• Question: who are your favourite scientists and why

    Asked by imnotagingerscientist to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 13 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by crazygrl123, akukharuk99.
    • Photo: Charlotte Brassey

      Charlotte Brassey answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      Nice question! I would say Stephen Jay Gould was my favourite scientist (he died in 2002). Not only was he a great evolutionary biologist and palaeontologist, but he was a fantastic author of ‘popular’ science books. He wrote a regular column in the Natural History magazine, and he even appeared in the Simpsons!

      He is probably most famous for his theory of ‘punctuated equilibrium’, which basically suggests that life on earth evolved by a series of sudden jumps, followed by periods of quiet. Before this, everyone believed life on earth just kept evolving at a slow and steady pace.

      He has also written some really nice articles about how science and region can co-exist and reach a broad agreement.

    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I love Nikoli Tesla, mainly as he is one of the most incredibly interesting men to have ever lived.

      I admire Richard Dawkins, mainly for his conviction in his work and his noble attempts to make more people aware of Evolution by Natural Selection.

      Charles Darwin, the man himself! I have to love the man who came up with the single most important idea in the history of Biology.

      Daniel Mills – he’s my supervisor, so putting him here will earn me brownie points.

    • Photo: Valeria Senigaglia

      Valeria Senigaglia answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I admire Darwin and Dawkins as well.

      I love Niko Tinbergen, considered the father of ethology (the study of animal behaviour), he wasn’t that good at school because he spent all his life looking at animals and he discovered some of the most amazing things by just having an open mind.

      I also envy Ronald Fisher who decided to apply game theory to animal behaviour…that was genius!

    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      My favourite scientist is Sir David Jack, he discovered many great medicines and was a truly inspirational man.

      Gregor Mendel who was the founder of the most fascinating subject of genetics. There are so any greats but genetics has always been a subject I have found really interesting.

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