Who Am I: 4 Greatest Physicists Of All Time You Need To Know

Everyone is familiar with the Physics discipline and its teachings, but how much do you know about the laureates who have aided us in understanding the universe? Yes, we’re talking the great men of perhaps the most fundamental scientific discipline of all time. Here are four of the most eminent physicists of all time that you should know and would have probably came across at least once in a physics tuition.

Isaac Newton

Ingenious working models of clocks and windmills were common works produced by Isaac Newton throughout his formative years. According to papers, Newton had not been the brightest student from the get-go. Things took a swerve when Newton refused to allow himself to be bested by a school bully, and he showcased his gift in academia by quickly transforming into a top student.

Newton eventually enrolled in the University of Cambridge’s Trinity College, where he gravitated strongly towards advanced sciences beyond the standard curriculum. Newton’s innumerable discoveries and inventions include the universal law of gravitation, the three laws of motion, the seminal laws of optics, and the branch of mathematics, also known as calculus.

Albert Einstein

Lauded as ‘heir to Isaac Newton’, Albert Einstein is a name synonymous with genius. So acclaimed is he that it is difficult to imagine anyone who has not heard of his brilliant mind. Throughout his school days, Einstein was consistently at the top of his class and demonstrated prodigious Science and Mathematics prowess. A prodigy who mastered differential and integral calculus before he was 15, Einstein developed the theory of relativity, the law of the photoelectric effect, and made pivotal contributions to the development of quantum mechanics, among many others.

Following his death, Einstein’s brain was removed for preservation by pathologist Thomas Harvey, in the hope that the neuroscience of the future would discover what made Einstein so intelligent.

Galileo Galilei

The Father of Modern Science, Galileo Galilei, had considered the priesthood as an adolescent. At his father’s urging, Galileo enrolled at the University of Pisa, where he was set to pursue a degree in medicine. While studying medicine, Galileo was captivated by a swinging chandelier in a cathedral. Using his pulse as a mode of measure, Galileo discovered that the chandelier took the same amount of time to swing back and forth regardless of amplitude. The knowledge fascinated Galileo and thus prompted his decision to switch to study Mathematics.

Galileo’s discoveries include the founding principle of inertia, the relativity of motion, the parabolic trajectory of projectiles, and many astounding celestial discoveries, such as the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, the rings of Saturn, and heliocentrism.

Blaise Pascal

Born in France, Blaise Pascal was a homeschooled prodigy who produced the “Essay on Conics” — known today as Pascal’s Theorem — at the mere age of 16. Pascal’s work demonstrated such precocious talent that eminent mathematician René Descartes was convinced it was not a work of a 16-year-old child.

Pascal’s intellectual genius and experimentations resulted in the world’s first digital calculator, the invention of the syringe and the hydraulic press, and the development of the first public transportation system in Europe, among many others.

Conclusion

History is written by the winners, and it is no understatement to say that these incredible names above have shaped the world that we see and live in today. To dive further into their studies and theories, enrol in a JC Physics tuition that can support your interest and analyse the vital role of physics in our lives.