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Most important scientific discoveries

The community has spoken. Discover the world ranking, compare it to yours and see how everyone else voted.

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versus10contendershigh-voltage151votestrophy7TopListcomment0commentsUpdated on 10/16/2026 at 11:00 PM
The discovery of electricity ⚡
The discovery of electricity ⚡1316
medal-1-3d

The worldwide ranking generated by 151 votes

10 / 10
medal-1
The discovery of electricity ⚡The discovery of electricity ⚡1316
medal-2
The structure of DNA 🧬The structure of DNA 🧬1290
medal-3
Penicillin 💊Penicillin 💊1257
#4
The laws of motion ⚙️The laws of motion ⚙️1198
#5
The discovery of exoplanets 🌍The discovery of exoplanets 🌍1182
#6
The theory of relativity 🌌The theory of relativity 🌌1182
#7
The theory of evolution 🦖The theory of evolution 🦖1175
#8
Radioactivity ☢️Radioactivity ☢️1160
#9
The laws of heredity 🧬The laws of heredity 🧬1130
#10
Quantum theory 🌐Quantum theory 🌐1099

What the community says

Rank the greatest scientific discoveries in history.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →

Community TopList

How other members ranked this list.

pouneiUtilisateur
level-4Niveau · Dindon
Full
castleScience

Which major scientific discovery is the most important to you? 🌌

  1. #1
    La découverte de l’électricité ⚡
  2. #2
    La penicilline 💊
  3. #3
    La découverte des exoplanètes 🌍
tristanajaegerCréateur
level-4Niveau · Dindoncreator-medalRôle · Créateur
Full
castleScience

Which major scientific discovery is the most important to you? 🌌

  1. #1
    La découverte des exoplanètes 🌍
  2. #2
    La découverte de l’électricité ⚡
  3. #3
    La théorie de la relativité 🌌
paul-cheminadeCréateur
level-5Niveau · Cygnecreator-medalRôle · Créateur
Full
castleScience

Which major scientific discovery is the most important to you? 🌌

  1. #1
    La découverte de l’électricité ⚡
  2. #2
    La théorie de l’évolution 🦖
  3. #3
    La structure de l’ADN 🧬

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