SCIENCE PEOPLE - JV

Francis Crick

English, co-discovered double helix structure of DNA.

James Watson

American, co-discovered doubled helix structure of DNA.

Archimedes

"Eureka" Law of hydrostatics: determine weight of an object by the amount of water it displaces, Discovered the laws of levers and used pulleys. "Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth"

Francis Bacon

Scientific Method (hypothesis, experiment), Some feel he wrote the works of Shakespeare.

Niels Bohr

Danish, work on atomic structure, used theory of quantum mechanics, Nobel Prize in Physics 1922, Developed Bohr theory of the atom and liquid model of the atomic nucleus.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish, Heliocentric theory (sun is center of the universe).

Marie Curie

Study of Radioactivity, Won Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for discovering the elements radium and polonium.

Albert Einstein

Theory of relativity, Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 for explanation of the photoelectric effect.

Euclid

Ancient Greek, Father of Geometry, Elements.

Enrico Fermi

First nuclear reactor, quantum theory, particle physics.

Galileo

Uniformly accelerated objects, improved the telescope, excommunicated by the Catholic Church.

Robert Goddard

Invented the first liquid-fueled rocket.

Werner Heisenberg

Head of the German nuclear energy project, quantum mechanics, uncertainty principle.

Edwin Hubble

Astronomer, Rhodes Scholar, "Photographic Investigations of Faint Nebulae", Hubble telescope.

Lord Kelvin

(William Thompson), created Kelvin scale of absolute temperature measurement.

Johannes Kepler

Laws of Planetary motion = planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.

Antoine Lavoisier

Father of modern chemistry, named oxygen, created the law of conservation of mass.

Marquis de Laplace

Mathematical astronomy, wrote Mecanique Celeste, mathematical physics.

James Clerk Maxwell

Aggregated a set of equations in electricity, magnetism and inductance, Classical Electromagnetic Theory.

Demitri Mendelev

Created the first version of the periodic table.

Isaac Newton

Classical mechanics, 3 laws of motion: 1. Law of Inertia, 2. F=ma, 3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, Conservation of Momentum, Invented reflecting telescope, Invented Calculus.

Robert J. Oppenheimer

Director of the Manhattan Project.

Linus Pauling

American, Promoted large doses of Vitamin C to cure colds etc., Won Nobel prize in Chemistry and a Nobel Peace prize (against nuclear weapons testing), research chemical bonds, discoveries furthered molecular biology.

Max Planck

Founder of quantum theory, helped Einstein spread the theory of relativity.

Ptolemy Claudius

Greek Astronomy and Geographer, Came up with the Geocentric theory.

Ernest Rutherford

Father of nuclear physics, created orbital theory of the atom with his gold foil experiment.

Edward Teller

Father of the Hydrogen bomb, fusion-based weapons.

James Hutton

Father of modern geology, concept of geologic time.

Charles Lyell

Geologist, influenced Darwin, uniformitarianism: vast time scale for the Earth's history, discounts literal interpretation of the Bible.

Rachel Carson

Wrote Silent Spring about the negative effects of DDT on eggs of birds etc.

Charles Darwin

Theory of Evolution, Natural Selection, On the Origin of Species, Ship "The Beagle", studied changes in beaks of finches on the Galapagos Islands.

Julian Huxley

Proponent of Natural Selection, First director of UNESCO, Evolutionary synthesis.

Carolus Linneaus

Father of taxonomy, worked with nomenclature, Linnaean system: Kingdoms, Classes, Orders. Genera, Species, Taxa.

Gregor Mendel

Father of genetics, worked with pea plants.

Louis Pasteur

Confirmed the germ theory of disease, created a rabies vaccine, pasteurization.

Galen

Ancient Greek physician, created systemic approach to medicine.

Hippocrates

Father of Medicine, Oath "First do no harm".

Albert Sabin

Oral vaccine for polio.

Jonas Salk

First polio vaccine, worked on an AIDS vaccine (unsuccessfully).

Benjamin Spock

Wrote Baby and Child Care, Treat children as individuals.

Ernst Mach

Studied interference diffraction, polarization and refraction of light, supersonic velocity, Mach speed.

James Watt

Improved steam engine, Watt measure of electric energy.

Stephen Hawking

Cosmology, quantum gravity, work on radiation-emission of black holes.

Luther Burbank

Botanist, created over 800 strains of plants such as the plumcot = plum and apricot.

John James Audubon

Birds of North America, painted, catalogued and described birds, Artist.

Stanley H. Cohen

1986 Nobel prize in medicine for the discovery of growth factors.

Anton van Leeuwenhock

Father of microbiology, first to observe single cell organisms.

Robert Boyle

Worked in physics and chemistry, Boyle's Law: product of pressure and volume of a gas is constant.

Alfred Nobel

Invented dynamite, became a pacifist, Created Nobel prizes.

Charles Richter

American, Seismologist, Created the Richter scale to measure the magnitude of an earthquake.

Leonhard Euler

Mathematician, work in calculus and graph theory, mathematical analysis.

Pythagoras

Ancient Greek mathematician, Pythagorean theorem.

Pierre de Fermat

Mathematician, discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which would evolve into differential calculus.

Paul Ehrlich

1908 Nobel prize in medicine, developed a treatment for syphilis and sleeping sickness, explained blood-brain barrier, "Magic Bullet cures: Selectively targeted a disease-causing organism with a toxin.

Elizabeth Blackwell

First woman to graduate from medical school/awarded the M.D. degree.

Edward Jenner

English, discovered vaccine for smallpox.

William Harvey

English, Explained circulatory system/how blood was pumped through the body by the heart etc.

Alexander Fleming

Scottish, Discovered Penicillin.

Ivan Pavlov

Conditioned response, Experiment: ring a bell before feeding a dog, eventually dog will salivate at sound of bell even w/o food present - he has been conditioned that bell-food, phrase "Pavlov's dog".

Sigmund Freud

Austrian Psychiatrist, psychoanalysis, Divided Psyche into the Id, Ego, and Superego, Experimented with Cocaine, Oedipus Complex, The Interpretation of Dreams.

Carl Jung

Swiss Psychiatrist, developed idea of introvert and extrovert personalities, analytical psychology.

Andre Ampere

Main discoverer of electromagnetism.

Michael Faraday

Chemist and physicist, discovered benzene, studied electromagnetism and electrochemistry, discovered electromagnetic induction, discovered the principle behind the electric transformer and generator.

Gaspard Coriolis

Coriolis effect is an apparent deflection of moving objects when they are viewed from a rotating frame of reference, first to coin the term 'work" for the product of force and distance.

Wilhelm Rontgen

German physics, won Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for producing and detecting electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range (x-rays).

James Van Allen

Astrophysics, magnetosphere physics, Explorer spacecraft.