Darwin was almost preempted by Wallace. Newton and Leibniz arrived at the same calculus independently, and similar work was done by Seki Kowa at the same time. They were merely there first and most prominently, but not uniquely. I think to satisfy importance, we want cut vertex scientists and academics.
What constitutes a “cut vertex” here depends entirely on how far you want to take the counterfactual. Who do you shoot so that humanity makes no further progress, ever?
Darwin was almost preempted by Wallace. Newton and Leibniz arrived at the same calculus independently, and similar work was done by Seki Kowa at the same time. They were merely there first and most prominently, but not uniquely. I think to satisfy importance, we want cut vertex scientists and academics.
What constitutes a “cut vertex” here depends entirely on how far you want to take the counterfactual. Who do you shoot so that humanity makes no further progress, ever?
Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov?