| Name | Occupation | Birth | Death | Known for |
|---|
| Alexei A. Abrikosov |
Physicist |
25-Jun-1928 |
|
Particle physicist, explored superconductivity |
| Luis W. Alvarez |
Physicist |
13-Jun-1911 |
1-Sep-1988 |
Particle accelerator, extinction of dinosaurs |
| Carl David Anderson |
Physicist |
3-Sep-1905 |
11-Jan-1991 |
Discovered the positron, mu-meson |
| Philip W. Anderson |
Physicist |
13-Dec-1923 |
|
Solid state physics |
| Harold D. Babcock |
Astronomer |
24-Jan-1882 |
8-Apr-1968 |
Solar radiation |
| John Bardeen |
Physicist |
23-May-1908 |
30-Jan-1991 |
Co-Inventor of the transistor |
| Frederick M. Bernthal |
Administrator |
10-Jan-1943 |
|
President, Universities Research Association |
| Hans Bethe |
Physicist |
2-Jul-1906 |
6-Mar-2005 |
Atomic scientist |
| J. Robert Beyster |
Business |
26-Jul-1924 |
22-Dec-2014 |
Founder of SAIC |
| Robert J. Birgeneau |
Educator |
1942 |
|
Chancellor, UC Berkeley |
| Felix Bloch |
Physicist |
23-Oct-1905 |
10-Sep-1983 |
Nuclear magnetic resonance |
| Nicolaas Bloembergen |
Physicist |
11-Mar-1920 |
|
Nonlinear optics |
| Willard S. Boyle |
Physicist |
19-Aug-1924 |
7-May-2011 |
Digital photography |
| Walter H. Brattain |
Physicist |
10-Feb-1902 |
13-Oct-1987 |
Co-Inventor of the transistor |
| Gregory Breit |
Physicist |
14-Jul-1899 |
11-Sep-1981 |
Proton-proton dispersion |
| Percy Williams Bridgman |
Physicist |
21-Apr-1882 |
20-Aug-1961 |
High-pressure physics |
| Bertram N. Brockhouse |
Physicist |
15-Jul-1918 |
13-Oct-2003 |
Triple-axis crystal spectrometry |
| Vannevar Bush |
Scientist |
11-Mar-1890 |
30-Jun-1974 |
Pre-internet visionary |
| Claude R. Canizares |
Physicist |
1945 |
|
Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics |
| Ashton Carter |
Government |
24-Sep-1954 |
|
US Secretary of Defense |
| James Chadwick |
Physicist |
20-Oct-1891 |
24-Jul-1974 |
Discovered the neutron |
| Owen Chamberlain |
Physicist |
10-Jul-1920 |
28-Feb-2006 |
Co-Discoverer of the antiproton |
| Steven Chu |
Physicist |
28-Feb-1948 |
|
US Secretary of Energy, 2009-13 |
| John Clarke |
Physicist |
10-Feb-1942 |
|
Superconducting quantum interference |
| Claude Cohen-Tannoudji |
Physicist |
1-Apr-1933 |
|
Trapped atoms with laser light |
| Arthur H. Compton |
Physicist |
10-Sep-1892 |
15-Mar-1962 |
Discovered the Compton Effect |
| Karl T. Compton |
Physicist |
15-Sep-1887 |
22-Jun-1954 |
Bikini Island atomic tests |
| Edward Condon |
Physicist |
2-Mar-1902 |
26-Mar-1974 |
Quantum Mechanics |
| William D. Coolidge |
Physicist |
23-Oct-1873 |
4-Feb-1975 |
Tungsten filaments and Coolidge tubes |
| Leon N. Cooper |
Physicist |
28-Feb-1930 |
|
BCS Theory of Superconductivity |
| Allan M. Cormack |
Physicist |
23-Feb-1924 |
7-May-1998 |
Computerized axial tomography (CAT scans) |
| Clyde Cowan |
Physicist |
6-Dec-1919 |
24-May-1974 |
Co-Discover of the neutrino |
| George A. Cowan |
Physicist |
15-Feb-1920 |
20-Apr-2012 |
Founder, Santa Fe Institute |
| James W. Cronin |
Physicist |
29-Sep-1931 |
|
Time not necessarily reversible |
| Paul Dirac |
Physicist |
8-Aug-1902 |
20-Oct-1984 |
