Scientists/Mathematicians Flashcards
Alessandro (Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio) Volta
1745-1827 Italian physicist y electricity pioneer from Milan - Credited as the inventor of the electrical battery (the Voltaic Pile - 1799), y the discoverer of methane (1776) - Close with Napoleon, y conferred with numerous honours by him
Antoine Lavoisier (Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier)
1743-94 French chemist y nobleman - Widely considered the father of modern chemistry - Recognized y named hydrogen (1783) y oxygen (1778), y discovered oxygen’s role in combustion - Discovered the law of Conservation of Mass - Powerful aristocrat who used tax administration fees to fund his research, y was guillotined during French Revolution
Barbara McClintock
1902-1992 American scientist y cytogeneticist from CT - Studied maize chromosomes, demonstrating many fundamental genetic ideas, incl. the roles of telomeres y centromeres, transposition, genetic recombination, y genetic maps - Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine (1983) y elected a member of Natl. Academy of Sciences in 1944
Benjamin Banneker
1731-1806 free African-American almanac author, surveyor, y naturalist from Baltimore - Self-taught in geometry y astronomy - After corresponding with Thomas Jefferson, he was made part of a group led by Major Andrew Ellicott that surveyed the borders of the original District of Columbia - Published his Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac starting in 1792
B(urrhus) F(rederic) Skinner
1904-90 American behavioral psychologist - Believed free will an illusion - Studied operant (reinforced) conditioning on human behavior - Wrote books Walden Two (1948) y Verbal Behavior (1957) - Worked at Harvard
Blaise Pascal
1623-62 French mathematician, physicist, theologian, y inventor - Developed a successful mechanical calculator in 1642 known as the Pascaline - Wrote the religiuos text Pensées (1670), which includes the philosophical argument known as Pascal’s wager - Developed a triangular array of the binomial coefficients known as Pascal’s triangle - Developed a principle in fluid mechanics known as Pascal’s law
Carl Friedrich Gauss
1777-1855 German mathematician - Contributed significantly to number theory, algebra, statistics, etc. - Often referred to as the “Princeps mathematicorum” (Latin, “the foremost of mathematicians”) and “greatest mathematician since antiquity”
Casimir (Kazimierz) Funk
1884-1967 Polish biochemist - Formulated the concept of vitamins in 1912 while studying the health effects of brown rice
Claudius Ptolemy
100-170 CE Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer, y astrologer from Alexandria - Wrote The Almagest, a treatise on math y astronomy highly influential for its geocentric model of the universe - Wrote Geography, an atlas of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world
Enrico Fermi
1901-54 Italian physicist - Called “architect of the nuclear age y the nuclear bomb” - Created world’s first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1 in 1942 - 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on radioactivity - Known for the Fermi Paradox about alien life
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson
1871-1936 New-Zealand-born British physicist - The father of nuclear physics - Discovered half-life and alpha y beta radiation (Nobel Chemistry 1908) - Discovered atomic nucleus - Discovered the proton - Worked at McGill University, Uni of Manchester, y Cambridge
Erwin (Rudolf Josef Alexander) Schrödinger
1887-1961 Austrian physicist - Developed a number of fundamental results in the field of quantum theory, which formed the basis of wave mechanics - Wrote the book What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell (1944) - Shared Nobel Prize in Physics (1933) with Paul Dirac - Known for Schrödinger’s Cat though experiment (1935)
Euclid
Approx 450-350 BCE - Ancient Greek mathematician - Called “the father of geometry” - Wrote Elements (300 BCE), one of most influential works in history of mathematics - Deduced principles of what is now called Euclidian geometry
Ferdinand Cohn
1828-98 German biologist from Poland - Founder of modern bacteriology y microbiology - Classified bacteria into four groups based on shape (sphericals, short rods, threads, spirals) - Began career studying plants, y was 1st to classify algae as a plant
