People
Abzhanov, Arkhat: evolutionary zoologist.
Adami, Christoph (1962–): Flemish microbiologist, geneticist, physicist, and astronomer.
Aesop (620–564 BCE): Greek fabulist, famous for his fables. Aesop’s existence is uncertain: his legend via the oral storytelling tradition. In many tales credited to Aesop, animals speak and have human traits.
Ahmose: the Egyptian military leader who conquered the Hyksos and restored Egypt to a unified kingdom in 1570 BCE.
Aiello, Brett R.: American biologist and anatomist.
Aiello, Leslie C.: American paleoanthropologist.
Akcali, Christopher K.: American zoologist.
Akey, Joshua M.: American evolutionary biologist and geneticist.
Akhenaten (?–1336 BCE): a heretical Egyptian pharaoh during the mid-14th century BCE. Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son by incest, succeeded him.
Al-Jahiz (781–868): Arab writer who produced a 7-volume encyclopedia about animals, describing 350 different varieties.
Alba, David M.: Spanish paleontologist.
Alegado, Rosanna A.: American cytologist and molecular biologist, interested in marine microbes.
Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE): Greek empire builder. Born in Pella in northern Greece, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until he was 16 years old. He succeeded his father, Philip II, to the throne of the Macedon kingdom in 336 BCE after Philip’s assassination. Inheriting a strong kingdom and army, Alexander began a series of military campaigns that within a decade created one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Alexander was undefeated in battle and is regarded as one of history’s greatest warlords.
Allaby, Robin G.: English botanist and evolutionary biologist.
Allen, Joel (1838–1921): American zoologist who published Allen’s rule in 1877.
Almécija, Sergio: Spanish paleoanthropologist.
Amunugama, Kaushalya: Indian molecular biologist and biochemist.
Andolfatto, Peter: Canadian evolutionary biologist.
Antón, Susan C.: American paleoanthropologist.
Aristotle (384–322 BCE): Greek philosopher and polymath. Prolific Aristotle had views on a wide range of subjects, and was considered authoritative for centuries, sometimes stymying further investigation that might have gone against cardinal belief.
Arsuaga, Juan Luis: Spanish paleoanthropologist.
Augustine of Hippo (354–430): prolific Latin theologian. Augustine’s writings were very influential in the development of European Christian thought.
Aurelius, Marcus (151–180): Roman Emperor (161–180); a Stoic, and the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
Avilés, Leticia: Ecuadoran evolutionary biologist and ecologist, interested in social spiders.
Ayala, Francisco J. (1934–): Spanish-American biologist.
Babu, M. Madan: Indian molecular biologist.
Badyaev, Alexander V.: Russian evolutionary biologist.
Baldwin, James Mark (1861–1934): American psychologist and philosopher, interested in psychology’s import on evolution.
Barkow, Jerome H.: Canadian anthropologist, interested in evolutionary psychology.
Barr, W. Andrew: American anthropologist.
Barrell, Joseph (1869–1919): American geologist who developed the concept of the lithosphere. Barrell proposed that sedimentary rocks were produced by marine deposits (sedimentation) and shaped by actions of winds, rivers, and glaciers. Barrell also understood stoping: the ascent of magma from the mantle or lower crust to the surface as a means for delivering igneous material (igneous intrusion).
Barreto, Felipe: American evolutionary geneticist.
Barron, Matthew G.: English paleontologist who proposed a major revision to dinosaur cladistic classification in 2017.
Bates, Henry Walter (1825–1892): English entomologist who studied animal mimicry. See Batesian mimicry.
Bateson, William (1861–1926): English evolutionary biologist who coined the term genetics based upon a Mendelian conception of heredity.
Baumgart, Johannes: German biophysicist.
Beach, Frank A. (1911–1988): American ethologist, interested in sexual behavior.
Beer, Stafford (1926 –2002): English theorist, best known for his work in organization management.
Belt, Thomas (1832–1878): English geologist and naturalist.
Benefit, Brenda: American anthropologist.
Benson, Robert B.J.: English vertebrate paleontologist.
Bentley, R. Alexander: English anthropologist and archeologist.
Benton, Michael J. (1956–): English vertebrate paleontologist.
Berger, Lee R.: South African anthropologist.
Bergman, Jerry: American biologist and psychologist.
Bergmann, Christian (1814–1865): German biologist who hypothesized Bergmann’s rule.
Bergström, Anders: paleoanthropologist, interested in the evolutionary genetics of humans.
Berkeley, George (1685–1753): Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop. Berkeley hypothesized immaterialism (later called subjective idealism): that materiality is only in the minds of perceivers. As Berkeley put it: “to be is to be perceived.”
Bernard, H. Russell: American anthropologist, who, along with Peter Killworth, countered Dunbar’s number of 150 with a larger one.
Bernoulli, Daniel (1700–1782): Swiss mathematician and physicist, known for his contributions in fluid mechanics, probability, and statistics.
Bhushan, Bharat: Indian American mechanical engineer, interested in biological designs.
Bird, Adrian: English geneticist.
Bird, David: Canadian ornithologist.
Blackledge, Todd: American biologist, interested in spiders and their silk.
Blake, William (1757–1827): English poet, painter, and printmaker. Considered insane by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake was posthumously considered a seminal figure for the poetry and visual arts that characterized Romanticism (~1800–1850), which was a revolt against the Age of Enlightenment which cherished the scientific rationalization of Nature.
Bloomer, Carolyn M.: American cultural anthropologist.
Blount, Zachary D.: American evolutionary biologist.
Blüthgen, Nico: German ecologist.
Bohn, Kirsten M.: American zoologist.
Bolker, Jessica A.: American developmental and evolutionary biologist.
Bolstad, Geir H.: Norwegian evolutionary biologist.
Boppré, Michael: German entomologist.
Brace, C. Loring (1930–): American anthropologist who argued that human descent was always of single species; for example, humans descended from Neanderthals.
Bree, Erica: American evolutionary biologist.
Brennan, Patricia L.R.: American evolutionary biologist.
Bright, Jen A.: English evolutionary ornithologist.
Brocchi, Giovanni (1772–1826): Italian naturalist, geologist, and mineralogist.
Brockhurst, Michael A.: English evolutionary biologist.
Brongniart, Alexandre (1770–1847): French chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist who collaborated with Georges Cuvier.
Brown, Culum: Australian ichthyologist, interested in fish learning and personality.
Brumfield, Robb T.: American biologist, interested in speciation of Neotropical birds.
Brunet, Michel (1940–): French paleontologist.
Brusatte, Stephen L. (1984–): American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist.
Buckland, William (1784–1856): English theologian and geologist who construed fossils as supporting the biblical flood (Noah and his notorious ark). To reconcile geology and the fossil record with biblical account of creation, Buckland was a proponent of the Gap Theory, which interpreted the Bible’s book of Genesis as referring to 2 separate episodes of creation, separated by a considerable duration.
