
The
first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, while Sir Isaac Newton died in
1727. But if the prizes had been around during his lifetime, he would
have won it hands down in multiple years.
Einstein is
renowned for his imagination and ability to intuitively lay out new
conceptual models of the universe. Newton's talents were different. His
unparalleled logical and mathematical genius allowed him to formulate
observations into laws and to prove ideas through rigorous mathematics.
When the mathematical machinery he needed didn't fully exist, he
invented it. That's what largely inspired RealClearScience Editor Alex Berezow to name Newton the smartest person who ever lived.
While
Einstein's physics are still being proved today, Newton's is so
monumental, so important, so fundamental, so proven within its realm of
validity, that scientists of every sort take it for granted every day.
The laws of gravity and motion that Einstein reenvisioned were edits of
the commandments first called down from the ether by Newton's blinding
brilliance.
Newton formulated laws of physics, and worked in optics and astronomy, too. He was also named
Warden of the Mint,
and introduced monetary safeguards that would have won a Nobel Prize in
Economics as well. Tom Hartsfield figures he could have won up to eight
Nobels for his life’s work, and that doesn’t even count inventing
the cat flap.
However, those don't take into account who his competition would have
been in those particular years, which would be an extensive project for
someone so inclined.
Read about each of Newton's possible Nobels at Real Clear Science.
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