Georg (Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp) Cantor
1845-1918 German mathematician from St. Petersburg - Known for the creation of set theory, y his study of infinites - Developed the theory of transfinite numbers, which he claimed was communicated to him by God - His work on these topics provoked fierce opposition from both mathematicians y philosophers, who called him a renegade y scientific charlatan
George Washington Carver
1860s-1943 - American agricultural scientist, born into slavery in MO - While a professor at Tuskegee Inst., promoted alternative crops to cotton, like peanuts y sweet potatoes, y methods to prevent soil depletion - Published 44 practical bulletins for farmers, incl. his most popular How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption (1916) - Awarded Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1923
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
1646-1716 German mathematician, polymath, y philosopher from Leipzig - Known for conceiving the ideas of differential y integral calculus, independently of Isaac Newton’s contemporaneous developments - Early pioneer in the field of mechanical calculators - Known in philosophy for his rationalism y optimism
Grace (Brewster Murray) Hopper
1906-92 American computer scientist y Naval rear admiral from NYC - One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer (1944), and a pioneer in development of compilers y programming languages - Helped develop the UNIVAC I computer (1944), y the COBOL language (1959) - Nicknamed “Amazing Grace” - Awarded Pres Medal of Freedom (2016)
(Jules) Henri Poincaré
1854-1912 French mathematician y theoretical physicist - Considered a polymath, y “the last universalist”, for his mastery of nearly all fields - Known for the Poincaré conjecture, about the characteristics of spheres, which was unsolved until 2003 - First to lay foundations for modern study of chaos theory, topology, relativity, y gravitational waves
Humphrey Davy
1778-1829 Cornish chemist y inventor - Isolated several elements for the first time, incl. potassium y sodium in 1807; y calcium, magnesium, barium, strontium, y boron in 1808 - Discovered the properties of nitrous oxide, y gave it the nickname “laughing gas” - Invented the Davy Lamp for safe use in coal mines, y an early form of the incandescant light bulb
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen)
965-1040 Arab mathematician y astronomer from Basra, Iraq - Made significant contributions to the field of optics, y wrote the Kitāb al-Manāẓir (1021 - “Book of Optics”) - Worked mostly in the Fatimid capital of Cairo - Early proponent of scientific method - Called the “father of modern optics” y the “second Ptolemy”
Isaac Newton
1642-1727 English mathematician, astronomer, y physicist - One of the most influential scientists of all time - Made significant contributions to optics y mathematics, y developed calculus - Wrote Principia Mathematica (1687) stating his Laws of Motion, law of universal gravitation, y laws of planetary motion; Opticks (1704) about color y light - Served as President of the Royal Society (1703-27)
John Forbes Nash Jr.
1928-2015 American mathematician from WV - Made fundamental contributions to game theory, differential equations, y geometry - Nobel Prize in Economics 1994 for game theory work - Suffered from severe mental illness - Subject of film A Beautiful Mind
Joseph Fourier
1768-1830 French mathematician y physicist - Known for creating the Fourier Series to represent wave functions; Fourier’s Law of heat conduction; y the Fourier Transform to convert time functions into component frequencies - Credited with discovering the Greenhouse Effect
Joseph Priestley
1733-1804 English chemist y theologian - Discovered oxygen in 1774, calling it “dephlogisticated air” - Invented soda water in 1772 while investigating CO2 - Wrote The History and Present State of Electricity (1767) with the help of Ben Franklin
Leonhard Euler
1707-83 Swiss mathematician - One of most eminent of 18th cent, y one of greatest in history - Important developments in calculus, graphs, functions, y notation - Worked in St Petersburg y Berlin - A contemporary said “Read Euler, read Euler, he is the master of us all.”
