Scientists
The minds that decoded nature's laws.
records written
Modern era
Rachel Carson
May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964
American marine biologist and conservationist (1907–1964)
Modern era
Dian Fossey
January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985
American zoologist, gorilla researcher (1932–1985)
Modern era
David Attenborough
b. May 8, 1926
British broadcaster and naturalist (born 1926)
Early Modern era
James Watt
January 19, 1736 – August 25, 1819
British engineer (1736–1819)
Early Modern era
Samuel Morse
April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872
American inventor and painter (1791–1872)
Modern era
Alexander Graham Bell
March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922
Canadian-American scientist inventor of telephone (1847–1922)
Modern era
Guglielmo Marconi
April 25, 1874 – July 20, 1937
Italian inventor and radio pioneer (1874-1937)
Early Modern era
Charles Babbage
December 26, 1791 – October 18, 1871
English mathematician, philosopher, and engineer (1791–1871)
Modern era
Grace Hopper
December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992
American computer scientist and United States Navy officer (1906–1992)
Modern era
John Logie Baird
August 13, 1888 – June 14, 1946
Scottish inventor, demonstrating the world's first working television (1888–1946)
Early Modern era
Benjamin Banneker
November 9, 1731 – October 9, 1806
Free African American scientist, surveyor, almanac author and farmer (1731–1806)
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)
Contemporary era
Tim Berners-Lee
b. June 8, 1955
English computer scientist (born 1955)
Medieval era
Omar Khayyam
May 18, 1048 – December 4, 1131
Persian mathematician and poet (1048–1131)
Medieval era
Maimonides
March 30, 1138 – December 13, 1204
Medieval Jewish philosopher from Spain (1135–1204)
Medieval era
Averroes
April 14, 1126 – December 10, 1198
Arab Andalusian Muslim writer and philosopher (1126–1198)
Medieval era
Ibn Khaldun
May 27, 1332 – March 17, 1406
Historiographer and historian
Early Modern era
René Descartes
March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650
French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (1596–1650)
Early Modern era
Thomas Hobbes
April 5, 1588 – December 4, 1679
English philosopher (1588–1679)
Early Modern era
John Locke
August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704
English philosopher and physician (1632-1704)
Early Modern era
Baruch Spinoza
November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677
Dutch philosopher (1632-1677)
Early Modern era
David Hume
April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776
Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian (1711-1776)
Early Modern era
Adam Smith
June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist (1723–1790)
Early Modern era
Immanuel Kant
April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804
German philosopher of the categorical imperative and human reason
Early Modern era
Edmund Burke
January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797
Anglo-Irish statesman, political theorist and conservative philosopher (1729–1797)
Early Modern era
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832
German writer, artist, natural scientist and politician (1749–1832)
Modern era
Karl Marx
May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883
Philosopher and economist whose critique of capital shaped a century
Modern era
Friedrich Engels
November 28, 1820 – August 5, 1895
German philosopher, sociologist and economist (1820–1895)
Modern era
John Stuart Mill
May 20, 1806 – May 8, 1873
British philosopher and political economist (1806–1873)
Early Modern era
John Keats
October 31, 1795 – February 23, 1821
English Romantic poet (1795–1821)
Early Modern era
Jacob Grimm
January 4, 1785 – September 20, 1863
German philologist, linguist, jurist and mythologist (1785–1863)
Early Modern era
Wilhelm Grimm
February 24, 1786 – December 16, 1859
German author, philologist, collector of fairy tales and legends (1786–1859)
Modern era
Anton Chekhov
January 17, 1860 – July 2, 1904
Russian dramatist and author (1860–1904)
Modern era
Lewis Carroll
January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898
British author and scholar (1832–1898)
Modern era
Arthur Conan Doyle
May 22, 1859 – July 7, 1930
British writer and physician (1859–1930)
Modern era
Bertrand Russell
May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970
British philosopher and logician (1872–1970)
Modern era
Hannah Arendt
October 14, 1906 – December 4, 1975
German-American political theorist and philosopher (1906–1975)
Modern era
Vladimir Nabokov
April 10, 1899 – July 2, 1977
Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor (1899–1977)
Modern era
Zora Neale Hurston
January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960
African American folklorist, novelist, short story writer, and Civic Rights advocate (1891–1960)
Medieval era
Albrecht Durer
May 21, 1471 – April 6, 1528
German painter, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist (1471-1528)
Early Modern era
Christopher Wren
October 20, 1632 – March 8, 1723
English architect (1632–1723)
Early Modern era
Meriwether Lewis
August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809
American explorer (1774-1809)
Early Modern era
William Clark
August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838
American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor (1770-1838)
Modern era
John Muir
April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914
Scottish-American naturalist (1838–1914)
Modern era
David Livingstone
March 19, 1813 – May 1, 1873
Scottish missionary and explorer (1813-1873)
Modern era
Fridtjof Nansen
October 10, 1861 – May 13, 1930
Norwegian polar explorer and diplomat; Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1861-1930)
Modern era
Florence Nightingale
May 12, 1820 – August 13, 1910
Founder of modern nursing and pioneer of medical statistics
Modern era
Jacques Cousteau
June 11, 1910 – June 25, 1997
French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997)
Modern era
Thor Heyerdahl
October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002
Norwegian anthropologist and adventurer (1914-2002)
Contemporary era
Sally Ride
May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012
American astronaut and physicist (1951–2012)
Contemporary era
Mae Jemison
b. October 17, 1956
American doctor and NASA astronaut
Modern era
Primo Levi
July 31, 1918 – April 11, 1987
Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor, and writer (1919–1987)
Modern era
Viktor Frankl
March 26, 1905 – September 2, 1997
Austrian Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist, philosopher and author (1905–1997)
Modern era
Wangari Maathai
April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011
Kenyan environmentalist and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 (1940–2011)
Modern era
Andrew Carnegie
November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919
Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist (1835–1919)
Modern era
Akio Morita
January 26, 1921 – October 3, 1999
Japanese businessman (1921-1999)
Modern era
Sam Walton
March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992
American businessman (1918–1992)
Contemporary era
Steve Jobs
February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011
Co-founder of Apple who fused technology with design
Contemporary era
Steve Wozniak
b. August 11, 1950
American computer pioneer, inventor, computer engineer and programmer; co-founder of Apple Inc.