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History of Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, situated about 100 mi east of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Roughly triangular in shape, the island measures some 21 mi from northwest to southeast and about 14 mi from east to west at its widest point. The capital and largest town is Bridgetown, which is also the main seaport.

Barbados was inhabited by indigenous peoples – Arawaks and Caribs – prior to the European colonization of the Americas in the 16th century. The island was briefly claimed by the Spanish Empire who saw trees with a beard like feature (hence the name Barbados), and then by Portugal from 1532 to 1620. The island was an English and later a British colony from 1625 until 1966. Sugar cane cultivation in Barbados began in the 1640s, which saw the increasing importation of black slaves from West Africa. Several black slave codes were implemented in the late-17th century which resulted in several slave rebellion attempts, however none was successful. The Consolidated Slave Law was passed following the largest slave rebellion in Barbadian history, this was then followed by the total abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834. Britain continued to rule the island until independence was granted in 1966 and the state became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

From 1966 to 2021, Barbados was a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, modelled on the Westminster system, with Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, as head of state. Barbados became a republic on November 30, 2021, under Mia Mottley, thus removing the queen as its head of state.

Before colonization
Some evidence suggests that Barbados may have been settled in the second millennium BC, but this is limited to fragments of conch lip adzes found in association with shells that have been radiocarbon-dated to about 1630 BC.

Fully documented Amerindian settlement dates to between about 350 and 650 AD, when the Troumassoid people arrived. The arrivals were a group known as the Saladoid-Barrancoid from the mainland of South America.

The second wave of settlers appeared around 800 AD (the Spanish referred to these as "Arawaks") and a third in the mid-13th century. However, the Amerindian settlement surprisingly came to an end in the early 16th century. There's no evidence that the Kalinago (called "Caribs" by the Spanish) ever established a permanent settlement in Barbados, though they often visited the island in their canoes.

Early colonial history
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover the island. Portuguese navigator Pedro A. Campos named it Os Barbados (meaning "bearded ones").

Frequent slave-raiding missions by the Spanish Empire in the early 16th century led to a massive decline in the Amerindian population so that by 1541 a Spanish writer claimed they were uninhabited. The Amerindians were either captured for use as slaves by the Spanish or fled to other, more easily defensible mountainous islands nearby.

From about 1600 the English, French, and Dutch began to found colonies in the North American mainland and the smaller islands of the West Indies. Although Spanish and Portuguese sailors had visited Barbados, the first English ship touched the island on 14 May 1625, and England was the first European nation to establish a lasting settlement there from 1627, when the William and John arrived with more than 60 white settlers and six African slaves.

England is commonly said to have made its initial claim to Barbados in 1625, although reportedly an earlier claim may have been made in 1620. Nonetheless, Barbados was claimed from 1625 in the name of King James I of England and Scotland.. There were earlier English settlements in The Americas (1607: Jamestown, 1609: Bermuda, and 1620: Plymouth Colony), and several islands in the Leeward Islands were claimed by the English at about the same time as Barbados (1623: St Kitts, 1628: Nevis, 1632: Montserrat, 1632: Antigua). Nevertheless, the Colony of Barbados quickly grew to become the third major English settlement in the Americas due to its prime eastern location.

Early English settlement
The settlement was established as a proprietary colony and funded by Sir William Courten, a City of London merchant who acquired the title to Barbados and several other islands. So the first colonists were actually tenants and much of the profits of their labor returned to Courten and his company.

The first English ship, which had arrived on 14 May 1625, was captained by John Powell. The first settlement began on 17 February 1627, near what is now Holetown (formerly Jamestown), by a group led by John Powell's younger brother, Henry, consisting of 80 settlers and 10 English laborers. The latter were young indentured laborers who according to some sources had been abducted, effectively making them slaves. About 40 Taino slaves were brought in from Guyana to help plant crops on the west coast of the island.

Courten's title was transferred to James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, in what was called the "Great Barbados Robbery." Carlisle established a separate settlement at what he called Carlisle Bay, which later became known as Bridgetown.

Carlisle then chose as governor Henry Hawley, who established the House of Assembly in 1639, in an effort to appease the planters, who might otherwise have opposed his controversial appointment. That year, 12 years after the settlement was established, the white adult population stood at an estimated 8,700.

In the period 1640–1660, the West Indies attracted over two-thirds of the total number of English emigrants to the Americas. By 1650, there were 44,000 settlers in the West Indies, as compared to 12,000 on the Chesapeake and 23,000 in New England.

Most English arrivals were indentured. After five years of labour, they were given "freedom dues" of about £10, usually in goods. Before the mid-1630s, they also received 5–10 acres of land, but after that time the island filled and there was no more free land. Around the time of Cromwell a number of rebels and criminals were also transported there.

Timothy Meads of Warwickshire was one of the rebels sent to Barbados at that time, before he received compensation for servitude of 1000 acres of land in North Carolina in 1666. Parish registers from the 1650s show, for the white population, four times as many deaths as marriages. The death rate was very high.