Buczkowski, Grzegorz (Grzesiek): American entomologist.
Buddha (563–483 BCE): Indian guru.
Burger, Joanna: American ethologist, interested in animal behavior and the ecology of communities.
Burkart, Judith Maria: Swiss anthropologist.
Burns, Kevin C.: New Zealander biologist.
Burrows, Malcolm: English zoologist.
Butler, Richard J.: English vertebrate paleontologist.
Butler, Samuel (1835–1902): English novelist.
Caesar, Gaius Julius (100–44 BCE): Roman general, statesman, and author who founded the Roman Empire.
Cangjie: legendary court historian of China’s Yellow Emperor ~2650 BCE.
Cardinale, Bradley J.: American ecologist, interested in how human activities impact biological diversity.
Cardona, Tanai: Columbian biologist, interested in photosynthesis.
Cardoso, Domingos: Brazilian botanist.
Carlin, George (1937–2008): sardonic American comedian.
Carney, Ryan: American paleontologist, biologist, artist, and musician.
Carr, Thomas D.: Canadian paleontologist.
Carrasco-Urra, Fernando: Chilean botanist.
Carrier, David: American evolutionary biologist.
Carroll, Lewis (1832–1898): pseudonym of English author, mathematician, and logician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.
Carroll, Sean B. (1960–): American molecular biologist and geneticist.
Castoe, Todd A.: American biologist.
Catling, David C.: American Earth scientist.
Cau, Andrea: Italian paleontologist.
Cela-Conde, Camilo J.: Spanish anthropologist.
Chalancon, Guilhem: French molecular biologist.
Chapais, Bernard: Canadian anthropologist.
Charlesworth, Brian (1945–): English evolutionary biologist, interested in population genetics.
Charlesworth, Deborah (1943–): English evolutionary biologist, interested the genetic evolution.
Chen Hou: Chinese zoologist.
Childe, V. Gordon (1892–1957): Australian archeologist, interested in European prehistory.
Chomsky, Noam (1928–): American linguist and philosopher.
Christner, Brent: American biologist.
Chung, Henry: American evolutionary biologist.
Cieri, Robert L.: American biologist.
Clanton, “Old Man”: southwest American cattle rustler in the 19th century.
Clark, Katie A.: American geneticist.
Clarke, Esther: English anthropologist.
Clarkson, Matthew O.: English geoscientist.
Claude, Albert (1899–1983): Belgian cytologist and physician.
Clayton, Adam L.: American biologist.
Clayton, Nicola S.: English psychologist.
Cleisthenes (~570–508 BCE): Athenian politician credited with pushing his native city toward democracy in 508 BCE.
Cliffe, Rebecca (Becky): English zoologist, interested in sloths.
Clutton-Brock, Tim (1946–): English zoologist.
Coates, Michael: American evolutionary biologist, interested in early vertebrate evolution and diversity.
Cocucci, Andrea A.: Argentinian botanist.
Coen, Enrico (1957–): English botanist, interested in flower development.
Colton, Charles Caleb (1780–1832): English cleric.
Colville, Louise: English botanist.
Colwell, Rick: American microbiologist.
Conroy, Glenn C.: American anthropologist and anatomist.
Coolidge, Frederick L.: American psychologist.
Cornwallis, Charlie K.: English zoologist.
Cosmides, Leda (1957–): American psychologist, interested in evolutionary psychology.
Cowper, William (1731–1800): English poet, admired by his contemporaries; one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry.
Cowperthwaite, Matthew: American cytologist and molecular biologist.
Crawley, Michael J.: English botanist.
Cromwell, Townsend (1922–1958): American oceanographer who discovered the Cromwell Current in 1952.
Crowe-Riddell, Jenna M.: Australian herpetologist.
Curnoe, Darren: Australian evolutionary biologist.
Cuthill, Innes C. (1961–): English biologist and ethologist.
Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832): French naturalist who studied fossils. Cuvier denied evolution while ironically establishing extinction as a fact.
da Vinci, Leonardo (1452–1519): Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, musician, inventor, scientist, mathematician, engineer, geologist, cartographer, anatomist, botanist, and writer. Best known for a small portrait of a drab woman with a half-smile (Mona Lisa).
Darroch, Simon A.F.: English biogeologist.
Darwin, Charles (1809–1882): English naturalist, famous for his hollow hypothesis of evolution by “natural selection.”
Davies, Nicholas B.: English zoologist.
Dawkins, Richard (1941–): English evolutionary biologist; a staunch matterist, Dawkins is known for his atomistic, gene-centric view of evolution, advocacy of random mutation as the sole evolutionary vehicle, and condemnation of spirituality in any form; wrong on all accounts.
d’Errico, Francesco: Italian paleontologist.
D’Souza, Glen: German microbiologist and organic chemist.
de Tournefort, Joseph Pitton (1656–1708): French botanist who coined the first clear definition of genus for plants.
de Vries, Hugo (1848–1935): Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. de Vries coined the term mutation.
de Waal, Frans (1948–): Dutch primatologist and ethologist.
Deem, Michael W.: American biochemist.
deMenocal, Peter B.: American geographic environmentalist who uses marine sediments as archives of past climate changes.
DePalma, Robert: American vertebrate paleontologist.
Der, Joshua P.: American botanist.
Derex, Maxime: French paleontologist, interested in cumulative human culture.
Descartes, René (1596–1650): French mathematician and philosopher.
DeSilva, Jeremy M.: American anthropologist.
Diderot, Denis (1713–1784): French philosopher, writer, and art critic; a prominent figure in the Enlightenment movement.
Detrich, H. William: American marine molecular biologist and biochemist.
Dobzhansky, Theodosius (1900–1975): Ukrainian geneticist and evolutionary biologist.
Doebeli, Michael: Canadian mathematical evolutionary biologist.
Dolan, Liam: Irish botanist.
Dollo, Louis (1857–1931): French-born Belgian paleontologist who decreed that devolution was impossible, which became known as Dollo’s law.
Domes, Katja: German zoologist.
Dominy, Nathaniel J.: American anthropologist.
Donner, K. Kristian: Finnish sensory biologist.
Donoghue, Philip C.J.: English paleontologist and paleobiologist.
Dougherty, Michael J.: American biologist.
Drossel, B.: German evolutionary zoologist.
Dryer, T.F.: paleoanthropologist.
Dunbar, Robin I.M. (1947–): English anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist who calculated in 1992 a cognitive limit to the number of people with whom humans can maintain stable relationships. Dunbar’s number was 150.
Dunn, Peter O.: Canadian ethologist.
Dunn, Regan: American paleoecologist, interested in the evolution of plants.
Dunn, Rob: American biologist.
