Atlas / People
People
The atlas has no biographies. People appear through what they did: each name below is tied to the turning points they took part in, across every field and domain. 805 people, alphabetical by surname.
A
Niels Henrik Abel
- 1799 – 1824No general formula for the quintic · Galois Theory, Mathematics
John Couch Adams
- 1846Neptune is found where the mathematics said it would be · Classical Mechanics, Physics
Walter Adams
- 1915A star as dense as nothing on Earth · Compact Objects, Physics
Sergei Adian
- 1968The Burnside problem has a negative answer · Group Theory, Mathematics
Leonard Adleman
- 1977RSA turns Fermat's little theorem into a lock · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Edgar Adrian
- 1912 – 1928Adrian records single nerve fibres · Electrophysiology, Biology
Ian Agol
- 2012Agol proves the virtual Haken conjecture · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
Manindra Agrawal
- 2002PRIMES is in P · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Leon Battista Alberti
- c. 1415 – 1435Painters find the geometry of perspective · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
Ralph Alpher
- 1965The afterglow of the Big Bang · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Carl Anderson
- 1932The positron · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Philip Anderson
- 1975 – 1979Spin glasses · Magnetism, Physics
Herbert Andrewartha
- 1933 – 1954Crowding or weather · Population Ecology, Biology
Thomas Andrews
- 1869The critical point of carbon dioxide · Phase Transitions, Physics
Kenneth Appel
- 1976The four colour theorem, by computer · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Archimedes
- c. 250 BCEArchimedes computes curved areas by exhaustion · Calculus, Mathematics
Jean-Robert Argand
- 1799 – 1831Complex numbers become points in a plane · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
Aristotle
- c. 350 BCEAristotle's syllogistic · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
- c. 350 BCEAristotle opens eggs day by day · Embryology, Biology
Vladimir Arnold
- 1954 – 1963The KAM theorem · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
Sanjeev Arora
- 1992 – 1998The PCP theorem · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
Emil Artin
- 1920 – 1927Class field theory is completed · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1930 – 1931Van der Waerden's Moderne Algebra · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
- 1942Artin's modern Galois theory · Galois Theory, Mathematics
Lev Artsimovich
- 1968 – 1969The tokamak works · Fusion Energy, Physics
Michael Aschbacher
- 1955 – 2004The classification of finite simple groups · Group Theory, Mathematics
Alain Aspect
- 1972 – 2015Bell's inequality is violated · Quantum Information, Physics
Francis Aston
- 1919 – 1920Weighing single atoms · Nuclear Structure, Physics
Robert d'Escourt Atkinson
- 1928 – 1929Tunnelling makes fusion possible · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Oswald Avery
- 1944Genes are made of DNA, not protein · Molecular Biology, Biology
B
Walter Baade
- 1934Supernovae and neutron stars · Compact Objects, Physics
Charles Babbage
- 1822 – 1843Calculation by machine · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
Louis Bachelier
- 1900Bachelier's theory of speculation · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Karl Ernst von Baer
- 1817 – 1828Germ layers and von Baer's laws · Embryology, Biology
John Bahcall
- 1968 – 2001The solar neutrino problem, and its solution · Particle Physics, Physics
Alan Baker
- 1952 – 1967Gauss's class number one problem is solved · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
David Baltimore
- 1970Information flows from RNA back to DNA · Molecular Biology, Biology
John Bardeen
- 1947 – 1948The transistor · Solid-State Physics, Physics
- 1956 – 1957The BCS theory · Superconductivity, Physics
Barry Barish
- 2015 – 2016Gravitational waves are detected directly · General Relativity, Physics
Thomas Bayes
- 1763 – 1774Bayes' theorem and inverse probability · Probability Theory, Mathematics
George Beadle
- 1941One gene, one enzyme · Genetics, Biology
Henri Becquerel
- 1896Uranium fogs a photographic plate · Radioactivity, Physics
Georg Bednorz
- 1986 – 1987High-temperature superconductors · Superconductivity, Physics
Emil von Behring
- 1890Antitoxins in the blood · Immunology, Biology
John Stewart Bell
- 1964Bell's theorem · Quantum Information, Physics
Boris Belousov
- 1951 – 1977Order far from equilibrium · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Eugenio Beltrami
- 1868Beltrami shows hyperbolic geometry is as consistent as Euclid's · Non-Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
Charles Bennett
- 1929 – 1982Information is physical · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
- 1984Quantum key distribution · Quantum Information, Physics
Vadim Berezinskii
- 1971 – 1973Topological phase transitions · Phase Transitions, Physics
George Berkeley
- 1734Berkeley's "ghosts of departed quantities" · Calculus, Mathematics
Daniel Bernoulli
- 1738Bernoulli's moving particles · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
- 1747 – 1759The vibrating string controversy · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
Jacob Bernoulli
- 1696 – 1697The brachistochrone challenge · Differential Equations, Mathematics
- 1713Bernoulli's law of large numbers · Probability Theory, Mathematics
Johann Bernoulli
- 1696 – 1697The brachistochrone challenge · Differential Equations, Mathematics
Claude Berrou
- 1993 – 1996Codes that reach Shannon's limit · Information Theory, Mathematics
Antoine Bérut
- 2012Landauer's limit measured · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Hans Bethe
- 1938 – 1939Bethe's fusion cycles · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
- 1947The Lamb shift · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Eric Betzig
- 1994 – 2006Beating the diffraction limit · Cell Biology, Biology
Étienne Bézout
- 1779Bézout counts the intersections of curves · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Charles Birch
- 1933 – 1954Crowding or weather · Population Ecology, Biology
George David Birkhoff
- 1913Poincaré's last geometric theorem · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
- 1931 – 1932The ergodic theorems · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
Fischer Black
- 1973The Black–Scholes formula · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Tim Bliss
- 1970 – 1973Synapses that learn · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Felix Bloch
- 1928Waves in a perfect lattice · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Niels Bohr
- 1911 – 1919Classical physics cannot make a magnet · Magnetism, Physics
- 1913Bohr's atom · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
- 1935 – 1936The nucleus as a liquid drop · Nuclear Structure, Physics
- 1939Uranium-235 is the one that splits · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Emil du Bois-Reymond
- 1843 – 1849The electrical wave in a nerve · Electrophysiology, Biology
Tom Bolton
- 1971 – 1972The first black hole · Compact Objects, Physics
Bertram Boltwood
- 1907Lead is the end of the chain · Radiometric Dating, Physics
Ludwig Boltzmann
- 1871Boltzmann's ergodic hypothesis · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
- 1872Boltzmann's equation and H-theorem · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
- 1877Entropy counts arrangements · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
János Bolyai
- 1829 – 1832Hyperbolic geometry is published as a geometry in its own right · Non-Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
Bernard Bolzano
- 1821Cauchy's Cours d'analyse · Real Analysis, Mathematics
Rafael Bombelli
- 1545 – 1572Square roots of negative numbers appear in the cubic formula · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
Pierre Ossian Bonnet
- 1848The Gauss–Bonnet theorem ties curvature to angles · Differential Geometry of Surfaces, Mathematics
George Boole
- 1847 – 1854Boole turns logic into algebra · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
Richard Borcherds
- 1979 – 1992Monstrous moonshine · Representation Theory, Mathematics
F. Herbert Bormann
- 1963 – 1972Hubbard Brook and the watershed experiment · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Max Born
- 1925Heisenberg's matrix mechanics · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
- 1926Probability at the foundation · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
William Borucki
- 2009 – 2018The Kepler survey · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
Satyendra Nath Bose
- 1924 – 1925Bose–Einstein statistics · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
Edward Boyden
- 2002 – 2005Optogenetics · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Herbert Boyer
- 1973Genes are cut, joined and moved between organisms · Molecular Biology, Biology
William Henry Bragg
- 1912 – 1913The Braggs read a crystal · Crystallography, Physics
William Lawrence Bragg
- 1912 – 1913The Braggs read a crystal · Crystallography, Physics
Achi Brandt
- 1964 – 1977Multigrid · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Gilles Brassard
- 1984Quantum key distribution · Quantum Information, Physics
Walter Brattain
- 1947 – 1948The transistor · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Auguste Bravais
- 1848 – 1850The fourteen lattices · Crystallography, Physics
Sydney Brenner
- 1974 – 1983Every cell of a worm traced · Developmental Genetics, Biology
- 1986 – 2024Complete wiring diagrams · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
Christophe Breuil
- 1999 – 2001Every elliptic curve over the rationals is modular · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Robert Briggs
- 1952 – 1962Nuclear transfer in frogs · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Sergey Brin
- 1998The web as a Markov chain · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Paul Broca
- 1861Broca finds a centre for speech · Neuroanatomy, Biology
Korbinian Brodmann
- 1909Brodmann's map of the cortex · Neuroanatomy, Biology
Louis de Broglie
- 1924De Broglie's matter waves · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
Harriet Brooks
- 1901 – 1903Atoms transform · Radioactivity, Physics
Robert Brooks
- 1978 – 1980The Mandelbrot set is drawn · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
Robert Brout
- 2012The Higgs boson · Particle Physics, Physics
L. E. J. Brouwer
- 1911 – 1912Brouwer's fixed-point and degree theorems · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
- 1918 – 1928The foundations dispute · Metamathematics, Mathematics
Filippo Brunelleschi
- c. 1415 – 1435Painters find the geometry of perspective · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
Eduard Buchner
- 1897Fermentation without cells · Biochemistry, Biology
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
- 1777Buffon's needle · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Robert Bunsen
- 1859 – 1860Each element has its own lines · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Geoffrey Burbidge
- 1957The elements are made in stars · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Margaret Burbidge
- 1957The elements are made in stars · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
- 1967 – 1968Pulsars · Compact Objects, Physics
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
- 1957Clonal selection · Immunology, Biology
C
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
- 1888 – 1906The neuron doctrine · Neuroanatomy, Biology
Patrick Callaerts
- 1994 – 1995One gene for eyes · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Alastair Cameron
- 1957The elements are made in stars · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Keith Campbell
