• Question: Who is your favourite scientist?

    Asked by anon-217303 to Savannah, Philippe, Lucy, Joanna, Harrison, Edoardo on 7 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Harrison Prosper

      Harrison Prosper answered on 7 Jun 2019:


      This is very difficult! But, if I had to choose, it would be Albert Einstein. In my opinion, his theory of gravity is the most beautiful theory of physics.

    • Photo: Edoardo Vescovi

      Edoardo Vescovi answered on 8 Jun 2019:


      It’s difficult to name one, as many contributed to what we know now in diverse times and ways. I pick Galileo Galilei for his effort to explain what marks the difference between modern science and other parts of our knowledge. For example, math as the language of science, the observation of nature before thinking why things are the way they are, the importance of making questions and test our ideas through experiments. If you like theatre, a nice way to learn more about his personal life and discoveries is the play “Life of Galileo” by Brecht.

    • Photo: Philippe Gambron

      Philippe Gambron answered on 8 Jun 2019:


      I’m not going to be very original. I will give the classical answer: Einstein.

      What he did was quite unique. From two simple ideas, he created a beautiful theory that is still being proven by the observation of the gravitational waves produced during the collision of two black holes.

      And that was quite a mind-boggling theory. He went as far as questioning space and time. This has had crazy consequences like time slowing down or space being bent.

      No one else did that. Usually great scientists do their bit then someone else builds upon that and goes further. But, here, he created such a beautiful theory just by thinking. Few people, perhaps even no one, have been so insightful.

    • Photo: Savannah Clawson

      Savannah Clawson answered on 10 Jun 2019:


      This is a crazy difficult question! There are so many people I could choose like Marie Curie – the first woman to win a Noble prize and the only person to ever win a Noble prize in two different subjects (physics and chemistry).

      I think I am going to say Stephen Hawking partly because of his amazing contributions to our understanding of black holes (I don’t think I will ever get my head around how space can just swallow up everything around it, including light) but also because of the amazing personal battles that he faced throughout his lifetime. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his early 20s which slowly paralysed him but never gave up and still managed to be one of the most influential scientists of our time. He also had a great sense of humour and even made a guest appearance in the Simpsons! Sadly, he passed away in March last year – I am upset that I never got to meet him.

    • Photo: Joanna Huang

      Joanna Huang answered on 10 Jun 2019:


      Ahhh this is so hard!! I really don’t think I can pick one, because almost all the scientists I know in my day to day life are so incredible in their respective fields. And as you can see from the other answers, Einstein, Galileo, and Marie Curie all had crazy achievements, and they’re just a few amongst hundreds of others. That’s kind of the beauty of science, it’s so broad that everyone does different things. And as corny as this sounds, it somehow comes back together like puzzle pieces to form a beautiful picture of our universe. Maybe my favourite scientist will be future you! ;D

    • Photo: Lucy Budge

      Lucy Budge answered on 11 Jun 2019:


      I’m not sure I have a favourite scientist but there are many women throughout history that have had to work really hard to even learn about science, let alone make some amazing discoveries. Some of these include Emmy Noether, Rosalind Franklin, Jocelyn Bell-Burnell and so many others! Many of whom didn’t receive the recognition they deserved (Nobel Prizes and the like).

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