Not so long ago, people used to communicate through letters that would sometimes take weeks to arrive to their destination. Diseases such as Malaria, Polio, and Chickenpox would kill millions of people. Life was difficult simply because of the fact that many of the tools we have today didn’t exist back then. Thanks to some of the most brilliant scientists in the world, life changes on a daily basis – for the better. While it is not remotely possible to acknowledge all of the most brilliant minds in this small space, this article highlights and honors a few of these incredible geniuses.
Albert Einstein
No mention of the world’s top scientists would be complete without the mention of Albert Einstein. This German born scientist was indeed one of the brightest minds that ever roamed the earth. In 1921, Einstein invented the photoelectric effect and won the Nobel Prize. He also proposed the special theory of relativity, which changed our understanding of physics. Other notable inventions by Albert Einstein include the general theory of relativity, and the wave particle duality. Einstein is usually rated among the most influential physicists of all time.
Tim Berners Lee
Tim Berners Lee is an English computer scientist who is best known as the father of the World Wide Web. Mr. Lee was knighted by the Queen Elizabeth for this revolutionary work, which redefined technology and changed everything from communication to access to information and resources. In addition to inventing the ‘www’ concept, Tim Berners Lee also made the first website in 1991.
Alan Guth
Alan Guth is an American cosmologist and theoretical physicist who researched elementary particle theory and its applicability to the universe. Guth won the Kavli Prize and the Fundamental Physics Prize after his groundbreaking work developing the theory of cosmic inflation – which explains why the universe is as large as it is.
Jennifer Doudna
Doudna is most famous due to her work on CRISPR, which is genome-editing project that generated a lot of interest over the last few years. This invention – made alongside French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier – has been one of the most important scientific discoveries in decades. Jennifer has at one time been ranked among TIME’s most influential people.
Shinya Yamanaka
Born in Higashiosaka, Japan, Shinya Yamanaka is a Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher who discovered (along with another researcher) that existing cells could be converted to stem cells. Mr. Yamanaka is a professor at Kyoto University in Japan, where he is in charge of the Center for iPS Research and Application.
These scientists are not necessarily the best of the best but just a representative of people who have changed science and technology as we know it. Numerous other names – hundreds of brilliant mind from all corners of the world – have been recognized in the media and by professional bodies for their groundbreaking innovations.