People
Abbott, Derek: Australian electrical engineer.
Abhinavagupta (950–1020): Indian philosopher, aesthetician, musician, poet, dramatist, and logician. Abhinavagupta was not his given name; rather, it was a title earned from his teacher, meaning “competence and authoritativeness.”
Adams, Abigail (1744–1818): American intellectual and woman of letters, despite lacking formal education; wife and closest advisor to President John Adams.
Adams, John (1735–1826): American politician (Federalist); 1st US Vice President (1789–1797); 2nd US President (1797–1801).
Adler, Mortimer J. (1902–2001): American philosopher and educator.
Al-Jahiz (781–868): Arab writer who produced a 7-volume encyclopedia about animals, describing 350 different varieties.
Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedonia) (356–323 BCE): king of Macedonia (Macedon) (336–323 BCE); wildly enthusiastic military adventurist.
Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (~510–428 BCE): Turkish-born Greek philosopher who taught that coherence – as a universal mind – was the force behind Nature.
Anaximander of Miletus (610–546 BCE): Turkish Greek philosopher, astronomer, geographer, mathematician, and proponent of science.
Anderson, Philip W. (1923–): American physicist.
Andolfatto, Peter: Canadian evolutionary biologist.
Anselm of Canterbury (~1033–1109): French Benedictine monk, abbot, theologian, and philosopher who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Anselm made an ontological argument for the existence of God in his book Proslogion (1077–1078).
God is something which nothing greater can be conceived. ~ Anselm of Canterbury
Arendt, Johanna (Hannah) (1906–1975): German-born Jewish American philosopher.
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.
Armstrong, David (1926–2014): Australian philosopher, interested in metaphysics and the mind.
Asch, Solomon E. (1907–1996): American Gestalt psychologist and social psychologist, known for his study of conformity.
Aurelius, Marcus (151–180): Roman Emperor (161–180) and Stoic philosopher; last of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
Baba, Meher (born Merwan Sheriar Irani) (1894–1969): Indian guru. From age 30 (1925) to the end of his life, Baba maintained silence, communicating by unique hand gestures or via an alphabet board.
Bailey, Pearl (1918–1990): American actress.
Bareilles, Sara (1979–): American singer-songwriter and musician.
Barnes, Djuna (1892–1982): American writer and artist, best known for Nightwood, her 1936 novel about lesbian relationships.
Bekenstein, Jacob (1947–): Israeli theoretical physicist.
Bennett, David: American engineer and spiritual activist.
Berger, Peter L. (1929–): Austrian-born American sociologist.
Berkeley, George (1685–1753): Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop.
Bernoulli, Daniel (1700–1782): Swiss mathematician and physicist, known for his contributions in fluid mechanics, probability, and statistics.
Berson, David M.: American neurobiologist, interested in “what the eye tells the brain.”
Besant, Annie (1847–1933): English writer, theosophist, socialist, and women’s rights activist.
Bettini, Alessandro: Italian particle physicist.
Bettlelheim, Bruno (1903–1990): Austrian-born American psychologist.
Bialek, William: American theoretical biophysicist.
Blake, William (1757–1827): English poet, painter, and printmaker.
Blanchfield, Anthony W.: English psychologist.
Bohr, Niels (1885–1962): Danish physicist who contributed to atomic theory and quantum mechanics.
Bostrom, Nick (1973–): Swedish philosopher.
Bragg, William Henry (1862–1942): English physicist, chemist, and mathematician who discovered the elemental dynamics of ionizing radiation in 1903.
Broach, Jared: American tour guide, interested in ghosts.
Brown, Finley: Irish physician.
Buddha (563–483 BCE): Indian guru whose teachings became the foundation of Buddhism.
Byrne, David (1952–): Scottish musician.
Cage, John Milton Jr. (1912–1992): American composer, music theorist, and writer. A pioneer in the use of indeterminacy in music, which allows players to arrange composed fragments in different sequences. Perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4’33”, which is given without deliberate sound; instead, musicians in attendance do nothing aside from being there for the duration specified by the title. The work was intended to bring awareness to the ambient environment during the non-performance.
Cairns-Smith, A. Graham (1931–): English organic chemist and molecular biologist.
Calle, Carlos I.: American physicist.
Camus, Albert (1913–1960): French author and philosopher.
Capra, Fritjof (1939–): Austrian-born American physicist and systems theorist.
Carlson, Linda E.: American physician.
Carvalho, Cláudia: Portuguese psychologist.
Chunharas, Chaipat: Indian neurobiologist.
Churchill, Winston (1874–1965): English politician; UK Prime Minister (1940–1945, 1951–1955).
Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) (106–43 BCE): Roman philosopher, political theorist, poet, orator, lawyer, politician, consul, and constitutionalist.
Cohn, Henry: American mathematician.
Colasco, Daniel: English neuroscientist.
Confucius (born Kong Qui; posthumous title Kong Fuzi, which was Latinized to Confucius) (551–479 BCE): Chinese moral and political philosopher.
Coolidge, Calvin (1908–1973): American politician (Democrat); 36th US President (1963–1969).
Coolidge, Grace A.G. (1879–1957): teacher of deaf children and social activist; wife of Calvin Coolidge.
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.
Corbet, Philip S. (1929–2008): English entomologist, interested in aquatic insects, particularly dragonflies.
Cowper, William (1731–1800): English poet.
Cubitt, Toby S.: English theoretical physicist.
Currivan, Jude: English cosmologist and archeologist.
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).
Dalai Lama (1935–): the 14th in a line of head monks of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Danyluck, Chad: American health physiologist.
Darwin, Charles (1809–1882): English naturalist, famous for his hollow hypothesis of evolution by “natural selection.”
Davidson, Richard J.: American psychologist.
Davies, Paul C.W. (1946–): English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and astrobiologist, trying to find extraterrestrial life. Davies generated controversy by noting that the faith of scientists is in the immutability of physical laws; a faith with roots in Christian theology. Davies called the claim that science is “free of faith”: “bogus.”
Davis, Tamara M.: Australian astrophysicist.
de Gelder, Beatrice M.L.: Dutch cognitive neurobiologist and neuropsychologist who hypothesizes pseudoscience.
de La Rochefoucauld, François (1613 –1680): French author.
Democritus (460–370 BCE): Greek rationalist philosopher who formulated an atomic theory of existence.
Descartes, René (1596–1650): French rationalist philosopher and mathematician. Considering the senses unreliable, Descartes believed that the only indubitable knowledge came from the mind.
And so something which I thought I was seeing with my eyes is in fact grasped solely by the faculty of judgment which is in my mind. ~ René Descartes
Descartes never considered what he was at a moment when his mind was empty (transcended).
Dick, Philip K. (1928–1982): American science fiction writer.
Dickens, Charles (1812–1870): English writer and social critic; regarded as a literary giant of his age; well-known works include Oliver Twist (1837–1839), A Christmas Carol (1843), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861).
Dingle, Kamaludin: British mathematical biologist.
Dobzhansky, Theodosius (1900–1975): Ukrainian geneticist and evolutionary biologist.
DuVernay, Ava (1972–): American filmmaker.
Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni: Spanish neurobiologist.
Duritz, Adam (1964–): American songwriter, singer, and musician in the popular music group Counting Crows (1991–).
Durovic, Stevan: Yugoslavian physician who promoted krebiozen.
Dussutour, Audrey: French biologist interested in animal behavior.
Dweck, Carol: American psychologist.
Dyson, Freeman (1923–): English-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician.
Ehinger, Benedikt V.: German cognitive psychologist and neurobiologist.
Einstein, Albert (1879–1955): German theoretical physicist, best known for his theories of relativity.
Elemans, Coen P.H.: Danish zoologist, interested in vertebrate vocalization.
Eliason, Chad: American zoologist.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803–1882): American essayist and poet.
Empedocles (490–430 BCE): eclectic Greek philosopher who originated the cosmogenic theory of the 4 classical elements: earth, water, wind, and fire. Empedocles considered chemical changes similar to emotional relations.
Epictetus (55–135): Phrygia-born (now Turkey) Hellenistic Stoic philosopher. Epictetus taught that negative emotions were the product of errors in judgment, and an enlightened person would not suffer such emotions.
Erwin, Terry: American taxonomist.
Euripides (480–406 BCE): Greek playwright, considered one of the great tragedians of classical Athens.
Evans-Wentz, Walter Y. (1878–1965): American anthropologist.
Fabian, Sam: English entomologist.
Fain, Gordon L.: American molecular, cellular, and integrative physiologist.
Faraday, Michael (1791–1867): English chemist, physicist, and philosopher who contributed to understanding electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
Farias, Miguel: Portuguese psychologist.
Feltham, Owen (1662–1668): English writer.
Feuillet, Lionel: French neurologist.
Feynman, Richard (1918–1988): American theoretical physicist.
Fields, Howard L.: American neurologist.
Fischhoff, Baruch (1946–): American psychologist, interested in decision-making and risk assessment.
Fodor, Jerry (1935–): American cognitive scientist and philosopher.
Freeman, John: American neurologist.
Frenkel, Edward: Russian mathematician.
Fresnel, Augustin (1788–1827): French engineer and physicist.
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.
