IE N T I S T S C O N T R IB U T E D

5 0 SC
T O T HE D EV E LO P M E NT O F
PHYSICS
RAT ORY E XE RCISE NO. 1
LABO
 ARCHIMEDES
287-212 B.C

ARCHIMEDES ANTICIPATED MODERN CALCULUS AND ANALYSIS BY

APPLYING CONCEPTS OF INFINITESIMALS AND THE METHOD OF
EXHAUSTION TO DERIVE AND RIGOROUSLY PROVE A RANGE OF
GEOMETRICAL THEOREMS, INCLUDING THE AREA OF A CIRCLE, THE
SURFACE AREA AND VOLUME OF A SPHERE, AND THE AREA UNDER A
PARABOLA.
 NICOLAUS COPERNICUS
1473 -1543

NICOLAUS COPERNICUS WAS A RENAISSANCE- AND REFORMATION-ERA

MATHEMATICIAN AND ASTRONOMER WHO FORMULATED A MODEL OF
THE UNIVERSE THAT PLACED THE SUN RATHER THAN THE EARTH AT THE
CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, LIKELY INDEPENDENTLY OF ARISTARCHUS OF
SAMOS, WHO HAD FORMULATED SUCH A MODEL SOME EIGHTEEN
CENTURIES EARLIER.
 GALILEO GALILEI
1564 – 1642

GALILEO GALILEI HAS BEEN CALLED THE “FATHER OF OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY”,

THE “FATHER OF MODERN PHYSICS”, THE “FATHER OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD”, AND
THE “FATHER OF SCIENCE”. GALILEO STUDIED SPEED AND VELOCITY, GRAVITY AND
FREE FALL, THE PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY, INERTIA, PROJECTILE MOTION AND ALSO
WORKED IN APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, DESCRIBING THE PROPERTIES OF
PENDULUMS AND “HYDROSTATIC BALANCES”, INVENTING THE THERMOSCOPE AND
VARIOUS MILITARY COMPASSES, AND USING THE TELESCOPE (A DUTCH OPTICAL
INSTRUMENT) FOR SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS.
 JOHANNES KEPLER
1571 – 1630

JOHANNES KEPLER WAS A GERMAN MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER,

AND ASTROLOGER IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS LAWS OF PLANETARY
MOTION, BASED ON HIS WORKS ASTRONOMIA NOVA, HARMONICES
MUNDI, AND EPITOME OF COPERNICAN ASTRONOMY. THESE WORKS
ALSO PROVIDED ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONS FOR ISAAC NEWTON’S
THEORY OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION.
 EVANGELISTA TORRICELLI
1608 – 1647

EVANGELISTA TORRICELLI, ITALIAN PHYSICIST AND MATHEMATICIAN

WHO INVENTED THE BAROMETER AND WHOSE WORK IN GEOMETRY
AIDED IN THE EVENTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRAL CALCULUS.
INSPIRED BY GALILEO’S WRITINGS, HE WROTE A TREATISE ON
MECHANICS, DE MOTU (“CONCERNING MOVEMENT”), WHICH
IMPRESSED GALILEO.
 ROBERT BOYLE
1627 – 1691

ROBERT BOYLE IS BEST KNOWN FOR BOYLE’S LAW, WHICH DESCRIBES

THE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ABSOLUTE
PRESSURE AND VOLUME OF A GAS, IF THE TEMPERATURE IS KEPT
CONSTANT WITHIN A CLOSED SYSTEM.
 CHRISTAAN HUYGENS
1629 – 1695

CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS IS KNOWN PARTICULARLY AS AN ASTRONOMER,

PHYSICIST, PROBABILIST AND HOROLOGIST. HUYGENS WAS A LEADING
SCIENTIST OF HIS TIME. HIS WORK INCLUDED EARLY TELESCOPIC
STUDIES OF THE RINGS OF SATURN AND THE DISCOVERY OF ITS MOON
TITAN, THE INVENTION OF THE PENDULUM CLOCK AND OTHER
INVESTIGATIONS IN TIMEKEEPING.
 ROBERT HOOK
1635 – 1703

HIS ADULT LIFE COMPRISED THREE DISTINCT PERIODS: AS A SCIENTIFIC

INQUIRER LACKING MONEY; ACHIEVING GREAT WEALTH AND STANDING
THROUGH HIS REPUTATION FOR HARD WORK AND SCRUPULOUS
HONESTY FOLLOWING THE GREAT FIRE OF 1666, AND EVENTUALLY
BECOMING ILL AND PARTY TO JEALOUS INTELLECTUAL DISPUTES ( HE IS
FAMOUS FOR HOOKE’S LAW AND MICROSCOPY APPLIED THE WORD
CELL).
 ISAAC NEWTON
1643 – 1727

