Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Student of Plato and a tutor to Alexander the Great, Aristotle was a genius Greek
philosopher and scientist of the ancient age. Born on 384 BC Aristotle was a biologist,
a zoologist, ethicist, a political scientist and the master of rhetoric and logic. He also
gave theories in physics and meta physics.
Aristotle gained knowledge in different fields with his expansive mind and prodigious
writings. However, only a fraction of his writings are preserved at present. Aristotle
made collections to the plant and animal specimens and classified them according to
their characteristics which made an standard for future work. He further gave theories
on the philosophy of science.
Aristotle also elaborated and estimated the size of earth which Plato assumed to be
globe. Aristotle explained the chain of life through his study in flora and fauna where
it turned from simple to more complex.

Archimedes (287-212 BC)

Regarded as the greatest mathematician ever, Archimedes developed profound and
influential knowledge on mathematical physics and engineering that are widely used
in machines as well as in constructions. Born on 287 BC, Archimedes is one of the
finest scientist who broke through in both theories and practice.
He introduced infinitesimals and laid the foundation for calculus. He gave
descriptions on the first finite geometric progression, computed areas and volumes of
sphere and parabolic segments.
He also discovered the laws of lever, density, fluid equilibrium, buoyancy in different
fields statics and hydrostatics. He is regarded as the prophet to the formal science that
was started in Ancient Greece.
“Give me a place to stand and I can move the whole world”, he said and we can still
fill the impact of his generosity even today. All other scientists after him stand on his
shoulders. Even though most of his work were burned in the museum of Alexandria,
the remnants gave enough ideas for modern day science and technology.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642 AD)

Born in Pisa, Italy in 1564, Galileo is called as the father of modern science because
of his discoveries in astronomy and physics.
He was sent to study medicine by his father, but he chose his career in science and
mathematics and made the first telescope to observe stars and planets.
He also discovered the law of pendulum as he watched a chandelier swing in the
cathedral of Pisa. He also discovered that the surface of moon was not smooth but
contained burrows and holes to what he called crater.
Galileo discovered 4 revolving moons around Jupiter which are named after him. He
proved what Copernicus said about sun being the center of the solar system. Galileo
became blind in his old days and died in the year 1642.

Michael Faraday (1791-1867 AD)

Born on 1791, British citizen Michael Faraday was a son of a blacksmith who had to
leave school in the fourth grade.It started working as a bookbinder and taught himself
to read and writer. He developed a fascination with science and particularly in
electricity after he studied lot of serious academic works during his days.
Faraday is specially known for his discoveries of electromagnetic inductions and
rotations, field theory, dia-magnetization and the magneto-optical effect. This humble
genius invented the electric motor and Faraday’s ring.
Faraday’s inquisitive and curious nature made him take chemistry lectures and taught
at the Royal Institution as a lecturer later when Humphry Davy retired.
Faraday also published research papers optical deceptions, condensation of gases and
isolation of benzene from gas oils. He also wrote books on ”Experimental Researches
in Electricity” and the “Chemical history of the Candle”. Faraday died on 1867.

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931 AD)

“The Wizard of the Menlo Park” nicknamed Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847.
Excelled as both scientist and inventor, Edison patented a whopping total of 1,093
inventions in his life time. Most of the inventions that came from Edison are batteries,
phonographs, cement, mining, telegraphs, lights and powers.
He also improved the telephone made by Graham Bell and invented the kinetoscope
that was used for viewing moving films. He was seen working almost more than 20
hours a day.
Edison masterminded the digital voting system with his electro-graphic vote recorder
for the legislative of the parliament. He also proposed ideas on preserving fruits by
keeping it in vacuum. Edison pioneered the idea for storage batteries that was later
used by Henry ford in his automobile.
“Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration” is one of the most
famous quote by this genius. He died in the year 1931.

