From developing the theory of relativity to creating magical works of art, here are 10
of the most intelligent people in history.
10.)
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was many things throughout
his lifetime.
He was a Founding Father, scientist, a postmaster, an ambassador, author, printer, but above
all Benjamin Franklin was an inventor.
And it is his inventions that prove he was one of the most intelligent people in American
history.
Unlike other inventors, Benjamin believed in sharing his inventions freely and he did
not patent a single one.
The many inventions of Franklin include bifocals, the lightning rod, the glass armonica, a library
chair, swim fins, a long-reach device, the Franklin stove, and the catheter.
Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying that out of all his inventions, his personal favorite
was the glass armonica.
Franklin invented the glass armonica in the mid-1700s.
The glass armonica worked by filling glass bowls, which were connected.
The person would then tap the bowls with their fingers to make music.
The bifocals, or glasses, he invented for his own benefit.
As he grew older, his vision started to deteriorate and Franklin loved to read, write, and learn.
As they say, necessity is indeed the mother of invention!
The Franklin stove was invented in order for people to keep their homes warmer,
As an inventor, Benjamin is probably most well-known for the lightning rod.
It was during the year 1747 he started playing with electricity after being shocked by one
of his experiments.
However, it wasn’t until the mid-1750s where the famous kite and key experiment occurred.
This was part of his lightning rod experiment and helped him produce the lightning rod that
would protect buildings for centuries to come!
9.)
Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor,
electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his
contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system,
X rays, Radio, Remote Control, Laser, and electric motors.
As if that weren’t enough, these aren’t even all the contributions Tesla made in history
to show his intelligence.
He also designed and used fluorescent bulbs in his lab some 40 years before the industry
“invented” them.
Furthermore, many people believe that there are still, probably dozens, of unknown inventions
by Nikola Tesla.
In 1891, Tesla became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
That same year Tesla also patented the Tesla Coil.
This is an electrical resonant transformer circuit which is used to produce high-voltage,
low-current, high-frequency alternating-current electricity.
Over time, Tesla used this coil to conduct dozens of experiments.
People were so impressed by Tesla during his lifetime that even other highly intelligent
individuals, such as Thomas Edison, asked Tesla to help perfect their inventions.
Tesla is arguably remembered as the most intelligent man ever.
8.)
Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose was a famous physicist
specializing in theoretical physics.
He is best known for his work in quantum physics in the 1920’s.
Bosons, the class of particles that obey Bose–Einstein statistics were named after Bose by Paul Dirac.
If you have a particle named after you, then you know you must be one of the most intelligent
and respected people on earth!
Born in Bengal, he passed the entrance exam to the Hindu School, one of India's oldest
schools, with flying colors.
Bose went on to get a Bachelor of Science in mixed mathematics in 1913 from Presidency
College and a Master of Science in the same subject in 1915 from Calcutta University.
He received such high scores on the exams for each degree that not only was he in first
standing, but he even created a new record in the annals of the University of Calcutta,
which has yet to be surpassed!
In 1921, Bose joined the physics department at the University of Dhaka, which had then
been recently formed, and went on to establish new departments, laboratories and libraries
in which he could teach advanced courses.
Albert Einstein recognized the significance of Bose’s findings and soon collaborated
with him to work on certain important ideas that formed the basis for Bose-Einstein statistics.
These statistics won several Nobel Peace prizes.
The Indian government honored Bose in 1954 with the title Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest
civilian award in India.
Five years later, he was appointed as the National Professor, the highest honor in the
country for a scholar, a position which he kept for about 15 years.
7.)
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Johann Goethe was a literary genius who was
highly celebrated starting in his mid-20s.
And even though Goethe was a German literary genius, his first work was done in the English
language, which he learned to write at an early age.
Other than his over 10,000 letters and 3,000 drawings by him, he also produced a number
of literary works.
A few of these works are four novels, epic and lyric poetry, prose and verse dramas,
memoirs, and an autobiography.
Of course, if you google him, you can find a lot more of his work as this is only the
tip of the iceberg.
Goethe is the only German literary figure whose range and international standing equal
those of Germany’s supreme philosophers - who have often drawn on his works and ideas
- and composers - who have often set his works to music.
In fact, Goethe holds such a dominant position that since near the end of the 18th century,
his works have been considered classics.
6.)
Marie Curie Marie Curie held several accomplishments during
her lifetime, including the first female to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, this was not her only firsts in her lifetime.
Marie was also the first female professor at the University of Paris, the first woman
to be entombed on her own merits in the Pantheon in Paris, the only woman to win Nobel Prize
in two fields and the only woman to win in multiple sciences.
She had master’s degrees in physics and mathematics.
