As First Female physical metallurgists,Madame Curie studied the magnetic properties of several varieties of steel, and in that process to establish the correct composition of steels and their heat treatment that could give uchanged magnetic properties over a long time.

Marie Curie quotes:-

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.”

"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."

"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done."

"There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth."

"I am one of those who think like Nobel, that humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries."

http://www.livescience.com/38907-marie-curie-facts-biography.html

I can few more name,

Lotka-Volterra: Lotka-Volterra model is the simplest model of predator-prey interactions and I think it was the first mathematical attempt to model the biological population. The model was developed independently by Lotka and Volterra beginning of 19th century.

Alan Turing: In 1952 wrote a paper proposing a reaction-diffusion model as the basis of the development of patterns such as the spots and stripes seen in animal skin. By entering different constants for the equations, it is possible to produce a variety of natural-looking textures.

Frank Bass : In 1969, the Bass Model or Bass Diffusion Model was developed by Frank Bass and it consists of a simple differential equation that describes the process of how new products get adopted in a population. The model presents a rationale of how current adopters and potential adopters of a new product interact. The basic premise of the model is that adopters can be classified as innovators or as imitators and the speed and timing of adoption depends on their degree of innovativeness and the degree of imitation among adopters. The model is one of the most cited empirical generalizations in marketing; up to May 2013 the paper with title "A New Product Growth for Model Consumer Durables" published in Management Science has 4639 citations in Google Scholar. The Bass model has been widely used inforecasting, especially new products' sales forecasting and technology forecasting. Mathematically, the basic Bass diffusion is a Riccati equation with constant coefficients.

and many more in mathematical modelling in real world problem

If you are restricting your list to number theory, I would add Riemann and Dirichlet who initiated the fusion of number theory and complex analysis. If you are concerned with all branches of science, then Newton, Einstein, Dirac, and Darwin get my vote.

Thanks a billion all . This is going to be a very inspiring survey.

Nope. No restrictions. Pour your heart out :)

Actually, the ones I wrote contributed a lot to Number Theory, but, they didn't solely work in that field. Back in the 18th, and 19th century, every mathematician worked in that field. As Gauss put it "Number Theory is the Queen of Mathematics".

Joydip, Lotka-Volterra was a very different one to me. I am Wiki'ying it now :) Alessandro, I had to leave out Turing to restrict the list to 5, not to forget Turing's amazing (and, SAD) story due to the similar prejudism he was subjected to as my hero Emmy Noether. Ramzi, Thank you for bringing up Riemann. I left him out of the list due to space restrictions. Riemann Hypothesis is still the biggest mystery in mathematics ! and, you put it very well, it fuses complex numbers and number theory together. But, I feel a little better in at least including his doctoral adviser, Gauss, in my list :)

Galileo Galilei

Newton

Maxwell

Einstein

Marie Curie

No ranking!

It is a very nice question. It will have endless contributions from mathematics Researchers. I respect all mathematician. they are all connected by "passion to mathematics".

The science and engineering knowledge can be thought as human body, what we can do is to divide them in vital organs and non vital organs, further division is not possible.

We can have endless debate that heart is important or brain???

In same way we should not try to weigh the celebrated scientists and engineers, it not possible as we have not reached the end of science yet!

In future we do not know that how the canvas will change,For example before the invention of Digital Computer, did we realized the importance of binary numbers and Boolean algebra?

So tomorrow we do not know who will have biggest impact, but the biggest impact is only measure of application of that math, not the depth of intellectual greatness!

So in my personal opinion the comparison can be done, if absolutely necessary, on the last day when world ends :)

Charles Darwin

Gregor Mendel

Francis Crick

James Watson

Ronald Ross

L. Euler

Hamiltonian

Kuratowski

Cayley

Ore

Dart

“A mathematician, like a painter or poet, is a maker

of patterns. If his patterns are more permanent than

theirs, it is because they are made with ideas.”

G.H. Hardy

"The great book of nature can be read only by those who know the language in which it was written. And that language is mathematics.”

-Galileo

Dear Tolga

I think that your decision to leave "open" the meaning of the word "fascinating", makes your question more difficult to answer, than in the case when you will give the full definition of this term.

In my opinion, the most fascinating personalities in the history of science are these ones, that afford to heroic brave to publish (declare), and defend the results of their (often lengthy) research, in the full, open, and nothing conditioned way.

To justify, why to me is so important, to the scientists were "brave" in proclaiming and defending his views, I will only say, that it is this human trait, which is the real driving force of progress.

