Karl Popper (1902-94), one of the greatest thinkers of his, or any age, was modest in expressing his philosophical findings. He prefaced his book, The Open Society and its Enemies, with a quotation from Edmund Burke which implied that all he, Popper, was trying to do was make a useful contribution to the greater work of more illustrious men: ‘In my course I have known and, according to my measure, have co-operated with great men, and I have never yet seen any plan which has not been mended by the observations of those who were much inferior in understanding to the person who took the lead in the business.’
Pay no attention to such modesty. His books The Logic of Scientific Discovery, The Poverty of Historicism and The Open Society and its Enemies were extremely influential. He revolutionised how men think about science and about truth itself. He explained with crystal clarity why all rigid ideology must fail and exposed the absurdity of Utopianism in all its guises. He revealed with cultured precision the falsities at the core of Communism and made men know that such falsities would ultimately lead to its collapse.