• Question: which scientist do you think has made the greatest discovery in the world?

    Asked by kierakieraxd to Alexandra, Dean, Jess, Luisa, Sian on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Jessica Housden

      Jessica Housden answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Gosh, this is so hard as I do believe that one discovery often leads to another! In my personal top list is Galileo Galilei. He ‘mathematiscised physics’ in that he is reagrded as showing that to prove theories you need to use mathematics. He was not afraid to suggest totally new theories, and even got into trouble for doing so. He suggested that the Sun was at the centre of the solar system, and helped propose our modern celestial mechanics. He built a refracting telescope and was the first person to look at moons around a different planet (Jupiter). He also proposed a basic theory of realtivity which Einsten was then able to build upon. Regarding astronomy, he discovered so many things; such as that the Milky Way is made of many stars.

      Other great scientists imo are, Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Laplace, Newton, Bohr.

    • Photo: Alexandra Kamins

      Alexandra Kamins answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Wow, that’s a really hard question!! What would make a discovery the greatest? Impact? Complexity? Coolest? Plus, discoveries usually have a whole string of scientists involved. For example, Fleming’s discovery of penicillin has saved millions, millions and millions of human lives and is one of the greatest discoveries of all time. But Koch and Pasteur had to come along first to understand germ theory, the scientists to figure out cell culture, and so on.

      Darwin and Wallace cemented the theory of evolution, another one of the greatest discoveries. Their work was based on Lyell, who said the world was changed by gradual forces over millions of years, an economist who pointed out there was a struggle to survive amongst humans, and others.

    • Photo: Sian Foch-Gatrell

      Sian Foch-Gatrell answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I think there are a lot of scientists that have thought well beyond the current discoveries and technologies of their time! I think there have been some really amazing theoretical scientists from history that have been proved correct anywhere up to 200 years after their deaths! For me, I think Charles Darwin fits the bill, he had an astonishing mind and I think his theories and his discoveries are some of the most ground breaking that has helped us to understand our selves and our place on Earth. This area of science is obviously with biology though, since I am neither a physicist or a chemist, so clearly I am biased.

    • Photo: Dean Whittaker

      Dean Whittaker answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      This is a hard question to answer with so many great things that have been discovered. Probably the best was Mendelev – who came up with the periodic table (though lots of others did a lot of work on it). Or Rutherford who worked out that atoms exist. Between those discoveries we can work out all the chemistry and materials etc. for making plastics, computer chips, well – everything! By knowing that different chemicals existed and having an idea how they might interact, and by knowing that there are little building blocks, you can do a lot of stuff that would be very difficult if you didn’t know these things. Think about what a conceptual leap it is to imagine things made of different elements and atoms when you didn’t know anything like that before.

    • Photo: Luisa Ostertag

      Luisa Ostertag answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I think Watson and Crick discovering the 3D structure of DNA.
      And Einstein.
      And Darwin.
      And Galileo Galilei. Kopernikus. Marie Curie.
      Hard to say, really!

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