Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Aristotle is an ancient Greek encyclopedist, philosopher and logician, the founder of classical (formal) logic. Considered one of the greatest geniuses in history and the most influential philosopher of antiquity. Made huge contribution in the development of logic and natural sciences, especially astronomy, physics and biology. Although many of his scientific theories were refuted, they significantly contributed to the search for new hypotheses to explain them.
Archimedes (287-212 BC)
Archimedes is an ancient Greek mathematician, inventor, astronomer, physicist and engineer. Generally, it is considered the greatest mathematician of all time and one of the leading scientists of the classical period of antiquity. Among his contributions to the field of physics are the fundamental principles of hydrostatics, statics and an explanation of the principle of action on a lever. He is credited with inventing pioneering mechanisms, including siege engines and the screw pump named after him. Archimedes also invented the spiral that bears his name, formulas for calculating the volumes of surfaces of revolution, and an original system for expressing very big numbers.
Galileo (1564–1642)
In eighth place in the ranking of the greatest scientists in the history of the world is Galileo - an Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He has been called "the father of observational astronomy" and "the father of modern physics". Galileo was the first to use a telescope to observe celestial bodies. Thanks to this, he made a number of outstanding astronomical discoveries, such as the discovery of four largest satellites Jupiter sunspots, the rotation of the Sun, and also established that Venus changes phases. He also invented the first thermometer (without a scale) and a proportional compass.
Michael Faraday (1791–1867)
Michael Faraday - English physicist and chemist, primarily known for discovering electromagnetic induction. Faraday also discovered the chemical effect of current, diamagnetism, the action magnetic field to the light, the laws of electrolysis. He also invented the first, albeit primitive, electric motor, and the first transformer. He introduced the terms cathode, anode, ion, electrolyte, diamagnetism, dielectric, paramagnetism, etc. In 1824 he discovered the chemical elements benzene and isobutylene. Some historians consider Michael Faraday the best experimenter in the history of science.
Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931)
Thomas Alva Edison - American inventor and businessman, founder of the prestigious scientific journal Science. Considered one of the most prolific inventors of his time, with a record 1,093 patents in his name and 1,239 elsewhere. Among his inventions is the creation in 1879 electric lamp incandescent, systems for distributing electricity to consumers, the phonograph, the improvement of the telegraph, telephone, cinema equipment, etc.
Marie Curie (1867–1934)
Maria Sklodowska-Curie - French physicist and chemist, teacher, public figure, a pioneer in the field of radiology. The only woman laureate Nobel Prize in two various areas sciences - physics and chemistry. First female professor teaching at the Sorbonne University. Her achievements include the development of the theory of radioactivity, separation methods radioactive isotopes and the opening of two new chemical elements- radium and polonium. Marie Curie is one of the inventors who died from their inventions.
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
Louis Pasteur - French chemist and biologist, one of the founders of microbiology and immunology. He discovered the microbiological essence of fermentation and many human diseases. Initiated a new department of chemistry - stereochemistry. Most important achievement Pasteur is considered to be the work of bacteriology and virology, which resulted in the creation of the first vaccines against rabies and anthrax. His name is widely known thanks to the pasteurization technology he created and named after him later. All Pasteur's works became a prime example combinations of fundamental and applied research in chemistry, anatomy and physics.
Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727)
Isaac Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, historian, bible scholar, and alchemist. He is the discoverer of the laws of motion. Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law gravity, laid the foundations classical mechanics, formulated the principle of conservation of momentum, laid the foundations of modern physical optics, built the first reflecting telescope and developed the theory of color, formulated empirical law heat transfer, built the theory of the speed of sound, proclaimed the theory of the origin of stars, and many other mathematical and physical theories. Newton was also the first to mathematically describe the phenomenon of tides.
Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
The second place in the list of the greatest scientists in the history of the world is occupied by Albert Einstein, a German physicist. Jewish origin, one of the greatest theoretical physicists of the twentieth century, the creator of the general and special theory relativity, discovered the law of the relationship between mass and energy, as well as many other significant physical theories. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. Author of over 300 scientific works in physics and 150 books and articles in the field of history, philosophy, journalism, etc.
