Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
mathematician, inventor, political economist. Babbage was born in Walworth in 1791, later studied at Cambridge and fundamentally reformed mathematics. Babbage invented the Analytical Engine, a mechanical computing device that is believed to be the forerunner of the computer. He died in London in 1871.
Sir Roger Bannister (born 1929)
neurologist and middle distance runner. Bannister was born in Harrow in 1929. First he made a career as a competitive athlete in the disciplines of mile running and middle distance running. He was the first person in the world to run the mile under 4 minutes. After his athletic successes, he devoted himself intensively to neurology and finally held a position as director of the National Clinic for Nervous Diseases in London. Elisabeth II ennobled Bannister in 1975.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
naturalist. Darwin was born in Shrewsbury in 1809. He studied medicine in Edinburgh and theology in Cambridge. Then he dealt with geology. The opportunity to take part in a circumnavigation of the world, which was a survey trip, laid the foundation for his later theory of evolution, for which Darwin became world famous. He died in Downe in 1882.
Richard Dawkins (born 1941)
evolutionary biologist, zoologist. Clinton Richard Dawkins was born in Nairobi in 1941 to a British member of the Allied Forces. As a child he moved back to England with his family. He studied at Oxford, where he later taught as a professor and became the “most influential biologist of his time” (Spiegel). One of his most important works is called “The egoistic gene” (1976). The multi-award-winning researcher also made a name for himself as an atheist.
John Dee (1527-1608)
mathematician, astronomer, geographer and mystic. Dee was born in London in 1527 and studied at Cambridge. He proved to be not only a navigation expert and precise scientist who coined terms such as “British Empire”, but also an alchemist and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. His field of research and activity was in the middle between science and so-called magic. Dee, who had the largest library in his country, died in Mortlake-Surrey in 1608.
Peter Higgs (born 1929)
physicist. Peter Ware Higgs was born in Wallsend in 1929. He studied and researched at various universities in London and Edinburgh. The Higgs mechanism was named after him. In the mid-1960s, he predicted the existence of elementary particles, which was only confirmed in 2012 at CERN in Geneva. One also speaks of the “god particle”. The award-winning scientist is one of the most famous physicists in the world.
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)
biochemist. Rosalind Franklin was born in London in 1920 to a respected Jewish family and studied natural sciences in Cambridge. Due to their research it was possible to decipher the structure of the DNA. But their analyzes of the nature of viruses, coal and coke are also internationally recognized. Rosalind Franklin died in London in 1958.
Dame Jane Goodall (born 1934)
behavioral scientist. Goodall was born in London in 1934. She began observing behavior at an early age and was then given a doctorate at Cambridge University – without any studies. Your long-term studies on the behavior of great apes (chimpanzees) contribute fundamentally to a better understanding of our species. Goodall has received several awards for her services, including the Kyoto Prize, Bambi and various honorary doctorates. She was the cover girl for science magazines.
William Harvey (1578-1657)
physician, anatomist, and physiologist. Harvey was born in 1578 in Folkestone, the first of nine children of the merchant Thomas Harvey and his wife Joan. He studied in Cambridge and Padua. In 1602 he had his doctorate in his pocket and established himself as a doctor in the London area. Between 1642 and 1645 he operated in Oxford. Harvey discovered the bloodstream and was considered one of the best doctors in England at the time. Harvey died in 1675.
Stephen Hawking (born 1942)
astrophysicist. Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford in 1942, the son of a tropical medicin and an economist. He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. The scientist is best known in Germany since his book “A Brief History of Time” (published in German in 1991). Hawking also deals with black holes. He suffers from ALS – a disease of the motor nervous system that has rendered him completely immobile and usually leads to death after a few years.
Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925)
physicist, mathematician. Oliver Heaviside was born in London in 1850. The Heaviside layer was named after him – a conductive layer in the atmosphere that is essential for the propagation of waves (especially radio waves) around the earth. Electromagnetism plays a major role in this. He was also considered a pioneer in the introduction of vectors. Heaviside died in Homefield in 1925.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
polymath. Robert Hooke was born in Freshwater in 1635. He attended Westminster School in London and University in Oxford. Hooke was a curator of the Royal Society. The law of elasticity is named after him. The polymath also served his country as an architect after the great fire in London in 1666. Hooke died in London in 1703.
William Huggins (1824-1910)
astronomer and physicist. William Huggins was born in London in 1824 and is considered the founder of spectroscopy. He and his wife did research in his private London observatory and were the first to be able to distinguish between nebulae and galaxies. He achieved this through spectral analysis. Sir William Huggins, who was also a member of the Royal Society, died in 1910 in the city of his birth.
James Prescott Joule (1818-1889)
experimental physicist. James Prescott Joule was born in Salford in 1818 and studied mathematics, among other things. Even today every student learns terms such as Joule heat or Joule’s law. As the core of his research, the scientist had carried out electromagnetic experiments, carried out experiments with electricity and thermodynamics, and gained groundbreaking insights from them. So he could prove the conservation of energy. Joule, after whom the physical unit of energy of the same name was named, died in Sale in 1889 as a result of a long illness.
John Edensor Littlewood (1885-1977)
mathematician. John Edensor Littlewood was born in Rochester in 1885, went to school in London and later studied in Cambridge. There he worked for large parts of his life as a mathematics professor and dealt mainly with analysis, but also with inequalities and differential equations. Littlewood died in Cambridge in 1977. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and received numerous honors throughout his life, including the important De Morgan Medal from the London Mathematical Society.
Henry Moseley (1887-1915)
physicist. Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley was born in Weymouth in 1887 and studied at Oxford. Using what is known as X-ray spectroscopy, he was able to establish a relationship between the atomic number and the wavelength. This became Moseley’s law in 1913. He also dealt with radioactivity and the atomic theory, which only then became socially acceptable. Modeley died in Turkey in 1915 in a battle during the First World War.
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, philosopher. Newton was born in 1643 in Woolsthorpeby-Colsterworth, the son of a farmer, and studied at Cambridge. Newton wrote one of the most important mathematical writings, the “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica”, in which he presented the law of gravitation and the laws of motion. His research is still part of the basic knowledge in schools around the world. Newton died in Kensington in 1727.
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
founder of the Red Cross. Florence Nightingale was born in Florence in 1820 into a well-off family. The nursing and care of the sick was a matter close to her heart from an early age, so that she laid the foundation of a modern medical system. She was a well-known nurse in Turkey at the time of the Crimean War. The foundation of the Red Cross organization, which is active worldwide today, is largely due to the work of the “Lady with the Lamp” or “Sister of the Sick”. Nightingale died in London in 1910.
Donald H. Perkins (born 1925)
experimental physicist. Donald H. Perkins was born in 1925 and studied physics in both London and Bristol. In his field, experimental particle physics, he excelled with cave radiation experiments. He used pions to fight cancer. The famous Gargamelle experiment goes back to him, among others, who discovered the weak neutral current. Perkins has taught as a professor at Oxford for a long time.
William Watson (1715-1787)
naturalist, botanist, physician, pharmacist. William Watson was born in London in 1715 and initially trained as a pharmacist. Later the member of the Royal Society dealt with botany and wrote important writings. The iris family (Watsonia MILL.) Was named after him. But he was also able to advance research in matters of electricity (electrostatics, static electricity). As a doctor, he used electric shocks to cure tetanus, for example. Watson died in his hometown in 1787.
Shaun Wylie (1913-2009)
mathematician and cryptologist. Shaun Wylie was born in Oxford in 1913, where he later studied alongside Princeton University. He taught at various educational institutions throughout his life and influenced many people. From 1958 Wylie was the chief mathematician of the English cryptography authority until he passed away in 2009.