[sieszpak]

Many Poles have distinguished themselves in various fields of science and life. I recognize Madame Curie, Copernicus, Ulam, Pope John Paul II, Chopin, Polanski, and perhaps Wozniak. I had a Polish professor at Mellon University who talked a bit about it, and there was a lot.

[lo_zamoyski]

Here's a long, if incomplete, list of some others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Polish_science_and...

[msikora]

What about Wojciech Zaremba of OpenAI? MAybe not at the level of the above yet, but crucial person in one of the hottest companies in the world.

[msikora]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Zaremba

[fear91]

Jakub Pachocki from OpenAI is polish too.

[virgulino]

Jan Łukasiewicz and his (Reverse) Polish Notation.

[jsrcout]

I don't know the names, but I recall there was a large Polish contribution to Allied codebreaking in WWII.

[surfingdino]

Rejewski, Zygalski, Rozycki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Rejewski

[TacticalCoder]

Polish mathematician had the Polish "bomba" in... 1938 (which is actually right before WWII):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomba_(cryptography)

[jjtheblunt]

marian rejewski

[NiteOwl066]

Yeah you could add many more major names like Banach or my favourite (and imo most underappreciated) Jan Czochralski.

[mrcode007]

Don’t forget a father of a modern oil refinery:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_%C5%81ukasiewicz

[surfingdino]

Others include Marek Holynski https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek_Ho%C5%82y%C5%84ski (co-inventor of OpenGL, told by the visiting Russian commie inspector to focus his 3d research on "serious" things like CNC machining), Stefan Kudelski https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Kudelski (Nagra audio and video recorders), Staniskaw Ulam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Ulam (Manhattan Project, Monte Carlo methods), Casimir Pulaski https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_Pulaski, Tadeusz Kosciuszko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ko%C5%9Bciuszko and many more...

[pinewurst]

Ulam was Jewish and there’s a difference. My grandfather was from the same area, Galicia and generation and he’d be damned if he’d self-identify as a Pole.

[lo_zamoyski]

Your grandfather may harbor antipathy toward Poles, but he doesn't speak for Ulam. Ulam, like a number of Poles with Jewish roots, viewed himself as a Pole. Tarski is another example. Jan Brzechwa. Those in the Lvov-Warsaw school of mathematics, like Hugo Steinhaus. Etc.

[lo_zamoyski]

CNC machining isn't serious?

[Affric]

France.

Italy.

USA.

Did do his most important work in Poland but wouldn't be notable globally if not for his time in the Vatican.

France.

USA and Switzerland.

USA (for generations). And strangely now Serbia.