The Pathfinders of Science

Aftenposten Viten: Hvem er de virkelig store vitenskapsmenn gjennom historien?

Besides the Nobel Prizes and similar mundane honors, two plus three marks of distinction distinguish the noblest of the noble among scientists; those contemplating scouts who walked the paths for others to follow.

I have applied five criteria in two groups:

“True greatness is when your name is like ampere, watt, and fourier—when it's spelled with a lower case letter.”

― Richard Hamming (1915-1998)

According to my calculations, there are two scientists in the top pier with four points:  Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday.

The second tier with three point comprises six scientists:

Niels Bohr, Charles-Augustin Coulomb, Pierre Curie, Albert Einstein, Carl Friedrich Gauss and James Clerk Maxwell.

The third tier with two points comprises 21 persons.

172 persons have one point; summing up to 203 pathfinders in this compilation.

Moreover, some locations are distinguished for the discovery and/or naming of chemical elements

Compiled and curated by Tor G. Syvertsen — CopyLeft (2015-∞)