People
Abatzoglou, John: American geographer, interested in climate, meteorology, wildfire, hydrology, and ecosystem dynamics.
Abbate, Janet: American historian.
Acemoğlu, Daron (1967–): Turkish-born American economist.
Adler, Mortimer J. (1902–2001): American philosopher and educator.
Aftergood, Steven (1956–): American physicist and political activist, interested in computer data security.
Aiken, Howard H. (1900–1973): American physicist and pioneer in computing.
Akerlof, George A. (1940–): American economist.
Aktar, Md. Wasim: Indian pesticide researcher.
al-Shatir, Ibn (1304–1375): Muslim astronomer.
Albright, Rebecca: American marine ecologist.
Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedonia) (356–232 bce): king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (Macedon) (336–323 bce) and wildly enthusiast military adventurist.
Alfred the Great (849–899): King of Wessex (871–899). Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against an attempted Viking conquest, and by his death had become the dominant ruler in England. The only other English monarch to be awarded the epithet “the Great” was the Scandinavian Cnut the Great (995–1035), who was King of Denmark, England, and Norway, which was called the North Sea Empire.
Alicante, Tutu: Equatorial Guinean civil rights lawyer.
Alstadsæter, Annette: Norwegian economist.
Allais, Maurice Félix Charles (1911–2010): French economist, interested in decision theory and monetary policy.
Allen, Paul (1953–2018): American programmer who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates.
Alvarez, Ramón A.: American physical chemist.
Amon, Joe: American health and human rights activist.
Ananat, Elizabeth O.: American economist and public policy maven.
Anaximander of Miletus (610–546 bce): Turkish Greek philosopher, astronomer, geographer, mathematician, and proponent of science.
Anderson, Harlan (1929–): American electronics engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation with Ken Olsen.
Anderson, Margaret L.: American sociologist.
Anderson, Sarah: American economist and public policy analyst.
Andreas, Dwayne O. (1918–): American agribusiness executive and political patron.
Andreesen, Marc (1971–): American programmer; coauthor of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser.
Anzai, Ikuro: Japanese nuclear scientist.
Aquinas, Thomas (1225–1274): Italian Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher.
Arendt, Johanna (Hannah) (1906–1975): German-born Jewish American philosopher.
Aristotle (384–322 bce): Greek philosopher and polymath who was considered authoritative for centuries on a wide variety of subjects, sometimes stymying further investigation that might have gone against cardinal belief.
Armour, Kyle C.: American oceanographer.
Armstrong, Tim (1971–): American business executive, CEO of AOL.
Arnuk, Sal: American stock market trader.
Arp, Jean (1886–1966): German French sculptor, painter, and poet.
Arrhenius, Svante (1859–1927): Swedish scientist, with interests in chemistry, physics, mathematics, geology, and cosmology. Arrhenius is often referred to as a chemist, the science for which he won the 1903 Nobel Prize.
Arp, Jean (1886–1966): German French sculptor, painter, and poet.
Arrow, Kenneth (1921–2017): American economist, mathematician, and political theorist.
Ascarrunz, Nataly: Bolivian botanist.
Atahualpa (1502–1533): last Inca Emperor (of Peru), falling to Spanish conquest.
Attenborough, David (1926–): English naturalist and broadcaster; famous for his BBC TV Nature programs.
Auchincloss, Amy: American epidemiologist.
Austin, Benjamin: American economist.
Avirianto: Indonesian aircraft regulator.
Azar, José: Spanish economist.
Babbage, Charles (1791–1871): English polymath, famous for his idea of a steam-powered calculating machine that he was unable to make.
Babson, Roger (1875–1967): American entrepreneur, economist, and business theorist.
Bacon, Francis (1561–1626): English philosopher, politician, and scientist.
Baekeland, Leo (1863–1944): Belgian-American chemist, best known for inventing Velox photographic paper and an inexpensive, nonflammable, durable, and versatile plastic, thereby founding the plastics industry.
Baeyer, Adolf von (1835–1917): German chemist who synthesized indigo dye in 1878, though a formula for industrial production was not found until 1897. Indigo is the blue dye used in blue jeans and is also common as a food colorant (US Blue No. 2).
Baez, Joan (1941–): American folk singer/songwriter.
Bailey, John II (1751–1823): American clockmaker who got a patent for a steam jack in 1792.
Bain, Alexander (1810–1877): Scottish engineer.
Bair, Sheila C. (1954–): American attorney, head of the FDIC (2006–2011).
Baird, Andrew: Australian coral reef ecologist.
Baker, James A. (1930–): American Republican political operative and lawyer.
Balch, Jennifer: American fire investigator.
Balfour, Eve (1898–1990): English organic farmer.
Banwart, Steve: American environmental engineer.
Barker, Debi: American ecologist.
Barney, Charles T. (1851–1907): American banker who helped engineer the Panic of 1907 through his firm, Knickerbocker Trust Company.
Barnosky, Anthony D.: American paleontologist.
Barra, Mary T. (1961–): American business executive who spent her entire career at General Motors, which she now leads (2013–) (first female CEO of a global automaker).
Barrett, Christopher B.: American economist.
Barrett, Mike: English geologist.
Bashō, Matsuo (1644–1694): Japanese poet.
Baten, Jörg (1965–): German economic historian.
Baudrillard, Jean (1929–2007): Moroccan French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer; criticized as a reality-denying irrationalist.
Baum, L. Frank (1856–1919): American author, chiefly famous for his children’s books, especially The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and its 13 sequels.
Bayer, Patrick (1972–): American economist, interested in racial inequity.
Bayle, Pierre (1647–1706): French philosopher. Bayle was a Protestant who advocated toleration of divergent beliefs.
Becker, Dan: American attorney, interested in environmental protection.
Becquerel, Alexandre Edmond (1820–1891): French physicist who discovered the photovoltaic effect.
Becquerel, Henri (1852–1908): French physicist who accidentally discovered radioactivity.
Beig, Gufran: Indian meteorologist and government air quality specialist.
Bell, Alexander Graham (1847–1922): Scottish American inventor who patented the first practical telephone.
Benbrook, Charles M.: American agricultural economist.
Benson, Ezra Taft (1899–1994): American farmer and Mormon church religious leader.
Bentham, Jeremy (1748–1832): English philosopher, economist, and theoretical jurist who founded utilitarianism.
Benton, Tim: English population ecologist.
Benz, Karl (1844–1929): German engine designer and car engineer who invented the petrol-powered automobile.
Berkeley, Edmund C. (1909–1988): American computer scientist who co-founded the Association for Computing Machinery in 1947.
Berle, Adolf A. (1895–1971): American corporate lawyer, diplomat, and educator; author of the groundbreaking book The Modern Corporation and Private Property (1932), on corporate governance. Berle was an important contributor to US President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust.”
Bernanke, Ben (1953–): American economist; head of the Federal Reserve (2006–2014).
Bernoulli, Daniel (1700–1782): Swiss mathematician and physicist, known for his contributions in fluid mechanics, probability, and statistics.
Bernoulli, Jakob (1654–1705): Swiss mathematician; discoverer of e; contributor in the field of probability, where he derived the law of large numbers; an early proponent of Leibnizian calculus.
Bernstein, Jared (1955–): American economist, interested in economic inequality.
Bernstein, Lillian: American author.
Berry, Wendell (1934–): American farmer and environmentalist.
Bessemer, Henry (1813–1898): English engineer who modernized steel production.
Betts, Matthew G.: American forest ecologist.
Bevis, Leah E. M.: American economist.
Beyer, Brian: American cybersecurity researcher.
Bezos, Jeff (1964–): American businessman who founded Amazon.com.
Bhidé, Amar: Indian American economist.
Bi Shēng (990–1051): Chinese inventor of movable type.
Bi Xiuyan: Chinese merchant.
Bierce, Ambrose (1842–1914): American writer.
Bingham, Robert: English geophysicist.
Black, Scott H.: American ecologist.
Blake, William (1757–1827): English poet, painter, printmaker.
Blanc, Louis Jean Joseph Charles (1811–1882): French politician (socialist) and historian.
Boccaccio, Giovanni (1313–1375): Italian author and poet.
Bonaparte, Napoléon (1769–1821): French military and political leader.
Bond, Alexander L.: English marine ecologist and conservation biologist.
Bongo, Ali (aka Ali Bongo Ondimba, born Alain Bernard Bongo) (1959–): Gabonese politician; President (2009–).
Bonito, Lindsay T.: American marine biologist.
Bonmatin, Jean-Marc: French ecologist and chemist.
Boole, George (1815–1964): English mathematician who developed Boolean algebra.
Bosch, Carl (1874–1940): German chemist and engineer; a pioneer in high-pressure industrial chemistry.
Boudinot, Ryan: American writer.
Bowler, Chris: English microbiologist, botanist, and marine biologist.
Boyce, Daniel G.: Canadian marine biologist.
Bradley, Omar (1893–1981): American military commander.
Branca, Giovanni (1571–1645): Italian engineer and architect who developed a steam turbine in the 1620s.
Brantley, Susan: American geoscientist.
Braudel, Fernand (1902–1985): French historian who emphasized the importance of macro-socioeconomic factors in driving history; considered one of the best modern historians.
Brauer, Michael: Canadian environmental scientist and biochemist.
Braverman, Harry (1920–1976): American political economist; an industrial worker who became a leftist radical in the wake of the Great Depression.
Brayton, George (1830–1892): American mechanical engineer.
Breitburg, Denise: American marine and estuarine ecologist.
Briggs, Heather M.: American biologist, interested in ecological interactivity.
Brin, Sergey (1973–): Russian-born American computer scientist; co-founder of Google.
Briscoe, Mark: American ecologist and writer.
Brosi, Berry J.: American ecologist, interested in mutualisms.
Broward, Napoleon Bonaparte (1857–1910): American river pilot and politician; 19th governor of Florida (1905–1909), best known for his project to drain the Everglades.
Brown, Jerry (1938–): American politician (Democrat); twice governor of California (1975–1983 & 2011–).
Brown, Kate (1960–): American politician (Democrat); governor of Oregon (2015–).
Brown, Lester R. (1934–): American environmental scientist.
Brown, Tony: English geographer.
Brynjolfsson, Erik (1962–): American economist, interested in the economic implications of computer applications.
Buffett, Warren E. (1930–): American billionaire investor.
Buisson, Henri (1873–1944): French physicist.
Bullard, Robert D. (1946–): American sociologist and environmentalist.
Burbank, Luther (1849–1926): American botanist, horticulturist, and pioneer in agricultural science.
Burd, Lori Ann: American environmentalist and attorney.
Burroughs, William Seward (1857–1898): American inventor who created the first recording adding machine.
Burtless, Gary (1950–): American economist.
Bush, George H. W. (1924–): American politician (Republican); 41rd US President (1981–1989).
Bush, George W. (1946–): American politician and businessman (Republican); 43rd US President (2001–2009); son of George H.W. Bush.
Bush, Vannevar (1890–1974): American engineer and inventor.
Butz, Earl (1909–2008): American agricultural economist.
Byrne, Richard W.: English evolutionary psychologist.
Cabot, John (1450–1499) (Venetian: Zuan Chabotto): Italian navigator and explorer who discovered Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 1497 under commission of Henry VII, though most of his financial backing came from Italian merchants based in England.
Cady, Walter Guyton (1874–1974): American physicist and electrical engineer.
Calvo, Guillermo A. (1941–): Argentinean-American economist, interested in macroeconomics, especially monetary economics.
Camerer, Colin F. (1959–): American behavioral economist.
Cameron, David (1966–): English politician (Conservative); UK Prime Minister (2010–2016).
Cameron, Duncan: English ecologist, interested in how shifts in energy and nutrient flows between symbiotic organisms influences individuals and ultimately communities.
Cameron, Rondo (1925–2001): American economic historian.
Campos, Paul F.: American law professor.
Capoccia, Stella: American biologist.
Capone, Al (1899–1947): American gangster who attained fame as a bootlegger during the Prohibition era.
Cardinale, Bradley J.: American ecologist, interested in how human activities impact biological diversity.
Carlin, George (1937–2008): American comedian.
Carlyle, Thomas (1795–1881): Scottish philosopher, historian, mathematician, and teacher.
Carnegie, Andrew (1835–1919): Scottish-born American industrialist. Carnegie began work at 12 as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory. In his mid-20s, Carnegie was already making shrewd stock investments in industrial concerns. From 1872, Carnegie began concentrating on steel: an essential building material of the industrial age.
Carson, Rachel (1907–1964): American marine biologist, famous for Silent Spring (1962), which chronicled the environmental devastation caused by synthetic pesticides, especially DDT. American chemical companies were incensed by the book.
Carter, Jimmy (1924–): 39th US President (1977–1981). As President, Carter had all kinds of bad luck which obscured his decency.
Carter, Vernon Gill: American ecologist.
Cato the Elder (born Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 bce): Roman politician and historian.
Cerf, Vinton G. (Vint) (1943–): American Internet pioneer.
Certini, Giacomo: Italian pedologist.
Chamberlain, Thomas C. (1843–1928): influential American geologist who founded the Journal of Geology in 1893.
Chang, Ha-Joon: South Korean institutional economist.
Charlemagne (aka Charles the Great, Charles I) (742–814): King of the Franks who united most of Western Europe and became the 1st Holy Roman Emperor in 800.
Charles I (1600–1649): King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649, having lost the English Civil War (1642–1651), and convicted of treason.
Charles, Kerwin Kofi: American political economist.
Chensheng Lu (Alex): Chinese American ecologist.
Chetty, Nadarajan (Rej) (1979–): Indian-born American public policy economist.
Christian IV (1577–1648): King of Denmark and Norway (1588–1648).
Church, John: Australian climatologist.
Clark, David D. (1944–): American Internet pioneer.
Clark, Gregory (1957–): Scottish American economist.
Clark, Peter U.: American geoscientist.
Clarke, Arthur C. (1917–2008): English science and science fiction writer, futurist, and inventor.
Clerk, Dugald (1854–1932): Scottish engineer who designed the first successful 2-stroke internal combustion engine in 1878, receiving an English patent for it in 1881.
Clinton, Bill (1946–): American politician (Democrat); 42nd US President (1993–2001):
Clinton, Hillary (1947–): American politician (Democrat); spouse of former US president Bill Clinton.
Clusius, Carolus (aka Charles de l’Écluse) (1526–1609): Flemish doctor and botanist; one of the most influential horticulturists of the 16th century.
Coase, Ronald (1910–2013): English economist who studied the nature of firms and externalities.
Coffel, Ethan D.: American atmospheric scientist.
Cohen, Jerome A.: American legal advisor, specializing in doing business in China.
Cohen, Roger (1955–): American journalist, interested in world affairs.
Cohn, Alain: Swiss economist, interested in ethics.
Colmar, Charles Xavier Thomas de (1785–1870): French inventor and entrepreneur who invented the first mass-produced mechanical calculator and founded France’s largest insurance group in his time.
Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506): Genoese explorer, known for his attempt to reach the East Indies by sailing westward; a supposed shortcut to sailing around the cape of Africa. Sponsored by the Spanish crown, his goal was to gain the upper hand over rival powers in the lucrative spice trade based in Asia. Instead of reaching Japan as intended, Columbus wound up in the Bahamas. Unwilling to admit his mistake, Columbus called the indigenes he found indios (Spanish for Indians).
Colvin, Christina M.: American British researcher, interested in behavioral zoology, ecology, ethology, and psychology.
Conway, Gordon: English agricultural ecologist.
Cook, James (1728–1779): English naval captain, explorer, and cartographer. In 3 voyages around the world, Cook sailed across areas of the globe previously unknown to Europeans. After his first foray, Cook’s journals were published upon his return, and he became something of a hero to the scientific community. Cook was killed in a fight with the natives in Hawaii. Cook went from honored guest to chopped meat because he and his crew attacked the Hawaiians for pilfering from their ship. Such arrogant British diplomacy would continue for as long as the Empire reigned.
Cook, Rick (1944–): American novelist.
Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473– 1543): Prussian astronomer who developed a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, displacing the Earth from the center of the universe. Copernicus’s work was published posthumously, as he worried about the scorn that his crazy idea would provoke.
Cordell, Dana: Australian resource scientist.
Corliss, George Henry (1817–1888): American mechanical engineer who advanced the state of the art in steam engines in the mid-19th century.
Corn, Jacob: American geneticist and cytologist.
Cort, Henry (1741–1800): English ironmaster.
Cortés, Hernán (1485–1547): Spanish conquistador who caused the fall of the Mexica Empire through treachery and mass murder, bring Mexico under Spanish rule. The Mexica are commonly, but wrongly, called Azteca.
Cosier, Susan: American environmental scientist and writer.
Coumou, Dim: Dutch climatologist, interested in global warming.
Cowen, Diane F.: American marine biologist, interested in lobsters.
Cowen, Tyler (1962–): American economist.
Cózar, Andrés: Spanish ecologist.
Cramer, Gabriel (1704–1752): Swiss mathematician interested in algebraic curves. Cramer’s rule (1750) is still the standard formula for sussing any dependent variable in a linear equation system that has a unique solution.
Crocker, Steven D. (Steve) (1944–): American Internet pioneer.
Crone, Jess: American oil worker.
Cronkite, Walter (1916–2009): American broadcast journalist who was widely considered “the most trusted man in America” in the 1960s and 1970s.
Crothall, Geoffrey: English journalist.
Cugnot, Nicolas-Joseph (1725–1804): French engineer who built the first automobile in 1768. It was steam powered.
Cutler, David M.: American economist.
Cuttler, Michael V.W.: Australian coral reef ecologist.
Cvijanovic, Ivana: Serbian climatologist.
d’Humberstein, Lebon: French engineer who invented a 2-stroke internal combustion engine.
da Gama, Vasco (1460 or 1469–1524): Portuguese explorer; the first European to reach India by sea, in 1498.
da Vinci, Leonardo (1452–1519): Italian polymath. Best known for a small portrait of a drab woman with a half-smile (Mona Lisa).
da Verranzano, Giovanni (also spelled Verranzzano): Italian explorer of North America; the first to explore the Atlantic coast (in 1524).
Dabo Guan: Chinese ecological economist.
Dafforn, Katherine: Australian marine ecologist.
Dahl, Ole-Johan (1926–2002): Norwegian software scientist who fathered the Simula programming language with Kristen Nygaard.
Daimler, Gottlieb (1834–1900): German engineer and industrialist who invented the high-speed petrol engine and furthered the 4-wheel automobile.
Dal Lago, Alessandro: Italian anthropologist.
Dale, Tom: American ecologist.
Damania, Richard: Australian environmental economist.
Darby, Abraham (1678–1717): English metalworker.
Darling, Frank Fraser (1903–1979): Scottish ecologist, conservationist, ornithologist, and farmer.
Darling, Seth: American chemist interested in photovoltaics.
Darwin, Charles (1809–1882): English naturalist, famous for his hollow hypothesis of evolution by “natural selection.”
Davenant, Charles (1656–1714): English mercantilist economist and politician.
Davidai, Shai: American psychologist.
Davies, Heather: English human resources coordinator.
Davies, Kert: American environmentalist.
Davies, Thomas: English ecologist.
Davis, Adam: American botanist, interested in crop production.
Davis, Donald: American biochemist.
Davis, Matt: Danish bioscientist.
Davis, Steven J.: American economist.
Davis, Steven J.: American ecologist.
Day, Joseph (1855–1946): English engineer who developed the crankcase-compression 2-stroke petrol engine widely used in small engine applications, from lawnmowers to small motorcycles.
Day, Martin V.: American social psychologist.
de Besbeque, Ogier Ghiselin (1522–1592): Flemish writer, herbalist, and diplomat who sent Turkish tulip bulbs to Carolus Clusius, a botanist friend in Flanders, thus being the originator of Dutch tulip mania.
de Fermat, Pierre: see Fermat, Pierre.
de Saint-Simon, Henri (Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon) (1760–1825): French social theorist and businessman who advocated utopian socialism.
de Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard (1773–1842): Swiss writer who observed capitalism as prone to periodic crises from misallocation of resources.
Dean, Amy L.: American physician.
Deaton, Angus (1945–): Scottish American economist.
DeCarlo, Thomas M.: American marine biologist.
Deeming, Christopher: English sociologist.
Defoe, Daniel (1660–1731): English trader, writer, and spy.
Delaplane, Keith S.: American entomologist.
Delshad, Jonathan J.: American attorney.
Deming, William Edwards (1900–1993): American engineer, statistician, and management consultant, best known in Japan for inspiring their post-war economic miracle in the 1950s and 1960s by focusing on quality production techniques.
Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997): Chinese revolutionary who ruled China (1978–1992).
Derocher, Andrew: Canadian zoologist.
