Physics
Isaac Newton (1643–1727)
Laws of Motion
Law of Universal Gravitation
Invented early reflecting telescope
Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
Theory of Relativity
Photoelectric Effect (basis of solar cells)
Marie Curie (1867–1934)
Discovered radioactivity
Discovered polonium and radium
First person to win two Nobel
Prizes Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
Improved the telescope
Supported heliocentric (Sun-centered) system
Michael Faraday – 1831
Discovered electromagnetic induction
James Clerk Maxwell – 1865
Electromagnetic theory (Maxwell’s equations)
Max Planck – 1900
Quantum theory
Niels Bohr – 1913
Bohr model of the atom
Albert A. Michelson – 1887
Speed of light measurement
Ernest Rutherford – 1911
Nuclear model of atom
Erwin Schrödinger – 1926
Wave equation (quantum mechanics)
Werner Heisenberg – 1927
Uncertainty Principle
Enrico Fermi – 1942
First nuclear reactor
Stephen Hawking – 1974
Black hole radiation
Biology & Medicine
Charles Darwin (1809–1882)
Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
Germ theory of disease
Pasteurization (food safety)
Alexander Fleming (1881–1955)
Discovered penicillin (first antibiotic)
Gregor Mendel (1822–1884)
Laws of genetics (inheritance)
Hippocrates (460–370 BC)
Founder of scientific medicine
Edward Jenner (1749–1823)
Smallpox vaccine (1796)
Joseph Lister (1827–1912)
Antiseptic surgery (1867)
Robert Koch (1843–1910)
Bacteria cause disease (1876)
Jonas Salk (1914–1995)
Polio vaccine (1955)
Francis Crick (1916–2004)
DNA structure (1953)
James Watson (1928– )
DNA double helix (1953)
Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958)
DNA X-ray images (1952)
Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564)
Human anatomy (1543)
Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915)
Immunology & chemotherapy
Technology & Engineering
Thomas Edison (1847–1931)
Practical electric light bulb
Phonograph
Motion picture camera
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943)
Alternating Current (AC) electricity
Tesla coil
James Watt (1736–1819)
Improved the steam engine (Industrial Revolution)
Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922)
Invented the telephone
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
Early machine & aircraft designs
Karl Benz (1844–1929)
First gasoline car (1885)
Henry Ford (1863–1947)
Assembly line (1913)
Wright Brothers (1871–1948)
First airplane (1903)
Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937)
Radio communication (1895)
John Logie Baird (1888–1946)
Television (1926)
Tim Berners-Lee (1955– )
World Wide Web (1989)
Alan Turing (1912–1954)
Computer science, AI (1936)
Steve Jobs (1955–2011)
Personal computing revolution
Elon Musk (1971– )
SpaceX reusable rockets (2015)
Earth & Space Science
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
Proposed heliocentric model of the solar system
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630)
Laws of planetary motion
Edwin Hubble (1889–1953)
Discovered the universe is expanding
Neil Armstrong (1930–2012)
First human to walk on the Moon
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
Heliocentric system (1543)
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630)
Planetary motion laws (1609)
Edwin Hubble (1889–1953)
Expanding universe (1929)
Carl Sagan (1934–1996)
Popularized space science
Neil Armstrong (1930–2012)
First man on Moon (1969)
Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968)
First human in space (1961)
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
Modern astronomy (1610)
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995)
Star evolution
Vera Rubin (1928–2016)
Dark matter evidence (1970s)
Jane Goodall (1934– )
Primate behavior studies
Chemistry
Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907)
Created the Periodic Table
Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794)
Law of Conservation of Mass
Named oxygen and hydrogen
Robert Boyle (1627–1691)
Boyle’s Law (pressure & volume of gases)
Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907)
Periodic Table (1869)
Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794)
Conservation of mass
Robert Boyle (1627–1691)
Boyle’s Law (1662)
John Dalton (1766–1844)
Atomic theory (1803)
Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856)
Avogadro’s law (1811)
Marie Curie (1867–1934)
Radioactivity (1898)
Linus Pauling (1901–1994)
Chemical bonding
Svante Arrhenius (1859–1927)
Electrolyte theory
Gilbert N. Lewis (1875–1946)
Electron-pair bonding
Fritz Haber (1868–1934)
Ammonia synthesis (1909)