Best of the Best

Civilization and science go hand in hand. In the Middle Ages, life expectancy was 35, and the Internet was certainly not a thing. That’s why most of us owe our modern-day comforts to the men and women who worked hard to achieve them. Here are 20 scientists who made groundbreaking revelations.

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1. Friedrich Miescher

Accredited with the discovery of DNA, Friedrich Miescher was a Swiss physician who felt professionally hindered by his partial deafness. Despite this disadvantage, Miescher made one of the most important discoveries in the world when he investigated nuclei in used bandages.

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2. William Gilbert

The invention of electricity is often associated with Benjamin Franklin and his iconic kite experiment. However, in reality, an English scientist named William Gilbert was already ahead of the game in the 17th century. Gilbert published an extensive book detailing electric forces, magnetism, and laws of attraction.

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3. Alexander Fleming

The discovery of penicillin marked a significant advancement in the world of antibiotics. Surprisingly, it was discovered entirely by accident when Scottish microbiologist Fleming noticed how fungus combated bacteria in a culture plate.

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4. Charles Darwin

It comes as no surprise that evolution is one of the most significant discoveries of all time. Through his observation of birds in the Galapagos, Charles Darwin was able to decipher the origin and adaptation of all sorts of species. This research is critical to modern-day science.

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5. Marie Curie

One of the most important women in science, Marie Curie dedicated her life to understanding radiation. Not only did she receive two Nobel prizes for her work on radium and polonium, but she discovered key components used in current radiation technology.

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6. Grace Hopper

While computing may seem male-dominated, it’s interesting to note that women have had a major impact on programming. The first programming language was written by Grace Hopper in 1952, and shortly after, nine more languages were created by other women.

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7. Ignaz Semmelweis

Before 1847, most people thought disease came from dangerous air known as miasma. This was until Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis discovered a correlation between washing one's hands and improved medical outcomes for patients. This was the very first acknowledgment of germs.

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8. Jonas Salk

In the wake of the Spanish Flu and other diseases, numerous scholars were working around the clock to develop vaccines. One of the earliest instances of this involved Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine for influenza in 1945. It took another decade to complete clinical trials, but the vaccine was a game-changer for afflicted patients.

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9. Nikola Tesla

Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla is undoubtedly one of the greats. He did major work on electricity, creating alternating currents, generation techniques, and wire transmissions. This essentially led to the electricity that we use today. Unfortunately, a lot of his work was stolen by foreign powers, and he received little credit for his contributions.

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10. Jennifer Anne Doudna & Emmanuelle Charpentier

These two women came together to make one of the most critical modern-day discoveries, CRISPR. This gene-editing tool has been a game-changer in multiple scientific industries. It has allowed scientists to bring back animals from extinction as well as accelerate cancer treatments.

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11. Johannes Gutenberg

Not every discovery has to be scientific in nature. In his own way, Johannes Gutenberg changed the world forever when he created the printing press in the 15th century. For the first time ever, words could be spread across regions, leading to the creation of books, newspapers, and pamphlets that promoted an informed and knowledgeable population.

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12. Earle Haas

Most women owe Dr. Haas a debt of gratitude, as he created tampons in 1931. Through his invention, women were able to manage their bodies more conveniently, and this made pursuing professional work and academics easier than ever before.

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13. Vinton Cerf & Bob Kahn

You would not be able to read this list if it wasn’t for Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn, who created the internet in the late '90s. Their focus was to make a communication protocol, eventually coining the word internet and creating the foundation for today’s worldwide web.

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14. Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn, and Otto Robert Frisch

These three scientists were part of the team that discovered nuclear fission in 1939. Nowadays, this process is integral to nuclear reactors and energy generation. With more and more people turning toward clean energy, these reactors pave the way to a green future.

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15. Elizabeth Fulhame

To the uninitiated, catalysis may seem like a throwaway word. However, in reality, the process of catalysis is the backbone of most manufacturing and chemical production industries. For example, without catalysis, we wouldn’t have plastic. For those reasons, we have Elizabeth Fulhame to thank for developing the process.

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16. Alexander Graham Bell

Writing letters is often romanticized, but it’s no longer practical or necessary. This is thanks to Alexander Graham Bell, who invented and patented the acoustic telegraph in 1875. After some optimization, this would become the telephone. It’s worth noting that Bell’s involvement is debated, as some believe he stole credit from Philip Reis and Antonio Meucci.

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17. Alan Turing & John McCarthy

Artificial intelligence is all the rage today, but the foundations of the science were developed by Turing and McCarthy. Turing created the Turing test, which served as a way to measure the capability of artificial intelligence, while McCarthy did significant early research and coined the term.

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18. Johannes Kepler

German scientist Johannes Kepler illuminated the celestial world. Not only did he devise that planets orbit the sun, but he did so in 1609 when the population wasn’t ready for the shift. Undoubtedly, Kepler contributed to modern-day astronomy, and many space projects are named after him.

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19. Karl Friedrich Benz

While steam-propelled vehicles were invented in France in 1768, Karl Benz developed a gasoline alternative in Germany in 1885. This was one of the first automobiles to use an internal combustion engine and laid the groundwork for the cars of today.

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20. Albert Einstein

This list could never be complete without mentioning Albert Einstein and his incredible work. Not only did he discover the theory of relativity, which is the basis for numerous advancements in physics and cosmology, but he also created the foundation for current-day quantum mechanics.

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