Blog Posts Tagged Featured Scientists
Happy Birthday, Angelo Moriondo
How we brew espresso today is largely influenced by an inventor from the 1800s, who recognized the need to provide quick coffee service.
Happy Birthday, Charles F. Brush
Learn about the most famous inventions of Charles F. Brush, the American engineer who is known for his advancements in electric lighting and powering wind turbines.
Happy Birthday, Ludwig Boltzmann
Learn about the life and work of Ludwig Boltzmann, the nineteenth-century physicist who had a large role in the advancement of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
Happy Birthday, Robert Ledley
The first full-body CT scanner model can be found in the National Museum of American History, located in Washington, D.C. Read about the physicist who designed it here.
Happy Birthday, David Crosthwait
Fun fact: The original HVAC system for Rockefeller Center in New York City was designed by David Crosthwait, an engineer with 100+ patents.
Happy Birthday, Oliver Heaviside
At the age of 16, Oliver Heaviside’s formal education came to an end. However, he went on to discover the first coaxial cable, the modern Maxwell’s equations, and the Kennelly–Heaviside layer.
Happy Birthday, Norbert Rillieux
Sugar has been around for centuries, but the revolution in sugar processing occurred less than 200 years ago. Learn about the life and work of the engineer behind this revolution.
Happy Birthday, Ralph Fowler
During his career, Ralph Fowler supervised 64 doctoral students at Cambridge University, 3 of whom would become Nobel laureates.
Happy Birthday, Joseph Petzval
In 1840, this Hungarian physicist introduced a lens design that could gather more than 20 times as much light as lenses used in earlier cameras.
5 Fun Facts to Celebrate Fibonacci Day
Fun fact: The Fibonacci sequence can be found in flowers, pine cones, tree branches, and shells.
Möbius Strips: Where Math Meets Art
The Möbius strip was simultaneously and independently discovered by two German mathematicians in the 1850s. Today, this one-sided object is found in tools, art, nature, and more.
Happy Birthday, Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant
The shallow water equations, a derivation of the Navier–Stokes equations, and Saint-Venant’s principle can all be credited to French physicist Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant.
Happy Birthday, Egon Orowan
Egon Orowan found that the theory of dislocations could be used to explain the plastic deformation of ductile materials. He also studied geological fracture, munitions production, and more.
Happy Birthday, John Sealy Townsend
From fluorescent light bulbs and Geiger counters to plasma televisions and semiconductor manufacturing, Townsend discharge has many important applications. Who discovered this phenomenon?
Happy Birthday, Joseph Fourier
From heat conduction and the Fourier series to the greenhouse effect and Fourier transform, Joseph Fourier’s research has many implications in the modern world.
Happy Birthday, Claude-Louis Navier
When you hear the name Navier, you probably think of fluid flow or the Navier–Stokes equations. But did you know that Claude-Louis Navier worked as a bridge designer and civil engineer?
Happy Birthday, Friedrich Paschen
Friedrich Paschen dedicated his life to experimentation. Today, we use Paschen’s law to understand how electric current flows through gas.
2020 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize Awarded to Nader Engheta
Get an overview of the Isaac Newton Medal and Prize — and the optical physicist who won this year.
5 W’s for 200 Years of Electromagnetism
Fun fact: Hans Christian Ørsted originally studied pharmacology and philosophy before he went on to discover the connection between electricity and magnetism.
Happy Birthday, Marie Van Brittan Brown
Today, home security is a billion dollar industry that relies on smart devices. However, it all started with a nurse who wanted to feel safer in her home in Queens, New York.
Happy Birthday, Henry Cavendish
Did you know that the element hydrogen was originally called “inflammable air” upon its discovery by Henry Cavendish because of how easily it burns? Learn more about the chemist and physicist…
Happy Birthday, Arne Tiselius
The “Tiselius Apparatus” could help determine the isoelectric point, molecular weight, and physical properties of proteins. Learn about the “Father of Electrophoresis” and his accomplishments.
A Tour of the Famous Scientists Laid to Rest in Göttingen City Cemetery
Take a tour through the history of science at the historic Stadtfriedhof city cemetery in Göttingen, Germany, to learn about some of the greatest scientific heroes of the twentieth century.
Happy Birthday, Alice Ball
Alice Ball studied the chemical makeup of chaulmoogra oil to develop a treatment for leprosy. She is also the first African American, and first woman, to graduate from the University of Hawaii.