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943)
Partly for this reason, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tracks the completion of degrees in the top 40 developed countries ah world.
The OECD has published its Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2015 report. It presents a ranking of countries based on percentage The number of people with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM disciplines) per capita. So it's a fair comparison between countries with different populations. For example, Spain ranked 11th with 24% of degrees in the field natural sciences or engineering.
Photo: Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters. Students take entrance examination in lecture hall university in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain, September 15, 2009.
10. In Portugal, 25% of graduates earn a degree in STEM sciences. This country has the highest percentage of PhDs among all 40 countries surveyed - 72%.
Photo: José Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters. Students listen to a teacher in an aeronautics class at the Employment Institute and vocational training in the city of Setúbal, Portugal.
9. Austria (25%) has the second highest number of PhDs among the working population, with 6.7 female and 9.1 male PhDs per 1,000 people.
Photo: Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters. Student Michael Leuchtfried from Team virtual reality in Vienna technological university puts the quadrocopter on a map with symbols.
8. In Mexico, the rate rose from 24% in 2002 to 25% in 2012, despite the removal of government tax incentives for investment in research and development.
Photo: Andrew Winning/Reuters. Medical students practice resuscitation during a class at the National Autonomous University School of Medicine in Mexico City.
7. Estonia (26%) has one of the highest percentages of women with a degree in STEM sciences, 41% in 2012.
Photo: Reuters/Ints Kalniņš. Teacher Kristy Ran helps first grade students during computer lesson at a school in Tallinn.
6. Greece spent only 0.08% of its GDP on research in 2013. This is one of the lowest rates among developed countries. Here, the number of graduates with a scientific degree in STEM sciences has decreased from 28% in 2002 to 26% in 2012.
Photo: Reuters/Yannis Berakis. Amateur astronomers and students use a telescope to observe partial solar eclipse in Athens.
5. In France (27%) the majority of researchers are employed in industry rather than in government organizations or universities.
Photo: Reuters/Regis Duvignau. A member of the Rhoban project team tests the functions of a humanoid robot at a LaBRI workshop in Talence, southwest France.
4. Finland (28%) publishes the most research in the field of medicine.
Photo: Reuters/Bob Strong. Students in a nuclear engineering class at Aalto University in Helsinki.
3. Sweden (28%) lags slightly behind Norway in the use of computers at work. Three quarters of workers use computers at their workplaces.
Photo: Gunnar Grimnes/Flickr. Campus of Stockholm University in Sweden.
2. Germany (31%) ranks third in the average annual number of graduates with degrees in the field of STEM sciences - about 10,000 people. It is second only to the US and China.
Photo: Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and Education Minister Annette Schavan (behind second from left) observe the work of laboratory assistants during a visit to the Center molecular medicine named after Max Delbrück in Berlin.
1. South Korea was among the countries with the largest decline in the number of recipients of scientific degrees from 39% in 2002 to 32% in 2012. But this country has maintained its leading position and tops the ranking of the smartest countries according to the OECD.
Photo: Reuters/Lee Jae Won. A student in Seoul at a "white hacker" competition jointly organized by the Korean Military Academy and the Ministry of Defense and the National Intelligence Service.
In general, the ranking of countries developed in the field of science looks like:
1 United States of America - 270:
This fact in itself is not a surprise, the country still has the best research institutes and a whole galaxy of remarkable scientists. However, something else is surprising. Country in last years loses its leading position, their share among the Nobel Prize winners is steadily decreasing. Throughout the 1960s, the United States consistently had the highest number of Nobel laureates, and now their share is slightly more than 50%. It may not matter, but the fact remains that other countries are beginning to win back positions in the field of science and literature.
2 UK - 117:
The country has a number of world famous universities, as well as the best centers for scientific research. It is quite logical that representatives of the UK are the second in the number of laureates in medicine and the first among the owners of literary prize. After all, the British are the authors of the most beautiful literary works for a century.
3 Germany - 103:
Germany is not that far behind on this list. So far, it is represented by 30 laureates in the field of chemistry and 32 in physics. Their winning ratio over the years has also been gradually declining, all thanks to developing countries gradually crowding out the established leaders.