Gallistel, Charles Ransom (1941–): American psychologist.
Gasset, José Ortega y (1883–1955): Spanish philosopher and essayist who felt that philosophy has a critical duty to question beliefs so as to better explain reality.
Gavelis, Gregory S.: Canadian evolutionary and cytologist.
Gelman, Rochel (1942–): Canadian psychologist.
Gibbs, Josiah Willard (1839–1903): American scientist who made important theoretical contributions to mathematics, physics, and chemistry. His work on thermodynamics applications was instrumental in turning physical (atomistic) chemistry into a rigorous inductive science.
Gilbert, Daniel (1957–): American social psychologist.
Gödel, Kurt (1906–1978): Austrian logician mathematician, and philosopher; considered one of the most significant logicians in history, along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege. Best known for his 2 incompleteness theorems, which proved that certain axiomatic systems cannot be proved or disproved. Yes, there is an inherent irony to proving that proof is impossible in a self-contained symbolic system.
Goldinger, Stephen D: American cognitive psychologist.
Goldstone, Jeffrey (1933–): English theoretical physicist.
Gonzalez-Bellido, Paloma T.: neurobiologist, interested in visually driven predation.
Gopnik, Alison: American psychologist and philosopher.
Grafman, Jordan: American neurobiologist.
Greene, Anthony J.: American psychologist.
Greene, Brian R. (1963–): American theoretical physicist.
Gregory, Richard L. (1923–2010): English neuropsychologist.
Grosseteste, Robert (1175–1253): English scholastic philosopher, theologian, and scientist who proposed that the universe began by expanding from a singularity of light. Grosseteste also posited the possibility of a multiverse.
GrrlScientist: English evolutionary biologist and ornithologist.
Gurumaa, Anandmurti (1966–): Indian guru.
Gutfreund, Yorum: Israeli neurobiologist, interested in sensation.
Halligan, Peter W.: English psychologist.
Hạnh, Thích Nhất (1926–): Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk.
Harrington, Anne: American science historian.
Harrison, George (1943–2001): English spiritually oriented musician; lead guitarist of The Beatles (1960–1970). Harrison’s love of Nature was so profound that his son, as a child, thought his father was a gardener.
Harrison, William Henry (1773–1841): American military man and politician (Whig); 9th US President (1841). Harrison was 68 years old when elected; the 1st to die in office, from pneumonia complications, after 32 days in office. Harrison first gained national fame for fighting American Indians, specifically in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe.
Heisenberg, Werner (1901–1976): German theoretical physicist, best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum field theory.
Helm, Jonathan L.: American psychologist.
Henry IV (1050–1106): King of the Germans from age 7 (1057); Holy Roman Emperor (1084–1105).
Heraclitus (535–475 BCE): Turkish Greek energyist philosopher who believed in an ever-changing universe and a force of coherence creating a unity of existence.
Herbart, Johann Friedrich (1776–1841): German philosopher, psychologist, and founder of pedagogy: the theory of academic instruction.
Herbert, Frank (1920–1986): American science fiction novelist, best known for the space opera Dune (1965) and its 5 sequels.
Herbst, C.T.: Czech biophysicist.
Hertwig, Oscar (1849–1922): German zoologist and evolutionary theorist.
Hertz, Heinrich (1857–1894): German physicist who demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves.
Hobson, Art: American theoretical physicist.
Holmes, Henry H. (1922–1981): American East Asian scholar.
Holzer, Hans (1920–2009): Austrian-born American paranormal researcher, well known for his interest in ghosts.
To the matterist and the skeptic – that is to say, people who do not wish their belief that death is the end of life as we know it to be disturbed – the notion of ghosts is unacceptable. No matter how much evidence is presented to support the phenomena, these people will argue against it, and ascribe it to any of several “natural” causes. ~ Hans Hozler
Honkanen, Anna: Finnish biophysicist.
Hood, Bruce: English developmental psychologist.
Hout, Michael C.: American cognitive psychologist.
Hubbard, Elbert (1856–1915): American writer, artist, and philosopher.
Hubble, Edwin (1889 –1953): American astronomer.
Hutton, James (1726–1797): Scottish geologist.
Ising, Ernst (1900–1998): German physicist, known for developing the Ising model.
Jacob, François (1920–2013): French biologist.
James, William (1842–1910): American physician, psychologist, and philosopher.
Jensen, Karin B.: American psychiatrist, interested in pain and placebos.
Johnson, Lynda Bird (now Lynda Robb) (1944–): American social activist, interested in children’s literacy.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (1908–1973): American politician (Democrat); 36th US President (1963–1969).
Jung, Carl (1875–1961): Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist.
