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212
Archimedes
Born in 287 B.C - 212 B.C -
Period: 212 to
Archimedes
In the field of mathematics, Archimedes produced several theorems that became widely known throughout the world. He is credited with producing some of the principles of calculus long before Newton and Leibniz. He worked out ways of squaring the circle and computing areas of several curved regions. He proved that the surface area and volume of a sphere are two-thirds that of its circumscribing cylinder. -
220
Ptolemy
127 AD to 141 AD -
Period: 220 to 300
Ptolemy
Ptolemy used some observations that were originally made by a mathematician named Theon, who is believed to be also known as Theon of Smyrna. It is believed that he was probably Ptolemy's teacher. Many early works by Ptolemy were dedicated to Syrus, and this may have been another of his teachers. -
Feb 19, 1473
Nicolaus Copernicus
Feb,19 1473 - May,24 1543 -
Period: Feb 19, 1473 to May 24, 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus
It has been reported that Nicolaus Copernicus delayed in publishing his theories for fear of persecution from both the religious and scientific communities. As a modest man, he once stated, "For I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them." One account states that Copernicus published his revolutionary work near his death in 1543, awoke from a stroke-induced coma clutching his opus vitae (life's work) and then died peacefully. -
Period: Feb 15, 1564 to
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei, using his improved telescope, on January 7, 1610 discovered four of Jupiter's largest satellites (Lo, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede). Galileo's observations of the moons of Jupiter revolving around the large planet and Venus orbiting the sun lent support to Copernicus' heliocentric theories. -
Period: Dec 27, 1571 to
Johannes Kepler
Kepler was born to Heinrich Kepler and Katharina Guldenmann on December 27, 1571 in the German state of Baden - Wurttemberg. His father was a mercenary and was said to have lost his life during the Eighty Years War. Johannes was a frail child when he was young but he had an astounding knowledge of mathematics. -
Johannes Kepler
In 1596, Mysterium was published and Kepler began sending copies of his manuscript to eminent personalities. Though this was not very popular, it lifted the status of Kepler and many regarded him as a good astronomer. Kepler published a second edition of the Mysterium in 1621. -
Period: to
Rene Descartes
Descartes became popular by his Cartesian theory of Fallicles. The Cartesian theory of Fallicles was assumed to influence the thinking at a time to a considerable extent. The Cartesian theory of Fallicles remains unaccepted by many philosophers. Descartes was also well known for his theory of Dualism. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei, using his improved telescope, on January 7, 1610 discovered four of Jupiter's largest satellites (Lo, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede). Galileo's observations of the moons of Jupiter revolving around the large planet and Venus orbiting the sun lent support to Copernicus' heliocentric theories. -
Rene Descartes
He joined the University of Franekar in 1629 and again in 1630 he enrolled himself at the Leiden University to pursue mathematics and astronomy. After this, he returned back to the Dutch republic and remained there all his life. -
Period: to
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton discovered that white light is made up of a spectrum of colors, that when blended together produce the white light. He showed by use of a prism that white light can be split into a spectrum of colors and then used a second prism to show this spectrum can then be rejoined to produce white light. Newton also theorized that light was composed of particles but had to associate the property of light with waves in order to explain refraction of light. -
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton is generally regarded as one of the greatest and most famous scientists in history. Newton was an astronomer, physicist, mathematician and philosopher who is known for theorizing and reporting on gravitational force and the three laws of motion. -
Period: to
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was the first to document electrical properties as positive and negative. After Franklin's famous experiment of flying a kite during a lightening storm, he documented that lightening is in fact electricity. -
Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod
Because of Benjamin Franklin's work with the lightning rod, he received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society on London in 1753. Franklin also conducted other experiments in meteorology including noting that storms do not always follow the prevailing winds and that evaporation helps in the cooling process. -
Period: to
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin in 1831 sailed aboard the HMS Beagle, a British Royal Naval ship that sailed on an expedition for 5 years around South America and to the Galapagos Islands and back. Because of this adventure, Darwin wrote his famed book, "The Voyage of the Beagle" that outlined the discovery of many fossils in South America and distinct species of creatures on the Galapagos Islands that were unique to the islands. -
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James Clerck Maxwell
He was originally believed to be dull and shy at school. He didn't make friends, and he spent his extra time drawing diagrams and making mechanical models. James would eventually be regarded as brilliant by his school peers, earning prizes for English verse, mathematics and scholarship. -
Charles Darwin "On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection"
On November 22, 1859, Charles Darwin's book, "On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection" went on sale. The original print run was 1,250 copies and the reaction to the book set off an immediate public controversy, which naturally pitted religious leaders and leaders in the scientific communities against one another. Charles Darwin did not publicly defend his theories, but had many advocates on his side willing to publicly debate in favor of the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin -
