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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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alan heeger photo
Alan J. Heeger
b. 1936
Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings in the laboratory, 1948.
George Hitchings
1905 - 1998
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 vintage portrait of Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (left) and Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen.
Gustav Kirchhoff
1824 - 1887
Harold Kroto
Harold W. Kroto
1939 - 2016
man in a lab
Henri-Marie Laborit
1914 - 1995
Irving Langmuir at home enjoying Harper’s Magazine.
Irving Langmuir
1881 - 1957
Portrait of Justus von Liebig, after 1845.
Justus von Liebig
1803 - 1873
Alan MacDiarmid
Alan MacDiarmid
1927 - 2007
A black-and-white photograph of a woman with a serious expression, wearing a dark top with a white collar.
Lise Meitner
1878 - 1968
Undated photograph of biochemist Maud Leonora Menten.
Maud Leonora Menten
1879 - 1960
A person in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, with a neutral expression, against a dark background.
Leonor Michaelis
1875 - 1949
Margery Milne
1914 - 2006
Bryan B. Molloy
Bryan B. Molloy
1939 - 2004
Rutherford with a thick mustache wearing a dark three-piece suit
Ernest Rutherford
1871 - 1937
Hideki Shirakawa
Hideki Shirakawa
b. 1936
Richard E. Smalley
1943 - 2005
Fritz Strassmann.
Fritz Strassmann
1902 - 1980
half-length portrait of German chemist Friedrich Wöhler
Friedrich Wöhler
1800 - 1882
David T. Wong
David T. Wong
b. 1935
Rosalyn Yalow
1921 - 2011
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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.