list of scientists - their discoveries

Archimedes

It is perhaps fitting that Archimedes should lead the lineup of great inventors, even in an alphabetical fashion. Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer and an inventor, producing his best work in the 3rd century BC. His contributions have been invaluable in several fields, but there are some inventions which have made him a cult icon. Some of his famous inventions include the Archimedean Screw, which was developed in order to remove flooded water from ships. It included a large screw fitted inside a cylinder. As the screw was turned, water progressively rose into the subsequent grooves, ultimately gushing out at the open end. The Archimedean screw was turned by hand and could also be used to transfer water from a low-lying body of water into an irrigation canal. Till date, the Archimedean screw (or its fundamental principle) is used in pumps. Archimedes is also famous for the (possibly apocryphal) anecdote of his discovery of the Archimedes' Principle upon entering the bathtub and rushing out naked in the joy of having found a solution.

Edwin H. Armstrong

A groundbreaking researcher and inventor in the field of radio, Edwin Howard Armstrong invented the FM transmission. The FM radio has, to a majority of people, become as important a tool in having a cheerful morning as a bath or a cup of coffee. Edwin Armstrong is the one we have to thank for that.

John Vincent Atanasoff

Atanasoff is credited with inventing perhaps the most ubiquitous device in the modern world -- the digital computer. The 'computer' built by Atanasoff was only designed to be used for 'computing', rather than in the form of the entertainment hubs of today. However, it would be a grave folly to underestimate its importance, considering the indispensable place it has gone on to command in all of our lives.

Charles Babbage

Atanasoff may have invented the digital computer, but the computer, per se, was invented by the English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer Charles Babbage. He came up with the concept of a programmable computer and is said to have invented the first mechanical computer in the 19th century.

Alexander Graham Bell

The telephone, a fairly vital device in modern times, was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Bell's wife and mother were deaf, inspiring him to perform extensive research into elocution and speech for the deaf. This research ultimately led to the invention of the world's first telephone.

Karl Benz

Although the rising gasoline prices might seem like a nightmare now, you have to admit that a life without cars would have been pretty boring. And slow! Well, thank god for Karl Friedrich Benz, the German engine designer and automobile engineer who invented the gasoline-powered automobile.

Laszlo Biro

Laszlo Biro was the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen. The ballpoints were much more efficient than the prevalent ink pens, and stained much less. Ballpoint pens are known as biro in many English-speaking countries after its inventor (despite it being a registered trademark and legally necessitating its usage with a capital 'B').

Clarence Birdseye

Remember all those times when you are just too tired to cook after you have slogged through your job in the day? Isn't frozen food a lifesaver at times like these? You need to thank Clarence Frank Birdseye II, the American inventor who is considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry.

Nils Bohlin

Seat belts are nowadays considered a basic preventive device, and are fitted in cars by default. It started with Nils Bohlin inventing the three-point safety belts. Bohlin, who was a versatile engineer, was also responsible for the development of the ejector seat in airplanes.

Louis Braille

Louis Braille was the inventor of the eponymous Braille script. Braille, who was blind himself, developed the first draft of the script in 1824; it was perfected around 1940. The Braille script has proved to be an invaluable means of communication and comprehension for the blind.

John Browning

John Browning was the inventor of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms and has as many as 128 gun patents to his name. Browning was a pioneering late-19th century designer, and brought about several important changes in the existing design of firearms. Chief among these was the telescoping bolt, a system which facilitated a reduction in the length of rifles, thus making them easier to point and handle. The telescopic bolt has been used ever since, with minimal modification.

George W. Carver

Carver was born in slavery in or around 1864, and was raised by his master Moses Carver and his wife, both of whom were opposed to slavery. Carver worked towards eliminating the monopoly of cotton in Southern US plantations by introducing alternate crops which would replenish the soil while providing nutrition to the laborers themselves. Primary among the crops he promoted were peanuts, which he researched upon extensively and modified to create several products, such as peanut butter, dyes, paints and cosmetics. Carver is sometimes credited as the 'father of chemurgy' (an applied science of modifying and manipulating agricultural raw products to create industrial products), due to the vast number of products he was able to produce from previously ignored crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes and soya beans.

