Great Thinkers

Meet the great minds whose ideas have shaped the world — philosophers, scientists, artists, leaders, and revolutionaries whose thinking still matters today.

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Subject: Mathematics × Era: Contemporary ×
Mathematics
Alan Turing
1912-1954 · United Kingdom
Alan Turing was an English mathematician, codebreaker, and founder of modern computer science. He was born in London on 23 June 1912. His father worked…
Critical thinking Problem solving Scientific thinking Creative expression +1
"We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done."
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Mathematics
Claude Shannon
1916 - 2001 · United States
Claude Shannon was an American mathematician and engineer. He invented the field of information theory. His work made the digital age possible. Almost every technology…
Scientific thinking Problem solving Creative expression Research skills +1
"Information is the resolution of uncertainty."
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Mathematics
Grace Hopper
1906-1992 · United States
Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (1906-1992) was an American mathematician, computer scientist, and United States Navy rear admiral whose work on programming languages and compilers helped…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Creative expression Research skills +1
"It is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."
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Mathematics
Katherine Johnson
1918 - 2020 · United States (African American)
Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician. She did the calculations that helped send the first American astronauts into space and to the Moon. She worked…
Scientific thinking Problem solving Critical thinking Ethical thinking +1
"We will always have STEM with us. Some things will drop out of the public eye and will go away,…"
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Mathematics
Kurt Gödel
1906 - 1978 · Austria (later United States)
Kurt Gödel was an Austrian-American logician, mathematician, and philosopher. He is widely considered the greatest logician of the 20th century. His incompleteness theorems changed how…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Research skills +1
"Either mathematics is too big for the human mind, or the human mind is more than a machine."
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Mathematics
Maryam Mirzakhani
1977 - 2017 · Iran (later United States)
Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician. She was the first woman ever to win the Fields Medal, the highest prize in mathematics. She was born…
Scientific thinking Problem solving Creative expression Critical thinking +1
"I don't think that everyone should become a mathematician, but I do believe that many students don't give mathematics a…"
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Mathematics
W. Edwards Deming
1900-1993 · United States
William Edwards Deming (1900-1993) was an American statistician and management consultant whose work on quality control and systematic thinking about production reshaped manufacturing in Japan…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"In God we trust; all others must bring data."
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