Top 10 scientists in world today

Scientists are perhaps the most influential people in the world today. They are responsible not only for the great practical advances in medicine and technology, but they also give us a deep understanding of what the world is and how it works. Ranking the world’s greatest contemporary scientists may be a no-win proposition, with inevitable questions about how to evaluate one’s contribution over another. So here’s a debatable list of top ten scientists from around the world who have made a great impact on our lives. 

Stephen Hawking

 

Any credible list has to begin with Hawking, who has earned this position not only because of his brilliant mind for theoretical astrophysics as well as the personal battle he has valiantly and successfully waged against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  He is also renowned for his work as a science popularizer, writing the best-selling book “A Brief History of Time”. Appearing on Star Trek doesn’t hurt, either.

Timothy Berners-Lee

 

It would be hard to argue against the guy who invented a little something called “the world wide web” being on this list. Timothy Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist, knighted by the Queen Elizabeth II for his pioneering work. He is especially famous for his proposal to share information by using the technology of hypertext, the cornerstone of the world wide web.

James Watson

 

James Watson is an American molecular biologist and geneticist, known as the co-discoverer of the double helix structure of the DNA in 1953 - a fact for which he was awarded a Nobel Prize. He has remained in a high profile position both as the first director of the Human Genome Project as well as his involvement in a race controversy a few years ago.

Jane Goodall

Goodall has spent nearly half a century studying chimpanzee behavior in Tanzania and is well known to many around the world for her advocacy of the animals. She has appeared in films and there have been numerous TV series about her work, including on HBO, PBS and Animal Planet.

Alan Guth

 

 

An American theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Guth developed the theory of cosmic inflation. Winner of the Fundamental Physics Prize and the Kavli Prize, Guth came up with groundbreaking ideas in inflationary theory, discovering why the cosmos is as large as it is.

Ashoke Sen

 

An Indian theoretical physicist, Ashoke Sen won numerous international awards for his work including the Fundamental Prize in Physics in 2012. He has made significant contributions in string theory, with field-changing research.

James Hansen

 

Like others on this list, Hansen has gained notoriety partly through controversy, and he is clearly a lightning rod in the climate science debate. To many scientists and environmentalists, he is a hero, forcefully speaking out about what they believe needs to be done. To others, he is loathed. But again, he is known.

Noam Chomsky

 

U.S. linguist and firebrand political activist, Noam Chomsky has influenced the world in many fields. Described as "the father of modern linguistics," Chomsky is also one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. While writing 100 books and leading a broad intellectual life, Chomsky is known as an outspoken critic of American foreign policy.

Elizabeth Blackburn

 

An Australian-American molecular biologist, Blackburn won the Nobel Prize in 2009 for her research on anti-aging, in particular on the benefits of lengthening telomeres - a structure capping and protecting chromosomes. Blackburn co-discovered an enzyme called telomerase that replenishes the telomere.

Richard Dawkins

 

Many love him. Many loathe him. Many know him. Dawkins has gained widespread fame for his outspoken views on evolution and writing books with titles like The God Delusion. If the criteria are, “Have you heard of him before,” and my purposes it is, Dawkins has to rank high on any list.