Descartes, René (1596–1650): French rationalist philosopher and mathematician.
Detloff, Kim: German marine biologist.
Dicks, Lynn: English zoologist.
Dijkstra, Edsger W. (1930–2002): Dutch computer scientist and mathematician.
Dimon, Jamie (1956–): American financial business executive; CEO of JP Morgan Chase bank (2005–).
Diringer, Joel: American health policy maven.
Dodds, Lyndsey: English marine biologist and conservationist.
Dondi, Giovanni de’ (aka Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio) (1330–1388): Italian physician, astronomer, and clockmaker. Dondi built a complex astronomical clock and planetarium from 1348 to 1364.
Donley, Nathan: American environmental biologist.
Douglas, Marjory Stoneman (1890–1998): American environmentalist, journalist, civil rights advocate, and feminist.
Dow, Charles (1851–1902): American journalist who founded and edited the Wall Street Journal financial newspaper.
Dowie, Mark: American historian.
Drake, Edwin (1819 – 1880): American oil driller, commonly credited with the first modern oil well, in 1859.
Duke, Stephen O.: US government herbicide researcher.
Dummer, Geoffrey (aka G.W.A. Dummer) (1909–2002): English electronics engineer who first conceived of integrated circuits.
Dunoyer, Charles (1786 – 1862): French economist who conceptualized the business cycle, following on work by Jean Sismondi.
Durak, Paul J.: American oceanographer.
Durant, William C. (1861–1947): American industrialist who pioneered the automobile industry in the United States.
Eakin, C. Mark: American biological oceanographer.
Ebmeier, Susanna: English ecologist, interested in volcanoes.
Eccles, William (1875–1966): English physicist, interested in radio communication.
Edison, Thomas (1847–1931): American inventor and businessman.
Edwards, Marc (1964–): American civil and environmental engineer.
Ehrlich, Paul R. (1932–): American biologist, interested in the human impact on the environment.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (1890–1969): American army general; Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War 2; 34th US President (Republican) (1953–1961).
Eliasson, Jan (1940–): Swedish diplomat.
Elizabeth I (1533–1603): Queen of England (1558–1603).
Elwell, Frank W.: American sociologist.
Engels, Friedrich (1820–1895): German philosopher, sociologist, and journalist who collaborated with Karl Max.
Eratosthenes (276–194 bce): Greek astronomer, mathematician, geographer, astronomer, music theorist, and poet.
Evans, Oliver (1755–1819): American engineer, inventor, and businessman. A pioneer in the fields of steam power, automation, and materials handling.
Evelyn, John (1620–1706): English writer and gardener.
Exiguus, Dionysius (470–544): Christian monk and scholar.
Fabry, Charles (1867–1945): French physicist.
Fahey, Jed W.: American nutritional biochemist.
Falk, William: American writer.
Falkowski, Paul: American biologist, interested in marine biology.
Fama, Eugene F. (1939–): American economist, often referred to as the “the Father of Finance” for his empirical work on stock market behavior.
Famiglietti, James S. (Jay): American hydrologist.
Fan Lele: Chinese businessman.
Faraday, Michael (1791–1867): largely self-taught English chemist, physicist, and philosopher who greatly contributed to understanding electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Faraday invented electric motors.
Farmer, Jesse R.: American Earth scientist.
Felt, Dorr E. (1862–1930): American inventor and industrialist who invented the comptometer, a mechanical calculator.
Ferguson, Charles D.: American physicist, interested in nuclear engineering.
Fermat, Pierre de (1607–1665): French lawyer and mathematician who contributed discoveries in calculus, including the concept of adequality (approximate equality), analytic geometry, probability, and optics; best known for Fermat’s principle for light propagation and Fermat’s last theorem, a number theory.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb (1762—1814): German philosopher.
Fillmore, Millard (1800–1874): American politician (Whig); 13th US President (1850–1853). Vice President Fillmore assumed the presidency when President Taylor died from gastroenteritis. Fillmore chose not to run for president in the 1852 election.
Fine, Julia D.: American entomologist.
Finney, Stan: American paleontologist.
Fischer, Erich M.: Swiss climatologist and meteorologist.
Fischer, Hubertus: Swiss climatologist.
Fischhoff, Baruch (1946–): American psychologist, interested in decision-making and risk assessment.
Fisher, Irving (1867–1947): American neoclassical mathematical economist.
Fiske, Susan T. (1952–): American social psychologist, interested in social cognition, stereotypes, and prejudice.
Forbes, Bruce C.: Finnish ecologist, interested in the northern high latitudes.
Ford Alex T.: American marine biologist.
Ford, Henry (1863–1947): American industrialist who founded the Ford Motor Company and developed the technique of mass production via the assembly line. Ford’s first car company was the Henry Ford Company, which he helped form in 1901, and was chief engineer. Ford left his namesake company in 1902, after the company hired Henry Leland as a consultant, whereupon the company changed its name to Cadillac Motor Company.
Foroohar, Rana (1970–): American business analyst.
Fourcade, Marion: American sociologist.
Francis II (1768–1835): the last Holy Roman Emperor (1792–1806), dissolving the empire after being decisively defeated by Napoléon.
Frank, Robert H. (1954–): American economist, interested in inequality.
Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790): American author, publisher, politician, scientist, and inventor.
Fratzscher, Marcel (1971–): German economist.
Friedman, Milton (1912–2006): American statistician and economist who advocated laissez-faire capitalism and monetarism to guide economic policy.
Frey, Glenn (1948–2016): American musician who co-founded the popular music group the Eagles (1972–1980, 1994–).
Fristrup, Kurt M.: American bio-acoustical ecologist.
Frohlich, Cliff: American geophysicist.
Gabriel: an archangel, best known for acting as a messenger from God to select personages.
Galbraith, John Kenneth (1908–2006): Canadian American political economist and public servant.
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642): Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. Galileo was a seminal figure in development of science as a discipline, and a scourge to the Catholic Church for buying into Copernicus’ notion of heliocentricity.
Galinsky, Adam D. (1969–): American social psychologist.
Gallaudet, Tim: American climatologist.
Gandhi, Mahatma (1869–1948): Indian political leader who led India to independence from British colonialism through nonviolent demonstration.
Ganguli, Surya (1977–): Indian American physicist, interested in neurobiology, computer science, and electrical engineering.
Gao Hucheng (1951–): Chinese politician and business executive.
Gardiner, Stephen (1924–2007): English architect, teacher, and writer.
Garland, Judy (born Frances Ethel Gumm) (1922–1969): American singer, actress, and vaudevillian; renowned for her contralto vocal. Garland’s most famous movie role was as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Garrett, John: English ecologist.
Garrett, Tim: American climatologist, interested in atmosphere dynamics.
Gates, William H. III (Bill) (1955–): American programmer who co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen.
Gaud, William S.: American biologist.
Geist, Juergen: German biologist.
Genghis Kahn (born Temüjin) (1162–1227): Mongol military leader who conquered China and a considerable chunk of central Asia, establishing a momentum that resulted in the largest transcontinental land empire in history, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to central Europe.
Gerl, Mark D.: American programmer.
Gibbs, James P.: American conservation biologist.
Giffen, Robert (1837–1910): Scottish statistician and economist who proposed Giffen goods.
Gill, Richard J.: English animal ecologist.
Gilovich, Thomas D.: American psychologist, interested in decision-making and behavioral economics.
Glattfelder, James B.: Swiss statistician.
Goldberg, Rube (1883–1970): American cartoonist, engineer, inventor, sculptor, and author; best known for his popular cartoons depicting devilishly complicated gadgets to perform simple tasks in convoluted ways.
Goldin, Ian: English political economist.
Goldring, Mark (1957–): English sociologist.
Goldsmith, James M. (Jimmy) (1933–1997): Anglo French financier and tycoon.
Gompers, Samuel (1850–1924): English-born American labor leader.
Gonzalez, Patrick: American forest ecologist and climate change scientist.
Gore, Al (1948–): American politician (Democrat) and environmentalist.
Gotelli, Nicholas J.: American biologist, interested in the organization of animal and plant communities.
Gould, Fred: American entomologist.
Goulson, Dave (1965–): English ecologist, biologist, and conservationist, interested in bumblebees.
Gournay, Jacques Claude Marie Vincent de (1712–1759): French economist and commerce bureaucrat.
Grab, Heather: American entomologist.
Graham, George (1673–1751): English clockmaker, geophysicist, and inventor.
Graham, Paul (1964–): English programmer.
Grassini, Patricio: Argentinian American agriculturist.
Greene, Charles H.: American oceanographer.
Greenspan, Alan (1926–): American economist who was the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve (1987–2006).
Greider, William: American economic journalist.
Griffin, Kenneth C. (1968–): American hedge fund manager.
Grove, Andrew S. (1936–2016): Hungarian-born American engineer; founder and CEO (1987–1998) of semiconductor maker Intel.
Gruca, Thomas S.: American marketing professor.
Guangming Zeng: Chinese ecologist.
Guillaume, Charles Édouard (1861–1938): Swiss physicist who invented nickel-steel alloys that have negligible thermal fluctuation at ambient temperatures.
Gunn, Simon: English historian.
Gunter, Edmund (1581–1626): Welsh clergyman, mathematician, geometer, and astronomer.
Gutenberg, Johannes (1398–1468): German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced movable type printing to Europe in 1450.
Guterres, António (1949–): Portuguese diplomat and politician (Socialist); 9th Secretary General of the United Nations (2017–).
Guvenen, Fatih: Turkish-American economist, interested in American income and inequality.
Haber, Fritz (1868–1934): German chemist who invented synthetic nitrogen fixation.
Haddad, Nick M.: American ecologist.
Hagan, John L.: American sociologist, interested in criminology.
Halden, Rolf U.: German American environmental scientist and civil engineer.
Hall, Edward T. (1914–2009): American anthropologist.
Hallman, Caspar A.: Dutch ecologist.
Haltiwanger, John C. (1955–): American economist.
Hamilton, Alexander (1755–1804): American politician (Federalist) and lawyer.
Hammurabi (aka Hammurapi) (?–1750 bce): king of Babylon (1792–1750 bce).
Hanqin Tian: Chinese ecosystem ecologist and evolutionary biologist.
Hansen, James E. (1941–): American climatologist and environmental scientist.
Harari, Yuval Noah (1976–): Israeli historian.
Hardin, Garrett J. (1915–2003): American ecologist and philosopher who coined the term tragedy of the commons in 1968.
Hardison, Amber: American marine biologist.
