Greatest Scientists in History
These scientists fundamentally changed how we understand the universe.
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
- Laws of motion and universal gravitation
- Calculus (co-invented with Leibniz)
- Optics (light as spectrum)
- Reflecting telescope
Newton unified earthly and celestial physics. An apple falls and the Moon orbits for the same reason.
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Contribution: Theory of evolution by natural selection.
On the Origin of Species (1859) explained how life's diversity arose through variation and selection over millions of years.
Darwin unified biology. Everything in life science connects to evolution.
Marie Curie (1867-1934)
- Discovered polonium and radium
- Pioneered radioactivity research
- First woman to win a Nobel Prize
- Only person to win Nobels in two different sciences (Physics and Chemistry)
Died from radiation exposure. Her notebooks are still radioactive.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
- Special and general relativity
- Mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²)
- Photoelectric effect (quantum theory foundation)
- Brownian motion (proved atoms exist)
Reimagined space, time, and gravity. Changed physics forever.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
- Telescopic astronomy (moons of Jupiter, phases of Venus)
- Laws of motion
- Scientific method
Championed heliocentrism despite Church opposition. "And yet it moves."
Other Giants
Aristotle: Founded biology, logic, and scientific method.
Copernicus: Proposed heliocentric solar system.
Faraday: Discovered electromagnetism (self-taught genius).
Maxwell: Unified electricity, magnetism, and light.
Pasteur: Germ theory of disease.
Turing: Founded computer science.
Hawking: Black hole radiation, popular science.
Science advances through generations, each building on predecessors.
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