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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Chemistry 1 Physics 1 Mathematics 13 Medicine & Health 3 Technology & Engineering 2 Psychology 1
Philosophy 7 History 1 Literature 1 Language & Linguistics 3 Arts 5
Anthropology & Culture 1 Religion 1 Education 2 Politics 9
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70 thinkers
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Problem solving × Page 3 of 3
Politics
Millicent Fawcett
1847-1929 · United Kingdom
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett was an English political activist and writer. She led the largest peaceful campaign for British women's right to vote for over…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied."
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Economics
Milton Friedman
1912-2006 · United States
Milton Friedman was an American economist. He was born in New York City in 1912 and died in 2006. His parents were poor immigrants from…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Problem solving Research skills +1
"There is no such thing as a free lunch."
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Business & Management
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
1881-1938 · Ottoman Empire / Republic of Turkey
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. He was born in 1881 in Salonica (now Thessaloniki, Greece), then…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"Peace at home, peace in the world."
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Law
Nelson Mandela
1918-2013 · South Africa
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African lawyer, freedom fighter, and statesman. He led the long struggle to end apartheid, the racist system that ruled…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and…"
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Medicine & Health
Paracelsus
1493-1541 · Switzerland (Holy Roman Empire)
Paracelsus was a Swiss physician, alchemist, and reformer of medicine who lived during the early Renaissance. His real name was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Research skills Creative expression +1
"All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not a poison."
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Philosophy
Peter Singer
1946-present · Australia (currently United States)
Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher. He is one of the most widely read living philosophers and one of the most controversial. He was born…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"
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Language & Linguistics
Pāṇini
c. 5th-4th century BCE · Ancient India (Gandhara)
Pāṇini was an ancient Indian grammarian whose work on the Sanskrit language is often described as one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the ancient…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Vriddhi is ā, ai, au."
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Law
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1933-2020 · United States
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an American lawyer and Supreme Court Justice. She is widely seen as one of the most important legal advocates for gender…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time."
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Education
Scott Thornbury
born 1950 · New Zealand
Scott Thornbury is a teacher and writer who works in English language teaching. This field is often called ELT for short. He was born in…
Critical thinking Creative expression Problem solving Research skills +1
"Teaching unplugged means trusting the talk: the lesson grows out of what the learners say."
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Politics
Simón Bolívar
1783-1830 · Venezuela
Simón Bolívar was a military leader and political thinker who led much of South America to independence from Spain. In Latin America he is known…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"A people that loves freedom will in the end be free."
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Mathematics
Srinivasa Ramanujan
1887-1920 · India (British Raj)
Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician born in 1887 in Erode, a small town in Tamil Nadu. His family was poor but educated. His father…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Creative expression +1
"An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God."
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Language & Linguistics
Sībawayh
c. 760-796 · Persia / Iraq (Basra)
Abu Bishr Amr ibn Uthman, known as Sībawayh (c. 760-796), was a Persian-born Arab grammarian whose book Al-Kitāb is the first comprehensive description of the…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"A noun is a word that refers to a thing; a verb is a word that indicates an action in…"
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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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Economics
Thomas Piketty
born 1971 · France
Thomas Piketty is a French economist. He was born in 1971 near Paris. He studied mathematics and economics, and earned his doctorate at just 22…
Critical thinking Research skills Problem solving Ethical thinking +1
"The history of inequality is shaped by the way economic, social, and political actors view what is just and what…"
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Law
Thurgood Marshall
1908-1993 · United States
Thurgood Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and the first Black Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He spent his life using the…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute."
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History
Toussaint Louverture
c. 1743-1803 · Haiti (Saint-Domingue)
Toussaint Louverture was the main leader of the Haitian Revolution. This was the only successful slave revolt in modern history. It turned a French slave…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"In overthrowing me, you have cut down in Saint-Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty. It will spring…"
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Medicine & Health
Tu Youyou
1930-present · China
Tu Youyou is a Chinese medical scientist. In 2015 she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering artemisinin, a malaria drug that…
Scientific thinking Problem solving Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"A bunch of qinghao; soak in two sheng of water; wring out the juice and drink it all."
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Politics
Vladimir Lenin
1870-1924 · Russian Empire / Soviet Union
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and political theorist. He led the October Revolution of 1917 and founded the Soviet Union, the world's first…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"Peace, Land, Bread."
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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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Arts
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756-1791 · Salzburg (now Austria)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer. He is one of the most celebrated composers in European classical music. He was born in 1756 in…
Creative expression Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings."
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Arts
Zaha Hadid
1950 - 2016 · Iraq (later United Kingdom)
Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect. She was one of the most important architects of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She was the…
Creative expression Problem solving Scientific thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"I don't believe in a 'female sensibility' in architecture. I think there are women who design well, just like there…"
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