Culture Explorer Profile picture
Apr 23, 2024 17 tweets 8 min read Read on X
The Greatest Minds to Have Ever Lived (A Four-Part Series) - Part 3.

Here are luminaries who have laid the foundations for the arts, philosophy, and the sciences that shaped our world, some even at cost of their lives.

Let's look at how they were immortalized in art.🧵 Credit: https://memoirsofeinstein.blogspot.com/p/home-page.html
"Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing." - Hypatia

Hypatia was an influential Hellenistic Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician in Alexandria. Her teachings and works, although largely lost, contributed to the development of mathematics and philosophy.Hypatia by Julius Kronberg, 1889
By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, h"The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection."
- Michelangelo

Michelangelo, an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance, is celebrated for his immense artistic versatility and detail in works such as the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the statue of David.By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125633750
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
- Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, a renowned theoretical physicist, developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. His famous equation, E=mc², has had a profound impact on the scientific understanding of energy and mass.The famous image of Einstein taken by United Press photographer Arthur Sasse in 1951
Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa) was an Italian mathematician who introduced the Fibonacci sequence to the Western world through his book "Liber Abaci." His work significantly influenced European mathematics.

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, typically starting with 0 and 1, and is famous for appearing in various natural phenomena, from the arrangement of leaves on a stem to the branching of trees and the spiral patterns of shells.Monument of Leonardo da Pisa (Fibonacci), by Giovanni Paganucci, completed in 1863, in the Camposanto di Pisa. By Hans-Peter Postel - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1739679
"To play without passion is inexcusable!" - Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer and pianist, is regarded as a crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music. He is known for his innovative compositions, including the Ninth Symphony and the Moonlight Sonata.Beethoven with the manuscript of the Missa solemnis Credit: Joseph Karl Stieler - Google Arts & Culture
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." - Marie Curie

Marie Curie, a pioneering physicist and chemist, was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields - physics and chemistry - for her work on radioactivity.Marie Curie Monument in Lublin This file was created and uploaded by User:SzaterTen plik został stworzony i dodany przez Wikipedystę:SzaterSzater Wikimedia CommonsPolska Wikipedia - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2898616
Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and scientist, is now known as the father of modern genetics for his research on the inheritance of traits in pea plants. His work laid the foundation for the modern understanding of genetics and heredity. In 1910, this statue of Mendel was erected "by the friends of science." It orginally stood in Mendel Square in Brno. The statue now stands in the garden at the Mendelianum, the Mendel Museum, in Brno. Credit: https://dnalc.cshl.edu/view/16183-Gallery-4-Statue-of-Gregor-Mendel.html
"Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise."
- Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. His theories have profoundly influenced the humanities and social sciences.Photographic portrait of Sigmund Freud, signed by the sitter ("Prof. Sigmund Freud") By Max Halberstadt - https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=6116407, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64082854
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right." - Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T revolutionized transportation and American industry.Time magazine, January 14, 1935
"If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration."
- Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was known for his groundbreaking contributions to the development of alternating current (AC) electrical systems, including the AC motor and transformer, which have had lasting impacts on electrical power distribution.Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker, where Tesla died
"The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between." - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Perhaps the most influential composer from the classical era, Mozart is known for his mastery across all musical genres of his time. His extensive body of work, including operas, symphonies, and chamber music, remains popular and influential.Mozart family, c. 1780 (della Croce); the portrait on the wall is of Mozart's mother.
"That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal; as time will show." - Ada Lovelace

An English mathematician and writer, Ada Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She theorized a method for the engine to repeat a series of instructions, a process known as looping.Portrait of Ada by the British painter Margaret Sarah Carpenter (1836)
"Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated." - Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist who is often overlooked but whose work on X-ray diffraction was critical in the discovery of the DNA double helix. Her photographs of DNA allowed Watson and Crick to create their famous model of DNA.Credit: Rosalind Franklin, 1953 is a photograph by Illustration by Jody Hewgill for TIME
Elizabeth I, the Queen of England and Ireland, is celebrated as one of the greatest monarchs for her adept governance and the establishment of the Elizabethan Age, a period marked by the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as Shakespeare, and the expansion of global maritime power.

Her political acumen in navigating complex domestic and international challenges, including religious divisions and threats from powerful adversaries like Spain, solidified her legacy as a shrewd and effective leader.Portrait commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada, depicted in the background. Elizabeth's hand rests on the globe, symbolising her international power. One of three known versions of the "Armada Portrait".
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world." - Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur, a French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist, is renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization. His work in disease prevention has saved countless lives.Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, painting by A. Edelfeldt in 1885
If you found this thread enlightening, we'd be grateful if you could share the initial post. This thread is a sequel to the first and second installments of our series.

