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Top 100 greatest thinkers of all time

The greatest scientists, philosophers and pioneers in history, ranked by everyone, one head-to-head pick at a time. Build your own Top 10 and see it next to the world's.

185 scientists, philosophers, explorers, inventors and artists, from Confucius and Aristotle to Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie and Stephen Hawking. Every pick weighs a theory against a voyage, an invention or a painting, and the list shows where the world lands.

  1. Albert Einstein Germany · 1879–1955
  2. Isaac Newton United Kingdom · 1643–1727
  3. Aristotle Ancient Greece · 384–322 BC
  4. Leonardo da Vinci Italy · 1452–1519
  5. Marie Curie Poland · 1867–1934
  6. Nikola Tesla Croatia · 1856–1943
  7. Galileo Galilei Italy · 1564–1642
  8. Plato Ancient Greece · 428–348 BC
  9. Charles Darwin United Kingdom · 1809–1882
  10. Christopher Columbus Italy · 1451–1506
  11. Karl Marx Germany · 1818–1883
  12. Confucius Ancient China · 551–479 BC
  13. Vincent van Gogh Netherlands · 1853–1890
  14. Socrates Ancient Greece · 470–399 BC
  15. Thomas Edison United States · 1847–1931
  16. Benedictus de Spinoza Netherlands · 1632–1677
  17. Archimedes Ancient Greece · 287–212 BC
  18. Michelangelo Italy · 1475–1564
  19. Steve Jobs United States · 1955–2011
  20. Sigmund Freud Austria · 1856–1939
  21. Nicolaus Copernicus Poland · 1473–1543
  22. René Descartes France · 1596–1650
  23. Augustine of Hippo Ancient Rome · 354–430
  24. Elon Musk South Africa · 1971–
  25. Friedrich Nietzsche Germany · 1844–1900
  26. Bill Gates United States · 1955–
  27. Marco Polo Italy · 1254–1324
  28. Immanuel Kant Germany · 1724–1804
  29. Walt Disney United States · 1901–1966
  30. Rembrandt Netherlands · 1606–1669
  31. Albrecht Dürer Germany · 1471–1528
  32. Raphael Italy · 1483–1520
  33. Stephen Hawking United Kingdom · 1942–2018
  34. Carl Linnaeus Sweden · 1707–1778
  35. Jean-Paul Sartre France · 1905–1980
  36. Yuri Gagarin Russia · 1934–1968
  37. J. Robert Oppenheimer United States · 1904–1967
  38. Thomas Aquinas Italy · 1225–1274
  39. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Germany · 1646–1716
  40. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Germany · 1770–1831
  41. Johannes Kepler Germany · 1572–1630
  42. Ibn Khaldun Tunisia · 1332–1406
  43. Avicenna Uzbekistan · 980–1037
  44. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Switzerland · 1712–1778
  45. John Locke United Kingdom · 1632–1704
  46. Arthur Schopenhauer Germany · 1788–1860
  47. Euclid Ancient Greece · 333–285 BC
  48. Andy Warhol United States · 1928–1987
  49. Alan Turing United Kingdom · 1912–1954
  50. Ibn Battuta Morocco · 1304–1368
  51. Carl Jung Switzerland · 1875–1961
  52. Max Weber Germany · 1864–1920
  53. Pythagoras Ancient Greece · 582–490 BC
  54. Pablo Picasso Spain · 1881–1973
  55. Ferdinand Magellan Portugal · 1480–1521
  56. Niels Bohr Denmark · 1885–1962
  57. Salvador Dalí Spain · 1904–1989
  58. Vasco da Gama Portugal · 1469–1525
  59. Adam Smith United Kingdom · 1723–1790
  60. Carl Friedrich Gauss Germany · 1777–1855
  61. Blaise Pascal France · 1623–1662
  62. Alfred Nobel Sweden · 1833–1896
  63. Henry Ford United States · 1863–1947
  64. James Watt United Kingdom · 1736–1819
  65. Frida Kahlo Mexico · 1907–1954
  66. David Hilbert Germany · 1862–1943
  67. Neil Armstrong United States · 1930–2012
  68. Laozi Ancient China · 579–500 BC
  69. Leonhard Euler Germany · 1707–1783
  70. Erasmus Netherlands · 1466–1536
  71. B. R. Ambedkar India · 1891–1956
  72. Claude Monet France · 1840–1926
  73. Francis Bacon United Kingdom · 1561–1626
  74. Hippocrates Ancient Greece · 460–370 BC
  75. Francisco Goya Spain · 1746–1828
  76. Ptolemy Ancient Rome · 100–170
  77. Louis Pasteur France · 1822–1895
  78. James Cook United Kingdom · 1728–1779
  79. Simone de Beauvoir France · 1908–1986
  80. Johannes Gutenberg Germany · 1400–1468
  81. Martin Heidegger Germany · 1889–1976
  82. Giordano Bruno Italy · 1548–1600
  83. Dmitri Mendeleev Russia · 1834–1907
  84. Epicurus Ancient Greece · 341–269 BC
  85. Richard Feynman United States · 1918–1988
  86. Henri Matisse France · 1869–1954
  87. Amerigo Vespucci Italy · 1454–1512
  88. Herodotus Ancient Greece · 484–425 BC
  89. Diego Velázquez Spain · 1599–1660
  90. Katsushika Hokusai Japan · 1760–1849
  91. Paul Gauguin France · 1848–1903
  92. Alexander Graham Bell United Kingdom · 1847–1922
  93. Andrew Carnegie United Kingdom · 1835–1919
  94. Paul Dirac United Kingdom · 1902–1984
  95. Le Corbusier Switzerland · 1887–1965
  96. Paul Cézanne France · 1839–1906
  97. Noam Chomsky United States · 1928–
  98. Roald Amundsen Norway · 1872–1928
  99. Thales Ancient Greece · 624–545 BC
  100. Enrico Fermi Italy · 1901–1954

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