Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential anthropologists ever, Franz Boas was a German-American scientist, who is also known as the “Father of Modern Anthropology”. He was the first person to implement the scientific method into the study of human cultures and societies. Born in Minden, Westphalia, Franz Boas showed an […]
Sir Francis Galton was an English explorer, anthropologist, eugenicist, geographer and meteorologist. He is noted for his pioneering research on human intelligence and his statistical concept of correlation. He is often called the “father of eugenics”. Galton also invented many statistical tools such as surveys and questionnaires. Born in Sparkbrook, England, the maternal grandfather of
Highly regarded for his discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule with his colleague James D. Watson, Francis Crick was a scientific genius. He was a British molecular biologist, physicist and neuroscientist who jointly won a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Watson and Maurice Wilkins mainly for their discoveries concerning the molecular
Francis Bacon, a leading proponent of natural philosophy and scientific methodology, was an English lawyer, philosopher and scientist. Having written highly influential works on law, state and religion, politics and science, Bacon was an early pioneer of the scientific method who created “empiricism” and inspired the scientific revolution. Born on January 22, 1561 in Strand,
Francesco Redi was an Italian scientist, physician, academician and poet. He was the first person to prove that spontaneous generation did not cause the growth of maggots in decaying meat, but they appeared from eggs deposited by flies.Born in Arezzo, Central Italy in 1626, Francesco Redi received a Jesuit education. He acquired a degree in
Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian man, and a physicist by occupation, initially studied at Jesuit schools in Faenza, near Ravenna. He was so good as a Physicist and a Mathematician that he was sent to Rome for further studies under Benedetto Castelli’s direction. Torricelli was introduced to Galileo by Benedetto Castelli and there Torricelli spent his
The famous Greek scientist and mathematician Euclid (300 BC) is best known as the author of the Elements, the oldest book consisting of geometrical theorems which is considered to be a standard for logical exposition. Not much is known aobut Euclid personally. There have been speculations whether he was a creative mathematician himself or merely
Erwin Schrodinger bequeathed to scientific posterity the foundations of the study of wave mechanics, crucial to understanding the behaviour of subatomic particles and light. Many students are familiar (sometimes frustratingly so) with the mind experiment known as Schrödinger’s Cat. Few, however, know the surprising bio-sketch facts of this highly individual man’s life. The Austrian-born pioneer
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger, more commonly known as Erwin Schrödinger, was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist. One of the founders of quantum mechanics, he is known for the Schrödinger equation and his brilliant contributions to the wave theory of matter. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Paul Dirac in 1933. Erwin
German inventor and industrialist of the 19th century, Werner von Siemens was the pioneer of the electro industry and brought about a great technological advancement with many of his important discoveries. He earned a prominent position among the multitude of awards for achievements in science and technology. Ernst Werner von Siemens was born at Lenthe,
Ernst Walter Mayr, more commonly known as Ernst Mayr, was a German-born American who made decisive and groundbreaking contributions to avian taxonomy, evolution and population genetics. Widely credited as the world’s greatest evolutionary biologist in history, Mayr was fondly called the “Darwin of the 20th century”. Born in Kempten, Germany on July 5, 1904, to
Ernst Mach was a physicist. He was involved in the description and photographs of spark shock-waves. Later on, he was involved in ballistic shock-waves. He described the passing of sound through a barrier caused by the compression of air in front of bullets and shells. He used “schlierenmethode” along with his son to photograph the
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (February 16, 1834-1919) was a philosopher, professor, physician, naturalist, biologist and artist.After receiving a degree in medicine in 1857, Haeckel obtained a doctorate in zoology from the University of Jena and taught zoology there. Haeckel’s contributions to zoological science were a mixture of sound research and assumptions often with insufficient
The British physicist and chemist, Ernest Rutherford is known for his remarkable orbital theory of the atom in his discovery of Rutherford dispersion with his famous Gold Foil experiment. He is also known as the “father of nuclear physics”. He was honoured with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 for his exploration into the
Enrico Fermi, an Italian physicist, is well-known for his achievements in both theoretical and experimental physics. This is an exceptional achievement in a period where scientific accomplishments have focused on one aspect or the other. He is mainly remembered for his work on the advancement of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to