The Principles of Quantum Mechanics |
| Sidney D. Drell |
Physicist |
13-Sep-1926 |
|
In the Shadow of the Bomb |
| Robert C. Dynes |
Educator |
8-Nov-1942 |
|
President, University of California, 2003-08 |
| Freeman Dyson |
Physicist |
15-Dec-1923 |
|
Theoretical physicist at Institute for Advanced Study |
| Vernon Ehlers |
Politician |
6-Feb-1934 |
|
Congressman from Michigan, 1993-2011 |
| Richard R. Ernst |
Chemist |
14-Aug-1933 |
|
NMR spectroscopy |
| Philo Farnsworth |
Inventor |
19-Aug-1906 |
11-Mar-1971 |
Inventor of electronic television |
| Richard Feynman |
Physicist |
11-May-1918 |
15-Feb-1988 |
Surely he's joking |
| Val Fitch |
Physicist |
10-Mar-1923 |
5-Feb-2015 |
Time not necessarily reversible |
| Bill Foster |
Politician |
7-Oct-1955 |
|
Congressman from Illinois, 2008-11 |
| William A. Fowler |
Astronomer |
9-Aug-1911 |
14-Mar-1995 |
Element generation within stars |
| Joseph S. Francisco |
Chemist |
1955 |
|
Atmospheric chemist |
| James Franck |
Physicist |
26-Aug-1882 |
21-May-1964 |
Franck-Hertz experiment |
| Jerome I. Friedman |
Physicist |
28-Mar-1930 |
|
Verified existence of quarks |
| Edward A. Frieman |
Physicist |
19-Jan-1926 |
11-Apr-2013 |
Director of Scripps, 1986-96 |
| George Gamow |
Physicist |
4-Mar-1904 |
19-Aug-1968 |
Proponent of Big Bang Theory |
| Alice P. Gast |
Educator |
25-May-1958 |
|
President, Lehigh University |
| Murray Gell-Mann |
Physicist |
15-Sep-1929 |
|
Quarks and strangeness |
| Ivan Getting |
Inventor |
18-Jan-1912 |
11-Oct-2003 |
Global Positioning System |
| Riccardo Giacconi |
Astronomer |
6-Oct-1931 |
|
Discovered cosmic X-ray sources |
| Ivar Giaever |
Physicist |
5-Apr-1929 |
|
Tunneling through superconductors |
| William F. Giauque |
Chemist |
12-May-1895 |
28-Mar-1982 |
Adiabatic demagnetization |
| Donald A. Glaser |
Physicist |
21-Sep-1926 |
28-Feb-2013 |
Inventor of the bubble chamber |
| Sheldon Glashow |
Physicist |
5-Dec-1932 |
|
Electroweak Theory |
| Robert Goddard |
Scientist |
5-Oct-1882 |
10-Aug-1945 |
Father of modern rocketry |
| Maria Goeppert-Mayer |
Physicist |
28-Jun-1906 |
20-Feb-1972 |
Shell nuclear model |
| Maurice Goldhaber |
Physicist |
18-Apr-1911 |
11-May-2011 |
Neutrons |
| Richard J. Goldstein |
Engineer |
c. 1936 |
|
Fluid mechanics |
| Samuel Goudsmit |
Physicist |
11-Jul-1902 |
4-Dec-1978 |
Conceived idea of Quantum Spin |
| David J. Gross |
Physicist |
19-Feb-1941 |
|
Deep structure of matter |
| Edwin Hall |
Physicist |
7-Nov-1855 |
20-Nov-1938 |
Discovered the Hall Effect |
| John L. Hall |
Physicist |
21-Aug-1934 |
|
Quantum optics |
| Theodor W. Hänsch |
Physicist |
30-Oct-1941 |
|
Quantum optics |
| George Russell Harrison |
Physicist |
14-Jul-1898 |
27-Jul-1979 |
Echelle spectrograph |
| Martin Harwit |
Astronomer |
9-Mar-1931 |
|
Helium-cooled rockets and infrared spectroscopy |
| Alan J. Heeger |
Physicist |
22-Jan-1936 |
|
Metallic polymers |
| Victor Francis Hess |
Physicist |
24-Jun-1883 |
17-Dec-1964 |
Proved cosmic origin of radiation |
| Roald Hoffmann |
Chemist |
18-Jul-1937 |
|
Woodward-Hoffmann reaction |
| Robert Hofstadter |
Physicist |