Harper, David U.: American biologist.
Harris, Kamala (1964–): American attorney and politician (Democrat).
Harris, Karen: American economist.
Harrison, John (1693–1776): English clockmaker and carpenter.
Hartwell, Ronald Max (1921–2009): Australian economic historian.
Hartzler, Bob: American agronomist.
Haskins, Ron: American political scientist.
Haugen, Robert A. (Bob) (1942–2013): American financial economist.
Hautefeuille, Jean de (1647–1724): French abbé, physicist, and inventor. Besides inventing the balance wheel spring contemporaneous with Christiaan Huygens, Hautefeuille was first to propose using a piston in a heat engine.
Hauter, Wenonah: American anthropologist and ecologist.
Hayek, Friedrich August von (1899–1992): influential Austrian-born British economist who had religious faith in the goodness of capitalism.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831): German philosopher.
Heilbroner, Robert L. (1919–2005): American economist.
Heinze, Fritz Augustus (1869–1914): American mining engineer who mined copper in Montana before speculating in the copper market with his brother Otto.
Heinze, Otto: American speculator who tried to corner the US copper market with his brother Augustus.
Heller, Walter (1915–1987): American economist who served as an economic advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
Helmig, Detlev: German atmospheric chemist.
Helper, Susan: American economist.
Henderson, Yandell (1873–1944): American physiologist.
Henriques, Diana B. (1948–): American financial journalist.
Henry IV of France (aka Good King Henry, Henry the Great) (1553–1610): King of France (1589–1610).
Henry VII of England (1457–1509): King of England and Lord of Ireland (1485–1509).
Henry the Navigator (Prince Henry, Infante D. Herrique) (1394–1460): Portuguese navigator and exploration organizer, credited with initiating the Age of Imperialism.
Hero of Alexandria (aka Heron of Alexandria) (10–70 ce): Greek mathematician and engineer; considered the greatest experimenter of antiquity.
Hewison, Kevin: Australian social and political scientist.
Heydens, William F.: American business executive for Monsanto.
Hickey, Paul: American stock analyst.
Hillman, James (1926–2011): American psychologist.
Hincks, Thea (1977–): English mathematician and physicist, interested in decision-making under uncertainty.
Hippocrates (~460–377 bce): Greek physician, considered the father of Western medicine.
Hirmas, Daniel R.: American Earth scientist, interested in soil.
Hitler, Adolf (1889–1945): Austrian-born German politician who founded and led the Nazi party, and his country, into the disastrous madness known as World War 2.
Hoekstra, Arjen Y.: Dutch hydrologist.
Hoenig, Thomas M. (1956–): American economist; head of the FDIC (2012–).
Hoffman, Paul G. (1891–1974): American businessman and global development aid administrator.
Hölker, Franz: German ecologist.
Hollerith, Herman (1860–1929): American inventor of an electromechanical punched card tabulator.
Homer (~850 bce): legendary Greek poet and author, best known for the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, both about the Mycenaean civilization.
Hooke, Robert (1635–1703): English scientist, architect, and polymath.
Hooke, Roger LeB.: American geologist.
Hoover, Herbert (1874–1964): 31st US President (1929–1933) (Republican); a mining engineer who became President with no elected-office experience. When the Wall Street crash of 1929 struck, Hoover attempted ineffective corrective measures that would be mimicked by his successor, Franklin Roosevelt, to the same result.
Hopkins, Brian: American technology analyst.
Hopper, Grace Murray (1906–1992): American mathematician, computer programmer, and military woman who invented the computer compiler, popularized the term debugging for fixing computer glitches, and was instrumental in the development of the COBOL programming language.
Hormats, Robert: American diplomat.
Howard, Albert (1873–1947): English botanist and agriculturalist. Howard was a pioneer in organic farming.
Howarth, Robert: American environmental scientist.
Hubbert, M. King (1903–1989): American geologist and geophysicist, best known for his 1956 theory of peak oil: the date when the US would reach its maximal extraction of petroleum (from which production would inexorably decline). In the 21st century, fracking practically trashed the notion of peak oil.
Hughes, Terry P.: Australian marine ecologist.
Hunt, Stephen: English fantasy novelist.
Hurley, Rachel: English ecologist.
Huygens, Christiaan (1629–1695): Dutch mathematician and scientist, known particularly as an astronomer, physicist, probabilist, and horologist. Huygens was a leading scientist in his day. His papers on mechanics and optics were major contributions, and he did pioneering work in probability by studying games of chance.
Idso, Craig D.: American agronomist.
Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556): Spanish priest and theologian who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Imhoff, Daniel: American environmental scientist.
Ingham, Karr: American economist.
Ismail, Mohammed: Indian small business owner.
Iverson, F. Kenneth (1925–2002): American metallurgist and CEO of Nucor Corporation (1966–2000).
Jackson, Andrew (1767–1845): American soldier and politician (Democrat); 7th US President (1829–1837). Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes of the 3 major candidates in the 1824 presidential contest but lost to John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives vote that decided the election.
Jackson, Rob: American Earth scientist.
Jackson, Wes (1936–): American botanist and geneticist, interested in environmental preservation.
Jacobson, Jennifer Richard: American educator and writer.
Jaczko, Gregory (1970–): American nuclear power regulator and physicist.
James II (1633–1701): King of England (1685–1688), best known for his struggles with parliament, and his attempts to create religious liberty against the will of the Anglican establishment.
James, Harold (1956–): English economic historian.
Jamieson, Alan: English marine ecologist.
Jansen, Cornelius (1491–1556): Dutch theologian and Catholic bishop; father of Jansenism.
Janssen, Colin: Belgian environmental biologist.
Jasny, Michael: American environmental scientist and lawyer, interested in underwater noise pollution, specifically sonar’s effect on cetaceans.
Javons, William Stanley (1835–1882): English mathematician, logician, economist, and philosopher who founded the marginalist school of economics and grounded economics in mathematics.
Jefferson, Thomas (1743–1826): American farmer, slave owner, and politician (Democratic-Republican); principal author of the of the Declaration of Independence (1776); outspoken proponent of democracy; 3rd US President (1801–1809); consistently considered as one of the greatest US Presidents.
Jermey, Dominic (1967–): English diplomat, now head of the Zoological Society of London (2017–).
Jianguo Liu: Chinese American environmental scientist.
Jobs, Steve (1955–2011): American computer marketeer.
Johansen, Bruce E. (1950–): American environmental scientist and sociologist, interested in the welfare of the indigenes of North America.
John II of Portugal (1455–1495): King of Portugal (1481–1495), known for reclaiming the power of the Portuguese monarchy, reinvigorating the Portuguese economy, and renewing Portuguese exploration.
Johnson, Gregory C.: American oceanographer.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (1908–1973): American politician (Democrat); 36th US President (1963–1969).
Johnson, Samuel (1709–1784): English writer; a distinguished man of letters. Johnson’s English dictionary (1755) was a splendid work of scholarship with far-reaching effect.
Jones, Isabel: English ecologist and environmental biologist.
Jones, Kendall R.: Australian environmental scientist.
Jordan, Frank W. (1882–?): English physicist and electrician who invented the flip-flop circuit with William Eccles.
Joseph, Mel: American environmental scientist.
Juglar, Clément (1819–1905): French physician and statistician who identified in the 1850s periodic economic cycles in capitalism lasting 7–11 years, termed Juglar cycles. Compare Kitchin cycles, Kondratiev waves.
Juniper, Tony (1960–): English environmentalist and conservationist.
Kahn, Alfred E. (1917 – 2010): American economist and deregulation enthusiast.
Kahneman, Daniel (1934–): Israeli American psychologist, interested in decision-making and judgment.
Kaiguang Zhao: Chinese American Earth scientist, physicist, and statistician.
Kaldor, Nicholas (1908–1986): English economist who concocted 6 laws of economic growth based upon historical correlations. Overall, Kaldor hinged growth prospects on the manufacturing sector. Even the well-being of the non-manufacturing industries supposedly relied upon manufacturing’s vigor.
Kaminsky, Dan: American cybersecurity researcher.
Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804): influential German philosopher.
Kant, Ravi: Indian civil rights lawyer.
Karabel, Jerome: American sociologist.
Kaspersky, Eugene V. (1965–): Russian cybersecurity specialist.
Kassem, Suzy (1975–): American author and philosopher.
Kaushal, Sujay S.: American biochemist, interested in the environmental effects of human land use, and the effect of climate change on water resources.
Kay, Alan (1940–): American programmer who co-developed the Smalltalk language.
Keen, Steve (1953–): Australian economist.
Kefauver, Estes (1903–1963): American politician (Democrat); US Senator from Tennessee (1949–1963).
Kelleher, Herb (1931–): American businessman who co-founded Southwest Airlines with Rollin King.
Kelvin, Lord: see Thomson, William.
Kemmler, William (1860–1890): American peddler and alcoholic, legendary for his drinking binges, who murdered his common-law wife with a hatchet. Kemmler was the first man executed by electrocution.
Kennedy, John F. (JFK) (1917–1963): American politician (Democrat); 35th US President (1961–1963).
Kepler, Johannes (1571–1630): German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer.
Kern, David: American epidemiologist.
Kernighan, Brian W. (1942–): Canadian programmer.
Kettering, Charles F. (1876–1958): American mechanical engineer and inventor who invented the electrical starting motor for vehicles.
Keynes, John Maynard (1883–1946): English macroeconomist who opposed Britain’s return to the gold standard after World War 1 (in 1925), and who proposed that governments spend their way out of the Great Depression by printing money to stimulate demand.
Keys, Patrick W.: American ecologist and climatologist, interested in freshwater resources.
Khomeini, Ruhollah (aka Ayatollah Khomeini (to the Western world)) (1902–1989). Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader, revolutionary, and politician who became Iran’s Supreme Leader after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Kilby, Jack (1923–2005): American electrical engineer who created the first integrated circuit.
Killewald, Alexandra (1953–): American sociologist, educator, and demographer.
Kimbrell, Andrew: American ecologist, technologist, and attorney, interested in sustainable agriculture and healthsome food.
Kindleberger, Charles P. (1910–2003): American economic historian.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929–1968): American Baptist minister and civil rights leader. King was 1 of 3 assassinations of liberal American political leaders in the 1960s (the other 2 were John Kennedy (1963) and his younger brother Robert Kennedy (1968)).
King, Rollin (1931–2014): American businessman who co-founded Southwest Airlines with Herb Kelleher.
King, Ryan S.: American biologist.
