As you will go through this list of people, don't forget that there are so many more people who have impacted this worlds development in so many ways. Those who are listed are just a few of my favorites for so many reasons. Between Hawking who was diagnosed with ALS but continued to have one the best minds know to exist, John Forbes Nash Jr. who was a brilliant mathematician who also suffered from Schizophrenia, to Erikson and Freud who didn't suffer from an “illness" but rather suffered emotionally, which is what inspired their theories!

It is truly inspiring and astonishing to read about these people and get as close a glimpse as we can into their minds and the way they think. But I all too often think we overlook the fact that they, along with so many others, contributed to everything we understand, use, and learn more about in our present day.