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)
![Donald wears a suit and maroon tie. There is an orange background.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/donald_tomalia-profile-300x300.jpg)
Donald A. Tomalia
b. 1938
![Portrait of Jacobus van't Hoff, before 1898.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/portrait_jacobus_henricus_vant_hoff-300x300.jpeg)
Jacobus Henricus van’t Hoff
1852 - 1911
![Portrait of William Walker](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/portrait_william_walker-300x300.jpeg)
William Walker
1869 - 1934
![James Watson and Francis Crick](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/james_watson_profile-300x300.jpeg)
James Watson
b. 1928
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bio-wiley-300x300.jpg)
Harvey Washington Wiley
1844 - 1930
![Maurice Wilkins with X-ray crystallographic equipment about 1954.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/wilkins1-300x300.jpg)
Maurice Wilkins
1916 - 2004
![half-length portrait of German chemist Friedrich Wöhler](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/portrait_professor_friedrich_wohler-300x300.jpeg)
Friedrich Wöhler
1800 - 1882
![David T. Wong](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/david_wong-300x300.jpeg)
David T. Wong
b. 1935
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/woodward-profile-300x300.jpg)
Robert Burns Woodward
1917 - 1979
![](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/yalow_berson_veterans_affairs-300x300.jpeg)
Rosalyn Yalow
1921 - 2011
![Karl Ziegler (center) with members of the Hercules group that commercialized high-density polyethylene as Hi-fax.](https://www.sciencehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ziegler-profile-1-300x300.jpg)
Karl Ziegler
1898 - 1973
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