Biographies of Scientists
Jackie DiGiovanni
Articles
Martinus Veltman - Particle Physics and Gauge Theories
Martinus Veltman shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999 for his work in building the mathematical model that predicted the properties of sub-atomic particles.
Alan MacDiarmid - Conducting Polymers
Alan MacDiarmid shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 for his work with conducting polymers, or synthetic metals.
Raymond Davis Jr - Tenacity and Solar Neutrinos
Raymond Davis Jr. devoted his career to the little researched field of cosmic neutrinos, demonstrating that the energy of the sun is released during the fusion of hydrogen and helium. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002 and helped start the field of neutrino-astronomy.
Alexei Abrikosov - Type II Superconductors and the Abrikosov Vortex Lattice
Alexei Abrikosov left the former Soviet Union to work at the Argonne National Laboratory in 1991. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003 for his work on type II superconductors.
Sir Peter Mansfield - MRI Innovator
Sir Peter Mansfield is a world-renowned physicist whose pioneerin work in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) gained him a shared 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Roderick MacKinnon - Biophysicist and the Ion Channel
Roderick MacKinnon, professor at the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rockefeller University, shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2003 for his work on the structure and mechanism of ion channels. He is a visiting researcher at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Shirley Ann Jackson - Eminent Educator, Researcher, Administrator
Shirley Ann Jackson has combined her talents in physics, research, education, and administration to become the successful president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Constance Tom Noguchi - Researcher and Mentor
Constance Tom Noguchi is Molecular Cell Biology Section Chief at the Laboratory of Chemical Biology, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health. She is a well-known mentor to science and medical students and teachers.
Dale Brown Emeagwali - Microbiologist and Community Leader
Dr, Dale Brown Emeagwali is a recognized teacher and researcher at Morgan State University. She combines a love of research with a strong desire to encourage young people to study science.
George Porter - Nobel Laureate and Champion of Science
Lord George Porter shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967 for his work in developing a way to see the various stages of chemical reactions. During his life, he encouraged students to study science and encouraged increased government funding for science.
Paul Berg - Stanford's Molecular Biologist
Paul Berg shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980 for his work on recombinant DNA. He has remained active in recombinant DNA research and encouraging students to study the sciences.
Edith Hinkley Quimby - Pioneering Teacher of Radiology
Edith Hinkley Quimby is best remembered for her work in determining the level of radiation that patients could tolerate, thereby providing early practical procedures for doctors to more safely use radiation therapy in a clinical setting.
George Andrew Olah - Carbocations and Chemistry
George A Olah has dedicated his life to organic chemistry. Currently, Distinguished Professor and Loker Chair in Organic Chemistry at USC Los Angeles, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994 for his work in carbocation chemistry.
Niels Bohr - Danish Physicist Extraordinaire
Niels Bohr proposed a quantum structure for the atom, won a Nobel prize for physics, and worked on the Manhattan.
Linus Pauling - Molecular Biologist and Orthomolecular Scientist
Linus Pauling was the first person to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes, one in Chemistry for his molecular bonding research, and the Peace Prize for his work protesting atmospheric testing of nuclear bombs.
Gregor Johann Mendel - Founder of Genetics
Johann Mendel, an Austrian monk born in 1822, spent eight years studying inherited characteristics among pea plants, and correctly identified the underlying genetic framework.
Sir Alexander Fleming - The Gift of Pencillin
Sir Alexander Fleming was one of many scientists whose work gave the world pencillin. In a serendipitous turn of events, the changing temperatures and a errant spore that landed in a culture dish produced a blue mold that filled the rest of the dish and created what Fleming described as a ...
William Harvey - The Circulation of Blood
In England during the 1600s, William Harvey enjoyed a flourishing career. His research established his fame as the physician who proved how blood circulates in the body.
William Rankine - A Leader in Early Thermodynamics
William Rankine is best remembered for the Rankine cycle, but he made valuable contributions to soil mechanics, civil engineering, and education.
William Thomson (late lord Kelvin) - The Absolute Scientist
William Thomson Kelvin is best known for the absolute temperature scale which is measured in kelvins. His scientific contributions helped advance modern physics.
Antony Hewish - Pulsars and the Phased-Array Antenna
Antony Hewish has always been at the center of radio astronomy. He built the phased array attenna that helped find the first pulsar. For his work, he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974
Lise Meitner - Nuclear Physicist Extraordinaire
Lise Meitner provided the first practical explanation of nuclear fission. She was denied a Nobel Prize, but she was well regarded by her peers at a time when women were not well regarded at all.
Dorothy Maud Wrinch - A Multidisciplinary Researcher
Dorothy Maud Wrinch earned a place in genetic history for her early theory on the structure of amino acids. She was the first woman to receive a DSc from Oxford, and spent much of her career at Smith College.
Riccardo Giacconi - The Executive Astronomer
The 2003 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics was Riccardo Giacconi, current president of the Associated Universities Incorporated, and an internationally reknown astronomer credited with locating the first cosmic source of X-rays.
