Friday ontopic offtopic. Scientific brainpower.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Since we're about reason this month... Think of the brain power represented in this one image:

So which of them is the most important name in modern science, the one with the greatest contribution - what do you think? Or let's say the top 3 names, since I'm almost sure I know which one you'd put on the very top, now that popular culture has taught us so (or I may be wrong - go ahead and surprise me). Anyway... your top 3 scientists of modern time? Any names omitted in that pic?

Comments

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Theoretician: Bohr and his crazy Copenhageners. Quantum physics has paved the way to our modern digital society.

Practitioner: Tesla.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Bill Nye the Science Guy. :)

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Planck, Dirac, and Heisenberg.

And Albert above them all.

mikeyxw

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

I'd put John von Neumann in first place due to the breadth of his contributions. Of course Einstein had a really good year, which by itself wins second place.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Currie, Einstien, and Bohr for degree of contribution.

Heisenberg, or von Neumann for raw brains

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

Einstein, Dirac, Bohr, Maxwell. I can't make up my mind which comes on top.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Planck, Curie, Einstein.

In no particular order.

Omitted from the picture, obviously, Watson (then unborn) and Crick (<12 yrs old).

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Slightly off-topic, I have often wondered about the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.
Einstein reckoned Kurt Godel was the greatest mind he had ever encountered. Bertie Russell opted for Ludwig Wittgenstein. G H Hardy thought Srinivasa Ramanujan was the man. Von Neumann, Turing, Dirac, Planck et al must have had opinions, but I don't know of them. Anyone got any knowledge of their opinions or indeed any others that they would care to share?

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Alonzo Church was Turing's mentor, as far as I know. He also admired Max Newman.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Max Newman went to the primary school at the end of our road. :)
Such is Dulwich.

Interesting about mentors. Wittgenstein was mentored by Russell. Ramanujan by Hardy.

But Einstein and Gödel were colleagues, rather than mentor or mentored. Maybe that gives Albert's opinion greater weight.

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

I think many of those scientists would not want people to just remember their names, but their science. I won't name any names, for behind every name is a dozen more. Let's hope that the science that they produced does not get shit on by people who think it's cool to deny it or can make a buck off it.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Hallelujah, brother!