Artists & Writers

Modern era

Charles Darwin

February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882

Naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection transformed biology

Modern era

Albert Einstein

March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955

Theoretical physicist who reshaped our understanding of space, time, and energy

Modern era

Ada Lovelace

December 10, 1815 – November 27, 1852

Mathematician who wrote the first computer program a century early

Contemporary era

Rosalind Franklin

July 25, 1920 – April 16, 1958

Chemist whose X-ray images revealed the structure of DNA

Early Modern era

Tycho Brahe

December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601

Danish astronomer and alchemist, 1546–1601

Modern era

Carl Sagan

November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996

American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934–1996)

Contemporary era

Neil deGrasse Tyson

b. October 5, 1958

American astrophysicist and science communicator

Early Modern era

Leonhard Euler

April 15, 1707 – September 18, 1783

Swiss mathematician, physicist, and engineer (1707–1783)

Early Modern era

Carl Friedrich Gauss

April 30, 1777 – February 23, 1855

German mathematician and physicist (1777–1855)

Medieval era

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

980 CE – June 18, 1037

Persian polymath whose Canon of Medicine taught Europe for 600 years

Early Modern era

Michael Faraday

September 22, 1791 – August 25, 1867

British scientist (1791–1867)

Modern era

James Clerk Maxwell

June 13, 1831 – November 5, 1879

Scottish physicist (1831–1879)

Early Modern era

Robert Hooke

July 18, 1635 – March 3, 1703

English natural philosopher, architect and polymath (1635 — 1703)

Modern era

Werner Heisenberg

December 5, 1901 – February 1, 1976

German theoretical physicist and nobel prize winner (1901–1976)

Modern era

Erwin Schrodinger

August 12, 1887 – January 4, 1961

Austrian physicist (1887–1961)

Modern era

Richard Feynman

May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988

American theoretical physicist (1918–1988)

Modern era

Alfred Nobel

October 21, 1833 – December 10, 1896

Swedish chemist and inventor (1833–1896)

Modern era

Santiago Ramon y Cajal

May 1, 1852 – October 17, 1934

Spanish scientist (1852-1934)

Modern era

Sigmund Freud

May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939

Founder of psychoanalysis and cartographer of the unconscious

Modern era

Carl Jung

July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961

Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (1875–1961)

Medieval era

Paracelsus

November 10, 1493 – September 24, 1541

Swiss physician, philosopher, theologian, and alchemist (c. 1493–1541)

Modern era

Robert Koch

December 11, 1843 – May 27, 1910

German physician, bacteriologist (1843–1910)

Modern era

Elizabeth Blackwell

February 3, 1821 – May 31, 1910

American physician, abolitionist, women's rights activist (1821-1910)

Modern era

Frederick Banting

November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941

Canadian medical scientist and doctor (1891-1941)

Modern era

Rachel Carson

May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964

American marine biologist and conservationist (1907–1964)

Modern era

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

April 9, 1806 – September 15, 1859

British mechanical and civil engineer (1806-1859)

Early Modern era

Samuel Morse

April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872

American inventor and painter (1791–1872)

Modern era

Wilbur Wright

April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912

American aviation pioneer (1867-1912)

Modern era

Hedy Lamarr

November 9, 1914 – January 19, 2000

Austrian-American actress and co-inventor of an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping (1914-2000)

Modern era

John Logie Baird

August 13, 1888 – June 14, 1946

Scottish inventor, demonstrating the world's first working television (1888–1946)

Contemporary era

Robert Goddard

b. November 13, 1954

English novelist

Modern era

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

September 5, 1857 – September 19, 1935

Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory (1857-1935)

Modern era

Wernher von Braun

March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977

German and later American aerospace engineer and space architect (1912–1977)

Ancient era

Homer

c. 900 BCE – c. 800 BCE

Ancient Greek poet credited with the Iliad and the Odyssey

Ancient era

Sappho

c. 650 BCE – c. 550 BCE

Ancient Greek poet from Lesbos (c. 630-c. 570 BC)

Ancient era

Aesop

620 BCE – 564 BCE

Ancient Greek storyteller (619 BC–563 BC)

Ancient era

Aeschylus

525 BCE – 456 BCE

Ancient Athenian playwright

Ancient era

Sophocles

496 BCE – 406 BCE

Ancient Greek playwright

Ancient era

Euripides

c. 480 BCE – c. 406 BCE

Classical Athenian playwright

Ancient era

Aristophanes

448 BCE – 386 BCE

Classical Athenian comic playwright (c. 446 – c. 386 BC)

Ancient era

Virgil

70 BCE – 19 BCE

Roman poet (1st century BC)

Ancient era

Ovid

43 BCE – 17 CE

Roman poet (43 BC – 17/18 AD)

Ancient era

Plutarch

c. 40 CE – c. 120 CE

Greek philosopher and historian (c. AD 46 – after AD 119)

Kalidasa

A classical Sanskrit writer widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist of ancient India.

Ancient era

Sima Qian

145 BCE – 86 BCE

Chinese historian (c. 145 – c. 86 BCE)

Medieval era

Li Bai

May 19, 701 CE – November 30, 762 CE

Classical Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty (701–762)

Medieval era

Du Fu

712 CE – 770 CE

Tang dynasty Chinese poet (712–770)

Medieval era

Murasaki Shikibu

978 CE – 1014

Japanese novelist and poet (c.973–c.1014)

Medieval era

Ferdowsi

940 CE – 1020

Persian poet, author of Shahnameh (940–1020)

Medieval era

Omar Khayyam

May 18, 1048 – December 4, 1131

Persian mathematician and poet (1048–1131)

Medieval era

Hafez

1326 – 1389

Persian poet and mystic (1325–1389)

Medieval era

Maimonides

March 30, 1138 – December 13, 1204

Medieval Jewish philosopher from Spain (1135–1204)

Medieval era

Ibn Khaldun

May 27, 1332 – March 17, 1406

Historiographer and historian

Medieval era

Dante Alighieri

May 30, 1265 – September 13, 1321

Florentine poet, writer, and philosopher (c. 1265–1321)

Medieval era

Geoffrey Chaucer

1343 – October 25, 1400

14th century English poet and author (1343–1400)

Medieval era

Petrarch

July 19, 1304 – July 18, 1374

Italian scholar and poet (1304-1374)

Medieval era

Giovanni Boccaccio

June 16, 1313 – September 21, 1375

Italian author and poet (1313–1375)

Medieval era

Thomas More

February 7, 1478 – July 6, 1535

English statesman, lawyer and philosopher (1478–1535)

Medieval era

Erasmus

October 28, 1466 – July 12, 1536

Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian (1466-1536)

Medieval era

Niccolo Machiavelli

May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527

Florentine statesman, diplomat, and political theorist (1469–1527)