Artists & Writers
Painters, poets, and storytellers of the human soul.
records written
Modern era
Donald Knuth
b. January 10, 1938
American computer scientist and mathematician (born 1938)
Modern era
Dennis Ritchie
September 9, 1941 – October 12, 2011
American computer scientist, co-inventor of the Unix operating system and the C programming language (1941–2011)
Modern era
Edward Teller
January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003
Hungarian-American Jewish nuclear physicist (1908–2003)
Modern era
Murray Gell-Mann
September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019
American physicist (1929–2019)
Modern era
Steven Weinberg
May 3, 1933 – July 23, 2021
American theoretical physicist (1933-2021)
Modern era
Jack Kilby
November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005
American electrical engineer (1923–2005)
Modern era
Kip Thorne
b. June 1, 1940
American physicist (born 1940)
Contemporary era
Michio Kaku
b. January 24, 1947
U.S.-American theoretical physicist, futurist and author (1947-)
Modern era
Fred Hoyle
June 24, 1915 – August 20, 2001
British astronomer (1915–2001)
Medieval era
Al-Jazari
1164 – 1206
Mathematician and engineer from Jazira, Artuqid State (1164–1206)
Early Modern era
Jons Jacob Berzelius
August 20, 1779 – August 7, 1848
Swedish chemist (1779–1848)
Modern era
Otto Hahn
March 8, 1879 – July 28, 1968
German chemist and physicist (1879-1968)
Modern era
Leo Baekeland
November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944
Belgium American inventor (1863-1944)
Modern era
William Osler
July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919
Canadian physician and co-founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital (1849–1919)
Modern era
Christiaan Barnard
November 8, 1922 – September 2, 2001
South African cardiac surgeon
Modern era
E. O. Wilson
June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021
American biologist, naturalist, and writer (1929–2021)
Modern era
Stephen Jay Gould
September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002
American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)
Modern era
Richard Dawkins
b. March 26, 1941
English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author (born 1941)
Modern era
Konrad Lorenz
November 7, 1903 – February 27, 1989
Austrian zoologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 (1903–1989)
Modern era
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004
Swiss-American psychiatrist and pioneer in near-death studies (1926-2004)
Modern era
Oliver Sacks
July 9, 1933 – August 30, 2015
British neurologist and writer (1933–2015)
Contemporary era
Temple Grandin
b. August 29, 1947
American doctor of animal science, author, and autism activist
Modern era
Francis Bacon (philosopher)
October 28, 1909 – April 28, 1992
Irish-born British figurative painter (1909–1992)
Early Modern era
Daniel Defoe
September 13, 1660 – April 24, 1731
English trader, writer, and journalist (1660–1731)
Early Modern era
Jonathan Swift
November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745
Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist (1667–1745)
Early Modern era
John Bunyan
November 28, 1628 – August 31, 1688
English Christian writer and preacher (1628-1688)
Early Modern era
Alexander Pope
May 21, 1688 – May 30, 1744
English poet (1688–1744)
Early Modern era
Samuel Johnson
September 18, 1709 – December 13, 1784
English writer and lexicographer (1709–1784)
Modern era
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882
American poet and educator (1807–1882)
Modern era
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
August 6, 1809 – October 6, 1892
British Poet Laureate (1809–1892)
Modern era
Robert Browning
May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889
English poet and playwright (1812–1889)
Modern era
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861
English poet (1806–1861)
Modern era
Anne Bronte
January 17, 1820 – May 28, 1849
British novelist and poet (1820-1849)
Modern era
William Makepeace Thackeray
July 18, 1811 – December 24, 1863
British novelist (1811–1863)
Modern era
Joseph Conrad
December 3, 1857 – August 3, 1924
Polish-British writer (1857–1924)
Modern era
Henry James
April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916
American and British writer (1843–1916)
Modern era
Edith Wharton
January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937
American writer and designer (1862–1937)
Modern era
Willa Cather
December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947
American writer (1873–1947)
Modern era
D. H. Lawrence
September 11, 1885 – March 2, 1930
English writer and poet (1885–1930)
Modern era
E. M. Forster
January 1, 1879 – June 7, 1970
English novelist (1879-1970)
Modern era
Henrik Ibsen
March 20, 1828 – May 23, 1906
Norwegian playwright and theatre director (1828–1906)
Modern era
George Bernard Shaw
July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950
Irish playwright, critic, and polemicist (1856–1950)
Modern era
W. H. Auden
February 21, 1907 – September 29, 1973
British-American poet (1907–1973)
Modern era
Dylan Thomas
October 27, 1914 – November 9, 1953
Welsh poet and writer (1914–1953)
Modern era
Wilfred Owen
March 18, 1893 – November 4, 1918
English poet and soldier (1893-1918)
Modern era
Seamus Heaney
April 13, 1939 – August 30, 2013
Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer (1939–2013)
Modern era
Jack London
January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916
American author, journalist and social activist (1876–1916)
Modern era
Upton Sinclair
September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968
American writer (1878–1968)
Modern era
Gertrude Stein
February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946
American author (1874–1946)
Modern era
e. e. cummings
October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962
American author (1894–1962)
Modern era
Dorothy Parker
August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967
American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist (1893-1967)
Modern era
Truman Capote
September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984
American writer (1924-1984)
Modern era
J. D. Salinger
January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010
American author (1919–2010)
Modern era
Joseph Heller
May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999
American writer
Modern era
Flannery O'Connor
March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964
American writer (1925–1964)
Modern era
Ralph Ellison
March 1, 1914 – April 16, 1994
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Modern era
Alice Walker
b. February 9, 1944
American author and activist (born 1944)
Modern era
Joan Didion
December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021
American writer (1934-2021)
Modern era
Susan Sontag
January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004
American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist (1933–2004)
Modern era
Hunter S. Thompson
July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005
American journalist and author (1937–2005)