- [Voiceover] Everyone engages in thought.
But that is merely a consequence of being a human being
and fairly unremarkable.
There are, however, human minds
that have changed the very nature of how we conceptualize
and conceive of things in ways no one else could have done.
Sometimes we call these minds geniuses.
But that actual name we give them
matters less than what they've done.
These are the 10 minds
that have revolutionized human thought as we know it.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is a name
that some people should know.
But he's not as popular as he should be.
A contemporary of Sir Isaac Newton,
Leibniz is known to have independently
developed differential integral calculus,
and the two engaged in a raging debate
on who should be given credit until their deaths.
But Leibniz, unlike Newton, was a true polymath.
Whereas Newton spent his spare time engaged
in studying biblical prophesy and alchemy,
Leibniz was making important contributions to many areas
of thought and science.
Some of his philosophical ideas,
such as the universe being formed
of elementary particles called monads
anticipated the modern understanding of things
such as molecules and atoms.
Leibniz also made essential contributions to other fields
and could well be thought of
as the first computer scientist and information theorist.
Which can be summarized in his concept
of the Calculus Ratiocinator, or universal calculator,
where he anticipates the existence
of the modern computer centuries in advance.
He might not be well known, if only because he's German,
but Leibniz made lasting and significant contributions
to the building blocks of modern science and thought.
Very few people outside of linguist circles have heard
of Panini.
But writing in the 4th century BCE in India, he devised many
of the concepts concerning grammatical analysis
and structure of language 2000 years
before anyone else had put anything together
of similar thoroughness.
Embodied in his Sanskrit grammar,
where he formulated a staggering set of rules,
numbering 3,959, he expounds in depth
on topics such as phonology, syntax, and morphology
to an astounding degree that would only take place
more than two millennial later in Europe.
He's even credited with developing the first formal system
that to a certain degree is mirrored
in modern-programming languages.
Alan Turing is rightly called the father of the computer,
and was a truly brilliant mind.
He was, of course, best known for his cryptography skills
which came into full effect when he successfully
and almost single handedly cracked the enigma code
of the Axis powers during World War II.
Morse-coded radio communications that,
after having been cracked,
gave the allied powers a substantial advantage
over the Axis powers.
However, Turing's greatest contribution was that
of the concept of binary computation,
which is why he is called the Father of Modern Computers.
Since all modern computers run
on the principle of binary computation,
which in simple terms
means a system based on zeroes and ones.
Without this concept,
the modern computer might never have been developed.
Unfortunately for Turing,
the British government convicted him of the alleged crime
of homosexuality, and he was sentenced
to chemical castration as a consequence.
Two weeks after his conviction, he committed suicide,
and decades later, the queen pardoned him for his crime.
John Von Neumann is cited by some
as the smartest man who has ever lived.
And, though that is debatable,
this Hungarian-American thinker was a true polymath.
He was deeply involved in the Manhattan Project,
along with many other famous physicists,
and like Turing is considered a founding father
of modern computing.
But his work was so all-encompassing
that it is hard to summarize it all.
In the field of computer science,
one of his greatest contributions
was the Von Neumann Architecture,
which was the first design structure
for the electronic digital computer.
He also founded Modern Mathematical Game Theory,
which extending beyond pure mathematics
has had a tremendous impact across disciplines ranging
from biology to economics to sociology and beyond.
Von Neumann is also interestingly credited
with devising the equilibrium strategy
behind mutually assured destruction,
which he humorously called MAD
and made important contributions to various weaponry
in the nuclear-arms race.
When fellow Hungarian Eugene Wigner
who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1963,
was asked why the Hungary
of his time had produced so many geniuses,
his reply was simple.
Neumann was the only genius.
Considered to possibly be the greatest mathematician
of all time,
Archimedes of Syracuse was a pioneer
in mathematics and invention.
Nearly 2000 years prior to its development
by Newton and Leibniz,
Archimedes anticipated modern calculus
by using concepts with infinitesimals.
He was also one of the first, if not the first,
applied mathematician using mathematical calculations
applied to physical phenomena, such as his inventions.
He's credited with founding both hydro-statics and statics
along these lines and applying these principles
to all manner of mechanics used in warfare and defense.
Unfortunately, much if not most
of Archimedes legacy has been lost to time,
as very little of his original work survives today.
But that which does survive lends credence to his title
as the greatest mathematical mind of all time.
Leibniz said of him, "He who admires Archimedes
and Apollonius will admire less the achievements
of the foremost men of later times."
It is possible that William Shakespeare's literary genius
is unrivaled, not just in the English-speaking world,
but beyond.
A major playwright whose drama depicts virtually every facet
of human psychology and a poet of unparalleled skill,
Shakespeare remains a mystery to this day.
His vocabulary and understanding of human nature
have long made scholars question his authenticity.
But his legacy is such that his plays still resonate
today in the 21st century,
and many look up to him as a role model
of just how good a writer can be.
As Prince Hamlet states, "The play indeed is the thing.
Serbian born Nikola Tesla
could very well be the most important inventor
of the 20st century, and possibly of all time.
His contributions are almost too numerous to list.
But a short list of them would be the radio, x-rays,
remote control, the laser, robotics,
and wireless communication.
Tesla also was able to perform integral calculus
in his head,
which made many of his early teachers suspect him
of cheating.
And perhaps his greatest talent
was combining his innate genius with the power of vision.
Perhaps more so than any others on this list,
Tesla was a futurist and someone who believed
in the transformative power of technology.
The idea, for example, of the electric car
can ultimately be traced back to him.
And many of our modern convenience technology
can be attributed to him as well.
And you know the Tesla cannon from games such as Fallout?
That, too, stemmed from him,
as he synthesized the idea of the directed-energy weapon.
Niccolo Di Bernardo Dei Machiavelli
was an Italian politician and philosopher,
whose famous book, The Prince, laid down the principles
of modern duplicitous statecraft, which is to say
lying, cheating, and keeping a population in fear.
He is quoted as saying,
"It is better to be feared than loved."
And his theory of politics was one
that stressed the necessity of ruthlessness
in order to keep the population in line,
and where the ends always justified the means.
Many dictators in the 20th century admired him.
Unsurprisingly, Joseph Stalin read
and kept an annotated copy of The Prince.
Francis Bacon was an English statesman, orator, philosopher
and scientist.
Generally considered to be the father
of the scientific method,
which is a hallmark of modern scientific conduct,
Bacon carefully stressed the importance
of inductive reasoning based on the observation of nature,
careful testing and measuring, and seeing whether or not
the observed phenomena fit the data available.
In this sense, he is one of most impactful figures
of all time because this methodology is universal
in the sciences to this day.
Bacon was so brilliant that skeptics of the authenticity
of Shakespeare often posit Francis Bacon as the real author
behind the literary works.
Charles Darwin rightfully takes the spot of number one
as the human mind that revolutionized human thought.
His theory of evolution and the descent of man
transformed our understanding of biological life forever,
and still more importantly,
transformed the very way in which we view ourselves
as human animals.
Until Darwin, people thought that humans were unique
in their place in the animal kingdom,
and specially chosen by God,
but Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection
shattered that belief
because, of necessity, humans had to be included
in the group of animals that evolved over time.
After his death, the theory of evolution continued
to be vindicated in the form of fossils
and later on the discovery of DNA
and the modern science of genetics.
No human mind has had as transformative effect
on the world as Charles Darwin has.
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