Taking this point of view, my list of "most fascinating" of scientists is as follows (in chronological order):

Copernicus

Isaac Newton

Charles Darwin

Albert Einstein

*** Rashad, this is an interesting point. I wanted this question to be very subjective, so, it has a deeper meaning and expands over a much larger boundary. In that sense, your answer is great. You are saying that, "we can't compare sets when the comparison rules change :) This sounds a little Cantor-ian :) " That's fine by me. One thing I can add, though, is, that, if somebody made such a big impact in the past, chances are that, the impact will continue. My best example is EUCLID's book, ELEMENTS. Up until 1500's or something (for about 2 millenia), the book was a textbook. It still is. The purpose of this survey wasn't to provide a comparison, but, rather, to understand what "your view" is ... This is why, I didn't limit the question in any way, except "science," knowing that, there will be very diverse opinions ... which shows already ... Thank you.

*** Andrzej, I agree with your comment about "leaving it open" ... That was my entire point. "Fascinating" has a completely different implication than "good." I am basically asking, who had the highest impact ON YOU, rather than, some accepted rankings etc ...

Dear Tolga

Since mathematical modelling of real world systems is my research interest, so one more fascinating statement for me:

“The tendency is nearly always to simulate too much detail rather than too little. Thus, one should always design the model around the questions to be answered rather than imitate the real system exactly….”

-Robert E. Shannon

Systems Simulation: The Art and Science, 1975

Dear Soyata , Got your point and I what you said is nature of every inquisitive person that what others did? You are absolutely right in this regard!

My problem is I am an electrical engineer, and can appreciate only those who had direct impact on what I know and what I am trying to learn. Those giants were newton, Euler, Laplace, Maxwell, and Haveside.

I am not able to really appreciate other people like Darwin, Freud and Alexander Flemming. reason is simple, that I do not posses the requisite knowledge in those fields, and can not enjoy the marvel of their intellectual work.

So this exercise is some time good to know around! Thanks for bringing it up!

For me, the most fascinating scientists are those who thought for themselves and, in the sentiment of Kant's categorical imperative, bettered the world for it:

Florence Nightingale and Louis Pasteur who saved lives from infection;

Rosalind Franklin who posthumously handed the nobel to Crick, Watson and Frederick with her crucial and correct, double helix DNA structure, leading to gene therapies;

Emmy Noether, using symmetry, upheld in quantum mechanics Newton's conservation laws in classical mechanics;

Carl Jung for his archetypes, tying symbols and their meanings to our motivations or values in life;

Foundation laying -- Parmenides on Being, distinguishing between truth and appearances; Democritus' atom; Plato for Platonic solids; Euclid's Elements, including the extreme and mean ratios (golden ratio); and the prolific Archimedes, especially his spiral;

Anne Sullivan, Albert Schweitzer, James Herriot, Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, E.O. Wilson, and Temple Grandin for their effective passion and wonder for equally a humane and scientific understanding of all life;

Copernicus for humbling humanity somewhat;

Optics pioneers Galileo, Kepler, and Newton;

Francis Bacon who established the scientific method and emphasized that science improve the human condition;

Benjamin Franklin, formal education to age 10, honorary doctorates from Harvard, Yale, University of St. Andrews, and Oxford, and for founding the first loaning library, hospital in America, and the American Philosophical Society, safely (by grounding his wetted kite string with a metal key) proved that lightening is electricity, subsequently inventing the lightening rod to protect buildings;

Mendeleev for his periodic table of the chemical elements;

Charles S. Peirce who first associated logical operators with electrical circuitry;

Albert Einstein for his obstinate original thinking and keen imagination;

Husserl for phenomenology and bracketing;

Cantor for cardinality;

Kurt Gödel for proving systems cannot self-validate;

Gentzen for his sequent calculus, natural deduction, and consistency proof;

Ramanujan's autodidactic advances in mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions;

Alan Turing for pattern recognition, code breaking, and the algorithm;

Benoit Mandelbrot for using the computer to program iterations into such infinitely wonderful fractals as the Mandelbrot set and Julia sets within;

Andrew Wiles for proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, Thomas Hales for his hexagonal packing proof of Kepler's conjecture, and Grigori Perelman for his Ricci flow surgery (of singularities) solution, affirming the Poincare conjecture;

Roger Penrose for near unification of quantum mechanics and gravity;

NASA for space exploration;

Jacques Cousteau for his undersea life exploration;

Al Gore for his intelligent political and environmental science;

Nima Arkani-Hamed, possibly the next Einstein.

CJ, Thank you for this comprehensive list. I am especially pleased with the breadth of your list and the descriptions. Gives me a good list of fun reading material this weekend :)

Especially interesting ones to me were the Pierce and Arkani-Hamed.

Also, it was very nice of you to bring up Jacques Cousteau . I grew up listening to his under-sea video clips :)

Tolga,

Here are some important, early characters of history:

Thales, philosophy.

