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May 7, 1512
Nicholas Copernicus
He's from Caracrow, Poland and was fascinated with astronomy so he proposed the "heliocentric model of the solar system which stated that the sun was the center of our solar system and the earth, along with all the other planets, revolved around it in an orbital pattern. He was also the first person in history to create a complete and general system, combining mathematics, physics, and cosmology. -
Galileo Galilei
From Pisa, Italy he was a mathematics professor who made pioneering observations of nature with long lasting implications for the study of physics. He constructed the telescope and supported the Copernican theory, which supports a sun centered solar system. He was accused twice of heresy by the church for his beliefs and wrote books on his ideas. -
Willebrord Snell
Laws of refraction of light. He descovered that the beam of light would bend as it enters a block of gas. -
Johannes Kepler
Three laws of planetary motion- The law of Ellipses, The law of Equal Areas, The law of Harmonies. -
Isaac Newton
Newton developed the 3 principles of modern physics with his descoveries in motion and mathematics. -
Robert Hooke
Hookes Law- the extension of a spring is proportional to the applied force. The surface of the planets intersected him, he also reported spots on Jupiter- claimed in later years to have measured the rotation of planets although that credit belongs to another scientist, Cassini. -
Benjamin Franklin
From Boston, Massachusetts he invented the lightening rod where he proved that lightening and electricity went hand in hand. He knew an electrical current in lightening could start a fire. The lightening hits the rod instead of the house and the electrical current from the lightening goes into the ground and leaves the house undamaged. He was one of the first five men to draft the Declaration of Independence and one of the 13 to draft the Articles of Confederation. -
Amedeo Avogadro
From Piedmont, Italy Avogardos law- under conrolled conditions of temperature and pressure equal volumes of gases contain an equal number of molecules. He had 16 children and was very home-loving which caused him to not get out much. His minimal contact with prominent scientists and his habit of citing his own results increased his isolation. -
Andre-Marie Ampere
He's from Lyon, France. His contribution to science was his law he came up with called Ampere's Law which states that the mutual action of two lengths of current carrying wire is proportionasl to their lengths and to the intensities of their currents. He used his access to the latest mathematical books to begin teaching himself advanced mathematics at age 12. -
George Simon Ohm
Ohm's Law- the current flow through a conductor is directly proportional to the potiential difference (voltage) and inversely proprtional to the resistance. -
Christian Doppler
From Salzburg, Austria he designed how the observer frequency of light and sound waves is affected by the relative motion of the source and detector. Since the pitch of sound from a moving source varies for a stationary observer, the colour from the light of a star should alter according to the stars velocity relative to the earth. This is known as the Doppler Effect. His lack of physical strength kept him from joining his father in his stonemasonry buisness so he studied philosophy instead. -
James Prescot Joule
First law of thermodynamics- the change in the internal energy of a closed system is equal to the amount of heat supplied. -
William Thomson the 1st Kelvin
Argued that the dissiption of energy was an irreversable process which led him to the conclusion that the universe would end in a "heat death". -
Heinrich Hertz
Helped establish the photoelectric effect which stated that a charged object loses its charge more readily when illuminated by ultraviolet light. Died very young at age 36 from Wegners Granolmatosis. -
Nikola Tesla
His contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. -
Albert Einstein
He's from Ulm, Austria and investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations lead to the foundation of the photon theory of light, theory of radiation, and statistical mechanics. He also recieved honorary doctorate degrees in science, medecine, and philosiphy from many European and American universities. Lectured in many other parts of the world as well and was awarded fellowship awards.