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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20 thinkers
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Era: Contemporary × Scientific thinking ×
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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Physics
Albert Einstein
1879-1955 · Germany / United States
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He is widely seen as the most influential scientist of the twentieth century. He was born on 14…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Creative expression +1
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
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Anthropology & Culture
Claude Lévi-Strauss
1908-2009 · Belgium / France
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2009) was a Belgian-French anthropologist, one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century. He was born in Brussels to a…
Critical thinking Research skills Storytelling and narrative Scientific thinking +1
"The world began without man and will end without him."
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Anthropology & Culture
Clifford Geertz
1926-2006 · United States
Clifford Geertz (1926-2006) was an American cultural anthropologist and one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century. He was born in San…
Research skills Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Storytelling and narrative +1
"Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs."
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Chemistry
Dorothy Hodgkin
1910-1994 · United Kingdom
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin was an English chemist. She remains the only British woman ever to win a Nobel Prize in any of the sciences. She…
Scientific thinking Problem solving Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"I was captured for life by chemistry and by crystals."
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Economics
Esther Duflo
1972-present · France / United States
Esther Duflo is a French-American economist. In 2019 she became, at age 46, the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic…
Scientific thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"It is not the magnitude of the problem that determines whether we can do something about it."
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Technology & Engineering
Fazlur Rahman Khan
1929-1982 · Bangladesh / United States
Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929-1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer whose innovations transformed how tall buildings are designed and made the modern generation of skyscrapers possible.…
Scientific thinking Creative expression Research skills Critical thinking +1
"The technical man must not be lost in his own technology. He must be able to appreciate life, and life…"
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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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Biology
Lynn Margulis
1938-2011 · United States
Lynn Margulis (1938-2011) was an American biologist and theorist. She was born Lynn Alexander in Chicago, graduated from the University of Chicago at eighteen, and…
Scientific thinking Environmental thinking Critical thinking Systems thinking +1
"Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking."
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Anthropology & Culture
Margaret Mead
1901-1978 · United States
Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who became the most publicly prominent and widely read anthropologist of the twentieth century. She was born…
Critical thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity Scientific thinking +1
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing…"
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Education
Maria Montessori
1870-1952 · Italy
Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian educator and doctor whose method of teaching young children has spread to thousands of schools around the world. She…
Scientific thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Creative expression +1
"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed."
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Chemistry
Percy Julian
1899-1975 · United States
Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975) was an African American chemist whose pioneering synthesis of plant-derived steroids made cortisone and other hormone-based medicines widely available for the…
Scientific thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Critical thinking +1
"You can do anything you want if you will put enough work into it. That has always been my philosophy."
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Sociology
Pierre Bourdieu
1930-2002 · France
Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) was a French sociologist whose work on class, culture, and power made him one of the most influential social scientists of the…
Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier."
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Biology
Rachel Carson
1907-1964 · United States
Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist. She was born in rural Pennsylvania and developed a love of the natural world…
Environmental thinking Scientific thinking Critical literacy Citizenship +1
"In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is a story of the earth."
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Biology
Robin Wall Kimmerer
1953-present · United States, Potawatomi Nation
Robin Wall Kimmerer (born 1953) is an American botanist, ecologist, and writer who is a citizen of the Potawatomi Nation, one of the Indigenous peoples…
Environmental thinking Scientific thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"In the Potawatomi language, to be a human being is to be grateful. It is a reminder to say thank…"
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Chemistry
Rosalind Franklin
1920-1958 · England, United Kingdom
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. She was born in London into a prominent Jewish family and showed exceptional scientific ability…
Scientific thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Critical thinking +1
"Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated."
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Technology & Engineering
Taiichi Ohno
1912-1990 · Japan
Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer whose work at the Toyota Motor Company produced the Toyota Production System, a way of organising manufacturing…
Problem solving Critical thinking Scientific thinking Research skills +1
"Having no problems is the biggest problem of all."
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Philosophy
Thomas Kuhn
1922-1996 · United States
Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996) was an American philosopher and historian of science. He studied physics at Harvard University and then became interested in the history of…
Scientific thinking Research skills Critical thinking Metacognition +1
"Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none."
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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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Politics
Wangari Maathai
1940-2011 · Kenya
Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmental activist, scientist, and politician. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.…
Ethical thinking Problem solving Scientific thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"It is the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees."
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