 Marie Curie Sklodowska (1867-1934 AD)

 Marie Curie holds record for the first female to be awarded with a Nobel Prize.
Inventor and scientist Curie was born as the youngest of five children in the year 1867
in Warsaw, Poland.
Marie Curie has always remained a source of inspiration and motivation for different
female scientists because of her determination to work. She invented the first mobile
X-ray machine which helped to check the injured soldiers in the battlefield.
Radium is another great invention from her. Curie experimented different elements to
check their radio activity and found thorium. She also invented the pitch-blend which
was the source of radiation in a mixture more powerful than uranium or thorium. She
is also called ”the mother of atom bomb” with her invention of the radio active
materials.
However, with all her brilliance, hard work and patience in careful experiments she
performed, her own invention killed her because of radiation poisoning in 1934.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895 AD)

Louis Pasteur made astounding contributions in the field of science, technology and
medicine. This genius was born on 1822 and spent his life working in chemistry and
microbiology.
Pasteur was the first ever scientist to study about fermentation in food elements that
was caused by microbes. He also explained about biogenesis and proposed a theory
named as the “Germ Theory”. He also created a process of toning and treating milk
free from the damage causing microbes to what he called ”Pasteurization”.
Pasteur is also regarded as the first man on earth to ever discover cure for puerperal
fever and make the vaccines for rabies and anthrax. He also explained the asymmetry
in various crystals on a molecular basis.
His breadth of accomplishment and approaches in different fields of discoveries and
inventions makes him a giant genius. He died in 1895.

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727 AD)

Born on 1643 in Woolsthrope, England, Sir Issac Newton is best known for his law
on gravitation. He was a poor student at school or at running the family estate.
However, he loved making mechanical toys and models of windmills.
Newton explained the theory of gravity and gravitation by inventing calculus as no
other principles could explain it. The new revolution in mathematics, calculus was
derived from his binomial theorem to infinite series which accurately could measure
the area inside the curve or rate of change of it.
He also explained the theory on tides which occurred due to the gravitation pull from
the sun, moon and earth.
He also invented the reflecting telescope. Newtons laws can be found in different
areas of mechanics, optics and chemistry. He was knighted with the title Sir by Queen
Anne in 1705. Newton died at the age of 84, in 1727.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955 AD)

Born on 1879 in Ulm, Einstein is considered as one of the greatest revolutionary
scientist the world has ever known.
The “Man of Century” has some spectacular works in physics which even makes him
the father of modern physics for his contribution in developing the general theory of
relativity. The world’s most famous equation E=mc2 on which the bomb is based
comes from his theory.
One of the greatest scientist of the 20th century, Einstein’s Special theory of relativity
revolutionized physics which even challenged the scientists at CERN. Albert
Einstein’s genius mind for the scientific advancement cause immeasurable change to
the world. Together with his intellect, he was also a celebrity with his flirtatious
behavior that could impress any women.
This rare genius was awarded Nobel Prize in 1921 ”For his work on theortical
physics, and for his discovery of the photoelectric effect”. Greatest physicist ever
voted Einstein died on 1955 in Princeton.

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943 AD)

  This Serbian born scientist atop the list because of his immense knowledge in
different fields of science and technology.
Without a question, this 1856 born guy was a cool geek. He could speak 8 languages,
recite a whole book completely just with one reading, make a device just by seeing it
once and not writing down anything. A funny fact about him was that he was a
celibate his whole life.
Tesla had developed almost everything by himself and did not expose any of it which
later was invented by other scientists in his time. Tesla had generated ac current
before Edison knew about charges. Markoni who got Nobel prize for inventing radio
used all the ideas of Tesla. X-rays by Roentgen, RADAR by Watson-watt were all
devised by Nikola Tesla.

David Baltimore
David Baltimore is currently Professor of Biology at the California Institute of
Technology, where he served as president from 1997 to 2006. He also serves as the
director of the Joint Center for Translational Medicine, which joins Caltech and
UCLA in a program to translate basic science discoveries into clinical realities.
Baltimore is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Rockefeller University. In 2004,
Rockefeller University gave Baltimore an honorary Doctor of Science.
In 1975, at the young age of 38, David Baltimore received the Nobel Prize, along with
Howard Temin and Renato Dulbecco. They were awarded the prize for their
discoveries concerning the interaction between tumor viruses and the genetic material
of the cell. One of Baltimore's most significant contributions was in virology, for his
discovery of the protein reverse transcriptase, essential for the reproduction of
retroviruses such as HIV.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Baltimore the National Medal of Science for
his prodigious contributions to science. He has had a profound influence on national
science policy, spanning everything from stem cell research to cloning to AIDS.
Baltimore is past president and chair of the American Association of the
Advancement of Science (2007--2009). He was recently named a Fellow of the
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Baltimore has published 680 peer-reviewed articles. His recent research focuses on
the control of inflammatory and immune responses, on the roles of microRNAs in the
immune system, and the use of gene therapy methods to treat HIV and cancer.
He is also a member of numerous scientific advisory boards, including the Broad
Institute, Ragon Institute, Regulus Therapeutics, and Immune Design.
Web resource: David Baltimore's Home Page.
***