Kipling, Rudyard (1865–1936): English writer and poet.
Kirca, Ahmet H.: Turkish-American marketing professor.
Kitchin, Joseph (1861–1932): English businessman and statistician who identified in 1923 short periodic economic cycles in capitalism lasting ~40 months, termed Kitchin cycles. Compare Juglar cycles, Kondratiev waves.
Knuth, Donald E. (1938–): American software scientist and mathematician.
Kohler, Tim A.: American evolutionary anthropologist and archeologist.
Kolsek, Mitja: Slovenian software security specialist.
Kondratiev, Nikolai (1892–1938): Russian economist who in 1922 identified long-term economic cycles in capitalism of 50–60 years, termed Kondratiev waves. Compare Kitchin cycles, Juglar cycles.
Koroma, Alimamy Petito: Sierra Leonean diplomat.
Kristoufek, Ladislav: Czech economist.
Kroc, Raymond A. (Ray) (1902–1984): American businessman who turned MacDonald’s into a worldwide company.
Kroger, Bernard (1860–1938): American grocer who founded Kroger.
Kroodsma, David A.: American ecologist, interested in climate change.
Krupp, Fred: American environmentalist and lawyer.
Kuryla, Juan M.: American bureaucrat in charge of Port Miami.
Kustin, Mary Ellen: American biologist and ecologist.
Kuznets, Simon (1901–1985): Belarusian-American economist, interested in economics, economic growth, and inequality.
Lake, Anthony (1939–): English diplomat.
Lamb, Joleah B.: American marine biologist, interested in coral reef health.
Lapointe, Ugo: Canadian ecologist.
Laurance, William F. (Bill): American Australian ecologist and conservation biologist.
Laval, Gustaf de (1845–1913): Swedish engineer who contributed to the development of steam turbines and dairy machinery.
Lavers, Jennifer L.: Australian marine ecologist.
Law, John (1671–1729): Scottish economist and gambler.
Lawes, John (1814–1900): English farmer.
Lawless, Robert M.: American law professor, interested in bankruptcy, consumer finance, and business law.
Le Roy, Pierre (1717–1785): French clockmaker.
Leblanc, Nicholas (1742 –1806): French chemist and surgeon who discovered how to make soda ash.
Lee, William (1563–1614): English clergyman who invented the stocking frame knitting machine in 1589.
Lees, Alexander C. (1979–): English ecologist, interested in ornithology.
Lei Dai: Chinese American biological physicist.
Leibniz, Gottfried von (1646–1716): German mathematician and philosopher.
Leland, Henry M. (1843–1932): American machinist, engineer, inventor, and automotive entrepreneur who founded 2 American luxury automotive marques: Cadillac and Lincoln.
Lenoir, Étienne (1822–1900): Belgian engineer who in 1858 built the first internal combustion engine to become commercially successful.
Lenzen, Manfred: Australian environmentalist, interested in renewable energy.
Leonard, Anne F.C.: English environmental epidemiologist and microbiologist.
Leonard, Mark (1974–): English political scientist.
Levin, Carl (1934–): American politician (Democrat); US Senator from Michigan (1979–2015).
Levitan, Don R.: American marine biologist.
Li Ganjie: Chinese environmental bureaucrat.
Li Laiyin: Chinese farmer.
Liang Lingzan: Chinese scholar, military engineer, and government official.
Littler, Jo: English sociologist.
Lo, Andrew (1960–): American finance professor.
Locke, John (1632–1704): English philosopher and physician.
Long, Timothy W.: American financial analyst and bank examiner.
Louis XIV (aka Louis the Great, the Sun King) (1638–1715): King of France (1643–1715).
Lovelock, James (1919–): English naturalist and inventor, known for his Gaia theory.
Lubbers, Ingird M.: Dutch soil scientist.
Lucas, George (1944–): American filmmaker.
Lucas, Robert E. Jr. (1937–): American economist.
Łukasiewicz, Ignacy (1822–1882): Polish pharmacist and petroleum industry pioneer who invented the modern kerosene lamp and streetlamp (both 1853) and built the first modern oil well (1854) and oil refinery (1856).
Lundberg, George D.: American pathologist.
Lunt, Paul S.: American sociologist.
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.
Lynch, Heather J.: American ecologist, evolutionary biologist, and physicist.
Lyons, S. Kathleen: American paleobiologist.
Ma Jun: Chinese environmental scientist.
MacDonald, Richard (1909–1998) & Maurice (1902–1971): American restaurateurs who started MacDonald’s.
MacDougall, A.S.: Canadian biologist.
MacGregor, Gregor (1786–1845): Scottish soldier who fought in the South American struggle for independence. MacGregor went on to pirate Spanish ships before stepping up to massive fraud by claiming title as Prince of the Principality of Poyais, an imaginary land. MacGregor suckered British and French investors and settlers, thereby making a major contribution to the financial Panic of 1825.
Machiavelli, Niccolò (1469–1527): Italian historian, politician, diplomat, and philosopher; one of the founders of modern political science.
Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain. ~ Niccolò Machiavelli
Mack, John J. (1944–): American investment banker; former head of Morgan Stanley (1993–2001, 2005–2010).
Mackay, Charles (1812–1889): Scottish journalist and author, best known for his book on social psychology and psychopathology: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841).
Macleod, Norman (1953–): American paleontologist.
Maestas, Nicole: American sociologist and economist.
Magallón, Susana: Mexican botanist.
Mahaffey, James: American research scientist, interested in nuclear technology.
Mallock, William H. (1849–1923): English novelist and economics writer.
Mallory-Smith, Carol: American botanist, interested in weeds.
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.
Mandeville, Bernard (1670–1733): Dutch political economist and philosopher; known for the 1705 poem The Fable of the Bees, which analogously (via a bee colony) argued that the materialist greed of the rich was a public benefit. Mandeville’s praise of economic stratification was adored by Friedrich Hayek. More productively, Adam Smith appropriated Mandeville’s observation about the economic value of labor specialization.
Mani, Anandi: Indian behavioral economist.
Mao Zedong (aka Mao Tse-tung) (1893–1976): Chinese revolutionary and dictator (1949–1976).
Margulis, Lynn (1938–2011): American evolutionary theorist, science writer, and educator.
Marino, Lori: American behavioral zoologist, neuroscientist, and psychologist.
Marsden, Katrina: British ecologist.
Marshall, Alfred (1842–1924): English economist.
Marshall, George (1880–1959): American soldier and diplomat. Army chief of staff (1939–1945); US envoy to China (1945–1947); US Secretary of State (1947–1949); US Secretary of Defense (1950–1951).
Marshall, Thurgood (1908–1993): American jurist; Supreme Court Justice (1967–1991).
Martin, Henry: Swiss chemist who discovered glyphosate.
Martín-Duque, José F.: Spanish geologist.
Marx, Karl (1818–1883): Prussian German historian, sociologist, and economist, known as a proponent of scientific socialism: social ownership and cooperative economic management.
Maslin, Mark: English climatologist.
Mattila, Tuomas: Finnish economist.
Mauchly, John W. (1907–1980): American physicist who was instrumental in designing and building the first general-purpose electronic digital computer (ENIAC).
Maxwell, John C. (1947–): American author and pastor, interested in management.
Mayer, Marissa (1975–): American business executive and computer scientist who failed to turn Yahoo! around, and so sold it off to great personal profit.
McCarthy, John (1927–2011): American computer scientist who coined the term artificial intelligence.
McCauley, Douglas J.: American marine biologist.
McHugen, Alan: American plant geneticist.
McKee, Jeffrey: American anthropologist.
Mehmed II (aka Muhammad al-Fatih the Conqueror) (1432–1481): Ottoman sultan who brought an end to the Eastern Roman Empire.
Mehta, Devang: Indian geneticist, interested in synthetic biology.
Meiji (Emperor) (1852–1912): Japanese emperor (1867–1912).
Mekonnen, Mesfin M.: Ethiopian hydrologist.
Melander, A.L.: American entomologist, interested in insecticides.
Méline, Jules (1838–1925): French politician; Prime Minister (1896–1898).
Mellon, Andrew (1855–1937): American banker; US Treasury Secretary (1921–1932).
Merkel, Angela (1954–): German politician (Christian Democratic Union) with a disciplined and patient leadership style; the longest-serving Chancellor (2005–2020) and de facto leader of the European Union.
Meshkati, Najmedin: Iranian American systems engineer.
Meyer, Bertrand (1950–): French software scientist.
Midgley, Thomas Jr. (1889–1944): American mechanical and chemical engineer.
Mijs, Jonathan J.B.: Dutch economist and sociologist, interested in economic inequality.
Milito, Erik: American soldier, attorney, and lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.
Mill, Henry (1683–1771): English inventor who first patented a typewriter in 1714, though it was of no practical use.
Miller, Robert T.: American law professor, specializing in corporate law.
Mills, Paul J.: American physician.
Milner, Robin (1934–2010): English computer scientist.
Milo, Ron: Israeli biologist and environmental scientist.
Minsky, Hyman (1919–1996): American economist, interested in financial crises.
Mitchell, Tom M. (1951–): American computer scientist, interested in artificial intelligence.
Miyagishima, Kazuaki: Japanese physician who works in public health.
Moctezuma II (aka Montezuma) (1466–1520): 9th ruler of Tenochtitlán (1502–1520). Moctezuma enlarged the Aztec Empire through warfare before losing his kingdom and life to conquistador Hernán Cortés.
Molina, Mario J. (1943–): Mexican chemist who co-discovered the Antarctic ozone hole with Sherwood Rowland.
Moore, Monica: American pesticide maven.
Moran, Nancy A. (1954–): American evolutionary biologist, interested in insect microbiomes.
More, Thomas (1478–1535): English lawyer, statesman, social philosopher, and Renaissance humanist. More was a councilor to King Henry VII, but then the relationship soured. A conservative Catholic, More refused Henry’s moves to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon by separating the Church of England from the Catholic Church. More’s steadfast refusal to Henry’s desires led to More being convicted of treason, for which More was beheaded.
Morgan, Bethan: English zoologist.
Morgan, John Pierpont Sr. (J.P.) (1837–1913): American financier and tycoon who specialized in turning around troubled companies by reorganization, a process then known as Morganization.
Morgenstern, Oskar (1902–1977): German economist who developed mathematical game theory.
Morin, Edgar (1921–): French philosopher and sociologist
Morris, Robert T. (1965–): American programmer who stupidly wrote and released malware on the Internet in November 1988, leading to nationwide publicity regarding the lack of security of the Internet.
