Greatest genius in history vote

[Alex Woehr]

I do think we should quantify what we mean by a "genius." IMHO, a genius is someone whose brain is so fine-tuned that he can look at a simple, multiple variable problem with constraints and perform, nearly instantaneously, numerous logical transformations to solve it. In this definition, the scope, quality and quantity of one's overall work is more important than the actual influence of individual ideas. By this definition the list above should be amended as follows:
Strike Aristotle, Napoleon, Jesus (not to be sacriligeous, but being omniscient excludes Him from this poll), Darwin, Plato, Shakespeare and Tesla,
Keep Einstein (with reservations, his rejection of quantum indeterminacy is glaring), Mozart, Newton and Da Vinci (benefit of the doubt),
Add J.S. Bach, Orlando di Lassus, C.F. Gauss, Leonhard Euler, Archimedes, J.C. Maxwell, Niels Bohr, Bertrand Russell, Richard Feynman and John Neumann.

From my list, I am torn between Bach, Euler and Maxwell.

[Vince278]

I agree with most of your list but I would also add Steven Hawking.

[Jon Miller]

is smart.. but not the greatest ever (most physicists don't consider him the smartest phycisist alive today, and that doesn't include the great ones of the past)

JM

[Jon Miller]

if you want to add a current phycisist, add Ed Witten

JM

[Vince278]

I also like Brian Greene and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (but that may be a personal bias).

[Jon Miller]

(own goal protection on)

KH was refering to the fact that pretty much everybody who don't really know much about physics, but is impressed by it, think that Hawking is the greatest physicist ever

and that most physicists don't agree... (I have to listen to other physicists about many things, as cosmology (And string theory) are areas I know little of, but I generally form my own conclusions about areas I know some about, and listen to others about areas I know little of)

now I do know something of quantum mechanics (And field theory), and classical mechanics

and so I know that Newton was very smart, as was Feynman (and can't forget Fermi, and Dirac)..

I also know some of condensed matter theory, and would say that Landau was incredibly smart also

JM

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Vince278




Bias: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

That you disagree with something does not automatically make it wrong.

What a maroon.

[Jon Miller]

err, sorry, didn't mean to put words in your mouth

JM

[Whaleboy]

Krazyhorse:

"He's more intelligent than me and wasn't a physicist"

I wonder if a tranquiliser dart would suffice to shut someone up, being so insecure about the potency of his own intellect he would compare one of history's greatest thinkers to a kid with a crayon

[KrazyHorse]

Who are you quoting?

[Ecthy]

Neumann

[Provost Harrison]

*ahem* And where am I on this list?

[Dauphin]

You are the last on the list, if you want.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Neumann

Paul? The man behind salad dressing?

[Spiffor]

Nice troll thread