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 Natural Sciences
Physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy and the sciences of the earth and brain.
Era
6 figures
Hideki Yukawa
1907 – 1981Predicted the meson and the nuclear strong force.
Japan·PhysicsNobel
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
1910 – 1995Worked out at nineteen why some stars must collapse into black holes.
India·Astronomy · Physics · MathematicsNobelFull profile
Abdus Salam
1926 – 1996Unified the electromagnetic and weak forces; first Muslim science laureate.
Pakistan·PhysicsNobel
Tu Youyou
b. 1930Extracted artemisinin from ancient texts; millions of malaria deaths averted.
China·Medicine · ChemistryNobel
Ada Yonath
b. 1939Mapped the ribosome, the cell's protein factory and antibiotic target.
Israel·Chemistry · BiologyNobel
Shinya Yamanaka
b. 1962Reprogrammed adult cells into stem cells, remaking regenerative medicine.
Japan·Medicine · BiologyNobel