Great Minds in Science by CATHERINE BARRALES

1473-1543 Nicolas Copernicus

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Polish priest and mathematician. he denies the medieval belief, inherited from the class the classical Greek astronomer Ptolemy (c. 90-168) that the earth is the center of the universe and develops and revolutionary theory that the earth and planets revolve around the sun (heliocentric theory) in De Revoltionibus orbium coelestium (On the revolutions' of the celestial spheres completed 1530)

1561-1626 Francis Bacon

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English philosopher his novum organum (1620) stresses the importance of proper science method: theories must be supported by proof acquired by experimentation and observation

1578-1657 William Harvey

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English physician and anatomist, he discovers the circulation of the blood and describes the purpose of arteries, viens, and the heart in De motu corids et sanguinis in animalibus (on the motion of the heart and blood in animals 1628)

1596-1650 Rene Descartes

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French philosopher and mathematician. Develops analytic geometry and other mathematical techniques useful in theoretical science. he believes that mathematical proof is the model for rational scientific inquiry, his best known philosophical work, Meditations de prima philosophia (meditations on first philosophy, 1641) emphasizes the importance of accepting only indubitable evidence

1627-1691 Robert Boyle

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Irish physicist and chemist. he investigates the properties of air and develops a theory describing the relationship between the pressure and volume of gasses (known as boyles law) in The skeptical chemist (1661) he questions the accepted belief that the world is made up just of four elements (earth, air, fire, water) argues that they can be broken down into more fundamental, chemical element

1743-1794 Antoine lavoisier

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French chemist in traite elementaire de chimie (elementary treatise on chemistry, 1789) he describes the constituent gasses of air (calling the two most significant oxygen and nitrogen) and shows that combustion can take in the presence of oxygen. develops the modern system for naming chemical compounds and proposes that matter is never destroyed in chemical reactions (Law of conversation of matter)

1514-1564 Andreas Vesalius

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Belgian physician and anatomist, in is De humani corporis fabrica libri septum (seven books on the structure of the human body 1543) he describes human anatomy more accurately than the classical Greek scientist Galen (c. 130-201) whose works have been the standard reference throughout medieval Europe. his work brings a sentence of death from the inquisition (catholic church tribunal) for immorality, but he is not executed

1562-1642 Galileo Gallei

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Italian mathematician and scientist. the first to use telescopes for astronomy. he describes the surface of the moon the rotation of Jupiter. also establishes basic laws of motion from experimentation. he is arrested by the inquisition and forced to recant the endorsement of the heliocentric theory made in his dialogo dei due massimi sistemi del mondo (dialogue concerning the two chief world systems, 1632)

1571-1630 johannas kepler

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German mathematician and astronomer. accepts the heliocentric theory after examining data gathered by the danish astronomer tycho brahe (1546-1601) his astromonia nova (new astronomer, 1609) and De harmonice mundi (harmonies of the world, 1619) explain that the orbits of the planets are elliptical and not circular as copemicus has suggested

1629-1693 Christiaan huygens

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Duch physicist and astronomer. he proposes the wave theory of light, discovers the rings of Saturn and builds the first reliable pendulum clock (originally an idea of Galileo's)

1632-1723 Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

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Duch biologist, he designs a powerful microscope and uses it to describe bacteria, protozoa, spermatozoa and blood corpuscles

1642-1727 Issac Newton

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English physicist and mathematician. one of the greatest theoretical scientists in history. he discovers the law of gravitation after studying Kepler's laws of planetary motion and formulates three law of motion which form the basis of physics until the 20th century (called Newtonian mechanics) also invents the reflecting telescope (uses a curved mirror to focus light) and develops the mathematical system known as calculus,. best known work is philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (the mathematical principals of natural philosophy, 1687)