Part 1:


Part 2:

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Culture Explorer

Culture Explorer Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @CultureExploreX

Sep 11
9/11 didn’t just collapse towers, it collapsed belief.

In Institutions and In purpose.

24 years later, what’s rising in its place isn’t chaos.

It’s something more seductive and far more dangerous. 👇 9/11 Never Forget ...  Credit: Hannah Funderburk
Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe called it The Saeculum — a four-phase cycle of human history:

• The High
• The Awakening
• The Unraveling
• The Crisis

We are now deep inside the last one. The Crisis. The Four Turnings of the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory
Every few generations, society hits a Fourth Turning, a total crisis that tears through its myths and rebuilds from the ashes.

• Revolution
• Civil war
• Depression
• Global war

Each cycle ends the same way: something must be reborn. Image
Read 15 tweets
Sep 7
What if the greatest British export isn’t the language or the empire…

…but a sense of timeless beauty etched in stone and paint?

Most people don’t realize how bold British art and architecture really is.

Let me show you the masterpieces they never taught you about: 🧵👇 Piccadilly Circus, London Credit: Pamela Lowrance
Most cities hide their secrets underground.

London built its greatest secret above ground.

The Royal Naval College in Greenwich looks like something out of ancient Rome yet it was designed by Christopher Wren to be “the Versailles of the sea.”

Its twin domes once trained the world's most powerful navy.
How do you immortalize love, sorrow, and empire… with one sculpture?

Answer: the Albert Memorial.

Critics mocked it when it was built. Now they quietly admit it’s one of the most emotionally overwhelming monuments in Europe.

Gothic, golden, and unapologetically romantic. Image
Read 17 tweets
Sep 5
Poland just became a $1 trillion economy without open borders, without giving up religion, and without tearing down its traditions.

What did Poland do that the West won’t? (a thread) 🧵👇 Gdansk, Poland Credit: Elif Odabaş
Back in 1990, Poland was broke and gray.
Fresh out of Soviet control, it had crumbling factories, dull housing blocks, and a weak economy.

No one expected it to become the EU’s quiet success story.

Image: Warsaw (Then and Now) Image
Today, Poland has become a vibrant society.

Old towns have been rebuilt with care.
Churches restored.

Soviet scars replaced with colorful facades and cobbled streets.

Poland proved something no one talks about:
You can build prosperity without destroying beauty.
Read 19 tweets
Sep 3
Civilizations don’t begin with kings or armies — they begin with stories.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Iliad, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings — separated by thousands of years, they’re all asking the same question:

How do you turn chaos into meaning? 🧵 Upper left: Epic of Gilgamesh Upper right: Iliad Lower left: Hamlet Lower right: Lord of the Rings
The oldest epic we know is about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who lost his closest friend and went searching for immortality, only to learn that no man escapes death.

He learned that meaning lies in what we build and leave behind.

Across time, stories help us face death and make sense of a broken world.The Epic of Gilgamesh stands as one of humanity's oldest literary masterpieces, dating back to the early third millennium BCE. This ancient Mesopotamian poem originates from the Sumerian city of Uruk, located in present-day Iraq. Credit: Archaeo - Histories
That was 4,000 years ago. But the pattern never changed.

Every epic since has wrestled with the same truth: chaos comes for all of us.

And every culture turned to stories to tame it. Dante and Virgil in Hell is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Read 20 tweets
Aug 30
You think Rome’s churches are beautiful?

They weren’t built just to impress you.

They were built to outlast you.

To show that gold fades, empires fall—but faith carves itself into stone.

Read this, and you’ll never forget them. 🧵👇 santa maria maggoire where Pope Francis was laid to rest...
This isn’t a sightseeing list.

It’s a journey through collapse, wonder, survival—and glory.

And some of these churches? You’ve probably never even heard their names. Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri... Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs - designed by Michelangelo.
Start at San Marcello al Corso.

It survived fire, plague, collapse.

The blackened crucifix wasn’t replaced, it was kept.

Why?
Because faith that never suffered is faith that never lived. Image
Read 21 tweets
Aug 22
What if I told you Washington D.C. wasn’t just inspired by Rome but was a deliberate attempt to become a modern Rome?

The buildings weren’t just designed to look “classical.”

They were built to signal power, permanence, and empire. A thread... 🧵 U.S. Capitol Building Washington D.C. Photo by Linda Orlomoski on flickr
Library of Congress – Beaux-Arts Grandeur

Ever seen knowledge carved into marble?

Every inch of this building screams:
Ideas are power. And power is eternal. Library of Congress... Credit: Handluggageonly.co.uk
The Capitol – Roman Monumentalism

A dome echoing the Pantheon. Columns from the Forum.

But here’s what’s wild—
It was originally meant to be lit without any modern lanterns. Why?

Because Jefferson called them “degeneracies of modern architecture”
Read 22 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(