- 1996 – 1997Dolly the sheep · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Marcelo Campos
- 2023An exponential improvement for Ramsey numbers · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Annie Jump Cannon
- 1890 – 1924The Harvard classification · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Georg Cantor
- 1872 – 1874The real numbers are constructed · Real Analysis, Mathematics
- 1878Cantor's continuum hypothesis · Set Theory, Mathematics
- 1891The diagonal argument · Set Theory, Mathematics
Gerolamo Cardano
- 1515 – 1545The cubic and quartic are solved · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
- 1545 – 1572Square roots of negative numbers appear in the cubic formula · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
Lennart Carleson
- 1966Carleson's theorem · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
Arvid Carlsson
- 1957 – 1960Dopamine is a transmitter · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Sadi Carnot
- 1824Carnot's limit on engines · Thermodynamics, Physics
Sean B. Carroll
- 1975 – 2007Evolution by genetic switches · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
- 1997Deep homology · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Rachel Carson
- 1962Silent Spring · Conservation Biology, Biology
Élie Cartan
- 1888 – 1894The simple Lie algebras are classified · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Mary Cartwright
- 1945Wild solutions in a radio equation · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Guido Castelnuovo
- c. 1890 – 1946The Italian school's intuition outruns its proofs · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Augustin-Louis Cauchy
- 1814 – 1831Cauchy's integral theorem and formula · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
- 1821Cauchy's Cours d'analyse · Real Analysis, Mathematics
- 1824 – 1890Solutions exist and are unique · Differential Equations, Mathematics
- 1847Gradient descent · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Arthur Cayley
- 1854Cayley defines the abstract group · Group Theory, Mathematics
- 1859 – 1871Cayley and Klein put distance inside projective geometry · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
James Chadwick
- 1932The neutron · Nuclear Structure, Physics
Ernst Chain
- 1928 – 1945Penicillin · Microbiology, Biology
Gregory Chaitin
- 1964 – 1969The information in a single object · Information Theory, Mathematics
Martin Chalfie
- 1962 – 1994Green fluorescent protein · Cell Biology, Biology
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
- 1930 – 1935The Chandrasekhar limit · Compact Objects, Physics
Jean-Pierre Changeux
- 1970A receptor is isolated · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
David Charbonneau
- 1999 – 2002A planet crosses its star · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
Jule Charney
- 1950The first computer forecast · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Emmanuelle Charpentier
- 2012CRISPR–Cas9 becomes a programmable genome editor · Genomics, Biology
Alexey Chervonenkis
- 1971Vapnik–Chervonenkis theory · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Nicos Christofides
- 1976 – 2020Half again as long, and then slightly less · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Alonzo Church
- 1936The decision problem has no solution · Computability Theory, Mathematics
Albert Claude
- 1931 – 1945The electron microscope sees inside cells · Cell Biology, Biology
- 1955 – 1975How a cell makes and exports proteins · Cell Biology, Biology
John Clauser
- 1972 – 2015Bell's inequality is violated · Quantum Information, Physics
Rudolf Clausius
- 1850 – 1865The second law and entropy · Thermodynamics, Physics
- 1857 – 1858The kind of motion we call heat · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
Frederic Clements
- 1916Clements's theory of succession · Community Ecology, Biology
Hans Clevers
- 2009A gut in a dish · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
Ray Clough
- 1943 – 1960The finite element method · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Clifford Cocks
- 1977RSA turns Fermat's little theorem into a lock · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Paul Cohen
- 1938 – 1963The continuum hypothesis is independent · Set Theory, Mathematics
Stanley Cohen
- 1973Genes are cut, joined and moved between organisms · Molecular Biology, Biology
Francis Collins
- 2001 – 2003The human genome is read · Genomics, Biology
Arthur Compton
- 1923Compton scattering · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
Joseph Connell
- 1961Connell's barnacles · Community Ecology, Biology
John Conway
- 1979 – 1992Monstrous moonshine · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Stephen Cook
- 1971 – 1973The Cook–Levin theorem · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
James Cooley
- 1965The fast Fourier transform · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
Leon Cooper
- 1956 – 1957The BCS theory · Superconductivity, Physics
Eric Cornell
- 1995A Bose–Einstein condensate is made · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
Carl Correns
- 1900Mendel's laws are rediscovered · Genetics, Biology
Corinna Cortes
- 1992 – 1995Support vector machines · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Richard Courant
- 1928The Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
- 1943 – 1960The finite element method · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Clyde Cowan
- 1930 – 1956The neutrino, predicted and caught · Particle Physics, Physics
Francis Crick
- 1953The structure of DNA · Molecular Biology, Biology
- 1958Crick's central dogma and the sequence hypothesis · Molecular Biology, Biology
Gavin Crooks
- 1993 – 1999The fluctuation theorems · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Marie Curie
- 1898Polonium and radium · Radioactivity, Physics
Pierre Curie
- 1895Magnetism and temperature · Magnetism, Physics
- 1898Polonium and radium · Radioactivity, Physics
- 1903Radium is always warm · Radioactivity, Physics
Heber Curtis
- 1920 – 1925The Great Debate and the other galaxies · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
D
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
- 1747 – 1759The vibrating string controversy · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
Edward Daeschler
- 2004 – 2006Tiktaalik · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Henry Dale
- 1921Loewi's two frog hearts · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
George Dantzig
- 1939 – 1947Linear programming and the simplex method · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Charles Darwin
- 1858Darwin and Wallace announce natural selection · Evolutionary Biology, Biology
- 1859On the Origin of Species · Evolutionary Biology, Biology
William Davidon
- 1959 – 1970Quasi-Newton methods · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Martin Davis
- 1950 – 1970Hilbert's tenth problem is unsolvable · Computability Theory, Mathematics
Raymond Davis Jr.
- 1968 – 2001The solar neutrino problem, and its solution · Particle Physics, Physics
Clinton Davisson
- 1927Electrons diffract like waves · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
Richard Dedekind
- 1871Dedekind replaces ideal numbers with ideals · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1872 – 1874The real numbers are constructed · Real Analysis, Mathematics
Karl Deisseroth
- 2002 – 2005Optogenetics · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Pierre Deligne
- 1974Deligne proves the last Weil conjecture · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Girard Desargues
- 1639 – 1640Desargues treats conics by projection and adds points at infinity · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
René Descartes
- 1637Coordinates turn geometry into algebra · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
David Deutsch
- 1982 – 1985Quantum computers proposed · Quantum Information, Physics
Jared Diamond
- 1975 – 1986Single large or several small · Conservation Biology, Biology
Whitfield Diffie
- 1976Diffie and Hellman: New Directions in Cryptography · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Edsger Dijkstra
- 1959Dijkstra's shortest-path algorithm · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Diophantus of Alexandria
- c. 250 CEDiophantus' Arithmetica · Elementary Number Theory, Mathematics
Paul Dirac
- 1926Fermi–Dirac statistics · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
- 1928The Dirac equation · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
- 1829Dirichlet proves when Fourier series converge · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
- 1837Dirichlet's primes in arithmetic progressions · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
Theodosius Dobzhansky
- 1937 – 1947The Modern Synthesis · Population Genetics, Biology
Wolfgang Doeblin
- 1944Itô's stochastic calculus · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Adrien Douady
- 1982The Mandelbrot set is connected · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
Jennifer Doudna
- 2012CRISPR–Cas9 becomes a programmable genome editor · Genomics, Biology
Jesse Douglas
- 1930 – 1931The Plateau problem is solved · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Hans Driesch
- 1888 – 1892Roux's half embryos and Driesch's whole ones · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Wolfgang Driever
- 1988The Bicoid gradient · Developmental Genetics, Biology
Paul Drude
- 1900A gas of electrons · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Christian de Duve
- 1955 – 1975How a cell makes and exports proteins · Cell Biology, Biology
Frank Dyson
- 1919The eclipse expeditions measure starlight bending · General Relativity, Physics
Freeman Dyson
- 1947 – 1949Renormalised quantum electrodynamics · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
E
John Eccles
- 1935 – 1952The soups and the sparks · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Arthur Eddington
- 1919The eclipse expeditions measure starlight bending · General Relativity, Physics
- 1920Eddington proposes subatomic energy · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
- 1930 – 1935The Chandrasekhar limit · Compact Objects, Physics
Jack Edmonds
- 1965Polynomial time as the meaning of "efficient" · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
- 1965Edmonds's matching algorithm · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Sam Edwards
- 1975 – 1979Spin glasses · Magnetism, Physics
Paul Ehrlich
- 1882 – 1908Phagocytes against antibodies · Immunology, Biology
Samuel Eilenberg
- 1945 – 1952Homology is given axioms · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
Albert Einstein
- 1905Einstein's "On the electrodynamics of moving bodies" · Special Relativity, Physics
- 1905 – 1909Atoms are real · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
- 1905Einstein's light quanta · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
- 1907Einstein's "happiest thought" · General Relativity, Physics
- 1915The field equations of gravitation · General Relativity, Physics
- 1917Einstein applies general relativity to the whole universe · Physical Cosmology, Physics
- 1924 – 1925Bose–Einstein statistics · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
- 1935The EPR argument and entanglement · Quantum Information, Physics
James Ellis
- 1976Diffie and Hellman: New Directions in Cryptography · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Charles Elton
- 1924 – 1942The ten-year cycle of lynx and hare · Population Ecology, Biology
François Englert
- 2012The Higgs boson · Particle Physics, Physics
Federigo Enriques
- c. 1890 – 1946The Italian school's intuition outruns its proofs · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Paul Erdős
- 1935The happy ending problem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
