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Occupation: Physicist

LISTS

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
Cleveland Abbe
Physicist
3-Dec-1838 28-Oct-1916 America's first weatherman
Charles Greeley Abbot
Astronomer
31-May-1872 17-Dec-1973 Solar energy
Alexei A. Abrikosov
Physicist
25-Jun-1928   Particle physicist, explored superconductivity
Robert Adler
Physicist
4-Dec-1913 15-Feb-2007 Invented wireless remote control
Howard Aiken
Physicist
8-Mar-1900 14-Mar-1973 Designer of early computers
Hannes Alfvén
Physicist
30-May-1908 2-Apr-1995 Renegade Swedish astrophysicist
David Alter
Inventor
3-Dec-1807 18-Sep-1881 Almost discovered spectroscopy
Luis W. Alvarez
Physicist
13-Jun-1911 1-Sep-1988 Particle accelerator, extinction of dinosaurs
Guillaume Amontons
Physicist
31-Aug-1663 11-Oct-1705 Thermometrist
André-Marie Ampère
Physicist
22-Jan-1775 10-Jun-1836 Explored electromagnetism
Carl David Anderson
Physicist
3-Sep-1905 11-Jan-1991 Discovered the positron, mu-meson
Philip W. Anderson
Physicist
13-Dec-1923   Solid state physics
Anders Jonas Ångström
Physicist
13-Aug-1814 21-Jun-1874 Founder of spectroscopy
Edward Victor Appleton
Physicist
6-Sep-1892 21-Apr-1965 Ionosphere, shortwave radio
François Arago
Physicist
26-Feb-1786 2-Oct-1853 Investigated earth magnetics
Svante Arrhenius
Chemist
19-Feb-1859 2-Oct-1927 Explored electrolytic conductivity
Francis W. Aston
Chemist
1-Sep-1877 20-Nov-1945 Invented the mass spectograph
Pierre Auger
Physicist
14-May-1899 25-Dec-1993 Auger effect
Amedeo Avogadro
Physicist
9-Aug-1776 9-Jul-1856 Avogadro's number
Hertha Ayrton
Physicist
28-Apr-1854 26-Aug-1923 Electric arc
Alexander Dallas Bache
Physicist
19-Jul-1806 17-Feb-1867 First President, National Academy of Sciences
Kenneth Bainbridge
Physicist
27-Jul-1904 14-Jul-1996 Director of the Trinity atomic test
John Bardeen
Physicist
23-May-1908 30-Jan-1991 Co-Inventor of the transistor
Charles Glover Barkla
Physicist
7-Jun-1877 23-Oct-1944 X-ray scattering
Nikolay G. Basov
Physicist
14-Dec-1922 1-Jul-2001 Invention of the maser and laser
David Bates
Astronomer
18-Nov-1916 5-Jan-1994 Atmospheric and interstellar physics
Henri Becquerel
Physicist
15-Dec-1852 25-Aug-1908 Discoverer of radioactivity
J. Georg Bednorz
Physicist
16-May-1950   High-temperature superconductivity
John Stewart Bell
Physicist
28-Jun-1928 1-Oct-1990 Bell's theorem of quantum physics
Gregory Benford
Novelist
30-Jan-1941   Physicist and author of Timescape
Hans Berger
Physicist
21-May-1873 1-Jun-1941 Electroencephalogram
J. D. Bernal
Physicist
10-May-1901 15-Sep-1971 X-ray crystallography
Daniel Bernoulli
Mathematician
8-Feb-1700 27-Mar-1782 Fluid dynamics
Hans Bethe
Physicist
2-Jul-1906 6-Mar-2005 Atomic scientist
Ludwig Biermann
Astronomer
13-Mar-1907 12-Jan-1986 Solar winds
Gerd Binnig
Physicist
20-Jul-1947   Co-Inventor, scanning tunneling microscope
Jean-Baptiste Biot
Physicist
21-Apr-1774 3-Feb-1862 Biot-Savart Law
Patrick M. S. Blackett
Physicist
18-Nov-1897 13-Jul-1974 Cosmic radiation, continental drift
Brebis Bleaney
Physicist
6-Jun-1915 4-Nov-2006 Electron paramagnetic resonance
Felix Bloch
Physicist
23-Oct-1905 10-Sep-1983 Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nicolaas Bloembergen
Physicist
11-Mar-1920   Nonlinear optics
David Bohm
Physicist
20-Dec-1917 29-Oct-1992 Particle physicist
Aage N. Bohr
Physicist
19-Jun-1922 8-Sep-2009 Determined shapes of nuclei
Niels Bohr
Physicist
7-Oct-1885 18-Nov-1962 Father of Quantum Theory
Alec Boksenberg
Astronomer
18-Mar-1936   Image Photon Counting System
John G. Bolton
Astronomer
5-Jun-1922 6-Jul-1993 First Director of Parkes Observatory
Ludwig Boltzmann
Physicist
20-Feb-1844 5-Sep-1906 Atoms and molecules
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli
Doctor
28-Jan-1608 31-Dec-1679 De motu animalium
Max Born
Physicist
11-Dec-1882 5-Jan-1970 Pioneer of quantum mechanics
J. C. Bose
Botanist
30-Nov-1858 23-Nov-1937 Plant physiology
Satyendra Nath Bose
Physicist
1-Jan-1894 4-Feb-1974 Bose-Einstein condensates
Walther Bothe
Physicist
8-Jan-1891 8-Feb-1957 Coincidence method
Edward Bouchet
Physicist
15-Sep-1852 28-Oct-1918 First African-American PhD
Willard S. Boyle
Physicist
19-Aug-1924 7-May-2011 Digital photography
Lawrence Bragg
Physicist
31-Mar-1890 1-Jul-1971 Bragg's Law of diffraction
William Bragg
Physicist
2-Jul-1862 12-Mar-1942 Analyzed crystal structures
Walter H. Brattain
Physicist
10-Feb-1902 13-Oct-1987 Co-Inventor of the transistor
Ferdinand Braun
Physicist
6-Jun-1850 20-Apr-1918 Rectifier effect in semiconductors
Gregory Breit
Physicist
14-Jul-1899 11-Sep-1981 Proton-proton dispersion