Period: to
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud has made vast and long lasting contributions to the fields of psychology, psychiatry, humanities and social sciences. His originality and intellectual influence has made him a prominent thinker in the 20th century. -
Period: to
Nikola Tesla
Tesla began working in high frequency currents using generators, and he would go on to invent a transformer for the purpose of producing high frequency and high tension currents. This would become known as "The Tesla Transformer". Tesla held famous lectures, where he explained the impressive results he had achieved in high frequency currents. -
Period: to
Franz Boas
Boas collected much data beyond what the project required, and this was the beginning of a life-long study of various ways in which people live. He taught university geography in Berlin when he returned to Germany. He stopped over in 1886 in New York City, after visiting another British Columbian tribe, and was taken with the city so much so that he moved there. He was the editor of Science magazine. He taught at Worcester, Massachusetts' Clark University. -
James Clerck Maxwell
In or around 1862 in London, he made calculations that showed that an electromagnetic field's propagation speed is about the same as the accepted speed of light. Maxwell then proposed that light is actually electromagnetic. In doing so Maxwell came up with classical electromagnetic theory unifying magnetism, electricity and optics under one theoretical umbrella. He also developed the Maxwell-Boltzmann Kinetic Theory of Gases, without collaboration from Boltzmann. -
Ernest Rutherford Noble Prize
A Nobel Prize winner in the field of Chemistry, Ernest Rutherford was born in New Zealand in 1871, into a large family, the son of a Scottish immigrant father. His mother was a teacher. Ernest went to government schools, and went to Nelson Collegiate School when he was 16-years-old. -
Period: to
Ernest Rutherford
Rutherford was awarded a scholarship in 1889 and attended Canterbury College at the University of New Zealand in Wellington. He would graduate in 1893, with majors in Physical Science and Math. He won a Science Scholarship in 1894, and attended Trinity College in Cambridge, England, where he was a promising research student. He earned a B.A. Research Degree. He traveled to Canada in 1898, taking over the MacDonald Chair of Physics at Montreal's McGill University. -
Period: to
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was best known for his Theory of Relativity and especially the formula E=MC2. The photoelectric effect is also known as the Hertz effect, though this term has fallen out of use. The photoelectric effect is when electromagnetic radiation is exposed to a metallic surface and photons are absorbed and current is produced. In 1915, Robert Andrews Millikan showed through his experiments that Einstein was correct. -
Period: to
Alexander Fleming
In July 1901, he came into possession of a small inheritance, which allowed him to resume his studies. He received a scholarship from the medical school at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, where he presented a thesis on microbial infections and ways to combat them. He graduated as a medical doctor and received a gold medal from the University of London, in 1908. As he wanted to become a surgeon, Alexander Fleming was awarded the title of Companion of the Royal College of Surgeons. -
Sigmund Freud
In 1885, Freud traveled to Paris to study under Jean Martin Charcot, a famous European neurologist and researcher. Later Freud started his own medical facility and started carrying out experiments using hypnosis on his neurotic patients. He invented what was known as the talking cure, in which he let his patients talk out their problems and later became known as psychoanalysis. -
Nikola Tesla
By 1885, Tesla had founded the "Tesla Arc Light Company" based in New York. After this, he obtained the money and materials that would be needed for his invention of induction motors with high efficiency.
Tesla took out patents for his polyphase electric power transmission system and his asynchronous motor in 1887. By 1891, he had taken out 40 more patents in the same field. Niagara Falls' hydroelectric power station used his method of polyphase power transmission, when it was built. -
Franz Boas
"The Mind of Primitive Man", by Boas, was published in 1911, and taught about race and culture. He disagreed with the theory common at the time, which was that Western civilization was superior to societies that were not as well developed. Indeed, the book was so controversial that his University of Kiel, Germany, Ph.D. would be rescinded. -
Albert Einstein Noble Prize
Winner of the 1921 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect. -
Alexander Fleming
Fleming's appointment as professor of bacteriology in 1928, attests to his contribution to all sectors of research on infectious diseases. On his return from vacation September 3, 1928, a miracle occurs. He observed the growth inhibition of staphylococcal colonies on a petri dish containing a culture of bacteria growing on a layer of agar, a green mold, resembling that of Roquefort cheese. "That's funny!" exclaimed Alexander Fleming. -
Period: to
Stephen Hawking
Hawking's parents were Dr Frank Hawking, a researcher and biologist, as well as Isobel Hawking. He has two sisters named Mary and Philippa as well as an adopted brother named Edward. Hawkings' parents lived in Northern London and moved to Oxford while his mother was still pregnant with Stephen. This is because they desired a more safe location for their coming firstborn. -
Stephen Hawking medal of freedom
A Royal Society of Arts Honorary Fellow, he is also a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Science. In the year 2009, he was awarded the highest USA civilian award called the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