Sir Henry Cole

Henry Cole, who was an English civil servant, is credited with the invention and popularization of commercial Christmas cards. He was knighted in 1875 for his stellar contribution in organizing and expanding the 'Great Exhibitions', which would become a hallmark feature of the 19th century. One of his first Christmas cards (1843) fetched GBP 22,500 in a 2001 auction! Perhaps he should be called Santa Cole, then!

Bartolomeo Cristofori

Bartolomeo Cristofori was an Italian maker of musical instruments. He is generally regarded as the inventor of the piano. However, any musical instrument has to undergo several modifications in order for it to reach its final form. Thus, Cristofori's claim as the sole inventor can be refuted, although he definitely had the most prominent role in the development of the instrument.

William K. Dickson 

William Kennedy Laurie Dickson was an Anglo-Scottish inventor who created an early motion picture camera, while under the employment of Thomas Edison. He also invented the first practical celluloid film, and set the standard for its size by going for a 35 mm configuration, which is practiced even to this day.

Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor who is known for his invention of the diesel engine. The fuel, which is much more efficient than petrol, was named after him. Diesel's death was controversial; he disappeared aboard a steamer and was identified days later, on the strength of his personal belongings having been found on a corpse.

George Eastman

George Eastman was the man who invented the roll film, which was not only a great boost for the art of photography, but also became the basis for the invention of motion picture films. Eastman founded Kodak, a popular photographic equipment company even to this day, in 1889.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison is best known as the inventor of the light bulb and the widespread commercialization of electricity, but he was also the man behind the phonograph, and the development of the video camera. Edison is the fourth most prolific inventor in history, and holds more than 2300 patents worldwide, almost 1100 of them American.

Willem Einthoven

Willem Einthoven was a Dutch doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiogram, also known as ECG.

Douglas Engelbart

Having already written about the inventors of computers, here comes the inventor of the mouse. Dr. Douglas Engelbart is well-known for his research in user-computer interactions, culminating in the invention of the mouse.

Michael Faraday

Faraday is known for his invention of the Faraday rotator and the Faraday cage. Faraday also discovered the laws of electrolysis and popularized terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion, terms largely created by William Whewell.

Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming is popular for his discovery of the antibiotic Penicillin from the fungus Penicillium rubens (the particular fungus is also thought to be P. notatum or P. chrysogenum) in the year 1928. He also discovered lysozymes in 1922.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is famous for inventing the lightning rod and the accompanying anecdote of him having flown a kite in a storm in order to prove his hypothesis. He also invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and also a musical instrument known as glass armonica. Franklin was a noted polymath, and was a central figure in early American politics; he was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

William Friese-Greene 

William Friese-Greene is known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures and also known as the inventor of cinematography.

Dennis Gabor

Dennis Gabor was a Hungarian electrical engineer who invented holography. Holography is the technique used primarily to create commercially used holograms. It is a technique of capturing visual input (laser). However, in contrast to photographs, which only capture the light coming towards a specific direction, holographs capture the light scattered towards all directions, thus showing different layers of the image at different viewing angles.

Bette Nesmith Graham

Bette Nesmith Graham was the inventor of Liquid Paper, which is the brand name of opaque correction fluid used to cover up mistakes on paper without retyping the entire sheet. It was invented by Graham to mask the numerous typing mistakes made by herself and her colleagues, but has now developed to become the primary handwriting correction fluid.

Johann Gutenberg

Johann Gutenberg is known as the man who was the first European to use movable type printing, in around 1439. But more importantly, he was the one who invented mechanical printing. Mechanical printing facilitated a much faster and wider distribution of written text, since it could be done in an infinitesimal time compared to reproducing the manuscript by hand. The Holy Bible was the first book thus printed.

Elias Howe

Elias Howe was an American inventor who pioneered the sewing machine. Sewing machines had been formulated and built -- albeit on a small scale -- before Howe, but Howe's design was the first to incorporate a lockstitch mechanism. The lockstitch mechanism provided a much stronger stitch than existing designs.

Whitcomb L. Judson

Whitcomb L. Judson was an American inventor who developed and marketed the forerunner of the modern zipper in 1893. It was called the clasp-locker. Elias Howe had created the original design of the clasp locker, but didn't carry on with the idea. Judson used the basic idea of Howe's patented design, while making some useful modifications of his own.

John Kellogg

Cornflakes are one of the most popular morning snacks all over the world. These crunchy delights were invented around 1900. John Kellogg invented cornflakes, with help from his brother Will Kellogg. Although his views on holistic health were controversial and would almost certainly be rejected in modern times on grounds of humanity, it can't be doubted that at least one of his inventions has gone on to become a universal favorite.