Percy Williams Bridgman
Physicist
21-Apr-1882 20-Aug-1961 High-pressure physics
Bertram N. Brockhouse
Physicist
15-Jul-1918 13-Oct-2003 Triple-axis crystal spectrometry
Louis de Broglie
Physicist
15-Aug-1892 19-Mar-1987 Discovered the wave nature of electrons
Maurice de Broglie
Physicist
27-Apr-1875 14-Jul-1960 X-ray spectroscopy
Edward Bullard
Physicist
21-Sep-1907 3-Apr-1980 Continental drift, magnetic fields
E. Margaret Burbidge
Astronomer
12-Aug-1919   Synthesis of the elements in stars
Geoffrey Burbidge
Astronomer
24-Sep-1925 26-Jan-2010 Quasi-steady state cosmology
William W. Campbell
Astronomer
11-Apr-1862 14-Jun-1938 Stellar Motions
Claude R. Canizares
Physicist
1945   Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics
Fritjof Capra
Physicist
1-Feb-1939   The Tao of Physics
Chester Carlson
Inventor
8-Feb-1906 19-Sep-1968 Invented Xerography
Sadi Carnot
Physicist
1-Jun-1796 24-Aug-1832 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Élie Cartan
Mathematician
9-Apr-1869 6-May-1951 Spinor groups
Henry Cavendish
Chemist
10-Oct-1731 24-Feb-1810 Discovered hydrogen
James Chadwick
Physicist
20-Oct-1891 24-Jul-1974 Discovered the neutron
Owen Chamberlain
Physicist
10-Jul-1920 28-Feb-2006 Co-Discoverer of the antiproton
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Astronomer
19-Oct-1910 21-Aug-1995 Evolutionary stages of stars
Sydney Chapman
Mathematician
29-Jan-1888 16-Jun-1970 Geomagnetism
Carl Charlier
Astronomer
1-Apr-1862 5-Nov-1934 Motion and the Distribution of the Stars
Georges Charpak
Physicist
1-Aug-1924 29-Sep-2010 Subatomic particle detectors
Pavel A. Cherenkov
Physicist
15-Jul-1904 6-Jan-1990 Cherenkov radiation
Charles Chree
Astronomer
5-May-1860 12-Aug-1928 Geomagnetic phenomena
Steven Chu
Physicist
28-Feb-1948   US Secretary of Energy
John Clarke
Physicist
10-Feb-1942   Superconducting quantum interference
Rudolf Clausius
Physicist
2-Jan-1822 24-Aug-1888 Second Law of Thermodynamics
William W. Coblentz
Astronomer
20-Nov-1873 15-Sep-1962 Infrared spectroscopy
William Cochran
Physicist
30-Jul-1922 28-Aug-2003 Crystallography
John Cockcroft
Physicist
27-May-1897 18-Sep-1967 Split the atom
Samuel T. Cohen
Physicist
25-Jan-1921 28-Nov-2010 Neutron bomb
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
Physicist
1-Apr-1933   Trapped atoms with laser light
Cadwallader Colden
Physicist
7-Feb-1689 20-Sep-1776 Colonial scientist and statesman
Arthur H. Compton
Physicist
10-Sep-1892 15-Mar-1962 Discovered the Compton Effect
Karl T. Compton
Physicist
15-Sep-1887 22-Jun-1954 Bikini Island atomic tests
Edward Condon
Physicist
2-Mar-1902 26-Mar-1974 Quantum Mechanics
William D. Coolidge
Physicist
23-Oct-1873 4-Feb-1975 Tungsten filaments and Coolidge tubes
Leon N. Cooper
Physicist
28-Feb-1930   BCS Theory of Superconductivity
Allan M. Cormack
Physicist
23-Feb-1924 7-May-1998 Computerized axial tomography (CAT scans)
Eric A. Cornell
Physicist
19-Dec-1961   Atomic physicist, Nobel laureate
Alfred Cornu
Physicist
6-Mar-1841 11-Apr-1902 Optics and spectroscopy
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
Physicist
14-Jun-1736 23-Aug-1806 Coulomb's Law
Clyde Cowan
Physicist
6-Dec-1919 24-May-1974 Co-Discover of the neutrino
George A. Cowan
Physicist
15-Feb-1920 20-Apr-2012 Founder, Santa Fe Institute
James W. Cronin
Physicist
29-Sep-1931   Time not necessarily reversible
Sir William Crookes
Chemist
17-Jun-1832 4-Apr-1919 Discovered element Thallium
Paul J. Crutzen
Physicist
3-Dec-1933   Ozone depletion
Pierre Curie
Physicist
15-May-1859 19-Apr-1906 Early investigator of radiation
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Mathematician
17-Nov-1717 29-Oct-1783 Early work in partial differential equations
Harry K. Daghlian
Physicist
4-May-1921 15-Sep-1945 Casualty of the Manhattan Project
Richard Dalitz
Physicist
28-Feb-1925 13-Jan-2006 Dalitz pairs and Dalitz plots
John Dalton
Chemist
6-Sep-1766 27-Jul-1844 Early proponent of Atomic Theory
Paul Davies
Physicist
22-Apr-1946   The Mind of God
Clinton Davisson
Physicist
22-Oct-1881 1-Feb-1958 Diffraction of electrons
Peter Debye
Physicist
24-Mar-1884 2-Nov-1966 Studied molecular structure, dipoles
Hans G. Dehmelt
Physicist
9-Sep-1922   Co-Inventor of the ion trap
Jean-André Deluc
Geologist
8-Feb-1727 7-Nov-1817 Lettres... sur les montagnes
Henri Alexandre Deslandres
Astronomer
24-Jul-1853 15-Jan-1948 Spectroheliograph
Martin Deutsch
Physicist
29-Jun-1917 16-Aug-2002 Discovered positronium
James Dewar
Physicist
20-Sep-1842 27-Mar-1923 Researcher of low temperatures
Robert H. Dicke
Physicist
6-May-1916 4-Mar-1997 Dicke radiometer
Paul Dirac
Physicist
