Browse the index
Filter by category and discipline, then by continent, country and century of birth. Countries not yet represented can be drafted at the research desk.
Category
Disciplines in Engineering & Technology
Builders of machines, structures, networks and the food systems that feed us.
Era
8 figures
Cai Lun
50 – 121Standardised papermaking, the substrate of recorded civilisation.
Zhang Heng
78 – 139Built the first seismoscope and mapped 2,500 stars.
Su Song
1020 – 1101Built an astronomical clock tower with the first known escapement chain drive.
Shen Kuo
1031 – 1095Described the magnetic compass and deduced geological deep time.
Sejong the Great
1397 – 1450Commissioned Hangul, the alphabet that made Korea literate.
Mimar Sinan
1489 – 1588Built over 300 structures including the Selimiye Mosque; Ottoman master architect.
Taiichi Ohno
1912 – 1990Designed the Toyota Production System — lean manufacturing worldwide.
Vandana Shiva
b. 1952Philosopher of seed sovereignty and critic of industrial agriculture.