4 France - 57:
France is at some distance, most of the prizes by representatives of this country were received in the field of literature and medicine. Their most famous winner was Jean Paul Sartre, who declined the award, and of course husband and wife Marie and Pierre Curie, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903 and 1911. Marie Curie received the award after the death of her husband, in the field of chemistry.
The country of origin of the award has 28 laureates to date.
In 1903, Svante Arrhenius received the first prize in chemistry, and in 1982, Alva Myrdal was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism in the field of disarmament.
6 Switzerland - 25:
If we count the number of winners per capita, then Switzerland would certainly be at the top of the table. It has three Nobel laureates per million inhabitants. The list of winners is represented by such names as Hermann Hesse in the field of literature and Albert Einstein in the field of physics.
7 USSR - Russia - 23:
Mikhail Gorbachev, who received the Peace Prize in 1990, Boris Pasternak, who was forced to refuse a literary prize in 1958, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose award in the field of literature contributed to his expulsion from the country in 1970. The list of laureates, representatives of the country, includes many big names in almost all categories.
8 Austria - 20:
The first representative of this country to receive the award was Baroness Bertha von Sutner, who received the Peace Prize in 1905. The country is represented by seven nominees in the field of medicine.
9 Canada - 20:
Canada has also won twenty Nobel Prizes, seven of which were in chemistry. Their most recent winners are Willard Boyle in Physics and Jack Szostak in Medicine or Physiology, both of whom received the award in 2009.
10 Netherlands - 19:
Another small nation, but it also has whole line winners, Nobel Prize winners. Among the first representatives of this country to receive the award were the physicists Peter Zeeman and Hendrik Lorenz, who jointly received it in 1902.
Source: Washington Profile
http://www.inauka.ru/science/article65711.html
Material sent by A. Kynin
RAND named the 16 most promising areas of scientific and technological development. Among them: cheap solar energy, wireless communication technologies, genetically modified plants, water purification methods, low-cost housing construction, environmentally friendly industrial production, "hybrid" cars (that is, using not only gasoline, but also electricity as fuel, etc.), medical preparations"point" action, artificial production tissues of a living organism, etc.
The main conclusions of the report: there are no signs that the pace of scientific and technological progress will slow down in the coming decade and a half. Each country will find its own, sometimes unique, way to benefit from this process. However, for this, many states of the world need to make significant efforts. At the same time, a number of technologies and discoveries can potentially pose a threat to human civilization.
The first violin in the world scientific and technological progress will continue to play the countries of North America, Western Europe and East Asia. In the next decade and a half, China, India and countries are expected to make steady progress. of Eastern Europe. Russia's positions in this area will be slightly weakened. Gap between leaders and technologically backward countries the world will be expanding.
The report included an overview rating of modern scientific and technological capabilities of the countries of the world, within which such factors as the number of scientists and engineers per 1 million population, the number of published scientific articles, spending on science, the number of patents received, etc. In preparing the rating, data for the period from 1992 to 2004 were used. According to this rating, the United States has the greatest potential in the creation of new materials and technologies, as well as their application in practice (received 5.03 points). The US is far ahead of its closest pursuers. Second place Japan has only 3.08 points, while Germany (third place) has 2.12. The top ten also included Canada (2.08), Taiwan (2.00), Sweden (1.97), Great Britain (1.73), France and Switzerland (1.60 each), Israel (1.53).
Russia was the first among all post-Soviet states and took 19th place in the final rating (0.89). She got ahead of her South Korea, Finland, Australia, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Italy. In turn, Russia turned out to be more successful than such states with traditionally strong science like Belgium and Austria. Ukraine is in 29th position (0.32), followed by Belarus (0.29). They are ahead of the Czech Republic and Croatia. Estonia - on the 34th place (0.20), Lithuania - on the 36th (0.16), Azerbaijan - on the 38th (0.11). These countries have surpassed China, India, South Africa and Brazil, which are quite powerful in the scientific and technological sense.
