If you want to say that Einstein is the greatest scientist, then some people will disagree, because Einstein is a junior scientist in the history of science after all, and even Newton said that he just stood on the shoulders of giants. This can be traced back to ancient Greece, when the germination of scientific thought benefited from Euclid and Archimedes. Therefore, they are the greatest scientists.
The classic photos of the last century are full of great scientists.
But some people will say that there was no complete scientific methodology at that time, but only a preliminary logical thinking system was established. To say that scientific methodology and experimental science are the contributions of Newton and Galileo, then according to this statement, Galileo and Newton are the greatest scientists.
The greatest scientists have different candidates from different angles. Let's just list the great scientists directly. There is no biggest, only bigger is more appropriate.
Euclid, Archimedes, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Darwin, Maxwell, Euler, Gauss, Planck, Bohr, Riemann and others (including mathematicians and physicists), of course, the list is certainly not comprehensive, I hope you can add some.
When it comes to great scientists, we usually think of Newton, Einstein, Galileo and so on first. Moreover, because people can think of them at the first time, mainly because they are so famous. At the same time, what is the root of their fame? This is their role in the scientific community and their contribution is too great. Therefore, judging whether a scientist is great, in my personal opinion, is to what extent his scientific research achievements have had an important impact on the whole scientific community. So what is my personal ranking?
Newton's gravity and his three laws of motion basically laid a scientific view of the basic physical world in the future, which effectively promoted the development of the physical revolution. In people's future physical manufacturing and satellite operation calculation, many of them are inseparable from his theory. It can be said that in the next three centuries, his contribution laid a thick foundation stone for the whole physics circle, and this foundation stone provided a strong reference for the future physics and life. At the same time, its creation in calculus has also made great contributions to the study of power series, although the existence of calculus has made many college students revisit it again and again.
Why should I put him in the second place? Because I personally think electric light is too important. Although he didn't invent the original electric light, after thousands of attempts to improve it, he finally invented the tungsten filament incandescent lamp, which is still in use today. Of course, there are phonographs and movie projectors, which are indispensable in our daily life at present. If it weren't for the existence of these antique "high-tech" in earlier years, we might not have electronic equipment that could be upgraded to such a modern level.
Everyone knows Einstein's theory of relativity. If Newton's contribution is to find out the law of motion on the surface of an object, then Einstein's contribution is to find out the essence of the law of motion of an object. Newton's theory is suitable for analyzing the life of science, while Einstein's theory is more suitable for explaining the future of science. In the past, science needed Newton's theory to pave the way, but now, even in the future, science needs Einstein's theoretical support more.
Nikola tesla's reputation is comparable to that of any inventor, even a scientist. It is self-evident that the design and invention of its alternating current have an impact on the world today, and some revolutionary research and inventions in the field of electromagnetic field have laid an important cornerstone for contemporary wireless communication and radio.
We all know that Madame Curie was the discoverer of radium. She initiated the theory of radioactivity and invented the technology of separating radioactive isotopes. Under her guidance, people used radioisotopes to treat cancer for the first time, which is very important for current medical care.
Doctor of physics, talk about your own ideas.
This problem is unscientific at first, because it is difficult to quantify and compare the contributions of scientists in different fields. Freud or Galileo, who contributed more, is a tangled problem.
If we only talk about the physical field, it is difficult to define the great boundary and rank the great degree. The contribution of scientists in different periods is inseparable from the development of the times. It is said that Newton's calculus and three laws are great, but the experimental theory and mathematical analysis behind them have been developed for a long time before Newton. Newton's inspiration came not from apples, but from the shoulders of giants, or the labor achievements of countless predecessors plus Newton's small step, which constituted a big step forward for mankind. Another example is special relativity. Before Einstein put it forward, Lorenz had come to such a close result that Einstein's conclusion seemed so natural. Maxwell, for example, has a strong mathematical foundation, so he can sum up many Maxwell equations in electromagnetic theory, but he can't do without the contributions of Faraday and Lorenz.
If we have to give a definition, great scientists have solved the problems that have puzzled many scientists for a long time. By this standard, Newton, Einstein, Bohr and Maxwell are all on this list.
We can refer to Landau ranking to answer this question:
Landau refers to the concept of "magnitude" in astronomy and ranks the contributions of all physicists (logarithmic scale):
0 equals Newton.
0.5 Waiting for Einstein
1 equals Bohr, Heisenberg, Dirac and Schrodinger.
Landau originally listed himself as 2.5, and later revised it to 2.
Landau kept a list of physicists, and he sorted the list from 0 to 5 according to the logarithmic scale of productivity. The highest ranking, 0, was assigned to Isaac Newton. Albert Einstein ranked 0.5. 1 was awarded to niels bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Saten Bose, paul dirac and Irving Schroeder, the founders of quantum mechanics. Dinger and others. Landau rated himself as 2.5 points, but later raised himself to 2 points. David Moming mentioned this measure when writing an article about Landau, and ranked himself fourth in the article "My Life with Landau: A Tribute to 4.5 to 2".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Landau#Landau's_List
As for nikola tesla, considering that his contribution has been expressed in physical units, it is undeniable that he is indeed a great scientist, but there is no recognized great theoretical and scientific achievements, and more is the exploration in the engineering field, so it is not discussed in the category of physicists.
I think Einstein is the greatest scientist in my mind. Because I'm a huge fan of his. Einstein's theory of relativity. I think this is the greatest theory. Without the theory of relativity. Atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs can't be built. Relativity can predict many things. Like a black hole. Black holes have now been proved to exist. Such a great theory. Only relativity can bear it. So I think Einstein is the greatest scientist. This is just my personal opinion. Because you said this question. If you can only choose one, who do you think is the greatest scientist? Of course I want to choose my idol. Einstein.
Many people think that the greatest scientists are Newton, Einstein, Galileo and so on. I'm just making some comments on these three.
Newton discovered the law of gravity, which was later called the law of gravity, and recently saw the gravitational relationship between the earth and the moon. Take the gravitational relationship between the earth and the moon as an example:
The tide caused by the reaction force, the apple fell to the ground by centripetal force.