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Newton more important than Einstein: poll
PhysOrg.com ^ | 23 November 2005 | Staff

Posted on 11/23/2005 6:04:12 PM PST by PatrickHenry

Newton, the 17th-century English scientist most famous for describing the laws of gravity and motion, beat Einstein in two polls conducted by eminent London-based scientific academy, the Royal Society.

More than 1,300 members of the public and 345 Royal Society scientists were asked separately which famous scientist made a bigger overall contribution to science, given the state of knowledge during his time, and which made a bigger positive contribution to humankind.

Newton was the winner on all counts, though he beat the German-born Einstein by only 0.2 of a percentage point (50.1 percent to 49.9 percent) in the public poll on who made the bigger contribution to mankind.


Albert Einstein may have made the discoveries that led to nuclear and solar power, lasers and even a physical description of space and time, but Sir Isaac Newton had a greater impact on science and mankind, according to a poll published Wednesday.

The margin was greater among scientists: 60.9 percent for Newton and 39.1 percent for Einstein.

The results were announced ahead of the "Einstein vs. Newton" debate, a public lecture at the Royal Society on Wednesday evening.

"Many people would say that comparing Newton and Einstein is like comparing apples and oranges, but what really matters is that people are appreciating the huge amount that both these physicists achieved, and that their impact on the world stretched far beyond the laboratory and the equation," said Royal Society president Lord Peter May.

Pro-Newton scientists argue he led the transition from an era of superstition and dogma to the modern scientific method.

His greatest work, the "Principia Mathematica", showed that gravity was a universal force that applied to all objects in the universe, finally ruling out the belief that the laws of motion were different for objects on Earth and in the heavens.

Einstein's supporters point out that his celebrated theory of relativity disproved Newton's beliefs on space and time and led to theories about the creation of the universe, black holes and parallel universes.

He also proved mathematically that atoms exist and that light is made of particles called photons, setting the theoretical foundations for nuclear bombs and solar power.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: alberteinstein; crevolist; einstein; isaacnewton; newton; physics; principia; science
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To: All

Come on now...this is sooooo obvious...if it weren't for Newton, we wouldnt know that we were hanging upside down , feet planted...or would we?


281 posted on 11/24/2005 11:10:12 AM PST by kajingawd (" happy with stone underhead, let Heaven and Earth go about their changes")
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To: PatrickHenry
I just noticed. This is the 400th thread I've posted on this website.

I'm sure the Grand Master of Darwin Central™ will arrange a suitable award for your accomplishment....

282 posted on 11/24/2005 11:14:56 AM PST by longshadow
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To: Ichneumon
We can still view "naive physics" or "folk physics" as being as necessary to the emergence and evolution of actual science, as genes are to the evolution of life. I've recommended the book The Cognitive Basis of Science here before as an excellent introduction to such ideas, and I'm recommending it again.
283 posted on 11/24/2005 11:16:50 AM PST by RightWingAtheist (Free the Crevo Three!)
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To: Melas
"If my theory of relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew."--A. Einstein
284 posted on 11/24/2005 11:19:20 AM PST by RightWingAtheist (Free the Crevo Three!)
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To: longshadow
I'm sure the Grand Master of Darwin Central™ will arrange a suitable award for your accomplishment....

I'll be allowed to affix a fourth condor feather to my tri-cornered hat.

285 posted on 11/24/2005 11:20:04 AM PST by PatrickHenry (Expect no response if you're a troll, lunatic, dotard, or incurable ignoramus.)
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To: PatrickHenry

Einstein did not invent the A-bomb. He did devise Relativity, which is even more illusory than Newtonian mechanics.


286 posted on 11/24/2005 11:25:48 AM PST by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: PatrickHenry; Doctor Stochastic; snarks_when_bored; Physicist; 2ndreconmarine
I've read that while special relativity was "in the air," so that someone else would have come up with it,....

IIRC that Hilbert had independently developed many of the same insights when Einstein published his Theory of Special Relativity. The may have even been some collaboration between the two before SR was published.

287 posted on 11/24/2005 11:27:32 AM PST by longshadow
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To: furball4paws
Newton and Gallileo worked by themselves and without significant competition.

Pressures were just as intense in Newton's day, and more personal. It was cutthroat competition, literally.

288 posted on 11/24/2005 11:28:41 AM PST by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: PatrickHenry
I'll be allowed to affix a fourth condor feather to my tri-cornered hat.

Given the achievement and the Holiday, a turkey feather would be more apropos....

;-)

289 posted on 11/24/2005 11:30:55 AM PST by longshadow
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To: RightWingAtheist
Pascal came up with Pressure equation P= F/A and the universal unit for pressure is Pascal. He is one of the greatest physicists of all times.
290 posted on 11/24/2005 11:37:29 AM PST by jveritas (The Axis of Defeatism: Left wing liberals, Buchananites, and third party voters.)
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To: Right Wing Assault

What about Mr. Wizard?


291 posted on 11/24/2005 11:40:06 AM PST by Democratshavenobrains
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To: jveritas

Mersenne should not be overlooked.


292 posted on 11/24/2005 11:40:22 AM PST by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: Democratshavenobrains

Mr Wizard was important. Science education lacks a Mr Wizard these days, and the popularity of science suffers as a result.


293 posted on 11/24/2005 11:42:17 AM PST by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: PatrickHenry

ooops; that was the General Theory, not SR, that Hilbert had independently derived the field equations for gravitation.


294 posted on 11/24/2005 11:44:06 AM PST by longshadow
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To: RightWhale

" Pressures were just as intense in Newton's day, and more personal. It was cutthroat competition, literally."

Heck, he might have been jailed for his work in alchemy alone. (Though alchemy became legal again in his lifetime.)


295 posted on 11/24/2005 11:44:31 AM PST by Sam Hill
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To: Sam Hill

Those were tough times in Jolly Old England. The King was beheaded and all his cronies were in danger. It was nearly every man for himself. Newton was tough and used every available tool to keep his position, rode roughshod over competitors.


296 posted on 11/24/2005 11:50:17 AM PST by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: jveritas
The Newtonian laws of Physics have vastly more profound impact on science and engineering and vastly more applications than Einstein theories. Newton is the greatest scientist of all times period. Einstein should not be even in the top 5.

You obviously are not a physicist. This is a silly poll and even a sillier comment. If there are two peers that tower over all others in the world of physics it is these two. Relative importance given the separation in epochs and intervening development is impossible to establish. Einstein's ability to reason from prosaic observation to extremely profound truth is unmatched in science, and his contributions have been every bit as significant to the modern world as Newton. Of course you have to have read some of Einstein's papers to understand the true subtlety and profundity of his reasoning.

297 posted on 11/24/2005 11:50:29 AM PST by AndyJackson
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To: RightWingAtheist
Gibbs is probably the greatest American-born scientist of all time.

Better than Feynman?

298 posted on 11/24/2005 11:51:01 AM PST by InterceptPoint
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To: Mogollon
Newton later published his version of calculus which turned out to be more useful in physics, engineering, etc.Actually it is Leibnitz's notation that we use for the most part in practical applications to this day.
299 posted on 11/24/2005 11:52:01 AM PST by AndyJackson
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To: jveritas

I won't argue that Pascal was a great scientist, certainly in the top ten or even five greatest mathematicians of all time. But his direct contributions to physics were limited to the study of atmospheric pressure, and his most important contribution to physics, his enunciation of the laws of probability, was indirect, a consequence of his work in pure mathematics.


300 posted on 11/24/2005 11:53:53 AM PST by RightWingAtheist (Free the Crevo Three!)
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