THE TOP PHYSICISTS IN HISTORY are, according to a poll of
scientists conducted by Physics World magazine,
1. Albert Einstein                    6. Galileo Galilei
2. Isaac Newton                     7. Richard Feynman
3. James Clerk Maxwell          8. Paul Dirac,
4. Niels Bohr                         9. Erwin Schrodinger
5. Werner Heisenberg            10. Ernest Rutherford
 

Other highlights of   Physics World's millennium canvas:  THE MOST
IMPORTANT PHYSICS DISCOVERIES are:
1. Einstein's relativity theories
2. Newton's mechanics, and
3. Quantum mechanics.
 

TEN GREAT UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN PHYSICS:
quantum gravity                understanding the nucleus        glassy materials,
fusion energy,                   climate change                        turbulence
high-temperature               solar magnetism                      complexity
  superconductivity            consciousness.
 

Most  do not believe that progress in constructing unified field
theories spells the end of physics.

(December issue of Physics World, published by the Institute of
Physics, the British professional organization of physicists
celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.)