Before this, the mainstay of the infant colony's economy was the growing export of tobacco, but tobacco prices eventually fell in the 1630s, as Chesapeake production expanded.

England's civil war
Around the same time, fighting during the War of the Three Kingdoms and the Interregnum spilled over into Barbados and Barbadian territorial waters. The island was not involved in the war until after the execution of Charles I, when the island's government fell under the control of Royalists (ironically the Governor, Philip Bell, remained loyal to Parliament while the Barbadian House of Assembly of Barbados, under the influence of Humphrey Walrond, supported Charles II). On 7 May 1650, the General Assembly of Barbados voted to receive Lord Willoughby as governor, a move which confirmed the Cavaliers as the government of Barbados.

Willoughby rounded up and deported many Roundheads from Barbados, confiscating their property. To try to bring the recalcitrant colony to heel, the Commonwealth Parliament passed an act on 3 October 1650 prohibiting trade between England and Barbados, and because the island also traded with the Netherlands, further navigation acts were passed prohibiting any but English vessels trading with Dutch colonies. These acts were a precursor to the First Anglo-Dutch War.

The Commonwealth of England sent an invasion force under the command of Sir George Ayscue, which arrived in October 1651, and blockaded the island. After some skirmishing, the Royalists in the House of Assembly, feeling the pressures of commercial isolation, led by Lord Willoughby surrendered. The conditions of the surrender were incorporated into the Charter of Barbados (Treaty of Oistins), which was signed at the Mermaid's Inn, Oistins, on 17 January 1652.

Sugar cane and slavery

Sugar cane cultivation in Barbados began in the 1640s, after its introduction in 1637 by Pieter Blower. Initially, rum was produced but by 1642, sugar was the focus of the industry. As it developed into the main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates which replaced the small holdings of the early English settlers as the wealthy planters pushed out the poorer. Some of the displaced farmers relocated to the English colonies in North America, most notably South Carolina. To work the plantations, black Africans – primarily from West Africa – were imported as slaves in such numbers that there were three for every one planter. Increasingly after 1750 the plantations were owned by absentee landlords living in Britain and operated by hired managers. Persecuted Catholics from Ireland also worked the plantations. Life expectancy of slaves was short and replacements were purchased annually.

The introduction of sugar cane from Dutch Brazil in 1640 completely transformed society and the economy. Barbados eventually had one of the world's biggest sugar industries. One group instrumental in ensuring the early success of the industry were the Sephardic Jews, who had originally been expelled from the Iberian peninsula, to end up in Dutch Brazil. As the effects of the new crop increased, so did the shift in the ethnic composition of Barbados and surrounding islands. The workable sugar plantation required a large investment and a great deal of heavy labour. At first, Dutch traders supplied the equipment, financing, and African slaves, in addition to transporting most of the sugar to Europe. Barbados replaced Hispaniola as the main sugar producer in the Caribbean.

In 1655, the population of Barbados was estimated at 43,000, of which about 20,000 were of African descent, with the remainder mainly of English descent. These English smallholders were eventually bought out and the island filled up with large African slave-worked sugar plantations. By 1660, there was near parity with 27,000 blacks and 26,000 whites. By 1666, at least 12,000 white smallholders had been bought out, died, or left the island. Many of the remaining whites were increasingly poor. By 1673, black slaves (33,184) outnumbered white settlers (21,309). By 1680, there were 17 slaves for every indentured servant. By 1684, the disparity grew even further to 19,568 white settlers and 46,502 black slaves. By 1696, there was an estimated 42,000 enslaved blacks, and the white population declined further to 16,888 by 1715.

Due to the increased implementation of slave codes, which emphasized differential treatment between Africans, and the white workers and ruling planter class, the island became increasingly unattractive to poor whites. Black or slave codes were implemented in 1661, 1676, 1682, and 1688. In response to these codes, several slave rebellions were attempted or planned during this time, but none succeeded. Nevertheless, poor whites who had or acquired the means to emigrate often did so. Planters expanded their importation of African slaves to cultivate sugar cane. One early advocate of slave rights in Barbados was the visiting Quaker preacher Alice Curwen in 1677: "For I am persuaded, that if they whom thou call'st thy Slaves, be Upright-hearted to God, the Lord God Almighty will set them Free in a way that thou knowest not; for there is none set free but in Christ Jesus, for all other Freedom will prove but a Bondage."

By 1660, Barbados generated more trade than all the other English colonies combined. This remained so until it was eventually surpassed by geographically larger islands like Jamaica in 1713. But even so, the estimated value of the Colony of Barbados in 1730–1731 was as much as £5,500,000. Bridgetown, the capital, was one of the three largest cities in English America (the other two being Boston, Massachusetts, and Port Royal, Jamaica.) By 1700, the English West Indies produced 25,000 tons of sugar, compared to 20,000 for Brazil, 10,000 for the French islands and 4,000 for the Dutch islands. This quickly replaced tobacco, which had been the island's main export.