Rene Laennec

One of the most important inventions in the medical field is the stethoscope. Rene Laennec was a physician who invented the stethoscope. Before the invention of the stethoscope, physicians used to listen to the heartbeats of a patient by directly pressing their ears against the patient's chest. Laennec was once consulted by an obese patient, and couldn't discern the distinct pattern of heartbeats because of the extreme fatness. Thus, he made a crude early stethoscope by rolling up a newspaper and applying the tube to the patient's chest. Seeing that he could hear the heartbeats much clearer in this fashion, he designed and created the first stethoscope.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope. He created over 400 different types of microscopes, and also pioneered research in lenses. His research and work in creating microscopes founded the field of microbiology, earning him the title 'the father of microbiology'.

Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor who invented the radiotelegraph system in 1895. Although Marconi is generally given the credit for inventing the radio, Heinrich Hertz had validated the underlying principle in 1888 (Hertz passed away in 1894), and Jagadish Chandra Bose had demonstrated the practical use of radio waves a year before Marconi's invention.

Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev known popularly as 'the father of the periodic table of the elements' he created the first version of the periodic table of elements. Although Mendeleev's periodic table was largely incomplete, he deliberately left 'blanks' in the progression, predicting (often correctly) the properties of the absent elements.

Robert Moog

Dr. Robert Arthur Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer. The Moog synthesizer was highly popular from the late 1960s to the 80s. The electrical design used by Moog was later used in numerous other synthesizers.

Samuel Morse

Samuel Morse invented the single wire telegraph system, and co-invented the Morse code, which is named after him. Morse was also an accomplished painter. He was a well-known anti-Catholic, to the extent of not taking his hat off when meeting the Pope on a visit to Rome. He was also a vocal proponent of slavery (although this should be viewed in the light of it being the socially accepted custom at the time).

James Naismith

James Naismith invented the massively popular sport of basketball in 1891 and is also credited with inventing the first football helmet. Basketball was admitted into the 1936 Olympics, just three years before Naismith's death. For his pioneering contributions to basketball, he was posthumously included in the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, among others.

Nicephore Niepce

Nicephore Niepce was a French inventor, who is known as the inventor of modern photography. After realizing that he did not have a steady hand required to trace the images created by the camera obscura (a rudimentary early version of the camera), Niepce created a camera with bitumen. This required several hours of exposure for an image to be created, but paved the way for future developments in cameras and photography.Niepce is also credited with inventing the world's first internal combustion engine, patented in 1807.

Les Paul

Lovers of Rock and Roll should know that Les Paul is the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, without which the modern music scene would have taken a drastically different turn. In addition to the invention of the vital instrument, Paul influenced Rock and Roll by promoting already invented (but unpopular) techniques in recording, and delay effects. He also introduced new fretting and chording techniques that are followed by many modern guitarists.

John Pemberton

Can't live without your daily can of cola? Ever wondered who invented it? An American pharmacist called John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola. Although the present form of Coca-Cola (along with other aerated drinks) has generated negative criticism for its adverse health effects, Pemberton's original formula was marketed as a brain tonic and a cure for headaches.

James L. Plimpton

James Leonard Plimpton was an American inventor whom every skater should thank. He is the man who invented and patented roller skates in 1863. He strove to promote skating, and opened some of the earliest skating rinks in the US.

Charles Richter

Charles Richter is the co-inventor (along with Beno Gutenberg, although the sole use of Richter's name is now practically standard) of the Richter magnitude scale, which is used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes, although it is no longer the primary method. Richter had a keen interest in seismology (the study of earthquakes and the waves generated by them) since childhood.

Wilhelm C. Rontgen

Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen won the 1901 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of X-rays, a vital tool in diagnostics. X-rays were viewed suspiciously and even considered evil by the masses, and Rontgen had to demonstrate the technology on himself -- due to a lack of volunteers -- on numerous occasions. This resulted in a tragic death, having contracted intestinal cancer from overexposure to X-rays.

Erno Rubik

Erno Rubik is a Hungarian inventor, sculptor and professor of architecture, who invented several popular mechanical puzzles such as Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic and Rubik's Snake. He was born during the Second World War -- 1944 -- in Hungary. Despite being the inventor of the toy, he rarely attends 'speedcubing' meets, and is known to be an introvert.