Eagle, Robert A.: American zoologist.
Eakin, C. Mark: American biological oceanographer.
Eddie, Bill: English botanist.
Edwards, Scott: American evolutionary biologist.
Eimer, Theodor (1843–1898): German zoologist, credited with popularizing the term orthogenesis.
Eisert, Jens (1970–): German physicist, interested in quantum information.
Eldredge, Niles: American paleontologist and biologist who proposed punctuated equilibrium in 1972 with Stephen Jay Gould.
Eldridge, Paul (1888–1982): prolific American writer.
Elemans, Coen P.H.: Danish zoologist.
Eliason, Chad: American zoologist.
Eliassen, Sigrunn: Norwegian zoologist.
Ellstrand, Norman C.: American botanist.
Elmer, Kathryn R.: Scottish evolutionary biologist.
Emery, Nathan J.: English zoologist.
Emlen, Douglas J.: American zoologist.
Epley, Nicholas: American psychologist.
Erickson, Jon: American geologist.
Erwin, Douglas H.: American evolutionary biologist.
Ettema, Thijs: Dutch microbiologist.
Eulgem, Thomas: American plant cytologist.
Evans, Arthur (1851–1941): English archeologist.
Exiguus, Dionysius (470–544): Christian monk and scholar.
Fagan, Brian: English anthropologist.
Ferguson, Walter W. (1930–): American paleoanthropologist and painter.
Finley, Kerry: Canadian ornithologist.
Fischer, André: German molecular biologist.
Fischer, Julia: German cognitive ethologist.
Fischer, Woodward W.: American geologist.
Fisher, Ronald A. (1890–1962): English evolutionary biologist, statistician, and eugenicist.
Fisher, Simon E. (1970–): English geneticist, psycholinguist, and neuroscientist.
Foley, Robert A. (1953–): English anthropologist.
Forbes, Andrew A.: American biologist.
Ford, Clellan S. (1909–1972): American anthropologist.
Forsman, Anders: Swedish evolutionary biologist.
Forster, Catherine A.: American biologist, interested in the descent of birds.
Forterre, Patrick: French molecular biologist.
Foster, Kevin R.: English biologist.
Fowler, Denver W.: English paleontologist.
Fowler, Henry Watson (1858–1933): English lexicographer.
Fratzl, Peter: German materials scientist.
Freedman, Adam H.: American evolutionary biologist.
Friedman, William E.: American botanist.
Friedrich, Benjamin M.: German biophysicist.
Fresnel, Augustin (1788–1827): French engineer and physicist whose study of optics led to widespread acceptance of light as a waveform phenomenon, as contrasted to Newton’s earlier particle (corpuscular) theory.
Fröbisch, Jörg: German paleontologist.
Froese, Tom: American archeologist.
Fründ, Jochen: German ecologist.
Fry, Bryan G.: Australian herpetologist, interested in snake venom.
Fuchs, Elaine (1950–): American cytologist, interested in mammalian dermatology.
Galimberti, Andrew K.: American biologist.
Gamberale-Stille, Gabriella: Swedish evolutionary biologist, interested in ecology and animal communication.
Garczarek, Laurence: French virologist.
Gass, Gillian L.: Canadian biologist.
Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Sabine (1965–): German archeologist.
Gavrilets, Sergey: Russian evolutionary biologist.
Gawne, Richard T.: American entomologist.
Gee, Henry (1962–): English paleontologist and evolutionary biologist.
Geist, Katherine S.: American evolutionary biologist.
Gepshtein, Sergei: American vision scientist, interested in perceptual psychology and sensory neuroscience.
Gianoli, Ernesto: Chilean botanist.
Gibbons, Ann: American paleoanthropologist.
Gilbert, Scott F. (1949–): American developmental biologist.
Gilbert, Walter (1932–): American physicist, biochemist, and molecular biologist.
Godefroit, Pascal: Belgian paleontologist.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749–1832): German writer, artist, and politician.
Gogarten, J. Peter: evolutionary microbiologist.
Gold, Maria Eugenia Leone: American anatomist.
Goldberg, Marcia B.: American physician, interested in infectious diseases.
Goldman, Daniel I: American biomechanics physicist.
Goldsby, Heather J.: American biologist and software engineer.
Gonzales, Lauren A.: American evolutionary anthropologist and paleontologist.
Gould, Stephen Jay (1941–2002): American evolutionary biologist, paleontologist, and science historian, best known for positing the hypothesis of punctuated equilibrium: evolution being marked by rare bursts of speciations, with long periods of stability.
Gracheva, Elena: Russian-American cellular and molecular physiologist, interested in animal thermoregulation.
Grant, Peter R.: American evolutionary biologist.
Green, Richard E.: American molecular biologist.
Gresham, David: American evolutionary geneticist, interested in adaptation and cell growth regulation.
Groenewoud, Frank: Dutch evolutionary biologist.
Gross, Lisa: American scientist, journalist, and writer.
Grossnickle, David M.: American evolutionary biologist.
Groves, Colin (1942–): Australian anthropologist.
Haacke, Johann Wilhelm (1855–1912): German zoologist who hypothesized orthogenesis in 1893 and introduced the concept of genes as hereditary units, which he called gemmaria.
Haeckel, Ernst (1834–1919): German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, and artist who discovered, described, and named thousands of new species. Haeckel conceptualized biological diversity as an evolutionary tree of life. He coined many biological terms, including anthropogeny, ecology, phylum, phylogeny, stem cell, and the kingdom Protista. Haeckel popularized in German Darwin’s hypotheses of evolution and developed one of his own: the theory of recapitulation, often expressed as “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny;” that an organism’s biological development (ontogeny) is a summation of its evolution (phylogeny). Recapitulation theory has been applied to several disciplines besides biology, including anthropology, psychology, language development, and education theory.
Hahn, Mark: American toxicologist, interested in the biochemistry of aquatic animals.
Haile-Selassie, Yohannes (1961–): Ethiopian paleoanthropologist.
Hale, Melina E.: American biomechanist and neurobiologist.
Hall, Brian K. (1941–): Canadian biologist.
Hallgrímsson, Benedikt: Icelandic biologist.
Hamilton, W.D. (Bill) (1936–2000): English evolutionary biologist, interested in kin selection and altruism. Hamilton’s work presaged sociobiology.
Hankison, Shala J.: American zoologist, interested in animal behavior.
Harari, Yuval Noah (1976–): Israeli historian.
Harcourt-Smith, William: American paleoanthropologist.
Hardy, Karen: English evolutionary biologist.
Hare, Brian: American evolutionary anthropologist.
Harholt, Jesper: Danish microbiologist.
Harman, Denham (1916–): American physician, interested in biogerontology.
Harmon, Jason P.: American entomologist, interested in insect ecology.