As the sugar industry developed into its main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates that replaced the smallholdings of the early English settlers. In 1680, over half the arable land was held by 175 large planters, each of whom used at least 60 slaves. The great plantation owners had connections with the English aristocracy and great influence on Parliament. (In 1668, the West Indian sugar crop sold for £180,000 after customs of £18,000. Chesapeake tobacco earned £50,000 after customs of £75,000).

So much land was devoted to sugar that most foods had to be imported from New England. The poorer whites who were moved off the island went to the English Leeward Islands, or especially to Jamaica. In 1670, the Province of South Carolina was founded, when some of the surplus population again left Barbados. Other nations receiving large numbers of Barbadians included British Guiana and Panama.

Roberts (2006) shows that enslaved persons did not spend the majority of time in restricted roles cultivating, harvesting and processing sugar cane, the island's most important cash crop. Rather, the enslaved were involved in various activities and in multiple roles: raising livestock, fertilizing soil, growing provisional crops, maintaining plantation infrastructure, caregiving and other tasks. One notable soil management technique was intercropping, planting subsistence crops between the rows of cash crops, which demanded of the enslaved skilled and experienced observations of growing conditions for efficient land use.

"Slaveholders often counted as "married" only the enslaved with mates on the estate. For example, the manager of Newton estate... recorded 20 women with co-resident husbands and 35 with mates elsewhere. Members of the latter group were labelled single, members of extended units, or mother-child units."

By 1750, there were about 18,000 white settlers, compared to approximately 65,000 African slaves.

The slave trade ceased in 1807 and slaves were emancipated in 1834.

Bussa's rebellion

The British abolished the slave trade in 1807, but not the institution itself. The abolition of slavery itself would only be enacted in 1833 in most parts of the British Empire.

In 1816, enslaved persons rose up in what was the first of three rebellions in the British West Indies to occur in the interval between the end of the slave trade and emancipation, and the largest slave uprising in the island's history. Around 20,000 enslaved persons from over 70 plantations are thought to have been involved. The rebellion was partly fuelled by information about the growing abolitionist movement in England, and the opposition against such by local whites.

The rebellion largely surprised planters, who felt that their slaves were content because they were allowed weekly dances, participated in social and economic activity across the island and were generally fed and looked after. However, they had refused to reform the Barbados Slave Code since its inception, a code that denied slaves human rights and prescribed inhumane torture, mutilation or death as a means of control. This contributed to what was later termed "Bussa's Rebellion", named after the slave ranger Bussa, and the result of a growing sentiment that the treatment of slaves in Barbados was "intolerable", and who believed the political climate in Britain made the time ripe to peacefully negotiate with planters for freedom. Bussa became the most famous of the rebellion's organizers, many of whom were either enslaved persons of some higher position or literate freedmen. One woman, Nanny Grigg, is also named as a principal organizer.

However, the rebellion eventually failed. The uprising was triggered prematurely, but the slaves were already greatly outmatched. Barbados' flat terrain gave the horses of the better-armed militia the clear advantage over the rebels, with no mountains or forest for concealment. Slaves had also thought they would be supported by freed men of colour, but these instead joined efforts to quell the rebellion. Although they drove whites off the plantations, widespread killings did not take place. By the end, 120 slaves died in combat or were immediately executed and another 144 brought to trial and executed. The remaining rebels were shipped off the island.

Towards the abolition of slavery
In 1826, the Barbados legislature passed the Consolidated Slave Law, which simultaneously granted concessions to the slaves while providing reassurances to the slave owners. Slavery was finally abolished in the British Empire eight years later, in 1834. In Barbados and the rest of the British West Indian colonies, full emancipation from slavery was preceded by a contentious apprenticeship period that lasted four years.

In 1884, the Barbados Agricultural Society sent a letter to Sir Francis Hincks requesting his private and public views on whether the Dominion of Canada would favourably entertain having the then Colony of Barbados admitted as a member of the Canadian Confederation. Asked from Canada were the terms of the Canadian side to initiate discussions, and whether or not the island of Barbados could depend on the full influence of Canada in getting the change agreed to by the British Parliament at Westminster.

Towards decolonisation
In 1952, the Barbados Advocate newspaper polled several prominent Barbadian politicians, lawyers, businessmen, the Speaker of the House of Assembly and later as first President of the Senate, Sir Theodore Branker, Q.C.and found them to be in favour of immediate federation of Barbados along with the rest of the British Caribbean with complete Dominion Status within five years from the date of inauguration of the West Indies Federation with Canada.

However, plantation owners and merchants of British descent still dominated local politics, owing to the high income qualification required for voting. More than 70 per cent of the population, many of them disenfranchised women, were excluded from the democratic process. It was not until the 1930s that the descendants of emancipated slaves began a movement for political rights. One of the leaders of this, Sir Grantley Adams, founded the Barbados Progressive League in 1938, which later became known as the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).

Adams and his party demanded more rights for the poor and for the people, and staunchly supported the monarchy. Progress toward a more democratic government in Barbados was made in 1942, when the exclusive income qualification was lowered and women were given the right to vote. By 1949, governmental control was wrested from the planters, and in 1953 Adams became Premier of Barbados.

