Great Minds of Science by Yihan He

1473-1543 Nicolas Copernicus

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:17:01 UTC

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,

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:23:02 UTC

Belgian physician and anatomist. In his De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (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

1561-1626 Francis Bacon

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English philosopher. His Novum Organum (1620) stresses the importance 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 fire to use telescopes for astronomy. He describes the surface of the Moon and the rotation of the moons of Jupiter. Also establishes basic law 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 Cheif World Systems, 1632)

1596-1650 Rene Descartes,

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:30:47 UTC

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, Meditationes de prima philosophia emphasizes the importance of accepting only indubitable evidence.

1629-1693 Christian Huygens

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:32:27 UTC

Dutch physicist and astronomer. He proposes the wave theory of light, discovers the rings of Saturn, and builds the first reliable pendulum clock.

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. In The Scepticial Chemist he questions the accepted belief that the world is made up of just four elements and argues that they can be broken down into more fundamental, chemical elements.

1632-1723 Anton van Leeuwenhoek

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:36:25 UTC

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

1743-1794 Antoine Lavoisier,

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:38:58 UTC

French chemist in Elementary Treatise on Chemistry he describes the constituent gasses of air and shows that combustion can only take place in the presence of oxygen. Develops the modern system for naming chemical compounds and proposes that matter is never destroyed in chemical reactions.

1642-1727 Issac Newton

5yhe560 — 2024-05-28 15:42:59 UTC

English physicist and mathematician. One of the greatest theoretical scientists in history. He discovers the law of gravitation after studying Kepler's law of planetary motion, and formulates three law s of motion which form the basis of physics until the 20th century. Also invents the reflecting telescope and develops the mathematical system know n as calculus. Best known work is The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.

1578-1657 William Harvey

5yhe560 — 2024-05-30 15:40:56 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.

1571-1630 Johannes Kepler

5dgam425 — 2024-05-30 15:42:14 UTC

German mathematicians and astronomer. Accepts the heliocentric theory after examining data gathered by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brache (1546-1601). His Astronomia nova and De Harmonice mundi explain that the orbits of the planet are elliptical and not circular as Copernicus has suggested