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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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group of noted scientists including William Astbury and Lawrence Bragg
William Astbury
1898 - 1961
A sepia-toned portrait of a woman with wavy hair, smiling, wearing a dark top.
Florence Ogilvy Bell
1913 - 2000
Solomon A. Berson, 1945. Archives of the Frederick L. Ehrman Medical Library
Solomon A. Berson
1918 - 1972
Mildred Cohn
1913 - 2009
James Watson and Francis Crick
Francis Crick
1916 - 2004
Marie Sklodowska Curie
1867 - 1934
Rosalind Franklin
1920 - 1958
Otto Hahn.
Otto Hahn
1879 - 1968
woman with gray hair wearing glasses
Darleane C. Hoffman
1926 - 2025
Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie in their laboratory in 1935
Frédéric Joliot
1900 - 1958
old photograph of two people in a lab
Irène Joliot-Curie
1897 - 1956
A black-and-white photograph of a woman with a serious expression, wearing a dark top with a white collar.
Lise Meitner
1878 - 1968
Rutherford with a thick mustache wearing a dark three-piece suit
Ernest Rutherford
1871 - 1937
Black and white photograph of Glenn T. Seaborg in an office
Glenn Theodore Seaborg
1912 - 1999
Fritz Strassmann.
Fritz Strassmann
1902 - 1980
James Watson and Francis Crick
James Watson
1928 - 2025
Maurice Wilkins with X-ray crystallographic equipment about 1954.
Maurice Wilkins
1916 - 2004
Rosalyn Yalow
1921 - 2011

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.