BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
was an American astronomer who performed the first
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) is familiar to most
people as one of the Founding Fathers of the United
States. He was an author, printer, political theorist,
politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, statesman,
and diplomat. He invented the following:
 The lightning rod
 Bifocals
 The Franklin stove
 A carriage odometer
 The glass “armonica” (a popular musical
instrument of the day)
Hans Christian Ørsted
was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that
electric currents create magnetic fields, which the first
connection was found between electricity and
magnetism. He is still known today for Oersted's Law
and the oersted
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Perhaps the most well-known physicist in the popular
mind is Albert Einstein (1879–1955
 The special and general theories of relativity
 The founding of relativistic cosmology
 The explanation of the perihelion precession of
Mercury, which is the gradual rotation of the
axis of the elliptical orbit of the planet
 The prediction of the deflection of light by
gravity (gravitational lensing)
 The first fluctuation dissipation theorem, which
explained the Brownian motion of molecules,
which is the random jittery motion of small
particles suspended in a fluid, which is caused
by collisions with the molecules of the fluid
 The photon theory
 Wave-particle duality
 The quantum theory of atomic motion in solids
CHARLES-AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736–1806) is best
known for developing Coulomb’s law, which defines the
electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between
charges. In fact, the MKS unit of charge,
the coulomb (C), was named after him.
Vesto Melvin Slipher
measurements of radial velocities for galaxies, providing
the empirical basis for the expansion of the universe.
André-Marie Ampère
was a French physicist and mathematician who was
one of the founders of the science of classical
electromagnetism, which he referred to as
"electrodynamics".
Descartes
discarded tradition and to an extent supported the
same method as Francis Bacon, but with emphasis on
rationalization and logic rather than upon experiences.
In physical theory his doctrines were formulated as a
compromise between his devotion to Roman
Catholicism and his commitment to the scientific
method, which met opposition in the church officials of
the day. He made numerous advances in optics, such as
his study of the reflection and refraction of light.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
best known for his contributions to evolution,. While
working with fossils at the Museum of Natural History,
Lamarck noticed that species seem to change over time.
He wrote a book in 1801 entitled Theory of Inheritance
of Acquired Characteristics, where he said an organism
could pass on the traits he acquired during his life.
Michael Faraday
was an English scientist who contributed to the study of
electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main
discoveries include the principles underlying
electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and
electrolysis.
James Clerk Maxwell
was one of the greatest scientists of the nineteenth
century. He is best known for the formulation of the
theory of electromagnetism and in making the
connection between light and electromagnetic waves.