Adolphe Sax

As can be deduced from the name, Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone. The name of the famous jazz instrument literally means 'the voice of Sax'. Sax himself was an accomplished flutist and clarinetist, and his keen passion for musical instruments, coupled with musical training, led him to create an instrument that has gone on to become as important as any.

Igor Sikorsky

Igor Sikorsky was a Russian-American aviator and designer, who invented and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft. He developed the first flying boats of the Pan American Airways fleet in the 1930s. He also developed the now-standard rotor configuration in helicopters, with the VS-300, and went on to produce the first mass-produced helicopter, the Sikorsky R-4.

Levi Strauss

All fashion gurus will agree that a pair of blue jeans is a must-have! Well, kudos to the man who invented it, Levi Strauss. Strauss received a patent for the denim work trousers in 1873, the same year he founded the oldest jeans company in the world -- Levi Strauss & Co.

Edward Teller

Edward Teller was the inventor of the hydrogen bomb, despite often being called 'the father of the hydrogen bomb', Teller himself didn't appreciate the epithet. Teller was a part of the Manhattan Project, where he first proposed fusion-based weapons. However, his plans, which were inherently more complicated, difficult to execute and time-consuming, were postponed to be pursued after the War. It was designed and tested in the early 1950s. Edward Teller was an advocate of nuclear energy, including weapons, polarizing opinions about him.

John Venn

Venn was a keen walker and mountain climber and a proficient amateur linguist.
Venn diagrams may be boring to learn, but the system put in place by John Venn is helpful in numerous fields, such as logic and set theory. 

Leonardo da Vinci

Da Vinci is popular particularly for the Mona Lisa, and the prominent role he holds in the bestselling fiction The Da Vinci Code. He was a stunning polymath, and a prolific inventor. He designed several military and civil devices, including flying machines similar to hang gliders and helicopters, in the 16th century -- more than 300 years before the first flight by the Wright brothers. Many of his designs have been constructed by enthusiastic amateurs, including the fictional Jacques Sauniere in The Da Vinci Code.

Alessandro Volta

Alessandro Volta is known for the invention of the first electric cell in 1800. Although the cell was very inefficient and slightly dangerous (especially if the need arose for transportation) due to the inclusion of sulfuric acid, it opened up a direction very few had previously even considered. The unit of measurement for electric potential, volts, is named in honor of Alessandro Volta.

James Watt

James Watt is the man who improved upon the steam engine, and invented a much more efficient version of the same. Although Watt didn't invent the steam engine -- that honor goes to Thomas Newcomen -- his inventions and modifications helped the steam engine become a central figure in the subsequent Industrial Revolution.

Charles Wheatstone

Charles Wheatstone is accredited for his invention of the English concertina (a musical instrument similar to an accordion), the stereoscope (which is a device for displaying three-dimensional images) and the Playfair cipher (which is an encryption technique).

Eli Whitney

Eli Whitney is the inventor of the cotton gin. The gin sped up the production (processing) of cotton by several degrees, since it had to be done by hand prior to Whitney's invention. Whitney had to commit considerable finance to lawsuits over patent infringements, and ended up producing arms for the US government.

Paul Winchell

Paul Winchell is the man who built and patented the first mechanical heart. Winchell donated the artificial heart to the University of Utah, which had invented a similar contraption around the same time as Winchell, and requested the donation. Winchell, who was a ventriloquist and comedian by profession, also holds the patents for the disposable razor, blood plasma defroster etc.

The Wright Brothers

The famous Wright Brothers -- Orville and Wilbur -- are credited with making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, in an airplane that they had designed themselves. They developed the aircraft in collaboration with Charlie Taylor, a mechanic. The trio incorporated many innovative and common practices in engine mechanics, such as using an aluminum casing to reduce the weight, and a rudimentary version of fuel injection, without carburetors or fuel pumps.

Arthur Wynne

The next time you get that satisfaction of having solved the newspaper crossword puzzle, thank Arthur Wynne, the inventor of the same. Working for the New York World, Wynne improved upon the existing designs of word puzzles, adding the common elements of 'black squares', and the rectangular (usually square) structure of the puzzle.

Women scientists

Anita Roberts 
She was a molecular biologist who was instrumental in the discovery of the protein TGF-beta. This protein has the potential of playing a dual role of blocking as well as stimulating cancer and it helps in the healing of wounds and fractures. Anita Roberts is 'one of the most-cited scientists in the world'.

