# Famous Scientists

By on March 22nd, 2012

Here’s list of some famous scientists. Deliberately short, with the aim to provide a quick memory jog or overview. If your looking for more detailed information, Google and Wikipedia have tons of it.

 Albert Einstein 1879-1955 German-born theoretical physicist who formulated the special and general theories of relativity.  Famous mass equivalence formulae of E=mc2.  Awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics. Alessandro Volta  1745-1827 Italian physicist best known for the development of the voltaic pile (battery).  SI unit of voltage, the volt is named after him. Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 Scottish scientist and inventor.  Famous for his work on the telephone. André Marie Ampère 1775-1836 French physicist who worked on electromagnetism.  The SI unit of current, the ampere is named after him. Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790 Founding Fathers of the United States, author, politician, printer, scientist, philosopher, publisher, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. Invented the lightning rod and the famous kite experiment. Charles Augustin de Coulomb 1736-1806 French physicist who pioneered research into friction and viscosity, the distribution of charge on surfaces and the laws of electrical and magnetic force.The SI unit of charge, the coulomb and Coulomb's law are named after him. Charles Babbage 1791-1871 English mathematician, philosopher, mechanical engineer and computer scientist.  Originated the idea of a programmable computer. Charles Proteus Steinmetz 1865-1923 American Mathematician and Electrical Engineer.  Instrumental in developing theories of alternating current t and hysteresis. Claude Elwood Shannon 1916-2001 American electrical engineer and mathematician.  Founder of practical digital circuit design theory Enrico Fermi 1901-1954 Italian physicist noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor. Awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity. Frederick Winslow Taylor 1856-1915 American engineer who worked on improving efficiency, specifically in steel production. Georg Simon Ohm 1789-1854 German physicist having influence on the development of electrical theory, specifically Ohm’s Law.  SI unit of resistance, the ohm is named after him. George Westinghouse 1846-1914 American entrepreneur and engineer and founder of the Westinghouse company.  Awarded the AIEE's Edison Medal ' in 1911 for achievement in connection with the alternating current system. Guglielmo Marconi 1874-1937 Italian inventor known for his development of a practical radiotelegraph system. Shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun. Gustav Robert Kirchhoff 1824-1887 German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits.  Famous for his two laws of circuit theory. Hans Christian Oersted 1777-1851 Danish physicist and chemist.  Known for discovering the relationship between electricity and magnetism (electromagnetism). Harry Nyquist 1889-1976 Swedish engineer who carried out work on information theory,  thermal noise ("Johnson-Nyquist noise") and the stability of feedback amplifiers. Hendrik Wade Bode 1905-982 Pioneer of modern control theory.  Widely known for developing the asymptotic magnitude and phase plot that bears his name. Heinrich Hertz 1857-1894 German physicist who demonstrate the existence of electromagnetic waves.  SI Unit of frequency, Hertz  is named after Him. Isaac Newton (Sir) 1643-1727 English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, and natural philosopher. Three laws of motion and the groundwork for classical mechanics.  Regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. Jack S. Kilby 1923-June American electrical engineer who co-won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000.  Inventor of the integrated circuit. James Clerk Maxwell 1831-1879 Scottish mathematical physicist.  Formulated a set of equations on the basic laws of electricity and magnetism, called Maxwell's equations. James Prescott Joule 1818-1889 English physicist who studied the heat, mechanical work and energy.  Discovered the relation between current through a resistance and heat dissipated, now called Joule's law. SI unit of work, the joule is named after him James Watt 1736-1819 Scottish inventor and engineer.  Implemented improvements to the steam engine which were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution. Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier 1768- 1830 French mathematician and physicist.  Known for the Fourier series.  The Fourier transform is also named in his honor. Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss 1777-1855 German mathematician and scientist. Contributed to number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy and optics.  Known as "the prince of mathematicians" and "greatest mathematician since antiquity". Johann Christian Andreas Doppler 1803-1853 Austrian mathematician and physicist.  Famous development of the Doppler effect. Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet 1805-1859 German mathematician credited with the modern "formal" definition of a function. John Ambrose Fleming (Sir) 1849–1945 English electrical engineer and physicist. Invented the first vacuum tube and diode. Famous for the left hand rule (for electric motors). John von Neumann 1903-1957n Hungarian-born mathematician.  Many contributions to quantum physics and mathematics. Pioneer of the modern digital computer von Neumann algebra. Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 Italian mathematician, ,architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor,  musician, and painter. Famous for his paintings of the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.  Conceptually invented a helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and many others. Leonhard Euler 1707- 1783 Swiss mathematician and physicist.  Considered to he preeminent mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greatest of all time Ludwig Boltzmann 1844-1906 Austrian physicist famous for his contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck 1858-1947 German physicist.Considered the founder of quantum theory. Michael Faraday 1791-1867 English chemist and physicist.  One of the best best experimentalist in the history of science, he is commonly regarded as the father of electrical engineering.  SI unit of capacitance, the farad,  Faraday constant and  Faraday's law of induction are named after him. Niels Bohr  1885-1962 Danish physicist.  Made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics. Nikola Tesla 1856-1943 Serb-American inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer. Significant contribution to alternating current, magnetism, polyphase power and the ac motor.  SI unit measuring magnetic flux density, the tesla, is named after him. Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac  1902-1984 British theoretical physicist .  Founder of the field of quantum physics and formulated the  “Dirac equation”.  Shared the Nobel Prize in physics for 1933 with Erwin Schrödinger. Pierre-Simon Laplace 1749-1827 French mathematician and astronomer.  Discoverer of Laplace's equation and the Laplace transform is named in honor Robert N. Noyce  1927- 1990 Nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.  Awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1978 " for contributions to the silicon integrated circuit. Samuel F. B. Morse 1791-1872 American inventor of the Morse Code. Satyendra Nath Bose  1894-1974 Indian physicist, best known for his work on quantum mechanics. He is honored with the naming of the boson. Simeon Denis Poisson 1781-1840 French mathematician and physicist. Thomas Alva Edison 1847-1931 Prolific American inventor, with over 1,000 patents. Most famous for the development of the practical incandescent light bulb. Other notable achievements include the phonograph and advancements on the utility distribution and the motion picture industries. Vladimir Zworykin 1889-1982 A pioneer of television technology. Wilhelm Eduard Weber 1804-1891 German physicist who made significant contributions to wave theory, and electromagnetism. SI unit of magnetic flux, the weber, is named after him. William B. Shockley 1910-1989 British physicist and inventor who co-invented the transistor.  Awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics. William D Coolidge 1873- 1975 American physicist contributing to the development tungsten as filaments and the Coolidge tube. William R. Hewlett 1913-2001 American engineer and co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP).

If there are any scientists you would like added to the list, just mention them in the comments.

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Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

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#### View 4 Comments (old system)

1. Peter says:
5/11/2012 8:13 AM

John Fleming - left and right hand rules.

• Steven says:
5/11/2012 8:13 AM

Thanks. I've added him to the post.

2. Anonymous says:
5/11/2012 8:14 AM

Thomas Edison?! Light Bulb

• Steven says:
5/11/2012 8:14 AM

Hard to imagine how I managed to leave Edison of the list. Anyhow the oversight has been corrected and he's now on the list.

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