Socrates, universals.

Plato, theory of sensible things vs. forms (objects of mathematics, which are permanent and unchangeable).

Herodotus, history with imagination.

Aristotle, biology, logic and philosophy.

Archimedes, geometry and approximation.

Pythagorus, finitude, unity, infinity, existing by imitating numbers.

Euclid, geometry (axioms, parallel lines, prime numbers).

Tolga, you're welcome. I look forward to your posts on any of the reading. Happy to have included Jacques Cousteau, the only one I know who has studied the undersea and even though a program for adults when I was growing up, that show caught and held my attention.

I always admire Marie Curie and her family.She rose from the most challenging circumstances, carried out all the famous expts that brought her two noble prizes, never thought of a well equipped lab, lost her husband at an younger age, without patenting she gave everything to humanity, and above all she risked and lost her precious life due to radiation, She groomed one of her daughters to get a noble prize.Today Curie family is the only one that stands highest in number in Noble histototy.

Another person is Linus Pauling.His research and his care for humaniity are noteworthy examples in science.

I can cite a more but leave it to others.

http://neobotanists.blogspot.in

http://scientifichomeremedies.blogspot.in

http://curing-fungal.blogspot.in

Thank you for this thought provoking discussion. Regards.

The first one that comes to my mind is Leonardo Da Vinci..

He is a painter over all things but besides his beautiful work of art I think he was a visionary... as an engineer and inventor he dreamed of things no one else could even imagine to be achieved by mankind.. he wanted to fly, to drive... he was way ahead of his time... for me that is fascinating... I think someone that can imagine things so much 'out of the box' is a real genius.. the kind that show you things you didn't know you'd love until you see them... that's inspiring :)

This is a cool question!

Most fascinating characters in history are definitely scientist! I can think of some eccentric characters in science that it is difficult to name

my favorite scientist: Francis Crick. True scientist. James Watson is pretty interesting character as well.

Physics major turned chemist for his PhD studies. He was rejected from cambridge for his undergraduate studies. At age 32 after doing military research he turned to genetics after learning about the gene; after discovering structure of DNA at the cavendish lab, attached to cambridge, he sought a faulty position in the United States. At age 60, he quite molecular biology to go into neuroscience; he died at age 88, editing a manuscript on his deathbed.

Wow ! Love the story of Francis Crick !

=============

Curie was already in my favorite list, but, I didn't include it in my top-5, since I am not a physics or chemistry guy :) Oh, BTW, I think Marie Curie is the only woman that won two Nobel prizes EVER. That's awesome ! I also didn't know that, she was Polish and was naturalized as French ... I learned so much from looking at people's answers to this question :)

=============

and Cinthya, I am definitely not the artsy kind :) But, I didn't know that, Da Vinci had so many scientific/engineering ideas. That's real cool. I always figured Da Vinci as an art person, but, he is a hardcore science guy too !

Dear Professor

Tolga Soyata

Really, very much interesting question you have asked. I like it very much, but I will write some answer later.

French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy which was the first, who formulate in 1854 the main Law of Continuum mechanics and Albert Einstein with general theory of relativity in which he was developed tensor calculus as the main paradigm for resolving Continuum mechanics problem. Researches in this area continues before today and would be continues actively in future.

Louis Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Bachelier, which was the first who formulate Option pricing problem in 1900 in PhD thesis The Theory of Speculation and Paul Anthony Samuelson who present this work for professional society only in 1959.

For me, the most “fascinating” scientists (not absolutely most important) are:

1. Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist Marie Skłodowska-Curie

2. Scottish physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell

3. French mathematician Évariste Galois

4. Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel

Sorry but for me Leonardo da Vinci was the greatest of all and besides being a scientist was also a genious and an artist!

Dear Tolga ,

I welcome your initiative

It is very difficult to restrict only to five figures in science , everything we've learned from them. For that reason I take the permission to include list five " schools of thought ' , where the number of participants is obviously something more than five . Nevertheless , all these ' streams ' have something in common, which ultimately encourages to science , all enabled us to better understand our reality. These currents are :

1. Logic and Philosophical : where I put in chronological order:

a. The Presocratics with their concepts of eidos ( which designates the looks of things , its manifestation or appearance ) and their opposed : ápeiron (representing deeper level , being ); atom (that which can be divided ) and their opposed: nous ( the eternal and infinite principle); logos ( universal law which records that natural processes subject to change), and their opposed : alétheia ( truth or make evident the occult ) .

b. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831) : of his wonderful work for analysis took his book : ' The science of logic ' (1812-1816) representing the Hegelian metaphysics.