SIR ISAAC NEWTON WAS AN ENGLISH MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER,

AND PHYSICIST (DESCRIBED IN HIS OWN DAY AS A “NATURAL
PHILOSOPHER”) WHO CREATED THE NEWTONIAN MECHANICS,
PRINCIPIA NEWTON’S METHOD, UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION, OPTICS
BINOMIAL SERIES, INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS.
 BENHAMIN FRANKLIN
1706 – 1790

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE

UNITED STATES (AS AN INVENTOR, HE IS KNOWN FOR THE LIGHTNING
ROD, BIFOCALS, AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE, AMONG OTHER
INVENTIONS).
 CHARLES COULOMB
1736 – 1806

CHARLES-AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB, WAS BEST KNOWN FOR DEVELOPING

COULOMB’S LAW, THE DEFINITION OF THE ELECTROSTATIC FORCE OF
ATTRACTION AND REPULSION, BUT ALSO DID IMPORTANT WORK ON
FRICTION.
 THOMAS YOUNG
1773 – 1829

THOMAS YOUNG MADE NOTABLE SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE

FIELDS OF VISION, LIGHT, SOLID MECHANICS, ENERGY, PHYSIOLOGY,
LANGUAGE, MUSICAL HARMONY, AND EGYPTOLOGY.
 ANDRE MARIE AMPHERE
1775 – 1836

ANDRÉ-MARIE AMPÈRE WAS A FRENCH PHYSICIST AND

MATHEMATICIAN WHO WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE SCIENCE OF
CLASSICAL ELECTROMAGNETISM, WHICH HE REFERRED TO AS
“ELECTRODYNAMICS.
 HANS OERSTED
1777 – 1851

HANS CHRISTIAN ØRSTED WAS A DANISH PHYSICIST AND CHEMIST

WHO DISCOVERED THAT ELECTRIC CURRENTS CREATE MAGNETIC
FIELDS, WHICH WAS THE FIRST CONNECTION FOUND BETWEEN
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM.
 JOSEPH VON FRAUNHOTER
1787 – 1826

JOSEPH VON FRAUNHOFER WAS GERMAN PHYSICIST WHO FIRST

STUDIED THE DARK LINES OF THE SUN’S SPECTRUM, NOW KNOWN AS
FRAUNHOFER LINES AND ALSO WAS THE FIRST TO USE EXTENSIVELY THE
DIFFRACTION GRATING, A DEVICE THAT DISPERSES LIGHT MORE
EFFECTIVELY THAN A PRISM DOES.
 GEORG OHM
1789 – 1854

USING EQUIPMENT OF HIS OWN CREATION, GEORG SIMON OHM FOUND

THAT THERE IS A DIRECT PROPORTIONALITY BETWEEN THE POTENTIAL
DIFFERENCE (VOLTAGE) APPLIED ACROSS A CONDUCTOR AND THE
RESULTANT ELECTRIC CURRENT.
 CHRISTIAN DOPPLER
1803– 1853

CHRISTIAN ANDREAS DOPPLER CELEBRATED FOR HIS PRINCIPLE —

KNOWN AS THE DOPPLER EFFECT — THAT THE OBSERVED FREQUENCY
OF A WAVE DEPENDS ON THE RELATIVE SPEED OF THE SOURCE AND THE
OBSERVER.
 WILHELM WEBER
1809 – 1891

WILHELM EDUARD WEBER PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE

DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICAL SCIENCE, PARTICULARLY BY HIS WORK
TO ESTABLISH A SYSTEM OF ABSOLUTE ELECTRICAL UNITS.
 JAMES JOULE
1818 – 1889

JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE STUDIED THE NATURE OF HEAT, AND

DISCOVERED ITS RELATIONSHIP TO MECHANICAL WORK (SEE ENERGY)
AND LED TO THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, WHICH LED TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS.
 WILLIAM THOMSON KELVIN
1824 - 1907

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW HE DID IMPORTANT WORK IN THE

MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF ELECTRICITY AND FORMULATION OF THE FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS, AND DID MUCH TO UNIFY THE
EMERGING DISCIPLINE OF PHYSICS IN ITS MODERN FORM AND HE IS FAMOUS
FOR ABSOLUTE ZERO, JOULE–THOMSON EFFECT, THOMSON EFFECT
(THERMOELECTRIC), MIRROR GALVANOMETER, SIPHON RECORDER, KELVIN
MATERIAL, KELVIN WATER DROPPER, KELVIN WAVE, KELVIN–HELMHOLTZ
INSTABILITY, AND MANY OTHERS
 JAMES MAXWELL
1831 – 1879

HIS MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT WAS TO FORMULATE THE CLASSICAL

THEORY OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION, BRINGING TOGETHER FOR
THE FIRST TIME ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, AND LIGHT AS
MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SAME PHENOMENON.
 ERNST MACH
1838 – 1916

ERNST WALDFRIED JOSEF WENZEL MACH WAS AN AUSTRIAN PHYSICIST

AND PHILOSOPHER, NOTED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHYSICS SUCH
AS STUDY OF SHOCK WAVES.
 LUDWIG BOLTZMANN
1844 - 1906

LUDWIG EDUARD BOLTZMANN WAS PHYSICIST WHOSE GREATEST

ACHIEVEMENT WAS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS,
WHICH EXPLAINS AND PREDICTS HOW THE PROPERTIES OF ATOMS
(SUCH AS MASS, CHARGE, AND STRUCTURE) DETERMINE THE VISIBLE
PROPERTIES OF MATTER (SUCH AS VISCOSITY, THERMAL
CONDUCTIVITY, AND DIFFUSION).
 WILHELM RONTGEN
1845 - 1923

WILHELM CONRAD RÖNTGEN WAS A GERMAN MECHANICAL ENGINEER

AND PHYSICIST, WHO, ON 8 NOVEMBER 1895, PRODUCED AND
DETECTED ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN A WAVELENGTH RANGE
KNOWN AS X-RAYS OR RÖNTGEN RAYS, AN ACHIEVEMENT THAT EARNED
HIM THE FIRST NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS IN 1901.
 HENRI BECQUEREL
1852 – 1908

ANTOINE-HENRI BECQUEREL WAS FRENCH PHYSICIST WHO

DISCOVERED RADIOACTIVITY THROUGH HIS INVESTIGATIONS OF
URANIUM AND OTHER SUBSTANCES.
 NICOLA TESLA
1856 - 1943

NIKOLA TESLA WAS SERBIAN AMERICAN INVENTOR AND ENGINEER WHO

DISCOVERED AND PATENTED THE ROTATING MAGNETIC FIELD, THE BASIS
OF MOST ALTERNATING-CURRENT MACHINERY.
 JOSEPH JOHN THOMSON
1856 - 1940

JOSEPH JOHN THOMSON WAS AN ENGLISH PHYSICIST AND NOBEL

LAUREATE IN PHYSICS, CREDITED WITH THE DISCOVERY AND
IDENTIFICATION OF THE ELECTRON; AND WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE
FIRST SUBATOMIC PARTICLE.
 HEINRICH HERTZ
1857 - 1894

HEINRICH HERTZ WAS GERMAN PHYSICIST WHO SHOWED THAT

SCOTTISH PHYSICIST JAMES CLERK MAXWELL’S THEORY OF
ELECTROMAGNETISM WAS CORRECT AND THAT LIGHT AND HEAT ARE
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATIONS.
 MAX PLANCK
1858 - 1947

MAX KARL ERNST LUDWIG PLANCK MADE MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO

THEORETICAL PHYSICS, BUT HIS FAME AS A PHYSICIST RESTS
PRIMARILY ON HIS ROLE AS THE ORIGINATOR OF QUANTUM THEORY,
WHICH REVOLUTIONIZED HUMAN UNDERSTANDING OF ATOMIC AND
SUBATOMIC PROCESSES.
 JAGADISH CHANDRA
1858 - 1937

JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE PIONEERED THE INVESTIGATION OF RADIO

AND MICROWAVE OPTICS, MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO
PLANT SCIENCE, AND LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF EXPERIMENTAL
SCIENCE IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT.
 DIETER ZEEMAN
1865 - 1943

PIETER ZEEMAN WAS DUTCH PHYSICIST WHO SHARED WITH HENDRIK

A. LORENTZ THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS IN 1902 FOR HIS DISCOVERY
OF THE ZEEMAN EFFECT.
 MARIE CURIE
1867 - 1934