8-Aug-1902 20-Oct-1984 The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
Ray Milton Dolby
Inventor
18-Jan-1933   Inventor of Dolby stereo
John Dollond
Physicist
10-Jun-1706 30-Nov-1761 Invented achromatic lenses
Christian Doppler
Physicist
29-Nov-1803 17-Mar-1853 Discovered the Doppler Effect
Sidney D. Drell
Physicist
13-Sep-1926   In the Shadow of the Bomb
William Duddell
Physicist
1872 4-Nov-1917 Electronic music
Freeman Dyson
Physicist
15-Dec-1923   Theoretical physicist at Institute for Advanced Study
Roger Easton
Inventor
30-Apr-1921   Global Positioning System
Arthur Eddington
Astronomer
28-Dec-1882 22-Nov-1944 Eddington luminosity
Manfred Eigen
Physicist
9-May-1927   Studied fast chemical reactions
Albert Einstein
Physicist
14-Mar-1879 18-Apr-1955 Theory of relativity
Artur Ekert
Physicist
19-Sep-1961   Quantum cryptography
Leo Esaki
Physicist
12-Mar-1925   Electron tunneling
Hugh Everett
Physicist
11-Nov-1930 19-Jul-1982 Many Worlds Theory of quantum physics
Thomas E. Everhart
Physicist
15-Feb-1932   President of CalTech, 1987-97
Paul Peter Ewald
Physicist
23-Jan-1888 22-Aug-1985 X-Ray crystallographer
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit
Physicist
24-May-1686 16-Sep-1736 Thermometrist
Michael Faraday
Physicist
22-Sep-1791 25-Aug-1867 Discovered electrical induction
Philo Farnsworth
Inventor
19-Aug-1906 11-Mar-1971 Inventor of electronic television
Enrico Fermi
Physicist
29-Sep-1901 29-Nov-1954 First controlled nuclear chain reaction
Galileo Ferraris
Physicist
31-Oct-1847 7-Feb-1897 Invented the induction motor
Albert Fert
Physicist
7-Mar-1938   Giant magnetoresistance
Richard Feynman
Physicist
11-May-1918 15-Feb-1988 Surely he's joking
Val Fitch
Physicist
10-Mar-1923   Time not necessarily reversible
Bill Foster
Politician
7-Oct-1955   Congressman from Illinois, 2008-11
Léon Foucault
Physicist
19-Sep-1819 11-Feb-1868 Measured the speed of light
Alfred Fowler
Astronomer
22-Mar-1868 24-Jun-1940 Celestial spectroscopy
Peter Fowler
Physicist
27-Feb-1923 8-Nov-1996 Cosmic radiation
William A. Fowler
Astronomer
9-Aug-1911 14-Mar-1995 Element generation within stars
James Franck
Physicist
26-Aug-1882 21-May-1964 Franck-Hertz experiment
Ilya M. Frank
Physicist
23-Oct-1908 22-Jun-1990 Cherenkov radiation
Augustin-Jean Fresnel
Physicist
10-May-1788 14-Jul-1827 Optician, invented Fresnel lens
Jerome I. Friedman
Physicist
28-Mar-1930   Verified existence of quarks
Otto Robert Frisch
Physicist
1-Oct-1904 22-Sep-1979 Described fission
Klaus Fuchs
Spy
29-Dec-1911 28-Jan-1988 Manhattan Project scientist, spy for USSR
Dennis Gabor
Physicist
5-Jun-1900 8-Feb-1979 Inventor of holography
George Gamow
Physicist
4-Mar-1904 19-Aug-1968 Proponent of Big Bang Theory
Pierre Gassendi
Physicist
22-Jan-1592 24-Oct-1655 Exercitationes
Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac
Chemist
6-Dec-1778 9-May-1850 Researched gases, etc.
Hans Geiger
Physicist
30-Sep-1882 24-Sep-1945 Co-Inventor of the Geiger Counter
Andre Geim
Physicist
Oct-1958   Super-thin carbon physics
Heinrich Geissler
Inventor
26-May-1815 24-Jan-1879 Geissler tube
Murray Gell-Mann
Physicist
15-Sep-1929   Quarks and strangeness
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
Physicist
24-Oct-1932 18-May-2007 Molecular structure of polymers
Ivan Getting
Inventor
18-Jan-1912 11-Oct-2003 Global Positioning System
Riccardo Giacconi
Astronomer
6-Oct-1931   Discovered cosmic X-ray sources
Ivar Giaever
Physicist
5-Apr-1929   Tunneling through superconductors
J. Willard Gibbs
Physicist
11-Feb-1839 28-Apr-1903 Elementary Principles in Statistical Mathematics
William Gilbert
Physicist
24-May-1544 10-Dec-1603 De Magnete
Vitaly L. Ginzburg
Physicist
4-Oct-1916 8-Nov-2009 Type-II superconductors
Donald A. Glaser
Physicist
21-Sep-1926   Inventor of the bubble chamber
Sheldon Glashow
Physicist
5-Dec-1932   Electroweak Theory
Roy J. Glauber
Physicist
1-Sep-1925   Quantum optics
Maria Goeppert-Mayer
Physicist
28-Jun-1906 20-Feb-1972 Shell nuclear model
Maurice Goldhaber
Physicist
18-Apr-1911 11-May-2011 Neutrons
Eugen Goldstein
Physicist
5-Sep-1850 25-Dec-1930 Cathode rays
Samuel Goudsmit
Physicist
11-Jul-1902 4-Dec-1978 Conceived idea of Quantum Spin
Gordon Gould
Physicist
17-Jul-1920 16-Sep-2005 Invented the laser, arguably
Ernest Howard Griffiths
Physicist
15-Jun-1851 3-Mar-1932 The Thermal Measurement of Energy
David J. Gross
Physicist
19-Feb-1941   Deep structure of matter
Peter Grünberg
Physicist
18-May-1939   Giant magnetoresistance
Charles Édouard Guillaume
Physicist
15-Feb-1861 13-Jun-1938 Invented alloys Invar and Elinvar
Alan Guth
Physicist
27-Feb-1947   Inflationary theory of cosmology
John Hagelin
Activist