Morse, Samuel (1791–1872): American portrait painter and inventor who created a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. Morse developed Morse code, and fostered commercial telegraphy.
Mosca, Americo: Italian chemist.
Mouchout, Auguste (1825–1911): French inventor who made the first solar-powered steam engine.
Moynihan, Brian (1959–): American lawyer and financial business executive; CEO of Bank of America (2010–).
Mueller, Holger M.: Swiss economist.
Muennig, Peter: American public health analyst.
Muhammad (570–632): Arabian religious and political leader who founded the Islamic religion; believed by Muslims to be the prophet of Allāh.
Mullainathan, Sendhil (1973–): Indian economist, interested in behavioral economics.
Mulholland, William (1855–1935): Irish American hydrologist who headed the Los Angeles water department (1911–1929), and enthusiastically built aqueducts to distant water sources so as supply. On 12 March 1928, the newly constructed St. Francis Dam, intended to create a reservoir for LA, failed just 12 hours after Mulholland had inspected it and declared it sturdy. The dam collapse killed 600. Mulholland took responsibility and resigned.
Müller, Paul Hermann (1899–1965): Swiss chemist who won the Nobel Prize in 1948 for having discovered the insecticidal power of DDT (in 1939).
Muller, Jerry Z.: American historian, interested in capitalism and the history of social, political, economic, and religious thought.
Mulvaney, Dustin: American environmental scientist.
Mumford, Lewis (1895–1990): American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and critic of literature, architecture, and art, interested in urban life.
Mun, Thomas (1571–1641): English merchant and economics writer who advocated mercantilism. Unsurprisingly, Mun was born into a wealthy merchant family, and enjoyed the advantages of his social stratum.
Mushet, Robert Forest (1811–1891): English metallurgist who made the Bessmer process practicable.
Muto, Nick: American fisherman.
Napier, John (1550–1617): Scottish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.
Nedelec, Sophie: English zoologist, interested in marine biology.
Neidell, Matthew: American public health maven.
Neira, Maria: Spanish doctor and surgeon, interested in public health, endocrinology, metabolic diseases, and nutrition. Neira is the director of public health and the environment at the World Health Organization.
Nenes, Athanasios: American ecologist, interested in ecological interactions between the atmosphere and hydrosphere.
Neumann, John von (1903–1957): Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist who made major contributions to mathematics, physics, computing, and statistics.
Neumann, Peter G. (1932–): American software scientist.
Neves, Octavio: Brazilian gold miner.
Newcomen, Thomas (1664–1729): English ironmonger who developed the first practical steam engine for pumping water.
Newmaster, Steven G.: Canadian botanist.
Newton, Isaac (1642–1727): English physicist, astronomer, alchemist, mathematician, natural philosopher, and theologian, interested in the occult; widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential scientists. Classical mechanics are often termed Newtonian physics.
Nicolia, Alessandro: Italian biotechnologist.
Nixon, Richard (1913–1994): American politician (Republican); 37th US President (1969–1974).
Norsworthy, Jason: American agronomist.
North, Emily J.: American environmental scientist and chemical engineer.
Noyce, Robert (1927–1990): American physicist who pioneered the development of integrated circuits.
Nunn, Nathan (1974–): Canadian economist and economic historian.
Nygaard, Kristen (1926–2002): Norwegian software scientist who fathered the Simula programming language with Ole-Johan Dahl.
O’Connor, David E.: American economist.
O’Keefe, Richard A.: American computer scientist.
O’Regan, Fred: American environmental scientist.
Obama, Barak (1961–): American politician (Democrat); 44th US President (2009–2016).
Offa: king of Mercia (758–796). Mercia was a kingdom in central Anglo-Saxon England from the late 6th century to the end of the 9th century.
Olsen, Ken (1926–2011): American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation with Harlan Anderson.
Onyango, Paul: Congolese naturalist.
Oresme, Nicole (~1325–1382): French philosopher who wrote influential works on a variety of subjects, including mathematics, physics, astronomy, astrology, economics, philosophy, and theology; one of the most original thinkers of the 14th century. Oresme was a Roman Catholic bishop, a translator, and a counselor to French King Charles V.
Ormsby-Gore, William David (1918–1985): English politician (Conservative).
Orwell, George (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair) (1903–1950): English novelist, best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian political novel 1984 (1949). Orwell was keenly aware of social injustice, committed to democratic socialism, and opposed to totalitarianism.
Osmon I (aka Osman Gazi) (1258–1326): leader of the Ottoman Turks and founder of the Ottoman dynasty (1299–1922).
Otto the Great (aka Otto I) (912–973): German king (from 936) who became Holy Roman Emperor (962–973).
Otto, Nikolaus A. (1832–1891): German engineer who invented the first internal combustion engine to efficiently burn fuel in a piston chamber. Though Alphonse Beau de Rochas invented and patented the technology, Otto made it practical.
Oughtred, William (1574–1660): English mathematician and Anglican minister.
Ouimet, Paige: American economist.
Overell, Stephen: English labor-market maven.
Owens, Robert (1771–1858): Welsh entrepreneur and social reformer; the founder of childcare in Britain.
Ozzie, Ray (1955–): American software entrepreneur.
Page, Larry (1973–): American computer scientist and co-founder of Google.
Pagel, Lauren: American chemist.
Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza (1919–1980): Iranian dictator who was the Shah of Iran (1941–1979); overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Palidda, Salvatore: Italian anthropologist.
Palmer, Paul: English climatologist.
Pan Yue: Chinese bureaucrat; deputy minister for environmental protection.
Pandolfi, John M.: Australian marine biologist.
Papin, Denis (1647–1712): French physicist, mathematician, and inventor who invented the steam digester, a forerunner of the pressure cooker.
Parmalee, David D.: American inventor who constructed the first arithmetic calculator with a keyboard in 1849.
Parsons, Charles A. (1854–1931): Anglo Irish engineer who invented the modern compound steam turbine.
Pasari, Jae R.: American environmental biologist.
Pascal, Blaise (1623–1662): French mathematician, physicist, inventor, and Christian philosopher.
Pasquale, Frank: American law professor, interested in technological changes in society, including healthcare, the Internet, and finance.
Patrut, Adrian: Romanian ecologist.
Pearlstein, Steven: American journalist and columnist, interested in economics and business.
Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Sarah: Australian climatologist, interested in heatwaves.
Perlin, John: American physicist and energy scholar.
Perry, Mark J.: American pro-capitalist economist.
Perry, Matthew (1794 –1858): American naval commander who led an expedition to Japan (1852–1854) to force open Japanese ports to American trade.
Peter the Great (aka Peter Alexeyevich) (1672–1725): Russian ruler (tsar) (1682–1725).
Peters, Edgar E. (1952–): American investor.
Peterson, Garry D.: Swedish ecologist, climatologist, environmental economist, and geographer.
Peterson, George: American economist.
Petrarch (Petrarca), Francesco (1304–1374): Italian poet and scholar who coined the term Dark Ages; one of the earliest humanists.
Petroski, Henry (1942–): American engineer, interested in engineering failure.
Petty, William (1623–1687): English economist, statistician, scientist, philosopher, and politician.
Pfeffer, Fabian T.: American sociologist, interested in inequality.
Pfeiffer, Dale Allen: American geologist and writer.
Pfiefer, Marion: English ecologist.
Philip II of Macedon (359–336 bce): king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon (Macedonia) until his assassination. Succeeded by his son, Alexander the Great.
Philippon, Thomas: French American financial economist.
Philo of Byzantium (aka Philo Mechanicus) (280–220 bce): Greek engineer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt.
Picasso, Pablo (1881–1973): Spanish painter, visual artist, poet, playwright, and stage designer.
Pickens, T. Boone (1928–): American business magnate and financier.
Piketty, Thomas (1971–): French economist, interested in economic inequality.
Pimm, Stuart L.: American ecologist.
Pinsky, Malin L.: American marine ecologist.
Pisano, Gary P.: American business academic and economist.
Pizarro, Francisco (1476–1541): Spanish conquistador.
Plato (427–347 bce): Greek philosopher and mathematician.
Plutarch (of Chaeronea) (46–120): Greek historian, essayist, and biographer.
Polo, Marco (1254–1324): itinerant Italian merchant who documented his travels, introducing Europeans to central Asia and China.
Ponting, Clive: English historian.
Ponzi, Charles (1882–1949): Italian businessman and con artist, best known for his trademark swindle of paying early investors off using funds from later investors: a Ponzi scheme.
Popkin, Susan J.: American sociologist.
Powles, Stephen B.: Australian herbicide researcher.
Pratto, Felicia: American social psychologist.
Prospero, Joseph M.: American meteorologist.
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph (1809–1865): French philosopher who advocated libertarian socialism.
Qian, Nancy: Chinese American economist, interested in economic development, political economy, and economic history.
Quayle, Dan (1944–): American politician (Republican); 44th Vice President (1989–1993); US Senator from Indiana (1981–1989).
Quesnay, François (1694–1774): French physician and economist of the physiocratic school. Quesnay’s peasant rural roots go a long way in explaining his idyllic economic ideas.
Queste, Bastien Y.: English marine biogeochemist.
Rabi, Isidor (1898–1988): Polish-born American physicist.
Rahmstorf, Stefan: German ocean physicist.
Raine, Nigel E.: English animal ecologist.
Ramankutty, Navin (1977–): Indian agricultural geographer.
Ramirez, Francisco: Spanish marine ecologist.
Rank, Mark R.: American social welfare scholar.
Rapley Chris G. (1947–): English climatologist.
Rapley, John: English sociologist, interested in globalization and governance.
Rasmus, Jack: American political economist.
Ratcliffe, Caroline: American economist, interested in social justice.
Raymo, Maureen E.: American paleoceanographer and marine geologist.
Razin, Stenka (1630–1671): Cossack revolutionary.
Reagan, Ronald (1911–2004): American actor and politician (Republican); 40th US President (1981–1989).
Rees, Nicholas: English political economist.
Reeves, Richard V.: British American economist.
Reid, Harry (1939–): American politician (Democrat).
Rein, Guillermo: Spanish fire scientist.
Reisner, Marc (1948–2000): American environmentalist.
Relyea, Rick A.: American biologist.
Resplandy, Laure: American geoscientist.
Revelle, Roger (1909–1991): American oceanographer and climatologist.
Rhodes, Frank H.T. (1926–): American geologist.