Harris, David R. (1930–2013): English anthropologist, archeologist, and geographer, interested in the origins of agriculture and the domestication of plants and livestock.
Harvey, William (1578-1657): English physician, interested in the circulatory system.
Hawk, John: American anthropologist.
Healy, Kevin: Irish zoologist.
Hedenström, Anders: Swedish evolutionary ecologist, interested in bird and bat flight.
Hedin, Lars O.: American evolutionary biologist and biogeochemist, interested in ecosystems.
Hedrick, Ann: American evolutionary behavioralist.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831): German philosopher.
Held, Richard (1922–2016): American psychologist, interested in human vision development.
Heldstab, Sandra A.: Swiss anthropologist, interested in mammalian brain size evolution.
Herbst, C.T.: Czech biophysicist.
Herron, Matthew D.: American evolutionary biologist.
Hetherington, Alexander J.: English botanist.
Higginson, Andrew D.: English zoologist, interested in animal cognition, morphology, development, and behavior.
Hildebrandsson, Hugo Hildebrand (1838–1925): Swedish meteorologist who studied clouds.
Hirst, Andrew G.: English evolutionary biologist.
Hodgson, Dave: English ecologist.
Holland, Steven M.: American geologist.
Homer (~850 BCE): legendary Greek poet and author, best known for the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, both about the Mycenaean civilization.
Horn, Henry S.: American natural historian and ecologist.
Hoyal Cuthill, Jennifer F.: English paleobiologist.
Hulbert, A.J.: Australian biologist, interested in biogerontology.
Hume, David (1711–1776): Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist; a logician who embraced empiricism and skepticism.
Hunt, James H.: American zoologist.
Husson, Jon M.: American geologist.
Hutchison, Bruce (1901–1992): Canadian author.
Hutton, James (1726–1797): Scottish geologist who concocted uniformitarianism.
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825–1895): English anatomist and biologist, known as “Darwin’s Bulldog” for his staunch advocacy of Darwinian evolution.
Ikegami, Takashi: Japanese archeologist.
Ingrouille, Martin J.: English botanist.
Jablonka, Eva (1952–): Polish-born Israeli geneticist, interested in epigenetics and evolution.
Jablonski, David (1953–): American geophysicist, interested in the evolutionary role of mass extinctions and other large-scale processes affecting the history of life.
Jackson, Andrew: Irish zoologist.
Jacob, François (1920–2013): French biologist.
Jakobsen, Lasse: Danish zoologist, interested in bat calls.
Jameson, Robert (1774–1854): English naturalist and mineralogist; though a boring lecturer (according to Darwin), Jameson built a superb natural history museum collection.
Janzen, Daniel H. (1939–): American evolutionary ecologist, biologist, and conservationist.
Jenkin, Henry Charles Fleeming (1833–1885): English engineer, economist, linguist, actor, dramatist, and artist.
Johannsen, Wilhelm (1857–1927): Danish botanist who introduced the term gene in 1909, in opposition to Darwin’s multifaceted pangene hypothesis. Johannsen also coined the terms phenotype and genotype.
Johnson, Andrew D.: American biologist.
Johnson, G. David: American ichthyologist, interested in acanthomorphs.
Johnson, Sönke: American zoologist, interested in vision.
Johnston, Eric A. (1896–1963): American businessman.
Johnston, Susan E.: English evolutionary biologist.
Jones, Owen R.: American evolutionary biologist.
Jørgensen, Christian: Norwegian zoologist.
Josiah (aka Yoshiyahu) (657–609): Hebrew king (649–609) who took the throne at age 8, after his father, King Amon, was assassinated. The Bible describes Josiah as a deeply religious king.
Joy, Jeffrey B.: Canadian evolutionary biologist.
Julius, David: American physiologist.
Kaiser, Gary W.: Canadian evolutionary biologist, interested in birds.
Kalejta, Robert F.: American virologist.
Kaniewski, David: French anthropologist.
Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804): influential German philosopher.
Kavanagh, Patrick H.: New Zealander biologist.
Keeley, Lawrence H.: English anthropologist.
Kellogg, Vernon Lyman (1867–1937): American entomologist and evolutionary biologist.
Kennedy, Patrick: English evolutionary biologist.
Kenrick, Paul: English paleobotanist.
Kerr, Richard A.: American science writer.
Keynes, John Maynard (1883–1946): English economist.
Killworth, Peter D. (1946–2008): English oceanographer and social network researcher.
Kimera, Kamoya: Kenyan fossil hunter.
King, Nicole: American cytologist and molecular biologist.
Kirschvink, Joseph L. (Joe): American geobiologist, interested in magnetism.
Kisdi, Éva: Finnish evolutionary biologist and mathematician, interested in evolutionary adaptive dynamics.
Kleiber, Max (1893 –1976): Swiss agricultural biologist who studied animal metabolism.
Koenig, Walter D.: American ethologist.
Koonin, Eugene (1956–): Russian American biologist who works in evolutionary and computational biology.
Kopps, Anna M.: Swiss evolutionary geneticist.
Kost, Christian: German microbiologist.
Kowalewski, Michał: invertebrate paleontologist.
Kozo-Polyansky, Boris M. (1890–1957): Russian botanist and evolutionary biologist who posited symbiogenesis in a Darwinian context.
Kraft, Thomas S.: American ethnologist.
Kristiansen, Kristian (1948–): Danish archaeologist, interested in Bronze Age Europe.
Kronauer, Daniel: American evolutionary biologist.
Kruse, Kai: English molecular biologist.
Kulahchi, Ipek G.: American zoologist, interested in animal cognition, social behavior, communication, and personality.
Kutsukake, Mayako: Japanese biologist.
Lahr, Marta Mirazón (1965–): Argentinian paleoanthropologist.
Laland, Kevin: English evolutionary biologist.
Lamb, Marion J. (1939–): English evolutionary biologist.
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste (1744–1829): insightful French naturalist who developed an evolutionary theory with 2 axioms: 1) evolutionary adaptation is based upon biological need, and its corollary, depreciation by disuse; and 2) variations are heritable, a concept which anticipated epigenetics.
Landweber, Laura: American evolutionary biologist.
Lanfear, Robert: English evolutionary biologist, interested in developmental biology, molecular evolution, and phylogenetics.
Langin, Kathryn M.: American evolutionary biologist.
Lankester, Ray (1847–1929): English zoologist who posited reverse evolution.
Lao Tzu (aka Laozi, Lao-Tsu, Lao-Tze) (6th or 5th century BCE): Chinese scholar and philosopher; inadvertent founder of Daoism, which teaches reverence of Nature, the value of patience, and a path to judicious existence. A legendary figure, when and even whether actually Lao Tzu lived is speculative. His name is an honorary title.
Lapiedra, Oriol: Spanish evolutionary biologist.
Larson, Gregor: English evolutionary biologist.