Allen J. Bard
Allen J. Bard is a professor at the University of Texas, where he also serves as
director of the Center for Electrochemistry and holds the Norman Hackerman-Welch
Regents Chair. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1958.
In 2011, Bard was awarded the National Medal of Science for his contributions in
electrochemistry, including electroluminescence, semiconductor photo-
electrochemistry, electro-analytical chemistry, and the invention of the scanning
electrochemical microscope. His discovery of electrogenerated chemiluminescence
(ECL) has enabled the medical community to detect the HIV virus and analyze DNA.
Bard is considered the “father of modern electrochemistry.” In 2013, President
Obama awarded Bard with the National Medal of Science. Other awards he has
received include the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2008, the Priestley Medal in 2002,
and the Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990.
He has published three books: Electrochemical Methods, with Larry
Faulkner, Integrated Chemical Systems, and Chemical Equilibrium. He has also
published over 600 papers and chapters, while editing the series Electroanalytical
Chemistry (21 volumes) and the Encyclopedia of the Electrochemistry of the
Elements (16 volumes). He is currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American
Chemical Society.
Bard's current research focuses on harnessing the power of natural sunlight to produce
sustainable energy. His lab at the University of Texas tests different chemical
compounds in the hopes of discovering a material that will carry out artificial
photosynthesis. Bard feels strongly that such discoveries must be sought and made
because otherwise humanity will be in deep trouble as fossil fuels run out.
Web resource: Allen J. Bard's Home Page.
Bard is also featured in our article "50 People Who Deserve a Nobel Prize."
***

Timothy Berners-Lee
Timothy Berners-Lee is a computer scientist, best known as the inventor of the World
Wide Web. He was honored as the "Inventor of the World Wide Web" during the
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. In 2009, he was elected as a foreign
associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. And in 2004, Berners-
Lee was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his pioneering work.
Berners-Lee graduated from Queens College, Oxford. He worked as an independent
contractor at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) from June to
December 1980. While there, he proposed using hypertext to facilitate sharing and
updating information among researchers. Over a decade later, he built the first website
at CERN, and it was first put online in August of 1991.
In November 2009, Berners-Lee launched the World Wide Web Foundation “to tackle
the fundamental obstacles to realizing his vision of an open Web available, usable,
and valuable for everyone.” In 2013, the Alliance for Affordable Internet was
launched, and Berners-Lee is leading the coalition of public and private organizations,
including Google, Facebook, Intel, and Microsoft.
In 2013, Berners-Lee was one of five Internet and Web pioneers awarded the
inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. He was also awarded an honorary
Doctor of Science degree from the University of St. Andrews. And in 2012, Berners-
Lee was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society.
Web resource: Timothy Berners-Lee's Home Page.
***

John Tyler Bonner

John Tyler Bonner is one of the world's leading biologists, primarily known for his
work in the use of cellular slime molds to understand evolution. He has led the way in
making Dictyostelium discoideum a model organism central to examining some of the
major questions in experimental biology. He is the George M. Moffett Professor
Emeritus of Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at
Princeton University.
Bonner studied at Harvard University. His Ph.D. studies were interrupted by a stint in
the United States Army Air Corps, so he completed his studies in an unusually short
period of time. He soon joined the faculty of Princeton University. He holds three
honorary doctorates and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science. He was made a National Academy of Sciences fellow in 1973.
Some of his works include: The Cellular Slime Molds, The Evolution of Culture in
Animals, Life Cycles, and The Ideas of Biology. Bonner's work argues for the
underappreciated role that randomness, or chance, plays in evolution. In one of his
latest works, Randomness in Evolution, Bonner shows how the effects of randomness
differ for organisms of different sizes, and how the smaller an organism is, the more
likely it is that morphological differences will be random and selection may not be
involved to any significant degree.
He also discusses how sexual cycles vary depending on size and complexity, and how
the trend away from randomness in higher forms has even been reversed in some
social organisms. Bonner's present research interests include experiments designed to
understand how this reversal is achieved in a number of species that vary
morphologically.
Web resource: John Tyler Bonner's Home Page.
***

