I hate such sweeping claims, for they force me to denigrate great figures and achievements. Curie definitely is not the most important scientist since Darwin. The way this article writes off Einstein is laughable. As if her work wasn’t made possible by previous breakthroughs, too.
Three major turning points overhauled our understanding of physics as a whole since Newton: field theory, relativity, and quantum mechanics. The first was close enough to Darwin not to qualify, perhaps, though I think James Clerk Maxwell’s most important ideas may have come after 1859 and On the Origin. Einstein is responsible for the second, and there’s a reason he’s maybe the best known scientist ever, unless that’s Newton. Various names suggest themselves related to quantum theory: Planck, Einstein again, Bohr, Fermi, Dirac, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, etc.
There’s always Rutherford. Freud is famouser than any others besides Einstein, though I don’t count him as a scientist. What about Mendel, who also was Darwin’s contemporary, but remained un- or little-known until the turn of the century?
And what about Marie Curie’s admiration for Communism? It was reported in Arthur Rubenstein’s second book, “My Many Years.” Such beliefs hardly strike me as a “Wonder Woman” type character.
Uh, Tesla??
As far as sheer total benefit to humanity, Tesla was out in front of ALL your examples. The harnessing of alternating current was one of THE major PRACTICAL advances made by humanity.