The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
Students and researchers now have a fast and reliable way to find influential thinkers from 24 disciplines and 300 sub-disciplines (and growing). If you want to find history’s most influential philsosophers, or the world’s most influential mathematicians currently, now you can.
We also provide custom rankings of people by discipline as well as interviews with influential academics who are currently active.
To use this tool, select the discipline (and optional subdiscipline) relevant to your research, and specify influential academics by history, world, or US. Even results that are counterintuitive are often enlightening (our algorithm always picks up a signal).
Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
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List of the most influential people in Physics,
#4551
Jaymie Matthews
#89953
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Jaymie Mark Matthews is a Canadian astrophysicist, asteroseismologist, and popularizer of science. Education and career Matthews received, from the University of Toronto, in 1979 his bachelor's degree and from, the University of Western Ontario's department of astronomy & astrophysics, master's degree in 1982 and doctoral degree in 1987. He was a postdoc at the University of British Columbia from 1988 to 1990 and Attaché de recherche at the Université de Montreal from 1990 to 1992. At UBC, Matthews has held the position of assistant professor from 1992 to 2000, associate professor from 2000 ...
Go to Profile#4552
Raymond Seeger
#91080
Overall Influence
1906 - 1992 (86 years)
Raymond John Seeger was an American physicist. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University in 1926 with a B.A. in theoretical physics. He was awarded a doctorate in physics from Yale University in 1929. That year he became an associate professor at the private Presbyterian College in South Carolina. In 1930, he joined the George Washington University . From 1935, while remaining at GWU, he worked with Edward Teller in applied quantum mechanics. With the start of World War II, in 1942 he began working at the Bureau of Ordnance. He collaborated with John von Neumann and John G.
Go to Profile#4553
Alexander R. Hamilton
#59630
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Alexander Rudolf Hamilton is with the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales . He is notable in the area of experimental condensed matter physics, particularly semiconductor nanofabrication and the study of quantum effects in nanometer scale electronic devices at ultra-low temperatures.
Go to Profile#4554
Mark O. Robbins
#67162
Overall Influence
Mark Owen Robbins was an American condensed matter physicist who specialized in computational studies of friction, fracture and adhesion, with a particular focus on nanotribology, contact mechanics, and polymers. He was a professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University at the time of his death.
Go to Profile#4555
R. A. McConnell
#90803
Overall Influence
1914 - 2006 (92 years)
Robert A. McConnell was an American physicist and parapsychologist. McConnell was born in Pennsylvania in 1914, and studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology obtaining a B.S. in physics in 1935 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1947. He worked as a physicist at a U.S. Naval aircraft factory and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radiation Laboratory. He also worked in radar moving target indication, iconoscope, and ultrasonic microwaves.
Go to Profile#4556
Emilio Gatti
#49215
Overall Influence
1922 - 2016 (94 years)
Emilio Gatti was an Italian engineer. He was a professor of nuclear electronics at the Politecnico of Milan. With Pavel Rehak he invented the silicon drift detector in 1983; he later patented it. Life Gatti was born in Turin on 18 March 1922. In 1946 he graduated in electrical engineering at the University of Padua, and in 1947 did post-graduate work in electronics. From 1948 he worked at the Centro Informazioni Studi ed Esperienze in Milan, where in 1950, he became head of the electronics division. From 1951 he taught at the Politecnico di Milano, and from 1957 to 1997 was a there. In 1998,...
Go to Profile#4557
James F. Bell III
#109342
Overall Influence
1965 - Present (61 years)
James F. Bell III is a professor of Astronomy at Arizona State University, specializing in the study of planetary geology, geochemistry and mineralogy using data obtained from telescopes and from various spacecraft missions. Bell's active research has involved the NASA Mars Pathfinder, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous , Comet Nucleus Tour , 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Science Laboratory missions. His book Postcards from Mars includes many images taken by the Mars rovers. Bell is currently an editor of the space science journal Icarus and president of The Planetary Society.
Go to Profile#4558
Nitin Samarth
#31372
Overall Influence
Nitin Samarth is an American physicist, currently the George A. and Margaret M. Downsbrough Department Head and professor of physics in the Eberly College of Science, Pennsylvania State University. He obtained his undergraduate degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1980 and his Ph.D. in physics from Purdue University in 1986. Samarth's research interests center on spintronic phenomena in thin films and nanostructures derived from semiconductors, magnetic materials and superconductors. He has pioneered the synthesis of a variety of materials in this context, resulting in key advances in semiconductor spintronics and, more recently, topological spintronics.
Go to Profile#4559
Hubert Yockey
#17811
Overall Influence
1916 - 2016 (100 years)
Hubert Palmer Yockey was an American physicist and information theorist. He worked under Robert Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project, and at the University of California, Berkeley. Yockey attended the University of California, Berkeley where he was awarded a bachelors in 1938 and a Ph.D. in 1942. In 1946 he married Mary Ann Leach.
