About Magazine Podcasts Events
Museum Hours:Wednesday–Saturday, 10am–5pm

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.
Featured

Stephanie L. Kwolek

In a polymer research lab at DuPont, Kwolek discovered the super fiber known as Kevlar.

Learn More
Stephanie Kwolek at a polarizing microscope.
DuPont; gift of Stephanie Kwolek

Filter biographies

For Educators
  • Audio/Visual Content
  • Earth and Space Science
  • Environmental Literacy and Sustainability
  • Language Arts
  • Life Science
  • Physical Science
  • Primary Sources
  • Race and Science
  • Technology and Engineering
  • Women Scientists
  • World History
Objects of Study
  • Art
  • Business
  • Computers
  • Dyes
  • Education
  • Electricity
  • Enzymes
  • Explosives
  • Food
  • Gases
  • Genes
  • Instruments
  • Medicines
  • Metals
  • Microorganisms
  • Plants
  • Plastics
  • Pollution
  • Radiation
  • Textiles
Stories
  • Building Capacity
  • Controversies and Disputes
  • Environmental Matters
  • Mentorship
  • Military Science
  • Science and Activism
  • Science and the Nation
  • Science on the Move
  • Serendipity
  • Talking About Science
  • The Science of Health
  • Tools of Knowledge
  • Trailblazers
  • Working Together
group of noted scientists including William Astbury and Lawrence Bragg
William Astbury
1898 - 1961
painting of a women in a lab
Elisabeth Bakker *
ca. 1600s
Arnold O. Beckman
1900 - 2004
A mannequin wearing an 18th-century style blue dress with lace and elaborate hairstyle.
Blue Silk Dress
ca. 1700s
Portrait of Helia Bravo-Hollis, 2001.
Helia Bravo-Hollis
1901 - 2001
black and white portrait of a woman
Mary Letitia Caldwell
1890 - 1972
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
1907 - 1964
illustration from Grounds of Natural Philosophy book
Margaret Lucas Cavendish
1623 - 1673
James Watson and Francis Crick
Francis Crick
1916 - 2004
It's a sepia-toned portrait of a man (John Dalton) wearing glasses, dressed in 19th-century attire.
John Dalton
1766 - 1844
An image of Marie Maynard Daly, a black woman scientist in a lab coat works with test tubes in a laboratory.
Marie Maynard Daly
1921 - 2003
man in a hat smoking a pipe
Paul de Kruif
1890 - 1971
A person with white hair and a beard is wearing a suit, with framed certificates on the wall behind.
Carl Djerassi
1923 - 2015
Rosalind Franklin
1920 - 1958
Yeast Art portrait of Fanny Angelina Hesse
Fanny Angelina Hesse
1850 - 1934
man standing at a table looking down
Eizi Matuda
1894 - 1978
portrait of a man with a beard
Hudson Maxim
1853 - 1927
Margery Milne
1914 - 2006
color portrait of a man sitting in a chair
Friedrich Mohs
1773 - 1839
black and white photo of a man
Isaac Ochoterena
1895 - 1950
black and white photo of a man in a lab
Robert W. Parry
1917 - 2006
woman with glasses seated at a table reading a book
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
1900 - 1979
Julius Richard Petri pictured at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, ca. 1800s
Julius Richard Petri
1852 - 1921
black and white photo of a man in a lab
Petr Rehbinder
1898 - 1972
portrait of Ellen Richards in a cap and gown
Ellen H. Swallow Richards
1842 - 1911
Theodore William Richards
1868 - 1928
Undated photograph of Lee Riley
Lee W. Riley
1949 - 2022
Rutherford with a thick mustache wearing a dark three-piece suit
Ernest Rutherford
1871 - 1937
12

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.