- 1947A random colouring beats every explicit one · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
- 1948 – 1949An "elementary" proof of the prime number theorem · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1959Networks with no short cycles that need many colours · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
- 1959 – 1960The evolution of random graphs · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
- 1975The Lovász local lemma · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Mikhail Eremets
- 2015 – 2023Hydrides under pressure, and the retractions · Superconductivity, Physics
Euclid of Alexandria
- c. 300 BCEThe Elements puts geometry in axiomatic order · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
- c. 300 BCEEuclid proves the primes never end · Elementary Number Theory, Mathematics
Leonhard Euler
- 1732Euler factors Fermat's "always prime" number · Elementary Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1736The bridges of Königsberg · Graph Theory, Mathematics
- 1737Euler links the primes to an infinite series · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1740 – 1748Euler turns counting into algebra · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
- 1743 – 1768Euler systematises the subject · Differential Equations, Mathematics
- 1747 – 1759The vibrating string controversy · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
- 1748Euler makes the function central · Calculus, Mathematics
- 1750 – 1758Euler's polyhedron formula · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
- 1760 (published 1767)Euler finds the two principal curvatures of a surface · Differential Geometry of Surfaces, Mathematics
Denis Evans
- 1993 – 1999The fluctuation theorems · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Martin Evans
- 1981Embryonic stem cells · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
F
Gerd Faltings
- 1983Faltings proves the Mordell conjecture · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Michael Faraday
- 1831Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction · Electromagnetism, Physics
Pierre Fatou
- 1918 – 1920Fatou and Julia found the theory of iteration · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
Radii Fedorenko
- 1964 – 1977Multigrid · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Mitchell Feigenbaum
- 1975 – 1982Feigenbaum's universal constant · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Walter Feit
- 1963The odd order theorem · Group Theory, Mathematics
Pierre de Fermat
- 1637Coordinates turn geometry into algebra · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
- c. 1637Fermat's note in the margin · Elementary Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1654Pascal and Fermat solve the problem of points · Probability Theory, Mathematics
Enrico Fermi
- 1926Fermi–Dirac statistics · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
- 1934Fermi bombards the elements with neutrons · Nuclear Fission, Physics
- 1942The first chain reaction · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Lodovico Ferrari
- 1515 – 1545The cubic and quartic are solved · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
Scipione del Ferro
- 1515 – 1545The cubic and quartic are solved · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
Albert Fert
- 1988 – 1989Giant magnetoresistance · Magnetism, Physics
Richard Feynman
- 1947 – 1949Renormalised quantum electrodynamics · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
- 1982 – 1985Quantum computers proposed · Quantum Information, Physics
Bruno de Finetti
- 1926 – 1954Probability as degree of belief · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
Michael Fisher
- 1966 – 1972The renormalisation group · Phase Transitions, Physics
Ronald Fisher
- 1918Fisher shows Mendelism explains continuous variation · Population Genetics, Biology
- 1922 – 1935Fisher rebuilds statistics · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
- 1922 – 1925The eclipse of inverse probability · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
- 1930 – 1932Fisher, Haldane and Wright found population genetics · Population Genetics, Biology
Martin Fleischmann
- 1989Cold fusion · Fusion Energy, Physics
Alexander Fleming
- 1928 – 1945Penicillin · Microbiology, Biology
Williamina Fleming
- 1890 – 1924The Harvard classification · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Walther Flemming
- 1882Watching cells divide · Cell Theory, Biology
Roger Fletcher
- 1959 – 1970Quasi-Newton methods · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Howard Florey
- 1928 – 1945Penicillin · Microbiology, Biology
Kent Ford
- 1970 – 1980Flat rotation curves · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Lester Ford Jr.
- 1956The max-flow min-cut theorem · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Joseph Fourier
- 1807 – 1822Fourier's theory of heat · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
William Fowler
- 1953The carbon resonance · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
- 1957The elements are made in stars · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Dale Frail
- 1992Planets around a dead star · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
John Francis
- 1959 – 1961The QR algorithm · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
Ian Franklin
- 1980 – 1981Minimum viable populations · Conservation Biology, Biology
Rosalind Franklin
- 1953The structure of DNA · Molecular Biology, Biology
Joseph von Fraunhofer
- 1814Fraunhofer's dark lines · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Michael Freedman
- 1982Freedman settles the topological 4-dimensional case · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
Gottlob Frege
- 1879Frege's Begriffsschrift and the quantifier · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
Jean Frédéric Frenet
- 1847 – 1851The Frenet–Serret formulas describe every space curve · Differential Geometry of Surfaces, Mathematics
Gerhard Frey
- 1985 – 1990Fermat's Last Theorem is reduced to modularity · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Alexander Friedmann
- 1922 – 1927Friedmann and Lemaître find expanding universes · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Walter Friedrich
- 1912X-rays diffracted by a crystal · Crystallography, Physics
Kurt Friedrichs
- 1928The Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Otto Frisch
- 1938 – 1939Meitner and Frisch explain fission · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Ferdinand Georg Frobenius
- 1896Frobenius invents group characters · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Delbert Ray Fulkerson
- 1956The max-flow min-cut theorem · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Hillel Furstenberg
- 1977Ergodic theory proves Szemerédi's theorem · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
G
Galileo Galilei
- c. 1604 – 1638Galileo times falling bodies on inclined planes · Classical Mechanics, Physics
Johann Galle
- 1846Neptune is found where the mathematics said it would be · Classical Mechanics, Physics
Évariste Galois
- 1830 – 1832Galois's theory of equations · Galois Theory, Mathematics
Francis Galton
- 1886Galton's regression to the mean · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Luigi Galvani
- 1791Galvani's frog legs · Electrophysiology, Biology
George Gamow
- 1928 – 1929Tunnelling makes fusion possible · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Georgii Gause
- 1934Gause's struggle for existence · Population Ecology, Biology
Carl Friedrich Gauss
- 1792 – 1798The prime number theorem is conjectured · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1799 – 1831Complex numbers become points in a plane · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
- 1799The fundamental theorem of algebra · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
- 1801Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae · Elementary Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1805 – 1809The method of least squares · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
- 1827The Theorema Egregium — curvature is intrinsic · Differential Geometry of Surfaces, Mathematics
- 1829 – 1832Hyperbolic geometry is published as a geometry in its own right · Non-Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
- 1832Gauss introduces the Gaussian integers · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Walter Gehring
- 1984The homeobox · Developmental Genetics, Biology
- 1994 – 1995One gene for eyes · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Hans Geiger
- 1909 – 1911The atomic nucleus · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
- 1911The Geiger–Nuttall law · Radioactivity, Physics
Andre Geim
- 2004 – 2005Graphene · Topological Matter, Physics
Alan Gelfand
- 1990The MCMC revolution · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
Murray Gell-Mann
- 1964 – 1968Quarks · Particle Physics, Physics
Gerhard Gentzen
- 1936Gentzen proves arithmetic consistent · Metamathematics, Mathematics
Reinhard Genzel
- 1992 – 2008A black hole at the galaxy's centre · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Joseph Gergonne
- 1825 – 1827The principle of duality · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
Lester Germer
- 1927Electrons diffract like waves · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
Shayan Oveis Gharan
- 1976 – 2020Half again as long, and then slightly less · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Andrea Ghez
- 1992 – 2008A black hole at the galaxy's centre · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Josiah Willard Gibbs
- 1902Gibbs's statistical mechanics · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
Edgar Gilbert
- 1959 – 1960The evolution of random graphs · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Michaël Gillon
- 2017Seven Earth-sized planets · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
Vitaly Ginzburg
- 1950Superconductivity as a phase transition · Superconductivity, Physics
Sheldon Glashow
- 1967 – 1983Electroweak unification · Particle Physics, Physics
Henry Gleason
- 1926 – 1956The individualistic concept of the community · Community Ecology, Biology
Kurt Gödel
- 1929 – 1930Gödel's completeness theorem · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
- 1931Gödel's incompleteness theorems · Metamathematics, Mathematics
- 1938 – 1963The continuum hypothesis is independent · Set Theory, Mathematics
- 1971 – 1973The Cook–Levin theorem · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
Herman Goldstine
- 1947Rounding error in matrix inversion · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
Camillo Golgi
- 1873Golgi's black reaction · Neuroanatomy, Biology
- 1888 – 1906The neuron doctrine · Neuroanatomy, Biology
Georges Gonthier
- 2005 – 2022Machines check major theorems · Metamathematics, Mathematics
I. J. Good
- 1940 – 1941Bayes breaks the Enigma · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
Paul Gordan
- 1890Hilbert's basis theorem · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
Daniel Gorenstein
- 1955 – 2004The classification of finite simple groups · Group Theory, Mathematics
William Sealy Gosset
- 1908Student's t-distribution · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Ben Green
- 1975Szemerédi's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Robert Griess
- 1955 – 2004The classification of finite simple groups · Group Theory, Mathematics
Simon Griffiths
- 2023An exponential improvement for Ramsey numbers · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Marcel Grossmann
- 1915The field equations of gravitation · General Relativity, Physics
Alexander Grothendieck
- 1960 – 1967Grothendieck rebuilds the field on schemes · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Peter Grünberg
