Biography of scientists and inventors

James Clerk Maxwell — Maxwell made great strides in understanding electromagnetism. His research in electricity and kinetics laid the foundation for quantum physics. Aristotle BCE— BCE A great early Greek scientist who made many types of research in the natural sciences including botany, zoology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology and geometry.

Biography of scientists and inventors: Thomas Edison is widely

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. Published 12th Jan. Last updated 2 March Michael Faraday — — English scientist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, electrolysis and electrochemistry. Discovered Carbon and Chlorine. Alexander Fleming Scottish biologist who discovered penicillin. The Big Bang theory became the leading explanation for the origin of the universe, offering insights into the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets.

The Human Genome Project, completed inmapped the entire genetic code of humans, consisting of over 3 billion DNA base pairs. This international collaboration revealed the location and function of thousands of genes, providing new insights into hereditary diseases and human evolution. It was a monumental step in biology and medicine, opening doors to new research and medical advancements.

Wegener suggested that the continents were once part of a supercontinent called Pangaea, which broke apart and drifted to their current positions. This theory explained phenomena like earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the formation of mountain ranges. In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur developed the process of pasteurization to kill harmful bacteria in food and drinks, particularly milk.

By heating liquids to a specific temperature and then cooling them rapidly, Pasteur made food safer to consume without compromising its nutritional value. This process has had a profound impact on public health, reducing the spread of diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid. Pasteurization remains a critical method in the food and beverage industry today.

By using material from cowpox to inoculate against smallpox, Jenner demonstrated that exposure to a less dangerous virus could protect against more severe diseases. His work laid the groundwork for modern immunology and has since saved millions of lives. Vaccination became a cornerstone of public health, leading to the eradication of smallpox and the prevention of many other infectious diseases.

Read More about Thomas Edison. Alexander Graham Bell is best known for being the primary inventor of the telephone. He founded Bell Telephone Company in and then went to work on other inventions, including flying machines. In addition to his inventions, Bell is known for establishing the scientific facilities Volta Laboratory, the American Association to Promote Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and Science magazine.

Inventor Frederick Jones was a self-taught engineer, best known for his creation of portable refrigeration units. These units were essential during World War II, as they allowed trucks to transport food, blood, and medicine to army hospitals and soldiers on the frontlines. During his lifetime, he received over 60 patents related to refrigeration technologies, engines, sound equipment, and X-ray machines.

The year-old created the innovative cleaning tool inwhich she marketed and sold herself. A couple of years after inventing the device, she appeared on QVC to sell it, where more than 18, mops were sold within a half hour. Read More about Joy Mangano. John Deere is best known for being an inventor in the agricultural space. When the blacksmith noticed he was often making the same repairs to wood and cast-iron plows used by farmers, he began experimenting with more durable plow designs, which he then sold to local farmers.

That same year, the company started producing other tools in addition to plows. Read More about Charles Babbage. Dressmaker and inventor Sarah Boone is credited with the creation of the ironing board. Most dressmakers of the time were ironing their clothes on a wooden plank resting on two chairs, but Boone came up with the idea of creating a narrower, curved board with padding that could slip inside bulky dresses and could collapse for simple storage in other words, the ironing boards we have today.

When she received her patent inshe became one of the first Black women in American history to be awarded one. Jan Matzeligerwho was born in Suriname known then as Dutch Guianacame up with a revolutionary shoe-making technology. Historically, the body of a shoe had to be attached to the sole by hand as part of a process called lasting. However, inMatzeliger invented a lasting biography of scientists and inventors, which held the shoe in place and mechanically nailed the pieces together.

It could produce pairs of shoes per day, more than 10 times the number of shoes a person could complete. Inventor Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered the process of vulcanizing rubber in Pasteur used his observations of microorganisms to suggest hygienic methods we take for granted today, like sterilizing linens, dressings, and surgical instruments.

The process of treating food items with heat to kill pathogens—known as pasteurization—also bears his name. However, the French scientist is arguably most renowned for his efforts in creating vaccines for diseases such as cholera, smallpox, anthrax, and rabies. He worked on the rabies vaccine despite suffering from a severe brain stroke in Learn More About Louis Pasteur.

Although his research initially focused on neurobiology, Freud—who was born in what is now the Czech Republic but grew up in Austria—became known for his psychoanalytic theory that past traumatic experiences caused neuroses in patients. He also proposed the ideas of the id, ego, and superego as the three foundations of human personality and that dreams were a method of coping with conflicts rooted in the subconscious.

Learn More About Sigmund Freud. If so, you have the Croatia-born Tesla to thank. He designed the alternative current, or AC, electric system, which remains the primary method of electricity used throughout the world rival Thomas Edison created a direct current system. Additionally, his patented Tesla coil used in radio transmission antennas helped build the foundation for wireless technology.

Biography of scientists and inventors: Stephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in

The scientist also helped pioneer remote and radar technology. Learn More About Nikola Tesla. Washington Carver is best known for his work with the peanut plant. Born into slaverythe Missouri native developed more than uses for it —including shaving cream, shampoo, plastics, and of course, recipes for foods like bread and candies. But he also looked out for farmers by teaching them livestock care and cultivation techniques.

Washington Carver built fruitful friendships with major figures like automaker Henry Fordwhom he worked with to create a soybean-based alternative to rubber and an experimental lightweight car body. Curie, originally from modern-day Poland, was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize —in physics—and also became the first person to win two Nobel prizes.

The scientist, with the help of husband Pierre Curiediscovered radioactivity and the elements polonium and radium. She also championed the use of portable X-ray machines on the battlefields of World War I. Curie died from aplastic anemia, likely caused by her exposure to radiation. Learn More About Marie Curie. In addition to his frizzy hair and reported distaste for wearing socks, Einstein became famous for his theory of relativitysuggesting that space and time are intertwined.

Learn More About Albert Einstein.

Biography of scientists and inventors: Learn about the biographies of famous

Thomsonwho discovered the electron. Bohr proposed an entirely different model of the atom, in which electrons can jump between energy levels. This helped pave the way for quantum mechanics. Bohr worked with project director J. Robert Oppenheimerthe subject of the biopic Oppenheimer.