Dennis Bray
Dennis Bray is a professor emeritus in the Department of Physiology, Development,
and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. He was trained as a biochemist at
MIT and a neurobiologist at Harvard Medical School before returning to the UK,
where he had a long research career in the fields of nerve growth and cell motility.
Bray has authored numerous textbooks on molecular and cell biology such
as Molecular Biology of the Cell and Cell Movements. His most recent
book, Wetware, is for a general audience. In it, Bray taps the findings of the new
discipline of systems biology to show that the internal chemistry of living cells
constitutes a form of computation. In the book he argues that the computational power
of cells provides the basis of all the distinctive properties of living systems, allowing
organisms to embody in their internal structure an image of the world, which accounts
for their adaptability, responsiveness, and intelligence.
Bray received the Microsoft European Science Award for his work on chemotaxis
in E. coli. He used detailed computer simulations, tied to experimental data, to ask
how the macromolecular pathway controlling cell motility in bacteria works as an
integrated unit. His team found that the physical location of molecular components
within the molecular jungle of the cell interior is crucial to understand their function.
Bray's most recent work includes the propagation of allosteric states in large multi-
protein complexes. He has also recently published several more popular articles,
including a contribution to a 2012 Alan Turing centenary symposium
in Nature entitled “Is the Brain a Good Model for Machine Intelligence?,” as well as
an essay entitled “Brain versus Machine” in the collection Singularity Hypotheses: A
Scientific and Philosophical Assessment.
Web resource: Dennis Bray's Home Page.
***

Sydney Brenner
Sydney Brenner is a biologist and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine, shared with H. Robert Horvitz and John Sulston. His major contributions
are in elucidating the genetic code. Brenner is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the
Crick-Jacobs Center at the Salk Institute of Biological Sciences.
Among his many notable discoveries, Brenner established the existence of messenger
RNA and demonstrated how the order of amino acids in proteins is determined.
Beginning in 1965, he also began to conduct the pioneering work with the
roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, which ultimately led to his Nobel Prize. In this
research, he laid the groundwork to make C. elegans---a small, transparent nematode
(worm)---a major model organism for research in genetics, neurobiology, and
developmental biology.
Brenner, along with George Pieczenik, created the first computer matrix analysis of
nucleic acids using the TRAC computer language, which Brenner continues to use.
They returned to their early work on deciphering the genetic code with a speculative
paper on the origin of protein synthesis, where constraints on mRNA and tRNA co-
evolved, allowing for a five-base interaction with a flip of the anticodon loop, and
thereby creating a triplet code translating system without requiring a ribosome. This is
the only published paper in scientific history with three independent Nobel laureates
collaborating as authors (the other two were Francis Crick and Aaron Klug).
Brenner has been awarded the Foreign Associate of the National Academy of
Sciences, the Albert Lasker Medical Research Award in 1971, and ultimately the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002.
Most recently, Brenner is studying vertebrate gene and genome evolution. His work in
this area has resulted in new ways of analyzing gene sequences, which have
developed into a new understanding of the evolution of vertebrates.
Web resource: Sydney Brenner's Home Page.
***

Pierre Chambon
Pierre Chambon is professor at the University of Strasbourg's Institute for Advanced
Study, honorary professor at the Collège de France, and emeritus professor at the
Faculty of Medicine of the University of Strasbourg.
He is the founder and former director of the Institute for Genetics and Cellular and
Molecular Biology (IGBMC), and the founder and former director of the Institut
Clinique de la Souris (Clinical Institute for the Mouse), in Strasbourg, France.
Chambon made significant contributions to the discovery of the superfamily of
nuclear receptors, and to the elucidation of their universal mechanism of action that
links transcription, physiology, and pathology. These discoveries revolutionized the
fields of development, endocrinology, and metabolism, as well as their disorders,
pointing to new tactics for drug discovery and important new applications in
biotechnology and modern medicine.
The author of more than 900 publications, Chambon has been ranked fourth among
the most prominent life scientists during the 1983--2002 period. Some of his awards
include the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2010 (for the elucidation of
fundamental mechanisms of transcription in animal cells and the discovery of the
nuclear receptor superfamily), the Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2004,
and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2003.
Chambon is a member of the Académie des Sciences (France), the National Academy
of Sciences (U.S.), and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He also serves on a
number of editorial boards.