- 1988 – 1989Giant magnetoresistance · Magnetism, Physics
John Gurdon
- 1952 – 1962Nuclear transfer in frogs · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Francis Guthrie
- 1852Four colours suffice? · Graph Theory, Mathematics
H
Jacques Hadamard
- 1896The prime number theorem is proved · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
Ernst Haeckel
- 1866 – 1874Haeckel's biogenetic law and his drawings · Embryology, Biology
Otto Hahn
- 1938Barium from uranium · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Wolfgang Haken
- 1976The four colour theorem, by computer · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Duncan Haldane
- 1988A quantum Hall effect without a magnetic field · Topological Matter, Physics
J. B. S. Haldane
- 1930 – 1932Fisher, Haldane and Wright found population genetics · Population Genetics, Biology
Georg Halder
- 1994 – 1995One gene for eyes · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Richard Hamilton
- 1982Hamilton introduces the Ricci flow · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
William Rowan Hamilton
- 1843Hamilton's quaternions · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
Richard Hamming
- 1950Hamming's error-correcting codes · Information Theory, Mathematics
Ronald Hanson
- 1972 – 2015Bell's inequality is violated · Quantum Information, Physics
G. H. Hardy
- 1908The Hardy–Weinberg principle · Population Genetics, Biology
- 1918A formula for the partition numbers · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Leo Harrington
- 1977A natural statement arithmetic cannot prove · Metamathematics, Mathematics
Paul Harteck
- 1934Fusion in the laboratory · Fusion Energy, Physics
Ralph Hartley
- 1924 – 1928Nyquist and Hartley measure the telegraph · Information Theory, Mathematics
Juris Hartmanis
- 1965Polynomial time as the meaning of "efficient" · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
Leland Hartwell
- 1970 – 1987The controls of the cell cycle · Cell Biology, Biology
William Harvey
- 1651Harvey's "everything from an egg" · Embryology, Biology
René Just Haüy
- 1784Crystals built from repeated blocks · Crystallography, Physics
Norman Heatley
- 1928 – 1945Penicillin · Microbiology, Biology
Percy Heawood
- 1879 – 1890Kempe's proof collapses · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Donald Hebb
- 1949Hebb's rule · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
Kurt Heegner
- 1952 – 1967Gauss's class number one problem is solved · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Peter Hegemann
- 2002 – 2005Optogenetics · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Werner Heisenberg
- 1925Heisenberg's matrix mechanics · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
- 1927The uncertainty principle · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
- 1928The exchange interaction · Magnetism, Physics
Stefan Hell
- 1994 – 2006Beating the diffraction limit · Cell Biology, Biology
Martin Hellman
- 1976Diffie and Hellman: New Directions in Cryptography · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Hermann von Helmholtz
- 1842 – 1850Heat is a form of energy · Thermodynamics, Physics
- 1849 – 1850Helmholtz times the nerve impulse · Electrophysiology, Biology
Gregory Henry
- 1999 – 2002A planet crosses its star · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
Joseph Henry
- 1831Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction · Electromagnetism, Physics
Robert Herman
- 1965The afterglow of the Big Bang · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Caroline Herschel
- 1785Herschel maps the Milky Way · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
William Herschel
- 1785Herschel maps the Milky Way · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Heinrich Hertz
- 1886 – 1888Hertz produces and detects electromagnetic waves · Electromagnetism, Physics
Ejnar Hertzsprung
- 1911 – 1913The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Fanny Hesse
- 1876 – 1882Koch proves germs cause disease · Microbiology, Biology
Magnus Hestenes
- 1952The conjugate gradient method · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
Antony Hewish
- 1967 – 1968Pulsars · Compact Objects, Physics
Peter Higgs
- 2012The Higgs boson · Particle Physics, Physics
David Hilbert
- 1890Hilbert's basis theorem · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
- 1899Hilbert rebuilds the foundations · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
- 1900 – 1928Hilbert's programme · Metamathematics, Mathematics
- 1901The full hyperbolic plane does not fit in ordinary space · Differential Geometry of Surfaces, Mathematics
- 1915The field equations of gravitation · General Relativity, Physics
- 1918 – 1928The foundations dispute · Metamathematics, Mathematics
Geoffrey Hinton
- 1982 – 1986Networks that remember and learn · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
- 1986Backpropagation · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Alan Hodgkin
- 1939 – 1952Hodgkin and Huxley explain the action potential · Electrophysiology, Biology
Dorothy Hodgkin
- 1945 – 1969The molecules of medicine · Crystallography, Physics
Arthur Holmes
- 1911 – 1913A timescale for geology · Radiometric Dating, Physics
Robert Hooke
- 1665Hooke names the cell · Cell Theory, Biology
- 1687Newton's Principia unites Earth and heavens · Classical Mechanics, Physics
Heinz Hopf
- 1931The Hopf fibration wraps a 3-sphere around a 2-sphere · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
John Hopfield
- 1982 – 1986Networks that remember and learn · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
Oleh Hornykiewicz
- 1957 – 1960Dopamine is a transmitter · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
H. Robert Horvitz
- 1986Genes for cell death · Developmental Genetics, Biology
Fritz Houtermans
- 1928 – 1929Tunnelling makes fusion possible · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Fred Hoyle
- 1953The carbon resonance · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
- 1957The elements are made in stars · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
John Hubbard
- 1982The Mandelbrot set is connected · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
Stephen Hubbell
- 2001Hubbell's neutral theory · Community Ecology, Biology
Edwin Hubble
- 1920 – 1925The Great Debate and the other galaxies · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
- 1927 – 1929Galaxies recede in proportion to their distance · Physical Cosmology, Physics
David Hubel
- 1959 – 1962Hubel and Wiesel find edge detectors · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
David Huffman
- 1952Huffman coding · Information Theory, Mathematics
Russell Hulse
- 1974The binary pulsar · Compact Objects, Physics
Alexander von Humboldt
- 1807Humboldt's geography of plants · Biogeography, Biology
Tim Hunt
- 1970 – 1987The controls of the cell cycle · Cell Biology, Biology
G. Evelyn Hutchinson
- 1957 – 1959Hutchinson's niche and Santa Rosalia · Community Ecology, Biology
Andrew Huxley
- 1939 – 1952Hodgkin and Huxley explain the action potential · Electrophysiology, Biology
I
John Ioannidis
- 2005 – 2015The replication crisis · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Ernst Ising
- 1944Onsager solves the two-dimensional Ising model · Phase Transitions, Physics
Kiyosi Itô
- 1944Itô's stochastic calculus · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
J
Pierre Janssen
- 1868A new element found in the Sun · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Christopher Jarzynski
- 1993 – 1999The fluctuation theorems · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Harold Jeffreys
- 1939Jeffreys's Theory of Probability · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
Edward Jenner
- 1796 – 1798Jenner's vaccination · Immunology, Biology
J. Hans D. Jensen
- 1949The shell model and magic numbers · Nuclear Structure, Physics
Niels Jerne
- 1957Clonal selection · Immunology, Biology
Benjamin Jesty
- 1796 – 1798Jenner's vaccination · Immunology, Biology
Camille Jordan
- 1870Jordan's treatise on substitutions · Galois Theory, Mathematics
Pascual Jordan
- 1925Heisenberg's matrix mechanics · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
Brian Josephson
- 1962Pairs tunnel through a barrier · Superconductivity, Physics
James Prescott Joule
- 1842 – 1850Heat is a form of energy · Thermodynamics, Physics
Gaston Julia
- 1918 – 1920Fatou and Julia found the theory of iteration · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
K
Leo Kadanoff
- 1966 – 1972The renormalisation group · Phase Transitions, Physics
William Kahan
- 1985The IEEE 754 standard · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
Jeff Kahn
- 2022The Kahn–Kalai conjecture · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Takaaki Kajita
- 1968 – 2001The solar neutrino problem, and its solution · Particle Physics, Physics
Gil Kalai
- 2022The Kahn–Kalai conjecture · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Eric Kandel
- 1970 – 1973Synapses that learn · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Charles Kane
- 2005 – 2007Topological insulators · Topological Matter, Physics
Leonid Kantorovich
- 1939 – 1947Linear programming and the simplex method · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Katalin Karikó
- 2005 – 2020mRNA vaccines · Immunology, Biology
Anna Karlin
- 1976 – 2020Half again as long, and then slightly less · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Richard Karp
- 1972Karp's 21 NP-complete problems · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
William Karush
- 1939 – 1951The Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Bernard Katz
- 1952 – 1954Transmitter comes in packets · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Charles David Keeling
- 1958The Keeling curve · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Alfred Kempe
- 1879 – 1890Kempe's proof collapses · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Johannes Kepler
- 1609 – 1619Kepler's laws of planetary motion · Classical Mechanics, Physics
Wolfgang Ketterle
- 1995A Bose–Einstein condensate is made · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
Leonid Khachiyan
- 1979Linear programming in polynomial time · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
- c. 820Al-Khwārizmī's book of al-jabr · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
Jack Kilby
- 1958 – 1959The integrated circuit · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Wilhelm Killing
- 1888 – 1894The simple Lie algebras are classified · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Motoo Kimura
- 1968Kimura's neutral theory · Population Genetics, Biology
Thomas King
- 1952 – 1962Nuclear transfer in frogs · Experimental Embryology, Biology
David Kingsley
- 2004 – 2010Sticklebacks lose their spines · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Gustav Kirchhoff
- 1847Kirchhoff's circuits and spanning trees · Graph Theory, Mathematics
- 1859 – 1860Each element has its own lines · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Esther Klein
- 1935The happy ending problem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Felix Klein
- 1859 – 1871Cayley and Klein put distance inside projective geometry · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
- 1872Klein's Erlangen Program redefines what a geometry is · Non-Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
Nathan Klein
- 1976 – 2020Half again as long, and then slightly less · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Klaus von Klitzing
- 1980The quantum Hall effect · Topological Matter, Physics
Paul Knipping
- 1912X-rays diffracted by a crystal · Crystallography, Physics
Neal Koblitz
- 1985Elliptic-curve cryptography · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Robert Koch