This paper constitutes a journey through the logic of being, the essence and concept , Hegel, highlights the inability of formal logic to counter the contradiction inherent in the act of knowledge itself , which is evidenced for example, in the principle of the third excluded that by rejecting the contradiction, falls in it : something is A, or not A, and there is not another possibility, says that principle. That is, A must be + A or -A , which automatically including the third term, which is rejected: A, which is neither + nor - . From this proposal arises the dialectical logic . This dialectic essentially reveals that all things are contradictory and their identity precisely is given by the determination of the simple and immediate (the quantitative) static in nature, but also and simultaneously, by the contradictory that is the foundation of the dynamic (the qualitative).

c. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 - 1914): the contributions of this philosopher, logical and scientific North American have been substantial and remarkable originality. Founder of pragmatism and father of modern semiotics, Peirce, left us in his philosophical work, among other things, a three-tier system that circumscribe reality a loose woven fabric between the qualities, resistance and mediation. An approach very current topics like science, truth and knowledge. From his extensive work just boarded deeper, not so much the contributions he made to deductive logic, that were important, but those who are interested in the logic of science and more specifically, what he called abduction or hypothesis generation process that allows investigate unknown facts through facts that we know.

d. Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951) : This great thinker just took the only work published in his lifetime : Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921 - 1922) and he was accepted as a doctoral thesis in 1929 in Cambridge , which allowed to graduating as a Doctor of Philosophy . Wittgenstein as nobody had done and nobody else did , offered a different view of reality. His remarkable intelligence, which allowed some luxuries like not read Aristotle or Hegel , concocted a world whose boundaries were not in their components, but they were given by their language , that is, by its mode of life. Our reality is based , according to Wittgenstein's view, a lack of understanding of the logic of our language . Literal interpretations of this term has led to a number of misunderstandings and deceptions , of which some of them acquired such importance , that ended up being true linguistic specialties.

The significance of thought of Wittgenstein is reflected brilliantly when he says in his ' Treatise ' aims to draw boundaries in the expression of thoughts, but this limit must be imposed from within the same language , which ceases to have effect the pretense of apprehending reality as a whole finished . It is clear then that Wittgenstein does not refer to what we all understand by language, but one who , without being obvious , tells us all that our language shuts up. Reality, in this great little book, is expressed in what is not said in it, as well as concerns its author in the final aphorism : ' What we can not speak better shut up '; in this 'shut up' is where I found the subjective reality in where operates the logic that account for it .

2. Mathematics:

a. Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805 - 1865) was a mathematician, physicist, Irish astronomer, who made important contributions to the development of optics, dynamics, and algebra. His discovery of the quaternion with Hamilton's work in dynamics are his best known works. This last work was later instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics, where a fundamental concept called Hamiltonian bears his name. In 1831 he presented the theory of conjugate functions, or algebraic couples, where he showed that associated with addition and multiplication, form one body algebraic structure that takes a number of features that identify it as a useful tool to study real numbers, rational numbers and complex numbers. In 1835 defined the 'time' as the beginning and basis of numerical unity, establishing algebra as the 'science of time'. He invented the operator 'nabla' which, when applied to a vector function gave a quaternion. The latter, as evidenced by the Transcursiva Logic, describes the logic of a universal language.

b. Evariste Galois (1811 - 1832) was a French mathematician. While still a teenager, was able to determine the necessary and sufficient condition, so that a polynomial be solved by radicals. Dio solution to an problem no one had been able to solve in more than 3500 years with the new concept of the group of permutations. Thanks to his discoveries, could generate an algebraic structure named for ' Galois connection ' . Galois connection : can roughly say that it is a particular way of contrast of two concepts through another opposition. If two concepts belong to different categories and one of them better known , through the topology can establish a homomorphism between the two categories , that is, compare them. If two pairs of concepts that are seen in each pair , as opposed functions are taken , and if one of these pairs , for example : subject - object , we want to establish a relationship of concurrent opposition , ie , where both elements, despite being mutually exclusive for classical logic, are present at the same time , will can be opposed through of other opposition of the same features . This allows comparison and establishment of algebraic structure, discovered by Galois in 1832 : the group. This group meets with a number of features that validate the relevance of the comparison between these pairs and can prove that two opposing concepts can be seen without being exclusive. This interpretation of the Galois connection enables the relationship between the objective ( the known) and the subjective ( the unknown ) , suggesting that the subjective should also correspond somehow to the real facts.