9-Jun-1954   Natural Law Party
Edwin Hall
Physicist
7-Nov-1855 20-Nov-1938 Discovered the Hall Effect
John L. Hall
Physicist
21-Aug-1934   Quantum optics
Theodor W. Hänsch
Physicist
30-Oct-1941   Quantum optics
James E. Hansen
Scientist
29-Mar-1941   Greenhouse effect and global warming
William Snow Harris
Physicist
1-Apr-1791 22-Jan-1867 Invented a lightning rod for ships
George Russell Harrison
Physicist
14-Jul-1898 27-Jul-1979 Echelle spectrograph
Martin Harwit
Astronomer
9-Mar-1931   Helium-cooled rockets and infrared spectroscopy
Stephen Hawking
Physicist
8-Jan-1942   Wheelchair-bound physicist
Chushiro Hayashi
Astronomer
25-Jul-1920 28-Feb-2010 Big Bang astrophysicist
Otto Heckmann
Astronomer
23-Jun-1901 13-May-1983 Investigated cosmic expansion
Alan J. Heeger
Physicist
22-Jan-1936   Metallic polymers
Werner Heisenberg
Physicist
5-Dec-1901 1-Feb-1976 Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Joseph Henry
Physicist
17-Dec-1797 13-May-1878 Discovered electromagnetic induction
Louis Henyey
Astronomer
3-Feb-1910 18-Feb-1970 Henyey method
George Herbig
Astronomer
2-Jan-1920   Herbig-Haro objects
Gustav Hertz
Physicist
22-Jul-1887 30-Oct-1975 Franck-Hertz experiment
Heinrich Hertz
Physicist
22-Feb-1857 1-Jan-1894 Discoverer of electromagnetic radiation
Gerhard Herzberg
Physicist
25-Dec-1904 3-Mar-1999 Molecular spectroscopy
Victor Francis Hess
Physicist
24-Jun-1883 17-Dec-1964 Proved cosmic origin of radiation
Raymond Hide
Physicist
17-May-1929   Earth's rotation
Peter Higgs
Physicist
29-May-1929   Higgs boson and Higgs field
William A. Higinbotham
Physicist
25-Oct-1910 10-Nov-1994 Physicist, Tennis for Two
David Hilbert
Mathematician
23-Jan-1862 14-Feb-1943 Hilbert Space
James Hillier
Physicist
22-Aug-1915 15-Jan-2007 Electron microscope
Johann Hittorf
Physicist
27-Mar-1824 28-Nov-1914 Fluorescence in vacuum tubes
Robert Hofstadter
Physicist
5-Feb-1915 17-Nov-1990 Size, shape, and structure of neutrons and protons
Nick Holonyak
Physicist
3-Nov-1928   Light-emitting diodes
Gerardus 't Hooft
Physicist
5-Jul-1946   Quantum physicist
Fred Hoyle
Astronomer
24-Jun-1915 20-Aug-2001 Opposed the Big Bang but named it
Evelyn Hu
Physicist
c. 1947   Nanoscale device fabrication
David Hughes
Inventor
16-May-1831 22-Jan-1900 Inventor of the microphone
Vernon W. Hughes
Physicist
28-May-1921 25-Mar-2003 Muons
Albert Wallace Hull
Physicist
19-Apr-1880 22-Jan-1966 Inventor of the magnetron tube
Russell A. Hulse
Physicist
28-Nov-1950   Co-Discovered first binary pulsar
Friedrich Hund
Physicist
4-Feb-1896 31-Mar-1997 Quantum tunneling
Christiaan Huygens
Physicist
14-Apr-1629 8-Jul-1695 Wave theory of light
George Isaak
Astronomer
7-Mar-1933 5-Jun-2005 Resonant scattering spectroscopy
Herbert E. Ives
Physicist
21-Jul-1882 13-Nov-1953 Facsimile machine
Shirley A. Jackson
Physicist
5-Aug-1946   NRC Chairman, 1995-99
James H. Jeans
Astronomer
11-Sep-1877 16-Sep-1946 Continuous creation theory
J. Hans D. Jensen
Physicist
25-Jun-1907 11-Feb-1973 Shell nuclear model
Deborah S. Jin
Physicist
c. 1968   Created a fermionic condensate
Frédéric Joliot
Physicist
19-Mar-1900 14-Aug-1958 Artificial radioactivity
Irène Joliot-Curie
Physicist
12-Sep-1897 17-Mar-1956 Artificial radioactivity
Pascual Jordan
Physicist
18-Oct-1902 31-Jul-1980 Founder of Quantum Mechanics
Brian D. Josephson
Physicist
4-Jan-1940   Discovered the Josephson Effect
James Prescott Joule
Physicist
24-Dec-1818 11-Oct-1889 English physicist, Joule's Law
Michio Kaku
Physicist
24-Jan-1947   String Theory
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Physicist
21-Sep-1853 21-Feb-1926 Liquefied helium and discovered superconductivity
Pyotr Kapitsa
Physicist
8-Jul-1894 8-Apr-1984 Discovered superfluidity
Alfred Kastler
Physicist
3-May-1902 7-Jan-1984 Optical pumping
Lord Kelvin
Physicist
26-Jun-1824 17-Dec-1907 Illustrated 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Nicholas Kemmer
Physicist
7-Dec-1911 21-Oct-1998 Nuclear weapons and reactors
Henry W. Kendall
Physicist
9-Dec-1926 15-Feb-1999 Verified existence of quarks
Arthur E. Kennelly
Physicist
17-Dec-1861 18-Jun-1939 Kennelly-Heaviside layer
Wolfgang Ketterle
Physicist
21-Oct-1957   Bose-Einstein condensates
Jay Keyworth
Physicist
c. 1939   Science advisor to Reagan
Abdul Qadeer Khan
Physicist
1935   Father of Pakistani nuclear bomb
Tom Kibble
Mathematician
1932   Zurek-Kibble theory
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff
Physicist
12-Mar-1824 17-Oct-1887 Theory of spectrum analysis
Klaus von Klitzing
Physicist
28-Jun-1943   Quantization of resistance
Makoto Kobayashi
Physicist
7-Apr-1944   Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix
Masatoshi Koshiba
Physicist
19-Sep-1926   Detected cosmic neutrinos
Hendrik Kramers
Physicist
17-Feb-1894 24-Apr-1952 Kramers dispersion theory
Herbert Kroemer
Physicist
25-Aug-1928   Pioneer in laser technology
Nicholas Kurti
Physicist
14-May-1908 24-Nov-1998 Molecular gastronomy
Polykarp Kusch
Physicist
26-Jan-1911 20-Mar-1993 Magnetic moment of the electron
Willis Lamb
Physicist
12-Jul-1913 15-May-2008 Detailed the hydrogen spectrum
Johann Heinrich Lambert
Mathematician
26-Aug-1728 25-Sep-1777 Pyrometrie
Lev Landau
Physicist
22-Jan-1908 1-Apr-1968 Superfluidity of helium
Paul Langevin
Physicist
23-Jan-1872 19-Dec-1946 Studied piezoelectricity
Irving Langmuir
Chemist
31-Jan-1881 16-Aug-1957 Inventor of the high-vacuum tube
Max von Laue
Physicist
9-Oct-1879 23-Apr-1960 X-ray crystallography
Robert B. Laughlin
Physicist
1-Nov-1950   Fractional quantum Hall effect
Ernest Lawrence
Physicist
8-Aug-1901 27-Aug-1958 Inventor of the cyclotron
Leon M. Lederman
Physicist
15-Jul-1922   Researcher of neutrinos
David M. Lee
Physicist
20-Jan-1931   Superfluidity of helium-3
Tsung-Dao Lee
Physicist
25-Nov-1926   Violations of parity law
Anthony J. Leggett
Physicist
26-Mar-1938   Particle physicist, explored superfluidity
Robert B. Leighton
Astronomer
10-Sep-1919 9-Mar-1997 Leighton dishes
Philipp Lenard
Physicist
7-Jun-1862 20-May-1947 Investigations of cathode rays
Frederick Lindemann
Government
5-Apr-1886 3-Jul-1957 Churchill's scientific and war advisor
Gabriel Lippmann
Physicist
16-Aug-1845 13-Jul-1921 Photographic color plate
Alfred Lee Loomis
Physicist
4-Nov-1887 1-Aug-1975 Millionaire scientist
Hendrik Lorentz
Physicist
18-Jul-1853 4-Feb-1928 Electrons
Frank J. Low
Astronomer
23-Nov-1933 11-Jun-2009 Infrared astronomy
Donald Lynden-Bell
Astronomer
5-Apr-1935   Astrophysicist at Cambridge
Bernard Lyot
Astronomer
27-Feb-1897 2-Apr-1952 Sandstorms on Mars
Ernst Mach
Physicist
18-Feb-1838 19-Feb-1916 Optical and sensory perceptualist
Theodore Maiman
Physicist
11-Jul-1927 5-May-2007 Built the first working laser
Étienne Louis Malus
Physicist
23-Jun-1775 23-Feb-1812 Polarization of light by reflection
Michael E. Mann
Physicist
28-Dec-1965   Climate change scientist
Hans Mark
Physicist
17-Jun-1929   US Air Force Secretary, 1979-81
Toshihide Maskawa
Physicist
7-Feb-1940   Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix
Harrie Massey
Astronomer
16-May-1908 27-Nov-1983 British National Committee for Space Research
Walter E. Massey
Business
5-Apr-1938   Morehouse College president, physicist
John C. Mather
Physicist
7-Aug-1946   Big Bang
Drummond Matthews
Geologist
5-Feb-1931 20-Jul-1997 Plate tectonics
John William Mauchly
Physicist
30-Aug-1907 8-Jan-1980 ENIAC, BINAC, and UNIVAC I computers
James Clerk Maxwell
Physicist
13-Jun-1831 5-Nov-1879 Maxwell's equations
Julius Robert Mayer
Physicist
25-Nov-1814 20-Mar-1878 Studied thermodynamics
Edwin M. McMillan
Physicist
18-Sep-1907 7-Sep-1991 Discovered neptunium and plutonium
Lise Meitner
Physicist
7-Nov-1878 27-Oct-1968 Discovered nuclear fission
Macedonio Melloni
Physicist
11-Apr-1798 11-Aug-1854 Diathermancy
Kurt Mendelssohn
Mathematician
7-Jan-1906 18-Sep-1980 Cryogenics and pyramids
Paul W. Merrill
Astronomer
15-Aug-1887 19-Jul-1961 S-process of nucleosynthesis
Albert A. Michelson
Physicist
19-Dec-1852 9-May-1931 Measured the speed of light
Robert A. Millikan
Physicist
22-Mar-1868 19-Dec-1953 Determined the charge of an electron
Robert L. Mills
Physicist
15-Apr-1927 27-Oct-1999 Subatomic particles
E. Arthur Milne
Mathematician
14-Feb-1896 21-Sep-1950 Kinematic relativity
Hermann Minkowski
Mathematician
22-Jun-1864 12-Jan-1909 Minkowski space
Rudolph Minkowski
Astronomer
28-May-1895 4-Jan-1976 Galaxies in collision
Marcel Minnaert
Astronomer
12-Feb-1893 26-Oct-1970 Solar spectrophotometry
Keith Moffatt
Mathematician
12-Apr-1935   Fluid dynamics
Philip Moon
Physicist
17-May-1907 9-Oct-1994 Gamma ray fluorescence
Charlotte E. Moore
Astronomer
24-Sep-1898 3-Mar-1990 Technetium in the Sun
Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley
Physicist
23-Nov-1887 10-Aug-1915 Confirmed importance of atomic number
Rudolf Mössbauer
Physicist
31-Jan-1929 14-Sep-2011 Discovered Mössbauer effect
Nevill F. Mott
Physicist
30-Sep-1905 8-Aug-1996 Properties of semiconductors
Ben R. Mottelson
Physicist
9-Jul-1926   Determined shapes of nuclei
Alexander Muirhead
Physicist
26-May-1848 13-Dec-1920 Submarine cable telegraphy
K. Alex Müller
Physicist
20-Apr-1927   High-temperature superconductivity
Robert S. Mulliken
Chemist
7-Jun-1896 31-Oct-1986 Molecular orbital theory
Yoichiro Nambu
Physicist
18-Jan-1921   Spontaneous broken symmetry