- 1876 – 1882Koch proves germs cause disease · Microbiology, Biology
Georges Köhler
- 1975Monoclonal antibodies · Immunology, Biology
Andrey Kolmogorov
- 1931Kolmogorov's equations · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
- 1933Kolmogorov's axioms · Probability Theory, Mathematics
- 1954 – 1963The KAM theorem · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
- 1958 – 1959Entropy for dynamical systems · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
- 1964 – 1969The information in a single object · Information Theory, Mathematics
Dénes Kőnig
- 1936The first book on graph theory · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Michael Kosterlitz
- 1971 – 1973Topological phase transitions · Phase Transitions, Physics
Sofia Kovalevskaya
- 1874 – 1875The Cauchy–Kovalevskaya theorem · Differential Equations, Mathematics
Hans Krebs
- 1937The citric acid cycle · Biochemistry, Biology
Vera Kublanovskaya
- 1959 – 1961The QR algorithm · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
Harold Kuhn
- 1939 – 1951The Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Ernst Kummer
- 1844 – 1850Kummer's ideal numbers · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1847Lamé's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem collapses · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Paul Kazuo Kuroda
- 1972A natural reactor at Oklo · Nuclear Fission, Physics
L
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
- 1770 – 1771Lagrange asks why the old formulas work · Galois Theory, Mathematics
- 1788Lagrange multipliers · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Willis Lamb
- 1947The Lamb shift · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Gabriel Lamé
- 1847Lamé's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem collapses · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Lev Landau
- 1937Landau's theory of phase transitions · Phase Transitions, Physics
- 1950Superconductivity as a phase transition · Superconductivity, Physics
Rolf Landauer
- 1929 – 1982Information is physical · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Oscar Lanford
- 1975 – 1982Feigenbaum's universal constant · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Pierre-Simon Laplace
- 1733 – 1810The central limit theorem · Probability Theory, Mathematics
- 1763 – 1774Bayes' theorem and inverse probability · Probability Theory, Mathematics
- 1774 – 1814Laplace's rule of succession · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
Max von Laue
- 1912X-rays diffracted by a crystal · Crystallography, Physics
Robert Laughlin
- 1981 – 1982The Hall steps are topological · Topological Matter, Physics
- 1982 – 1983Fractional charge · Topological Matter, Physics
John D. Lawson
- 1955 – 1957The Lawson criterion · Fusion Energy, Physics
Henrietta Leavitt
- 1912Leavitt's period–luminosity law · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
- 1927 – 1929Galaxies recede in proportion to their distance · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Henri Lebesgue
- 1902Lebesgue's integral · Real Analysis, Mathematics
Tsung-Dao Lee
- 1956 – 1957Nature is not mirror-symmetric · Particle Physics, Physics
Hendrika van Leeuwen
- 1911 – 1919Classical physics cannot make a magnet · Magnetism, Physics
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
- 1674 – 1677Leeuwenhoek's animalcules · Cell Theory, Biology
Adrien-Marie Legendre
- 1792 – 1798The prime number theorem is conjectured · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1801Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae · Elementary Number Theory, Mathematics
- 1805 – 1809The method of least squares · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1665 – 1684Newton and Leibniz invent the calculus · Calculus, Mathematics
- 1696 – 1697The brachistochrone challenge · Differential Equations, Mathematics
Georges Lemaître
- 1922 – 1927Friedmann and Lemaître find expanding universes · Physical Cosmology, Physics
- 1927 – 1929Galaxies recede in proportion to their distance · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Tullio Levi-Civita
- 1900The absolute differential calculus · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
- 1917Levi-Civita introduces parallel transport · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
Leonid Levin
- 1971 – 1973The Cook–Levin theorem · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
Edward Lewis
- 1978Lewis and the bithorax complex · Developmental Genetics, Biology
Hans Lewy
- 1928The Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Simon Lhuilier
- 1813Polyhedra with tunnels break Euler's formula · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
Tien-Yien Li
- 1964 – 1975Period three implies chaos · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Willard Libby
- 1946 – 1949Radiocarbon dating · Radiometric Dating, Physics
Sophus Lie
- 1873 – 1893Sophus Lie's continuous groups · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Gene Likens
- 1963 – 1972Hubbard Brook and the watershed experiment · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Bertil Lindblad
- 1925 – 1927The galaxy rotates · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Raymond Lindeman
- 1942Lindeman's trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Ferdinand von Lindemann
- 1837Straightedge and compass cannot double the cube or trisect the angle · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
Joseph Liouville
- 1830 – 1832Galois's theory of equations · Galois Theory, Mathematics
- 1841Most equations can't be solved by formula · Differential Equations, Mathematics
- 1847Lamé's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem collapses · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Rudolf Lipschitz
- 1824 – 1890Solutions exist and are unique · Differential Equations, Mathematics
Joseph Lister
- 1867Antiseptic surgery · Microbiology, Biology
Joseph Jackson Lister
- 1830Lenses without coloured blur · Cell Theory, Biology
J. E. Littlewood
- 1945Wild solutions in a radio equation · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Nikolai Lobachevsky
- 1829 – 1832Hyperbolic geometry is published as a geometry in its own right · Non-Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
Norman Lockyer
- 1868A new element found in the Sun · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Otto Loewi
- 1921Loewi's two frog hearts · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Terje Lømo
- 1970 – 1973Synapses that learn · Synaptic Transmission, Biology
Fritz London
- 1933 – 1935Superconductors expel magnetic fields · Superconductivity, Physics
Heinz London
- 1933 – 1935Superconductors expel magnetic fields · Superconductivity, Physics
Kathleen Lonsdale
- 1929The benzene ring is flat · Crystallography, Physics
Hendrik Lorentz
- 1887The ether wind is not there · Electromagnetism, Physics
- 1892 – 1904Lorentz finds the transformations that hide the ether · Special Relativity, Physics
Edward Lorenz
- 1961 – 1963Lorenz's weather model · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Josef Loschmidt
- 1872Boltzmann's equation and H-theorem · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
Alfred Lotka
- 1925 – 1926The Lotka–Volterra equations · Population Ecology, Biology
László Lovász
- 1975The Lovász local lemma · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Ada Lovelace
- 1822 – 1843Calculation by machine · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
Eric Lutz
- 2012Landauer's limit measured · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Aleksandr Lyapunov
- 1892Lyapunov's theory of stability · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
M
Robert MacArthur
- 1963 – 1967The equilibrium theory of island biogeography · Biogeography, Biology
Georgina Mace
- 1964 – 1994The IUCN Red List · Conservation Biology, Biology
David MacKay
- 1993 – 1996Codes that reach Shannon's limit · Information Theory, Mathematics
Percy MacMahon
- 1918A formula for the partition numbers · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Benoit Mandelbrot
- 1978 – 1980The Mandelbrot set is drawn · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
Hilde Mangold
- 1924The organiser · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Lynn Margulis
- 1967Our cells are partnerships of ancient bacteria · Evolutionary Biology, Biology
Andrey Markov
- 1906 – 1913Markov chains · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Fernando Codá Marques
- 2017 – 2018Infinitely many minimal surfaces in every closed 3-manifold · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
David Marr
- 1969 – 1982Marr's levels · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
George Marsaglia
- 1968Random numbers fall mainly in the planes · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Ernest Marsden
- 1909 – 1911The atomic nucleus · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
Gail Martin
- 1981Embryonic stem cells · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
J. Peter Matelski
- 1978 – 1980The Mandelbrot set is drawn · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
Yuri Matiyasevich
- 1950 – 1970Hilbert's tenth problem is unsolvable · Computability Theory, Mathematics
James Clerk Maxwell
- 1860Maxwell's distribution of speeds · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
- 1861 – 1865Maxwell unifies electricity, magnetism and light · Electromagnetism, Physics
- 1866Viscosity independent of pressure · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
- 1867Maxwell's demon · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Katherine Clerk Maxwell
- 1866Viscosity independent of pressure · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
Robert May
- 1974 – 1976Populations that fluctuate by themselves · Population Ecology, Biology
- 1976May's simple models with complicated dynamics · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Julius Robert Mayer
- 1842 – 1850Heat is a form of energy · Thermodynamics, Physics
Maria Goeppert Mayer
- 1949The shell model and magic numbers · Nuclear Structure, Physics
James Maynard
- 2013Bounded gaps between primes · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
Michel Mayor
- 199551 Pegasi b · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
Ernest McCulloch
- 1961 – 1963Colonies in the spleen · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
Warren McCulloch
- 1943The logical neuron · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
Arthur McDonald
- 1968 – 2001The solar neutrino problem, and its solution · Particle Physics, Physics
William McGinnis
- 1984The homeobox · Developmental Genetics, Biology
- 1984 – 1989The same genes in flies and mice · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
John McKay
- 1979 – 1992Monstrous moonshine · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Walther Meissner
- 1933 – 1935Superconductors expel magnetic fields · Superconductivity, Physics
Lise Meitner
- 1938 – 1939Meitner and Frisch explain fission · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Eugene Mele
- 2005 – 2007Topological insulators · Topological Matter, Physics
Gregor Mendel
- 1866Mendel's experiments on plant hybrids · Genetics, Biology
Maud Menten
- 1913The kinetics of enzymes · Biochemistry, Biology
Ralph Merkle
- 1976Diffie and Hellman: New Directions in Cryptography · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Robert C. Merton
- 1973The Black–Scholes formula · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Élie Metchnikoff
- 1882 – 1908Phagocytes against antibodies · Immunology, Biology
Nicholas Metropolis
- 1946 – 1949The Monte Carlo method at Los Alamos · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
- 1953The Metropolis algorithm · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Leonor Michaelis
