Who is you favorite scientist?

NiKola Tesla would be my favourite scientst. I am fascinated by him. While his work in electricity is well known, he also did work in nuclear physics and theoretical physics. I think the most interesting stuff he produced, however, was his controversial work, which he used to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories and new age occultism. He was an Austrian by birth but became a naturalized US citizen. He was the man who, "invented the twentieth century" and "the patron saint of modern electricity. Pretty cool guy!

I find Stephen Hawking very fascinating. I read a portion of his famous book, 'A Brief History of Time' as research for a term paper, and I found myself reading much more than I had to for my paper. Everything was so incredibly interesting. Also, his special circumstances and ability to be a brilliant scientist in spite of not being able to walk and talk like most people make him even more interesting. Plus, he was once a guest star on Star Trek, one of my favorite shows! That was the first place I had ever seen him, back when I was just a little kid. Of course, I had no idea who he was back then.