3. Physics

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) by demonstrate that reality is not all it seems. By using the Lorentz transformations he explained how everything changes if one uses different reference systems to analyze the same phenomenon. Demonstrated that there is a 'time dilation', which appears in two circumstances: a) in the theory of special relativity, where they are considered clocks moving relative to an inertial system (the hypothetical stationary observer), so that clock work is slower. Is the time dilation by speed, with reciprocal caracter and explains the relative simultaneity, and b) in the theory of general relativity, where the clocks which are subject to higher gravitational fields, mark time more slowly. Gravitational time dilation, non-reciprocal basis.

4. Biology

James Watson and Francis Crick because they transformed biology with the discovery of DNA in 1953, and they took the first step in what would later will be progress of the human genome and cloning of organisms. But mostly, because they demonstrated the existence of a universal language that governs life.

5. Psychology

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) beyond that is known or not Freud's ideas, and even if known , is being or disagree with them , his theory of the structure and functioning of the psyche remains, to now , the only existing . It could be argued that this theory lacks adequate neurobiological support and that , given the impossibility to prove it, can not be accepted in the scientific field . From the above arguments, the first is false , since as can be checked in my book PSYCHE , Freud was ahead in decades to several CNS researchers, whose discoveries were nominated or deserved a Nobel Prize. As to the second argument, is by halves true , because although not based its findings on laboratory experiments, he developed a argumentative plot, so complete and magnificent , which using a suitable tool, makes of her the more purest science.

If you had to pick 5.

1.) Francis Crick; biography given above. Definition of a true scientist.

2.) Linus Pauling; 2 time noble prize winner turned Vitamin C cancer killing promoter. Probably the most eccentric chemist ever.

3) Isaac Asimov; most interesting man on the interface of science/writing/education.

4) Einstein; definition of eccentric

5) oppenheimer: pretty interesting character mixing politics/science; built the atomic bomb then spent a lifetime fighting the banning of nuclear weapons.

For me, the 5 most fascinating scientific characters of history are the scientists who invented the following discovery:

1) John Jacob Abel, U.S., 1897 who invented the Adrenaline (isolation of).

2) Louis Pasteur, Jules-François Joubert, France, 1887; (discovery of penicillin, first modern antibiotic) Alexander Fleming, England, 1928; (penicillin's infection-fighting properties) Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, England, 1940.

3) Karl Benz, Germany, 1885 who invented the Automobile: (first with internal combustion engine, 250 rpm); Gottlieb Daimler, Germany, 1885 (first with practical high-speed internal combustion engine, 900 rpm)

4) Evangelista Torricelli, Italy, 1643 who invented the Barometer.

5) John Napier, Scotland, 1614: who invented the Calculating machine (logarithms: made multiplying easier and thus calculators practical)

I think its Charles Babbage,Father of computer.

Dear Dr. Tolga,

The list that you have mentioned in your question is perfectly okay. But you have included names from mathematics only!

Anaxagoras of Clazomenae

499 BC - 428 BC

Anaxagoras was a Greek mathematician famed as the first to introduce philosophy to the Athenians. He was imprisoned for claiming that the Sun was not a god and that the Moon reflected the Sun's light.

Euclid of Alexandria

about 325 BC - about 265 BC

Euclid was a Greek mathematician best known for his treatise on geometry: The Elements . This influenced the development of Western mathematics for more than 2000 years.

Zu Chongzhi

429 - 501

Zu Chongzhi was a Chinese mathematician and astronomer. He introduced the approximation 355/113 to π which is correct to 6 decimal places.

Yativrsabha

about 500 - about 570

Yativrsabha was a Jaina mathematician who gave a description of the universe which is of historical importance in understanding Jaina science and mathematics.

Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi

about 790 - about 850

Al'Khwarizmi was an Islamic mathematician who wrote on Hindu-Arabic numerals and was among the first to use zero as a place holder in positional base notation. The word algorithm derives from his name. His algebra treatise Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala gives us the word algebra and can be considered as the first book to be written on algebra.

Abu Bekr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Al-Karaji

953 - about 1029

Al-Karaji was an Islamic mathematician who wrote about the work of earlier mathematicians and who can be regarded as the first person to free algebra from geometrical operations and replace them with the type of operations which are at the core of algebra today.

Sir Isaac Newton

1643 - 1727

Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. He laid the foundation for differential and integral calculus. His work on optics and gravitation make him one of the greatest scientists the world has known.

Leonhard Euler

1707 - 1783

Leonhard Euler was a Swiss mathematician who made enormous contributions to a wide range of mathematics and physics including analytic geometry, trigonometry, geometry, calculus and number theory.

Albert Einstein

1879 - 1955

Einstein contributed more than any other scientist to the modern vision of physical reality. His special and general theories of relativity are still regarded as the most satisfactory model of the large-scale universe that we have.

Werner Karl Heisenberg

1901 - 1976

Werner Heisenberg did important work in Quantum Mechanics as well as nuclear physics.

