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Although the above lists tell us what users are searching now, they can be used to predict who will be hot in the future. They are valuable to journalists compiling a list of people to watch.
OBJECTIVITY: The number of searches were counted by a software tools provided by overture.com. An independent survey showed that Emeagwali is the best known African scientist of all time. An informal survey in allfrica.com shows that he is the most talked about scientist in the Africa. Ninety-nine percent of Internet searches are conducted outside Africa. Therefore, this survey is essentially who is hot in the western world.
HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED:
Using data from Nielsen ratings, we extrapolated to obtain the total Internet searches (shown in parentheses).
SCIENTISTS: We included only those scientists whose claim to fame is a discovery or invention. By definition, our list excluded astronauts and medical doctors.
We excluded dead scientists such as Albert Einstein, George Washington Carver and Marie Curie. Eighty percent of scientists that ever lived are alive today. Yet, the top ten scientists are all dead. We wonder why?
NIGERIANS: We began with list of 100 Nigerians of the Millennium (Internet Survey).
AFRICANS: We used the 75 names listed in the book "African Biography" published by Gale Research.
WEBMASTERS: We used google.com to determine the most popular website for each scientist. Then Link Popularity was used to determine the number of links.
HOW THE NEXT STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED:
The 2003 study was compiled by our webmistress. The 2004 study will take place from March 15 to April 10. Using a direct link to the search engines, our visitors will be asked to input, compute and verify the numbers directly. Finally, our webmistress will tabulate and rank the candidates.
For more information, please contact Dr. Donita Brown at 443-850-0850; fax/voicemail 413-521-3764; email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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