5-Feb-1915 |
17-Nov-1990 |
Size, shape, and structure of neutrons and protons |
| Nick Holonyak |
Physicist |
3-Nov-1928 |
|
Light-emitting diodes |
| Rush Holt |
Politician |
15-Oct-1948 |
|
Congressman, New Jersey 12th |
| Leroy Hood |
Biologist |
10-Oct-1938 |
|
Systems biology and Human Genome Project |
| Donald F. Hornig |
Educator |
17-Mar-1920 |
21-Jan-2013 |
President of Brown University, 1970-76 |
| Evelyn Hu |
Physicist |
c. 1947 |
|
Nanoscale device fabrication |
| Vernon W. Hughes |
Physicist |
28-May-1921 |
25-Mar-2003 |
Muons |
| Albert Wallace Hull |
Physicist |
19-Apr-1880 |
22-Jan-1966 |
Inventor of the magnetron tube |
| Shirley A. Jackson |
Physicist |
5-Aug-1946 |
|
NRC Chairman, 1995-99 |
| Leo P. Kadanoff |
Physicist |
14-Jan-1937 |
26-Oct-2015 |
Second-order phase transitions |
| David Kaiser |
Physicist |
14-Feb-1971 |
|
How the Hippies Saved Physics |
| Michio Kaku |
Physicist |
24-Jan-1947 |
|
String Theory |
| Jerome Karle |
Chemist |
18-Jun-1918 |
6-Jun-2013 |
X-Ray diffraction studies |
| Henry W. Kendall |
Physicist |
9-Dec-1926 |
15-Feb-1999 |
Verified existence of quarks |
| Donald M. Kerr |
Government |
c. 1941 |
|
Deputy Director, US National Intelligence |
| Wolfgang Ketterle |
Physicist |
21-Oct-1957 |
|
Bose-Einstein condensates |
| Jay Keyworth |
Physicist |
c. 1939 |
|
Science advisor to Reagan |
| Masatoshi Koshiba |
Physicist |
19-Sep-1926 |
|
Detected cosmic neutrinos |
| Herbert Kroemer |
Physicist |
25-Aug-1928 |
|
Pioneer in laser technology |
| Willis Lamb |
Physicist |
12-Jul-1913 |
15-May-2008 |
Detailed the hydrogen spectrum |
| Andrew E. Lange |
Astronomer |
23-Jul-1957 |
22-Jan-2010 |
Cosmologist, astrophysicist at Caltech |
| Irving Langmuir |
Chemist |
31-Jan-1881 |
16-Aug-1957 |
Inventor of the high-vacuum tube |
| Max von Laue |
Physicist |
9-Oct-1879 |
23-Apr-1960 |
X-ray crystallography |
| Robert B. Laughlin |
Physicist |
1-Nov-1950 |
|
Fractional quantum Hall effect |
| Paul C. Lauterbur |
Scientist |
6-May-1929 |
27-Mar-2007 |
Magnetic resonance imaging |
| Leon M. Lederman |
Physicist |
15-Jul-1922 |
|
Researcher of neutrinos |
| David M. Lee |
Physicist |
20-Jan-1931 |
|
Superfluidity of helium-3 |
| Tsung-Dao Lee |
Physicist |
25-Nov-1926 |
|
Violations of parity law |
| Yuan T. Lee |
Chemist |
29-Nov-1936 |
|
Crossed molecular beam experiments |
| Morris E. Leeds |
Business |
6-Mar-1869 |
8-Feb-1952 |
Leeds & Northrup Co. |
| Anthony J. Leggett |
Physicist |
26-Mar-1938 |
|
Particle physicist, explored superfluidity |
| Robert B. Leighton |
Astronomer |
10-Sep-1919 |
9-Mar-1997 |
Leighton dishes |
| William Lipscomb |
Chemist |
9-Dec-1919 |
14-Apr-2011 |
Chemical bonding |
| Alfred Lee Loomis |
Physicist |
4-Nov-1887 |
1-Aug-1975 |
Millionaire scientist |
| Rudolph A. Marcus |
Chemist |
21-Jul-1923 |
|
Electron-transfer reactions |
| John C. Mather |
Physicist |
7-Aug-1946 |
|
Big Bang |
| Edwin M. McMillan |
Physicist |
18-Sep-1907 |
7-Sep-1991 |
Discovered neptunium and plutonium |
| Carver A. Mead |
Engineer |
1-May-1934 |
|
Microelectronics |
| Richard A. Meserve |
Attorney |
