• Question: who do you believe is the most intelligent person- science wise- in the world?

    Asked by Rasik_npl to Ed, Kerrianne, Nina, Oli, yoyehudi on 7 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Kerrianne Harrington

      Kerrianne Harrington answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      I would obviously be biased and pick a physicist. In that case, it would have to be the cliche answer of Einstein. His name is synonymous (to have similar meaning) with the idea of genius, I don’t know of any other person that can claim that! It’s deserved I think. His contributions to science are pretty important to us now, and were very original.

    • Photo: Oli Wilson

      Oli Wilson answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      I don’t know! I think real genius (science-wise, at least) lies in being able to think of or do things that other people just can’t – it’s more than simply being better than others at stuff. For that genius-level intelligence you’d want to look at pioneers like Stephen Hawking or, as Kerrianne says, Albert Einstein who were able to come up with ideas way beyond anyone else.
      There are also tonnes of amazing scientists who never really get the limelight they deserve: consider Ibn al-Haytham (aka Alhazan) – he wrote 100+ books on maths, physics and astronomy, and explained why we think the moon looks bigger nearer the horizon. No big deal, you might think, but he lived *1000 years ago*!! Oh, and he also developed the scientific method. What a hero. You can read more about him and other trailblazing women and men who deserve more fame here: http://discovermagazine.com/2017/may-2017/unsung-heroes

Comments