The 100 Most Famous Scientists of All Time

Ranked by Wikipedia link data — the closer to #1, the more famous.

Jesus Christ leads the ranking, followed by Barack Obama, Albert Einstein, Aristotle and Confucius — names that became units, laws and household words. Ordered by Wikipedia link data, the list runs from ancient natural philosophers to modern Nobel laureates. Browse the hundred, then see how many you could name unaided.

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  1. Jesus ChristJesus, also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and by various other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish…
  2. Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is an American former politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
  3. Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist best known for developing the theory of relativity.
  4. AristotleAristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings span the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics,…
  5. ConfuciusConfucius, born Kong Qiu, was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon…
  6. Karl MarxKarl Marx was a German philosopher, social and political theorist, economist, and revolutionary socialist.
  7. Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman,…
  8. Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
  9. PlatoPlato was an ancient Greek philosopher of Classical Athens who is most commonly considered the foundational thinker of the…
  10. Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton was an English polymath who was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, author and inventor.
  11. Nelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as…
  12. Mahatma GandhiMohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent…
  13. Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, and author who was the dictator of the Roman Republic almost continuously…
  14. Leo TolstoyCount Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer.
  15. George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American former politician, businessman, and former United States Air Force officer who was the 43rd…
  16. Joe BidenJoseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American former politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025.
  17. Joseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953.
  18. Charles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology.
  19. Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language.
  20. SocratesSocrates was an ancient Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, perhaps the first Western moral philosopher, and a major…
  21. George WashingtonGeorge Washington was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797.
  22. The Buddha
  23. Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri, widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher.
  24. Galileo GalileiGalileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei, commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian…
  25. Victor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo was a French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and…
  26. Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United…
  27. Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. was an English comic actor, filmmaker, singer, film editor and composer who rose to fame in the…
  28. Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period.
  29. Martin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar.
  30. VoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher (philosophe), satirist, and historian.
  31. Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher and writer who started his career as a classical philologist and turned to…
  32. Fyodor DostoyevskyFyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was a Russian philosopher, novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist.
  33. Immanuel KantImmanuel Kant was a German philosopher. Born in Königsberg in the Kingdom of Prussia, he is considered one of the central…
  34. Thomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman known for his work on the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph,…
  35. Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist.
  36. René DescartesRené Descartes was a French polymath, active across philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy…
  37. Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating…
  38. Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and journalist.
  39. Marie CurieMaria Salomea Skłodowska Curie, better known as Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist.
  40. Martin Luther King Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a prominent leader of the civil rights…
  41. ArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the city of Syracuse in Sicily.
  42. Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish writer. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best…
  43. Alexander PushkinAlexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.
  44. Rabindranath Tagore
  45. Bill GatesWilliam Henry Gates III is an American businessman and philanthropist.
  46. Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the…
  47. Franz KafkaFranz Kafka was a German-language Jewish Czech writer and novelist born in Prague, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
  48. Jimmy WalesJimmy Donal Wales is an American and British internet entrepreneur and former financial trader.
  49. Pope FrancisPope Francis was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025.
  50. Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, philosophe, writer, and composer.
  51. Mao ZedongMao Zedong was a Chinese communist revolutionary, political theorist and the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
  52. Steve JobsSteven Paul Jobs was an American businessman, inventor, and investor.
  53. Niccolò MachiavelliNiccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance.
  54. Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories,…
  55. Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo was a Christian theologian and philosopher from Thagaste, Numidia Cirtensis and the Bishop of Hippo Regius.
  56. Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson Clinton is an American former politician and lawyer who served as the 42nd president of the United States from…
  57. Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was a Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809.
  58. Adam SmithAdam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during…
  59. Charles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and…
  60. Angela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is a German stateswoman and retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021.
  61. Neil ArmstrongNeil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, as the commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission,…
  62. Lord ByronGeorge Noel Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, was a British poet.
  63. Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin was an American polymath who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States; a drafter and signer of the…
  64. Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American engineer, futurist, and inventor.
  65. Nicolaus CopernicusNicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center.
  66. Carl LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus, also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised…
  67. Marco PoloMarco Polo was a Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295.
  68. SophoclesSophocles was an ancient Greek tragedian, one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full.
  69. LaoziLaozi was a legendary Chinese philosopher considered to be the author of the Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts of Taoism.
  70. Louis PasteurLouis Pasteur was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of…
  71. PythagorasPythagoras of Samos was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism.
  72. Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from…
  73. John LockeJohn Locke was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment…
  74. John Paul IIPope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005.
  75. Gabriel García MárquezGabriel José García Márquez was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo or Gabito throughout Latin America.
  76. Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor, best known for his operas, although his…
  77. Albert Camus
  78. James JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic.
  79. Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, theologian, and philosopher.
  80. J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer and academic philologist.
  81. Gottfried Wilhelm LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist, and diplomat who is credited,…
  82. Yuri GagarinYuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first person to journey into outer space during the…
  83. CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, and writer who tried to uphold optimate…
  84. EuclidEuclid was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician.
  85. Stephen HawkingStephen William Hawking was an English theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the…
  86. Benito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and dictator who led the Kingdom of Italy as a fascist…
  87. Jimmy CarterJames Earl Carter Jr. was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
  88. Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.
  89. Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet and Russian politician who was the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until…
  90. Emmanuel MacronEmmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017.
  91. Frédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano.
  92. Friedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels was a German philosopher, social and political theorist, and revolutionary socialist.
  93. Marlene Dietrich
  94. Carl Friedrich GaussJohann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist, who contributed to many fields in…
  95. Jean-Paul SartreJean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer,…
  96. HerodotusHerodotus was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, under Persian control in the 5th century…
  97. Li BaiLi Bai, also known by his courtesy name of Taibai, was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the best and most important poets of…
  98. Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953.
  99. Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat.
  100. George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st president of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993.

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