Rice, Terry L.: American hydrologist.
Richards, Martin (1940–): English programmer.
Richards, Paul W.: English ecologist.
Richardson, Anthony J.: Australian ecologist, interested in marine climate change.
Rifkin, Jeremy (1945–): American economic and social theorist.
Ritchie, Dennis (1941–2011): American programmer who created the C language.
Robbins, Justin: American software support specialist.
Robbins, Lionel (1898–1984): English economist.
Robert, Christopher (Chris): American business management professor, interested in social psychology.
Roberts, Edward: American electronics engineer.
Robertson, Bruce: American ecologist.
Robertson, Robbie (1943–): Canadian musician and songwriter, best known for his work as lead guitarist and primary songwriter for The Band (1967–1976 in its original incarnation).
Rocha, Luiz: American ichthyologist, zoologist, and evolutionary biologist.
Rochas, Alphonse Beau de (1815–1893): French engineer who in 1861 originated the idea of a 4-stroke internal combustion engine, for which he received a patent in 1862.
Rockefeller, John D. (1839–1937): American oil industry magnate and industrialist. Rather than investing in the riskier aspects of prospecting and drilling, Rockefeller concentrated on oil refining. Rockefeller became the richest person in modern times. His Stanford Oil grew to control 90% of the US oil supply. The US Supreme Court broke the monopoly in 1911, forcing Rockefeller to split Standard Oil into 34 companies.
Rodrik, Dani (1957–): Turkish economist.
Roebuck, John (1718–1794): English industrialist and chemist.
Rollin, Bernard E.: American bioethicist and philosopher.
Rolls, John A.: American business executive.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (aka FDR) (1882–1945): American politician (Democrat); 32nd US President (1932–1945).
Roosevelt, Theodore Jr. (Teddy) (1858–1919): American politician (Republican), adventurer, and killer of wild animals (“naturalist” would be too kind an attribution, as Roosevelt enjoyed slaughter much more than study); 26th US President (1901–1909).
Rosset, Peter: American agricultural ecologist.
Rothwell, Jonathan: American economist.
Rousseau, Yannick: Australian marine ecologist.
Rowland, F. Sherwood (1927–2012): American chemist, interested in chemical kinetics and atmospheric chemistry.
Royer, Sarah-Jeanne: Canadian biological oceanographer, interested in the marine carbon cycle.
Ruddiman, William F.: American paleoclimatologist.
Rushkoff, Douglas: American technologist.
Russell, Bertrand (1872–1970): English philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, social critic, and political activist.
Russell, Joellen L.: American oceanographer.
Russell, Leon (1942–): American musician and songwriter.
Ryan, Alan (1940–): English political theorist and historian of political thought.
Sagan, Dorion (1959–): American science theorist.
Saint-Simon, Henri: see de Saint-Simon.
Sambyal, Singh: Indian urban environmental ecologist.
Samet, Jonathan M.: American physician.
Samson, Alain: American economist, interested in behavioral economics.
Samuelson, Paul (1915–2009): American economist.
Samuelson, Robert J. (1945–): American economic journalist.
Sánchez-Bayo, Franciso: ecologist and ecotoxicologist.
Sanders, Bernard (Bernie) (1941–): American democratic socialist politician.
Sanders, Scott R.: American sociologist.
Sankey, Joel: American geologist.
Satyarthi, Kailash (1954–): Indian children’s rights advocate.
Savery, Thomas (1650–1715): English engineer who invented the first commercial steam engine.
Sawhill, Isabel V.: American political scientist and economist.
Say, Jean-Baptiste (1767–1832): French businessman and economist who observed the wasteful production proclivity of capitalism.
Scalenghe, Riccardo: Italian pedologist.
Scharlemann, Jörn P.W.: English ecologist and zoologist.
Scheidel, Walter: American historian.
Schickard, Wilhelm (1592–1635): German polymath who invented the mechanical calculator.
Schleicher, Andreas: German statistician.
Schnitzer, Stefan A.: American ecologist.
Schoeman, David S.: South African ecologist, interested in climate change.
Schulz, Thomas: German economist.
Schumacher, E.F. (Ernst Friedrich, Fritz) (1911–1977): German-born British economist, statistician, and humanist.
Schumpeter, Joseph (1883–1950): Austrian American economist.
Schwägerl, Christian: German biologist and journalist.
Searle, John R. (1932–): American philosopher.
Seattle (an anglicization of Si’ahl) (1786–1866): Native American chief of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes in present-day US Washington state. Seattle pursued a path of accommodation with white settlers. The city of Seattle is named after the chief.
Seger, Bob (1945–): American singer/songwriter and roots rock musician who ascended to the UMC.
Seidel, Marc-David L.: American business management maven.
Seidman, L. William (1921–2009): American economist who headed the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and then the Resolution Trust Corporation during the country’s savings and loan crisis (1986–1995).
Sewell, Abigail A.: American sociologist.
Shah, Anuj K.: American psychologist, interested in the psychology of scarcity.
Shah of Iran: see Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza.
Shannon, Claude E. (1916–2001): American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer, interested in implementing symbolic logic via machinery. Shannon founded circuit design theory (1937) and information theory (1948).
Shapira, Yoash: Israeli economist.
Shapiro, Carl (1955–): American economist.
Shaw, George Bernard (1856–1950): Irish playwright and polemicist, angered by the exploitation of the working class; an ardent socialist.
Sherwood, Steven: Australian climatologist.
Shih, Willy C.: American businessman and business academic, with expertise in technology and manufacturing.
Shiller, Robert (1946–): American economist.
Shiva, Vandana (1952–): Indian scholar and environmental scientist.
Shockley, William Jr. (1910–1989): American physicist who invented semiconductor transistors.
Sholes, Christopher Latham (1819–1890): American inventor who invented the first semi-practical typewriter and devised the querty keyboard layout.
Shtudiner, Ze’ev: Israeli economist.
Shuman, Frank (1862–1918): American inventor and engineer who pioneered solar engines.
Sibley, Nick T.: English investment banker.
Sidanius, Jim: English psychologist.
Silverstein, Rachel: American environmental scientist, interested in preserving coral reefs.
Simmel, Georg (1858–1918): German sociologist.
Simon, Herbert A. (1916–2001): American political scientist, sociologist, psychologist, economist, and computer scientist.
Simon-Delso, Noa: Dutch entomologist and ecologist interested in pesticides.
Simpson, Wallis (1896–1986): English Duchess of Windsor.
Sismondi, Jean: see de Sismondi.
Siviter, Harry: English biologist.
Slessarev, Eric W.: American soil ecologist.
Smeeding, Timothy M. (Tim): American political economist, interested in inequality and poverty.
Smil, Vaclav: Czech Canadian environmental scientist.
Smith, Adam (1723–1790): Scottish moral philosopher who advocated laissez-faire capitalism.
Smith, David H.: American ecologist.
Smithers, Andrew: English economist.
Socrates (469–399 bce): Athenian Greek philosopher.
He is richest who is content with the least, for contentment is the wealth of Nature. ~ Socrates
Soll, David R.: American hydrologist.
Solomon, Susan (1956–): American atmospheric chemist.
Solow, Robert (1924–): American economist, interested in economic growth.
Sorg, Martin: German entomologist.
Southwell, Robert: 16th-century English landowner.
Spicer, Andrew: American international business professor.
Spielberg, Ben: American labor maven, mathematician, and computational scientist.
Spinoza, Baruch (born Benedito de Espinosa, aka Benedict de Spinoza) (1632–1677): Dutch rationalist philosopher who laid the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment.
Stadler, Josef: Swiss economist.
Stalin, Joseph (1878–1953): Georgian-born Soviet politician; ruthless leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death.
Standish, Arthur: English writer on agriculture.
Stasinos (776–580 bce): Greek poet.
Steffen, Will (1947–): American chemist, interested in climate change.
Stern, Andy (1950–): American labor leader; former head of the Service Employees International Union (1996–2010).
Stevens, Ann Huff: American economist.
Stevenson, Betsey (1971–): American political economist, interested in labor.
Stibitz, George (1904–1995): American mathematical physicist who tinkered with electromechanical calculators.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. (1943–): American economist.
Stolypin, Pyotr (1862–1911): Russian Prime Minister (1906–1911). During his tenure, Stolypin tried to counter revolutionary groups, and implemented agrarian reforms, which aimed to stem peasant unrest by creating a class of market-oriented landowners. Stolypin was one of the last major statesmen of Imperial Russia with clearly defined policies and a determination to undertake major reforms.
Strauss, Lewis L. (1896–1974): American businessman and bureaucrat.
Strona, Giovanni: Italian ecologist and biogeographer.
Stroustrup, Bjarne (1950–): Danish programmer who developed C++.
Stuart, John (1740–1811): English clergyman and educator.
Stuart, Tristram (1977–): English environmental scientist, interested in food waste.
Stump, Christopher: American fishing observer.
Stumpf, John G. (1953–): American banker; chief of Wells Fargo who resigned in disgrace over fraud committed by the bank.
Suess, Hans E. (1909–1993): Austrian-born American physical chemist and nuclear physicist.
Suleiman the Magnificent (aka Suleiman I, Kanunî Sultan Süleyman (“The Lawgiver Suleiman”)) (1494–1566): 10th and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520–1566). Suleiman presided over the apex of the Ottoman Empire, personally leading his armies in conquering Christian strongholds in Hungary, Serbia, and Greece before being checked at Vienna in 1529. Suleiman annexed much of the Levant. The Ottoman fleet dominated the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Suleiman instituted major changes in educational, social, criminal, and taxation law. Suleiman, himself a distinguished poet and goldsmith, was a great patron of culture, overseeing a golden age of Turkish art, literature, and architecture.
Sullivan, John: American programmer.
Summers, Lawrence (1954–): American economist.
Sunstein, Cass R. (1954–): American legal scholar and behavioral economist.
Swan, Joseph (1828–1917): British physicist and chemist who invented the incandescent light bulb.
Swarts, Frédéric (1866–1940): Belgian chemist who synthesized the first CFC.
Sweetman, Andrew K.: English marine ecologist.
Synolakis, Costas: Turkish civil and environmental engineer.
Syrus, Publilius (85–43 bce): Latin writer who began as a Syrian slave taken to Italy. Freed by his master because of his wit and then educated, Syrus secured for himself a place in history.
Takakazu, Seki (aka Seki Kōwa) (1642–1708): Japanese mathematician who laid the foundation for the Japanese school of mathematics (wasan).