Uzbekistan took 48th place and became the first country in the overall standings, whose scientific and technological potential is measured negative values(-0.05). It is adjacent to Latvia (- 0.07). Moldova is on the 53rd place (-0.14), Armenia - on the 57th (-0.19), Turkmenistan - on the 71st (-0.30), Kyrgyzstan - on the 76th (-0.32), Tajikistan - on the 80th (- 0.34), Kazakhstan - at 85th (- 0.38), Georgia - at 100th (- 0.44). Last Places the ranking is occupied by such countries as Eritrea, Chad, Laos, North Korea, Gabon, who scored - 0.51.
However, according to the authors of the report, the situation will change somewhat in the next 14 years. They analyzed the situation in 29 states representing different regions of the world, including the USA, Russia and Georgia. The ability of certain countries to adapt scientific discoveries was evaluated on a 100-point scale. According to this forecast, the United States, Canada and Germany will act most effectively in this area (received top marks). Israel, Japan, Australia and South Korea each scored 80 points. China - 53, India - 48, Poland - 38, Russia - 30. Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Turkey - 22 points each, South Africa - 20, Indonesia - 11, Colombia - 10. The group of outsiders included Georgia, Pakistan, Chad, Nepal, Iran, Kenya, Jordan, Fiji, Dominican Republic, Egypt and Cameroon - 5 points each.
Also, on a 100-point scale, the obstacles that scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs have to overcome in finding funds for scientific developments, their introduction into production and use by the population (100 points - the maximum possible obstacles). Here best situation developed in Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan and South Korea, which received 30 points. The USA and Israel - 40, Poland - 60. Russia, Georgia and other states included in the rating received 70 points each.
According to the authors of the report, Russia will be relatively successful in the field of practical application of new technologies in the field of healthcare, protection environment, security. Its results in the development of agricultural areas, the strengthening of the armed forces, and the improvement of the work of government bodies will be less impressive. In all these areas, it will be outstripped not only by industrialized countries, but also by China, India and Poland. In turn, Georgia's prospects are very vague in all areas.
Science of the world
According to the Institute for Statistics, at the end of 2004 there were 5 million 521.4 thousand scientists in the world (that is, 894 scientific staff per 1 million inhabitants of the Earth). The world spent $150.3 thousand per year on the work of one scientist. The lion's share (almost 71% of scientists) work in the industrialized countries of the world. There are 3,272.7 scientists per 1 million inhabitants of these states (374.3 per 1 million inhabitants of poor countries, respectively). A scientist living in a "rich" country is financed much more generously: $165.1 thousand is allocated for him a year, while $114.3 thousand is allocated for his colleague in a "poor" country of the world. The most numerous scientists are in Asia (more than 2 million). ), Europe (more than 1.8 million) and North America (almost 1.4 million). At the same time, in South America there are only 138.4 thousand, in Africa - less than 61 thousand.
700.5 thousand scientists work in the countries of the former USSR, most of of which (616.6 thousand) is concentrated in the states located in Europe - in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. At the same time, it develops paradoxical situation: scientists in former USSR many, but they are funded much worse than their counterparts in Europe, Asia and North America. For example, per 1 million inhabitants European states, formerly part of the USSR, now accounts for 2,979.1 scientists, and for 1 million citizens European Union noticeably less - 2438.9. However, one European scientist spends $177,000 a year, and one Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moldavian, etc. scientist costs $177,000. - only $29.1 thousand Situation with research funding in the post-Soviet states Central Asia, probably the worst in the world: $ 8.9 thousand per year is spent on one scientist - in countries tropical Africa- $113.9 thousand. Russia currently employs 8.9% of total number world scientists. According to this indicator, Russia ranks fourth, behind only the United States (22.8% of researchers), China (14.7%) and Japan (11.7%). However, in terms of the degree of funding, Russia is clearly losing. It spends $30 thousand per scientist, while the USA - $230 thousand, China - $88.8 thousand, Japan - $164.5 thousand. year the world spent on scientific goals 1.