Clearly this is going to be a long list. For some, the actual work seems to be the main criterion for inclusion. For others elements of character - persistence, eccentricity-and so on- go along with their scientific achievements. I confess a fascination with some of the almost made it. For example, Rosalind Franklin, whose work, by some accounts anyway, was ruthlessly exploited by Watson in unraveling the structure of DNA.

Madame Curie .The conditions under which she and Pierre Curie worked day and night,months after months before they could extract tiny quantities of radium and Polonium out of tonnes of mineral Pitchblende,are legendary and well known.Her philosophy did not stop her with discovery of the radium but she saw to it that is used for therapeutic and other application.

As First Female physical metallurgists,Madame Curie studied the magnetic properties of several varieties of steel, and in that process to establish the correct composition of steels and their heat treatment that could give uchanged magnetic properties over a long time.

Marie Curie quotes:-

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.”

"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."

"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done."

"There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth."

"I am one of those who think like Nobel, that humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries."

http://www.livescience.com/38907-marie-curie-facts-biography.html

1. Socrates is famous for his life as well as his death. He worked out the principle of rational thinking, philosophical dialogue,strengthened belief in objective truth.To him, philosopher's mission is like "maieutike". Poor, brave, he had never accepted graft from his disciples.He took poison himself. "The culture of intellect can make people kind, because kindness itself is knowledge".They say,"there is no more independent, reasonable, trustful person, than Socrates"

2. Sir A.Flemming (H.Florey, E.Chain). My father, being a little child during WW II, fell ill with complicated form of "utriculitis" and was taken to MASH. A doc had a right to use penicillin for wounded soldiers only. Penicillin, being highly rare,was on list "A" and was kept in the safe.The doc took the responsibility and helped the child with penicillin and saved the boy. For arbitrariness the doc could be shot.

3. D.S.Likhachov, philologist, art critic, was an active defender of culture, propagandist of morality and spirituality, as well as ideals of peace and interaction of national cultures.In 1928-1931 he was sentenced as a political prisoner in Solovki (for his report on "old Russian orthography, which was trampled upon by the enemies of the Religion and Russian people"), during WW II he participated in the Blockade of Leningrad. He was Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences, Honoris causa, Honorary member of the Universities in France, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Scotland, England,Italy, the USA, Yugoslavia, Germany, Austria, Serbia.He is a pride of Russian people and intelligentsia

4. Mahatma Gandhi was a fighter for independence and freedom, a greatest peace-maker and philosopher (satyagraha)."Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed"

5, 6. L.S.Vygotsky (cultural-historic theory of higher mental functions development; a structure of consciousness is a dynamic semantic system, which is in combination of affective, volitional, intellectual processes) , J.Dewey(empiricism, instrumentalsm, pragmatic methodology in Logic and theory of knowledge) are the most popular in pedagogy, psycholinguistics, sociology, psychology all over the world.

Many names have come up in this discussion. I would like to suggest that the discoverer of the modern sanitary bathrooms should be at the top of the list. Could you please try to imagine the city of New York for example, without the modern sanitary bathrooms? I feel, this was the greatest of all scientific discoveries. Who exactly was the discoverer is perhaps not known, and nobody seems to have counted him as a discoverer!

Hemanta: While modern sanitation methods improved health throughout the world, they are irresponsibly wasteful of limited resources of clean water. Someone should think of a more sensible alternative. The same is true of the private car which burns the limited resources of gasoline. When will we reach a sustainable balance between our comfort and the future of the planet and the human race?

1. Leonardo da vinci :- He was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer and a lot of things..Although he is well known for his paintings but has significantly contributed in others domains also he was the first who conceptualised the idea of flying machines, tank, concentrated solar power ,scuba dives and a lot of things..

2. Socrates :- He is one of the founders of Western philosophy,..his legacy was folloed by his disciples Plato and Xenophon .

3. Issac Newton:- From beginning i am hearing this name in all most every domain from calculas , physics , optics ,fluid .clearly he has done a ton of work in scientific field then any other...

4. Albert einstein :' Well known for his work in modern physics..

@Tolga, it is never late to answer, right! Here is my choice:

1. Albert Einstein (with Mileva Einstein) for Relativity Theory,.....,

2. Nikola Tesla for many inventions like alternating current electricity supply system, telecontrol, polyphase system....