Taylor, Howard F.: American sociologist.
Taylor, John B. (1946–): American economist.
Taylor, Robert W. (Bob) (1932–): American computer scientist.
Taymiyyah, Ibn (1263–1328): Mesopotamian Islamic scholar.
Tertullian (Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus) (155–240): North African Roman Christian theologian.
Tesla, Nikola (1856–1943): Serbian-American electrical and mechanical engineer and physicist, interested in telephony and electricity. Tesla contributed to the design of electrical supply using alternating current (AC).
Tetu, Sasha G.: Australian biochemist and molecular biologist.
Thatcher, Margaret (1925–2013): English politician (Conservative); UK Prime Minister (1975–1990).
Theodosius of Bithynia (160–100 bce): Greek astronomer and mathematician.
Thomas, Bryan: American climatologist.
Thomas, Mridul K.: marine ecologist.
Thomson, William (1837–1907) (better known at Lord Kelvin): mathematical physicist and engineer, best known for suggesting that there is an absolute lower limit to temperature: whence the Kelvin temperature scale.
Thompson, Kenneth L. (Ken) (1943–): American programmer who wrote the Unix operating system.
Thompson, Richard C.: English marine ecologist.
Thorne, Deborah: American sociologist, interested in economic inequality.
Thorstein, Veblen (1857 – 1929): American economist and sociologist who viewed economics from an evolutionary perspective, especially how institutions shaped economic behavior. Veblen pioneered institutional economics.
Thorton, Joel A.: American atmospheric scientist.
Thrall, Thomas: American financial analyst.
Tingley, Morgan W.: American ornithologist, conservation biologist, and quantitative ecologist.
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616): Japanese founder of the Tokugawa shogunate; the 1st Shogun (1600–1616).
Torvalds, Linus (1969–): Finnish American programmer who developed Linux.
Toynbee, Arnold (1852–1883): English economic historian, known for his desire to improving the living conditions of the working class.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598): Japanese daimyō, samurai, and politician who unified the country in 1590.
Trevithick, Richard (1771 –1833): English mining engineer who made the first high-pressure steam engine in 1799.
Trigger, Bruce G. (1937–2006): Canadian anthropologist and archeologist.
Trilling, Lionel (1905–1975): American author, literary critic, and teacher.
Truman, Harry S. (1884–1972): US politician (Democrat); 33rd US President (1945–1953).
Trump, Donald (1946–): American real estate magnate, con artist, and plutocrat who disguised himself as a populist (Republican); 45th US President (2017–2021).
Tryon, Thomas (1634–1703): English hatter, environmentalist, author of popular self-help books, and advocate of vegetarianism. As a child, Tryon was forced to work spinning wool, receiving no education. In his teens, Tryon taught himself to read in his spare time while working as a shepherd. In 1657 Tryon followed his inner voice to become a vegetarian and lived frugally. In 1682 his inner voice instructed Tryon to write books that encouraged a healthy lifestyle. His most popular book was The Way to Health (1691), which inspired Benjamin Franklin to become a vegetarian.
Tuchman, Barbara W. (1912–1989): American historian.
Tucker, Marlee A.: German ecologist, interested in animal behavior and movement patterns.
Tuff, Kika: American ecologist.
Tufte, Edward R. (1942–): American statistician.
Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques (1727–1781): French statesman and economist of the physiocracy school, remembered as an early advocate of a laissez-faire market system.
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).
Tusser, Thomas (1524–1580): English poet and farmer.
Tversky, Amos (1937–1996): Israeli American psychologist.
Twain, Mark (1835–1910): pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens; American author, prized for his satire and wit.
Tyler, George R.: American economist.
Udall, Stewart L. (1920–2010): American politician (Democrat), US Secretary of the Interior (1961–1969), and environmentalist.
Unger, Nadine: English mathematician and chemist, interested in climate change, especially the atmosphere.
van Lexmond, Maarten Bijleveld: Dutch biologist and conservationist, interested in pesticides.
Vander Elst, Tinne: Belgian psychologist.
Vanderbilt, Cornelius (1794–1877): American business magnate who diligently built his wealth in shipping and railroads.
Vanderschuren, Hervé: Swiss botanist, interested in crop production and plant biotechnology.
Veblen, Thorstein (1857–1929): American economist and sociologist.
Veldkamp, Ted I.E.: Dutch Earth scientist and hydrologist.
Venter, Oscar: Canadian Australian South African forest scientist.
Vespasian (9–79): Roman Emperor (69–79).
Vespucci, Amerigo (1454–1512): Florence-born Italian explorer, navigator, cartographer, and financier. ~1502, Vespucci demonstrated that the New World was not Asia’s eastern outskirts as Columbus advertised. The hemisphere came to be called the Americas, derived from the Latin for Vespucci’s first name (Americus).
Vitruvius (31 bce–14 ce): Roman engineer who wrote a 10-volume treatise on all aspects of Roman engineering.
Volta, Alessandro (1745–1827): Italian physicist and chemist who discovered methane and invented the electrical battery.
Voltaire (1694–1778): non de plume of French philosopher and historian François-Marie Arouet, famous for his wit, for his attacks on Christianity, and for his advocacy of separation of church and state.
von Blücher, Gebhard (1742–1819): fiery Prussian field marshal who earned his greatest recognition in leading his army against Napoléon at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
von Neumann, John (1903–1957): Hungarian American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, and polymath.
von Siemens, Werner (1816–1892): German inventor and industrialist who founded the eponymous company Siemens.
Wackett, Adrian: American soil scientist.
Wade, Michael J.: American biologist.
Walker, Alice (1944–): American author and social activist.
Wall, Diana H.: American ecologist.
Wall, Larry (1954–): American programmer who developed the Perl programming language.
Wallach, Lori (1965–): American trade analyst.
Walras, Léon (1834–1910): French mathematical economist who pioneered macroeconomic equilibrium theory.
Walters, Charles, Jr. (1926–2009): American agriculturist, economist, and journalist.
Wang Yangliang: Chinese agricultural bureaucrat.
Wang Zhen (1290–1333): Chinese agronomist, technologist, and inventor who reinvented printing using movable wooden blocks in 1298.
Warburg, Paul M. (1868–1932): German-born American and early advocate of the US Federal Reserve System.
Warner, W. Lloyd (1898–1970): American socio-anthropologist.
Warren, Elizabeth A. (1949–): American politician (Democrat); US Senator from Massachusetts (2013–).
Warren, Rachel: English climate change scientist, interested in the biological effects.
Watson, James: Australian conservation scientist.
Watson, Kelly: American geoscientist.
Watson, Robert (1948–): English chemist, interested in the present atmospheric climate change and mass extinction event.
Watt, James (1736–1819): Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who advanced steam engine technology.
Waugh, Darryn W.: American mathematician and climatologist, interested in dynamics and transport in the atmosphere and oceans.
Weber, Max (1864–1920): German sociologist, political economist, jurist, and philosopher.
Webster, Pelatiah (1726–1795): American merchant and economist.
Wei-Jun Cai: Chinese marine chemist, interested in marine carbon cycling.
Weintraub, E. Roy (1943–): American mathematician and economist.
Welch, Jack (1935–): American business executive and chemist; chairman and CEO of General Electric (1981–2001).
Wells, H.G. (1866–1946): English biologist, historian, political analyst, and writer.
Westinghouse, George (1846–1914): American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the rotary steam engine, the railway air brake, and was a pioneer in the electrical power industry.
White, Stuart: Australian resource scientist.
Whitehead, Alfred North (1861–1947): English mathematician and philosopher.
Whorton, James (1942–): American chemist.
Wicksell, Knut (1851–1926): Swedish economist and social reformer.
Wicksteed, Philip H. (1844–1927): English economist.
Wiens, John J.: American ecologist.
Wilcox, Chris: Australian marine and atmospheric researcher.
William I (aka William the Conqueror, William the Bastard) (1028–1087): the 1st Norman King of England (1066–1087); a descendant of Viking raiders; the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and his mistress Herleva.
William of Orange (aka William III of England) (1650–1702): Dutch-born King of England (1689–1702).
William of Rubruck (1220–1293): Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer who traveled through the Levant, Asia Minor, and to northern China and back.
William the Conqueror: see William I.
Williams, David: American cytologist.
Williams, Michael: English geographer.
Williams, Mike: American spokesman for Nutrien, American agrichemical manufacturer.
Wilson, Christo: American computer scientist.
Wilson, Edward O. (1929–): American naturalist.
Wilson, Woodrow (1856–1924): American politician (Democrat); 28th US President (1913–1921).
Wirth, Niklaus (1934–): Swiss computer scientist who developed the Pascal programming language.
Wisner, Brent R.: American attorney specializing in complex litigation, interested in social justice.
Wolfers, Justin: American economist.
Worm, Boris: Canadian marine biologist.
Wozniak, Steve (Woz) (1950–): American electronics engineer and computer programmer who co-founded Apple Computer with Steve Jobs.
Wu Yang: Chinese American environmental scientist.
Xi Jinping (1953–): supreme Chinese political leader (2013–).
Yang, Jerry (1968–): Taiwanese-born American entrepreneur and co-founder of Yahoo!.
Yanqing Xia: Chinese economist.
Yellen, Janet (1946–): American economist; chair of the US central bank (Federal Reserve) (2014–2018).
Yi Li: Chinese botanist, interested in genetic modification.
Young, Arthur (1741–1820): English writer on agriculture, economics, and social statistics.
Young, James (1811–1883): Scottish chemist who distilled kerosene from petroleum and paraffin from coal.
Yun-ui, Choe: Korean civil minister who invented printing via metal movable type in 1234.
Zaccarelli, Chris: American financial analyst.
Zanden, Jake Vander: American limnologist and ecologist.
Zeebe, Richard E.: American oceanographer, interested in global warming.
Zeilder, Othmar (1850–1911): Austrian chemist who first synthesized DDT.
Zeller, Dirk: Australian marine conservationist.
Zhang Heng (78–139): mathematician, scientist, engineer, inventor, geographer, artist, statesman, and literary scholar.
Zhang Jiyao: Chinese hydrologist.
Zhang Xiaoyan: Wenzhou business advisor.
Zhong Zhichun: Chinese worker.
Zhou Shengxian: Chinese environmental protection minister.
Zickfield, Kirsten: Canadian geologist, interested in the effects of greenhouse gases on climate.
Zorn, Eric (1958–): American columnist.
Zuse, Konrad (1910–1995): German civil engineer and inventor who created the first programmable computer.
