World's Top Scientists and Their Contributions

Scientists are people who study and master the field of science to understand how the world works. They use the scientific method to examine theories and hypotheses and often conduct experiments. Scientists can work in a variety of settings, including laboratories, schools, research institutions, and for companies or governments. Some scientists also teach at universities and train others to become scientists.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held as one of the most influential scientists. Best known for developing the theory of relativity, Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics.

Born: 14 March 1879, Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire

Died: 18 April 1955, Princeton, New Jersey, US

Education: ETH Zurich (Dipl., 1900), University of Zurich (PhD, 1905)

Awards: Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science (1920), Nobel Prize in Physics (1921), Matteucci Medal (1921), ForMemRS (1921), Copley Medal (1925), Gold Medal of RAS (1926), Max Planck Medal (1929), Membership of NAS (1942), Time Person of the Century (1999)

Isaac Newton

1643–1727


Marie Curie

1867–1934


Galileo Galilei

1564–1642


Nikola Tesla

1856–1943


Carl Linnaeus

1707–1778


Michael Faraday

1791–1867


Louis Pasteur

1822–1895


Charles Darwin

1809–1882


Rosalind Franklin

1920–1958


George Efstathiou


Richard A. Flavell


Tim Spector


Guenakh Mitselmakher


Kenneth W. Kinzler


Mark Daly


James E. Brau


Raymond Joseph Dolan


Joel N. Butler


Michael Karin


Zhong Lin Wang


Albert Hofmann

1906–2008


Rob Knight


David Baltimore


Matthias Mann


Rakesh Jain


Eugene Koonin


Robert Lefkowitz


Eric Lander


Peter Barnes


Pierre Chambon


Simon White


Eric Topol


Ronald M. Evans


John C. Reed


Trevor Robbins


Irving Weissman


John Q. Trojanowski

1946–2022


Michael Grätzel


Joseph L. Goldstein


Fred Gage


Michael Stuart Brown


Robert Samuel Langer, Jr.


Peer Bork


James Gunn


Solomon H. Snyder


Bert Vogelstein


Craig B. Thompson


Hans Clevers


Mark Mattson


Virginia Man-Yee Lee