p
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Gregory Pincus
Doctor, Biologist / 1903 - 1967
A pioneer in early hormonal and reproductive research, Gregory Pincus and his team of scientists are credited with formulating the first oral contraceptive for birth control.
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(1903-1967)
Doctor, Biologist
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Joseph Priestley
Philosopher, Minister, Theologian, Scientist / 1733 - 1804
John Priestly was a clergyman, political theorist, and scientist whose work advanced liberal political and religious thought and experimental chemistry.
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(1733-1804)
Philosopher, Minister, Theologian, Scientist
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Johannes Purkinje
Physicist / 1787 - 1869
Czech experimental physiologist Johannes Purkinje discovered the Purkinje effect, Purkinje cells and Purkinje fibers and first introduced the term protoplasm.
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(1787-1869)
Physicist
r
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Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Academic, Neurologist / 1852 - 1934
Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a Spanish histologist and professor whose work led to the discovery of neurons.
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(1852-1934)
Academic, Neurologist
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Walter Reed
Doctor, Scientist / 1851 - 1902
Walter Reed was a U.S. Army pathologist and bacteriologist who led the experiments that proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquito bite.
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(1851-1902)
Doctor, Scientist
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Ellen Richards
Scientist / 1842 - 1911
Chemist, sanitation engineer, and home economist Ellen Richards opened scientific education and professions to women when she started teaching at MIT in 1884.
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(1842-1911)
Scientist
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Sally Ride
Educator, Astronaut, Physicist / 1951 - 2012
In 1983, astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Ride died on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
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| Watch video
(1951-2012)
Educator, Astronaut, Physicist
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Peter Mark Roget
Scholar, Physicist, Academic Author, Publisher / 1779 - 1869
British scholar and physician Peter Mark Roget was best known for publishing Roget's Thesaurus in 1852 and helping to found the University of London.
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(1779-1869)
Scholar, Physicist, Academic Author, Publisher
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Al Roker
Meteorologist, News Anchor, Television Producer / 1954 -
Al Roker is a television personality, a weatherman for NBC's Today show, and a nine-time Emmy winner.
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(1954-)
Meteorologist, News Anchor, Television Producer
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Joseph Rotblat
Activist, Physicist, Journalist / 1908 - 2005
Physicist Joseph Rotblat participated in the Manhattan project. After the World War II, he devoted himself to peaceful applications of nuclear physics.
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(1908-2005)
Activist, Physicist, Journalist
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Ernest Rutherford
Physicist / 1871 - 1937
Physicist Ernest Rutherford was the central figure in the study of radioactivity who led the exploration of nuclear physics.
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(1871-1937)
Physicist
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Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
Physicist / 1845 - 1923
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a Nobel-winning German scientist who is credited with the discovery of X-rays.
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(1845-1923)
Physicist
s
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Florence Sabin
Educator, Biologist, Immunologist / 1871 - 1953
Medical researcher Florence Sabin was the first female to graduate from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1900. She studied the brain and tuberculosis.
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(1871-1953)
Educator, Biologist, Immunologist
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Oliver Sacks
Educator, Psychiatrist, Neurologist, Journalist / 1933 -
Neurologist Oliver Wolf Sacks wrote about his patients and their pathological conditions. His 1973 book Awakenings was made in to a film in 1990.
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(1933-)
Educator, Psychiatrist, Neurologist, Journalist
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Carl Sagan
Astronomer / 1934 - 1996
Carl Sagan was one of the most well-known scientists during the 1970s and ‘80s. He studied extraterrestrial intelligence and advocated for nuclear disarmament.
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(1934-1996)
Astronomer
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Jonas Salk
Doctor, Scientist / 1914 - 1995
Jonas Salk was an American physician and medical researcher who developed the first safe and effective vaccine for polio.
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(1914-1995)
Doctor, Scientist
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Frederick Sanger
Chemist / 1918 -
Frederick Sanger received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice. He discovered the structure of insulin and researched of DNA molecule sequencing.
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(1918-)
Chemist
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Erwin Schrödinger
Scholar, Physicist / 1887 - 1961
Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger contributed to the wave theory of matter and to other fundamentals of quantum mechanics.
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(1887-1961)
Scholar, Physicist
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William B Shockley
Physicist / 1910 - 1989
William Shockley was an engineer and co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956 for his development of the transistor.
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(1910-1989)
Physicist
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Richard E Smalley
Chemist / 1943 - 2005
Richard E. Smalley was an American chemist best known for discovering a new form of carbon, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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(1943-2005)
Chemist
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Roger W. Sperry
Academic, Biologist, Physiologist, Zoologist / 1913 - 1994
Roger W. Sperry was a 20th century scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research on brain hemispheres.
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(1913-1994)
Academic, Biologist, Physiologist, Zoologist
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Elizabeth Stern
Scientist / 1915 - 1980
Pathologist Elizabeth Stern tracked the 250 stages of a cell's progression from normal to cancerous, enabling early cancer screening.
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(1915-1980)
Scientist
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Leo Szilard
Physicist / 1898 - 1964
A student of such famed physicists as Albert Einstein and Max Planck, Leo Szilard was key in getting the United States to work on the atomic bomb.
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(1898-1964)
Physicist
t
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William Henry Fox Talbot
Photographer, Astronomer, Chemist, Physicist / 1800 - 1877
William Henry Fox Talbot was a chemist who was the first to develop the photographic negative.
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(1800-1877)
Photographer, Astronomer, Chemist, Physicist
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Edward Tatum
Scientist / 1909 - 1975
Biochemist Edward Tatum won the 1958 Nobel Prize for his research, which helped create the field of molecular genetics.
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(1909-1975)
Scientist
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Henry Taube
Academic, Chemist / 1915 - 2005
Henry Taube was the first Canadian-born scientist to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry for work in electron transfer reactions.
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(1915-2005)
Academic, Chemist
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Joseph H. Taylor Jr.
Astronomer, Physicist / 1941 -
American radio astronomer and physicist Joseph H. Taylor Jr. was the co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering the first binary pulsar.
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(1941-)
Astronomer, Physicist
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Hugo Theorell
Biologist / 1903 - 1982
Nobel prize winning biochemist Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell 's study of enzymes led to an understanding of how organisms use nutrients to make usable energy.
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(1903-1982)
Biologist
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J.J. Thomson
Academic, Physicist / 1856 - 1940
J.J. Thomson was a Nobel Prize winning physicist whose research led to the discovery of electrons.
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(1856-1940)
Academic, Physicist
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William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin of Largs
Physicist, Academic Author / 1824 - 1907
Lord Kelvin was an Irish physicist who developed a temperature scale based on absolute zero, named the Kelvin scale.
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(1824-1907)
Physicist, Academic Author
v
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Johannes Diederik van der Waals
Physicist / 1837 - 1923
Dutch physicist Johannes Diederik van der Waals was winner of the 1910 Nobel Prize for Physics for his research on the gaseous and liquid states of matter.
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(1837-1923)
Physicist
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J. Craig Venter
Entrepreneur, Biologist, Geneticist / 1946 -
J. Craig Venter is a scientist and businessperson whose gene-sequencing process led to a decoding of the human genome.
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(1946-)
Entrepreneur, Biologist, Geneticist
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Rudolf Virchow
Academic, Doctor, Political Leader, Biologist / 1821 - 1902
Rudolf Virchow was a German pathologist and statesman, widely credited for his advancements in public health, particularly with his cell theory.
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(1821-1902)
Academic, Doctor, Political Leader, Biologist
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Wernher von Braun
Engineer, Scientist / 1912 - 1977
Wernher von Braun was a German engineer who worked on rocket technology, first for Germany and then for the United States.
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(1912-1977)
Engineer, Scientist
w
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Samuel Waksal
Business Leader, White Collar Criminal, Doctor, Immunologist / 1947 -
Samuel Waksal is best known for being the CEO of ImClone Systems convicted for fraud and insider trading in 2003.
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(1947-)
Business Leader, White Collar Criminal, Doctor, Immunologist
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J. Robin Warren
Medical Professional, Scientist / 1937 -
J. Robin Warren is a Nobel Prize-winning pathologist who, with Barry J. Marshall, identified the bacteria that causes ulcers.
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(1937-)
Medical Professional, Scientist
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James D. Watson
Academic, Biologist, Geneticist, Zoologist / 1928 -
James D. Watson is a Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist and researcher credited with co-discovering the double-helix structure of DNA.
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(1928-)
Academic, Biologist, Geneticist, Zoologist
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Steven Weinberg
Academic, Physicist / 1933 -
Steven Weinberg is a U.S. physicist and Nobel laureate who contributed to work on the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles.
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(1933-)
Academic, Physicist
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James West
Inventor, Scientist / 1931 -
James West is an American inventor who developed the foil electret microphone, now used in 90 percent of all contemporary microphones, in 1962.
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(1931-)
Inventor, Scientist
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George Westinghouse
Inventor, Scientist / 1846 - 1914
George Westinghouse is best known for his inventions and the development of his company, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing.
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(1846-1914)
Inventor, Scientist
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Fred Whipple
Astronomer / 1906 - 2004
Fred Whipple was a Solar System expert. His “dirty snowball” theory, which said comets are composed of ice and dirt, was confirmed in 1986.
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(1906-2004)
Astronomer
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Jeffrey Wigand
Activist, Chemist / 1942 -
Jeffrey Wigand became famous in the 1990s when he took public his knowledge that cigarette companies had tried to conceal the dangers of smoking.
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(1942-)
Activist, Chemist
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Harvey Washington Wiley
Activist, Chemist, Writer / 1844 - 1930
Harvey Washington Wiley was an American chemist known as the "Father of the FDA." Throughout much of his career, Wiley campaigned for reforms in food manufacturing and in food labeling.
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(1844-1930)
Activist, Chemist, Writer
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Edward O. Wilson
Biologist / 1929 -
Edward O. Wilson is the world's foremost expert on ants, and proponent of sociobiology, which explores the genetic basis of social behavior.
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(1929-)
Biologist
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Robert Woodrow Wilson
Astronomer, Physicist / 1936 -
Robert Woodrow Wilson is an American radio astronomer and physicist best known for the discovery that supported the big bang model of creation.
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(1936-)
Astronomer, Physicist
y
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Rosalyn S. Yalow
Academic, Physicist / 1921 -
Rosalyn S. Yalow was a Nobel Prize-winning medical physicist who conducted groundbreaking research on type II diabetes.
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(1921-)
Academic, Physicist
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Chen Ning Yang
Academic, Physicist / 1922 -
Chinese-American physicist Chen Ning Yang was co-awarded the 1957 Nobel prize for work on parity nonconservation of weak interaction.
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(1922-)
Academic, Physicist
z
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Ahmed H. Zewail
Educator, Chemist / 1946 -
Chemist Ahmed H. Zewail won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing a rapid laser technique that let scientists study atoms during chemical reactions.
See full bio
(1946-)
Educator, Chemist