Six Harvard Scientists Ranked Among Top 100

A recently published book has deemed six Harvard professors among the 100 most influential scientists of all time.

The professors were lauded in The Scientific 100, written by author John Simmons, for their achievements in the various fields of science. Simmons said he created the list by consulting influential scientists.

But the work has raised objections by many of the Harvard scientists named in the book, who said many important people were left off the list.

"Darwin is named fourth in the book," said Agassiz Professor of Zoology Emeritus Ernst Mayr, who was ranked 65th. "That already is too low. He has changed thinking more than Einstein. There are probably 100 other scientists that could have been chosen instead. [Simmons] made his judgments, and as a human, his judgment is faulty."

The ranking of the 100 top scientists in history included three current Harvard professors--Higgins Professor of Physics Sheldon L. Glashow at 48th, Pellegrino University Professor Edward O. Wilson at 83rd and Mayr.

Previous Harvard professors ranked were molecular biologist James D. Watson at 49th place, paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson at 78th and psychologist B.F. Skinner at 98th.

These Harvard professors followed giants in science such as Isaac Newton, who was ranked first, Albert Einstein at second and Charles Darwin at fourth, according to the Harvard Gazette.

The appendix of the book cited other scientists who had not been included in the rankings, including Aristotle and Harvard Noble laureate and geneticist Loeb University Professor Walter Gilbert '53.

Simmons said he compiled the ranks by circulating a preliminary list among members of the New York Academy of Sciences and historians of science.

"The scientists were selected for past contributions so there are no repetitions," he said. "They have all done something different. Although it's not a unified history, it's a book to give you the idea of the unity of all scientific endeavor."

Mayr, who has been honored for many books that he has authored, including The Growth of Biological Thought and Systematics and the Origin of Species, said that he was "completely surprised" at being named.

"Many of them I feel to be more deserving than I am," Mayr said. "I've had some influence, no doubt about it."

Mayr said he was recognized for his work in the field of the philosophy of biology and as a leading specialist of evolution.

Mayr said, however, that "the sequenced ranking is irrelevant. [Being ranked 65th] is purely accidental."

Glashow, who won a Nobel Prize in 1979, expressed similar sentiments.

"I'm glad I was included, but I can't be overly happy that I am," he said.

Glashow said he did not know whether he thought the results were accurate.

"I don't know. I don't think that the author is a scientist," he said. "I doubt that the author would have done well in any of my courses."

Wilson, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his book The Ants could not be reached for comment.

Simmons said that any such ranking of scientists will obviously be subjective.

"Ranking was not my idea; it was the publisher's," Simmons said. "There are obviously more than 100 famous scientists."