• Question: Who is your favourite scientist?

    Asked by carlotaarche to katy, Anais, Lauren, Richard, Stuart on 10 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by Sergio Ehlis, andrealaba.
    • Photo: Stuart Atkinson

      Stuart Atkinson answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      There are a few I am interested in.

      Isaac Newton was a brilliant physicist and mathematician. Just think that in 1665 he was sent home from university to avoid the black death, and whilst at home he invented calculus! (very useful branch of maths) He also developed a model for understanding gravity, that was unchallenged until Einstein, and is still used today.

      Einstein was also a pioneer, mainly because he seemed to take ideas from different branches of physics and apply thought experiments to them eg what would happen if you were on a train travelling at the speed of light and you shone a torch – would the light come out of the bulb or would it just sit there unable to move as the train was already moving so fast?

      Mendeleyev and Henry Moseley are also favourites of mine for the work they did in creating the periodic table.

      If I had to chose I’d probably say Newton.

    • Photo: Lauren Laing

      Lauren Laing answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      I also have a few:

      – Watson and Crick: They were first to describe the molecular structure of DNA!!!

      – Jacques Cousteau: He developed the SCUBA lung, which means now we can carry a tank on our back and go diving!!!

      – Marie Curie: She conducted pioneering research on radioactivity! She was also She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris!!!!

    • Photo: Anais Kahve

      Anais Kahve answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      There have been so many amazing scientists! I would chose Alexander Fleming as my favourite scientist because he discovered one of the world’s first antibiotics called Penicillin. This compound saved millions of people’s lives over the years. What is even more amazing (and ironic) is that he discovered penicillin by mistake! Many discoveries in science happen by mistake, like Isaac Newton and the apple falling on his head!

    • Photo: Richard Friend

      Richard Friend answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      I think the work that Michael Faraday did with electricity was really important. I like how he basically came from a poor background but his inquisitiveness spurred him on to discover all sorts of things. It goes to show that if you work hard enough you can succeed, regardless of where you started from.

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