Without the perseverance of great minds, many scientific advances would not have been possible.

perseverance 是名词，来自动词 persevere（坚持不懈），由前缀 per-（彻底）和词根 sever（严格、严厉）组成，字面意思是"彻底坚持"，表示"坚持不懈、持之以恒"的品质。