Scientist

Physicist · 1879 – 1955

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, and won the 1921 Nobel Prize.

• Theory of relativity
• E=mc²

Philosopher · 384 BC – 322 BC

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath whose writings on logic, ethics, biology, politics and metaphysics shaped Western thought for over two millennia.

• Formal logic
• Virtue ethics

Artist · 1452 – 1519

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath — painter, inventor, anatomist and engineer — whose curiosity and genius made him the archetype of the 'Renaissance man'.

• Mona Lisa
• The Last Supper

Biologist · 1809 – 1882

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection became the unifying foundation of modern biology and transformed humanity's understanding of life.

• Theory of evolution
• Natural selection

Astronomer · 1564 – 1642

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, the "father of modern science", whose telescopic discoveries and championing of heliocentrism transformed our understanding of the cosmos.

• Telescopic astronomy
• Defending heliocentrism

Physicist · 1791 – 1867

Michael Faraday was an English scientist whose discoveries in electromagnetism and electrochemistry, above all electromagnetic induction, laid the experimental foundation of the electrical age.

• Electromagnetic induction
• The electric motor and dynamo

Astronomer · 1473 – 1543

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model placing the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of the universe — a revolution in human thought.

• The heliocentric model
• The Copernican Revolution

Physicist · 1831 – 1879

James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist whose equations unified electricity, magnetism and light into a single electromagnetic theory, one of the greatest achievements in the history of physics.

• Maxwell's equations
• Electromagnetic theory of light

Physicist · 1867 – 1934

Marie Curie was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity and became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

• Radioactivity research
• Discovery of polonium and radium

Philosopher · 1596 – 1650

René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, the "father of modern philosophy", famous for "I think, therefore I am" and for founding analytic geometry.

• I think, therefore I am
• Analytic geometry

Physician · 980 – 1037

Avicenna was a Persian polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, one of the greatest physicians and philosophers of the medieval world, whose Canon of Medicine was a standard text for six centuries.

• The Canon of Medicine
• The Book of Healing

Inventor · 1706 – 1790

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath — a founding father, scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat — whose work on electricity and statesmanship made him one of the most admired figures of the 18th century.

• Founding Father
• Experiments on electricity

Chemist · 1822 – 1895

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist whose work on germ theory, vaccination, and pasteurization revolutionized medicine and saved countless lives.

• Germ theory of disease
• Pasteurization

Physicist · 1885 – 1962

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who created the first quantum model of the atom and became a leading architect of quantum mechanics through the Copenhagen interpretation.

• Bohr model of the atom
• Copenhagen interpretation

Inventor · 1856 – 1943

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer whose pioneering work on alternating current and electromagnetism helped electrify the modern world.

• Alternating current (AC)
• The induction motor

Mathematician · 780 – 850

Al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician and scholar of the Islamic Golden Age, the "father of algebra", whose name gave us the word "algorithm".

• Founding algebra
• The word 'algorithm'

Physicist · 1858 – 1947

Max Planck was a German physicist who originated quantum theory by introducing the quantum of action, a discovery that launched modern physics and earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize.

• Quantum theory
• Planck's constant

Chemist · 1834 – 1907

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist who created the periodic table of the elements, one of the most important organizing principles in all of science.

• Periodic table of elements
• Periodic law

Physicist · 1901 – 1976

Werner Heisenberg was a German physicist who founded matrix mechanics and formulated the uncertainty principle, two of the cornerstones of quantum mechanics.

• Uncertainty principle
• Matrix mechanics

Physicist · 1887 – 1961

Erwin Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist who formulated the wave equation governing quantum systems and devised the famous Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.

• Schrödinger equation
• Wave mechanics

Chemist · 1920 – 1958

Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose images of DNA were crucial to discovering its double-helix structure, a contribution long under-recognized.

• X-ray image of DNA (Photo 51)
• DNA structure research

Mathematician · 1815 – 1852

Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician widely regarded as the first computer programmer, who saw that Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine could go beyond calculation to manipulate symbols of any kind.

• The first computer program
• Visionary ideas on computing

Biologist · 1822 – 1884

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian friar and scientist whose experiments on pea plants revealed the basic laws of heredity, earning him recognition as the father of modern genetics.

• Laws of inheritance
• Father of genetics