Who is the greatest?

Recognition is an underused motivator, or so one of my Professors taught me, and I believe it to be true. We’d all like more money and a bonus now and then, but what really makes us feel good about our work is praise from our peers and managers.

An important point to note though is that recognition has to be timely. When it comes months or years after we actually solved some challenge it gives less of a boost. So I don’t suppose Archimedes will be too excited about placing third on a list of “The 5 greatest engineers of all time.”

Selected by the readers of EDN magazine, or at least those with time on their hands, this list celebrates people whose outstanding achievements helped make the world the place it is today. Of course, it also prompts some healthy debate, informs those less knowledgeable, and drives traffic to the EDN website, none of which are bad things.

Personally, I was surprised to see that Faraday didn’t place higher. Without him there’d be no modern world. Or would someone else have stepped up? It’s an interesting debate.