Scientific People

Nicolae Copernicus

He proposed the heliocentric theory of the universe.

Johannes Kepler

He discovered that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun.

Galileo Galilei

His observations of planets using an advanced telescope. He confirmed Copernicus’s heliocentric theory.

Francis Bacon

He is best known for the scientific method and ideas of learning by experimentation.

Rene Descartes

The mind-body dualism and the statement 'I think, therefore I am.' He is also fundamental to the coordinate plane and deductive reasoning.

Isaac Newton

He is known for his discovery of gravity and laws of motion. He also discovered large sections of calculus.

Zacharias Jannsen

He was a spectacle maker who invented the microscope.

Evangelista Torricelli

He invented the barometer. This is a tool that measures atmospheric pressure.

Andreas Vesalius

He advanced the field of anatomy through human dissection (he used corpses)

William Harvey

He accurately described the circulation of blood in the body.

Edward Jenner

He created the smallpox vaccine.

Robert Boyle

He is considered a pioneer of modern chemistry and known for his law of gases. He invented the vacuum pump and discovered oxygens role in burning things (fire).

Joseph Priestly

He is known for his discovery of oxygen.

Antoine Lavoisier

He is known for the law of conservation of mass. He also discovered the important role oxygen plays in combustion.

Thomas Hobbes

He wrote Leviathan and believed humans are fundamentally evil. He believed a monarchy was the best form of government.

John Locke

He believed humans are fundamentally good and wrote Two Treatises on Government. He also proposed the idea that people have fundamental rights (life, liberty, property) that the gov should protect.

Voltaire

His novel Candide and the idea of human responsibility for happiness. He is also known for his idea of tolerance.

Baron de Montesquieu

The Spirit of Laws. In this he advocated for a division of power between three government branches.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

He is best known for his Social Contract. This contained his idea of the “general will”

Cesare Bonesana Beccaria

He penned Treatise on Crimes and Punishments. Critique on the death punishment and the unfairness of the judicial system.

Mary Wollstonecraft

She is known for her A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

Denis Diderot

He is known for creating the Encyclopédie.

David Hume

His works include A Treatise on Human Nature and contributions to economics.

Immanuel Kant

His Critique of Pure Reason and the idea of categorical imperatives.