- 1913The kinetics of enzymes · Biochemistry, Biology
Albert Michelson
- 1887The ether wind is not there · Electromagnetism, Physics
Gero Miesenböck
- 2002 – 2005Optogenetics · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Victor Miller
- 1985Elliptic-curve cryptography · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Robert Millikan
- 1916Millikan confirms the photoelectric equation · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
Robert Mills
- 1954Yang–Mills theory · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Brenda Milner
- 1953 – 1957Patient H.M. and the hippocampus · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
John Milnor
- 1956Milnor finds exotic 7-spheres · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
César Milstein
- 1975Monoclonal antibodies · Immunology, Biology
Hermann Minkowski
- 1908Minkowski fuses space and time into spacetime · Special Relativity, Physics
Marvin Minsky
- 1958 – 1969The perceptron · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
- 1969The limits of perceptrons · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Peter Mitchell
- 1961 – 1978Mitchell's chemiosmotic theory · Biochemistry, Biology
Gösta Mittag-Leffler
- 1889 – 1890The prize memoir's error · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
W. E. Moerner
- 1994 – 2006Beating the diffraction limit · Cell Biology, Biology
Abraham de Moivre
- 1733 – 1810The central limit theorem · Probability Theory, Mathematics
Laurens Molenkamp
- 2005 – 2007Topological insulators · Topological Matter, Physics
Sutton Monro
- 1951Stochastic approximation · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Louis Mordell
- 1922Mordell's theorem and conjecture · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Augustus De Morgan
- 1852Four colours suffice? · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Thomas Hunt Morgan
- 1902 – 1915Genes are located on chromosomes · Genetics, Biology
Edward Morley
- 1887The ether wind is not there · Electromagnetism, Physics
Robert Morris
- 2023An exponential improvement for Ramsey numbers · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Edvard Moser
- 2005Grid cells · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Jürgen Moser
- 1954 – 1963The KAM theorem · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
May-Britt Moser
- 2005Grid cells · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Robin Moser
- 1975The Lovász local lemma · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Alex Müller
- 1986 – 1987High-temperature superconductors · Superconductivity, Physics
Hermann Muller
- 1927X-rays create mutations on demand · Genetics, Biology
Kary Mullis
- 1983 – 1985The polymerase chain reaction · Genomics, Biology
Paul Murdin
- 1971 – 1972The first black hole · Compact Objects, Physics
Sumner Myers
- 1941Positive curvature forces a space to close up · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
N
Georg Nagel
- 2002 – 2005Optogenetics · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
John Nash
- 1956Nash proves every Riemannian manifold fits in some Euclidean space · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
Louis Néel
- 1936 – 1949Antiferromagnets and ferrites · Magnetism, Physics
Erwin Neher
- 1976 – 1981The patch clamp · Electrophysiology, Biology
Arkadi Nemirovski
- 1984 – 1994Interior-point methods for convex problems · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Walther Nernst
- 1906The third law · Thermodynamics, Physics
Yurii Nesterov
- 1984 – 1994Interior-point methods for convex problems · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
John von Neumann
- 1931 – 1932The ergodic theorems · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
- 1936 – 1945From universal machine to stored-program computer · Computability Theory, Mathematics
- 1946 – 1949The Monte Carlo method at Los Alamos · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
- 1947Rounding error in matrix inversion · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
- 1950The first computer forecast · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
André Neves
- 2017 – 2018Infinitely many minimal surfaces in every closed 3-manifold · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Isaac Newton
- 1665 – 1684Newton and Leibniz invent the calculus · Calculus, Mathematics
- 1669 – 1690Newton's method for roots · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
- 1687Newton's Principia unites Earth and heavens · Classical Mechanics, Physics
- 1696 – 1697The brachistochrone challenge · Differential Equations, Mathematics
Jerzy Neyman
- 1933The Neyman–Pearson theory of testing · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Alexander Nicholson
- 1933 – 1954Crowding or weather · Population Ecology, Biology
Garth Nicolson
- 1972The fluid mosaic model · Cell Biology, Biology
Marshall Nirenberg
- 1961 – 1966The genetic code is cracked · Molecular Biology, Biology
Ida Noddack
- 1934Fermi bombards the elements with neutrons · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Emmy Noether
- 1921Emmy Noether's theory of ideals · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
- c. 1925Homology becomes a group, not a count · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
- 1930 – 1931Van der Waerden's Moderne Algebra · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
Pyotr Novikov
- 1968The Burnside problem has a negative answer · Group Theory, Mathematics
Konstantin Novoselov
- 2004 – 2005Graphene · Topological Matter, Physics
Robert Noyce
- 1958 – 1959The integrated circuit · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Paul Nurse
- 1970 – 1987The controls of the cell cycle · Cell Biology, Biology
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
- 1980The Heidelberg screen · Developmental Genetics, Biology
- 1988The Bicoid gradient · Developmental Genetics, Biology
John Mitchell Nuttall
- 1911The Geiger–Nuttall law · Radioactivity, Physics
Harry Nyquist
- 1924 – 1928Nyquist and Hartley measure the telegraph · Information Theory, Mathematics
O
John O'Keefe
- 1971Place cells · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Robert Ochsenfeld
- 1933 – 1935Superconductors expel magnetic fields · Superconductivity, Physics
Eugene Odum
- 1953 – 1957The Odums and energy flow · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Howard T. Odum
- 1953 – 1957The Odums and energy flow · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Seiji Ogawa
- 1990 – 1992Functional MRI · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Mark Oliphant
- 1934Fusion in the laboratory · Fusion Energy, Physics
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
- 1911Resistance vanishes · Superconductivity, Physics
Lars Onsager
- 1931Onsager's reciprocal relations · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
- 1944Onsager solves the two-dimensional Ising model · Phase Transitions, Physics
Jan Oort
- 1925 – 1927The galaxy rotates · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
J. Robert Oppenheimer
- 1939Neutron star limits and gravitational collapse · Compact Objects, Physics
- 1945The bomb · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Donald Ornstein
- 1970Ornstein's isomorphism theorem · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
Hans Christian Ørsted
- 1820An electric current deflects a compass needle · Electromagnetism, Physics
Richard Owen
- 1861 – 1863Archaeopteryx, a feathered link between reptiles and birds · Evolutionary Biology, Biology
P
Svante Pääbo
- 2010Neanderthal DNA lives on in us · Genomics, Biology
Larry Page
- 1998The web as a Markov chain · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Robert Paine
- 1966 – 1969Paine's keystone predator · Community Ecology, Biology
George Palade
- 1955 – 1975How a cell makes and exports proteins · Cell Biology, Biology
Seymour Papert
- 1958 – 1969The perceptron · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
- 1969The limits of perceptrons · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Jeff Paris
- 1977A natural statement arithmetic cannot prove · Metamathematics, Mathematics
Giorgio Parisi
- 1975 – 1979Spin glasses · Magnetism, Physics
Jinyoung Park
- 2022The Kahn–Kalai conjecture · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Blaise Pascal
- 1639 – 1640Desargues treats conics by projection and adds points at infinity · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
- 1654Pascal and Fermat solve the problem of points · Probability Theory, Mathematics
- 1654Pascal's arithmetical triangle · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Louis Pasteur
- 1859 – 1862Pasteur's swan-neck flasks · Microbiology, Biology
- 1897Fermentation without cells · Biochemistry, Biology
Clair Patterson
- 1953 – 1956The age of the Earth · Radiometric Dating, Physics
Wolfgang Pauli
- 1930 – 1956The neutrino, predicted and caught · Particle Physics, Physics
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
- 1925Stars are made of hydrogen · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Egon Pearson
- 1933The Neyman–Pearson theory of testing · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Karl Pearson
- 1900Pearson's chi-squared test · Statistical Inference, Mathematics
Charles Sanders Peirce
- 1879Frege's Begriffsschrift and the quantifier · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
Arno Penzias
- 1965The afterglow of the Big Bang · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Grigori Perelman
- 2002 – 2003Perelman proves geometrization with Ricci flow · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
Saul Perlmutter
- 1998 – 1999The expansion is speeding up · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Jean Perrin
- 1905 – 1909Atoms are real · Kinetic Theory of Gases, Physics
Huy Tuan Pham
- 2022The Kahn–Kalai conjecture · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Edvard Phragmén
- 1889 – 1890The prize memoir's error · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
Émile Picard
- 1824 – 1890Solutions exist and are unique · Differential Equations, Mathematics
Edward Pickering
- 1890 – 1924The Harvard classification · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Stuart Pimm
- 1979 – 2014How fast species are being lost · Conservation Biology, Biology
Walter Pitts
- 1943The logical neuron · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
Max Planck
- 1877Entropy counts arrangements · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
- 1900Planck's quantum · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
Boris Podolsky
- 1935The EPR argument and entanglement · Quantum Information, Physics
Henri Poincaré
- 1881 – 1886Poincaré's qualitative theory · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
- 1882Poincaré finds hyperbolic geometry inside complex analysis · Non-Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
- 1889 – 1890The prize memoir's error · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
- 1890The recurrence theorem · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
- 1895Poincaré's Analysis Situs · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
- 1904Poincaré asks whether simple connectivity characterises the 3-sphere · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
- 1905Einstein's "On the electrodynamics of moving bodies" · Special Relativity, Physics
George Pólya
- 1937Pólya's enumeration theorem · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Jean-Victor Poncelet
- 1822Poncelet founds projective geometry as a subject · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
- 1825 – 1827The principle of duality · Projective Geometry, Mathematics
Stanley Pons
- 1989Cold fusion · Fusion Energy, Physics
Keith Porter
- 1931 – 1945The electron microscope sees inside cells · Cell Biology, Biology
Charles-Jean de la Vallée Poussin
