History of Science

See also History of Astronomy, History of Mathematics, History of Medicine, Computers.

People

French physicist, developed a rule for determining the direction of the magnetic field associated with an electric current; SI unit of electric current is named after him		Andre Marie Ampere
English physicist, developed the mass spectrometer and discovered isotopes		Frederick Aston
English scientist and philosopher, observed 1620 that the coastlines of Africa and South America appeared to fit together, hinting at plate tectonics		Francis Bacon
Founded and named the science of genetics (born Whitby 1861; died 1925)		William Bateson
French physicist: discovered radioactivity, shared the 1903 Nobel Physics prize with the Curies		Henri Becquerel
Danish physicist, proved that electrons move in well–defined orbits; Nobel prize 1922		Niels Bohr
Russian composer and Professor of Chemistry		Alexander Borodin
Indian physicist, 1894–1974: best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s; Paul Dirac named the boson after him		Satyendra Nath Bose
Birmingham factory owner with whom James Watt went into partnership in 1775 to continue development of his steam engine		Matthew Boulton
German chemist who discovered the elements caesium and rubidium (in partnership with physicist Gustav Kirchhoff); also invented a battery using a carbon cathode instead of the more expensive platinum; but best known as the inventor of a ubiquitous piece of laboratory equipment which (like the battery) is named after him		Robert Bunsen
British physicist (1734–1810) – a grandson of the 2nd Duke of Devonshire; discovered hydrogen (called it 'inflammable air'), determined the composition of water and nitric acid, and also known for his experiment to calculate the density (and hence the mass) of the Earth; gave his name to the Cambridge physics laboratory, opened in 1874, where the electron, neutron, and structure of DNA were discovered and 30 of whose researchers have won Nobel prizes		Henry Cavendish
British physicist – a pupil of Rutherford – born in Bollington, Cheshire, in 1891, the son of a cotton spinner: discovered the neutron in 1932, and won the Nobel prize for Physics in 1935		James Chadwick
British and Irish physicists who succeeded in splitting the atom, 1932; jointly awarded the Nobel prize, 1951		John Cockroft
		Ernest Walton
Discovered DNA, and recognised its characteristic 'double helix' shape, at Cambridge University in 1953; Nobel prize 1962		Francis Crick
		James Watson
Discovered radium and polonium (both in 1898)		Marie and Pierre Curie
French artist and chemist, went into partnership with photography pioneer Joseph Niepce 1825; following the latter's death in 1833, announced an improved version 1839 (the daguerreotype); gave his patent to the French government, in return for a pension; they donated it as "a free gift to the world"		Louis Daguerre
British chemist, originated the modern atomic theory of matter in 1803; produced the first comparative table of atomic weights; first described colour–blindness		John Dalton
English chemist: pioneered the use of nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic; discovered sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, barium and boron; invented a 'safety lamp' for use in mines where methane was present		Humphry Davy
Greek philosopher (c460 – 370 BC) who believed that matter consisted of tiny particles		Democritus
British physicist: worked out a version of quantum mechanics that was consistent with special relativity, and predicted the existence of antimatter (including the positron)		Paul Dirac
US scientist and inventor, invented a telegraph machine, the carbon transmitter (used in the microphone), the phonograph, the electric filament lamp, a new type of storage battery, and the kinetoscopic camera; made the first gramophone recording (Mary had a little lamb)		Thomas Alva Edison
German–born scientist won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 "especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect"		Albert Einstein
English physicist and chemist: assistant to Sir Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution from 1813, succeeding him as Professor of Chemistry there in 1833		Michael Faraday
Discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis, and the chemical compound benzene; made the first electric dynamo
Inaugurated the tradition of Christmas lectures for young people at the Royal Institution (delivering 19 between 1827 and 1860)
The SI unit of electrical capacitance is named in his honour – as well as the basic law of electromagnetic induction, the constant that defines the electric charge of one mole of electrons, and a cage that protects electrical equipment from lightning
Italian–born physicist, 1901–54: created the world's first nuclear reactor (the Chicago Pile–1); has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb"; element no. 100 is named in his honour		Enrico Fermi
The first Astronomer Royal – appointed by Charles II in 1675 as "The King's Astronomical Observator"; his accurate observation of the Moon contributed to Newton's theory of gravitation		Sir John Flamsteed
US ethologist, studied gorillas in Rwanda from 1976; subject of the film Gorillas in the Mist, based on her description of her studies (same title); brutally murdered at her research station on Boxing Day 1985		Dian Fossey
French physicist, used a pendulum in 1851 to demonstrate that the earth rotates; also invented the gyroscope		Jean Bernard Leon Foucault
US scientist and politician, suggested an experiment to prove that lightning is a form of electricity by flying a kite in a storm (he may have carried out such an experiment in 1752); introduced the terms positive and negative in electricity; invented the lightning conductor		Benjamin Franklin
X–ray crystallographer who made important contributions to Crick & Watson's work on DNA in the 1950s, but whose work went largely unrecognised – partly because of her death from ovarian cancer in 1958, aged 37 (Nobel prizes were not awarded posthumously until 2021; Crick, Watson and Wilkins were recognised in 1962)		Rosalind Franklin
