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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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Roy J. Plunkett
1910 - 1994
Illustration of Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
1733 - 1804
Undated portrait of William Ramsay.
William Ramsay
1852 - 1916
black and white photo of a man in a lab
Petr Rehbinder
1898 - 1972
Theodore William Richards
1868 - 1928
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
Rosenkranz in a suit and tie, smiling
George Rosenkranz
1916 - 2019
Rutherford with a thick mustache wearing a dark three-piece suit
Ernest Rutherford
1871 - 1937
Albert Sabin demonstrates how the oral vaccine for polio is given to children.
Albert Bruce Sabin
1906 - 1993
Jonas Salk
1914 - 1995
Black and white photograph of Glenn T. Seaborg in an office
Glenn Theodore Seaborg
1912 - 1999
sepia toned portrait of a man in coat and riding boots
Ignaz Semmelweis
1818 - 1865
Phillip Sharp
b. 1944
Hideki Shirakawa
Hideki Shirakawa
b. 1936
woman seated writing notes
Maxine Singer
1931 - 2024
Richard E. Smalley
1943 - 2005
Susan Solomon
b. 1956
Undated photo of Danish chemist Soren Sorensen working in a lab.
Søren Sørensen
1868 - 1939
color photo of a man with a baby on his shoulders
Calvin Ross Sperling
1957 - 1995
Hermann Staudinger
1881 - 1965
Fritz Strassmann.
Fritz Strassmann
1902 - 1980
Albert sits on a chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his legs and hands clasped.
Albert Szent-Györgyi
1893 - 1986
Portrait of Jokichi Takamine
Jokichi Takamine
1854 - 1922
black and white portrait of a man wearing a bowtie
Thomas Washington Talley
1868 - 1952
Joseph John “J. J.” Thomson
1856 - 1940
Portrait of Jacobus van't Hoff, before 1898.
Jacobus Henricus van’t Hoff
1852 - 1911
Portrait of William Walker
William Walker
1869 - 1934
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About Scientific Biographies

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