Engineering is
fundamentally different from science, but one cannot exist without the other.
Science starts from a
physical system and tries to develop a descriptive model.
While engineering tries to
develop a physical system from a descriptive model.
So these domains are
different, but they intersect.
It is not surprising,
then, that scientists are the originators of the most commonly used principles
in engineering.
Among them, who are the greatest
of all time? We have compiled a list of the 12 most famous inventors.
Greatest scientist: Albert Einstein
Considered the father of
relativity, Einstein introduced the first relativistic equations in 1905.
He was then 26 years old
and worked for a patent office in Bern.
His theories and discoveries
in the field of physics multiplied over the decades.
He is the one who was able
to explain the Brownian motion of molecules.
He contributed to the
development of quantum theory and explored the thermal properties of light at
low radiation density.
His theories were used in
the foundation of the theory of light photons.
Einstein received a Nobel Prize
in Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.
But he would have deserved
a hundred more!
Without Einstein's
contribution, no physicist, in the whole world would have accomplished
anything.
Famous philosopher: Aristotle
Aristotle is first
scientist known as a philosopher: a master of rhetoric and logic.
But he also contributed
greatly to the field of science.
He mastered biology,
zoology, political science, physics and even metaphysics.
He was known for his
collection of plants and animal specimens.
This helped him to
establish his theory of the chain of life.
Much of his work has not
been preserved.
Greatest mathematician: Archimedes
Archimedes contributed to
the field of science by creating the laws of levers and pulleys.
By discovering one of the
most essential concepts in physics called the center of gravity.
By calculating the most
accurate value of pi before the invention of electronic calculators.
By proving the formulas
for the volume and surface area of a sphere and designing a device to pull
water out of the ground.
By showing how exponents
can be used to write larger numbers, and explaining the concept of buoyancy and
other concepts of hydrostatics.
Greatest artist: Leonardo da Vinci
This artistic work
gradually became a scientific career in its own right.
Despite his lack of
education in the subject, Leonardo managed to become an inventor, even if he
only gained recognition from his peers posthumously.
He even imagined tanks and
helicopters centuries before they were invented!
Greatest Italian scientist: Galileo
This Italian scientist and
academician made crucial observations that greatly contributed to the birth of
modern astronomy and physics.
His work on the telescope
was the most revolutionary.
Discovering that the Earth
orbited the Sun - and not the other way around - his discoveries earned him
fierce opposition from the Church.
Galileo also contributed
to the science of motion, including the formulation of inertia, the law of
falling bodies, and parabolic trajectories.
His research on the
solidity of materials also advanced the scientific world.
Greatest English physicist: Isaac Newton
As you probably know, Isaac
Newton is the genius behind the law of gravity.
He also developed the
three laws of motion in mechanics, infinitesimal calculus and the discovery of
the components of white light.
Newton laid down an
important part of modern science.
Most of his theories
remained valid until the advent of quantum physics and the theories of
relativity.
English chemist: Michael Faraday
These experiments led to
the introduction of concepts such as magnetic lines of force, which are now
commonplace in modern physics.
He also demonstrated the
principle of induction, which was later used to create the dynamo and the
generator.
Scientist Woman with Nobel: Marie Curie
One of the most famous scientists
in history, Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics
in 1903.
Also, she is the first to
win a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1911.
Her research in
radioactivity, as well as her discovery of radium and polonium, was the basis
for modern methods of radiography.
Her research contributed
greatly to many inventions and discoveries.
Greatest French chemist: Louis Pasteur
This French chemist and
microbiologist is one of the founders and the famous scientists of medical
microbiology.
He is known for creating
pasteurization, a process where bacteria are destroyed.
He discovered this process
after finding that microbes were responsible for the acidification of alcohol.
His work on germs also led
to the creation of vaccines for anthrax and rabies.
Greatest innovation of Alan Turing
The field of artificial
intelligence and computer science would never have been possible without the
work of Alan Turing.
Turing proved in 1936 that
there is no universal algorithmic method for determining the truth in
mathematics.
Mathematics always
contains undecidable propositions.
But it is his famous
machine, ancestor of the first computers, which opened the way to the
calculation and the calculability that we know today.
Greatest Scottish physicist: Clerk Maxwell
This Scottish physicist is
known for his formulation of the theory of electromagnetism.
It is by starting from the
work of Michael Faraday that he arrived there.
Maxwell's work and his famous
equations contributed to Einstein's theory of relativity.
Einstein himself praised
them.
Greatest pioneer of electrical field: Tesla
Considered by many to be
the father of electrical engineering, Nikola Tesla had no traditional
scientific education.
But nevertheless made a
significant contribution to the scientific world.
He developed the
alternating electric current system, the rotating magnetic field, and invented
the Tesla coil.
These discoveries are
still in use today.
Tesla is also known for
his legendary conflict with Thomas Edison, another pioneer of electrical engineering,
who favored direct current over alternating current.
This conflict prompted him
to found his own laboratory, where he worked on X-rays, electrical resonance
and much more.
However, despite all his
work, Tesla died in poverty, having no business sense.