She started her scientific career by investigating different types of steel and their magnetic
properties.
She made significant breakthroughs in her life which have been inspirational for scientists
to this day.
It was through her discoveries that the orthodox notion amongst scientists was broken as they
were exposed to new line of thought on matter and energy.
Curie is responsible for not just theorizing the concept of radioactivity but also creating
the term.
Furthermore, it was through her relentless dedication and hard work that the elements
polonium and radium, that we know today, were discovered.
5.)
James Maxwell James Maxwell, born in 1831, was a Scottish
physicist best known for his formulation of electromagnetic theory.
He is regarded by most modern physicists as the scientist of the 19th century who had
the greatest influence on 20th-century physics, and he is ranked with Sir Isaac Newton and
Albert Einstein for the fundamental nature of his contributions.
Maxwell also described the nature of Saturn’s rings as numerous small particles rather than
a solid or fluid ring, which he won a prize for in 1859.
Maxwell's other scientific contributions included producing the first color photograph, taken
in 1861, and creating structural engineering calculations for bridge maintenance.
Maxwell is often remembered for his famous quote where he stated, “Aye, I suppose I
could stay up that late.”
This was his response when he was told there would be a church service at 6 AM.
4.)
Rudolf Clausius Rudolf was a German mathematician and physicist
who formulated the second law of thermodynamics and is credited with making thermodynamics
a science.
He got his doctorate from the University of Halle on optical effects in Earth's atmosphere.
He became a professor of physics until he went to the Franco Prussian War, where he
was wounded in battle.
He wrote a paper in 1850 called “On the moving force of heat”, and later introduced
the concept of entropy.
Clausius’ paper was so influential that later James Maxwell wrote: “Clausius first
stated the principle of Carnot in a manner consistent with the true theory of heat."
The "true theory" was the consideration of heat as a mechanical process.
It is interesting that he is remembered for his work with heat when what he really loved
were studying the colors of the sky during sunrises and sunsets.
3.)
Isaac Newton Isaac Newton was born January 4, 1643, in
England.
Growing up, his mother wanted him to become a farmer.
However, Isaac had no interest in farming and failed the farming exams.
When that didn’t work out, he became an English physicist and mathematician.
Newton made discoveries in optics, motion, and mathematics.
Newton also theorized that white light was a composite of all colors of the spectrum,
and that light was composed of particles.
However, as you probably know from school, Newton is probably most famous for explaining
the theory of gravity.
He is also credited to be one of the greatest minds in the 17th-century science revolution.
But Newton’s great mind did not stop with theories.
He was also an inventor.
Newton's first major public scientific achievement was designing and constructing a reflecting
telescope in 1668.
He used his telescope to study optics and help prove his theory of light and color.
Later in his life, Newton also published, Principia, which is said to be the single
most influential book on physics and possibly of all of science.
Good thing Newton failed those farming exams!
2.)
Albert Einstein You might have heard that Albert Einstein
is considered one of the most influential people of the 20th century.
One of Einstein’s most famous discoveries is the theory of relativity.
Einstein first proposed a special theory of relativity in 1905 in his paper, “On the
Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” taking physics in an electrifying new direction.
By November 1915, Einstein completed the general theory of relativity.
Throughout the rest of his life, Einstein always felt that this one was of his greatest
accomplishments.
However, in 1921, Einstein also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921 for his explanation of
the photoelectric effect.
You may have also heard that Einstein’s brain was donated to science.
In the late 1990s, Canadian scientists who were studying Einstein’s brain found that
his inferior parietal lobe, the area that processes spatial relationships, 3D-visualization
and mathematical thought, was 15 percent wider than in people with average intelligence.
Researchers believe that this might explain why Einstein was so intelligent.
1.)
Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci was not only a painter but
he was also an inventor and architect.
In fact, he has been termed the “Renaissance Man” because his genius crossed so many
disciplines throughout his life.
Today, Da Vinci is best known for his two paintings of the Last Supper and the Mona
Lisa, however, he did so much more than that to make the list of one of the most intelligent
people in history.
Da Vinci looked far into the future with his sketch of a flying machine, one which resembles
a mix of a bicycle and a helicopter.
He also sketched war machines such as a war chariot with blades mounted on the sides,
an armored tank propelled by two men cranking a shaft, and even an enormous crossbow that
required a small army of men to operate.
Furthermore, Leonardo made great strides in anatomy.
In the late 1400s, he began dissecting human and animal bodies and would draw the different
body parts to perfection for further study.
In fact, his drawings of a fetus in utero, the heart and vascular system, sex organs
and other bone and muscular structures are some of the first recorded visuals of these
subjects in history.