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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Health literacy × Systems thinking ×
Economics
Amartya Sen
1933-present · India / United Kingdom
Amartya Sen (born 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher. He was born in West Bengal, India, and grew up during a period of great…
Financial literacy Citizenship Ethical thinking Systems thinking +1
"Development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy."
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Medicine & Health
Ignaz Semmelweis
1818-1865 · Hungary / Austria
Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) was a Hungarian physician working in Vienna. He was born in Buda, in what is now Budapest, and studied medicine at the…
Scientific thinking Health literacy Critical thinking Research skills +1
"God only knows the number of patients who have gone prematurely to their graves because of me."
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Medicine & Health
Paul Farmer
1959-2022 · United States / Haiti / Rwanda
Paul Farmer (1959-2022) was an American physician, anthropologist, and global health activist. He was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, and grew up in modest and…
Health literacy Citizenship Ethical thinking Systems thinking +1
"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world."
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Medicine & Health
Rudolf Virchow
1821-1902 · Germany
Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) was a German physician, pathologist, anthropologist, and politician. He was born in Schivelbein in Pomerania, now part of Poland, and studied medicine…
Health literacy Scientific thinking Citizenship Systems thinking +1
"Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing but medicine on a large scale."
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