Homer A. Neal
Physicist
13-Jun-1942   Director of the ATLAS Project
Louis Néel
Physicist
22-Nov-1904 17-Nov-2000 Magnetic properties of solids
Gerry Neugebauer
Astronomer
1932   Infrared astronomy
Isaac Newton
Physicist
4-Jan-1643 31-Mar-1727 Father of the clockwork universe
Ernest Fox Nichols
Physicist
1-Jun-1869 29-Apr-1924 Infrared radiation
Seth Barnes Nicholson
Astronomer
12-Nov-1891 2-Jul-1963 Four satellites of Jupiter
Konstantin Novoselov
Physicist
Aug-1974   Super-thin carbon physics
Hans Christian Oersted
Physicist
14-Aug-1777 9-Mar-1851 Discovered electromagnetics
Georg Simon Ohm
Physicist
16-Mar-1789 6-Jul-1854 Ohm's Law
Mark Oliphant
Physicist
8-Oct-1901 14-Jul-2000 Deuterium reactions
Frank Oppenheimer
Physicist
14-Aug-1912 3-Feb-1985 Founder of the Exploratorium
Robert Oppenheimer
Physicist
22-Apr-1904 18-Feb-1967 Physicist, headed the Manhattan Project
Douglas D. Osheroff
Physicist
1-Aug-1945   Superfluidity of helium-3
Donald E. Osterbrock
Astronomer
13-Jul-1924 11-Jan-2007 Director of Lick Observatory, 1973-81
Bohdan Paczynski
Astronomer
8-Feb-1940 19-Apr-2007 Gravitational microlensing
John M. Palms
Physicist
6-Jun-1935   President, University of South Carolina, 1991-2002
Pief Panofsky
Physicist
24-Apr-1919 24-Sep-2007 Stanford Linear Accelerator
Eugene Parker
Astronomer
10-Jun-1927   Solar winds
Wolfgang Paul
Physicist
10-Aug-1913 6-Dec-1993 Co-Inventor of the ion trap
Wolfgang Pauli
Physicist
25-Apr-1900 15-Dec-1958 Pauli Exclusion Principle
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Astronomer
10-May-1900 7-Dec-1979 Hydrogen in the Sun
P. James E. Peebles
Astronomer
25-Apr-1935   Galaxy formation
Rudolf Peierls
Physicist
5-Jun-1907 19-Sep-1995 Frisch-Peierls Memorandum
Jean-Charles-Athanase Peltier
Physicist
22-Feb-1785 27-Oct-1845 Peltier Effect
Roger Penrose
Mathematician
8-Aug-1931   Theory of cosmic censorship
Martin L. Perl
Physicist
24-Jun-1927   Discovered the tau lepton
Saul Perlmutter
Astronomer
1959   Accelerating expansion of the universe
Jean Perrin
Physicist
30-Sep-1870 17-Apr-1942 Verified atomic nature of matter
John Pethica
Physicist
1953   Atomic force microscopy
William D. Phillips
Physicist
5-Nov-1948   Trapped atoms with laser light
Auguste Piccard
Physicist
28-Jan-1884 24-Mar-1962 First man in the stratosphere
Max Planck
Physicist
23-Apr-1858 4-Oct-1947 Originator of quantum theory
E. Gail de Planque
Physicist
c. 1944   Nuclear physicist
John S. Plaskett
Astronomer
17-Nov-1865 17-Oct-1941 Plaskett's star
Gilbert Plass
Physicist
22-Mar-1922 1-Mar-2004 Climate change scientist
Julius Plücker
Mathematician
16-Jul-1801 22-May-1868 Analytical geometry
Johann Christian Poggendorff
Physicist
29-Dec-1796 24-Jan-1877 Annalen der Physik und Chemie
H. David Politzer
Physicist
31-Aug-1949   Deep structure of matter
Stanley Pons
Physicist
8-Feb-1943   Cold fusion crank
Cecil Powell
Physicist
5-Dec-1903 9-Aug-1969 Discovered the pi-meson
Ludwig Prandtl
Physicist
4-Feb-1875 15-Aug-1953 Father of Aerodynamics
Aleksandr M. Prokhorov
Physicist
11-Jul-1916 8-Jan-2002 Invention of the maser and laser
E. M. Purcell
Physicist
30-Aug-1912 7-Mar-1997 Nuclear magnetic resonance
Isidor Isaac Rabi
Physicist
29-Jul-1898 11-Jan-1988 Magnetic beam resonances
James Rainwater
Physicist
9-Dec-1917 31-May-1986 Determined shapes of nuclei
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
Physicist
7-Nov-1888 21-Nov-1970 Discovered the Raman Effect
Norman F. Ramsey
Physicist
27-Aug-1915 4-Nov-2011 Energy levels of atoms
Lord Rayleigh
Physicist
12-Nov-1842 30-Jun-1919 Why the sky is blue
Henri-Victor Regnault
Chemist
21-Jul-1810 19-Jan-1878 Properties of gases
Frederick Reines
Physicist
16-Mar-1918 26-Aug-1998 Co-Discover of the neutrino
Owen Willans Richardson
Physicist
26-Apr-1879 15-Feb-1959 Electron emissions of metals
Robert C. Richardson
Physicist
26-Jun-1937   Superfluidity of helium-3
Burton Richter
Physicist
22-Mar-1931   Co-Discoverer of J/psi meson
Adam G. Riess
Astronomer
1969   Accelerating expansion of the universe
Augusto Righi
Physicist
27-Aug-1850 8-Jun-1920 Electromagnetic waves
Auguste-Arthur de La Rive
Physicist
9-Oct-1801 27-Nov-1873 Traité d'électricité théorique et appliquée
Heinrich Rohrer
Physicist
6-Jun-1933   Co-Inventor, scanning tunneling microscope
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
Physicist
27-Mar-1845 10-Feb-1923 Discovered X-Rays
Bruno Rossi
Astronomer
13-Apr-1905 21-Nov-1993 Rossi curve and magnetopause
Joseph Rotblat
Physicist
4-Nov-1908 31-Aug-2005 Nuclear physicist, anti-nuke activist
Henry Augustus Rowland
Physicist
27-Nov-1848 16-Apr-1901 Studied optics, magnetism, etc.
