Albert Einstein vs Stephen Hawking
Who? Pick one and see how the world splits.
- Albert Einstein Germany · 1879–1955 84% · #1 in the world
- Stephen Hawking United Kingdom · 1942–2018 16% · #33 in the world
What the votes say
A landslide: the world picks Albert Einstein over Stephen Hawking, 84% to 16%. Albert Einstein is #1 of the 185 thinkers in the world ranking. Stephen Hawking is #33, and #3 of the 27 from the United Kingdom.
The case for each
Albert Einstein: Special and general relativity, E = mc², and the 1921 Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect. Changed how we understand space, time and gravity.
Stephen Hawking: The Cambridge physicist who showed that black holes give off radiation, wrote A Brief History of Time, and did it all while living with motor neurone disease for more than 50 years.
Side by side
| Albert Einstein | Stephen Hawking | |
|---|---|---|
| World rank | #1 | #33 |
| Country | Germany | United Kingdom |
| Lived | 1879–1955 | 1942–2018 |