Explanation

This comic takes the feats of six of history's most acclaimed scientists and combines them into one fictional act, claiming that this person was the greatest scientist in history. Pulling off a combination of all of these would, indeed, be rather impressive.^{[citation needed]}

These scientists are most likely Galileo Galilei, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Fleming, Ivan Pavlov, Eratosthenes, and Isaac Newton.

The ground is noticeably curved in this comic, as the curvature of Earth is mentioned and measured, thus requiring curvature.

Humorously combining multiple science experiments into one was also a punchline in 1584: Moments of Inspiration. Curved floors to represent Earths curvature were mentioned in 2412: 1/100,000th Scale World

Table of Experiments

List of experiments in the comic
Experiment in comic	Experiment in reality	Meaning	Scientist
The Leaning Tower of Pisa	Galileo conducted an experiment at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, where he dropped two objects to measure whether the rate at which objects fall is dependent on weight or is constant.	Galileo found that objects with different weights fall at the same rate, disproving Aristotle's statement which purported the opposite. However, Vincenzo Viviani had already discovered this. Galileo's experiment further developed experimentation in science, in opposition to the then-prevailing view that knowledge is learned by studying the writings of the ancients.	Galileo Galilei
Flying a kite into a thunderstorm with lightning	In June 1752, Benjamin Franklin performed his famous kite experiment in which he attached a conductive wire to a kite and flew it near a thunderstorm. Attached to the kite was a key, which was further attached to a Leyden jar.	While the kite was not hit by lightning, "Franklin did notice that loose threads of the kite string were repelling each other and deduced that the Leyden jar was being charged." This is sometimes considered the discovery of the fact that lightning contains/is electricity.	Benjamin Franklin
Two moldy petri dishes	In August 1928, Alexander Fleming put Staphylococcus aureus into multiple petri dishes and then left to go on holiday/vacation. On September 3, he returned and found that one plate had mould on it. This plate was the only one that did not have S. aureus bacteria in it. He later repeated this experiment and the result was confirmed.	The mould that Fleming had discovered produced penicillin, an antibiotic. This was the first time that a substance had been discovered that could reliably treat bacterial infections, having a huge impact on medicine across the world.	Sir Alexander Fleming
Salivating dog located next to a bell	In 1902 Ivan Pavlov conducted a study on dog reflexes by giving dogs food and simultaneously ringing a bell. When the dog smelled and saw the food, it started salivating. Eventually, simply ringing the bell made the dog salivate, as the dog had associated the bell ringing with food. Pavlov also performed other, less humane experiments on other dogs.	This was the discovery of classical conditioning, where a stimulus is paired with an unrelated other thing through repeated exposure. The subject will eventually react to the unrelated thing in the absence of the stimulus. This is an example of taught reflexes, where a subconsious reaction like a reflex or instinct is taught.	Ivan Pavlov
The shadow angle of the dog determining the circumference of the Earth	In the 200s BCE, the Greek philosopher Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the Earth. While his exact method has been lost to time, a simplified version remains: At high noon on the summer solstice in Syene, Egypt, the sun was almost directly overhead. This was confirmed with a sundial. 5,000 stadia away in Alexandria, at the same time, the angle of the sun was measured with another sundial and converted into a fraction of the Earth's circumference. Some simple multiplication could then yield the circumference of the Earth.	The distance Eratosthenes calculated for the circumference of Earth was 250,000 stadia. This estimate was either 2.4% low or 0.8% high compared to modern knowledge, depending on whether he used Greek or Egyptian stadia - a remarkably accurate estimate for the time.	Eratosthenes
(Title text) A petri dish falling on the scientist's head, leading to a new discovery	Sir Isaac Newton, an inventor of calculus and discoverer of his famous Laws of Motion, also determined the basic mechanics of gravity. It's sometimes claimed that Newton came up with the notion of gravity when an apple fell from a tree and hit him on the head. While this is almost certainly an embellishment, Newton apparently told acquaintances that his inquiries into gravity were "occasion'd by the fall of an apple". This purportedly led Newton to consider the question of what exactly caused the apple to fall straight to the ground.	This line of thinking ultimately let him to deduce the Law of Universal Gravitation, which is fundamental to understanding celestial mechanics.	Sir Isaac Newton

It is also possible that the fact that two petri dishes fell in the comic but only one fell in the title text could be an obscure reference to Albert Einstein, through either the twins paradox or superposition. However, this connection is rather far-fetched and is more likely just a minor discrepancy.

Transcript

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[On the left of the panel, there are some buildings and trees representing Pisa, Italy. One of these buildings is the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The height of the tower is labeled h1, the length of its shadow L1, and the angle θ1. Attached to the top of the tower, there is a kite string. The kite is in the top right, next to a thunderstorm. Two disks are shown falling from the kite onto a bell underneath. The bell goes "Ding! Ding!" Next to the bell is a dog. The height of the dog is labeled h2, the length of its shadow L2, and the angle θ2. The ground is noticeably curved.]

[Caption below the panel:]

History's greatest scientist was probably that one who measured the shadow of the Leaning Tower of Pisa while flying a kite into a distant thunderstorm where lightning caused two moldy Petri dishes to fall onto a bell next to a salivating dog whose shadow angle determined the circumference of the Earth.