Go to Profile#4560
William Hayes
#113742
Overall Influence
William Hayes is an Irish-born physicist and academic administrator, active in the United Kingdom. Biography Hayes was educated at Synge Street CBS; University College, Dublin; and the University of Oxford. Hayes came to St John's College, Oxford as an Overseas Scholar in 1955. At St John's, he was Fellow and Tutor from 1960 to 1987; and Principal Bursar from 1977 to 1987. Hayes was a University Lecturer from 1962 to 1985, and Professor from 1985 to 1987. Hayes was President of St John's College, Oxford from 1987 to 2001. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1990 to 2...
Go to Profile#4561
Dušan Ristanović
#105730
Overall Influence
1933 - Present (93 years)
Dušan Ristanović was a Professor of Medical Biophysics at the Department of Biophysics of the Belgrade Medical School. Biography Prof. Dušan Ristanović is author of more than 400 scientific papers, with over 150 cited publications. He was also head of the Yugoslav Biophysical Association and Head of the Department of Biophysics, Medical School in Belgrade. His main scientific interests include biophysics, mathematical modeling of biological processes, neurophysiology, biostatistics, fractal analysis, and methodology of science.
Go to Profile#4562
Saulius Juodkazis
#119071
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
#4563
Ulrich W. Heinz
#119093
Overall Influence
#4564
Olav Holt
#47506
Overall Influence
1935 - Present (91 years)
Olav Holt is a Norwegian physicist. Holt was born in Hedrum, and took his dr.philos. degree in 1963. Holt is a specialist in the upper atmosphere physics and radio wave propagation in the ionosphere.
Go to Profile#4565
Don Eigler
#32946
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Donald M. Eigler is an American physicist associated with the IBM Almaden Research Center, who is noted for his achievements in nanotechnology. Work In 1989, Eigler was the first to use a scanning tunneling microscope tip to arrange individual atoms on a surface, famously spelling out the letters "IBM" with 35 xenon atoms. He later went on to create the first quantum corrals, which are well-defined quantum wave patterns of small numbers of atoms, and nanoscale logic circuits using individual molecules of carbon monoxide. He shared the 2010 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience with Nadrian Seeman for th...
Go to Profile#4566
Scott Gaudi
#86462
Overall Influence
1974 - Present (52 years)
Bernard Scott Gaudi is an American astronomer. He is the Thomas Jefferson Professor for Discovery and Space Exploration, a professor of astronomy, and chair of undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University's department of astronomy. He was chair of the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group and the NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee . In 2018, Gaudi was co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences Exoplanet Science Strategy study.
Go to Profile#4567
James L. Madara
#119167
Overall Influence
#4568
James H. Dieterich
#119191
Overall Influence
#4569
Hari Singh Nalwa
#119209
Overall Influence
#4570
Asim Bhaumik
#119211
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
#4571
Stephen E. Nagler
#91650
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Stephen E. Nagler is a Canadian condensed matter and materials science physicist. Nagler is the Corporate Research Fellow of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Director of the laboratory's Quantum Condensed Matter Division. He is an adjunct professor with the Department of Physics at the University of Tennessee.
Go to Profile#4572
Marjolein Dijkstra
#87407
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Marjolein Dijkstra is a Dutch condensed matter physicist. She works as a professor in the Debye Institute for NanoMaterials Science at Utrecht University, and the Soft Condensed Matter group of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht.
Go to Profile#4573
Luciano da Fontoura Costa
#83300
Overall Influence
1962 - Present (64 years)
Luciano da Fontoura Costa is a full professor at the Institute of Physics at São Carlos, University of São Paulo, where he coordinates the Multidisciplinary Computing Group. Career Luciano received his BSc in Electronic Engineering in 1984 from the University of São Paulo, his MSc in Applied Physics , and his PhD in Electronic Engineering from King's College, University of London.
Go to Profile#4574
Johannes Falnes
#62615
Overall Influence
1931 - Present (95 years)
Johannes Falnes is a Professor Emeritus of Experimental Physics at the Department of Physics of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology noted for his contributions to wave energy research. He is one of the pioneers of modern wave energy research.
Go to Profile#4575
Christophe Ballif
#119268
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (57 years)
#4576
David Horn
#89426
Overall Influence
1937 - Present (89 years)
David Horn is a Professor of Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Tel Aviv University , Israel. He has served as Vice-Rector of TAU, Chairman of the School of Physics and Astronomy and as Dean of the Faculty of Exact Sciences in TAU. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, nominated for "contributions to theoretical particle physics, including the seminal work on finite energy sum rules, research of the phenomenology of hadronic processes, and investigation of Hamiltonian lattice theories".
Go to Profile#4577
Leonid Veniaminovich Keldysh
#119303
Overall Influence
#4578
Gustavo E. Romero
#93397
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Gustavo E. Romero is a professor of Relativistic Astrophysics at the University of La Plata and Superior Researcher of the National Research Council of Argentina. Currently, he is Director of the Argentine Institute of Radio Astronomy . He is past President of the Argentine Astronomical Society and currently he is the leader of GARRA research group and a Helmholtz International Fellow. Romero has been honored with several award for his achievements in scientific research, including the award of the Argentine Academy of Sciences, the Houssay Prize and the Konex Award 2023.