Lässig, Michael: German statistical physicist, interested in biophysics and molecular evolution.
Laudet, Vincent: French biologist, interested in biochemistry, molecular biology, and development.
Law, Joy: English physician.
Le Roux, Johannes J.: South African evolutionary biologist, botanist, and geneticist.
Leakey, Lewis (1903–1972): English paleoanthropologist.
Leakey, Richard (1944–): English paleoanthropologist; son of Lewis Leakey.
Lee, Michael S.Y.: Australian evolutionary zoologist, interested in reptiles.
Leibniz, Gottfried (1646–1716): German mathematician who discovered calculus and philosopher and who believed in reincarnation.
Lenski, Richard E. (1956–): American evolutionary biologist.
Lenton, Timothy M. (1973–): English Earth scientist, interested in climate change.
Levin, Simon A.: American evolutionary biologist.
Lévy, Paul (1886–1971): French mathematician, interested in probability theory.
Lewin, Roger: English anthropologist.
Li, Rong: American molecular biologist.
Libby, Eric: American evolutionary biologist, interested in the evolution of multicellularity.
Lieberman, Daniel E. (1964–): American paleoanthropologist.
Ling Li: Chinese materials scientist.
Linnaeus, Carl (1707–1778): Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist who is widely considered the father of taxonomy, despite numerous wrong guesses, including lumping amphibians and reptiles together as a single class.
Lister, Adrian M.: English paleontologist.
Livshultz, TaTYAna: American botanist, interested in the chemical defenses of Apocynaceae (milkweeds and dogbane).
Lloyd, Karen G.: American microbiologist.
Locke, John (1632–1704): English philosopher and physician.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807–1882): American poet, fond of mythological lyric poems.
López-Uribe, Margarita M.: Columbian entomologist, interested in bees.
Lorenzini, Stefano (1652–?): Italian physician and marine researcher.
Louca, Stilianos: microbiologist, interested in microbe sociality.
Lovelock, James (1919–): English naturalist and inventor, known for his Gaia theory.
Løvtrup, Søren (1922–2002): Danish embryologist.
Lozano, Diego Villar: Spanish molecular biologist, interested in gene regulation.
Lubbock, John (1934–1913): English banker, Liberal politician, and archeologist; one of the first to bifurcate the Stone Age, delineating the Neolithic.
We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the Earth. ~ John Lubbock
Lyell, Charles (1979–1875): Scottish lawyer and geologist. Lyell coined the term Neolithic, and popularized James Hutton’s notions of uniformitarianism. Based upon geological anomalies, Lyell was one of the first to believe the Earth older than 300 million years. Lyell was a close friend of Darwin and significantly influenced Darwin’s views on evolution.
Mackessy, Stephen: American zoologist, interested in snakes.
MacLeod, Norman (1953–): American paleontologist.
Mahadeeswara, Mandiyam Y.: Indian-born Australian biologist, interested in cognition.
Mahadevan, Lakshminarayanan: Indian scientist and mathematician, interested in the organization and dynamics of matter in spacetime.
Malebranche, Nicolas (1638–1715): French philosopher who sought to synthesize the philosophies of Augustine of Hippo and Descartes.
Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766–1834): English parson who fretted that human population growth would eventually be checked by famine, disease and “vice.” Malthus opposed the optimistic perspective popular in Europe during the mid-18th century that society was perfectible. He instead viewed “the lower classes” such avid breeders that they could not overcome their destitution. Malthus’ own optimistic solution was “moral restraint” by the masses.
Mandelbrot, Benoît B. (1924–2010): Polish-born French American mathematician, known for his work in fractal geometry.
Mangel, Marc: American zoologist.
Mank, Judith: English evolutionary geneticist.
Manning, John: English experimental psychologist.
Mantell, Gideon (1790–1852): English obstetrician, geologist, and paleontologist.
Margulis, Lynn (1938–2011): American evolutionary theorist, science writer, and educator who emphasized the importance of symbiosis in biological evolution.
Marino, Lori: American zoologist.
Maritan, Amos: Italian physicist.
Markov, Andrey (1856–1922): Russian mathematician, best known for his work on stochastic processes.
Marshall, Charles R.: American paleobiologist.
Marshall, Gideon: English paleontologist.
Martin, Christopher H.: American evolutionary biologist.
Martincorena, Iñigo: Spanish evolutionary biologist.
Marugán-Lobón, Jesús: Spanish paleobiologist.
Mayer, August Franz (1787–1865): German physiologist.
Mayr, Ernst (1904–2005): influential German-born American ornithologist, evolutionary biologist, biology philosopher, and science historian.
McConnell, Richard: Canadian geological surveyor who discovered the Burgess Shale in 1866.
McCoy, Dakota E: American evolutionary biologist.
McGuire, Jimmy A.: American zoologist, interested in herpetology and the evolution of diversity.
McIsaac, R. Scott: American molecular biologist.
McShea, Daniel W.: American evolutionary biologist.
Meehan, Christopher J.: American biologist.
Meiklejoh, Colin D.: American geneticist.
Mendel, Gregor (1822–1884): Austrian monk and botanist, interested in heredity.
Mereschkowski, Konstantin (1855–1921): Russian biologist and botanist who first proposed symbiogenesis.
Meyer, Georg Friedrich: English psychologist, interested in human language evolution.
Meyer, Justin R.: American biologist, interested in evolutionary biology, ecology, zoology, and system biology.
Michod, Richard E.: American evolutionary biologist, interested in cooperation and conflict.
Miescher, Friedrich (1844–1895): Swiss physician and biologist who first identified nucleic acid.
Milanković, Milutin (1879–1958): Serbian geophysicist who suggested that long-term climatic changes depended upon Earth’s cosmological movements, known as Milankovitch cycles. Milanković was also a mathematician, astronomer, climatologist, civil engineer, and popularizer of science.
Milks, Annemieke: English archeologist.
Milo, Ron: Israeli biologist.
Min Wang: Chinese vertebrate paleontologist, interested in the evolution of vertebrate flight.
Mitchel, Kieren J.: Australian evolutionary biologist, interested in macroevolutionary processes.
Miyagawa, Shigeru: Japanese linguist.
Molyneux, William (1656–1698): Irish philosopher with diverse interests.
Monod, Jacques (1910–1976): French molecular biologist, interested in the genetics of enzymes.
Montoya, Jose Antonio Barba: Mexican evolutionary biologist, interested in molecular evidence of evolution.
Morgan, Thomas H.J.: American paleoanthropologist.
Morgan, Thomas Hunt (1866–1945): American evolutionary biologist, known for his discoveries relating chromosomes to heredity.
Moroz, Leonid: Russian biologist.
Morris, Simon Conway (1951–): English paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and astrobiologist, interested in Cambrian life. Conway is a Christian who argues that evolution is compatible with theism.