Hungarian–born British physicist, invented the holographic method of three–dimensional photography		Dennis Gabor
Forced to recant his views and sentenced to house arrest by the Inquisition, 1633, for his belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun; proved that objects fall at the same rate under gravity, regardless of size or weight		Galileo Galilei
Italian physicist, whose experiments on dead frogs led to Volta's invention of the electric cell; gave his name to the process of coating iron or steel with zinc to prevent corrosion		Luigi Galvani
US physicist, predicted the quark 1964; won the Nobel Physics prize, 1969		Murray Gell–Man
US nuclear scientist, 1915–2010: credited with being involved in the discovery of a record twelve elements		Albert Ghiorso
British ethologist, studied chimpanzees in Tanzania from 1960 (still active 2008)		Jane Goodall
Nobel Prize 1944 for splitting the atomic nucleus (German)		Otto Hahn
Held a party in 2009, issuing an open invitation to time travellers from the future, and took the fact that none turned up as evidence that time travel is impossible		Stephen Hawking
German physicist, originated quantum mechanics; published his uncertainty principle in 1927; Nobel prize 1932		Werner Carl Heisenberg
German–born British astronomer, discovered infra–red rays 1801		William Herschel
German physicist: established that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation; confirmed Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic waves		Heinrich Hertz
British theoretical physicist: proposed a mechanism that predicts the existence of a new particle, which was named after him – and was discovered at CERN in 2012		Peter Higgs
Swiss chemist: wrote in April 1943 of "an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours"		Albert Hofmann
English biochemist, postulated the existence of vitamins 1898, and discovered several of them; Nobel prize for medicine, 1929		Frederick Hopkins
English brewery owner whose work led to the discovery of the first law of thermodynamics; discovered the relationship between heat and mechanical energy, and that heat is a form of radiation; the SI unit of energy is named after him; attempted to measure the temperature difference between the top and bottom of a waterfall, on his honeymoon		James Prescott Joule
Dutch pharmacist: gave his name to an apparatus for preparing small volumes of gases, which he invented around 1844		Petrus Jacobus Kipp
French naturalist, developed a theory of evolution based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics; introduced the terms vertebrate and invertebrate		Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
French nobleman, known as "the father of modern chemistry"; disproved the phlogiston theory by showing that air was a mixture of gases and that combustion needed only a part of it, which he called oxygen; also named hydrogen; first stated the law of conservation of matter; devised the first table of the elements; introduced the metric system; beheaded in the French Revolution, essentially for working with the landowners of the old regime in reorganising agricultural methods		Antoine–Laurent Lavoisier
Inventor (1866) of the battery cell that developed into the one still used widely today		Georges Leclanché
German chemist, regarded as the father of organic chemistry and of the fertiliser industry; developed the process for manufacturing beef extracts, founding the company that trademarked the Oxo brand		Justus, Baron von Liebig
Swedish naturalist who originated the classification of species; the society that Darwin announced his theory of evolution to in 1858 is named after him		Carl Linnaeus
Scottish geologist, whose assertion that the processes that formed the earth were still taking place was a major influence on Darwin; craters on the Moon and Mars were named in his honour		Sir Charles Lyell
Austrian physicist and philosopher (1838–1916), noted for his contributions to physics such as the study of shock waves; the ratio of a body's speed to that of sound is named in his honour		Ernst Mach
First demonstrated the laser, 1960, by energising a ruby crystal		Theodore Maiman
Born Bologna, 1874: founded the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company in the UK in 1897 (which eventually took his name); pioneered the development of wireless telegraphy (radio); transmitted signals across the English Channel in 1898, across the Atlantic (from Poldhu in Cornwall to St. John's, Newfoundland) in 1901, and to Australia in 1918		Guglielmo Marconi
Scottish physicist: in 1865, devised a set of equations to show that electricity, magnetism and light were all different forms of the same phenomenon (electromagnetic radiation) – forming the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits; voted the third greatest physicist of all time (after Einstein and Newton), in a poll of 100 leading physicists in 1999		James Clerk Maxwell
Austrian monk (1822–84), regarded as the founder of modern genetics through his experiments on (sweet) pea plants; formulated the Law of Independent Assortment		Abbott Gregor Mendel
Russian chemist (1834–1907) who devised the periodic table of the elements – publishing it in 1869		Dmitri Mendeleev
English inventor, patented an early steam engine, 1705, for pumping water out of mines (improved later by Watt)		Thomas Newcomen
English physicist and mathematician, discovered the law of gravity; created calculus; discovered that white light is composed of light of many colours; developed the three standard laws of motion; first to calculate the speed of sound; described many of these developments in the Principia Mathematica (1687) – described as "the most important and influential science work ever written"		Isaac Newton
Created the first permanent photograph (1822)		Joseph Niepce
Danish physicist (1777–1851): discovered in 1820 (acting on a hunch suggested to him by the German physicist Johann Wilhelm Ritter) that electric currents create magnetic fields, and went on to found the science of electromagnetism; also discovered aluminium (first to produce it in a near–pure form, in 1825, after Davy predicted its existence). Shares his two forenames with a famous writer, of whom he is said to have been a close friend!		Hans Christian Ørsted (Oersted)