Chambon is also featured in our article "50 People Who Deserve a Nobel Prize."
***

Simon Conway Morris

Simon Conway Morris is Chair of Evolutionary Palaeobiology in the Earth Sciences
Department at Cambridge University. He is renowned for his work on the Burgess
Shale fossils. Conway Morris's views on the Burgess Shale are reported in numerous
technical papers, and have been recounted for a more general audience in Stephen Jay
Gould's Wonderful Life and in Conway Morris's own book, The Crucible of Creation.
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia,
is one of the world's most productive fossil fields, famous for the exceptional
preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At 505 million years old, it is one of the
earliest fossil beds containing soft-part imprints.
As a paleobiologist, Conway Morris is known for being a devout Christian, one who
tries to show that the evidence from paleobiology and evolution supports the existence
of God. He is an increasingly active participant in discussions relating to science and
religion. He is active in the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and has
lectured there on "Evolution and Fine-Tuning in Biology." In 2007, Conway Morris
was invited to give the prestigious Gifford Lectures at University of Edinburgh; they
were titled "Darwin's Compass: How Evolution Discovers the Song of Creation." In
these lectures Conway Morris makes several claims that evolution is compatible with
belief in the existence of a God.
Some of his awards include Texas A&M's Trotter Prize in 2007, the GSL Charles
Lyell Medal in 1998, and the Paleontological Society's Charles Schuchert Award in
1989. In recent years, Conway Morris has been studying evolutionary convergence---
the phenomenon whereby unrelated groups of animals and plants develop similar
adaptations---the main thesis of which is put forward in his popular Life's Solution:
Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe.
Web resource: Simon Conway Morris's Home Page.
***

Mildred S. Dresselhaus
Mildred S. Dresselhaus is a professor of physics and electrical engineering, as well as
the Emerita Institute Professor at MIT. Having attended Hunter College in New York
City as an undergraduate, she received a Fulbright Fellowship to attend the Cavendish
Laboratory, Cambridge University. Dresselhaus received her master's degree at
Radcliffe College and her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.
Known as the "queen of carbon science,” Dresselhaus began her MIT career at the
Lincoln Laboratory. During that time she switched from research on
superconductivity to magneto-optics, and carried out a series of experiments which
led to a fundamental understanding of the electronic structure of semi-metals,
especially graphite.
A leader in promoting opportunities for women in science and engineering,
Dresselhaus received a Carnegie Foundation grant in 1973 to encourage women's
study of traditionally male-dominated fields, such as physics. She was also appointed
to the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Chair, an Institute-wide chair, endowed to support the
scholarship of women in science and engineering.
Some of her awards include the Karl T. Compton Medal for Leadership in Physics,
the American Institute of Physics in 2001, the Medal of Achievement in Carbon
Science and Technology by the American Carbon Society in 2001, and an Honorary
Member of the Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia,
in 2000.
In 2012, Dresselhaus was awarded the prestigious Kavli Institute's prize in
nanoscience. In 1990, she received the National Medal of Science in recognition of
her work on electronic properties of materials.
Web resource: Mildred S. Dresselhaus passed away February 20, 2017..
***

Gerald M. Edelman
Gerald M. Edelman is a biologist, immunologist, and neuroscientist. He is the founder
and director of the Neurosciences Institute, a non-profit research center that studies
the biological bases of higher brain function in humans, and he is on the scientific
board of the World Knowledge Dialogue project.
Edleman received an MD from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine.
He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work with Rodney
Robert Porter on the immune system. Their research uncovered the structure of
antibody molecules as well as the deep connection between how the