From 1958 to 1962, Barbados was one of the ten members of the West Indies Federation, a federalist organisation doomed by nationalist attitudes. Grantley Adams served as its first and only "Premier", but his leadership failed in attempts to form similar unions, and his continued defence of the monarchy was used by his opponents as evidence that he was no longer in touch with the needs of his country. Errol Walton Barrow, a fervent reformer, became the people's new advocate. Barrow had left the BLP and formed the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) as a liberal alternative to Adams' conservative government. Barrow instituted many progressive social programmes, such as free education for all Barbadians and a school meals system. By 1961, Barrow had replaced Adams as Premier and the DLP controlled the government.

With the Federation dissolved, Barbados reverted to its former status, that of a self-governing colony. The island negotiated its own independence at a constitutional conference with Britain in June 1966. After years of peaceful and democratic progress, Barbados finally became an independent state on 30 November 1966, with Errol Barrow its first prime minister, with Elizabeth II as Queen of Barbados. Upon independence Barbados became a full member of the Commonwealth of Nations. A year later, Barbados' international linkages were expanded by obtaining membership of both the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

Political history
Carrington (1982) examines politics during the American Revolution, revealing that Barbadian political leaders shared many of the grievances and goals of the American revolutionaries, but that they were unwilling to go to war over them. Nevertheless, the repeated conflicts between the island assembly and the royal governors brought important constitutional reforms which confirmed the legislature's control over most local matters and its power over the executive.

From 1800 until 1885, Barbados then served as the main seat of Government for the former British colonies of the Windward Islands. During that period of around 85 years, the resident Governor of Barbados also served as the Colonial head of the Windward Islands. After the Government of Barbados officially exited from the Windward Island union in 1885, the seat was moved from Bridgetown to St. George's on the neighbouring island of Grenada, where it remained until the territory of the Windward Islands was dissolved.

Soon after Barbados' withdrawal from the Windward Islands, Barbados became aware that Tobago was going to be amalgamated with another territory as part of a single state. In response, Barbados made an official bid to the British Government to have neighbouring Island Tobago joined with Barbados in a political union. The British government however decided that Trinidad would be a better fit and Tobago instead was made a Ward of Trinidad.

African slaves worked on plantations owned by merchants of English and Scottish descent. It was these merchants who continued to dominate Barbados politics, even after emancipation, due to a high income restriction on voting. Only the upper 30 per cent had any voice in the democratic process. It was not until the 1930s that a movement for political rights was begun by the descendants of emancipated slaves, who started trade unions. Charles Duncan O'Neal, Clennell Wickham and the members of the Democratic League were some of the leaders of this movement. This was initially opposed by Sir Grantley Adams, who played an instrumental role in the bankruptcy and shutdown of The Herald newspapers, one of the movement's foremost voices. Adams would later found the Barbados Progressive League (now the Barbados Labour Party) in 1938, during the Great Depression. The Depression caused mass unemployment and strikes, and the standard of living on the island fell drastically. With the death of O’Neal and the demise of the League, Adams cemented his power, but he used this to advocate for causes that had once been his rivals, including more help for the people especially the poor.

Finally, in 1942, the income qualification was lowered. This was followed by the introduction of universal adult suffrage in 1951, and Adams was elected as Premier of Barbados in 1958. For his action and leadership, Adams would later become a National Hero.

From 1958 to 1962, Barbados was one of the ten members of the West Indies Federation, an organisation doomed to failure by a number of factors, including what were often petty nationalistic prejudices and limited legislative power. Indeed, Adams's position as "Prime Minister" was a misnomer, as all of the Federation members were still colonies of Britain. Adams, once a political visionary and now a man whose policies seemed to some blind to the needs of his country, not only held fast to his notion of defending the monarchy but also made additional attempts to form other Federation-like entities after that union's demise. When the Federation was terminated, Barbados reverted to its former status as a self-governing colony, but efforts were made by Adams to form another federation composed of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward Islands.

Errol Walton Barrow was to replace Grantley Adams as the advocate of populism, and it was he who would eventually lead the island into Independence in 1966. Barrow, a fervent reformer and once a member of the Barbados Labour Party, had left the party to form his own Democratic Labour Party, as the liberal alternative to the conservative BLP government under Adams. He remains a National Hero for his work in social reformation, including the institution of free education for all Barbadians. In 1961, Barrow supplanted Adams as Premier as the DLP took control of the government.

Independence
Due to several years of growing autonomy, Barbados, with Barrow at the helm, was able successfully to negotiate its independence at a constitutional conference with the United Kingdom in June 1966. After years of peaceful and democratic progress, Barbados finally became an independent state and formally joined the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 November 1966, Errol Barrow serving as its first prime minister.

