Sun, January 2, 2011 1:14:49 AM Natsci Proj.. Ko Powzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sun, January 2, 2011 1:14:49 AM natsci proj.. ko powzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... From: Cedric Rayla <[email protected]> ... View Contact To: [email protected] Greatest Physicists in the World Isaac Newton The first and greatest physicist in my estimation is Isaac Newton, born in 1643. Lots of commenters absolutely correctly picked out Newton for the top spot, and had I picked anyone else (with the just barely plausible alternatives of Einstein or Galileo (and see his honorable mention for details)) I'd have been justifiably thought to be nuts. Before Newton, there was no physics. There was science, but a systematic mathematicaldescription of the laws of nature did not exist. Indeed it could not exist, mathematics itself had not yet developed to the point where it could be used to formulate the necessary laws. Newton singlehandedly changed that with the invention of calculus and the formulation of the laws of mechanics. The motions of the planets and the motion of things terrestrial ceased to be a mystery and suddenly became things that could be calculated. Newton didn't merely write the laws and leave their application and development for others - he went slashing through the unknown with a metaphorical machete. His three- volume brick of a work known as the Principia Mathematica derived everything from the resisting force due to fluid flow to to derivations of Kepler's laws, to the motion of the earth's moon and Jupiter's moons and numerous other major discoveries. Any one of those would have made the reputation of a lesser man. His mechanics reigned supreme until Einstein, and even then Newton's classical mechanics remain fine approximation for most everyday calculations. Certain other principles such as the conservation of energy, momentum, and angular momentum were either invented or heavily developed by Newton and they remain true even in relativity and quantum mechanics. In pure mathematics he didn't merely invent the basic ideas of differential and integral calculus. He developed the binomial theorem, worked in infinite series, and extended our understanding in various parts of geometry. He invented the reflecting telescope. Galileo's refractor was a pretty snazzy piece of brilliance, but Newton's reflector has a large number of technical advantages as well as the ability to be made much, much larger at much smaller expense than the refractors. Today everything from the Hubble Space Telescope to the gargantuan land-based observatories is based on the use of mirrors to collect light. This merely scratches the surface. Physics owes everything to Newton, who founded it and set it on a firm foundation of mathematical power and observational test. Outside of science Newton was a bit of an odd bird. He as involved in alchemy, fringe theology, anti-counterfeiting detective work, a bizarre feud with the Leibniz (the independent co-inventor of calculus), and he may have been entirely asexual. Most of the greats had their idiosyncrasies, and given their skill I think we can overlook the excessively unusual. He's worth learning more about. For the technically sophicistiated and hale of heart, there's Newton's own The Principia for your reading. As an exploration of Newton's life and work, there's James Gleick's Isaac Newton. Gleick, by the way, is one of my favorite science writers. As far as I can tell everything he's ever written is great. And that completes the list. There's plenty of room for substitutions and switches, but I think what I've picked is probably close to an average opinion of who the greatest are. It was in many respects a close-run thing, there's at least ten more who have their own very good arguments for inclusion. I'd like to continue this series without any ranking conceit into some of the remaining greats who weren't specifically included on this list. Avicenna Abū µAlī al-Ëusayn ibn µAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā, known as Abū Alī Sīnā[7][8] (Persian: ΍ϥ̵αέ̟ ˬ΍ϥ̵α ̵ϝωΏ΍) or, more commonly, Ibn Sīnā[9] or Pour Sina, but most commonly known in English by his Latinized name Avicenna (Greek: aȕȚĲȗȚĮȞȩȢ, avitzianós),[10] (c. 980 - 1037) was a polymathof Persian (today's Tajiks)[11][12] origin and the foremost physician and philosopher of his time.[13] He was also an astronomer, chemist, geologist,Hafiz, Islamic psychologist, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, logician, paleontologist, mathematician, Maktab teac her, physicist, poet, andscientist.[14] Ibn Sīnā studied medicine under a physician named Koushyar. He wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived. In particular, 150 of his surviving treatises concentrate on philosophy and 40 of them concentrate on medicine.