- 1896The prime number theorem is proved · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
Michael Powell
- 1959 – 1970Quasi-Newton methods · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Douglas Prasher
- 1962 – 1994Green fluorescent protein · Cell Biology, Biology
Frans Pretorius
- 2005 – 2006Two black holes merge on a computer · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Richard Price
- 1763 – 1774Bayes' theorem and inverse probability · Probability Theory, Mathematics
Ilya Prigogine
- 1951 – 1977Order far from equilibrium · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Q
Didier Queloz
- 199551 Pegasi b · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
R
Hans Rademacher
- 1918A formula for the partition numbers · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Tibor Radó
- 1930 – 1931The Plateau problem is solved · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Srinivasa Ramanujan
- 1918A formula for the partition numbers · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Frank Ramsey
- 1926 – 1954Probability as degree of belief · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
- 1930Ramsey's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Joseph Raphson
- 1669 – 1690Newton's method for roots · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
Alexander Razborov
- 1975 – 2009The barriers to proving P ≠ NP · Computational Complexity, Mathematics
J. Howard Redfield
- 1937Pólya's enumeration theorem · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Frederick Reines
- 1930 – 1956The neutrino, predicted and caught · Particle Physics, Physics
Robert Remak
- 1852 – 1858Every cell from a cell · Cell Theory, Biology
Alfréd Rényi
- 1959 – 1960The evolution of random graphs · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Robert Retherford
- 1947The Lamb shift · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Ken Ribet
- 1985 – 1990Fermat's Last Theorem is reduced to modularity · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro
- 1900The absolute differential calculus · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
Henry Gordon Rice
- 1953Rice's theorem · Computability Theory, Mathematics
Lewis Fry Richardson
- 1922Richardson's forecast by hand · Numerical Methods for PDEs, Mathematics
Bernhard Riemann
- 1851Riemann's geometric theory of complex functions · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
- 1854 (published 1868)Riemann's lecture "On the hypotheses which lie at the foundations of geometry" · Riemannian Geometry, Mathematics
- 1854 (published 1868)Riemann defines the integral · Real Analysis, Mathematics
- 1857Riemann turns algebraic curves into surfaces · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
- 1859Riemann's paper on the number of primes · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
Adam Riess
- 1998 – 1999The expansion is speeding up · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Ron Rivest
- 1977RSA turns Fermat's little theorem into a lock · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Herbert Robbins
- 1951Stochastic approximation · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Neil Robertson
- 1983 – 2004The graph minor theorem · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Julia Robinson
- 1950 – 1970Hilbert's tenth problem is unsolvable · Computability Theory, Mathematics
Nathan Rosen
- 1935The EPR argument and entanglement · Quantum Information, Physics
Frank Rosenblatt
- 1958 – 1969The perceptron · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
- 1958The perceptron · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Arianna Rosenbluth
- 1953The Metropolis algorithm · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Marshall Rosenbluth
- 1953The Metropolis algorithm · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Bruno Rossi
- 1941Fast muons live longer · Special Relativity, Physics
Gian-Carlo Rota
- 1964Rota's foundations of combinatorial theory · Enumerative Combinatorics, Mathematics
Wilhelm Roux
- 1888 – 1892Roux's half embryos and Driesch's whole ones · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Carlo Rubbia
- 1967 – 1983Electroweak unification · Particle Physics, Physics
Vera Rubin
- 1970 – 1980Flat rotation curves · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Paolo Ruffini
- 1799 – 1824No general formula for the quintic · Galois Theory, Mathematics
David Rumelhart
- 1982 – 1986Networks that remember and learn · Computational Neuroscience, Biology
- 1986Backpropagation · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Carl Runge
- 1901More points can make things worse · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
Ernst Ruska
- 1931 – 1945The electron microscope sees inside cells · Cell Biology, Biology
Bertrand Russell
- 1901 – 1903Russell's paradox · Set Theory, Mathematics
- 1910 – 1913Principia Mathematica · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
Henry Norris Russell
- 1911 – 1913The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
- 1925Stars are made of hydrogen · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Ernest Rutherford
- 1899 – 1903Alpha, beta and gamma · Radioactivity, Physics
- 1901 – 1903Atoms transform · Radioactivity, Physics
- 1904 – 1905Radioactivity as a clock · Radiometric Dating, Physics
- 1909 – 1911The atomic nucleus · Old Quantum Theory, Physics
- 1917 – 1919The first artificial transmutation · Nuclear Structure, Physics
- 1934Fusion in the laboratory · Fusion Energy, Physics
S
Girolamo Saccheri
- c. 150 – 1733Centuries of failed proofs of the fifth postulate · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
Jonathan Sacks
- 1981Sacks and Uhlenbeck tame the bubbles · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Meghnad Saha
- 1925Stars are made of hydrogen · Astronomical Spectroscopy, Physics
Julian Sahasrabudhe
- 2023An exponential improvement for Ramsey numbers · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Andrei Sakharov
- 1968 – 1969The tokamak works · Fusion Energy, Physics
Bert Sakmann
- 1976 – 1981The patch clamp · Electrophysiology, Biology
Abdus Salam
- 1967 – 1983Electroweak unification · Particle Physics, Physics
Frederick Sanger
- 1977Sanger sequencing · Genomics, Biology
Toshiro Sato
- 2009A gut in a dish · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
Leonard Jimmie Savage
- 1926 – 1954Probability as degree of belief · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
Matthias Schleiden
- 1838 – 1839Plants and animals are made of cells · Cell Theory, Biology
Brian Schmidt
- 1998 – 1999The expansion is speeding up · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Richard Schoen
- 1979The positive mass theorem · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Myron Scholes
- 1973The Black–Scholes formula · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Robert Schrieffer
- 1956 – 1957The BCS theory · Superconductivity, Physics
Erwin Schrödinger
- 1926Schrödinger's wave equation · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
- 1935The EPR argument and entanglement · Quantum Information, Physics
Issai Schur
- 1916Schur's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Theodor Schwann
- 1838 – 1839Plants and animals are made of cells · Cell Theory, Biology
Karl Schwarzschild
- 1916Schwarzschild's exact solution · General Relativity, Physics
Julian Schwinger
- 1947 – 1949Renormalised quantum electrodynamics · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Matthew Scott
- 1984The homeobox · Developmental Genetics, Biology
William Scoville
- 1953 – 1957Patient H.M. and the hippocampus · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Atle Selberg
- 1948 – 1949An "elementary" proof of the prime number theorem · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
Ignaz Semmelweis
- 1847Semmelweis and handwashing · Microbiology, Biology
Anatoliy Serdyukov
- 1976 – 2020Half again as long, and then slightly less · Combinatorial Optimisation, Mathematics
Jean-Pierre Serre
- 1985 – 1990Fermat's Last Theorem is reduced to modularity · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Joseph Serret
- 1847 – 1851The Frenet–Serret formulas describe every space curve · Differential Geometry of Surfaces, Mathematics
Francesco Severi
- c. 1890 – 1946The Italian school's intuition outruns its proofs · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Paul Seymour
- 1983 – 2004The graph minor theorem · Graph Theory, Mathematics
Adi Shamir
- 1977RSA turns Fermat's little theorem into a lock · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
Claude Shannon
- 1948A mathematical theory of communication · Information Theory, Mathematics
Harlow Shapley
- 1918The Sun is not at the centre · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
- 1920 – 1925The Great Debate and the other galaxies · Galactic Astronomy, Physics
Oleksandr Sharkovsky
- 1964 – 1975Period three implies chaos · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Dan Shechtman
- 1982 – 1984The forbidden symmetry · Crystallography, Physics
Charles Sherrington
- 1897 – 1906Sherrington names the synapse · Neuroanatomy, Biology
Kitasato Shibasaburō
- 1890Antitoxins in the blood · Immunology, Biology
Osamu Shimomura
- 1962 – 1994Green fluorescent protein · Cell Biology, Biology
Goro Shimura
- 1955 – 1967The modularity conjecture · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Mitsuhiro Shishikura
- 1998The boundary has dimension two · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
William Shockley
- 1947 – 1948The transistor · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Peter Shor
- 1982 – 1985Quantum computers proposed · Quantum Information, Physics
- 1994Shor's algorithm threatens it all · Public-Key Cryptography, Mathematics
- 1995 – 1996Quantum error correction · Quantum Information, Physics
Neil Shubin
- 1997Deep homology · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
- 2004 – 2006Tiktaalik · Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Biology
Clifford Shull
- 1936 – 1949Antiferromagnets and ferrites · Magnetism, Physics
Daniel Simberloff
- 1966 – 1969Emptying islands to watch them refill · Biogeography, Biology
- 1975 – 1986Single large or several small · Conservation Biology, Biology
Yakov Sinai
- 1958 – 1959Entropy for dynamical systems · Ergodic Theory, Mathematics
S. Jonathan Singer
- 1972The fluid mosaic model · Cell Biology, Biology
Vesto Slipher
- 1927 – 1929Galaxies recede in proportion to their distance · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Stephen Smale
- 1960 – 1967Smale's horseshoe · Dynamical Systems, Mathematics
- 1961The Poincaré conjecture falls in dimensions five and up · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
Adrian Smith
- 1990The MCMC revolution · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
John Snow
- 1854 – 1855Snow traces cholera to water · Microbiology, Biology
Ilya Sobol
- 1960 – 1967Quasi-random points · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Frederick Soddy
- 1901 – 1903Atoms transform · Radioactivity, Physics
- 1913Isotopes · Nuclear Structure, Physics
Ray Solomonoff
- 1964 – 1969The information in a single object · Information Theory, Mathematics
Arnold Sommerfeld
- 1927 – 1928Electrons obey quantum statistics · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Antoine Song
- 2017 – 2018Infinitely many minimal surfaces in every closed 3-manifold · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Michael Soulé
- 1980 – 1981Minimum viable populations · Conservation Biology, Biology
- 1985Soulé defines conservation biology · Conservation Biology, Biology
Hans Spemann
- 1924The organiser · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Harold Stark
- 1952 – 1967Gauss's class number one problem is solved · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Andrew Steane
