Scientific Biographies
Science is a human pursuit. Meet the people behind some of the most significant achievements and discoveries in the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
Paula Hammond
A pioneer in nanotechnology, Hammond is Vice Provost for Faculty and Institute Professor at MIT, cofounder of MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology, and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
![Paula Hammond in her lab at MIT.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/paula_hammond_bg_lighter-640x500.jpeg)
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-moore_gordon_2005-1-300x300.jpg)
Gordon E. Moore
1929 - 2023
![Giulio Natta, 1963.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/giulio_natta_wikimedia-300x300.jpeg)
Giulio Natta
1903 - 1979
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-nobel-300x300.jpg)
Alfred Nobel
1833 - 1896
![A professional portrait of Donald Othmer as a young man, wearing a suit and tie.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/othmeryoungman-96.17.004c-profile-300x300.jpg)
Donald F. Othmer
1904 - 1995
![black and white photo of a man in a lab](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/robert_parry_headshot-300x300.jpg)
Robert W. Parry
1917 - 2006
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/portrait_of_louis_pasteur-300x300.jpeg)
Louis Pasteur
1822 - 1895
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-pauling_crop-300x300.jpeg)
Linus Carl Pauling
1901 - 1994
![Portrait of William Henry Perkin, 1906.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/portrait_william_henry_perkin-300x300.jpeg)
William Henry Perkin
1838 - 1907
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/roy_plunkett-profile-300x300.jpg)
Roy J. Plunkett
1910 - 1994
![Illustration of Joseph Priestley](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/portrait_joseph_priestley-300x300.jpeg)
Joseph Priestley
1733 - 1804
![Undated portrait of William Ramsay.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/portrait_william_ramsay-300x300.jpeg)
William Ramsay
1852 - 1916
![portrait of Ellen Richards in a cap and gown](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ellen_swallow_richards_cap_gown-300x300.jpeg)
Ellen H. Swallow Richards
1842 - 1911
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-richards-theodore-300x300.jpg)
Theodore William Richards
1868 - 1928
![Rosenkranz in a suit and tie, smiling](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-rosenkranz-300x300.jpg)
George Rosenkranz
1916 - 2019
![Rutherford with a thick mustache wearing a dark three-piece suit](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/rutherford-profile-300x300.jpg)
Ernest Rutherford
1871 - 1937
![Albert Sabin demonstrates how the oral vaccine for polio is given to children.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sabin-300x300.jpg)
Albert Bruce Sabin
1906 - 1993
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/salk-profile-300x300.jpg)
Jonas Salk
1914 - 1995
![Black and white photograph of Glenn T. Seaborg in an office](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/glenn_seaborg-300x300.jpeg)
Glenn Theodore Seaborg
1912 - 1999
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sharp-profile-300x300.jpg)
Phillip Sharp
b. 1944
![Hideki Shirakawa](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Hideki_Shirakawa-300x300.jpeg)
Hideki Shirakawa
b. 1936
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/singer-profile-300x300.jpg)
Maxine Singer
b. 1931
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/smalley_richard-300x300.jpg)
Richard E. Smalley
1943 - 2005
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-solomon-globe-1-300x300.jpg)
Susan Solomon
b. 1956
![Undated photo of Danish chemist Soren Sorensen working in a lab.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/soren_sorensen_wikimedia-300x300.jpeg)
Søren Sørensen
1868 - 1939
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/staudinger_hermann_wiley_vch-300x300.jpg)
Hermann Staudinger
1881 - 1965
![Fritz Strassmann.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/strassmann_fritz_max_planck-300x300.jpg)
Fritz Strassmann
1902 - 1980
![Albert sits on a chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his legs and hands clasped.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Albert-Szent-gyorgyi-1-300x300.jpeg)
Albert Szent-Györgyi
1893 - 1986
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/thomson_jj_undated-300x300.jpg)
Joseph John “J. J.” Thomson
1856 - 1940
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