Go to Profile#4579
Florence Pasquier
#119370
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
#4580
Rainer Pöttgen
#119385
Overall Influence
#4581
Per Barth Lilje
#118155
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Per Vidar Barth Lilje is a Norwegian astronomer. He was born in Tønsberg. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in 1988, and worked at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics from 1989 to 1992. He became professor at the University of Oslo in 1993, and since 2005 he heads the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics there. His fields are cosmology and extragalactic astronomy. In 2017 he was inducted into the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Go to Profile#4582
Vincent Rivasseau
#82256
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Vincent Rivasseau is a French mathematical physicist. Rivasseau studied from 1974 to 1978 at the École Normale Supérieure and then in 1978/79 at Princeton University with Arthur Wightman as advisor. In 1979 he got his PhD , at the Pierre and Marie Curie University, followed by the Thèse d'État . From 1981 to 2001 he was a scientist of the CNRS at the Center for Theoretical Physics of École Polytechnique. Since 2001 he is professor of physics at the University of Paris-Sud in Orsay.
Go to Profile#4583
Pierluigi Nicotera
#119418
Overall Influence
#4584
Haël Mughrabi
#119419
Overall Influence
#4585
Andrew Peter Mackenzie
#111956
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Andrew Peter Mackenzie is a director of Physics of Quantum Materials at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany and Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He became a co-editor of the Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics as of 2020.
Go to Profile#4586
H.ti. Tien
#119450
Overall Influence
#4587
Morris E. Fine
#119489
Overall Influence
#4588
Christopher Michael. Frei
#119503
Overall Influence
#4589
Eugene Chudnovsky
#52832
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Eugene Michael Chudnovsky is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at Lehman College and a member of the doctoral faculty at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Chudnovsky is a Fellow of the American Physical Society , elected 1993 for "seminal contributions to random ferromagnetism, macroscopic quantum tunneling, and hexatic order in high Tc materials". He is mostly known for his work on quantum tunneling of magnetization. Chudnovsky explained magnetic avalanches experimentally observed in molecular magnets as deflagration.
Go to Profile#4590
Jingyu Lin
#41938
Overall Influence
Jingyu Lin is a Chinese-American physicist and engineer working in the field of wide bandgap semiconductors and photonic devices. She is a co-inventor of MicroLED. In 2000, the husband-wife research team led by Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin proposed and realized the operation of the first MicroLED and passive driving MicroLEDmicrodisplay. In 2009, their team and colleagues at III-N Technology, Inc. and Texas Tech University realized and patented the first active driving MicroLED microdisplay in VGA format by heterogeneously integrating MicroLED array with Si CMOS active-matrix driver. MicroLE...
Go to Profile#4591
Omar Hurricane
#104461
Overall Influence
Omar Hurricane is a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in the thermonuclear and inertial confinement fusion design division. Prior to Lawrence Livermore, he worked at the UCLA Institute of Plasma & Fusion Research. His research focuses on weapons physics, high energy density physics science, the theory of plasmas, and plasma instability.
Go to Profile#4592
Richard. C. Elphic
#119574
Overall Influence
#4593
David J. Lange
#119577
Overall Influence
#4594
Daniel E. Hastings
#29909
Overall Influence
Daniel E. Hastings is an American physicist, currently the Cecil and Ida Green Education Professor and the former director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hastings became head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics on January 1, 2019. He has served as the chief scientist of the US Air Force and on many national level boards.
Go to Profile#4595
Marek Wolf
#78629
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Marek Wolf is a Czech astronomer, former head the Astronomický ústav, Univerzita Karlova v Praze . He is a discoverer of several asteroids between 1995 and 2001, mostly in collaboration with Czech astronomers Lenka Kotková and Petr Pravec. The Minor Planet Center credits his discoveries under M. Wolf: he is sometimes confused with Max Wolf , a German astronomer and a very famous asteroid hunter who is credited as M. F. Wolf.
Go to Profile#4596
Yasuharu Suematsu
#29038
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Yasuharu Suematsu is a researcher and educator in optical communication technology. His research has included the development of Dynamic Single Mode Semiconductor Lasers for actuation and the development of high-capacity, long-distance optical fiber communications technology.
Go to Profile#4597
Manuel García Velarde
#113272
Overall Influence
1941 - Present (85 years)
Manuel García Velarde is a Spanish physicist and university professor, currently a member of the Academia Europaea, the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain and the European Academy of Sciences. Velarde has worked in American and European universities and research organizations, focusing on fluid dynamics and other non-linear problems, including the kinetic and thermodynamic theories, hydrodynamic and interfacial instabilities, anharmonic lattices and electronics.
Go to Profile#4598
Viola Vogel
#56192
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Viola Vogel, also known as Viola Vogel-Scheidemann, is a German biophysicist and bioengineer. She is a professor at ETH Zürich, where she is head of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology and leads the Applied Mechanobiology Laboratory.
Go to Profile#4599
Annabella Selloni
#119707
Overall Influence
#4600
David M. Brink
#119721
Overall Influence