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin - The British Chemist with a Worldwide Perspective
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin received a Nobel Prize in 1964 for "her determination by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biological substances." Her work provided data on the structure of insulin, B12, and penicillin. She was a lifelong advocate for peace and the free exchange of scientific information.
Rosalind Franklin - Photographer of DNA
During her short life, Rosalind Franklin made remarkable contributions to crystallographic imaging, DNA research, and the study of viruses.
Alfred Day Hershey - Pioneer in Microbiology
Alfred Day Hershey was a prominent member of the Phage Church and won a Nobel Prize in 1969 for his pioneering work in DNA and heredity.
Rudolph Virchow - Founder of Modern Pathology
Rudolph Virchow was a 19th century Polish/German physician who played an active role in politics, as well as in medical research. His findings form the basis of the modern study of pathology.
Gilbert Newton Lewis - Teacher and Researcher
Gilbert Newton Lewis is known to all chemistry students through Lewis Symbols. This dedicated teacher and researcher mentored twenty Nobel laureates during this more than 30 year tenure at the University of California in Berkeley.
Barbara McClintock - The Key to Chromosomes
Barbara McClintock was drawn to the study of genetics while an undergraduate at Cornell in the 1920s. She mapped the genetic structure of maize, and went on to make giant contributions to the field of cytogenetics. Her achievements were recognized with a Nobel Prize in 1983.
Stephen Hawking - A Modern Scientific Genius
Stephen Hawking is a best-selling author, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, and arguably the smartest man in the world.
Christiaan Barnard - The World's Heart Doctor
Instant fame greeted Dr. Christiaan Barnard when he performed the first human heart transplant in 1967. Barnard spent the rest of his remarkable life on the world's center stage.
Henry Taube - Leader in Inorganic Chemistry
Henry Taube was the first Canadian born chemist to win the Nobel Prize. He is considered a leader in the field of inorganic chemistry.
Edwin Hubble - Astronomer with a Bang
Edwin Hubble began the field of cosmology when he proved that the universe is made up of many galaxies. He went on to become famous.
Robert Burns Woodward - The Harvard Chemist
Robert Burns Woodward was a noted chemist and educator. He had a lifelong professional association with Harvard University. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1965.
Susan Jocelyn Bell-Burnell - Radio, Gamma Ray, X-ray, Infrared Waves from the Stars
S. Jocelyn Bell was a failure at age eleven, went on to attain a Ph.D. in astronomy and discover the first four pulsars.
Rosalyn (Sussman) Yalow - Developer of RIA
Dr. Rosalyn Yalow won a Nobel Prize and advanced medical research by developing the technique of radioimmunoassay (RIA), which utilizes radioactive isotopes as tracers to measure minute amounts of substances in the body.
John von Neumann - A Lifetime of Contributions
John von Neumann is remembered for his contributions to economics, statistics, warfare, computers and mathematics. He is considered by many to be one of the great minds of the twentieth century.
Jewel Plummer Cobb - Hope against Cancer and for Achievement
Jewel Isadora Plummer Cobb is a remarkable scientist working in the field of cell physiology. As an African-American woman scientist, her contributions also include giving women and minorities a role model for achievement and involvement.
Carl E Wieman - The Fifth State of Matter
Carl E Wieman shares the 2001 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate, the fifth state of matter.
Steven Weinberg - Unifying the Forces
Steven Weinberg shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979 by demonstrating a unification of the weak and electromagnetic forces between elementary particles.
Edward Jenner - Scientific Research and the Smallpox Vaccine
Dr. Edward Jenner used the scientific method of experimentation to demonstrate that a vaccine made from the cowpox virus was effective in preventing smallpox, a disease that killed millions of people.
Maria Elena Zavala - Plant Cell Biologist and Mentor
Maria Elena Zavala is a professor of biology at California State University-Northridge. She lives her belief that she can positively affect the future of minority students by being a mentor.
Meave Leakey - Searching for the Ancestors of Man
Meave Leakey continues the anthropological legacy of the Leakey family with the recent discovery of a new genus of early man.
Nigel Packham - Water Recycling in Space
Dr. Nigel Packham holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and designed the water recovery system that will be used in the International Space Station.
Roger Daley discovered his love of research after completing college. He changed the course of his life and his work, and became an international recognized meteorologist.
A Searcher of the Skies - E Margaret Burbidge
Margaret Burbidge is an internationally respected astronomer and astrophysist. The book she co-authored in 1967, Quasi-Stellar Objects, remains a scientific classic in the study of quasars.
A Life of Dedication - Maria Goeppert Mayer
Maria Goeppert-Mayer won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963, the second woman to do so. Her life and work speak of her dedication to and love of science at a time when women and wives found it difficult to take their place in the research community within universities. She was ...
James D Watson, The Double Helix of the DNA Molecule
A short biography of James D Watson, noted biologist and President of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, who, with Francis Crick, discovered the modecular structure of DNA.
Jonas Salk, the Salk Polio Vaccine
A biography of Dr. Jonas Salk who pioneered the vaccine against the polio virus.