Physics Bios Physicist Dates Field of Study Alhazen 955 – 1039 Atomic structure Archimedes 256 – 184 BC Buoyant forces Aristotle 384 – 322 BC Atomic structure John Bardeen 1923 – Semiconductors & transistors Antoine Becquerel 1852 – 1908 Radioactivity - uranium Georg Bednorz 1950 – Superconductivity Gerd Bennig 1945 – Scanning tunneling microscope Daniel Bernoulli 1700 – 1782 Fluid dynamics Robert Boyle 1627 – 1691 Gas laws Walter Brattain 1902 – 1987 Semiconductors & transistors Robert Brown 1773 – 1858 Brownian motion Annie Jump Cannon 1863 – 1941 Astronomical mapping Sadi Carnot 1796 – 1832 Thermal efficiency Henry Cavendish 1731 – 1810 Electromagnetic induction Anders Celsius 1701 – 1744 Temperature scale Nicholas Copernicus 1473 – 1543 Planetary motion Charles Coulomb 1736 – 1806 Electric charge Marie Curie 1867 – 1934 Radioactivity – radium, polonium John Dalton 1766 – 1844 Atomic theory Louis De Broglie 1892 – 1987 Particle waves Democritus 460 – 370 BC Atomic theory Christian Doppler 1803 – 1853 Doppler effect Albert Einstein 1879 – 1955 Relativity Gabriel Fahrenheit 1686 – 1736 Temperature scale Michael Faraday 1791 – 1867 Electrical capacitance Enrico Fermi 1901 – 1954 Nuclear chain reaction Williamina Fleming 1857 – 1911 Astronomical mapping Jean Baptiste Fourier 1768 – 1830 Mathematical transformations Benjamin Franklin 1706 – 1790 Static electricity Augustine Fresnel 1788 – 1827 Lens optics Galileo Galilei 1564 – 1642 Gravity/Telescope Luigi Galvani 1737 – 1798 Chemical battery Josiah Gibbs 1839 – 1903 Vector geometrical analysis William Gilbert 1544 – 1603 Magnetism Sophie Germaine 1776 – 1831 Mathematical physics Edmond Halley 1656 – 1742 Comet motion Werner Heisenberg 1901 – 1976 Uncertainty principle Caroline Herschel 1750 – 1848 Astronomy - comets Heinrich Hertz 1857 – 1899 Electromagnetic spectrum Robert Hooke 1635 – 1703 Mechanical elasticity Christian Huygens 1629 – 1695 Wave mechanics James Joule 1818 – 1889 Mechanical equivalent of heat Lord Kelvin 1824 – 1904 Absolute zero Johannes Kepler 1571 – 1650 Planetary motion 5 Physicist Dates Field of Study Lewis Latimer 1848 – 1928 Incandescent lights Henrietta Leavitt 1868 – 1921 Astronomical mapping Gottfried Leibniz 1646 – 1716 Binary mathematics, calculus James Maxwell 1831 – 1879 Electricity equations Lise Meitner 1878 – 1968 Nuclear fission Albert Michelson 1852 – 1931 Speed of light Robert Millikan 1868 – 1953 Oil drop charge Maria Mitchell 1818 – 1889 Astronomy - comets Edward Morley 1838 – 1923 Speed of light Robert Noyce 1927 – 1990 Integrated circuits Georg Ohm 1789 – 1854 Electrical resistance Frank Oppenheimer 1912 – 1985 Los Alamos National Lab Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662 Fluid pressure, mathematics Wolfgang Pauli 1900 – 1958 Subatomic particles Jean Baptiste Perrin 1870 – 1942 Radioactivity Max Planck 1858 – 1947 Quantum mechanics Venkata Raman 1888 – 1970 Electromagnetic waves William Ramsey 1852 – 1916 Discovered helium Olaus Roemer 1644 – 1710 Speed of light Heinrich Rohrer 1933 – Scanning tunneling microscope Johannes Rydberg 1854 – 1919 Spectroscopy Ernest Rutherford 1871 – 1937 Radioactive transformation Erwin Schrödinger 1887 – 1961 Quantum mechanics William Shockley 1910 – 1989 Semiconductors & transistors Willibrord Snell 1580 – 1626 Lens refraction Nikola Tesla 1856 – 1934 Electromagnetic induction J. J. Thompson 1856 – 1940 Cathode rays Lars Vegard 1880 – 1963 Proton Aurora – northern lights Alessandro Volta 1745 – 1827 Electric battery James Watt 1736 – 1819 Steam engine Thomas Young 1773 – 1829 Diffraction of light, material stress Hideki Yukawa 1907 – 1981 Subatomic particles 6.