The Barrow government sought to diversify the economy away from agriculture, seeking to boost industry and the tourism sector. Barbados was also at the forefront of regional integration efforts, spearheading the creation of CARIFTA and CARICOM. The DLP lost the 1976 Barbadian general election to the BLP under Tom Adams. Adams adopted a more conservative and strongly pro-Western stance, allowing the Americans to use Barbados as the launchpad for their invasion of Grenada in 1983. Adams died in office in 1985 and was replaced by Harold Bernard St. John; however, St. John lost the 1986 Barbadian general election, which saw the return of the DLP under Errol Barrow, who had been highly critical of the US intervention in Grenada. Barrow, too, died in office, and was replaced by Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, who remained prime minister until 1994.

Owen Arthur of the BLP won the 1994 Barbadian general election, remaining prime minister until 2008. Arthur was a strong advocate of republicanism, though a planned referendum to replace Queen Elizabeth as Head of State in 2008 never took place. The DLP won the 2008 Barbadian general election, but the new Prime Minister David Thompson died in 2010 and was replaced by Freundel Stuart. The BLP returned to power in 2018 under Mia Mottley, who became Barbados's first female prime minister.

Transition to republic
The Government of Barbados announced on 15 September 2020 that it intended to become a republic by 30 November 2021, the 55th anniversary of its independence resulting in the replacement of the hereditary monarch of Barbados with an elected president. Barbados would then cease to be a Commonwealth realm, but could maintain membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

On 20 September 2021, just over a full year after the announcement for the transition was made, the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021 was introduced to the Parliament of Barbados. Passed on 6 October, the Bill made amendments to the Constitution of Barbados, introducing the office of the President of Barbados to replace the role of Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados. The following week, on 12 October 2021, incumbent Governor-General of Barbados Sandra Mason was jointly nominated by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition as candidate to be the first President of Barbados, and was subsequently elected on 20 October. Mason took office on 30 November 2021. Prince Charles, who was heir apparent to the Barbadian Crown, attended the swearing-in ceremony in Bridgetown at the invitation of the Government of Barbados.

Queen Elizabeth II sent a message of congratulations to President Mason and the people of Barbados, saying: "As you celebrate this momentous day, I send you and all Barbadians my warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future."

A survey was taken between October 23, 2021, and November 10, 2021, by the University of the West Indies that showed 34% of respondents being in favour of transitioning to a republic, while 30% were indifferent. Notably, no overall majority was found in the survey; with 24% not indicating a preference, and the remaining 12% being opposed to the removal of Queen Elizabeth.

In January 2022, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley's Labor Party received a landslide victory, winning all 30 legislative seats, in the first general election since Barbados became a republic.

On 20 June 2022, a Constitutional Review Commission was formed and sworn in by Jeffrey Gibson (who, at the time, was serving temporarily as Acting President of Barbados) to review the Constitution of Barbados.

The Commission will have an 18-month timeline to complete its work. They are expected to solicit input from members of the public in Barbados via a series of face-to-face and online events.

Confederations and union proposals
A number of proposals have been mooted in the past to integrate Barbados into neighbouring countries or even the Canadian Confederation. To date all have failed, and one proposal led to deadly riots in 1876, when Governor John Pope Hennessy tried to pressure Barbadian politicians to integrate more firmly into the Windward Islands. Governor Hennessy was quickly transferred from Barbados by the British Crown. In 1884, attempts were then made by the influential Barbados Agricultural Society to have Barbados form a political association with the Canadian Confederation. From 1958 to 1962 Barbados became one of the ten states of the West Indies Federation. Lastly in the 1990s, a plan was devised by the leaders of Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago to form a political association between those three governments. Again this deal was never completed, following the loss of Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford in the Barbadian general elections.

Additional sources

 * Hoyes, F. A. 1963. The Rise of West Indian Democracy: The Life and Times of Sir Grantley Adams. Advocate Press.
 * Williams, Eric. 1964. British Historians and the West Indies. P.N.M. Publishing Company, Port-of-Spain.
 * Scott, Caroline. 1999. Insight Guide Barbados. Discovery Channel and Insight Guides; fourth edition, Singapore. ISBN 0-88729-033-7
 * Williams, Eric. 1964. British Historians and the West Indies. P.N.M. Publishing Company, Port-of-Spain.
 * Scott, Caroline. 1999. Insight Guide Barbados. Discovery Channel and Insight Guides; fourth edition, Singapore. ISBN 0-88729-033-7

title: History of Barbados


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Talk:List of physicists

Untitled
I think that we should ditch the classification by century, since the dividing lines are artificial. For instance, most of Isaac Newton's work was done in the late 17th century, and he contributed to the 18th. Might I suggest that we go either for a straight chronological order (by birth, or death but pick one) or alphabetical by last name. If we decide not to ditch the century categories, at least order the names within the categories. --BlackGriffen — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.123.179.188 (talk) 15:43, 25 February 2002 (UTC)
 * I tried to do the alternative 'sorting' of physicists according to their Landau like 'influence classes' but I've failed and the article was abandonded. --XJamRastafire —Preceding undated comment added by XJaM (talk • contribs) 02:58, 25 January 2003 (UTC)
 * They're now all sorted by DOB, except for the 20th century ones who are sorted by name. There were a few mistakes which I just fixed. The century headings were inserted at arbitrary locations into the sorted list. Resorting the 20th century physicists by DOB and removing the headings is probably a good idea.-- Tim Starling 07:01 25 Jul 2003 (UTC)

How long do we want this list to be? Is Carl-Gustav Arvid Rossby a physicist? He's usually thought of as a meteorologist. List could get very long. Cutler 17:16, 10 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Untitled
begin from Talk:List of best physicists

This seems like a silly idea for an article. I don't think 'best of' or 'top 100' lists belong in an encyclopedia.