Carlo Rubbia
Physicist
31-Mar-1934   Co-Discovered W and Z particles
Ernst Ruska
Physicist
25-Dec-1906 27-May-1988 Inventor of the electron microscope
Ernest Rutherford
Physicist
30-Aug-1871 19-Oct-1937 Father of nuclear physics
Johannes Rydberg
Physicist
8-Nov-1854 28-Dec-1919 Rydberg constant
Andrei Sakharov
Physicist
21-May-1921 14-Dec-1989 Developed the Soviet hydrogen bomb
Abdus Salam
Physicist
29-Jan-1926 21-Nov-1996 Electroweak Theory
Edwin E. Salpeter
Astronomer
3-Dec-1924 26-Nov-2008 Quantitative electron microscopic autoradiography
Allan R. Sandage
Astronomer
18-Jun-1926 13-Nov-2010 Quasars and Hubble-Sandage variable stars
Wallace Sargent
Astronomer
15-Feb-1935   Astrophysicist at CalTech
Arthur L. Schawlow
Physicist
5-May-1921 28-Apr-1999 Laser spectroscopy
Brian P. Schmidt
Astronomer
24-Feb-1967   Accelerating universe
Walter Schottky
Physicist
23-Jul-1886 4-Mar-1976 Solid-state physics and electronics
Robert Schrieffer
Physicist
31-May-1931   BCS Theory of Superconductivity
Erwin Schrödinger
Physicist
12-Aug-1887 4-Jan-1961 Schrödinger's wave equation
Melvin Schwartz
Physicist
2-Nov-1932 28-Aug-2006 Researcher of neutrinos
Karl Schwarzschild
Astronomer
9-Oct-1873 11-May-1916 Black holes, Schwarzschild radius
Martin Schwarzschild
Astronomer
31-May-1912 10-Apr-1997 Structure and Evolution of the Stars
Julian Schwinger
Physicist
12-Feb-1918 16-Jul-1994 Quantum electrodynamics
Glenn Seaborg
Physicist
19-Apr-1912 25-Feb-1999 Co-Discoverer of Plutonium
Michael Seaton
Astronomer
16-Jun-1923 29-May-2007 Opacity Project
Emilio Segrè
Physicist
30-Jan-1905 22-Apr-1989 Co-Discoverer of the antiproton
Nathan Seiberg
Physicist
22-Sep-1956   String theorist at Princeton
Nikolay Semyonov
Chemist
15-Apr-1896 25-Sep-1986 Combustion, explosions, and chemical kinetics
Maurice M. Shapiro
Physicist
13-Nov-1915 27-Feb-2008 Composition and origin of cosmic rays
Tsutomu Shimomura
Physicist
23-Oct-1964   Helped catch Kevin Mitnick
Iosif S. Shklovskii
Astronomer
1-Jul-1916 3-Mar-1985 Synchrotron radiation of the Crab Nebula
William Shockley
Physicist
13-Feb-1910 12-Aug-1989 Co-Inventor of the transistor
David Shoenberg
Physicist
4-Jan-1911 10-Mar-2004 Physicist at Cambridge
Clifford G. Shull
Physicist
23-Sep-1915 31-Mar-2001 Neutron scattering
William Shurcliff
Physicist
27-Mar-1909 20-Jun-2006 Manhattan Project physicist
Kai M. Siegbahn
Physicist
20-Apr-1918 20-Jul-2007 Electron spectroscopy
Manne Siegbahn
Physicist
3-Dec-1886 26-Sep-1978 X-Ray spectroscopy
Louis Slotin
Physicist
1-Dec-1910 30-May-1946 Died tickling the dragon's tail
Richard E. Smalley
Chemist
6-Jun-1943 28-Oct-2005 Co-Discovered fullerines
Lee Smolin
Physicist
1955   The Trouble with Physics
George F. Smoot
Physicist
20-Feb-1945   Big bang
Arnold Sommerfeld
Physicist
5-Dec-1868 26-Apr-1951 Fine-structure constant
Lyman Spitzer, Jr.
