• Question: Who is your favourite famous scientist?

    Asked by ilovenisalocal to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 17 Mar 2011. This question was also asked by amyyhall.
    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      Hi,
      A great question! Who’s your favourite scientist?

      Mine is probably Gregor Mendel. He did lots of experiments on plants to see how some characteristics (tallness, green seed, etc.) are passed on to the next generation. He laid the groundwork for a lot of the genetics that we study today.
      He’s a pretty interesting guy and did some great science!

      Eoin

    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      Hi Ilovenisalocal

      Can I have more than one? From hundreds of years ago I would pick Galileo, not only because he made some amazing discoveries about the solar system, but also because in doing so, he was brave enough to risk his life by challenging the ancient views of the church. And from recent times I would pick Rosalind Franklin. She did some crucial studies that helped Watson and Crick work out the structure of DNA, but sadly died soon after and so missed out on a possible share of the Nobel prize. And finally, I’ll go for Stephen Hawking. He has an incredible brain and has contributed so much to our understanding of the origins of the universe.

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      good Question – although i’m not sure who mine is!
      I guess Einstein is pretty amazing – but maybe a little too amazing!! he did so much that it’s hard to relate to him.
      Darwin is pretty good – he seemed to be a normal guy, who just worked hard at a good idea (evolution of course!).

      But really i’m an engineer (yes i’m on the wrong website!), and my hero is isambard kingdom brunel. He was an victorian engineer, who achieved so many things.Like being the first to build a tunnel under water, and the first proppeller driven ship. An incredible guy.

    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Loads of favourite scientists involved in the discovery of DNA, and some of the people I work with know I think are just flat out fantastic scientists.

      In terms of famous ones though, I really like Darwin. Not only did his ideas fundamentally change how we understand the world, he was also a really cool scientist, doing experiments all his life and thinking them through carefully and insightfully. Very impressive scientist.

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Well, Stephen Hawking of course has to be one of them. He is an amazing theoretical physicist, and has overcome such adversity to be a world leader in his field. I’m also a huge fan of Professor Robert Winston who has done some great work promoting public engagement with science through his documentaries the human body, and child of our time.

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