Totally POV. -- Zoe

 * needs to be nominated...
 * 20th centuary and popular press bias: no Newton, yet has Hawking ?

 * Hey, this article was mentioned very serious. I can't help if it looks like totally POV. Perhaps it was not well defined -- that's true. No in a sence of 'the best of' but more in a sence of 'the most influential'. What is wrong with such definitions? Some physicist are more influential (or 'better') than the others. Even Landau himself irrespective of his temper tried to 'classify' them in a strange way. So, classification of physicists is also physicist's work -- in my opinion. We are classifying all the time here in Wikipedia. Forget such arguments. Physicist mind is very wide, not just plain intelligence and such. Just look and examine Einstein's life. It speaks for itself. Well, thank you anyway for deleting one serious attempt to make some more order here. It was just a simple alternative againts the alphabetic or timed sortings. Best regards. --XJamRastafire 01:17 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

 * Yes, look at Einstein's life - A-Bombs-R-US... he later regretted his entire life in physics. Edward Teller was also a famous creep who was really good at physics.  The word 'best' simply should not be applied to such infamous people.

 * Be aware that we can't blame Einstein that atomic bombs were made in fact. All of his life he just tried to figure it out how a gravity really works.

 * Buckminster Fuller actually claimed credit for pointing out to Einstein that the A-bomb was possible. But Einstein wrote Roosevelt.  That's enough.  Yes, Einstein can be blamed.  When he was asked to be President of Israel he also refused, that might have sorted out another mess before it got started.  But no.  His curiosity made millions suffer to this day, maybe billions by the time all the bombs have gone off.
 * If Einstein would not exist those times atomic bombs for sure would be built -- but it is a question if General relativity would be known today? That is his influence I was speaking. But no, someone has his own opinion... --[XJam]

 * Simple as that. Just like Newton, Hawking, ..., man. This is a great effort for me. To devote your life for such 'nonsensical' things -- don't you think. Physicists can't also simply be named creeps. Where do you get such terms? --XJamRastafire

 * Not all physicists are creeps, but Edward Teller most certainly was. Those devoting their lives to physics may well all be sociopaths at this point.  There seems little constructive stuff to learn, and much damage to be done.  The fields with potential for non-military use, like aneutronic fusion, seem to be regularly abandoned...
 * I think this debate has occurred due to two definitions of "best". Hitler was one of the best dictators of the 20th century because he was very good at dictating -- that doesn't mean he should have done any dictating, or that the world was a better place as a result of his dictatorship.  In this since, the best physicists would be those that contributed the most to the science of physics, no matter what the negative results were, or how much of an asshole the physicists were or anything else.  A list of best physicists as in nice people who do good things would be totally useless.  This article doesn't deserve to exist under either definition, though, because it is all POV -- the List of physicists does the same job just fine.Tokerboy

 * Exactly right. To those supporting dictatorship Hitler was "best" at it, to those supporting H-bombs Teller was "best" and Einstein "better than best".  Hopelessly subjective, stuck in the POV of the profession of physics itself - thus not a good article title.  This talk file should be moved to meta though, to avoid this happening in other fields.   Lists of Nobel Prize winners etc, are not out of place, although ironic, as Alfred Nobel himself regretted his own invention of dynamite.

Much as it's a very interesting topic, this (the whole article) is not a suitable one for an encyclopedia, as there is no possible way to define "best" without taking a point of view, and even ignoring this, it's difficult to imagine a way to apportion merit.

Take it to the proper place - a web discussion forum - and I, like many others, will be only too happy to join in. Wikipedia is not a discussion forum. Tannin 01:52 Jan 25, 2003 (UTC)

yeah, "whos best" is just a bungled way of saying "most famous", though fame isnt encyclopedic whatsoever either. Or maybe it is...maybe a list of "physicists" would somehow have to do with their work being known.

what a thought, so fame is relevant in an encyclopaedia! -- But (big but), only as a byproduct of accomplishment. ''Ac-comp-lish-ment. Accomplishment.'' I agree with Zoe, Tannin, and all the other sensible people... nix the 'ticle.-Stevert

Strange POV you have about the world of physics, I guess. A simple list of physicists does not help me much. If then such is a matter why don't we find any physicists from, let us say, Sierra Leone here? I agree what Tokeboy said -- only one thing about useless. Landau tried to do a job -- as it is so impossible. But since this seems like discussion forum I'll stop argueing. --XJamRastafire

good point. in that case, your energies are saying "the physicists article isnt organised in a way which makes sense to me," and to this i suggest that you boldly reorganise it in a logical way. perhaps by date, since scientific accomplishments tend to rely on previous ones.. -Stevert

end from Talk:List of best physicists —Preceding undated comment added by MartinHarper (talk • contribs) 11:03, 24 July 2003 (UTC)

