Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

ipodwheels · Dec 4, 2006, 10:43 AM

If you were to pick a person who is deserves to be an icon like einstein who would it be??

No one can deny that we are at a new renaissance. That of science and technology instead of the arts. Einstein has become an icon of ingenuity and wisdom. Today, we have prodigies coming out right and left making our lives easier with their ideas and inventions.

Y3a · Dec 4, 2006, 11:00 AM

Stephen Hawkings

None of your criteria match the work Einstein did.

ghporter · Dec 4, 2006, 11:01 AM

Steven Hawking. Hands down. Even Linus is not in Steven's league.

::maroma:: · Dec 4, 2006, 11:05 AM

None of those guys in your poll are in Einstein's league. I would also vote for Hawking.

Judge_Fire · Dec 4, 2006, 11:23 AM

Daniel C. Dennett.

miserereiam · Dec 4, 2006, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by Judge_Fire

Daniel C. Dennett.

While I really like this guy, and he provides a great philosophical outlook on life, and he's a great author, I wouldn't put him anywhere near Einstein.

sek929 · Dec 4, 2006, 12:25 PM

Hawking, this poll is dysfunctional.

turtle777 · Dec 4, 2006, 12:31 PM

This poll failed.

-t

Doofy · Dec 4, 2006, 12:37 PM

I vote for myself.

And who the heck is Kevin Rose? Axl's brother?

TheWOAT · Dec 4, 2006, 12:41 PM

Judge_Fire · Dec 4, 2006, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by miserereiam

While I really like this guy, and he provides a great philosophical outlook on life, and he's a great author, I wouldn't put him anywhere near Einstein.

Dennett's facial hair, though impressive, can't match Einstein's hairdo, either. I mainly chose Dennett because he tries to bridge disciplines and explain things in a positive manner. These times need constructive people.

turtle777 · Dec 4, 2006, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by TheWOAT

IMG]http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/8970000/8977747.jpg[/IMG]

Too big pic.

Tookination in 3...2...1...

-t

::maroma:: · Dec 4, 2006, 01:26 PM

By the way, worst list of people for the new Einstein ever.

Jobs? Gates? ROSE??

- - e r i k - - · Dec 4, 2006, 02:29 PM

What the **** is Rose doing on that list? I tried watching his Diggnation podcast one time. Unwatchable. Blech.

andreas_g4 · Dec 4, 2006, 02:54 PM

Is this some kind of Spam?

Oh, and yes - Hawkings.

turtle777 · Dec 4, 2006, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by andreas_g4

Is this some kind of Spam?

One could almost think.

How dumb.

-t

IceBreaker · Dec 4, 2006, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by TheWOAT

love the big pic btw

Yahoo Serious would have my vote

Dale Sorel · Dec 4, 2006, 03:15 PM

A bunch of business men versus the greatest physicist since Newton... please

Jawbone54 · Dec 4, 2006, 03:22 PM

Hawking. This poll was wee-tahded.

osiris · Dec 4, 2006, 03:46 PM

I say Hawking. This poll is meh.

Dakar² · Dec 4, 2006, 04:11 PM

Disregarding the sheer incompetence of the poll, Hawking himself has admitted he's no Einstein. Luckily, we're in a new century, so perhaps The Next Einstein™ will be discovered in 15 years.

Anand · Dec 4, 2006, 04:23 PM

What's the big deal with Einstein? Who has dramatically changed our scientific outlook in the last 50 years?

ghporter · Dec 4, 2006, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Anand

What's the big deal with Einstein? Who has dramatically changed our scientific outlook in the last 50 years?

To answer your question, a number of us have named him: Steven Hawking. (Y3a beat me at it by microseconds). We have a completely and enormously different idea of How Things Are, and How Things Work because of Hawking.

On another note, Steven Hawking has suffered from ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease) for somewhere around 40 years-which is unheard of. He was diagnosed in about 1962 at age 21... "Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. " Einstein only had to worry about wearing socks and not remembering where home was.

asd · Dec 4, 2006, 07:52 PM

Richard Feynman. Probably the gretest physicist since einstein and in my opinion greater than Hawking.