MARIE SKŁODOWSKA CURIE WAS A POLISH AND NATURALIZED-FRENCH

PHYSICIST AND CHEMIST WHO CONDUCTED PIONEERING RESEARCH ON
RADIOACTIVITY.
 ERNEST RUTHERFORD
1871 - 1937

ERNEST RUTHERFORD, 1ST BARON RUTHERFORD OF NELSON, WAS A NEW

ZEALAND-BORN BRITISH PHYSICIST WHO DISCOVERED THE CONCEPT
OF RADIOACTIVE HALF-LIFE, PROVED THAT RADIOACTIVITY INVOLVED
THE NUCLEAR TRANSMUTATION OF ONE CHEMICAL ELEMENT TO
ANOTHER, AND ALSO DIFFERENTIATED AND NAMED ALPHA AND BETA
RADIATION.
 LISE MIETNER
1878 - 1968

LISE MEITNER WAS AN AUSTRIAN-SWEDISH PHYSICIST WHO WORKED

ON RADIOACTIVITY AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS.
 ALBERT EINSTEIN
1879 - 1955

ALBERT EINSTEIN WAS A GERMAN-BORN THEORETICAL PHYSICIST WHO

DEVELOPED THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY, ONE OF THE TWO PILLARS OF
MODERN PHYSICS (ALONGSIDE QUANTUM MECHANICS) AND HE ISBEST
KNOWN BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC FOR HIS MASS–ENERGY EQUIVALENCE
FORMULA E = MC2 (WHICH HAS BEEN DUBBED THE WORLD’S MOST
FAMOUS EQUATION).
 NIELS BOHR
1885 - 1962

NIELS HENRIK DAVID BOHR WAS A DANISH PHYSICIST WHO MADE

FOUNDATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNDERSTANDING ATOMIC
STRUCTURE AND QUANTUM THEORY, FOR WHICH HE RECEIVED THE
NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS IN 1922.
 ERWIN SCHRODINGER
1887 - 1961

ERWIN RUDOLF JOSEF ALEXANDER SCHRÖDINGER WAS A NOBEL PRIZE-

WINNING AUSTRIAN PHYSICIST WHO DEVELOPED A NUMBER OF
FUNDAMENTAL RESULTS IN THE FIELD OF QUANTUM THEORY, WHICH
FORMED THE BASIS OF WAVE MECHANICS: HE FORMULATED THE WAVE
EQUATION (STATIONARY AND TIME-DEPENDENT SCHRÖDINGER
EQUATION) AND REVEALED THE IDENTITY OF HIS DEVELOPMENT OF THE
FORMALISM AND MATRIX MECHANICS.
 CV RAMAN
1888 – 1970

CHANDRASEKHARA VENKATA RAMAN WAS AN INDIAN PHYSICIST BORN

IN THE FORMER MADRAS PROVINCE IN INDIA PRESENTLY CALLED AS
TAMIL NADU, WHO CARRIED OUT GROUND-BREAKING WORK IN THE
FIELD OF LIGHT SCATTERING, WHICH EARNED HIM THE 1930 NOBEL
PRIZE FOR PHYSICS.
 EDWIN HUBBLE
1889 - 1970

EDWIN POWELL HUBBLE WAS AN AMERICAN ASTRONOMER PLAYED A

CRUCIAL ROLE IN ESTABLISHING THE FIELDS OF EXTRAGALACTIC
ASTRONOMY AND OBSERVATIONAL COSMOLOGY AND IS REGARDED AS
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ASTRONOMERS OF ALL TIME.
 LOUISE DE BROGLIC
1892 - 1987

LOUIS-VICTOR-PIERRE-RAYMOND DE BROGLIE POSTULATED THE WAVE

NATURE OF ELECTRONS AND SUGGESTED THAT ALL MATTER HAS WAVE
PROPERTIES. THIS CONCEPT IS KNOWN AS THE DE BROGLIE
HYPOTHESIS, AN EXAMPLE OF WAVE–PARTICLE DUALITY, AND FORMS A
CENTRAL PART OF THE THEORY OF QUANTUM MECHANICS.
 MEGHAD SAHA
1893 - 1956

MEGHNAD SAHA WAS THE FIRST SCIENTIST TO RELATE A STAR’S

SPECTRUM TO ITS TEMPERATURE, DEVELOPING THERMAL IONIZATION
EQUATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN FOUNDATIONAL IN THE FIELDS OF
ASTROPHYSICS AND ASTROCHEMISTRY.
 GEORGES LEMAITRE
1894 - 1966