Motley, Willard (1912–1965): American novelist.
Müller, Fritz (1821–1897): German biologist who studied mimicry. See Müllerian mimicry.
Müller, Rolf: German biologist.
Muñoz, Martha M.: American evolutionary biologist.
Musiba, Charles: American paleoanthropologist.
Musilova, Zuzana: Czech evolutionary zoologist.
Nagy, László G.: Hungarian evolutionary geneticist.
Nakanishi, Koji (1925–): Japanese organic chemist.
Nakayama, Sohei: Japanese molecular biologist.
Näsvall, Joakim: Swedish microbiologist and geneticist.
Navalón, Guillermo: Spanish paleobiologist.
Nawrot, Rafał: paleontologist.
Nealson, Kenneth: American microbiologist.
Nebuchadnezzar II: king of Babylon (605–562 BCE).
Nefertiti (1370–1330 BCE): wife of Akhenaten and Egyptian queen.
Neher, Richard A.: German evolutionary microbiologist.
Nero (37–68): Roman Emperor from 54 to 68. Not in line for ascension, Nero climbed to his position, and maintained his grip on power, by repeated assassinations, including his own mother. Nero was a murderous megalomaniacal sociopath. He had Christians captured and burned in his garden for illumination.
Nevo, Omer: Israeli evolutionary ecologist, interested in chemical communication between plants and animals, especially fruit odor.
Newton, Isaac (1642–1727): English physicist, alchemist, astronomer, mathematician, scientist, and theologian.
Noor, Elad: Israeli biologist.
Nuismer, Scott L.: American evolutionary biologist.
O’Connor, David (1938–): Australian Egyptologist.
Opie, Christopher: English anthropologist.
Osborn, Henry Fairfield (1857–1935): American geologist, paleontologist, and eugenicist who advocated orthogenesis.
Otto, Sarah P. (1967–): American theoretical evolutionary biologist, interested in the evolution of sex.
Owen, Richard (1804–1892): English naturalist, comparative anatomist, and paleontologist who first identified dinosaurs, coining the term Dinosauria (meaning “terrible reptile”). Owen criticized contemporary Charles Darwin for his simplistic hypotheses of evolution. Owen’s approach anticipated modern evolutionary developmental biology.
Packham, Christopher G. (1961–): English naturalist.
Paig-Tran, Misty: American marine zoologist.
Palmer, Douglas: English educator and author.
Palumbi, Stephen R.: American marine biologist.
Papke, R. Thane: microbiologist, interested in the evolution of prokaryotes.
Park, Soyoung Q.: Korean cognitive psychologist.
Parker, Andrew: English biologist.
Parker, Joe: English biologist.
Parker, Joseph: American entomologist.
Partensky, Frédéric: French virologist.
Pasteur, Louis (1822–1895): French chemist and microbiologist, renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, fermentation, and pasteurization. Pasteur is credited with breakthroughs in understanding the causes and prevention of infectious diseases. Pasteur’s experiments supported the germ theory of disease: that pathogenic microorganisms cause many diseases. Pasteur created the first vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Pasteur is famous for inventing pasteurization: heating liquid food to retard spoilage. Unlike sterilization, which adversely affects food quality by killing all microbes, pasteurization aims to reduce the pathogen population, not eliminate it.
Patek, Sheila: American evolutionary biomechanist and biologist.
Paulsen, Torbjørn Rage: Norwegian evolutionary ecologist, interested in plant-animal interactions, especially seed dispersal.
Payne, Jonathan: American paleontologist.
Pearl, Raymond (1879–1940): American biologist who proposed the rate-of-living hypothesis. Pearl was not beyond self-deception. An inveterate drinker, he believed the moderate alcohol consumption granted longer life than abstinence.
Peters, Shanan E.: American geologist and paleobiologist.
Pfennig, David W.: American biologist, interested in ecology, ethology, and evolution.
Phadnis, Nitin: Indian microbiologist.
Pilbeam, David (1940–): American paleoanthropologist.
Pisani, Davide: Italian evolutionary biologist.
Planavsky, Noah: American biogeochemist.
Plato (~427–347 BCE): influential Greek philosopher and mathematician, including through influence on his student Aristotle. Plato espoused knowledge as received wisdom, and of a dichotomy between the appearance of reality (actuality) and reality itself.
Pocock, Michael J.O.: English ecologist.
Polkinghorne, John (1930–): English theoretical physicist.
Pollan, Michael: American journalist.
Pollock, David: American geneticist.
Ponting, Clive: English historian.
Portier, Paul: French scientist who theorized that mitochondria are an evolutionary symbiotic outcome.
Potts, Richard: American paleoanthropologist.
Price, T. Douglas: American archeologist.
Price, Trevor D.: American evolutionary biologist, interested in avian speciation.
Prospero, Joseph M.: American meteorologist.
Pross, Addy: Israeli chemist.
Prothero, Donald (1954–): American paleontologist and geologist, interested in mammalian paleontology.
Prum, Richard O. (1961–):
Ptacek, Margaret B.: American biologist, interested in behavioral ecology, population genetics, and speciation.
Punnett, Reginald (1875–1967): English geneticist who co-founded the Journal of Genetics with William Bateson in 1910. Punnett’s 1905 book Mendelism introduced genetics to the general public.
Purzycki, Benjamin Grant: American sociocultural anthropologist.
Puttick Mark N.: English evolutionary biologist.
Pythagoras (570–495 BCE): Greek philosopher and mathematician, best known for his work on right-angled triangles (the Pythagorean theorem: for any right-angled triangle, the area of the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of the other 2 sides of the triangle), which was previously known by the Babylonians and Indians.
Queller: David C.: American evolutionary biologist.
Rameses II (aka Rameses the Great) (1303–2013 BCE): Egyptian pharaoh who ruled 1279–1213 BCE; regarded as the most powerful pharaoh of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Ratcliff, William C.: American evolutionary biologist.
Rawson, Peter: English paleontologist.
Raymond, Percy E.: American paleontologist, interested in the Burgess Shale.
Rechav, Oded: Israeli neurobiologist.
Redi, Francesco (1621–1697): Italian physician, naturalist, and poet. Redi was the first scientist to challenge the spurious surmise of spontaneous generation.
Reich, Peter B.: American plant and forest ecologist, interested in the impacts of global environmental change on terrestrial ecosystems.
Reisz, Robert R. (1947–): Romanian paleontologist, interested in early amniote and tetrapod evolution.
Renfrew, Colin (1937–): English archeologist.
Retallack, Gregory J.: American geologist who contends that life encroached on land by the end of the Ediacaran.
Rey, Felix: French virologist.
Rico-Guevara, Alejandro: Columbian evolutionary zoologist, interested in ornithology.
Riemer, Kristina: American wildlife ecologist.