20-Nov-1944 |
|
President of the Carnegie Institution |
| Albert A. Michelson |
Physicist |
19-Dec-1852 |
9-May-1931 |
Measured the speed of light |
| Robert A. Millikan |
Physicist |
22-Mar-1868 |
19-Dec-1953 |
Determined the charge of an electron |
| Raymond D. Mindlin |
Engineer |
17-Sep-1906 |
22-Nov-1987 |
Mindlin's problem |
| Keith Moffatt |
Mathematician |
12-Apr-1935 |
|
Fluid dynamics |
| Ernest J. Moniz |
Educator |
22-Dec-1944 |
|
US Secretary of Energy |
| Robert S. Mulliken |
Chemist |
7-Jun-1896 |
31-Oct-1986 |
Molecular orbital theory |
| Yoichiro Nambu |
Physicist |
18-Jan-1921 |
5-Jul-2015 |
Spontaneous broken symmetry |
| Lars Onsager |
Chemist |
27-Nov-1903 |
5-Oct-1976 |
Fourth Law of Thermodynamics |
| Douglas D. Osheroff |
Physicist |
1-Aug-1945 |
|
Superfluidity of helium-3 |
| David W. Oxtoby |
Educator |
1951 |
|
President, Pomona College |
| Pief Panofsky |
Physicist |
24-Apr-1919 |
24-Sep-2007 |
Stanford Linear Accelerator |
| Eugene Parker |
Astronomer |
10-Jun-1927 |
|
Solar winds |
| Wolfgang Pauli |
Physicist |
25-Apr-1900 |
15-Dec-1958 |
Pauli Exclusion Principle |
| P. James E. Peebles |
Astronomer |
25-Apr-1935 |
|
Galaxy formation |
| Rudolf Peierls |
Physicist |
5-Jun-1907 |
19-Sep-1995 |
Frisch-Peierls Memorandum |
| Arno Penzias |
Astronomer |
26-Apr-1933 |
|
Detected primordial radiation |
| Martin L. Perl |
Physicist |
24-Jun-1927 |
30-Sep-2014 |
Discovered the tau lepton |
| Saul Perlmutter |
Astronomer |
1959 |
|
Accelerating expansion of the universe |
| William D. Phillips |
Physicist |
5-Nov-1948 |
|
Trapped atoms with laser light |
| Kenneth S. Pitzer |
Chemist |
6-Jan-1914 |
26-Dec-1997 |
President of Rice University, 1961-68 |
| James D. Plummer |
Educator |
3-Dec-1944 |
|
Dean of Stanford's Engineering School |
| H. David Politzer |
Physicist |
31-Aug-1949 |
|
Deep structure of matter |
| E. M. Purcell |
Physicist |
30-Aug-1912 |
7-Mar-1997 |
Nuclear magnetic resonance |
| Isidor Isaac Rabi |
Physicist |
29-Jul-1898 |
11-Jan-1988 |
Magnetic beam resonances |
| James Rainwater |
Physicist |
9-Dec-1917 |
31-May-1986 |
Determined shapes of nuclei |
| Norman F. Ramsey |
Physicist |
27-Aug-1915 |
4-Nov-2011 |
Energy levels of atoms |
| Frederick Reines |
Physicist |
16-Mar-1918 |
26-Aug-1998 |
Co-Discover of the neutrino |
| Robert C. Richardson |
Physicist |
26-Jun-1937 |
19-Feb-2013 |
Superfluidity of helium-3 |
| Burton Richter |
Physicist |
22-Mar-1931 |
|
Co-Discoverer of J/psi meson |
| F. Sherwood Rowland |
Chemist |
28-Jun-1927 |
10-Mar-2012 |
Ozone depletion |
| Henry Augustus Rowland |
Physicist |
27-Nov-1848 |
16-Apr-1901 |
Studied optics, magnetism, etc. |
| Carl Sagan |
Astronomer |
9-Nov-1934 |
20-Dec-1996 |
Popular astronomer, host of Cosmos |
| Edwin E. Salpeter |
Astronomer |
3-Dec-1924 |
26-Nov-2008 |
Quantitative electron microscopic autoradiography |
| Arthur L. Schawlow |
Physicist |
5-May-1921 |
28-Apr-1999 |
Laser spectroscopy |
| Robert Schrieffer |
Physicist |
31-May-1931 |
|
BCS Theory of Superconductivity |
| Melvin Schwartz |
Physicist |
2-Nov-1932 |
28-Aug-2006 |
