12 GREAT SCIENTISTS IN HISTORY AND THEIR SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES
The greatest and famous scientists in the world created theories and objects that allow us to live as we do today. The discoveries of great scientists and their exaggerated passion for knowledge allowed the development and evolution of science.
But who were these people? How did they come about and what were your greatest discoveries? That's what we're going to tell you in this article that tells the story of the most famous scientists of all time and their inventions.
1. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
albert einstein
Everyone has heard of the German physicist and mathematician Albert Einstein. His name is synonymous with genius and to this day he is considered one of the greatest scientists in the world.
He was not an ordinary boy: he learned to speak only at the age of four and was considered a bad student by his teachers, because he had difficulty formulating sentences and did not pay attention in class (in fact, Einstein was bored with the content).
At the age of twenty-six, he published one of his greatest discoveries, the Theory of Special Relativity. The revolution in the world of science at the time (1925) was so great that the year became known as The Miraculous Year.
In addition to explaining how space and time are related and how they are relative (contrary to Galileo's idea that they were absolute), Einstein also proved the existence of the atom and created the law of the photoelectric effect, for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1921.
Read more about Einstein in his full biography.
2. Marie Curie (1867 - 1934)
marie curie
Have you ever noticed that on virtually every list of the world's most famous scientists, Marie Curie appears as one of the only women? This is why her contribution to the world of physics was so important that she managed to outdo the male figures of the time and even received the Nobel Prize twice, being the first person to achieve such a feat.
Born Marya Sklodowska Curie, Poland, daughter of a professor of physics and mathematics and a pianist, Marie took on the French spelling of her name when she managed to move to Paris, after graduating in medicine (at a clandestine Polish university that accepted women) to study at the famous Sorbonne.
When he was twenty-eight he met Pierre Curie, who worked in electrical and magnetic research , it was with him that he won his first Nobel, for the discovery of two chemical elements: polonium and radium.
After the death of her husband, tragically killed in a hit-and-run, Marie got the attention of the scientific community. In 1911, aged forty-four, she won her second Nobel for studies related to radioactivity (until then no one had used that term), she was appointed director of the Institute of Radium in Paris and founded the Curie Institute. She was also the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne.
Learn more about the scientist's trajectory in her complete biography.
3. Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)
Charles Darwin
The English naturalist who founded modern biology was born in England and was the son of a doctor, and since he was a little boy he was interested in the field of Natural Sciences.
He dropped out of medical school to become a pastor and, at the age of twenty-two, he embarked on an expedition traveling for five years on a ship where he developed his studies in the fields of natural history and began to write the Theory of Evolution. , which he would only publish at the age of fifty.
On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 and stated that animals evolved through selection in nature. Whoever was stronger and managed to adapt stayed alive and progressed. The book sold out in one day and created a stir in the scientific community at the time.
With fragile health, Darwin almost never left the house and spent a lot of time dedicated to his studies, having published nine other books involving the theme of evolution. Today he is seen as one of the most influential scientists in the world, influencing all of biology with his evolutionary theories.
Learn more about Darwin and his trajectory through the complete biography.
4. Stephen Hawking (1942 - 2018)
stephen hawking
Modern physics would not be the same without the charisma and intelligence of Stephen William Hawking, an English scientist who became a celebrity of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The son of a physician father and a philosopher mother, Hawking was a child prodigy who, as a child, built his own toys. He never liked math because it was too easy. His interest in physics and astronomy led him to study physics at Oxford University at the age of seventeen.
Despite being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of twenty-one and knowing that his movements would be lost with time, Stephen continued his studies and developed some of the most important theories in modern physics.
Among his most brilliant discoveries is the singularity theorem, which explains how the phenomena of black holes originated the world as we know it, including us human beings. His simple and uncomplicated way of communicating (even speaking only through a computer), and friendliness won over millions of fans around the world, making him the most popular and important modern scientist in the world.
Want to know more about Hawking's trajectory? Access his complete biography.
5. Max Planck (1858 - 1947)
Max Planck
Born in Germany into a family of judges, scientists and theologians, Karl Ernst Ludwig Marx Planck was a talented boy for music and physics, having received the title of Doctor of Philosophy at just twenty-one years old.
Working as a professor at several German universities during his lifetime, Max continued his studies on electromagnetic radiation, and that's how it evolved into his theory that energy was produced in packets (called quanta), that's how Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, ten years later, could originate the quantum theory.
For the birth of quantum physics, Planck was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics. One of the curiosities about his life is that the scientist tried to convince Hitler to give freedom to the Jews, without success. One of his sons was even executed accused of trying to assassinate the Nazi leader.
Learn more about Planck through his full biography.
6. Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727)
isaac newton
Born in England and raised by grandparents Sir Isaac Newton also performed experiments as a child.
After graduating in arts from the University of Cambridge, he was encouraged by a professor to develop his skills in mathematics and at just twenty-four he was already teaching at the university where he graduated.
His discoveries and scientific revolutions were so many that it is difficult to name the most important ones, but we cannot fail to mention the laws of mechanics, the theory of universal gravitation, the composition of light, the construction of the first telescope, the laws of motion (known as Newton's Three Laws), among others.
His passion for knowledge and science earn him a place among the greatest thinkers of all time, the father of modern science.
Want to know more about Newton? Read his full biography here.
7. Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)
louis pasteur
If today it is possible to combat some bacterial infections with relative ease, this is due to the French scientist, chemist and bacteriologist Louis Pasteur.
Despite having graduated in Literature, Pasteur discovered a passion in science, chemistry and especially in biology, and helped save millions of lives with his ideas.
Pasteur proved that germs give rise to most infectious diseases, that asepsis and sterilization were essential to prevent the spread of disease, and also created the rabies vaccine and the theory of biogenesis, his most famous idea, which proved that microorganisms in the air infected matter. Much has changed in biology and even today the pasteurization method is used to prevent infection by microorganisms/bacteria in food.
Want to know more about Pasteur? It's all there in his full bio.
8. Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)
thomas edison
If today the symbol of new ideas and creativity is a light bulb, it is thanks to Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor who patented the creation of the light bulb.
Thomas had no formal education, as he was considered rebellious, and was educated at home by his mother. This allowed the boy to dedicate himself to science, a subject he was really interested in. He had a laboratory at home when he was only twelve years old. A little over forty years old, he had already registered approximately one thousand inventions and created his company, current General Electric.
Despite being known for inventing the light bulb, Edson used to buy the rights from the real inventors and made a business out of it. However, this fact does not detract from the scientist who, among other devices, created the phonograph, the movie camera, the electric car battery and the electric pen (currently used to make tattoos).
Learn more about GE's founder in his full biography.
9. Werner Heisenberg (1901 - 1976)
Werner Heisenberg
The German Heinsenberg was the son of a language teacher, but he was always interested in the world of physics, entering the University of Munich to study the subject when he was nineteen years old. Three years later, he had already obtained his doctorate in physics.
His career was made in physics teaching, research and direction of institutes focused on the subject that he directed for several years.
Known as one of the founders of quantum mechanics, his best known theory is the uncertainty principle, which states that it is impossible to determine the position and trajectory of a particle at the same time, because when we discover one we interfere with the other.
The physicist was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1932 for "the creation of quantum mechanics, whose application made possible, among others, the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen".
10. Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943)
nikola tesla
Switching channels via remote control from the comfort of a sofa is now possible thanks to the Austrian inventor Nikola Tesla, responsible for fundamental technological discoveries for today's everyday life, and other strange ones.
Nikola was trained by his father to exercise his reasoning since he was a child and his maternal family was inventors. When he was young, he entered the course of electrical engineering, but did not finish. Even so, he began his career as an engineer.
After discovering the rotating magnetic field, fundamental in physics and devices that use alternating currents, he was invited to work at Thomas Edison's company.
Edison x Tesla current war is very famous in the scientific field, and with bad consequences for both sides, but let's focus on Tesla's inventions: laser technology, wireless communication, neon lights, remote controls, cell phones, the radio, the ignition system that starts cars, among others.
Considered a wronged genius of science, Tesla, after numerous battles against Edison and a fame destroyed by slander, died alone and indebted in the hotel room where he lived in New York.
Want to know more about Tesla? Then read his full biography.
11. Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Galilean galilei
The Italian Galileo Galilei was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer and philosopher who, so revolutionary in his ideas, was considered crazy, heretic, and condemned by the church to live alone and isolated at home, denying his inventions.
It was when he was studying medicine at the University of Pisa, at the age of twenty, that his first famous invention took place: the theories that allowed the construction of the pendulum clock. Afterwards, unable to pay for the course, he had to continue his studies alone at home, dedicating himself to mathematics, physics and astronomy .
Among his most incredible discoveries are: the improvement of the telescope, which allowed him to prove that the Earth was not the center of the universe and revolved around the sun (Heliocentric Theory), and not the other way around as the church preached at the time. This discovery ended up leading him to be judged by the church to life imprisonment, which Galilei ended up dying nine years later, at home.
Learn more about the genius who altered everyone's perception of the universe through his full biography.
12. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686 - 1736)
daniel fahrenheit
Imagine a world where we couldn't measure the temperature of things, know when it's too hot, too cold, which is the ideal body temperature, food preparation and so on. It is because of the German physicist, inventor of the "mercury expansion thermometer" and the "Fahrenheit Scale" that these things are possible today.
His life was basically dedicated to the manufacture of hygrometers, thermometers and other precision tools. Although the invention of the thermometer was originally attributed to Galileo Galilei, it was Fahrenheit who managed to make accurate measurement and transformation of physical studies into an instrument that is still used today in some countries.
I want to say in a few words that intelligence will always be something that starts from nothing with everything and that it will always go to the extreme because science has no limits and that there will always be a logic for different theories and I want to congratulate those great people who have shown that the soul has value and created the best things in life and the best thing is to create something satisfying that makes us better live and deeply understand life and thank you to all of the writer and scientist Roberto Barros!
By: Roberto Barros