Sorting?
Despite previous efforts there seems to be no consistent sorting/grouping happing on this page. Actually, it appears to be more or less alphabetically sorted within century, but which century someone gets placed in is not consistent. I say we ditch the chronological ordering and go with a straight alphabetical listing. This would at least be consistent with the List of mathematicians. Any takers? -- Fropuff 20:30, 2004 Mar 15 (UTC)
 * I vote for straight alphabetical listing Cutler 00:05, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)Me to — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.238.121.181 (talk) 22:25, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Alphabetical listing, physicists beginning "A" have all disappeared
i don't believe that there have been no living physicists whose surnames begin with A! Lkcl (talk) 12:43, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

Date format
Some dates were given in BCE format rather than BC. I've changed them all to BC for the simple reason that apart from people in the USA and Canada not many people really know what BCE means; it is hardly used outside North America. So this is not a political or POV statement, it is merely using terminology that the majority of people recognise. If BCE ever supplants BC as the dominant style then that would be the time to change - I would humbly suggest. See Anno Domini for a discussion of this. Arcturus 19:08, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Einstein
Somebody changed Einstein from

Albert Einstein — Germany, Switzerland, USA (1879–1955

to Albert Einstein — German-born Jewish (1879–1955).

I think the first was better. We don't write

Isaac Newton — English born Christian (1642–1727)

Happy to discus though. --Bucephalus talk to me  20:37, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
 * I like the first better, too, because it better reflects the three countries that have variously tried to lay claim to him. — Laura Scudder | Talk 00:21, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Lance Boyer
Somebody has added Lance Boyer, a red link. Fine if he is a real and notable physicist who will, in the long run, get an article, but I can't find any verification. Google is not helpful. Can anyone provide a source showing this person exists. I've left it in for now. --Bucephalus 17:15, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
 * As nobody replyed I've removed the entry. --Bucephalus 23:43, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

 * I would say that if we can't find in scholar.google.com that the redlinked person has ever published in a physics journal that we should go ahead and delete.  Alison Chaiken 03:32, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Missing physicists
I notice that not even all the physics Nobelists with existing articles are listed here. When I have a chance, I'll add some more. We should try to make a more complete list if we're going to have the article at all. Which raises the question, why isn't this a category instead? Alison Chaiken 05:53, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

 * This article has also attracted the addition of lots of joke entries lately. I'll try to keep a better eye on it.  — Laura Scudder ☎ 15:39, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I decided while I was at it to purge the redlinked entries altogether. Many are in fact real physicists, but since this list is supposed to function partly as a navigation tool on Wikipedia, I think that they should have articles before being listed here.  — Laura Scudder ☎ 15:44, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I strongly suspect that some of the entries may not be physicists at all, but I don't have the energy to check them all right now.   Thanks as always for your efforts!  Alison Chaiken 03:30, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

 * that arbitrary and unilateral decision unfortunately completely destroyed the efforts of many people to add legitimate entries that happen not to have wikipedia pages, such as Halima Abramowicz (see another section in this talk page). if that arbitrary and unilateral decision is to be enforced, then this page might as well not exist *at all* as it would be absolutely no different from the Category:Physicists page.  Lkcl (talk) 12:52, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 09:59, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

timeline?
can we make a timeline list here? and then sort either alphabetically or by time? does wikipedia already have a tool to support this kind of sorting? 216.80.119.92 (talk) 02:40, 5 August 2008 (UTC) it does have: List_of_countries_by_population 216.80.119.92 (talk) 23:36, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

should this page be a category instead?
that would solve the Missing_physicists problem, as placing a cat tag on their pages would do the work. 216.80.119.92 (talk) 02:42, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

 * There is already the Category:Physicists and a large number of subcategories. Having a list allows us to include physicists such as Abramowicz, who don't yet have a Wikipedia article.  -David Schaich Talk/Cont 01:36, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * well... it would... if the entire "A" section hadn't disappeared! :) Lkcl (talk) 12:46, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
 * btw which one are you referring to? http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/User:Marek_A._Abramowicz or halina? http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ex/9903037 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lkcl (talk • contribs) 12:49, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

Selection criteria
I'm moving here a note added to the article by, since I think it merits discussion. Also, it's currently commented out and likely to be overlooked by most readers and editors of the article itself.

NOTE: Nobel laureates should be marked. Wolf laureates who have not won Nobel prizes should be marked. All other prizes should not be marked. This list is for famous physicists only. This list should not be a directory of physicists. An entry for a contemporary physicist who is not at the level of a Nobel or Wolf laureate should probably be deleted.

I don't have any problem with marking prize recipients (perhaps with superscript symbols after their names, which might be easier to spot?), and we do need to determine selection criteria for the list. However, I think including only Nobel or Wolf laureates (or people likely to become Nobel or Wolf laureates) is too limiting. If nothing else, such lists already exist, at List of Nobel laureates in Physics (a featured list) and Wolf Prize in Physics.