Researcher of neutrinos |
| Julian Schwinger |
Physicist |
12-Feb-1918 |
16-Jul-1994 |
Quantum electrodynamics |
| Glenn Seaborg |
Physicist |
19-Apr-1912 |
25-Feb-1999 |
Co-Discoverer of Plutonium |
| William R. Sears |
Engineer |
1-Mar-1913 |
12-Oct-2002 |
Airfoil engineer |
| Emilio Segrè |
Physicist |
30-Jan-1905 |
22-Apr-1989 |
Co-Discoverer of the antiproton |
| Nathan Seiberg |
Physicist |
22-Sep-1956 |
|
String theorist at Princeton |
| Maurice M. Shapiro |
Physicist |
13-Nov-1915 |
27-Feb-2008 |
Composition and origin of cosmic rays |
| Robert N. Shelton |
Educator |
1948 |
|
President, University of Arizona |
| William Shockley |
Physicist |
13-Feb-1910 |
12-Aug-1989 |
Co-Inventor of the transistor |
| Richard E. Smalley |
Chemist |
6-Jun-1943 |
28-Oct-2005 |
Co-Discovered fullerines |
| George E. Smith |
Scientist |
10-May-1930 |
|
Digital photography |
| George F. Smoot |
Physicist |
20-Feb-1945 |
|
Big bang |
| Elmer Sperry |
Inventor |
12-Oct-1860 |
10-Jun-1930 |
Gyroscopic compass |
| Lyman Spitzer, Jr. |
Astronomer |
26-Jun-1914 |
31-Mar-1997 |
Father of space telescopes |
| Leo Szilard |
Physicist |
11-Feb-1898 |
30-May-1964 |
Nuclear chain reaction |
| Richard E. Taylor |
Physicist |
2-Nov-1929 |
|
Verified existence of quarks |
| Elihu Thomson |
Inventor |
29-Mar-1853 |
13-Mar-1937 |
Electric welding and A/C motors |
| Samuel C. C. Ting |
Physicist |
27-Jan-1936 |
|
Co-Discoverer of J/psi meson |
| Charles H. Townes |
Physicist |
28-Jul-1915 |
27-Jan-2015 |
Invention of the maser and laser |
| Daniel C. Tsui |
Physicist |
28-Feb-1939 |
|
Fractional quantum Hall effect |
| Neil deGrasse Tyson |
Astronomer |
5-Oct-1958 |
|
Astrophysicist |
| George Uhlenbeck |
Physicist |
6-Dec-1900 |
31-Oct-1988 |
Conceived idea of Quantum Spin |
| Harold C. Urey |
Chemist |
29-Apr-1893 |
5-Jan-1981 |
Discovered Deuterium |
| James Van Allen |
Astronomer |
7-Sep-1914 |
9-Aug-2006 |
Discovered the Van Allen Belt |
| Robert J. Van de Graaff |
Inventor |
20-Dec-1901 |
16-Jan-1967 |
Van de Graaff generator |
| John H. van Vleck |
Physicist |
13-Mar-1899 |
27-Oct-1980 |
Quantum theory of paramagnetism |
| Victor Weisskopf |
Physicist |
19-Sep-1908 |
21-Apr-2002 |
Head of CERN, 1961-65 |
| Carl E. Wieman |
Physicist |
26-Mar-1951 |
|
Bose-Einstein Condensates |
| Eugene Wigner |
Physicist |
17-Nov-1902 |
1-Jan-1995 |
Law of conservation of parity |
| Frank Wilczek |
Physicist |
15-May-1951 |
|
Deep structure of matter |
| Jack M. Wilson |
Educator |
c. 1945 |
|
President, University of Massachusetts |
| Robert Woodrow Wilson |
Astronomer |
10-Jan-1936 |
|
Detected primordial radiation |
| Edward Witten |
Physicist |
26-Aug-1951 |
|
String theorist at Princeton |
| Leona Woods |
Physicist |
9-Aug-1919 |
10-Nov-1986 |
Physicist at University of Chicago |
| Chen Ning Yang |
Physicist |
1-Oct-1922 |
|
Particle physicist |
| Hideki Yukawa |
Physicist |
23-Jan-1907 |
8-Sep-1981 |
Predicted existence of mesons |
| Ahmed H. Zewail |
Chemist |
26-Feb-1946 |
|
Femtochemistry |
| Fritz Zwicky |
Astronomer |
14-Feb-1898 |
8-Feb-1974 |
Astrophysicist at CalTech |
