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Scientific Biographies

Science is a human pursuit. Meet some of the people who have contributed to the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
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Percy Lavon Julian

The grandson of enslaved people, Julian overcame racial barriers to achieve scientific, business, and personal success.

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Dr. Percy Lavon Julian is pictured at the newly constructed chemistry building named in his honor at MacMurray College, 1972.
Science History Institute
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian honored at MacMurray College

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Signed portrait of a man
Svante August Arrhenius
1859 - 1927
Arnold O. Beckman
1900 - 2004
Joan Berkowitz
1931 - 2020
Portrait of Helia Bravo-Hollis, 2001.
Helia Bravo-Hollis
1901 - 2001
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
1907 - 1964
black and white photo of George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
ca. 1864 - 1943
Edith Coleman
1874 - 1951
black and white photo of an older woman wearing glasses
Kathryn C. “Kitty” Hach-Darrow
1922 - 2020
Alice Hamilton
1869 - 1970
woman with gray hair wearing glasses
Darleane C. Hoffman
1926 - 2025
photo from an old driver's license
Eugene Houdry
1892 - 1962
man standing at a table looking down
Eizi Matuda
1894 - 1978
Margery Milne
1914 - 2006
man dressed in a suit with a yellow tie
Mario Molina
1943 - 2020
portrait of Ellen Richards in a cap and gown
Ellen H. Swallow Richards
1842 - 1911
Undated photograph of Lee Riley
Lee W. Riley
1949 - 2022
Susan Solomon
b. 1956
color photo of a man with a baby on his shoulders
Calvin Ross Sperling
1957 - 1995

About Scientific Biographies

Everything you need to know about our scientific biographies, including how to contact us, cite a biography, pitch a scientist, write a biography, or republish a biography.