Top 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008

10. Nate Silver - Mr. Silver is the founder andexpansion, leading to the theory of a massless
major author of the blog with 538 standing forgravitational energy called "dark energy."
the amount of total electoral votes available toAccording to the MacArthur foundation, "Reiss is
candidates in the Presidential race. Silver, a baseballnow actively engaged in designing expiraments
statistician and performance forecaster by trade,and devices to detect and measure dark energy."
developed what turned out to be a dead-onReiss's fascinating work will continue to have
projection of the outcome of the Presidentialprofound effects on how we understand our
race, out-predicting most professional pollsters.universe, from beginning to end.
Throughout the process, Silver gained fame for5. Paul Krugman - According to Answers.com,
his analysis, appearing on various political and newsKrugman "is an American economist, columnist,
outlets on T.V. and print, and has likely changedauthor and intellectual.[2] He is a professor of
the game for political election forecasting foreconomics and international affairs at Princeton
many years to come.University, and a columnist for The New York
9. Amy Wagers, Phd. - Wagers, at 34 years ofTimes. In 2008, Krugman won the Nobel Memorial
age, has accomplished more in the field of stemPrize in Economic Sciences "for his analysis of
cell research than most. At the age of 28, shetrade patterns and location of economic
wrote and published a paper disproving some ofactivity".[3][4] Krugman is well-known in academia
the recent theories of the pluripotency of adultfor his work in international economics, including
stem cells. She had this to say in Harvard Science,trade theory, economic geography, and
"The whole idea was that stem cells run around ininternational finance." Krugman's work in these
your blood looking for damage, and then whentimes of economic turmoil will be essential in
they find it they just become whatever it is theygetting the global economy back on its feet again.
need to become, magically," she says. "People still4. John Brockman - According to Answers.com,
have this idea of stem cells. They're not magic.Brockman is a "literary agent and author
But people want them to be," she adds. Herspecializing in scientific literature. He founded the
research on adult muscle tissue stem cells willEdge Foundation, an organization aimed to bring
have long lasting, and exponential effects of thetogether people working at the edge of a broad
future health of our society.range of scientific and technical fields." The basis
8. Noam Chomsky - Chomsky was recentlyfor the Edge.org project is to ask what would
dubbed the man who "found the innate humanityhappen if you made an organized effort, "To
in the human brain" by Discover Magazine, and thearrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, and
University of London linguist, Neil Smith, had this toseek out the most complex and sophisticated
say in the journal Nature, "Noam Chomsky'sminds, put them in a room together, and have
position in the history of ideas is comparable tothem ask each other the questions they are
that of Darwin or Descartes...Chomsky hasasking themselves." This project has resulted in
redefined our understanding of ourselves asseveral books compiled by Brockman asking
humans." Chomsky has a long history of scientificsome of the pressing questions of our time and
advancement in the area of linguistics and itsseeing what these complex and sophisticated
genetic nature, and as a controversial politicalminds have to say about them. Brockman's
writer. Discover went on to say, "...he stands inaccumulation of these minds on pressing questions
the tradition of the great Enlightenment thinkersis what fascinates me about him.
who combined a sweeping intellectual vision with3. William McDonough - McDonough was coined
meticulous technical analyses. He revived a'The King of Green Architecture' by Discover
rationalist conception of human nature in which theMagazine for his environmentally friendly 'cradle to
mind is richly endowed with creative powers at acradle' architectural work. "William McDonough aims
time when behaviorism ruled and "innate" was ato create buildings that produce oxygen,
dirty word. He showed that languages have ansequester carbon, and produce more power than
elegant mathematical structure, which set athey use." McDonough hopes to create a new
research agenda for linguistics, psychology, andindustrial revolution where the homes and buildings
computer science for decades to come, namely,we design are naturally sustainable and make our
"What are the computations that allow a languageworld a better place, as opposed to destroying
to be learned and used?our environment. Good luck William McDonough.
7. Raymond Kurzweil - According to2. Barack Obama - Everyone knows Obama's
Answers.com, Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist.story by now, but to summarize, what he did
He has been a pioneer in the fields of opticalwas totally change the political landscape of
character recognition (OCR), text-to-speechAmerica with an emphasis on empowering
synthesis, speech recognition technology, andordinary people to make a meaningful difference
electronic keyboard instruments. He is the authorin their communities. He broke through a barrier
of several books on health, artificial intelligencethat no political analyst would have predicted two
(AI), transhumanism, the technological singularity,years ago. He inspired and challenged African
and futurism. In 2009, Kurzweil will be unveiling hisAmericans to see themselves in a different light;
movie, The Singularity is Near where he discussespushed back against the cynicism that has gripped
how humans and machines will eventually becomethis nation for 45 years; stimulated young people
single entities, "achieving inconceivable heights ofto take ownership in our political system. The
intelligence, material progress, and longevity. Whileworld is anxious for him to take office. His election
the social and philosophical ramifications of thesemarks a transformation in American society.
changes will be profound, and the threats theyRarely does one individual make such a mark on
pose considerable, celebrated futurist Rayhistory. - Tom Diehl
Kurzweil presents a view of the coming age that1. Norman Borlaug - The man who has saved a
is both a dramatic culmination of centuries ofBillion lives and the "father of the green
technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiringrevolution." How in the world more people do not
vision of our ultimate destiny."know the name Norman Borlaug is completely
6. Adam Reiss - Reiss, a 2008 MacArthur fellow,beyond me. Well, I have a guess, he is the
was the lead author of a recent paper thatepitome of humility and shies away from the
discovered that not only is the universetelevision camera. Now at 93 years old, Borlaug
expanding, it is expanding at an accelerating rate,received the Congressional Gold Medal in early
shocking the astronomical research community2008 for his food research work, which resulted
and reducing the likelihood of the universe as wein the feeding, and in some cases, providing
know it ending in a big crunch. According toself-sufficiency for hundreds of millions of people
cosmologists, the observable mass of the matterwho would have otherwise starved to death.
in our universe can not account for the universe's