By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ bicentennial best of voters have chosen the man with the most recognizable name on Illinois’ Top 200 list the most important scientists of the past two centuries.
Enrico Fermi, of the Manhattan Project and Fermilab, walked away with the honor of being named Illinois’ most important scientist of the past 200 years.
Chris Wills with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum said that shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.
“His name is more familiar than the other ones,” Wills said. “And the activity that he is known for, essentially inventing nuclear power and the atomic bond, is certainly something that sticks in the public mind.”
Wills said because of that, the rest of the scientists on the list earned their place based on their contributions to their fields.
“James Watson is a huge name in science,” Wills said. “Maybe he’s not someone you’d recognize right off the bat. But as soon as people read the description and said ‘Oh, he’s the DNA guy. He’s the guy who discovered what DNA was like and how it worked. Yes, he’s an obvious vote.’ So I think he’s a natural to come in at number two.”
Futurist R. Buckminster Fuller, chemist Percy Julian, and Andrew Moyer, who helped discover penicillin, round out the top five.
Wills said Moyer and Allene Jeanes, who made the list for her work on a blood substitute, are both scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria.
This week voters at IllinoisTop200.com are picking the state’s best athletes.