Dakar² · Dec 4, 2006, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

On another note, Steven Hawking has suffered from ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease) for somewhere around 40 years-which is unheard of. He was diagnosed in about 1962 at age 21... "Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. " Einstein only had to worry about wearing socks and not remembering where home was.

I saw a recent picture of him and was shocked to see how much further he has physically deteriorated. He used to select his sentences by taps of the hand... now he's down to blinks of his eye.

On the other hand, I believe the ALS was a Lance Armstrong-type situation for Hawking. He was an incredibly arrogant grad student, and once he was diagnosed it certainly changed both the focus and the pace of his life.

Ironically, other than black holes, his longevity may become his second legacy.

tie · Dec 4, 2006, 08:23 PM

None of them, and Feynman over Hawking.

alligator · Dec 4, 2006, 08:58 PM

Feynman gets my vote. I really do not consider Hawking that special. His ideas are interesting, but he's no Einstein.

ghporter · Dec 5, 2006, 08:00 AM

What of Feynman's work trumps Hawking's?

Dakar² · Dec 5, 2006, 08:01 AM

I don't know. Both had shuttles named after them on the Enterprise.

rickey939 · Dec 5, 2006, 08:26 AM

Ken Jennings.

vmarks · Dec 5, 2006, 09:09 AM

Feynman.

It's not just science, it's the whole man.

Einstein was a geniunely good person, a nice man. Feynman, likewise.

Hawking is one of the largest jerks on the planet. Divorced his wife of many years who stood by him as his health got worse, and married his battleaxe nurse. If ever you met him as I did in 1998, she's a larger brute than he is, but only by a small margin. Only this year is she divorcing him after years of allegations of abusing him. Her former husband (Dave Mason) was the fellow who made the voicebox for him so that he could communicate.

Perhaps I'm being a bit absurd by focusing on the rest of the person and not just their contributions, but I truly do value great results from good people more than I do great results from less than kind people - the whole measure, not just one portion of it.

Dakar² · Dec 5, 2006, 09:16 AM

I don't think it's absurd, but personally I find it largely irrelevant. Arrogance and/or eccentricity are a large part of the genius persona. Einstein's happen to be harmless and/or endearing, which only enhance his legend.

Gamoe · Dec 5, 2006, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by vmarks

Einstein was a geniunely good person, a nice man. Feynman, likewise.

Hawking is one of the largest jerks on the planet.

Originally Posted by Dakar²

Einstein's happen to be harmless and/or endearing, which only enhance his legend.

Actually, I've heard that Einstien was known for habitually cheating on his wife. He was quite a good looking lad as a young man and later in life. It was only in his older age that he didn't worry much about his appearance and reveled in the eccentricity of it all.

So, I'm not sure if you can judge Einstein any better or worse in that sense, though I do think that he was a good soul with a brilliant mind and noble dedication to his cause, but with flaws, like any human being. I don't know a great deal about Stephen Hawking's personal life beyond his unfortunate condition, but is he really "a jerk" beyond his marital issues?

As for "the next Einstein"... I'll propose this: There is no "new or next Einstein." Albert Einstein was Albert Einstein, and his contributions were unique for his time, just as Galileo's or Newton's.

As far as the next great scientific breakthrough and the person who heads it-- who knows? It seems to me like we're kind of stuck at this point, with no real clear direction as to the nature of the universe and a unified theory of everything, though that's not to say that progress isn't being made.

memento · Dec 5, 2006, 01:00 PM

I haven't seen Peter Lynds mentioned here at all. This man is an amazing intellectual with potential beyond imagination. There's something about him that's above most everyone else. He's very young, like only 30, and either didn't go to college or didn't graduate. What I like is that, when you're not taught what the limitations of science are supposed to be, then you're not bound by them in your ideas. And the obvious downside is that the science community has something to latch in order to try to discredit his work.

And I do agree with Feynman over Hawking, but to answer the thread I'd have to put in for Lynds. Hands down.

vmarks · Dec 5, 2006, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

I don't know a great deal about Stephen Hawking's personal life beyond his unfortunate condition, but is he really "a jerk" beyond his marital issues?

Yes, at least he was in Austria in 1998.