[7][15] His most famous works are The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia, and The Canon of Medicine,[16] which was a standard medical text at many medieval universities.[17] The Canon of Medicine was used as a text-book in the universities of Montpellier and Louvain as late as 1650.[18] Ibn Sīnā's Canon of Medicine provides a complete system of medicine according to the principles of Galen (and Hippocrates).[19][20] George Sarton, an early author of the history of science, wrote in the Introduction to the History of Science: One of the most famous exponents of Muslim universalism and an eminent figure in Islamic learning was Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna (981-1037). For a thousand years he has retained his original renown as one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. His most important medical works are the Qanun (Canon) and a treatise on cardiac drugs. The 'Qanun fi-l-Tibb' is an immense encyclopedia of medicine. It contains some of the most illuminating thoughts pertaining to distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy; contagious nature of phthisis; distribution of diseases by water and soil; careful description of skin troubles; of sexual diseases and perversions; of nervous ailments.[21] The Canon of Medicine Main article: The Canon of Medicine A Latin copy of The Canon of Medicine, dated 1484, located at the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA. An Arabic copy of The Canon of Medicine, dated 1593 Medical staff training college dedicated to Avicenna at his birthplace, Afshona About 100 treatises were ascribed to Ibn Sina. Some of them are tracts of a few pages, others are works extending through several volumes. The best-known amongst them, and that to which Ibn Sina owed his European reputation, is his 14-volume The Canon of Medicine, which was a standard medical text in Europe and the Islamic world up until the 18th century.[28] Medicine and pharmacology The book is known for the discovery of contagious diseases and sexually transmitted diseases,[21] the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread ofinfectious diseases, the introduction of experimental medicine, clinical trials,[29] neuropsychiatry,[30] risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases,[31] and hypothesized the existence of microrganisms.[32] Ibn Sīnā adopted, from the Greeks, the theory that epidemics are caused by pollution in the air (miasma).[33] It classifies and describes diseases, and outlines their assumed causes. Hygiene, simple and complex medicines, and functions of parts of the body are also covered. In this, Ibn Sīnā is credited as being the first to correctly document the anatomy of the human eye, along with descriptions of eye afflictions such as cataracts. It asserts that tuberculosis was contagious, which was later disputed by Europeans, but turned out to be true. It also describes the symptoms and complications of diabetes. Both forms of facial paralysis were described in-depth. In addition, the workings of the heart as a valve are described.[citation needed] The Canon of Medicine was the first book dealing with experimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, randomized controlled trials,[34][35] andefficacy tests,[36][37] and it laid out the following rules and principles for testing the effectiveness of new drugs and medications, which still form the basis of clinical pharmacology[37] and modern clinical trials:[29] y The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality. y It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease. y The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases, because sometimes a drug cures one disease by Its essential qualities and another by its accidental ones. y The quality of the drug must correspond to the strength of the disease. For example, there are some drugs whose heat is less than the coldness of certain diseases, so that they would have no effect on them. y The time of action must be observed, so that essence and accident are not confused. y The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many cases, for if this did not happen, it was an accidental effect. y The experimentation must be done with the human body, for testing a drug on a lion or a horse might not prove anything about its effect on man. An Arabic edition of the Canon appeared at Rome in 1593, and a Hebrew version at Naples in 1491. Of the Latin version there were about thirty editions, founded on the original translation by Gerard de Sabloneta. In the 15th century a commentary on the text of the Canon was composed. Other medical works translated into Latin are the Medicamenta Cordialia, Canticum de Medicina, and the Tractatus de Syrupo acetoso. It was mainly accident which determined that from the 12th to the 18th century, Ibn Sīnā should be the guide of medical study in European universities, and eclipse the names of Rhazes, Ali ibn al-Abbas and Averroes.

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