Astronomer
26-Jun-1914 31-Mar-1997 Father of space telescopes
Johannes Stark
Physicist
15-Apr-1874 21-Jun-1957 Discovered the Stark Effect
Chauncey Starr
Physicist
14-Apr-1912 17-Apr-2007 Electric Power Research Institute
Jack Steinberger
Physicist
25-May-1921   Researcher of neutrinos
Otto Stern
Physicist
17-Feb-1888 17-Aug-1969 Molecular beam experiment
Simon Stevin
Mathematician
1548 1620 Founder of hydrostatics
Balfour Stewart
Physicist
1-Nov-1828 19-Dec-1887 Studied magnetism, radiant heat
George Gabriel Stokes
Physicist
13-Aug-1819 1-Feb-1903 Fluid dynamicist, optic waves
Horst L. Störmer
Physicist
6-Apr-1949   Fractional quantum Hall effect
Bengt Strömgren
Astronomer
21-Jan-1908 4-Jul-1987 Hydrogen stars
Rashid Sunyaev
Astronomer
1-Mar-1943   Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan
Physicist
31-Oct-1828 27-May-1914 Light bulb, photographic printing
Leo Szilard
Physicist
11-Feb-1898 30-May-1964 Nuclear chain reaction
Peter Guthrie Tait
Physicist
28-Apr-1831 4-Jul-1901 Treatise on Quaternions
Igor Y. Tamm
Physicist
8-Jul-1895 12-Apr-1971 Cherenkov radiation
James V. Taranik
Geologist
23-Apr-1940 21-Jun-2011 Desert Research Institute
Joseph H. Taylor, Jr.
Astronomer
24-Mar-1941   Co-Discovered first binary pulsar
Richard E. Taylor
Physicist
2-Nov-1929   Verified existence of quarks
Edward Teller
Physicist
15-Jan-1908 9-Sep-2003 Father of the Hydrogen Bomb
George Paget Thomson
Physicist
3-May-1892 10-Sep-1975 Diffraction of electrons
J. J. Thomson
Physicist
18-Dec-1856 30-Aug-1940 Discovered the electron
Samuel C. C. Ting
Physicist
27-Jan-1936   Co-Discoverer of J/psi meson
Sin-Itiro Tomonaga
Physicist
31-Mar-1906 8-Jul-1979 Quantum electrodynamics
Charles H. Townes
Physicist
28-Jul-1915   Invention of the maser and laser
John Townsend
Mathematician
7-Jun-1868 16-Feb-1957 Electron's charge
Daniel C. Tsui
Physicist
28-Feb-1939   Fractional quantum Hall effect
Herbert Hall Turner
Astronomer
13-Aug-1861 20-Aug-1930 Stellar positions
Merle Tuve
Physicist
27-Jun-1901 20-May-1982 Proximity fuse
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astronomer
5-Oct-1958   Astrophysicist
Petr Ufimtsev
Physicist
8-Jul-1931   Physical Theory of Diffraction
George Uhlenbeck
Physicist
6-Dec-1900 31-Oct-1988 Conceived idea of Quantum Spin
Simon van der Meer
Physicist
24-Nov-1925 4-Mar-2011 Co-Discovered W and Z particles
John H. van Vleck
Physicist
13-Mar-1899 27-Oct-1980 Quantum theory of paramagnetism
Martinus J.G. Veltman
Physicist
27-Jun-1931   Quantum physicist
Gabriele Veneziano
Physicist
20-Feb-1942   Father of string theory
Alessandro Volta
Physicist
18-Feb-1745 5-Mar-1827 Invented electric battery
Hermann von Helmholtz
Physicist
31-Aug-1821 8-Sep-1894 Law of Conservation of Energy
Johannes Diderik van der Waals
Physicist
23-Nov-1837 9-Mar-1923 Investigated states of matter
Ernest T. S. Walton
Physicist
6-Oct-1903 25-Jun-1995 Split the atom
Robert Watson-Watt
Physicist
13-Apr-1892 5-Dec-1973 Radar
Wilhelm Weber
Physicist
24-Oct-1804 23-Jun-1891 Student of electromagnetism
Alvin M. Weinberg
Physicist
20-Apr-1915 18-Oct-2006 Nuclear scientist
Steven Weinberg
Physicist
3-May-1933   Electroweak Theory
Victor Weisskopf
Physicist
19-Sep-1908 21-Apr-2002 Head of CERN, 1961-65
Charles Wheatstone
Physicist
6-Feb-1802 19-Oct-1875 Inventor of the telegraph
John Archibald Wheeler
Physicist
9-Jul-1911 13-Apr-2008 The Mechanism of Nuclear Fission
Carl E. Wieman
Physicist
26-Mar-1951   Bose-Einstein Condensates
Wilhelm Wien
Physicist
13-Jan-1864 30-Aug-1928 Blackbody radiation
Eugene Wigner
Physicist
17-Nov-1902 1-Jan-1995 Law of conservation of parity
Frank Wilczek
Physicist
15-May-1951   Deep structure of matter
C. T. R. Wilson
Physicist
14-Feb-1869 15-Nov-1959 Cloud chamber
Kenneth G. Wilson
Physicist
8-Jun-1936   Second-order phase transitions
Robert Woodrow Wilson
Astronomer
10-Jan-1936   Detected primordial radiation
Edward Witten
Physicist
26-Aug-1951   String theorist at Princeton
Peter Woit
Physicist
c. 1957   String Theorist
Robert W. Wood
Physicist
2-May-1868 11-Aug-1955 Physical Optics
Leona Woods
Physicist
9-Aug-1919 10-Nov-1986 Physicist at University of Chicago
Basilis Xanthopoulos
Physicist
1951 27-Nov-1990 Gravitational physics
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
Physicist
19-Jul-1921 30-May-2011 Developed radioimmunoassay technique
Chen Ning Yang
Physicist
1-Oct-1922   Particle physicist
Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky
Physicist
24-May-1844 22-Jan-1902 Yarkovsky effect
Thomas Young
Physicist
13-Jun-1773 10-May-1829 Wave Theory of Light
Hideki Yukawa
Physicist
23-Jan-1907 8-Sep-1981 Predicted existence of mesons
Pieter Zeeman
Physicist
25-May-1865 9-Oct-1943 Discovered Zeeman Effect
Frits Zernike
Physicist
16-Jul-1888 10-Mar-1966 Phase-contrast microscope
Fritz Zwicky
Astronomer
14-Feb-1898 8-Feb-1974 Astrophysicist at CalTech



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