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP), which is approximately $830 billion. At the same time, funds for science are spent extremely unevenly. Most funds for scientific research allocated in North America - 37% of total global spending. In second place is Asia (31.5%), in third place is Europe (27.3%). To share Latin America and the Caribbean countries account for 2.6% of global spending for these purposes, Africa - 0.6%. In recent years, US and Canadian R&D spending has declined somewhat (in 1997 it was 38.2% of the world's). Similarly, the share of Europe has also decreased, while Asia has shown a constant increase in allocations. For example, a number of Asian states, such as Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, spend more than 2% of their GDP on science. India came close to them. Accordingly, the industrialized countries of the world receive and maximum return from investments in science. Poor countries account for just over 7% of the world's total patents for inventions, despite the fact that total spending developing countries for science and technology exceed 22% of the global. The report indicates that in most industrialized countries of the world, the state provides no more than 45% of scientific budgets. The rest of the funds come from the commercial sector. For example, in 2002 in the US, 66% of scientific investment and 72% of scientific research was provided by private firms. In France, business accounts for 54% of investment in science, in Japan - 69%. In turn, in India the "business component" does not exceed 23%, in Turkey - 50%. In the period from 1990 to 2004, the weight of the United States in world science gradually decreased, while the weight of the countries of the European Union and the Asia-Pacific region (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, etc.), on the contrary, increased. This conclusion was made by the American company Thomson Scientific, which analyzes trends in the field of academic science. At the end of 2004, the US accounted for approximately 33% of all scientific research (38% in 1990), the European Union for approximately 37% (respectively, 32%), the Asia-Pacific region for 23% (15%) . Russian scientists published 3.6% of the total number of scientific papers, scientists from the remaining 14 post-Soviet states - another 1%. In 2004, European scientists published in the world periodicals approximately 38% of the total number of scientific papers, US scientists- about 33%, scientists from the Asia-Pacific region - more than 25%. Asian scientists are most productive in the fields of physics, materials science, metallurgy, and electronics. Scientists of Europe - in research of rheumatology, space, endocrinology and hematology. US excels in research social sphere, aerospace disciplines and biology. The top ten countries that published the largest number scientific papers from 1990 to 2005, includes the USA, England (Scotland is not included in the top ten separately), Germany, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia and Switzerland. On the other hand, experts from the consulting firm Global Knowledge Strategies and Partnership argue that Europe's advantage over the United States in terms of scientific publications is contrived. American scientists retain the undisputed leadership in terms of the number of publications in the leading scientific publications and the level of their citation. In addition, a significant part of US scientific publications does not fall into the field of view of the general scientific community, since up to 50% of all spending on science and technology in the US falls on the military sphere. The top twenty most frequently cited scientists whose work was published in 2005 included two Russians. Semyon Eidelman works at the Novosibirsk Institute nuclear physics them. G.I. Budker, and Valery Frolov at the California Institute of Technology. They are both physicists. The top twenty includes 10 scientists working in the USA, 7 - working in Japan, one each working in Russia, Germany, Great Britain and South Korea. In 2005, Japan (300.6 thousand), USA (almost 150 thousand), Germany (47.6 thousand), China (40.8 thousand), South Korea (32.5 thousand), Russia (17.4 thousand .), France (11.4 thousand), Great Britain (10.4 thousand), Taiwan (4.9 thousand) and Italy (3.7 thousand). The majority (16.8%) of patents were for computer inventions. The top three also includes telephony and data transmission systems (6.73%) and computer peripherals (6.22%). Curiously, in 2005 American physicist James Huebner\James Huebner, military officer research center Naval Air Warfare Center, expressed a hypothesis that is in conflict with generally accepted ideas about science. In his opinion, technical progress peaked in 1915 and slowed dramatically thereafter. Huebner made his conclusion on the basis of the following calculation. He used a list of 7.2 thousand major inventions and innovations (contained in the encyclopedia "History of Science and Technology" \\ The History of Science and Technology, published in 2004 in the USA), which was compared with the dynamics of the world population (for example, the wheel was invented when the world population did not exceed 10 million people) - the peak of the number of new inventions was noted in 1873. The second criterion was US patent statistics, also compared with the country's population. Here the number of granted patents peaked in 1912. Today, the number of new inventions and innovations, according to Huebner, is comparable to the era of the so-called " dark ages"(period European history, which came after the collapse of the Roman Empire and lasted until the Renaissance).
