10 Greatest Scientists Who Changed The World

By Raza Mehdi

Feb 08, 2023

Newton is one of the most famous scientists in the world. His contributions to mechanics, optics, thermodynamics, and almost every branch of physics, and that too in the 17th century, makes him stand apart in science. His famous three laws of motion, the discovery of gravitation have been some of his many contributions as a physicist.

Isaac Newton- The Man Who Defined Modern Science

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Einstein was the whole package: distinctive look (untamed hair, rumpled sweater), witty personality (his quips, such as God not playing dice, would live on) and major scientific cred (his papers upended physics). He is known for his famous theory of relativity and his work in quantum mechanics.He also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the Law of Photoelectric Effect.

Albert Einstein -  The Whole Package

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Marie Solomea Sklodowska Curie was a Polish physicist and chemist who researched radioactivity. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the only one to win it twice. During WWI, she developed mobile radiography units to provide X-ray services to field hospitals, establishing her position in the list of the greatest scientists of all time.

Marie Curie - Mother of Radioactivity

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Tesla is famous for his contribution to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. Tesla studied engineering without receiving a degree just by doing practicals. His experiments and inventions in the early 20th century marked his place in the field of electricity.

Nikola Tesla - The Wizard Scientist

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Hawking was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is widely accepted as one of the best scientists in the world. One of his achievements was the study of black holes; he proposed that black holes would emit subatomic particles until they eventually exploded. Hawking wrote many best-selling books like ‘A Brief History of Time: From The Big Bang to Black Holes.’

Stephen Hawking - The Man With Theory of Everything

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Bose is undoubtedly one of the best Indian mathematicians and physicists. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics, developing the Bose condensate theory.The fifth state of matter, bose-einstein condensate, was also named after the Indian physicist and his German counterpart Albert einstein.

Satyendra Nath Bose -  The Father of the God Particle

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Pythagoras, a sixth-century B.C. Greek philosopher and mathematician, is credited with inventing his namesake theorem and various proofs. Even today, the sea of numerical formulas typically on physicists’ blackboards suggests the Pythagorean maxim “All is number,” an implication that everything can be explained, organized and, in many cases, predicted through mathematics.

Pythagoras: Math's Mystery Man

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Darwin is most famous for his work in evolutionary biology and is recognized as one of the most influential people in the history of humankind. His book “On the Origin of Species” showed evidence of the theory of evolution that was later accepted as fact by most biologists. 

Charles Darwin - Delivering the Evolutionary Gospel

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Galileo was an Italian astronomer and physicist who was one of the most popular people in Europe in his time. Today, he is considered one of the greatest scientists in the world. His experiments were quite innovative and exciting, leading to the discovery of famous theories, including the principle of relativity, inertia, and projectile motion.

Galileo Galilei - Discoverer of the Cosmos

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Franklin was best known for her work on X-ray diffraction images of DNA linked to the discovery of DNA double helix. She is also known for her work in understanding the molecular structure of RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite and the discovery of DNA density. She died at the age of just 37 years due to ovarian cancer.

Rosalind Franklin - Hero Not Given Her Due

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