Rinaldo, Andrea: Italian hydrologist.
Rivera, Maria C.: American molecular biologist.
Roberts, Nicholas W.: English physicist, interested in animal bio-optics.
Robinson, Marilynne (1943–): American novelist and essayist.
Rohwer, Forest: American virologist.
Rosenblum, Erica Bree: American evolutionary biologist.
Rosenzweig, Michael L.: American evolutionary biologist.
Rowland, Mark: American biologist.
Rubinoff, Daniel: American entomologist and ecologist.
Rubner, Max (1854–1932): German physiologist and hygienist who studied the relative rate of metabolism and its relation to life-history variables in animals. Rubner proposed the surface hypothesis: the metabolic rate of endotherms being roughly proportional to body surface area.
Russell, Bertrand (1872–1970): English philosopher, logician, mathematician, and historian.
Saint-Hilaire, Étienne Geoffroy (1772–1844): French naturalist who established the principle of unity of composition: that organisms holistically evolve. Saint-Hilaire defended Lamarck’s idea of evolution via environmental influences.
Sallan, Lauren: American evolutionary biologist, interested in macroevolutionary processes.
Sánchez, Emilia Huerta: American evolutionary biologist.
Sánchez-Baracaldo, Patricia: Columbian biologist, interested in how cyanobacteria contributed to global nutrient cycles on early Earth.
Schaschl, Helmut: Austrian evolutionary biologist.
Scheu, S.: German evolutionary zoologist.
Scheuerlein, Alexander: German demographer.
Schimper, Andreas F.W. (1856–1901): German botanist and phytogeographer (botanical geographer) who contributed to histology, ecology, and plant geography. Schimper first suggested symbiogenesis: that eukaryotic cells arose via symbiosis between prokaryotes.
Schleuning, Matthias: German evolutionary ecologist, interested in mutualism.
Schoen, Alan H. (1924–): American physicist and computer scientist, known for his discovery of the gyroid.
Schrenk, Matthew O.: American geomicrobiologist, interested in subsurface ecosystems.
Scott, James C. (1936–): American anthropologist and political scientist.
Seeley, Harry G. (1839–1909): English paleontologist who divided dinosaurs into 2 orders based upon pelvic bones: ornithischians and saurischians.
Sell, Aaron: Australian criminologist.
Sereno, Paul C.: American paleontologist.
Shackelford, Laura: American anthropologist.
Shapiro, B. Jesse: American organismic and evolutionary biologist.
Shapiro, James A.: American molecular biologist and bacterial genetics maven.
Sheehan, Michael J.: American zoologist.
Sheldon, Ben C.: English zoologist.
Sheridan, Jennifer A.: American environmental scientist.
Sherwood-Lollar, Barbara: Canadian geologist.
Shipton, Ceri: Australian archeologist.
Shiqiu Liu: Chinese paleontologist.
Shropshire, J. Dylan: American biologist.
Sicotte, Pascale: Canadian primatologist, interested in social dynamics, especially in colobus monkeys.
Silvertown, Jonathan: English ecologist.
Simmons, Leigh W.: Australian evolutionary biologist.
Simões, Patrício M.V.: Brazilian biologist.
Simpson, George Gaylord (1902–1984): American paleontologist, influential in evolutionary theory.
Sims, Chris R.: American cognitive scientist.
Simons, Elwyn: American paleoanthropologist.
Smith Brian Tilston: American ornithologist.
Smith, John Maynard (1920–2004): English theoretical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Smith applied game theory to evolution and studied the evolution of sex and the nature of communication.
Snell, William: American cytologist.
Snively, Eric: American evolutionary biologist.
Socrates (469–399 BCE): Athenian Greek philosopher.
Söderberg, Patrik: Finnish sociologist.
Spalding, Douglas (1841–1877): English biologist who discovered imprinting and the Baldwin effect in the early 1870s.
Speakman, John R.: Scottish biologist, interested in biogerontology.
Spencer, Herbert (1820–1903): English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and liberal political theorist.
Spoor, Fred: English evolutionary anthropologist.
Spottiswoode, Claire N.: South African zoologist.
Sprigg, Reginald C. (1919–1994): Australian geologist and conservationist who discovered fossils of Ediacaran biota in 1946 in the Ediacara Hills of south Australia.
Srinivasan, Mandyam V.: Indian-born Australian biologist, interested in the visual systems of bees and birds.
Srour, Marc: German paleontologist and entomologist.
Stahl, Georg Ernst (1659–1734): German chemist and physician who hypothesized biological vitalism.
Stanley, Kenneth O.: American computer scientist, interested in evolution.
Stark, Jay T.: English paleoanthropologist.
Stevens, Martin: English zoologist, interested in sensory ecology and evolution, especially vision and adaptive coloration.
Stevenson, Sean R.: English botanist.
Strassmann, Joan E.: American evolutionary biologist.
Strelkowa, Natalja: geneticist, interested in microbial evolution.
Stringer, Chris (1947–): English anthropologist.
Strömberg, Caroline: Swedish botanist and paleobiologist.
Strycker, Noah (1986–): American ornithologist.
Stuart, Yoel E.: American evolutionary biologist.
Sun Tzu (6th century BCE): Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher, famous for the war strategy book The Art of War, though the book was completed well after his time. Sun Tzu probably provided the core strategic concepts.
Suess, Eduard (1831–1914): English geologist who was a pioneer in appreciating ecology.
Sundström, Liselotte (1955–): Finnish evolutionary zoologist, interested in the social evolution of ants.
Sutton, Gregory: English zoologist.
Swammerdam, Jan (1637-1680): Dutch biologist and microscopist. Swammerdam sought to disprove metamorphosis, so studied the life stages of insects under the microscope (egg, larva, pupa, adult). He denied what he observed. After 5 intense years of beekeeping, Swammerdam concluded that male and female bees do not copulate.
Swartz, Sharon M.: American evolutionary biologist, interested in mammalian limb evolution, especially bats.
Symons, Donald (1942–): American anthropologist, interested in evolutionary psychology.
Szent-Gyorgyi, Albert (1893–1986): Hungarian physiologist who discovered vitamin C.
Szücs, Marianna: American entomologist, interested in evolution.
Tattersall, Ian (1945–): British-born American paleoanthropologist.
ten Brink, Hanna: Dutch evolutionary biologist.
Theißen, Günter: German evolutionary biologist.
Thompson, Dawn A.: American geneticist.
Thompson, John N.: American evolutionary biologist, interested in coevolution.
Thomsen, Christian Jürgensen (1788–1865): Danish antiquarian who created the 3-age system.
Thorogood, Rose: English zoologist, interested in behavioral ecology.
Thurber, Rebecca Vega: American virologist.
Thuy, Ben: biologist, interested in deep-sea creatures.