- 1995 – 1996Quantum error correction · Quantum Information, Physics
Norman Steenrod
- 1945 – 1952Homology is given axioms · Algebraic Topology, Mathematics
Ernst Steinitz
- 1910Steinitz's abstract theory of fields · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
Eduard Stiefel
- 1952The conjugate gradient method · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
Horst Störmer
- 1982 – 1983Fractional charge · Topological Matter, Physics
Volker Strassen
- 1969Elimination is not optimal · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
Fritz Strassmann
- 1938Barium from uranium · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Alfred Sturtevant
- 1902 – 1915Genes are located on chromosomes · Genetics, Biology
Hans Suess
- 1949The shell model and magic numbers · Nuclear Structure, Physics
- 1955 – 1970Calibrating the carbon clock · Radiometric Dating, Physics
Dennis Sullivan
- 1985No wandering domains · Complex Dynamics, Mathematics
John Sulston
- 1974 – 1983Every cell of a worm traced · Developmental Genetics, Biology
James Sumner
- 1926An enzyme is a protein · Biochemistry, Biology
Ludwig Sylow
- 1872The Sylow theorems · Group Theory, Mathematics
George Szekeres
- 1935The happy ending problem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Endre Szemerédi
- 1975Szemerédi's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Leo Szilard
- 1929 – 1982Information is physical · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
- 1939Uranium-235 is the one that splits · Nuclear Fission, Physics
- 1942The first chain reaction · Nuclear Fission, Physics
T
Teiji Takagi
- 1920 – 1927Class field theory is completed · Algebraic Number Theory, Mathematics
Kazutoshi Takahashi
- 2006 – 2007Induced pluripotent stem cells · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
Yutaka Taniyama
- 1955 – 1967The modularity conjecture · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Arthur Tansley
- 1935Tansley names the ecosystem · Ecosystem Ecology, Biology
Terence Tao
- 1975Szemerédi's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Gábor Tardos
- 1975The Lovász local lemma · Probabilistic Combinatorics, Mathematics
Niccolò Tartaglia
- 1515 – 1545The cubic and quartic are solved · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
Edward Tatum
- 1941One gene, one enzyme · Genetics, Biology
Joseph Taylor
- 1974The binary pulsar · Compact Objects, Physics
Richard Taylor
- 1994 – 1995Wiles proves Fermat's Last Theorem through elliptic curves · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
- 1999 – 2001Every elliptic curve over the rationals is modular · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Edward Teller
- 1952The hydrogen bomb · Fusion Energy, Physics
- 1953The Metropolis algorithm · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
Howard Temin
- 1970Information flows from RNA back to DNA · Molecular Biology, Biology
John Thompson
- 1963The odd order theorem · Group Theory, Mathematics
George Paget Thomson
- 1927Electrons diffract like waves · Quantum Mechanics, Physics
James Thomson
- 1998Human embryonic stem cells · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
- 2006 – 2007Induced pluripotent stem cells · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)
- 1848 – 1854An absolute scale of temperature · Thermodynamics, Physics
- 1867Maxwell's demon · Non-Equilibrium Physics, Physics
Kip Thorne
- 2015 – 2016Gravitational waves are detected directly · General Relativity, Physics
David Thouless
- 1971 – 1973Topological phase transitions · Phase Transitions, Physics
- 1981 – 1982The Hall steps are topological · Topological Matter, Physics
William Thurston
- 1982Thurston's geometrization conjecture · Geometric Topology, Mathematics
James Till
- 1961 – 1963Colonies in the spleen · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
Sin-Itiro Tomonaga
- 1947 – 1949Renormalised quantum electrodynamics · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
Susumu Tonegawa
- 1976Antibody genes are shuffled · Immunology, Biology
Roger Tsien
- 1962 – 1994Green fluorescent protein · Cell Biology, Biology
Daniel Tsui
- 1982 – 1983Fractional charge · Topological Matter, Physics
Albert Tucker
- 1939 – 1951The Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions · Continuous Optimisation, Mathematics
Warwick Tucker
- 2002The Lorenz attractor exists · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
John Tukey
- 1965The fast Fourier transform · Fourier Analysis, Mathematics
Pál Turán
- 1941Turán's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
Alan Turing
- 1936The decision problem has no solution · Computability Theory, Mathematics
- 1936 – 1945From universal machine to stored-program computer · Computability Theory, Mathematics
- 1940 – 1941Bayes breaks the Enigma · Bayesian Statistics, Mathematics
- 1948Turing's condition number · Numerical Linear Algebra, Mathematics
- 1952Turing's chemical basis of morphogenesis · Experimental Embryology, Biology
U
Karen Uhlenbeck
- 1981Sacks and Uhlenbeck tame the bubbles · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
Stanislaw Ulam
- 1946 – 1949The Monte Carlo method at Los Alamos · Monte Carlo Methods, Mathematics
- 1952The hydrogen bomb · Fusion Energy, Physics
V
Leslie Valiant
- 1984A theory of the learnable · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Vladimir Vapnik
- 1971Vapnik–Chervonenkis theory · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
- 1992 – 1995Support vector machines · Statistical Learning Theory, Mathematics
Craig Venter
- 2001 – 2003The human genome is read · Genomics, Biology
Pierre-François Verhulst
- 1838Verhulst's logistic curve · Population Ecology, Biology
Urbain Le Verrier
- 1846Neptune is found where the mathematics said it would be · Classical Mechanics, Physics
- 1859Mercury's orbit refuses to close · Classical Mechanics, Physics
François Viète
- 1591Viète puts letters for the known quantities · Theory of Equations, Mathematics
Rudolf Virchow
- 1852 – 1858Every cell from a cell · Cell Theory, Biology
Alessandro Volta
- 1791Galvani's frog legs · Electrophysiology, Biology
Vito Volterra
- 1925 – 1926The Lotka–Volterra equations · Population Ecology, Biology
Hugo de Vries
- 1900Mendel's laws are rediscovered · Genetics, Biology
W
Johannes Diderik van der Waals
- 1873Van der Waals's equation of state · Phase Transitions, Physics
Bartel van der Waerden
- 1927Van der Waerden's theorem · Extremal Combinatorics, Mathematics
- 1930 – 1931Van der Waerden's Moderne Algebra · Abstract Algebra, Mathematics
Alfred Russel Wallace
- 1858Darwin and Wallace announce natural selection · Evolutionary Biology, Biology
- 1859 – 1876The Wallace Line and the zoological regions · Biogeography, Biology
Pierre Wantzel
- 1837Straightedge and compass cannot double the cube or trisect the angle · Euclidean Geometry, Mathematics
James Watson
- 1953The structure of DNA · Molecular Biology, Biology
Louise Webster
- 1971 – 1972The first black hole · Compact Objects, Physics
Alfred Wegener
- 1915 – 1968The continents move · Biogeography, Biology
Karl Weierstrass
- 1870Weierstrass undermines the Dirichlet principle · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
- 1872A continuous curve with no slope anywhere · Real Analysis, Mathematics
André Weil
- c. 1890 – 1946The Italian school's intuition outruns its proofs · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
- 1949The Weil conjectures · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
- 1955 – 1967The modularity conjecture · Arithmetic Geometry, Mathematics
Steven Weinberg
- 1967 – 1983Electroweak unification · Particle Physics, Physics
Wilhelm Weinberg
- 1908The Hardy–Weinberg principle · Population Genetics, Biology
Pierre Weiss
- 1907The molecular field · Magnetism, Physics
Rainer Weiss
- 2015 – 2016Gravitational waves are detected directly · General Relativity, Physics
Drew Weissman
- 2005 – 2020mRNA vaccines · Immunology, Biology
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
- 1935 – 1936The nucleus as a liquid drop · Nuclear Structure, Physics
- 1938 – 1939Bethe's fusion cycles · Stellar Astrophysics, Physics
Caspar Wessel
- 1799 – 1831Complex numbers become points in a plane · Complex Analysis, Mathematics
Hermann Weyl
- 1925 – 1931Representation theory becomes the language of quantum mechanics · Representation Theory, Mathematics
John Archibald Wheeler
- 1939Uranium-235 is the one that splits · Nuclear Fission, Physics
Alfred North Whitehead
- 1910 – 1913Principia Mathematica · Mathematical Logic, Mathematics
Carl Wieman
- 1995A Bose–Einstein condensate is made · Statistical Mechanics, Physics
Norbert Wiener
- 1923Wiener constructs Brownian motion · Stochastic Processes, Mathematics
Eric Wieschaus
- 1980The Heidelberg screen · Developmental Genetics, Biology
Torsten Wiesel
- 1959 – 1962Hubel and Wiesel find edge detectors · Systems Neuroscience, Biology
Eugene Wigner
- 1925 – 1931Representation theory becomes the language of quantum mechanics · Representation Theory, Mathematics
Andrew Wiles
- 1994 – 1995Wiles proves Fermat's Last Theorem through elliptic curves · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Maurice Wilkins
- 1953The structure of DNA · Molecular Biology, Biology
James Wilkinson
- 1960 – 1963Backward error analysis · Numerical Analysis, Mathematics
Thomas Willis
- 1664Willis maps the brain · Neuroanatomy, Biology
Ian Wilmut
- 1996 – 1997Dolly the sheep · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Alan Herries Wilson
- 1931Metals, insulators and semiconductors · Solid-State Physics, Physics
Edward O. Wilson
- 1963 – 1967The equilibrium theory of island biogeography · Biogeography, Biology
- 1966 – 1969Emptying islands to watch them refill · Biogeography, Biology
Kenneth Wilson
- 1966 – 1972The renormalisation group · Phase Transitions, Physics
Robert Wilson
- 1965The afterglow of the Big Bang · Physical Cosmology, Physics
Carl Woese
- 1977 – 1990Woese finds a third domain of life · Evolutionary Biology, Biology
Friedrich Wöhler
- 1828Urea from inorganic chemicals · Biochemistry, Biology
Caspar Friedrich Wolff
- 1672 – 1759Preformation versus epigenesis · Embryology, Biology
Lewis Wolpert
- 1969Positional information · Experimental Embryology, Biology
Aleksander Wolszczan
- 1992Planets around a dead star · Exoplanetary Science, Physics
Sewall Wright
- 1930 – 1932Fisher, Haldane and Wright found population genetics · Population Genetics, Biology
Chien-Shiung Wu
- 1956 – 1957Nature is not mirror-symmetric · Particle Physics, Physics
Y
Shinya Yamanaka
- 2006 – 2007Induced pluripotent stem cells · Stem Cell Biology, Biology
Chen-Ning Yang
- 1954Yang–Mills theory · Quantum Field Theory, Physics
- 1956 – 1957Nature is not mirror-symmetric · Particle Physics, Physics
Shing-Tung Yau
- 1976 – 1978Yau proves the Calabi conjecture · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
- 1979The positive mass theorem · Geometric Analysis, Mathematics
James Yorke
- 1964 – 1975Period three implies chaos · Chaos Theory, Mathematics
Hideki Yukawa
- 1935Yukawa's theory of the nuclear force · Nuclear Structure, Physics
Z
Oscar Zariski
- c. 1890 – 1946The Italian school's intuition outruns its proofs · Algebraic Geometry, Mathematics
Anton Zeilinger
- 1972 – 2015Bell's inequality is violated · Quantum Information, Physics
Ernst Zermelo
- 1901 – 1903Russell's paradox · Set Theory, Mathematics
- 1904 – 1908Zermelo axiomatises set theory · Set Theory, Mathematics
Feng Zhang
- 2012CRISPR–Cas9 becomes a programmable genome editor · Genomics, Biology
Shou-Cheng Zhang
- 2005 – 2007Topological insulators · Topological Matter, Physics
Yitang Zhang
- 2013Bounded gaps between primes · Analytic Number Theory, Mathematics
George Zweig
- 1964 – 1968Quarks · Particle Physics, Physics
Fritz Zwicky
- 1934Supernovae and neutron stars · Compact Objects, Physics