10 scientists you need to know about for a good start in waking up
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What we know is what we finally do in our one shot. Our only one life.
We have reached the most stunning and gorgeous era. At last, humans after so many centuries have not only turned back to knowledge and science but also they have obtained this globally, for the first time in our known history! Humanity had been waiting for this moment for about 1800 years and we are the lucky ones to experience it for real.
The media is constantly showing us cheap examples of humans in order to make us feel shame for belonging in the human race. We listen to the phrase “I feel shame for being a human” after having learned something cruel happened to a fellow human or animal. We often watch “icons” whose price for service is 0,99$ and we keep making stupid people famous. The result of this habit is social depression and disdain.
In our human history though, there are exemplary personalities who can make us feel pride for belonging in the human race and make us want to know more. If you are at the point of this research, you are reading the right article.
1. Hypatia lived in the 4th century in Alexandria and was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. She is one of the few women scientists that are known, because of her brilliant work and her cruel death by Christians.
She was a member of the Alexandrian Museum and teacher of philosophy, astronomy, and Maths. Her father, Theon, was also an astronomer and mathematician and he had not only preserved the great work of Euclid and Ptolemy, but he also wrote down his own researches and contributed to the world we enjoy today. Hypatia continued his great job, by keeping archives from the Greek heritage, making her own research and teaching young men science in Alexandria. Her philosophy style was influenced by Plato, that’s why religious Christians considered her as pagan and killed her the period they destroyed the Library of Alexandria.
You can learn anything you need about this great scientist, in the movie “Agora” which is dedicated to her. Her life was committed to humanity and science.
2. Giordano Bruno is another example of a human every person that respects his mind must be aware of. He lived in the 16th century in Italy. He was a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. His theories have built science as we know it today. He was the one who said that there is no end in the universe and that there are multiple worlds. He rejected the theory that the Earth is the center of the universe and followed the lane of Copernicus who claimed the same. He was a teacher as well in Italy and Germany and made a lot of research about the universe.
His theories were against religion and common beliefs of it, so he was burnt in Rome. For his defense, he presented some errors in religious theory about the world. He didn’t convince anyone.
Why do we need to know about him? Because his theories influenced the scientific thought of the 17th century and lead to the philosophy we are experiencing today. Because of his attitude towards the religious violence and injustice against him and his strength to fight for his beliefs, he is a symbol of the freedom of thought. He has inspired the modern liberal scholars and every human being that stands for the truth and freedom.
3. Johannes Kepler was a mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer who lived in Germany in the 17th century. Kepler was a Christian school student and was oriented to become a priest. In these ages, this was the only way to work somewhere else instead of the fields. He grew up in a monastery but was totally different from his schoolmates and teachers. Today we know the reason for this.
When he grew, he played a key role in the 17th-century scientific revolution, in this era of dark mythologies and fears. He stood alone in front of people that behaved like rats. He used Newton and his theory of gravitation in combination with his researches in astronomy and he reached a great level of knowledge. Why is he important for us to be aware of him? He was the first human after all these dark ages, who realized the universe as we do today. He put reason in his research and totally defended rational thought.
4. Nikolaus Copernicus was an astronomer and mathematician from Poland that lived in the 15ht century. He was the first human to express a different opinion from Ptolemy’s theory that the Earth is static and the sun orbits her. Copernicus showed his theory that the Earth orbits the Sun. It was a revolutionary theory and it was the first time people had thought this way. People’s perception changed forever since then.
Why is Copernicus a must know? He died more than 450 years ago but is still considered the founder of modern astronomy. If you want to understand our place in the universe, you need to teach yourself about the scientist with the biggest impact on the history of astronomy. He gave a lift to humans’ minds of the 17th century of how they viewed the world, God and the stars at night. He upgraded the human brain and guided to be formed the way it is today.
5. Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who lived in Athens in the 3rd century BC. He created a great philosophy school for everyone and he named it “the Garden”. He was not only a great teacher that made his students adore him and follow him to this peaceful lane of life. He did also great research in the history of this period and contributed exceptionally to the revolution that took place in the 17th century.
