Albert Einstein is the greatest physicist of all time, according to a survey of 100 leading physicists conducted by Physics World (the journal of the British Institute of Physics). In second place is Isaac Newton, closely followed by two other founding fathers of physics, Galileo Galilei and James Clerk Maxwell. However, seven of the ten are 20th-century particle physicists. Bohr, Rutherford, Dirac, Schrödinger, Heisenberg and Einstein himself were all major players in the great quantum revolution, which took place in the early years of the 20th century. Richard Feynman, in 7th place, epitomizes the emergence of modern field theory.
The votes for most important discoveries of all time went to quantum mechanics, Newton's mechanics and gravitation, and Einstein's relativity. The respondents were also asked what were the greatest unsolved problems in physics. Quantum gravity, high-temperature superconductivity and consciousness were among the choices, although one wit replied "getting tenure". PW
Top 10 physicists of all time
1. Albert Einstein 2. Isaac Newton 3. James Clerk Maxwell 4. Niels Bohr 5. Werner Heisenberg 6. Galileo Galilei 7. Richard Feynman 8. Paul Dirac 8. Erwin Schroedinger 10. Ernest Rutherford