Published on September 20 2018 8:00 am
Last Updated on September 20 2018 8:00 am
Enrico Fermi and James Watson – geniuses who explored the power of the atom and the building blocks of life – were voted the top scientists in state history by participants in the Illinois Top 200 project.
Working at the University of Chicago, Fermi led construction of the world’s first nuclear reactor. He went on to play a vital role in the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb. These achievements came after he had already won a Nobel prize for other research.
Watson, who grew up in Illinois, was part of the team that figured out the shape of DNA molecules, which carry the genetic code for all living organisms. The discovery has been called a turning point in understanding life. He, too, received a Nobel.
The top five also includes R. Buckminster Fuller, an architect and theorist who taught at Southern Illinois University; Percy Lavon Julian, who pioneered large-scale synthesis of medicines from plants; and Andrew Moyer, a key figure in discovering how to produce penicillin in large amounts.
The Top 200 project lets Illinoisans vote every two weeks on the state’s most inspiring leaders, greatest inventions, top businesses and much more. By the state’s bicentennial on Dec. 3, voters will have chosen 10 favorites in 20 different categories – the Illinois Top 200.
Voting in the next category, top athletes, is underway at www.IllinoisTop200.com. The nominees include Michael Jordan, Ken Norton, Bonnie Blair, Dick Butkus and Jim Thome.
Here are the top 10 Illinois scientists chosen in online voting:
The nominees who did not make the top 10 were Marvin Camras, a pioneer in audio recording; aviation pioneer Octave Chanute; nuclear physicist Arthur Compton; code expert William Friedman; astronomer George Hale; mathematician Olive Hazlett; cancer researcher Charles Huggins; physicist Robert Millikan; chemist Lewis Sarett; and Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto.
The Illinois Top 200 is a joint initiative of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission.
Future categories include trailblazing women, unforgettable moments and leaders. Everyone is invited to suggest possible nominees in each category by using the hashtag #ILtop200 on social media.