3. Isaac Newton for gravity and three laws of motion, achievements in both physics and mathematics

4. Dmitri Mendeleev for Periodic Law, his version of the periodic table of elements...

5. Marie Skłodowska-Curie for the research on radioactivity

@ Cj Nev : "Nima Arkani-Hamed, possibly the next Einstein." In another discussion thread I also refered to Nima Arkani-Hamed and his "revolutionary" mathematical-physical theory of positive Grassmannians and Amplituhedra. After looking in the bible of contemporary physics, the 2005-book "The Road to Reality" of Sir Roger Penrose, especially his second last chapter 33 "More radical perspectives; twistor theory" my conclusion is a bit sobering: most ingredients of Arkani-Hamed's theory are follow-ups on ideas and theories originally proposed by several other physicists, including and especially Sir Roger Penrose, the creator of twistor theory, one of the cornerstones of the new theory. So its more of an evolution as a revolution, and admittedly still "under construction". And it is certainly not the only contender in the field ...

Dear friend Tolga, dear folks!

The more I delve into the research without ever leaving aside the education (teaching) and outreach activities, the more I marvel at God's presence. So I can not ever fail to mention (in my area of ​​research), the famous Louis Pasteur. Among his greatest achievements and discoveries, he always made it clear that religion and science should go together, without excluding each other. Louis Pasteur wrote, “A little science estranges men from God, but much science leads them back to Him.”

Paul, Quite true.

Dear Tolga,

I am a biologist. Though the entire thing comes under the main subject "science", there are many contributors who have devoted their life for science and are now legendary figures in their own areas of scientific discipline. We have heard from our childhood many great names to which some of the biggest discoveries in science are owned. As I passed from my schooling to college and finally towards PhD, the subject biology fascinated me a lot. Being a biology person, i would like to discuss the role of the great british biochemist Dr. Fredrich Sanger, father of genomics.

Please see some facts about him: (data from Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Sanger

Frederick Sanger, OM, CH, CBE, FRS, FAA /ˈsæŋər/ (13 August 1918 – 19 November 2013) was a British biochemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry twice, one of only two people to have done so in the same category (the other is John Bardeen in Physics), the fourth person overall with two Nobel Prizes, and the third person overall with two Nobel Prizes in the sciences. In 1958, he was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry "for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin". In 1980, Walter Gilbert and Sanger shared half of the chemistry prize "for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids". The other half was awarded to Paul Berg "for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant DNA".

During World War I,Madame Curie collected money and vehcle, and established 20 mobile X-radiology stations apart from a large number of stationary units, to detect location of the embedded gunshots inside the bodies of the soldiers so that timely surgery would be possible at the correct locations of the bodies -thus saving lives -

thus saving lives and minimising disfigurement..To fulfill the objective of the venture,she trained her daughter Irena to assist her,and150 women to work with these units.She volaneered to do this in order that she could seve France(her adopted country) during war.This show her indomitable spirit and enterprise.

@Paul Vossen: ...After looking in the bible of contemporary physics, the 2005-book "The Road to Reality" of Sir Roger Penrose, especially his second last chapter 33 "More radical perspectives; twistor theory" my conclusion is a bit sobering: most ingredients of Arkani-Hamed's theory are follow-ups on ideas and theories originally proposed by several other physicists, including and especially Sir Roger Penrose, the creator of twistor theory, one of the cornerstones of the new theory.

Many thanks for calling attention to Roger Penrose's book. In addtion to the important things that you mentioned, there is another side to the story, namely, Penrose tiling with remarkable properties:

1. non-periodic (the tiling lacks translational symmetry).

2. self-similar (any finite patch from the tiling occurs infinitely many times).

3. quasi-crystal (its diffractogram has fivefold symmetry and long-range order).

For an example of a Penrose tiling, see the attached image.

Paul,

for more about Penrose tiling, see

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

Paul,

Here is something else about Penrose tiling. Using pspicture (from the pstricks package) in LaTeX, it is possible to display penrose titings within a document (see the attached sample Penrose titlings from my Topology of Digital Images book).

Here is the LaTex script used to produce the attached image:

\begin{figure}[ht]

\centering

\begin{pspicture}(3,3)

\psframe[fillstyle=penrose](3,3)

\end{pspicture}\quad

\begin{pspicture}(3,3)

\psframe[fillstyle=penrose*,fillcolor=red!30,hatchcolor=blue](3,3)

\end{pspicture}\quad

\begin{pspicture}(3,3)

\psframe[fillstyle=penrose,psscale=0.5,fillcolor=red!30,hatchcolor=blue](3,3)

\end{pspicture}\\[10pt]

