Nikola Tesla or James Clerk Maxwell?
- Thread starter dizietsma
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Definitely Maxwell. Tesla had a few interesting ideas, but as Bludd says, he was a bit of a loony. Maxwell, on the other hand, provided us with some incredibly important insights as to the nature of electricity and magnetism, which laid the foundations of special relativity, and also worked on the foundations of statistical mechanics, which allows us to understand the laws of thermodynamics.
Tesla, by contrast, didn't expand human knowledge by any significant degree. He produced a few interesting inventions, but that's about it.
Tesla, by contrast, didn't expand human knowledge by any significant degree. He produced a few interesting inventions, but that's about it.
In physics there are essentially three scientists who did approximately 60% of all the important material ever written (or at least made what was written afterwards simple and straightforward). That's Newton, Einstein and Maxwell. Galileo is a distant fourth.
You can replace many great names in physics by gruops of experts of the time (who in collaberation could presumably reproduce the same sort of work if they put their mind to it), but those three are completely irreplaceable and way out of reach by the sum total of the experts of the time.
You can replace many great names in physics by gruops of experts of the time (who in collaberation could presumably reproduce the same sort of work if they put their mind to it), but those three are completely irreplaceable and way out of reach by the sum total of the experts of the time.
Yeesh, I don't know man, do Planck, deBroglie, and Schrodinger really just get the shaft like that? It seems like their discoveries are at the very least bizarre enough that they should stand out from their contemporaries.
OT: Definitely Maxwell, for pretty much the same reasons stated, however Tesla might be better material for a screenplay.
OT: Definitely Maxwell, for pretty much the same reasons stated, however Tesla might be better material for a screenplay.
Well, one might argue that so many people had a hand in the development of quantum theory that you just can't pick out one or two who really laid its foundations. So yeah, lots of great scientists were involved there, but that's the problem: it's a lot.
However, I don't think I'll agree with Fred that those three scientists did approximately 60% of the important material ever written. Most of the important material in physics has been written by a great diversity of authors. Those three stand out as being especially prominent in physics, but they certainly didn't write most of it.
Blitzkrieg
Newcomer
I feel I have to go Tesla because his work had alot more direct applicable impact. He effectively ushered in teh 2nd industrial revolution almost singlehandedly.
For all his weirdness, Tesla was still unbelievably shafted by his fellow man.
For all his weirdness, Tesla was still unbelievably shafted by his fellow man.
That's akin to saying it's more important for mankind to have lots of flashy gadgets than to understand how they work.
In fact, many of Tesla's inventions would be impossible without Maxwell's contributions.
Nikola actually idolized Maxwell, in fact to such a degree that he ended up losing his status as a preemininent physicist b/c he completely rejected special and general relativity and instead favored various aether theories that Maxwell had tinkered with.
Nikola actually idolized Maxwell, in fact to such a degree that he ended up losing his status as a preemininent physicist b/c he completely rejected special and general relativity and instead favored various aether theories that Maxwell had tinkered with.
Perhaps. But Nikola Tesla is a tiny minnow in a very large pond of people who have developed new applications of known science. By contrast, Maxwell is really a giant in science.
And that depends on how you define deep and shallow understanding.
Too deep and it's just mental masturbation with zero gain.
And that depends on how you define deep and shallow understanding.
Too deep and it's just mental masturbation with zero gain.
Wrong. There is no to deep an understanding as there is always more to be learned. The deeper the understanding the more there is to be uncovered.
Learning more doesn't equal a deeper understanding. Spend your whole life learning everything you can but it's not going to make you a genius.
Explain to me how I'm wrong.
And that depends on how you define deep and shallow understanding.
Shallow understanding = fiddling about until it works
Deep understanding = fiddling about until you understand why it works
Understanding why it works generally speaking means there's less fiddling about next time.
And how is that relevent to the poll? Tesla wasn't a tinkerer who doesn't understand how it works.
Neither was Maxwell. Which of the two generated more understanding of "how it works" in their lifes efforts, and which other of the two built upon the understanding built by the other?
