Biographies of Scientists

Frederick Reines casts a long shadow on elementary particle physics, as an early participant in the Manhattan Project, as co-discoverer of the neutrino, as founding Dean of the School of Physical Sciences at the University of California at Irvine, and as co-winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in physics.

Oct 26, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Martin Perl won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995 for his discovery of a third quark-lepton family of elementary particles. His research extended the Standard Model for physics.

Sep 25, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Mario Molina shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995 for his research into the impact of CFCs on the upper atmosphere.

Aug 30, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Richard E. Smalley is a Nobel Prize winning chemist at Rice University. He was part of the team that developed supersonic beam laser spectroscopy, as well as the team that discovered fullerenes.

Jul 27, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Douglas D. Osheroff was a graduate student working late in the low temperature laboratory at CalTech when he noted unexpected results on a graph. He alerted his advisors and they concluded they had found the conditions at which helium-3 changes to a superfluid. Osheroff would share a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work.

Jun 29, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

David M. Lee shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 for his discovery of the superfluid properties of helium-3.

May 31, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Robert F. Curl Jr. shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for his discovery of buckeyballs, C60 carbon clusters that promise advances in medicine, industry, and computer technology.

Apr 29, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Paul D. Boyer shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1997 for his work on defining the function of ATP in cellular functions.

Mar 29, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Robert B. Laughlin shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theoretical framework explaining fractional quantum Hall effect.

Feb 28, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Ahmed Zewail won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 for his groundbreaking work in femtochemistry. Using his technology, scientists are able to see "pictures" of chemical reactions as they happen.

Jan 25, 2005 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Dec 29, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Alan MacDiarmid shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 for his work with conducting polymers, or synthetic metals.

Nov 28, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Oct 24, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Sep 23, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Aug 19, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jul 13, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Shirley Ann Jackson has combined her talents in physics, research, education, and administration to become the successful president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Jun 14, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

May 20, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Apr 28, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Mar 30, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Feb 29, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jan 30, 2004 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Dec 31, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Niels Bohr proposed a quantum structure for the atom, won a Nobel prize for physics, and worked on the Manhattan.

Nov 30, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Oct 20, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Johann Mendel, an Austrian monk born in 1822, spent eight years studying inherited characteristics among pea plants, and correctly identified the underlying genetic framework.

Sep 24, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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 halo around the staphylococcus bacteria. Fleming corrected theorized that the substance had slowed the growth of the bacteria.

Aug 31, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jul 25, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

William Rankine is best remembered for the Rankine cycle, but he made valuable contributions to soil mechanics, civil engineering, and education.

Jun 25, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

William Thomson Kelvin is best known for the absolute temperature scale which is measured in kelvins. His scientific contributions helped advance modern physics.

May 31, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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

Apr 28, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Mar 19, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Feb 20, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jan 30, 2003 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Dec 25, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

During her short life, Rosalind Franklin made remarkable contributions to crystallographic imaging, DNA research, and the study of viruses.

Nov 20, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Oct 17, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Sep 19, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Aug 14, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jul 18, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Stephen Hawking is a best-selling author, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, and arguably the smartest man in the world.

Jun 10, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

May 8, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Henry Taube was the first Canadian born chemist to win the Nobel Prize. He is considered a leader in the field of inorganic chemistry.

Apr 30, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Mar 29, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Feb 26, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

S. Jocelyn Bell was a failure at age eleven, went on to attain a Ph.D. in astronomy and discover the first four pulsars.

Jan 23, 2002 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Dec 27, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Nov 21, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Oct 30, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Carl E Wieman shares the 2001 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate, the fifth state of matter.

Oct 16, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Steven Weinberg shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979 by demonstrating a unification of the weak and electromagnetic forces between elementary particles.

Oct 2, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Sep 18, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Sep 5, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Meave Leakey continues the anthropological legacy of the Leakey family with the recent discovery of a new genus of early man.

Aug 20, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

Dr. Nigel Packham holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and designed the water recovery system that will be used in the International Space Station.

Aug 7, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jul 23, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jul 10, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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 proud to be the seventh generation of university professors in her family.

Jun 26, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

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.

Jun 12, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni

A biography of Dr. Jonas Salk who pioneered the vaccine against the polio virus.

May 29, 2001 - Jackie DiGiovanni