ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Science => Topic started by: Archimedes on June 08, 2011, 08:31:57 am
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Please give reasons why.
Feel free to include others in your post. :D
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With only four options and a knowledge of science limited to 1st year chemistry and mathematics and 2nd year physics, it's hard to respond (I don't really think that Hawking deserves to be on the list though).
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Gauss or Euler, depending on my mood at the time.
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Seriously, Hawking?
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Where are all the biologists?
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Hawking wrote his book, that alone gets him on there.
Where are all the biologists?
We're still fighting to be classified as real science ;)
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Ed Whitten! Founder of string theory and the man trying to find the one equation that explains everything in our world!
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If its greatest impact, I think we've gotta go with Newton!
I mean mechanics and calculus came from him. Without him we wouldn't have cars, planes, VCE physics and methods (the wonderful things in life).
Einstein's theories don't really apply unless you're an astronaut or philosopher or astrophysicist.. I mean I'm not gonna be applying theories of relativity to the way I build a house or car.
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Einstein's theories don't really apply unless you're an astronaut or philosopher or astrophysicist.. I mean I'm not gonna be applying theories of relativity to the way I build a house or car.
The most common day-to-day application of relativity is in GPS.
It also applies in nuclear fission/fusion (so therefore military technology and nuclear power etc.) and in particle accelerators. People who work in those fields are not astrophysicists, astronauts or philosophers. Those aren't really day-to-day stuff for most civilians though.
-not saying that Einstein has had as great of an impact as Newton, just pointing out there are applications of relativity.
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Yeah, sorry should've rephrased :\
That's what I meant, they don't really apply to everyone :)
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My vote goes to this guy.
He might of not discovered anything that revolutionary but he saved a shitload of people and almost no one knew he existed.
"(Because of Borlaug) Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply."
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If we are talking about the greatest paradigm shift, you should probably put down Copernicus and Galileo.
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If we are talking about the greatest paradigm shift, you should probably put down Copernicus and Galileo.
+1
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First instincts make me veer into Newton, but his work was only timeless because the social circumstances of his time allowed him to prosper ('modern' religion evolved in Britain - much more secular than pre-Renaissaince). Don't go crediting all of calculus to Newton, it was Leibnitz who did a lot of it - yes they both did it at the same time oblivious to each other, but leibnitz did a lot of the heavy lifting. Though that's a judgemental statement, it's all relative and Newton deserves some credit for it.
Einstein was great in that he jumped out of the realm of intuition and ruined physics being easy and fun forever.\
I'd be inclined to put my vote in Galileo... because it was his development of Copernicus' work that gave Newton a jolly good start. (Though I'm not sure of this?)
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I vote Newton. Despite wasting most of his ferocious intellect on bible studies, in his spare time he still managed to revolutionise physics and mathematics.
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I vote Newton. Despite wasting most of his ferocious intellect on bible studies, in his spare time he still managed to revolutionise physics and mathematics.
vote mr banks man, in his spare time he accidentally the moon
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Claude Shannon anyone?
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I vote Newton. Despite wasting most of his ferocious intellect on bible studies, in his spare time he still managed to revolutionise physics and mathematics.
+1, me too
EDIT: Hawking? No
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With only four options and a knowledge of science limited to 1st year chemistry and mathematics and 2nd year physics, it's hard to respond (I don't really think that Hawking deserves to be on the list though).
yeah, hawking definitely doesn't even deserve to be there.. He's only just in the top 10 physicists of the past decade or so
Why not Hawking? He popularises science, while still having a brilliant mind, which deserves some recognition. And science definitely needs a place in the popular consciousness.
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First of all, Hawking should not even be on the list......if anything, Niels Bohr should be on for creating quantum mechanics. My vote would definitely have to go with Einstein, purely because of his intelligence and originality.
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+2 Newton for me aswell.
I vote Newton. Despite wasting most of his ferocious intellect on bible studies, in his spare time he still managed to revolutionise physics and mathematics.
vote mr banks man, in his spare time he accidentally the moon
He accidentally what the moon?
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If its greatest impact, I think we've gotta go with Newton!
I mean mechanics and calculus came from him. Without him we wouldn't have cars, planes, VCE physics and methods (the wonderful things in life).
Einstein's theories don't really apply unless you're an astronaut or philosopher or astrophysicist.. I mean I'm not gonna be applying theories of relativity to the way I build a house or car.
Calculus? I believe Leibniz deserves at least a bit of credit here.
EDIT: Also, Darwin should be on the list, he threw evolution in the face of a world where the Church owned Science. What a rebel.
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JJ Thomson takes the cake for me. He discovered the electron, which makes him the forefather of all quantum mechanics.
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JJ Thomson takes the cake for me. He discovered the electron, which makes him the forefather of all quantum mechanics.
shouldn't you say pudding?
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Rudolf Clausius, the term 'entropy' was coined by him. The law of entropy (2nd law of thermodynamics) applies to everything in this universe.
"A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different kinds of things it relates, and more extended is its areas of applicability. Therefore, the deep impression, which classical thermodynamics made upon me. It is the only physical theory of universal content concerning which I am convinced that, within the framework of applicability of its concepts, it will never be overthrown."
-Einstein wrote in his Autobiographical Notes (p. 33)
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Rudolf Clausius, the term 'entropy' was coined by him. The law of entropy (2nd law of thermodynamics) applies to everything in this universe.
"A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different kinds of things it relates, and more extended is its areas of applicability. Therefore, the deep impression, which classical thermodynamics made upon me. It is the only physical theory of universal content concerning which I am convinced that, within the framework of applicability of its concepts, it will never be overthrown."
-Einstein wrote in his Autobiographical Notes (p. 33)
Perhaps a great chemical engineer, but his description of entropy was rather lacking. (Sufficient from an engineering perspective, though that's about it.)
If we look at the applications of thermodynamics and advances thereof, Boltzmann and Gibbs would share the pioneer title in my opinion.
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voted for Newton, because his contributions led to the discoveries of others
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I believe Charles Darwin must be on the list. The scientists listed above have made great intellectual advancements, however, Darwin reconstructed a lot of people's views on life, and challenged the order of the church. No other scientist managed to observe our existence in a scientific manner as detailed and superbly as he did, and despite the magnificent minds of the Scientists listed above, and their excellent contributions to their field, Darwin's theory changed and still changes manages to change people's mindset on life and existence. Therefore I strongly believe that Darwin should be on this list.
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Newton is so mainstream
I vote for Abdul Raheem al-Keeb before he became the Prime Minister of Libya
I totes knew him before he sold out to like the corporations n dat