On 25 Aug 2001, at 21:39, Jim Windle wrote:
As an addendum I would add Claude Shannon. In fact I can't think of a single lawyer in the 20th century who had the long term influesnce on society that either Shannon or von Neumann did. The list of other influential non-lawyers might also be expanded to include Turing, Godel, von Braun, Crick and Watson. Washington's myopia in thinking olny lawyers are worth listening to is indicative of the type of government we have.
Jim
Don't forget Muhammed Ali and Andrew Dice Clay. I know you've only been listing scientists, but you said non-lawyers. Anyone who gets a lot of attention, for whatever reasom, is likely to be able to have a hell of a lot more influence on society than most lawyers or politicians. George