Scientist – what do you think of when you hear this word?
I think of people who shook up the view of the world.
Looking outside at heaven and earth, or looking inside cells and molecules - they changed the way we see.
Timeline of Science Revolutionaries
Copernicus 1473 – 1543 solar system
Isaac Newton 1643 – 1727 gravity
Edward Jenner 1749 – 1823 vaccines
Charles Darwin 1809 – 1882 evolution
Gregor Mendel 1822 – 1884 genetics
Nikola Tesla 1856 – 1943 AC electricity, radio
Marie Skłodowska-Curie 1867 – 1934 radioactivity
Albert Einstein 1879 – 1955 relativity
Rachel Carson 1907 – 1964 environment
Carl Sagan 1934 – 1996 stars
Barbara McClintock 1902 – 1992 jumping genes
Oliver Sacks 1933 – the brain
Jane Goodall 1934 – chimps
Find books by and about revolutionary scientists at: Books
Who are your favorites in science?
Leave a name. Start a conversation. But don’t use big words.
I’m wondering what specifically about chimps Jane Goodall was working on, it’s a very interesting topic. :)
The scientists included in this timeline have helped explain so many natural phenomena. It’s exciting to read the discoveries in the order in which they occurred. Gives a sense of man’s evolution of understanding about the natural world. Also makes me feel like humans are part of all those things, to see the scientists name next to each natural wonder. From the solar system to gravity to evolution to genetics… were a curious, probing group of mammals aren’t we?!
Our understanding definitely evolves Lillian, that’s a great note. Some new views are more fit than older ones which get pushed aside. Other views stand the test of time and remain true, generation after generation.
Sophia, thanks for the note about Jane Goodall. She lived beside chimps in their natural habitat to study how they communicate and how they interact with one another. She wrote many books about what she saw and experienced in the wild, in Africa. Her work redefined our idea of “man”, for example she showed chimps making and using tools – which we thought was one of the things that separated man from animals. Jane Goodall is a voice for chimps, and an advocate for protecting animals from use and abuse by humans. She also is a peace advocate, and wrote a thoughtful book on being vegetarian, called Harvest for Hope. Jane Goodall has an institute to teach about the natural world and environmental protection that is making changes around the world in how we see nature.
I was unaware of chimps being an endangered species! Interesting if sad fact. It’s bad prioritizing on our part that we know more about the personal problems of celebrities than of our environment and our government’s current practices. Thanks for shedding light on this issue, and I look forward to more such articles. :)
The scientists included in this timeline have helped explain so many natural phenomena. It’s exciting to read the discoveries in the order in which they occurred. Gives a sense of man’s evolution of understanding about the natural world. Also makes me feel like humans are part of all those things, to see the scientists name next to each natural wonder. From the solar system to gravity to evolution to genetics were a curious, probing group of mammals aren’t we?!
You’ve got to add another science revolution to this list: the germ theory of disease. It truly changed the world when people figured out that invisible living things make us sick. Attaching a single scientist’s name to this is hard, but Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur would be major contenders.