The Landscape of the Science in the History (1)

Lisa Randall is a theoretical physicist active in the fields of cosmology and particle physics at Harvard University. Her research covers i.a. elementary particles, supersymmetry, extra dimensions of space, and dark matter. Among others, she is the winner of the Andrew Gemant Award, the Lilienfeld Prize, and the Klopsted Memorial Award. One of the most famous scientists living today.

Melissa Franklin is best known for her work on particle physics. She is currently the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and before that she had a tenure at Harvard. She was in charge of a team that first found signs that top quarks exist. She often appears as a guest on the CBC radio science program Quirks and Quarks. One of the greatest female scientists alive today.

Helen Blackburn co-discovered telomerase, which is an enzyme that prevents the telomeres of chromosomes becoming shorter during replication. This earned her and 2 others the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Shirley Jackson is famous for her contributions to the field of nuclear physics and has received numerous awards for her work along with honorary doctorate degrees. She was the first African American woman with a doctorate degree in nuclear physics at MIT.

Despite suffering from ALS (motor neurone disease) for over 50 years, the English physicist Stephen Hawking researched the black holes of our universe. He wrote the 1988 bestseller “A Brief History of Time” and in 2001 “The Universe in a Nutshell“. Hawking was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century and joins this list of famous scientists in history.

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1991 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995, together with Eric Wieschaus and Edward B. Lewis, for their research on the genetic control of embryonic development. One of the most famous scientists still alive today.

Witty Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, Knuth is famous in the world of computer programming and is known by some as the “father of the analysis of algorithms“. Having created various programming systems and architectures himself he is personally against software patents.

Jane Goodall (Dame Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall and previously Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall to give her her full name) is world famous for her studies of primates and seen as the leading expert on chimpanzees. She has won numerous awards for her work, the best known being her 45-year study on the social lives of chimpanzees in Tanzania. Surprising to many, her research revealed that although chimpanzees are largely “nicer than human beings“, they could also be brutal, and sometimes have a darker side to their nature.

Rosalind Franklin’s areas of research were DNA, RNA, graphite, coal and viruses. Her work greatly improved understanding of molecular structures. It is widely believed that James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA was only possible through Franklin’s work.

Gertrude Elion developed various important drugs that led to the development of AZT – the AIDS drug. Elion shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for this work. She also developed azathioprine, an immunosuppressive drug. Azathioprine helps prevent rejection of human organ transplants. Elion was the first woman to be recognized in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Richard Feynman was famous for path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and particle physics. He advanced the theory of quantum electrodynamics and superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium. Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for quantum electrodynamics. He shared the prize with Julian Schwinger and Shin’ichirō Tomonaga.

Wernher von Braun was a significant rocket designer. He launched rockets in 1934 already and later developed the V2 in Nazi Germany. In 1945, he emigrated to the United States where, as a NASA employee, he and other famous scientists, constructed the first moon rockets.

Chien-Shiung Wu contributed greatly to the field of nuclear physics, also working on the Manhattan Project. She is famous for the “Wu experiment“, that earned her and her colleagues the 1957 Nobel Prize in physics, and Wu the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. She was often compared to Marie Curie and given nicknames like “the Chinese Madame Curie“, and the “Queen of Nuclear Research“. One of China’s most famous scientists.

Dorothy Hodgkin is known for her research into protein crystallography, which examines how protein crystals form. They are mainly used in science and industrial applications. Her X-ray crystallography techniques are used work out 3D structures of biomolecules. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 for her work on the structure of vitamin B12.

Rita Levi-Montalcini is best known for her work on nerve growth. Rita Levi-Montalcini won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for her NGF (nerve growth factor) work. One of the greatest female scientists to live to be over 100. One of Italy’s most famous scientists.

Nikolaas Tinbergen investigated animal behavior (especially fish and insects) and humans (childhood autism). He also wrote books including “The Study of Instinct” on behaviorism. Nikolaas Tinbergen was awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

Maria Göppert (or later Goeppert Mayer after her marriage to Joseph Mayer) was a theoretical physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 for her mathematical model for the structure of nuclear shells. After Marie Curie, she was the 2nd female Nobel laureate in physics. Her doctorate was on the two-photon absorption by atoms and today, the unit for this absorption is named the GM unit after her.

Robert Oppenheimer researched quantum mechanics. Oppenheimer developed Trinity, the first atomic bomb in the world. He was horrified by the effect and condemned further missions after he saw the effects of Hiroshima. One of the most famous scientists of the modern era.

Konrad Lorenz is still considered one of the most important behavioral researchers (anthropologist) of all time. After his experiments, mainly in graylag geese (Anser anser), in particular one goose named “Martina“, he established the concept of “imprinting“. Lorenz received the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his research.

Dirac was one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. He was autistic which explained his modest, socially awkward and reserved nature. Dirac established the most general theory of quantum mechanics. He predicted the existence of antimatter and discovered the relativistic equation for the wave function of the electron, known as the Dirac equation. In 1930 Dirac published “The Principles of Quantum Mechanics” which remains a standard textbook today. Dirac received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. In 1973 Dirac received the Order of Merit, having earlier refused a knighthood. One of the famous scientists of the 20th century.