\rput(-4.25,3.15){\textcolor{black}{\normalsize $\boldsymbol{t3}$}}

\rput(-4.25,2.45){\textcolor{black}{\large $\boldsymbol{t2}$}}

\rput(-3.65,2.45){\textcolor{black}{\large $\boldsymbol{t1}$}}

\rput(-3.35,1.85){\textcolor{black}{\large $\boldsymbol{a}$}}

\rput(-0.15,2.45){\textcolor{black}{\large $\boldsymbol{m1}$}}

\rput(3.895,1.65){\textcolor{black}{\normalsize $\boldsymbol{r1}$}}

\caption[]{Spatial $\mathfrak{P}(t1)=\left\{t1,t2,t3,a\right\}$ \& Descriptive $\mathfrak{P}_{\Phi}(t1)=\left\{t1,m1,r1\right\}$}

\label{fig:penrose}

\end{figure}

"Most fascinating scientific characters in history" - as a theme is becoming increasingly colorful. If we take "Most fascinating" in the context of impact and influence of certain scientific thought processes which brought literally a paradigm shift then five tall figures come immediately to my mind-two of them were related to earth sciences, two with Physics and one with Political Economy. All of them were born in nineteenth century and yet their findings remain so modern and strong that there is no visible sign of reduction in interest about the implications of their research outcome. 1. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) for his 1859 work 'On the origin of species' where he explains natural selection as the basic mechanism of life. 2. Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) for his continental drift theory which subsequently gave rise to "Plate Tectonics". 3. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) for his Theory of relativity rescuing Physics from the Newtonian understanding of the universe. 4. Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)-for his fundamental results in the field of quantum theory which formed the basis of wave mechanics. 5. Karl Marx (1818-1883)- His research on the formation of capital, mode of production, forces of production has inspired millions who wanted liberation.

why every one is forgetting 'Faraday' the greatest experimenter of all the time ! without experimenters theoretical science has no value, everything would be just as vague.

"The greatest German" (philosophers)

Dear Irina,

Interesting post! Who would you consider the greatest German philosopher?

Dear James,

I have been to my favorite Leipzig, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Konigsberg, Heildelberg...- a lot of places with the greatest Universities.E.G.A.Husserl, M.Heidegger, F.W.Nietzsche,I.Kant, H-G.Gadamer, K.T.Jaspers, J.Habermas, G.W.F.Hegel- are great German philosophers.It's very difficult to choose only one.

Dear Irena,

Since I. Kant influenced each of the other philosophers in your list, would you then say that Kant was the most influential German philosopher?

Dear James,

G.W.Leibniz - is a trailer of Philosophy of the 17-th century (monadology), and I.Kant is a forefather of German classical Philosophy."The top ideal of humanity is connection of virtue and happiness" or "All human knowledge consists of experience and intellect" or "Human spirit strives for the top ideals of soul, world, and God" "So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world"Besides, I.Kant, being an immortal theorist of knowledge and morals, was a trustful, moral, human being, strict to himself by nature.You are right, James! Such a unique personality!

Irina,

Excellent post! Here are other German philosophers to consider:

Gustav Fechner, founder of psychophysics.

Christian Freiherr von Wolff, rationalism.

Friedrch von Schelling, artistic creation (unity of conscious and unconscious).

Arthur Schopenhauer, rival of Hegel, world as will and representation.

The question for this thread continues to inspire lots of great discussion.

@Emanuel: Paul Julius, baron von Reuter, original name Israel Beer Josaphat (born July 21, 1816, Kassel, Electorate of Hesse [Germany]—died Feb. 25, 1899, Nice, France), German-born founder of one of the first news agencies, which still bears his name.

A very interesting part of Reuter's life is his acquaintance with Carl Friedrich Gauss:

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/paul-julius-reuter/#gsc.tab=0

At the age of 13, Reuter became a clerk in his uncle's bank in Gottingen and became acquainted with Gauss.   It was Gauss's experiments with telegraphy that prompted Reuter to consider the value of speedy transmission of information.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=9tUrarQYhKMC&pg=PA2066&lpg=PA2066&dq=math+%22Beer+Josaphat+%22&source=bl&ots=24AuSUdEgI&sig=imWWiFA-0SoAnXZbOOwXsbLTWrQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=71M-VPXpC46oyAT33oHYCg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=math%20%22Beer%20Josaphat%20%22&f=false

The women whom science forgot

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33157396

Our article published in peer-reviewed Journal "Communicative & Integrative Biology". A few major points discussed in the paper:

(1) Brain is not the source of consciousness.

(2) Consciousness is ubiquitous in all living organisms, starting from bacteria to human beings.

(3) The individual cells in the multicellular organisms are also individually cognitive entities.

(4) Proposals like “artificial life”, “artificial intelligence”, “sentient machines” and so on are only fairytales because no designer can produce an artifact with the properties like internal teleology (Naturzweck) and formative force (bildende Kraft).

(5) The material origin of life and objective evolution are only misconceptions that biologists must overcome.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19420889.2015.1085138