The Greatest Scientists of the 21st Century

The 21st century has seen tremendous strides in the field of science and technology. Without a doubt, the biggest accomplishment for this can be attributed to those brave and visionary scientists, who are not afraid to push the boundaries of what we perceive as possible. And as engineers come in different forms, they all change the way our world works in many ways. They revolutionize the way we communicate, travel and perceive the world and the universe in general. Some even have a hand in sending us to different planets and changing our genes in ways we didn't think imaginable. Who are the greatest scientists of this century so far?

Check out our engineering job listings

Andre Konstantin Geim

The University of Manchester physicist Geim was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics together with Konstantin Novoselov for his work on graphene in 2010. Graphene is a super-conductive form of carbon that is made from single-atom-thick sheets.  Recognized as the thinnest material in the world, as well as one of the strongest and hardest, it is a superior alternative to silicon with many uses. His research on mesoscopic physics and superconductivity is also very promising.

Konstantin Sergeevich Novoselov

Known for his work with Andree Geim in discovering and studying graphene, Novoselov’s work includes 49 papers mostly in Physics and Materials Science. Dr. Novoselov is a Royal Society Research Fellow in School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Manchester as well as the Langworthy Professor and director of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology also at the University of Manchester.

John Craig Venter

The American biologist is famous for being one of the first to sequence the human genome. He is credited with creating the first cell with a synthetic genome in 2010. Founder of the J. Craig Venter Institute, his current work is focused on creating synthetic biological organisms and also documenting the genetic diversity in the world's oceans. He was listed on Time magazine's 2007 and 2008 issues as part of their 100 list of the most influential people in the world. His research in the field of synthetic life can be used for creating bacteria that can be engineered to perform specific purpose such as create fuel, manufacture medicine, and correct environmental problems like global warming.

Stephen William Hawking

England’s most famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist has written many scientific books (especially his runaway bestseller, Brief History of Time). His research and contributions to the science of cosmology and quantum gravity has contributed to the development of cosmology in general. Alongside Roger Penrose, he provided theorems on gravitational singularities within the framework of general relativity and gave theoretical predictions about black holes emits radiation.

Michio Kaku

Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist. He is the co-founder of string field theory. He has already written several books about physics and related topics. Frequently invited to guest speak on complicated science subjects such as time travel and singularities, the theoretical physicist covers a wide range of subjects such as wormholes and time travel.

Tiera Guinn Fletcher

Tiera Guinn Fletcher is an extremely young scientist who graduated from MIT in just 2017. Regardless of her age, she already is one of the structural analysts and designers of the NASA program aiming to send people to Mars, Space Launch System. Her job is at the aircraft company Boeing. In 2018 she won the Most Promising Engineer award from the Black Engineer of the Year Awards.

Jennifer Doudna

Berkeley and University of California Professor as well as member of a number of organisation including the Gladstones and Howard Hughes institutes, Doudna is nonetheless most famous for her work on CRISPR, a genome-editing project that has seen a lot of publicity in recent years. Due to her discoveries with Emmanuelle Charpentier which are perhaps some of the most important discoveries in science ever, as well as due to a range of other successes, she has won a variety of awards across her career. She was also one of TIME's most influential people.