William Gilbert

15441603 English 15641642 Italian 15801626 Dutch 16231662 French 16291695 Dutch 16351703 English 16431727 English 17001782 Swiss

hypothesized that the Earth is a giant magnet performed fundamental observations, experiments, and mathematical analyses in astronomy and physics; discovered mountains and craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede discovered law of refraction (Snell's law) discovered that pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted undiminished to every part of the fluid and to the walls of its container (Pascal's principle) proposed a simple geometrical wave theory of light, now known as ``Huygen's principle''; pioneered use of the pendulum in clocks

Galileo Galilei

Willebrod Snell

Blaise Pascal

Christiaan Huygens

Robert Hooke

discovered Hooke's law of elasticity

Sir Isaac Newton Daniel Bernoulli Benjamin Franklin

developed theories of gravitation and mechanics, and invented differential calculus developed the fundamental relationship of fluid flow now known as Bernoulli's principle

1706the first American physicist; characterized two kinds of electric 1790 charge, which he named ``positive'' and ``negative'' American 17071783 Swiss made fundamental contributions to fluid dynamics, lunar orbit theory (tides), and mechanics; also contributed prolifically to all areas of classical mathematics

Leonard Euler

Henry Cavendish Charles Augustin de Coulomb Joseph-Louis Lagrange

17311810 British 17361806 French 17361813 French 17361819 Scottish 17451827 Italian 17681830 French

discovered and studied hydrogen; first to measure Newton's gravitational constant; calculated mass and mean density of Earth

experiments on elasticity, electricity, and magnetism; established experimentally nature of the force between two charges

developed new methods of analytical mechanics

James Watt Count Alessandro Volta Joseph Fourier

invented the modern condensing steam engine and a centrifugal governor

pioneer in study of electricity; invented the first electric battery established the differential equation governing heat diffusion and solved it by devising an infinite series of sines and cosines capable of approximating a wide variety of functions studied light and color; known for his double-slit experiment that demonstrated the wave nature of light studied polarization of light; co-discovered that intensity of magnetic field set up by a current flowing through a wire varies inversely with the distance from the wire father of electrodynamics

1773Thomas Young 1829 British Jean-Babtiste Biot Andr Marie Ampre Amadeo Avogadro 17741862 French 17751836 French 17761856 Italian

developed hypothesis that all gases at same volume, pressure, and temperature contain same number of atoms

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss

17771855 German 17771851 Danish 17811868 English 17881827 French 17891854 German 17911867 English 17911841 French 17961832 French

formulated separate electrostatic and electrodynamical laws, including ``Gauss' law''; contributed to development of number theory, differential geometry, potential theory, theory of terrestrial magnetism, and methods of calculating planetary orbits discovered that a current in a wire can produce magnetic effects deduced ``Brewster's law'' giving the angle of incidence that produces reflected light which is completely polarized; invented the kaleidoscope and the stereoscope, and improved the spectroscope studied transverse nature of light waves

Hans Christian Oersted Sir David Brewster Augustin-Jean Fresnel

Georg Ohm

discovered that current flow is proportional to potential difference and inversely proportional to resistance (Ohm's law) discovered electromagnetic induction and devised first electrical transformer co-discovered that intensity of magnetic field set up by a current flowing through a wire varies inversely with the distance from the wire founded the science of thermodynamics

Michael Faraday

Felix Savart

Sadi Carnot

Joseph Henry

1797performed extensive fundamental studies of electromagnetic 1878 phenomena; devised first practical electric motor American 18031853 Austrian 18041891 German 18051865 Irish 1818experimented with sound waves; derived an expression for the apparent change in wavelength of a wave due to relative motion between the source and observer developed sensitive magnetometers; worked in electrodynamics and the electrical structure of matter developed the principle of least action and the Hamiltonian form of classical mechanics discovered mechanical equivalent of heat

Christian Doppler Wilhelm E. Weber Sir William Hamilton James Prescott

Joule

1889 British 18191896 French 18191868 French 18191903 British 18211894 German made the first terrestrial measurement of the speed of light; invented one of the first interferometers; took the first pictures of the Sun on daguerreotypes; argued that the Doppler effect with respect to sound should also apply to any wave motion, particularly that of light accurately measured speed of light; invented the gyroscope; demonstrated the Earth's rotation described the motion of viscous fluids by independently discovering the Navier-Stokes equations of fluid mechanics (or hydrodynamics); developed Stokes theorem by which certain surface integrals may be reduced to line integrals; discovered fluorescence developed first law of thermodynamics, a statement of conservation of energy

ArmandHippolyteLouis Fizeau

Jean-BernardLon Foucault

Sir George Gabriel Stokes

Hermann von Helmholtz