Annie Easley
She is an African-American computer scientist who worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lewis Research Center. She was a part of the team that developed the software for the Centaur rocket stage. 

Barbara McClintock
She was an American scientist who won the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983. She led the development of the maize cytogenetics and studied the changes that the chromosomes in maize undergo during the process of reproduction. She discovered the process of transposition and used it to demonstrate how genes are associated with the presence or absence of certain physical characteristics in human beings. She is 'one of the most famous cytogeneticists of the world'.

Christiane Nusslein-Volhard
She is a German biologist who conducted a successful research in mutagenesis to demonstrate the embryonic development in fruit flies. For her research on the genetic control of embryonic development, she won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995.

Diane Fossey
She was an American zoologist who completed an extensive study of eight gorilla groups by closely observing their lives in the mountain forests of Rwanda. Her work was similar to Jane Goodall's research on chimpanzees.

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
She was a British chemist who worked in the field of protein crystallography. She was instrumental in determining the structure of penicillin and vitamin B12. This work earned her a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She also discovered the chemical composition of insulin. Passionate and peace-loving by nature, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin is 'one of the most notable scientists in the field of X-ray crystallography'. 

Grace Hopper
She was a computer scientist and a naval officer of the United States. She developed the first compiler for a computer programming language. She pioneered the idea of writing computer programs in a language close to English. She was instrumental in the establishment of testing standards for computer systems and components. She made an excellent naval career while also making valuable contributions to the computer technology. 

Gertrude B. Elion
She is a notable American biochemist and pharmacologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She is attributed with the discovery many drugs, the most significant one being the AIDS drug, AZT. She received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 followed by the National Medal of Science in 1991 and the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. She was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame and was the first woman to receive this honor.

Gerty Theresa Cori
She was an American biochemist and the proud winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which she shared with her husband. The Cori couple was awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery of glycogen.

Helen Flanders Dunbar
She has made a valuable contribution to psychosomatic medicine and psychobiology. 

Henrietta Swan Leavitt
She was an American astronomer who began working at the Harvard College Observatory as a woman 'computer' to record the brightness of stars. She was among the first ones to note that variable stars followed a pattern. She deduced that the brighter ones have longer periods. This relationship derived by her proved helpful for measuring distances in the Universe. It was due to her research that we realized that many galaxies are outside the Milky Way. The Leavitt crater on the Moon was named in her honor. She continues to be 'one of the most notable figures in astronomy and physics'.

Irene Joliot-Curie
She was a French scientist who started as a teacher of laboratory techniques for radiochemical research to Frederic Joliot, who later became her husband. Their joint accomplishment of the discovery of artificial radioactivity earned them a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Jane Goodall
She is an English UN Messenger of Peace as also an anthropologist who is renowned for her study of the chimpanzees. She spent long years in studying the social and family interactions between chimpanzees and went on to found the Jane Goodall Institute.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell
She is an astrophysicist who discovered the first radio pulsars. This accomplishment earned her a Nobel Prize.

Linda B. Buck
She is an American biologist who has made a noteworthy contribution to the research on olfactory system. In 2004, she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Lise Meitner
Lise Meitner was a Swedish physicist born in Austria,who worked in the fields of radioactivity and nuclear physics. She was a part of the team that discovered nuclear fission and was 'one of the potential winners of the Nobel Prize'.

Marie Curie
 Marie Curie was raised in Poland and a citizen of France, was a physicist and chemist and the only person to receive Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. She served the University of Paris as a professor and became the first woman to do so. She is credited with the creation of the theory of radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium.

Maria Goeppert Mayer
She was a German-born American physicist and the winner of the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics. She was the second woman scientist receiving a Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie. She received the Nobel Prize for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus.

Rachel Zimmerman
At a very young age, she came up with a software that made it possible to use Blissymbols that enable those with severe physical disabilities to communicate. She designed a printer that could translate symbols into the written language.

Rita Levi-Montalcini
For her discovery of the nerve growth factor, she received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986. This Italian neurologist, aged 99, is the oldest living Nobel Prize winner.

Rosalind Franklin
She was an English biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who contributed to understanding the compositions of DNA and viruses. She also contributed to understanding the structures of graphite and coal. Her most noteworthy work is that on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA.