Scientists and Inventors

Scientists and their Contributions to Science

André-Marie Ampère 1775 – 1836.

Discovered that wires carrying electric current can attract and repel magnetically; founded electromagnetic theory.

Alexander Graham Bell 1847 – 1922.

Inventor of the metal detector, the telephone, and the photophone – the first device to carry the human voice using light.

Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691.

He defined elements, compounds and mixtures; and he discovered the first gas law – Boyle’s Law.

James Chadwick 1891 – 1974.

Discovered the neutron and led the British scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project.

Nicolaus Copernicus 1473 to 1543.

Started the scientific revolution with his book The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, explaining his belief that the solar system is centered on the sun not on the earth.

Charles Darwin 1809 – 1882.

Authored one of the most famous books in history, On the Origin of Species, in which he described and provided evidence for the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Albert Einstein 1879 – 1955.

Einstein’s theories of special & general relativity delivered a remarkable transformation in our understanding of light, gravity and time, while special relativity yielded the most famous equation in history, E = mc². Einstein explained the photoelectric effect and provided powerful evidence that atoms and molecules actually exist.

Michael Faraday 1791 – 1867.

Discovered electromagnetic induction; devised Faraday’s laws of electrolysis; discovered the first experimental link between light and magnetism; carried out the first room-temperature liquefaction of a gas; discovered benzene.

Alexander Fleming 1881 – 1955.

Discovered penicillin and predicted the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Benjamin Franklin 1706 – 1790.

Franklin shaped our understanding of electricity, coined the electrical terms positive and negative, and invented the lightning rod

Galileo Galilei 1564 – 1642.

The father of modern science, Galileo discovered the first moons ever known to orbit another planet and that the Milky Way is made of stars.

Heinrich Hertz 1857 – 1894.

Discovered radio waves, proving James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism; Father of Frequency

Edwin Hubble 1889 – 1953.

Discovered there are galaxies beyond our own.

James Hutton 1726 – 1797.

Founded modern geology when he discovered how to interpret rocks. and which says that our world was shaped by natural processes such as erosion and deposition.

Johannes Kepler 1571 to 1630.

Discovered the solar system’s planets follow elliptical paths; showed that tides on the earth are caused mainly by the moon, Planetary Motion

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 1632 – 1723.

The father of microbiology, he used remarkable self-made lenses to discover single-celled animals and plants, bacteria, and spermatozoa.

Gregor Mendel 1822 – 1884.

Father of Genetics, Heredity

Dmitri Mendeleev 1834 – 1907.

Discovered the periodic table

Hans Christian Oersted 1777 – 1851.

Discovered electromagnetism when he found that electric current caused a nearby magnetic needle to move

Louis Pasteur 1822 – 1895.

The father of modern microbiology; established the germ theory of disease; invented food preservation by pasteurization.

Ernest Rutherford 1871 – 1937.

The father of nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics; discovered and named the atomic nucleus, the proton, the alpha particle and the beta particle.

Theodor Schwann 1810 – 1882.

Established that the cell is the basic unit of all living things; discovered the enzyme pepsin

Alessandro Volta 1745 – 1827.

invented the electric battery

James Watt 1736 – 1819.

Father of the industrial revolution; radically improved the steam engine; invented high pressure steam engines; independently discovered latent heat; invented the world’s first copying machine.

Alfred Wegener 1880 – 1930.

Discovered continental drift, proposing that our planet once consisted of ocean surrounding a single great continent he called Pangea that split apart over many millions of years to form the continents we see today.

Francis Crick and James Watson

Discovered the structure of the DNA molecule.

Johannes Gutenberg

Invented the printing press.

• The Wright Brothers- Invented the first airplane.

• Thomas Edison - Invented the light bulb, phonograph, and the motion picture.

• Astronomer - Studies the planets, stars, and galaxies.

• Botanist - Studies plant life.

• Chemist - Studies chemistry and the behavior, properties, and composition of matter.

• Cytologist - Studies cells.

• Ecologist - Studies the relationship between living organisms and the environment.

• Geneticist - Studies genes, DNA, and the hereditary characteristics of living organisms.

• Geologist - Studies the properties of matter that makes up Earth as well as the forces that shaped it.

• Marine biologist - Studies the living organisms that live in the ocean and other bodies of water.

• Microbiologist - Studies microscopic life forms such as bacteria and protists.

• Meteorologist - Studies the Earth's atmosphere including the weather.

• Nuclear physicist - Studies the interactions and make up of the atom.

• Ornithologist - Studies birds.

• Paleontologist - Studies prehistoric life and fossils including dinosaurs.

• Pathologist - Studies diseases caused by pathogens such as bacteria and viruses.

• Seismologist - Studies earthquakes and the movements of the Earth's crust.

• Zoologist - Studies animals.

Multiple Choice

Who said, "God does not play dice with the universe"?

• Albert Einstein

• Galileo

• Isaac Newton

• Elisha Otis

Multiple Choice

In which field did Marie Curie and her daughter Irene-Joliot Curie both win the Nobel Prize?

• chemistry

• geology

• Astronomy

• Environment

Multiple Choice

Who developed the theory of evolution?

• Charles Darwin

• Robert Boyle

• Alexander Fleming

• Gregor Mend

Multiple Choice

Which scientist is well known for his work with falling bodies?

• Christopher Colombus

• Galileo

• Aristotle

• Leonardo Da Vinci

Multiple Choice

For whom is the centigrade system of temperature measurement named?

• Newton
• Anders Celsius
• Fahrenheit
• Kelvin

Multiple Choice

Who is considered the "father" of the scientific method?

• Galileo

• Copernicus

• Isaac Newton

• Aristotle

Multiple Choice

Who is the Father of Genetics?

• Isaac Newton
• Albert Einstein
• Charles Darwin
• Gregor Mendel

Multiple Choice

The father of modern science

• Isaac Newton
• Albert Einstein
• Nikola Tesla
• Galileo Galilei

Multiple Choice

Discovered cells and wrote one of the most significant books in scientific history, Micrographia

• Johannes Kepler
• Galileo Galilei
• Isaac Newton
• Robert Hooke

Multiple Choice

His laws of planetary motion led Newton to his law of gravitation

• Galileo's laws of planetary motion
• Kepler's laws of planetary motion
• Darwin's laws of planetary motion
• Einstein's laws of planetary motion

Multiple Choice

The father of microbiology, he used remarkable self-made lenses to discover single-celled animals and plants, bacteria, and spermatozoa.

• Robert Hooke
• Louis Pasteur
• Alexander Fleming
• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Multiple Choice

Discovered the periodic table of elements.

• Isaac Newton
• Dmitri Mendeleev
• Marie Curie
• Albert Einstein

Multiple Choice

law of universal gravitation and laws of motion

• Isaac Newton
• Nikola Tesla
• Galileo Galilei
• Albert Einstein

Multiple Choice

The father of modern microbiology

• Alexander Fleming
• Louis Pasteur
• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
• Robert Koch

Multiple Choice

The father of nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics

• Ernest Rutherford
• Niels Bohr
• Albert Einstein
• Marie Curie

Multiple Choice

invented the electric battery

• Alessandro Volta
• Benjamin Franklin
• Nikola Tesla
• Thomas Edison

Multiple Choice

Discovered continental drift, proposing that our planet once consisted of ocean surrounding a single great continent he called Pangea

• Charles Darwin
• Marie Curie
• Isaac Newton
• Alfred Wegener

Multiple Choice

Discovered that wires carrying electric current can attract and repel magnetically; founded electromagnetic theory.

• André-Marie Ampère

• Isaac Newton
• Nikola Tesla
• Marie Curie

Multiple Choice

Studies prehistoric life and fossils including dinosaurs

• Geologist
• Astronomer
• Botanist
• Paleontologist

Multiple Choice

Studies the living organisms that live in the ocean and other bodies of water.

• marine biology
• water biology
• oceanography
• aquatic biology

Multiple Choice

Studies birds.

• Zoologist
• Botanist
• Geologist
• Ornithologist

Multiple Choice

Studies earthquakes and the movements of the Earth's crust.

• Geology
• Meteorology
• Astronomy
• Seismology

Multiple Choice

Studies chemistry and the behavior, properties, and composition of matter.

• Biology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Geography

Multiple Choice

Studies microscopic life forms such as bacteria and protists.

• Virologist
• Botanist
• Zoologist
• Microbiologist

Multiple Choice

Studies the Earth's atmosphere including the weather.

• Astronomy
• Meteorology
• Geology
• Biology

Multiple Choice

Studies the planets, stars, and galaxies.

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Astronomy
• Geology

Multiple Choice

Studies genes, DNA, and the hereditary characteristics of living organisms.

• Physics
• Biology
• Genetics
• Chemistry

Multiple Choice

Studies the relationship between living organisms and the environment.

• Ecology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology

Multiple Choice

Branch of physics that studies the interactions and make up of the atom.

• Quantum Mechanics
• Nuclear Physics
• Particle Physics
• Atomic Physics

Multiple Choice

Studies the properties of matter that makes up Earth as well as the forces that shaped it.

• Meteorology
• Astronomy
• Botany
• Geology

Multiple Choice

Studies cells.

• biology
• chemistry
• cytology
• physics

Multiple Choice

Branch of physics that studies diseases caused by pathogens such as bacteria and viruses

• Pathology

• Botany
• Zoology
• Virology