Why is he remarkable for us? For 3 reasons. Firstly, he went opposite the theories of Plato and showed to people that are looking for the truth, that Plato was a philosopher for the elite class and he sometimes leaned to some meanings they wanted to let people believe. Epicurus spoke for the poor and the freedom of those who have nothing to lose. He taught notions and virtues that would make everyone deeply happy in life, philosophize and feel full inside. He philosophized with women, slaves, and everyone that wanted to think rationally. Rationality is the other even more important reason why Epicurus is ace. He is a must have knowledge for every person that wants to solve the mysteries of life and universe, with rational thought and observation.
6. Thales was a great Greek philosopher and astronomer that lived in Ionia some decades before the “Golden Period of Pericles”. In the 6th century, he created the Ionian School of philosophy, in Miletus. Ionia was a small east part of the Aegean Sea. It is in Turkey now. This is where humans first gave birth to astronomy and conception of cosmos and philosophy. This was the first university ever for people to study astronomy, philosophy, and Mathematics. Most of the philosophers known from Greece studied there. After a war, most of them moved to Athens and thrived there.
He was a teacher for all the philosophers that wanted to get rid of mythologies and imaginary explanations about nature, phenomena and the universe. This man with his students created rational thought and reason for everything they claimed. He was the first philosopher and the best teacher with great students. He was the first to realize that water is the beginning of everything around us. If you want to teach yourself science, Thales comes with the starter pack kit!
7. Anaksimandros was a great Greek philosopher and astronomer that was a student of Thales. He worked with him and continued his great work in the Ionian School of Philosophy. He lived before Socrates and thrived in the homeland of science, Ionia. In astronomy, he explained the “function” of the stars in relation with our planet. In geometry, he introduced the gnomon in Greece and the later the whole world. He created a map of the world as it was known these days, contributing in geography.
He was the first man to understand that our world is ruled by the Apeiron (infinity), that there is no end in everything around us. He noticed that the wind is the air in motion and that the rain comes from water steam. Anaksimandros put some magic in people’s minds by claiming that when the wind feels imprisoned in thick clouds, it blows in such a great strength that thunder is created. He explained in a similar way the lightning, as the phenomenon that occurs when the wind travels fast through the clouds it gives a flash of lightning. This guy was quite curious about the world and let his name in history, for great reasons.
8. Edwin Hubble was an American astronomer that played a crucial role in the area of astronomy and observational cosmology. He discovered that objects that were considered to be clouds of dust, were in fact galaxies in a milky way. Hubble was the first astronomer to notice and state that the universe is consistently expanding, a theory that totally changed the way we think about the universe. Till then people considered it as a stable and immovable area, that had a finite beginning.
His name is also known from the Hubble Space Telescope, whose name was dedicated to this brilliant astronomer that changed the lane of astronomy and the way we view life. The Hubble telescope was launched into Earth orbit in 1990 and is still in operation giving us space photographs of our planet and all the information the scientist need.
9. Stephen Hawking was an English cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and author. Everyone knows him because he was a scientist of our time and he died recently, but the majority of people ignore his work and the answers he gave in crucial questions of humankind.
The best way to get to know a scientist and gain part of their knowledge is to read their books. A great start for you to get to know Hawking is to read his first book “A brief history of time”, that was published in 1988. You can learn many things about all the astronomers we have already mentioned and find answers in question we all have and still remain in religious level in our minds. Another recommendation is “The universe in a nutshell”. What he does is narrating scientific research in an easy way so as every one of us has the ability to get to know what is going on up there.
10. Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, and astrophysicist of our time. He did great research for extraterrestrial life and water on planets of our solar system. He wrote 20 brilliant, easy to understand science books that appeal to anyone that is curious about life and Cosmos. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space: the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them.
The first thing you need to do is watch his documentary series “Cosmos, a personal journey”. It is a series of 13 episodes, explaining everything you need to know about life all around us and the universe. It is a pure combination of scientific research, poetry, and philosophy. This pure art will give you the motivation you need to keep on learning more about our cosmos and universe.
Scientists are brilliant people. They devote their time investigating and trying to put humankind to the next level. Their job is not as easy as it seems, as they are in notion jungle along with their fellow humans. The least thing we can do to honor them is learning about them and follow their mentality.
The way we spend our free time, the people we get to know, draw our lane to happiness, boredom or sadness. What we feed our mind determines the quality of our thoughts. That is my opinion.
