? Feel free to mention not only the *most* important, but also others that you consider noteworthy. In fact, I thought about making this multiple-choice, but decided against it.

Note that for the sake of this discussion, I do not consider inventors scientists, unless of course they invented in a scientific manner. Philosophers aren't (necessarily) scientists either, but mathematicians are.

Also, what's in parentheses is obviously not the scientists' only scientific contributions (although they are IMO the most important ones), nor were they necessarily discovered/theorized/whatever by that particular person alone. And don't only consider what's in the parentheses; consider all that person has done for scientific progress.

Links to biographies of the people in the poll, if you're interested:

Isaac Newton
Albert Einstein
Louis Pasteur
Galileo Galilei
Euclid
Charles Darwin
Nicolaus Copernicus
Antony van Leeuwenhoek
Werner Heisenberg
René Descartes
William Harvey
Ernest Rutherford
Gregor Mendel
Niels Bohr
Sigmund Freud
Enrico Fermi
Francis Bacon
John Nash
James Clerk Maxwell

 

[North King]

And my vote stands alone!

 

[Siegmund]

From your list, I chose Newton...

Left to a completely free choice, I would be inclined to choose Karl Friedrich Gauss - contributed as much to mathematics as anyone but Euler, as much for physics as Maxwell, also a surveyor, etc etc etc... one of the last men to contribute greatly to a long list of fields.

 

[Kafka2]

Where are the ancients? Archimedes?

 

[Adler17]

I think Copernicus. He and his revolutionary ideas were the most world changing theories. Although it is a hard decision.

Adler

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Sir Isaac Newton for me. His work made possible a great many accomplishments later down the decades and centuries.

 

[thetrooper]

I would like to see some from the Mathematics department in there. Leibniz, Gauss, Euler... Doubt that they are the greatest, but - just to create diversity.

 

[pkmink]

I voted Francis Bacon, his modern scientific methodology revolutionized science in all fields paving the way for countless scientific discoveries and breakthroughs. Most of the other scientists on the list can thank him.

 

[col]

Newton. Towering genius. Only Feyman comes close. (Why isnt he on the list? )

So much. Mechanics, light, gravitation, calculus. Classical Physics IS mostly Newtonian. Little added for 300 years.

And he was Head of the Royal Mint.

Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night
God said, let Newton be and all was light

Alexander Pope.

 

[Mrogreturns]

Why is Freud on a list of scientists?

 

[Ace]

Pkmink is right. Most of the other entrants used Bacon's methods to do their work. But what about Micheilangelo and Archimedemes

 

[pawpaw]

callinicus--invented greek fire, no one including modern scienctist can reproduce it

 

[Inter4]

How can G. Galilei have only one vote(mine)???

 

[HalfBadger]

Where is Pythagarous (sp?) and his crew, they figured out the the phythagoran (p?) theorem, for calculating triangles. Without the knowledge of how triangles interacts with itself, there'd be no map making, or easy way to calculate distances, which is important for physics.

 

[Adler17]

Why got Copernicus only my vote? His works were revolutionary.

Adler

 

[Amenhotep7]

Archimedes. He built the first computer, that's got to count for something. Computer being that you put in information and that it comes out with relevant information.

Well, OK, they're not quite sure who made it, but they're almost positive it was Archimedes!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_Mechanism

Archimedes invented a whole lotta stuff.

 

[Atlas14]

What about Robin Williams for Flubber?

..but seriously, I voted Harvey with his work, just because anyone can argue whose work made the best contribution to hisotry and science, but, if you don't know anything about him, read up...

 

[Stefan Haertel]

The people mentioned on your list are all great contributors to science, and they all deserve great respect.
But my vote goes to the unknown ones, those who discovered the wheel how to make fire, or those who first looked up to the stars and found a system.
Without them, science wouldn't have worked.

I know, it's a very cheap excuse for having no idea who to vote for

 

[philippe]

archimedes:destroying Italian galleys with the sun is cool!

 

[CruddyLeper]

I think all scientists were great... but I don't see how the sense of having a "greatest".

I mean, science is supposed to be based on experimentation... so does that mean the luckiest scientist is the greatest? Or the best at guessing the outcome?

Luck and guessing ability don't really go with "greatness" in my eyes. Sorry for the downer.