Linus Pauling
1901-94 American scientist y peace activist from Portland, OR - Only person to win 2 unshared Nobel Prizes (Chemistry-1954; Peace-1962) - One of founders of fields of quantum chemistry y molecular biology - Later worked for nuclear disarmament
Lise Meitner
1878-1968 Austrian-Swedish physicist - Worked on radioactivity y nuclear physics - Discovered nuclear fission of uranium in 1939 - Worked mainly in Germany before fleeing to Sweden in 1938 - 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry given exclusively to her collabortor Otto Hahn, resulting in many posthumous honors - Namesake of element 109, Meitnerium
Louis Pasteur
1822-1895 French microbiologist - Credited with discovering principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, y pasteurization - Disproved spontaneous generation theory in 1860 - Developed vaccines for rabies y anthrax - Controversy over deception y theft from his rivals
Margaret Mead
1901-78 American cultural anthropologist - Respected y controversial academic who helped popularize anthropology in Western culture -Featured frequently as an author y speaker in the media during the 1960s y 70s - Reports detailing sex in South Pacific influenced 60s sexual revolution
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
1718-1799 Italian mathematician y philosopher from Milan - First female math professor (at Uni. of Bologna), y first female to write a math handbook (Analytical Institutions for the Use of Italian Youth) - Known for the Witch of Agnesi, an eye-shaped graph of a cubic plane curve - Wrote extensively on theology in later life
Marie Curie (Maria Salomea Skłodowska)
1867-1934 Polish-French physicist - Pioneer of research on radioactivity (coined the term); discovered polonium y radium - Nobel Physics (1903-1st fem); Nobel Chem (1911-only fem 2x, only person mult sciences) - During WW1 established military field radiological centers
Marin Mersenne
1588-1648 French mathematician y music theorist - Often referred to as the “father of acoustics” - Many friends among scientists of the day - Also called “the center of the world of science and mathematics during the first half of the 1600s” - Mersenne Prime numbers named for him (a prime number one less than a power of 2, Mn = 2^n − 1)
Mikhail (Vasilyevich) Lomonosov
1711-65 Russian scientist y polymath from Arkhangelsk - Discovered the atmosphere of Venus, y first to demonstrate the law of conservation of mass - Made other important contributions to chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, y poetry
Nicolaus Copernicus
1473-1543 Prussian-Polish astronomer y mathematician - His book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres - 1543) proved heliocentrism mathematically - Attributed his theory to Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 BCE)
Niels Bohr
1885-1962 Danish physicist - Developed the Bohr model of the atom, feat. electrons at discrete energy levels - Nobel Physics 1922 - Worked for Britain during WWII - Helped found CERN
Nikola Tesla
1856-1943 Serbian-American inventor y electrical engineer - Known for contributions to design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system - Worked on high-voltage experiments, incl wireless transmission - Invented the Tesla Coil, y induction motor
Oliver Sacks
1933-2015 British neurologist y author - Became widely known for writing best-selling case histories about his patients’ disorders, with some of his books adapted for stage y film - Wrote Awakenings (1973) about patients with “sleepy sickness” (encephalitis lethargica)
Paul (Adrien Maurice) Dirac
1902-84 English physicist from Bristol - Made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics y quantum electrodynamics - Formulated the Dirac equation in 1928, which describes the behaviour of fermions y predicted the existence of antimatter - Shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger, “for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory”
Rachel Carson
1907-64 American marine biologist y author - Wrote The Sea Around Us (1951); The Edge of the Sea; Under the Sea Wind; and Silent Spring (1962), which brought about DDT ban and the EPA - Posthumous Pres Medal of Freedom
Richard Feynman
1918-88 American physicist from NYC - Known for work on quantum mechanics y particle physics - Worked on Manhattan Project during WWII - Nobel Prize Physics (1965) - Wrote books: Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman! (1985); What Do You Care What Other People Think? (1988)
Robert Boyle
1627-1691 Anglo-Irish chemist y physicist - Regarded today as the 1st modern chemist - Wrote The Sceptical Chymist (1661) about theories of atoms y particles - Known for Boyle’s Law, which describes relationship between pressure y volume of gas
Robert Hooke
1635-1703 English scientist y architect - Chief surveyor of London after the Great Fire - Pioneer in early use of microscopes y telescopes - Early theories on light y gravity – Served as Curator of Experiments for the Royal Society for over 30 years
Rosalind (Elsie) Franklin
1920-58 English chemist y X-ray crystallographer - Made contributions to the understanding of molecular structures of DNA, RNA, coal, y viruses - Took the famous Photo 51, which led to identification of the double helix structure of DNA - Died at age 37 of ovarian cancer, y most work only recognized posthumously
Werner Heisenberg
1901-1976 German physicist - Pioneer of quantum mechanics - Known for the Heisenberg uncertainty principle (1927) - Nobel Physics 1932 “for the creation of quantum mechanics” - Developed 1st West German nuclear reactor - Controversial atomic research during WWII
Wernher von Braun
1912-1977 German-American aerospace engineer - Developed German V-2 rocket, and American Saturn V - Worked for Nazis during WWII, then moved to USA in Operation Paperclip - Director of Marshall Space Flight Center, and worked on Apollo Program
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
1824-1907 Scots-Irish mathematical physicist y engineer from Belfast - Worked as an engineer on the transatlantic telegraph project - Determined the correct value of absolute zero - First British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords - Worked at University of Glasgow for over 50 years - President of the Royal Society (1890-95) - Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour
