The smartest person ever?
 

Who do you think the smartest person ever is?

We can get into details why later so we can make comparisons.

For me I think it's Leonardo Da Vinci.

That honor must be shared among the the anonymous few who, through the dim mists of history contributed so much toward the developement of society,re:the distillation spirits and the discovery of the enema.

me.... hehehehehehehe... :P

I once read that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is estimated to have one of the highest IQ's ever, above 200.

LdV is one of the most highly regarded and so is Bill Gates, along with Blaze Pascal, Rene Descartes, Voltaire, Issac Newton, Mozart, Albert Einstein, and so on. There is a definite group of notables who are several steps in skills and achievement beyond most of the rest of humanity. It would be difficult to compare their skill level unless you could devise a series of tests that would permit a fair comparison. If that could be done, I submit the folk who wrote that test would probably have to be very close to the smartest person(s) ever.

In a similar way, the brightest doesn’t always stand out, Karl Marx drew most of his inspiration from Fred Engles and Georg Hegel, yet the great philosophical and social movement that followed their writings wasn’t known as Englesim. Same is true with Sigmund Freud, who many suggest drew, even stole most of his inspiration from Fred Nietzsche, yet when someone says something that isn’t quite what they though they were gonna say, isn’t know as a Nietzschian slip.

So we have a conundrum: how to separate the brightest from the best thief? Or in the end, is it the case that the best thief really is the brightest?

There are so many people that are eligible for the "smartest person ever" title which makes it very tough on deciding. If I have to pick who was the smartest person ever, I would also have to agree with Medmech's choice of Leonardo Da Vinci. This man was a genius who not only was famous for his artistic works, but also for his scientific and inventions. There are not many who are good at several fields, however, Da Vinci was one of them.

I would probably cast my vote for Leonardo de Vinci, but wanted to mention Goethe, as most Americans have never heard of him.

Like de Vinci, Goethe was also noted for his artistic and scientific achievements.

He was a poet, dramatist, novelist, and scientist. One of the great masters of world literature, his genius embraced most fields of human endeavor; his art and thought are epitomized in his great dramatic poem Faust.

The variety and extent of his accomplishments and activities were monumental. Goethe knew French, English, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and translated works by Diderot, Voltaire, Cellini, Byron, and others. His approach to science was one of sensuous experience and poetic intuition. Well known is his stubborn attack on Newton’s theory of light in Zur Farbenlehre (1810). A corresponding treatise on acoustics remained unfinished.
An accomplished amateur musician, Goethe conducted instrumental and vocal ensembles and directed opera performances in Weimar. His search for an operatic composer with whom he could collaborate failed; although many of his operetta librettos were composed, none achieved lasting fame. Goethe’s exquisite lyrical poems, often inspired by existing songs, challenged contemporary composers to give their best in music, and such songs as “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt” [only the lonely heart], “Kennst du das Land” [know’st thou the land], and Erlkönig were among the song texts most often set to music.
Goethe’s aim was to make his life a concrete example of the full range of human potential, and he succeeded as few others did. The friendship of Friedrich von Schiller and his death (1805) made a deep impression on Goethe. He is buried, alongside Schiller, in the ducal crypt at Weimar. The opinions of Goethe are recorded not only in his own writings but also in conversations recorded by his secretary J. P. Eckermann and in extensive correspondence with the composer Zelter and with Schiller, Byron, Carlyle, Manzoni, and others. It would be difficult to overestimate Goethe’s influence on the subsequent history of German literature.

Bruno Sacco
For 39 years, Mercedes-Benz's first styling czar has overseen design evolution at the world's oldest automaker.

Bruno Sacco, director of design for Mercedes-Benz, is this year's Honored Designer at Eyes on Classic Design. His is an extraordinary talent, and that talent has been applied for nearly 40 years to the products of an extraordinary automaker. When the history of Mercedes-Benz is written, a long chapter will be devoted to the contributions of Bruno Sacco.The evolution of Mercedes-Benz automobiles mirrors the progress of Sacco himself: the 1979 S class, the SEC coupe of 1981, all of the collective W126, C126, V126, the 190 series in 1982, the E class in 1984 (including the E class wagon in 1986 and the coupe in 1987), a new S class in 1991 (with its new coupe in 1992), the C class of 1993, and the recent flood of new models that include the M class sport-utility vehicle (called an all-activity vehicle at Mercedes-Benz), the SLK, CLK, and the SL 600.

I've been thinking a bit about this here and there, and have not come up with a definitive answer. However, if there is a "Top 10" list, I would put Stephen Hawking on that list, along with most of the aforementioned persons.

Somehow I doubt this guy qualifies! http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=113440

More like "Who is the dumbest person ever?"

Louis.

Has to be tre, he was a botanist.

and your wife is a very close second right B? :P

I'd nominate my wife since she married me.

this Q is so easy, i'm shocked ya'll missed it so blatantly. the only puzzler is who is smarter, Barabara Boxer, Nancy Pellosi or Hillary Clinton?


sorry Mod, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, therefore i sin.

Ahh, Azimuth, none of the above.

KirkVining was the smartest person ever. :D :D :D