German physicist, discovered that the electric current flowing through a conductor is proportional to the potential difference (voltage) across it		Georg Ohm
French philosopher and mathematician; contributed to the development of hydraulics, calculus, and probability theory; discussed a triangle where each number is the sum of the pair of numbers above it; invented the roulette wheel in a search for perpetual motion; invented the first calculating machine (the Pascaline), in 1642, over 200 years before the first commercially successful one		Blaise Pascal
French microbiologist: proved in 1857 that alcoholic fermentation was conducted by living yeasts and not by a chemical catalyst		Louis Pasteur
German physicist, formulated the quantum theory, 1900; Nobel prize 1918; gave his name to the constant that defines the sizes of quanta, represented by the lower case letter h		Max Planck
English chemist (1733–1804), discovered oxygen and called it "dephlogisticated air" (see Phlogiston); during his lifetime, his reputation rested (according to Wikipedia) on his invention of soda water		Joseph Priestley
Scottish chemist (1852–1916): discovered the noble (inert) gases, a new section in the periodic table; awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1904; his collaborator, Lord Rayleigh, was awarded the Physics prize		William Ramsay
German physicist, discovered X–rays 1895; Nobel Prize for Physics, 1901; element 111 is named after him		Wilhelm Röntgen Rontgen
New Zealand–born physicist: discovered alpha, beta and gamma rays, the element radon, and the concept of the nuclear half–life; discovered and named the atomic nucleus (1909); showed that the atom was not indivisible ("first to split the atom") and had a positively charged nucleus; proved that the hydrogen nucleus (i.e. a proton) is present in other nuclei – a result usually described as the discovery of the proton; Nobel prize 1908; a unit of radioactivity (not an SI unit, and now obsolete – equivalent to one megabequerel) was named after him		Ernest Rutherford
Austrian physicist: Nobel prize 1933 for his contributions to quantum mechanics, particularly a wave equation developed in 1926. Devised the thought experiment named after him, describing a cat that might be alive or dead, depending on an earlier random event		Erwin Schrödinger
Born in Dent, Yorkshire (now in Cumbria) in 1785: one of the founders of modern geology; proposed the Cambrian and Devonian periods		Adam Sedgwick
English geologist, 1769–1839: drew the first geological map of Great Britain, or any country; nicknamed 'Strata', and known as the 'Father of English Geology'		William Smith
English inventor of an incandescent lamp, same time as Edison		Joseph Swann
British polymath, patented the 'calotype' process, allowing photographs to be developed outside the camera, in 1841		William Henry Fox Talbot
Born in Smiljan, a village in the Austrian Empire (now in Croatia), in 1856; joined the Continental Edison Company in Paris, in 1882; moved to the USA in 1884, and was naturalised in 1891; best remembered for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system; died in New York, 1943		Nikola Tesla
English physicist, discovered the electron (1897); organised the Cavendish atomic research laboratory at Cambridge; Nobel prize 1906		Joseph J. Thomson
Belfast–born Scottish physicist, who determined the value of the absolute minimum temperature; the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature is named from the title he took on being ennobled in 1892, in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule		William Thomson (1st Baron Kelvin)
US physicist, gave his name to a high–voltage electrostatic generator that he invented in 1929 – commonly used in education to demonstrate the phenomenon		Robert Van de Graaf
French mathematician: gave his name to a type of moving scale, used in instruments such as theodolites		Pierre Vernier
Italian physicist (1745–1827): discovered methane, in 1766, after reading a paper by Benjamin Franklin about 'flammable air'; demonstrated that it could be ignited with an electric spark; also invented the first battery, an early electrostatic generator, and an electroscope (for detecting electric charge)		Alessandro Volta
Welsh–born naturalist (of Scottish and English parentage) who developed a theory of evolution by natural selection, independently of Darwin; his paper on the subject was published along with some of Darwin's writings in 1858, prompting Darwin to publish On the Origin of Species the following year		Alfred Russel Wallace
Scottish physicist, developed (1935) a system for locating aircraft by radio – essentially the first practical demonstration of radar. (Albert H. Taylor and Leo C. Young, of the US Navy, had accidentally demonstrated it in 1922)		Robert Watson–Watt
Scottish engineer, improved Newcomen's steam engine; devised the horsepower, and coined the term; the SI unit of power is named after him		James Watt
English inventor, engineer and shipwright: gave his name to a classic type of electrostatic generator which he developed in the early 1880s		James Wimshurst
Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, in 1660, when he and eleven other natural philosophers met there and decided to form what would become the Royal Society		Christopher Wren
English ploymath (1773–1829): devised, and gave his name to, an experiment that established the wave theory of light, in contrast to Newton's particle theory; also described, and gave his name to, a 'modulus' that relates the stress in a body to its associated strain		Thomas Young

Other

Einstein's theory of relativity published	Special		1905
	General		1915

Recited by Edison in the first ever sound recording		Mary had a little lamb
Hypothetical substance, once thought to be released during combustion		Phlogiston

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24