The Landscape of the Science in the History (3)

Guglielmo Marconi was a pioneer of radio technology. Using evidence of electromagnetic waves and antennas from the Russian Popov, Marconi built the first wireless radio link. Guglielmo Marconi received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Ernest Rutherford identified three types of radioactivity in 1903; alpha, beta and gamma rays. Rutherford discovered the “photoelectric effect” and performed the first artificial nuclear disintegration. This earned Rutherford the 1933 Chemistry Nobel Prize. One of the most famous scientists of all time.

Fritz Haber is both an infamous and famous scientist! In 1918 Haber received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this part in the invention of the Haber–Bosch process which enhanced food production. On the downside he is known as the “father of chemical warfare” because he weaponized poison gases used in WWI and created ammonia synthesis used to manufacture explosives.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt was a human “computer” at the Harvard College Observatory. She examined photographic plates to catalog and measure the brightness of stars. Leavitt discovered a relationship between the luminosity and period of Cepheid variables. This made the stars the first “standard candle” in astronomy, known as “Leavitt’s law” today. Scientists use Leavitt’s law to compute distances to remote galaxies which are too remote for parallax observations. Hubble used Leavitt’s luminosity–period relationship together with Vesto Slipher’s galactic spectral shifts to formulate Hubble’s law to establish the universe is expanding.

Marie Curie (or Marie Skłodowska Curie, born Maria Salomea Skłodowska) was born in Poland and became French later. Her work led to the development of X-rays. The first chemical element she discovered was polonium, which she named after her native country. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and to do so in two categories: Physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911. When she died from aplastic anemia, caused by her frequent exposure to radiation, she was also the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Panthéon in Paris. One of the most famous scientists and of all time.

In 1966 Alois Alzheimer published a famous study “An unusual illness of the cerebral cortex“. He had previously found protein deposits in the brain of his “demented” patient, Auguste from the insane asylum at Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Annie Jump Cannon was a famous astronomer for the “Harvard Classification Scheme” which classified stars based on their temperatures and spectral types. She classified over 300,000 stellar bodies, more than any other person, which earned her the nickname “Census Taker of the Sky”. In 1925 Cannon became the first female recipient of an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. In 1929 Annie Jump Cannon was chosen by the League of Women Voters as one of the “greatest living American women” and in 1994 Cannon was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

David Hilbert reduced geometry to a series of axioms. Hilbert is most famous for his list of the 23 big “problems of mathematics” (his 24th was found later) in 1900. Many of the 23 have since been solved by other famous scientists.

Max Planck assumed that energy is radiated as so-called quantum (i.e. not as a stream but in packets), and thus founded quantum theory. This states that the size of an energy packet is proportional to the number of oscillations (multiplied by the constant factor h). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1918. One of the most famous scientists of all time.

Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of electromagnetic waves, as predicted by James Maxwell’s equations. Hertz conducted ground-breaking research on electromagnetic waves. The Hertz unit of frequency is named after him.

Sigmund Freud is considered the father of “psychoanalysis“. Sexual drive and death primarily drive our behavior, somewhere in the middle are “displacement“, the “subconscious“, the “ego” and “superego” as well as neuroses.

Nikola Tesla developed the first Alternating Current (AC) system. As an inventor Tesla developed wireless lighting and tried to set up a worldwide wireless electric power distribution network but it ran out of funds. Tesla was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937.

Thompson discovered the free electron by his research into cathode rays in 1897. He also discovered that ions and electrons are the charge carriers in electrical discharges in gases. 1906 Nobel Prize for Physics. One of the most famous scientists of all time.

Emil von Behring was a student of Robert Koch’s. He found an antitoxin healing agent against diphtheria in the form of iodine trichloride. Treated patients were subsequently immune against diphtheria. Behring then used their blood to produce a serum.

Paul Ehrlich was the founder of chemotherapy and researcher into immunity and serum therapy. He examined corpuscles and in his theory of “side-chains” discovered the formation of antibodies. Paul Ehrlich also found the cause of sleeping sickness and syphilis as well as the first effective agent “Salvarsan” against syphilis.

Wilhelm Ostwald experimented with acids, salts and bases, explored their conductivity and reaction rates, and in doing so discovered affinity constants “Ostwald’s Law of Dilution“. The famous chemist also worked extensively with fuel cells and catalysts. In 1909 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work.

Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity when putting uranium salts on a photographic plate, which then turned black. He found out that uranium emits radiation naturally and earned the Nobel Prize in 1903 for his work.

Albert Michelson was the first person to measure the speed of light with electrical equipment around 1930. He had already developed a system for measuring light waves named after him “Michelson interferometer” for which he was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize for physics.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a brain researcher who discovered the central nervous system consists of billions of neurons which communicate via so-called synapses. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his insight in 1906. One of Spain’s most famous scientists.

Ramsay discovered the noble gases argon, krypton, xenon and neon, and, during the decay of radon, observed the formation of helium. He found a method for determining atomic weights. In 1904 he received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Ivan Pavlov famously conditioned dogs by ringing a bell before giving them food. After a time, they salivated as soon as they heard the bell. Based on his research he wrote the doctrine of “conditioned reflex“, whose nervous activity can also be applied to humans.

Thomas Edison was self-taught and only attended school for three months. He ran experiments and developed many inventions including a film recording device, microphone and gramophone, all of which he financed himself. Edison became one of the most famous scientists for inventing the first light bulb, using a thread of carbon.