Certainly more knowledgable than I am, certainly a good sport when it comes to playing himself on the Simpsons or Futurama episodes, but not a nice fellow at all when I met him.

Kevin · Dec 5, 2006, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by Y3a

Stephen Hawkings

None of your criteria match the work Einstein did.

Bing!

d4nth3m4n · Dec 5, 2006, 08:28 PM

wait, nobody's voted for themselves yet? wow, this place is falling apart.

Gamoe · Dec 6, 2006, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by vmarks

Yes, at least he was in Austria in 1998.

Oh? Please go on...

Originally Posted by vmarks

Certainly more knowledgable than I am, certainly a good sport when it comes to playing himself on the Simpsons or Futurama episodes, but not a nice fellow at all when I met him.

Does he really play himself in Futurama and The Simpsons?

After I heard about him leaving his wife years ago, I had the same kind of reaction you did. But since then I've figured that we don't know the details and that Einstein was a playboy, too. So, I'm not too sure how to judge him, or even if I should anymore.

cakey · Dec 6, 2006, 06:34 PM

What the hell kind of list is that for "Next Einstein"? Anyway... my vote would go to Michio Kaku.

Kerrigan · Dec 6, 2006, 06:53 PM

Michael Richards

alligator · Dec 6, 2006, 09:09 PM

Feynman developed a simple notation to describe the complex behavior of subatomic particles.

He reconstructed quantum mechanics and electrodynamics in his own methods, and derived a way to analyze atomic interactions through simple diagrams, now known as "Feynman Diagrams."

He won the Nobel prize in 1965 for his theory on quantum electrodynamics which describes how atoms produce radiation. He is also considered one of the fathers of the atomic bomb.

On the other hand, Stephen Hawking wrote a bestseller that, in my opinion, simply restates known theories regarding cosmoloy, quantum gravity, and black holes. Sure, he has had offered some new mathematical models regarding the general theory of relativity, but his fame comes mostly because of his motor neuron disease. He has also never won a Nobel prize.

Feynman vs. Hawking? Feynman wins, hands down.

olePigeon · Dec 6, 2006, 10:22 PM

From an influential standpoint, I'd say Carl Sagan. He's hands-down gotten more kids (and kids at heart) into science than anyone.

Bill Nye is a close second.

tie · Dec 7, 2006, 01:20 AM

Originally Posted by memento

I haven't seen Peter Lynds mentioned here at all. This man is an amazing intellectual with potential beyond imagination. There's something about him that's above most everyone else. He's very young, like only 30, and either didn't go to college or didn't graduate. What I like is that, when you're not taught what the limitations of science are supposed to be, then you're not bound by them in your ideas. And the obvious downside is that the science community has something to latch in order to try to discredit his work.

And I do agree with Feynman over Hawking, but to answer the thread I'd have to put in for Lynds. Hands down.

What has Lynds done? I'd never heard of him. I looked up his webpage, and he has all of three papers on it. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of scientists who either didn't go to college or didn't graduate or got their PhD at age 15. Lots of people have potential, but potential isn't enough. Lynds over Feynman? I don't think so. (Except Feynman already is an icon and isn't alive, so perhaps the poll doesn't apply.)

badidea · Dec 7, 2006, 09:36 AM

Someone enlighten me - how can Feynman be the new Einstein? He's already dead (just like the old, original Einstein)!

memento · Dec 7, 2006, 09:38 AM

Feynman's accomplishments are done and you can't compare his work to Einstein's. Lynds still has a lifetime to produce. That's why I think he can be the "next einstein".

Dakar² · Dec 7, 2006, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by cakey

Anyway... my vote would go to Michio Kaku.

He's the first person that came to mind since he's on the fore-front of theoretical physics, but I'm not sure he's actually done anything hugely groundbreaking.

olePigeon · Dec 7, 2006, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Dakar²

He's the first person that came to mind since he's on the fore-front of theoretical physics, but I'm not sure he's actually done anything hugely groundbreaking.

String Theory, except, I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing.

Dakar² · Dec 7, 2006, 11:46 AM

String theory isn't entirely new per se. It's rooted in theories put forth in the 40s or 50s IIRC. Kaku's main claim to fame seems to be his ability to fuse differing theories and trying to prove them.