A list of the top 10 scientists of all time with short profiles on their most significant achievements.

1. Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726) Newton was a polymath who made investigations into a whole range of
subjects including mathematics, optics, physics, and astronomy. In his Principia Mathematica, published
in 1687, he laid the foundations for classical mechanics, explaining the law of gravity and the laws of
motion.

2. Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) Pasteur contributed greatly towards the advancement of medical sciences
developing cures for rabies, anthrax and other infectious diseases. Also invented the process of
pasteurisation to make milk safer to drink. He probably saved more lives than any other person.

Galileo3. Galileo (1564–1642) Creating one of the first modern telescopes, Galileo revolutionised our
understanding of the world, successfully proving the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other
way around. His work Two New Sciences laid the groundwork for the science of Kinetics and strength of
materials.

4. Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish physicist and chemist. Discovered radiation and helped to apply it in
the field of X-ray. She won the Nobel Prize in both Chemistry and Physics.

5. Albert Einstein (1879–1955) Revolutionised modern physics with his general theory of relativity. He
won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1921) for his discovery of the Photoelectric effect, which formed the
basis of Quantum Theory.

6. Charles Darwin (1809–1882) Darwin developed his theory of evolution against a backdrop of disbelief
and scepticism. He collected evidence over 20 years and published his conclusions in On the Origin of
Species (1859).

7. Otto Hahn (1879–1968) Hahn was a German chemist who discovered nuclear fission (1939). He was a
pioneering scientist in the field of radiochemistry and discovered radioactive elements and nuclear
isomerism (1921). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944.
8. Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Tesla worked on electromagnetism and AC current. He is credited with
many patents from electricity to radio transmission and played a key role in the development of modern
electricity.

9. James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Maxwell made great strides in understanding electromagnetism.
His research in electricity and kinetics laid the foundation for quantum physics. Einstein said of Maxwell,
“The work of James Clerk Maxwell changed the world forever.”

10. Aristotle aristotle (384 BCE–322 BCE) A great early Greek scientist who made many types of research
in the natural sciences including botany, zoology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology and
geometry.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Ten Greatest Scientists” Oxford, UK – www.biographyonline.net. Published

12th Jan. 2011. Last updated 2 March 2018.

Notable missing scientists

Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) – English scientist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetic
induction, diamagnetism, electrolysis and electrochemistry. Discovered Carbon and Chlorine.

Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) Scottish biologist who discovered penicillin. Shared Nobel Prize in 1945
with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain, who helped produce penicillin on a large scale.

dimitri-MendeleevDmitri Mendeleev (1834 – 1907) Russian Chemist. Formulated the Periodic Law and
standardised the Periodic Table of Elements which is still used today. Mendeleev wrote Principles of
Chemistry (1868–1870) a classic textbook for many decades.