Great Minds in Science by Nelly Enriquez

1473-1543: Nicolas Copernicus

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Polish priest and mathematician. He denies the medieval belief, inherited from the classical Greek astronomer Ptolemy (c. 90-168), that the Earth is the center of the universe, and develops the revolutionary theory that the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun (heliocentric theory) in his De Revoltionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, completed 1530)

1514-1564: Andreas Vesalius

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Belgian physician and anatomist. In his De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (Seven Books on the Structure of the Human Body, 1543) he describes the 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

1561-1626: Francis Bacon

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English philosopher. His Novum Organum (1620) stresses the important of proper scientific method: theories must be supported by proof acquired by experimentation and observation

1564-1642: Galileo Galilei

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Italian mathematician and scientist. The first to use telescopes for astronomy. He describes the surface of the Moon and the rotation of the moons 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 his Dialogo dei due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue Concerning The two Chief World Systems, 1632)

1571-1623: Johannes Kepler

5nenr963_ — 2024-05-29 01:21:20 UTC

German mathematician and astronomer. Accepts the heliocentric theory after examining data gathered by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). His Astronomia Nova (New Astronomy, 1609) and De Harmonice mundi (Harmonies of the World, 1619) explain that the orbits of the planets are elliptical and not circular as Copernicus has suggested

1578-1657: William Harvey

5nenr963_ — 2024-05-29 01:31:29 UTC

English physician and anatomist. He discovers the circulation of the blood and describes the purpose of arteries, veins, and the heart in De motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals, 1628)

1596-1650: René Descartes

5nenr963_ — 2024-05-29 02:07:32 UTC

French philosopher and mathematician. Develops analytic geometric 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

5nenr963_ — 2024-05-29 02:19:17 UTC

Irish physicist and chemist. He investigates the properties of air and develops a theory describing the relationship between the pressure and volume of glasses (Known as Boyle's Law). In The Sceptical Chemist ( 1661) he questions the accepted belief they the world is made up of just foor elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) and argues that they can be broken down into more fundamental, chemical elements

1629-1693: Christiaan Huygens

5nenr963_ — 2024-05-29 02:34:00 UTC

Dutch 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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Dutch biologist. He designs a powerful microscope and uses it to describe bacteria, protozoa, spermatozoa, and blood corpuscles

1642-1727: Isaac Newton

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English physicist and mathematician. One of the greatest theoretical scientist in history. He discovers that law of gravitation after studying Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and formulates three laws of motion which from the basis of physics until the 20th century (called Newtonian mechanics). Also invents the reflecting telescope (uses a curve mirror to focus light), and develops the mathematical system known as calculus. Best known work is Philosophiae naturalis principia marhematica (The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687)

1743-1794: Antoine Lavoisier

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French chemist. In Traite elementaire de chimie (Elementary Treatise on Chemistry, 1789) he describes the constituent glasses of air (calling the two most significant, oxygen and nitrogen), and shows that combustion can only take place in the presence of oxygen. Develops the modern system for naming chemical compounds and proposes that mater is never destroyed in chemical reactions (Law of Conservation of Matter)