In addition to Nobel and Wolf laureates, I think recipients of other notable awards merit inclusion, for instance the Sakurai Prize in theoretical particle physics and comparable awards in other fields. I would also be inclined to include Fellows of the American Physical Society and others who have received comparable recognition. Would we be able to get any guidance on selection criteria from List of mathematicians, List of statisticians, or other similar articles? -David Schaich Talk/Cont 22:16, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Nikola Tesla and Boskovic
As it is criteria for the place of birth to write just nowadays country I deliberately changed place of birth for Nikola Tesla (it was totally wrong and false "Serbia", as we know he was born in Lika, Croatia) and for Rudjer Boskovic (it was written Dubrovnik, that is a city as we know it is in Croatia) into Croatia as places of birth for those two scientists. Please, I appeal to you to prevent false and malicious, politically motivated abuses. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pavlemocilac (talk • contribs) 23:48, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

John Hagelin anonymous delete
I added John's name to the list and someone logged on simply to delete the entry. Should people who contributed to physics early in life but went on to other careers later on be included in the list? Why or why not?Sparaig2 (talk) 15:38, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Gustave Le Bon
I would like to recommend Le Bon due to his Book about "The evolution of matter" (wherein he talks about the physics of atoms of and the electrons of electricity without reference to Einstein (Published 1905).WFPM (talk) 01:57, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

Bob Lazar
What kind of an idiotic joke was this? Bob Lazar was listed in a list of physicists?

That was either vandalism to the page or advances the utter lack of credibility of Wikipedia. Or both. 75.32.60.106 (talk) 02:06, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

Needed Categorization
Areas - Quantum Physics - Cosmology — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.174.241.153 (talk) 17:28, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Missing
Fumihiko Takasaki

Female Jewish cosmologist living in Venice with theory on the Universe as a wave function, she was in BBC Horizon Programme about edge theories in physics and cosmology which is no longer available. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.174.241.153 (talk) 17:28, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

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title: Talk:List of physicists


text:
Talk:Vladimir of Novgorod/Archive 1

Please pay attention to the usual wikipedia nomenclature. This entry is filed under Name + Alternate Name + Nickname (the technical term for which is 'cognomen' or, in this case, 'attribute'). Since this is an encyclopedia, having two names here is not useful. It would be like having my entry be 'Michael Mike Tinkler' (not that anyone out there actually calls me 'Mike' now that my grandmother is dead). HJ, this is one of your worst. MichaelTinkler

chopped:
 * Since the missions of Ansgar of Hamburg and Bremen and Olga of Kiev's request to the Frankish/German emperor, missionaries went to live among the Rus and noble families married their daughters to the princes of Kiev and Novgorod, for many centuries a Hanseatic League outpost.

Ansgar, c. 800. Olga's conversion, c. 950? Valdimar Holti the Nimble, born 1020. Christianity in Kievan Rus, of course, was not accepted from western missionaries (except for Olga, who mainly failed), but from Constantinople. That's why they're still Russian Orthodox, Helga. If they married Germans, it was a matter of convenience. Novgorod predates the Hanseatic league. Oh, and given that you care about genealogy, Helga, WHICH Swedish King? By the way, your version of Conrad III's family was dead wrong. Check your sources before you type. MichaelTinkler

And while we're about it, acceded to what? Vicki Rosenzweig Exactly. And it was Novgorod, not Kiev, as that pathetic excuse for an article implied. This is the second piece of the understandably anonymous 66.47.62.78's drivel in half an hour that I've had to waste time editing because it didn't even mention where the people concerned ruled (the other one didn't even indicate the centuries concerned - see Babenberg): she of course doesn't give a damn, relying instead on the rest of us to clean up her incompetent mess after her.

I'm sick of seeing Wikipedia's integrity consistently undermined by such rubbish - it's not as if she's ever contributed anything worthwhile (and even if she had, the abysmal inaccuracy of the rest would make it worthless on grounds of reliability). As for "daughter of a Swedish king"... (but you'll notice the obscure "count Lippold von Stade from near Hamburg" gets his full title and even a link! And what the hell are "Vladimar" and "Usevolod" anyway? Time for a 66.47.62.78 militia, I think. Or just classify the lot as vandalism and delete or revert. User:David Parker

 * David -- 66.47.62.78 is none other than our friend the intellectually lazy (at best) Frau H. Jonat (who has accused MT of drinking too much and me of making ridiculous statements...).  We have been trying since September to convince her that genealogy (especially bad genealogy) is not valid for encyclopedia entries and that it's better to write one good article than to leave tons of really crappy stubs for others to clean up, but to no avail.  Oh -- but you knew that. User:JHK

 * It's not surprising she prefers to remain anonymous than have her "efforts" signposted: I'd keep my head down if I was only capable of rubbish like that, too. User:David Parker

title: Talk:Vladimir of Novgorod/Archive 1