Tibbetts, Elizabeth A.: American evolutionary biologist.
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1892–1973): English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor; best known for his fantasy novels The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Tooby, John: American anthropologist, interested in evolutionary psychology.
Toon, Owen (1947–): American atmospheric and oceanic scientist, interested in the atmospheric effects of the Yucatán big bang.
Topsell, Edward (~1572–1625): English cleric who first used the term species referring to life, whereas earlier references of the term were to wine varieties.
Townshend, Pete (1945–): English musician who founded the musical group The Who (1964–).
Trigger, Bruce G. (1937–2006): Canadian anthropologist and archeologist.
Tsuchiya, Tokuji: Japanese plant cytologist.
Tucker, Abraham E.: American biologist.
Turing, Alan (1912–1954): influential English logician, mathematician, computer scientist, cryptanalyst, and theoretical biologist; influential in the conceptualization of computer science; persecuted by the British government for homosexuality to the point of suicide (torture which Queen Elizabeth called “appalling” in 2009).
Tūsī, Nasīr al-Dīn (1201–1274): Persian polymath who proposed a hierarchical theory of evolution.
Tutankhamun (1332– 1323 BCE): an Egyptian pharaoh from the age of 9 who reigned for a decade; the son of Akhenaten.
Twombly, Saran: American environmental biologist.
Tyler-Smith, Chris: English paleoanthropologist, interested in the evolutionary genetics of humans.
Tyndall, John (1820–1893): Irish physicist who studied diamagnetism, infrared radiation, and the properties of air.
Tyutchev, Fyodor (1803–1873): Russian poet.
Udell, Monique A.R.: American zoologist.
Ujvari, Beata: Australian evolutionary ecologist, biologist, geneticist, and immunologist.
Uomini, Natalie Thaïs: English anthropologist, interested in the origin of hominin language and stone tool technologies.
Uyeda, Josef C.: American evolutionary biologist and zoologist.
Valla, Lorenzo (1406–1457): Italian humanist, best known for his textual analysis proving that the Donation of Constantine was a forgery. The Donation of Constantine was a document purportedly by emperor Constantine I that transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. The forgery was composed in the 8th century, and used, especially in the 13th century, to support claims of political authority by the papacy.
van Leeuwenhoek, Antonie (1632–1723): Dutch lens-grinder, microscopist, and the first microbiologist.
Van Oystaeyen, Annette: Belgian evolutionary biologist.
Van Valen, Leigh (1935–2010): American evolutionary biologist.
Veneziani, Alessandro: Italian mathematician.
Venkataraman, Vivek V.: American evolutionary anthropologist and ethologist, interested in the evolution of the human diet and its implications.
Vermeij, Geerat J. (1946–): Dutch evolutionary biologist and paleontologist.
Vignal, Clémentine: French zoologist.
Villa, Paola: Italian anthropologist and naturalist.
Villarreal, Luis P.: American virologist, biochemist, and molecular biologist, interested in the role of viruses in evolution.
Villmoare, Brian A.: American anthropologist.
Vogel, Steven (1940–2015): American zoologist and biomechanist.
von Goethe, Johann: see Goethe.
Vrba, Elisabeth (1942–): American paleontologist and evolutionary theorist.
Wagner, Andreas: Austrian evolutionary biologist.
Wainwright, Peter C.: American evolutionary biologist, interested in vertebrate biomechanics.
Walcott, Charles Doolittle (1850–1927): American invertebrate paleontologist and administrator of the Smithsonian Institution (1907–1927). Walcott is best known for his survey of the Burgess Shale, the specimens of which he blithely misinterpreted.
Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823–1913): English naturalist who contemplated evolution contemporaneously with Darwin.
Ward, Peter: American marine biologist and paleontologist.
Wayman, Erin: American anthropologist and science writer.
Waytz, Adam: American psychologist.
Webster, Matthew T.: evolutionary biologist.
Weiss-Lehman, Christopher: American environmental biologist.
Weisbecker, Vera: Australian evolutionary zoologist, interested in vertebrate diversity.
Weismann, August (1834–1914): German evolutionary biologist who denounced Lamarckism, and who proposed the germ plasm theory: that the only carriers of inheritance are germ cells (eggs and sperm).
Weitz, Joshua S.: American viral ecologist.
Wennersten, Lena: Swedish evolutionary biologist.
Westneat, Mark W.: American evolutionary biologist.
Weston, Eleanor M.: English paleontologist.
Whewell, William (1794–1866): English polymath and Anglican priest who chronicled the history of science. Whewell was quite a wordsmith: coming up with the term scientist in 1833, then coining consilience in 1840 as a shorthand for the unification of knowledge among different branches of learning.
White, Tim: American paleontologist.
Whitehouse, Harvey: English anthropologist, interested in the evolution of social complexity.
Whittington, Harry B. (1916–2010): English paleontologist, interested in trilobites. Whittington reinterpreted specimens from the Burgess Shale as constituting an explosion in diversity of life during the Cambrian period.
Williams, George C. (1926–2010): American evolutionary biologist who posited the grandmother hypothesis for menopause in 1957.
Wilson, Daniel (1816–1892): Scottish-born Canadian archeologist who coined the term prehistory.
Wilson, Edward O. (1929–): American zoologist, interested in ants (myrmecology), who developed sociobiology in his book Sociobiology: A New Synthesis (1979).
Wingreen, Ned S.: American molecular biologist.
Winter, York: American neurobiologist.
Wlodarsk, Rafael: English experimental psychologist.
Woese, Carl (1928–2012): American microbiologist and physicist.
Wöhler, Friedrich (1800–1882): German chemist who initiated modern organic chemistry with his synthesis of urea. Wöhler was also the first to isolate several chemical elements, including aluminum, beryllium, silicon, titanium, and yttrium.
Wolf, Yuri I.: Russian-American cytologist and geneticist.
Wolpoff, Milford H. (1942–): American anthropologist who argued that human descent was always of single species: for example, humans descended from Neanderthals.
Wood, Bernard: American paleontologist.
Wood, Rachel: Australian archeologist.
Wood, Rachel: English paleobiologist.
Wood, Rachel A.: American paleontologist and geologist.
Woodward, Alexander: English archeologist.
Wordsworth, Robin: American geologist.
Wrangham, Richard (1948–): English primatologist.
Wynn, Thomas: American anthropologist.
Yellow Emperor (Huangdi): a legendary Chinese sovereign who reputedly reigned 2697–2597 BCE.
Yerkes, Richard W.: American anthropologist.
Zink, Katherine D.: American evolutionary biologist.
Zliobaite, Indre: Finnish evolutionary biologist.
Zuk, Marlene: American evolutionary zoologist, interested in sexual selection, animal communication, the evolutionary effect of parasites on hosts.
Zwaka, Thomas P.: American cytologist and geneticist.
