Vote who you think is/was THE greatest American.

[KrazyHorse]

It's not like there haven't been great American physicists. Einstein being there is silly.

Put up Feynman (if you want to go 100% American) or Fermi (if you want an import who did great work as an American).

[notyoueither]

Maybe the fact that he immigrated to the US is important to them.

[notyoueither]

Incidently, he did more than write a single letter.

[KrazyHorse]

So did Fermi. Einstein was not an American physicist.

Nobody in physics considers him one.

[notyoueither]

This is Americans speaking of themselves. It is not a physics club poll.

[KrazyHorse]

This is Americans exposing their ignorance of physics.

Not that any other nation would do any better...

[notyoueither]

It has nothing to do with in depth knowledge of the subject.

What about Bell being a great Canadian?

[KrazyHorse]

Bell wasn't a great Canadian. But at least he did some of his work in NS

[notyoueither]

That's not what a lot of Canadians say. They claim him with a lot less merit than the Yanks claim Einstein.

[notyoueither]

Besides, is Einstein a great German?

Where do you put someone who fled for his life from a regime? Do you put him with the nation he fled from or the one he fled to?

[Ramo]

A nation isn't the same thing as a state.

[Ben Kenobi]

Yeah, I have to agree with Krazyhorse. What made Einstein influential is his work in Germany.

[SpencerH]

When I said I voted for Einstein earlier, I was being sarcastic, but no-one batted an eyelid. Greatest "american" give me a break! Of course, the show is hosted by Matt Lauer, so what can we expect. I guess we're lucky that John Lennon wasnt on the list. After all, he died in america. Also, Ghandi visited for a couple o days and took in the sights ............

[KrazyHorse]

Hah. Reagan made the top five.

My 3 were FDR, Franklin and Lincoln

FDR didn't make it. Sad, because he was the greatest president the US has ever had. I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you weren't going to appreciate him then you could at least have sent him north for us to use.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Reagan