People we should probably know about, but probably don't.
Discussion
There are over seven billion people alive today, and needless to say many more who have lived and died.
There are some names that all but the most completely ignorant (and Americans) will recognise, but only a fairly short list. Most people will have at least a vague awareness of what Hitler and Stalin did, for example, and there will be plenty of people who are famous in their countries but not in others.
What, though, of all the tens of thousands of people who have had a really big impact on the world, but are now largely forgotten? I thought it might be interesting to have a thread for people to post up examples of this sort of person, along with a bit of an explanation as to why they're including them.
I'll get the ball rolling with Fritz Haber, a German chemist who lived from 1868 to 1934.
His is a story of the death of millions, but also the life of billions. The winner of a Nobel prize, whose work is also considered to have been the cause of his wife's suicide.
He was born a Jew, but converted to Christianity, and considered himself very much a German patriot. One of the ways in which that patriotism manifested itself was in the research, development and deployment of chemical weapons in WW1. He was directly responsible for the Chlorine gas deployed against Allied troops at the Second Battle of Ypres.
His first wife, Clara Immerwahr (noteworthy in her own right as the first German woman ever to earn a PhD in Chemistry) denounced it as barbaric, and it was thought to have been at the very least a major contributing factor to her suicide.
On the other hand, he received the Nobel Prize for the development of the Haber-Bosch process. This allows for the artificial creation of Ammonia from Hydrogen and Air, resulting in the ability to create fertilizers which are directly responsible for half of the world's food supply today. Without his work, there is simply no way our planet would be able to sustain the population is has today.
He thought of himself not as a Jew, but very much as a German Patriot. The Nazi regime, oddly enough, disagreed with him, and he ended up having to leave the Institute he'd founded and ultimately flee Germany, but not before scientists working for him had invented an insecticide called Zyklon-A.
The man who was responsible more than any other for the German State's use of chemical weapons in WW1 didn't live to see the German State exterminate millions of Jews - including several of his close family members - with that particular insecticide's successor.
This was a man who had a huge influence - both good and bad - on the history of humanity. Until a few days ago, I'd never even heard of him, and then happened, purely coincidentally, to listen to two different podcasts about him. Who else is out there that I've never heard of but probably should?
There are some names that all but the most completely ignorant (and Americans) will recognise, but only a fairly short list. Most people will have at least a vague awareness of what Hitler and Stalin did, for example, and there will be plenty of people who are famous in their countries but not in others.
What, though, of all the tens of thousands of people who have had a really big impact on the world, but are now largely forgotten? I thought it might be interesting to have a thread for people to post up examples of this sort of person, along with a bit of an explanation as to why they're including them.
I'll get the ball rolling with Fritz Haber, a German chemist who lived from 1868 to 1934.
His is a story of the death of millions, but also the life of billions. The winner of a Nobel prize, whose work is also considered to have been the cause of his wife's suicide.
He was born a Jew, but converted to Christianity, and considered himself very much a German patriot. One of the ways in which that patriotism manifested itself was in the research, development and deployment of chemical weapons in WW1. He was directly responsible for the Chlorine gas deployed against Allied troops at the Second Battle of Ypres.
His first wife, Clara Immerwahr (noteworthy in her own right as the first German woman ever to earn a PhD in Chemistry) denounced it as barbaric, and it was thought to have been at the very least a major contributing factor to her suicide.
On the other hand, he received the Nobel Prize for the development of the Haber-Bosch process. This allows for the artificial creation of Ammonia from Hydrogen and Air, resulting in the ability to create fertilizers which are directly responsible for half of the world's food supply today. Without his work, there is simply no way our planet would be able to sustain the population is has today.
He thought of himself not as a Jew, but very much as a German Patriot. The Nazi regime, oddly enough, disagreed with him, and he ended up having to leave the Institute he'd founded and ultimately flee Germany, but not before scientists working for him had invented an insecticide called Zyklon-A.
The man who was responsible more than any other for the German State's use of chemical weapons in WW1 didn't live to see the German State exterminate millions of Jews - including several of his close family members - with that particular insecticide's successor.
This was a man who had a huge influence - both good and bad - on the history of humanity. Until a few days ago, I'd never even heard of him, and then happened, purely coincidentally, to listen to two different podcasts about him. Who else is out there that I've never heard of but probably should?
Carl Metz 1818 - 1877
Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
James Hutton, the father of modern geology.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hutton
He conceived the idea of uniformitarianism, the theory that the earths features can all be explained by processes such as we can observe today operating over vast periods of time. This was in contradiction to the biblical version of everything being formed quickly by catastrophic events like Noah's flood.
This gave a time frame sufficient for Darwin to explain evolution as a process taking an equally long period to operate. In fact, Darwin could never have done what he did without Hutton's work.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hutton
He conceived the idea of uniformitarianism, the theory that the earths features can all be explained by processes such as we can observe today operating over vast periods of time. This was in contradiction to the biblical version of everything being formed quickly by catastrophic events like Noah's flood.
This gave a time frame sufficient for Darwin to explain evolution as a process taking an equally long period to operate. In fact, Darwin could never have done what he did without Hutton's work.
Wobbegong said:
Carl Metz 1818 - 1877
Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
I'd like to know more, but German Wikipedia is a bit of a challenge! Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
Kermit power said:
Wobbegong said:
Carl Metz 1818 - 1877
Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
I'd like to know more, but German Wikipedia is a bit of a challenge! Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&s...
Wobbegong said:
Carl Metz 1818 - 1877
Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
+1 Founder of the volunteer fire service (in Germany at least), and creator of the turntable ladder and first water pump systems used on fire trucks.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Metz
P.S lovely idea of a thread
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