GEORGES HENRI JOSEPH ÉDOUARD PROPOSED THE THEORY OF THE EXPANSION OF

THE UNIVERSE, WIDELY MISATTRIBUTED TO EDWIN HUBBLE AND HE WAS THE
FIRST TO DERIVE WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS HUBBLE’S LAW AND MADE THE FIRST
ESTIMATION OF WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE HUBBLE CONSTANT, WHICH HE
PUBLISHED IN 1927, TWO YEARS BEFORE HUBBLE’S ARTICLE. AND HE ALSO
PROPOSED WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS THE BIG BANG THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF
THE UNIVERSE, WHICH HE CALLED HIS “HYPOTHESIS OF THE PRIMEVAL ATOM” OR
THE “COSMIC EGG”.
 WERNER HEISENBERG
1901 - 1976

WERNER KARL HEISENBERG WAS A GERMAN THEORETICAL PHYSICIST

AND ONE OF THE KEY PIONEERS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS AND HE IS
KNOWN FOR THE HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, WHICH HE
PUBLISHED IN 1927.
 ENRICO FERMI
1901 - 1954

ENRICO FERMI HELD SEVERAL PATENTS RELATED TO THE USE OF

NUCLEAR POWER, AND WAS AWARDED THE 1938 NOBEL PRIZE IN
PHYSICS FOR HIS WORK ON INDUCED RADIOACTIVITY BY NEUTRON
BOMBARDMENT AND THE DISCOVERY OF TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS AND
HE MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
QUANTUM THEORY, NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS, AND STATISTICAL
MECHANICS.
 PAUL DIRAC
1902 - 1984

PAUL ADRIEN MAURICE DIRAC WAS AN ENGLISH THEORETICAL

PHYSICIST WHO MADE FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EARLY
DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH QUANTUM MECHANICS AND QUANTUM
ELECTRODYNAMICS.
 JOHN BARDEEN
1908 - 1991

JOHN BARDEEN WAS AN AMERICAN PHYSICIST AND ELECTRICAL

ENGINEER, THE ONLY PERSON TO HAVE WON THE NOBEL PRIZE IN
PHYSICS TWICE: FIRST IN 1956 WITH WILLIAM SHOCKLEY AND WALTER
BRATTAIN FOR THE INVENTION OF THE TRANSISTOR; AND AGAIN IN 1972
WITH LEON N COOPER AND JOHN ROBERT SCHRIEFFER FOR A
FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF CONVENTIONAL SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
KNOWN AS THE BCS THEORY.
 HOMI J. BHABHA
1909 - 1966

HOMI JEHANGIR BHABHA WAS THE FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF TWO WELL-

KNOWN RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, NAMELY THE TATA INSTITUTE OF
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH (TIFR) AND THE TROMBAY ATOMIC ENERGY
ESTABLISHMENT (NOW NAMED AFTER HIM); BOTH SITES WERE THE
CORNERSTONE OF INDIAN DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
WHICH BHABHA ALSO SUPERVISED AS ITS DIRECTOR.
 JOHN WHEELER
1911 - 2008

JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER BEST KNOWN FOR LINKING THE TERM

“BLACK HOLE” TO OBJECTS WITH GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE ALREADY
PREDICTED EARLY IN THE 20TH CENTURY, FOR COINING THE TERMS
“QUANTUM FOAM”, “NEUTRON MODERATOR”, “WORMHOLE” AND “IT
FROM BIT”, AND FOR HYPOTHESIZING THE “ONE-ELECTRON UNIVERSE”.
 RICHARD FEYMAN
1918 - 1988

RICHARD PHILLIPS FEYNMAN WAS AN AMERICAN THEORETICAL

PHYSICIST KNOWN FOR HIS WORK IN THE PATH INTEGRAL
FORMULATION OF QUANTUM MECHANICS, THE THEORY OF QUANTUM
ELECTRODYNAMICS, AND THE PHYSICS OF THE SUPERFLUIDITY OF
SUPERCOOLED LIQUID HELIUM, AS WELL AS IN PARTICLE PHYSICS FOR
WHICH HE PROPOSED THE PARTON MODEL.
 STEPHEN HAWKING
1942 - 2018

STEPHEN WILLIAM HAWKING SCIENTIFIC WORKS INCLUDE A

COLLABORATION WITH ROGER PENROSE ON GRAVITATIONAL
SINGULARITY THEOREMS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF GENERAL RELATIVITY
AND THE THEORETICAL PREDICTION THAT BLACK HOLES EMIT
RADIATION, OFTEN CALLED HAWKING RADIATION. HAWKING WAS THE
FIRST TO SET OUT A THEORY OF COSMOLOGY EXPLAINED BY A UNION OF
THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY AND QUANTUM MECHANICS.