Kacelnik, Alex (1946–): Argentine-English ethologist and zoologist.
Kamppinen, Matti: Finnish psychologist and philosopher of mind.
Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804): influential German philosopher and rationalist.
It always remains a scandal of philosophy and universal human reason that the existence of things outside us should have to be assumed merely on faith, and that if it occurs to anyone to doubt it, we should be unable to answer him with a satisfactory proof. ~ Critique of Pure Reason (1781)
Yet Kant rejected positivism, warning of the seduction of perception as truth.
Up to now it has been assumed that all our cognition must conform to the objects; but let us once try whether we do not get farther with the problems of metaphysics by assuming that the objects must conform to our cognition.
Kastrup, Bernardo: Dutch philosopher and computer scientist.
Katie, Bryon (aka Bryon Kathleen Mitchell) (1942–): American guru and author.
Kazantzakis, Nikos (1883–1957): Greek writer and philosopher, best known for his novel Zorba the Greek.
Keen, Steve (1953–): Australian economist.
Kelber, Almut: German zoologist, interested in color vision and its evolution.
Keynes, John Maynard (1883–1946): English economist.
King, Jean-Rémi: cognitive neurobiologist.
Klemer, Katerina S.: Bulgarian writer and software developer.
Komargodski, Zohar: Israeli physicist.
Laeng, Bruno: Norwegian cognitive psychologist.
Laing, R.D. (1927–1989): Scottish psychiatrist.
Lakshmi, K.V.: Indian molecular biologist.
Laland, Kevin: English evolutionary biologist.
Landsburg, Steven E. (1954–): American economist.
Lao Tzu (aka Laozi, Lao-Tsu, Lao-Tze) (6th or 5th century BCE): Legendary Chinese scholar and philosopher; inadvertent founder of Daoism, which teaches reverence of Nature, the value of patience, and a path to judicious existence. His name is an honorary title. It is not known when, or even whether, Lao Tzu lived. Consensus opinion among 20th century scholars is that Lao Tzu’s most famous work – Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) – was a compilation by many authors. Ursula Le Guin noted that the work has a stylistic consistency which suggests a single primary author, with a few subsequent additions.
Le Guin, Ursula K. (1929–): American author, best known for her fantasy and science fiction novels.
Leach, John: English psychologist, interested in the will to live.
Leander, Brian: Canadian marine cytologist.
Leibniz, Gottfried (1646–1716): German mathematician who discovered calculus and philosopher and who believed in reincarnation.
Lennon, John (1940–1980): English musician who co-founded the popular music group The Beatles (1960–1970).
Lenz, Wilhelm (1888–1957): German physicist, best known for his association with the Ising model developed by his student, Ernst Ising.
Liberali, Prisca: Swiss cytologist.
Louis, Ard A.: English theoretical physicist.
Lewis, C.S. (1898–1963): Irish novelist and poet.
Liberman, Nira: Israeli psychologist who developed construal level theory with Yaacov Trope.
Lincoln, Abraham (1809–1865): American politician (Republican); 16th US President, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln’s election as President prompted the secession movement in the Old South that led to the Civil War.
Lincoln, Mary A.T. (1809–1865): socialite; wife of Abraham Lincoln.
Lisi, Anthony Garret: American theoretical physicist.
Locke, John (1632–1704): English philosopher and physician.
London, Fritz (1900–1954): German American physicist who made fundamental contributions in understanding chemical bonding and intermolecular forces (London dispersion forces).
Lopez, Régis: French psychiatrist.
Lovelock, James (1919–): English environmentalist and inventor, known for his Gaia theory.
Luckmann, Thomas (1927–2016): Austrian American sociologist.
Luisi, Pier Luigi (1938–): Italian chemistry professor.
Lyell, Charles (1797–1875): Scottish geologist and lawyer.
Maa, Anandamayi (born Nirmala Sundari) (1896–1982): Indian saint.
Mach, Ernest (1838–1916): Austrian physicist and philosopher.
Mack, Michelle (1972–): American data entry clerk.
Macknik, Stephen L.: American neurobiologist.
Madison, James Jr. (1751–1836): American political theorist; 4th US President (1809–1817).
Madison, Dorothea (Dolley) (1768–1849): wife of James Madison. Dolley was noted for her social graces, which boosted her husband’s popularity as President. Dolley had earlier assisted in “first lady” duties the widowed Thomas Jefferson during his presidency. In widowhood, Dolley suffered poverty, partly relieved by the sale of James’ papers.
Maharaj, Nisargadatta (born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli) (1897–1981): lucent Indian guru, best known for the book of his dialogues with seekers I Am That (1973).
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma) (1917–2008): Indian guru who brought Transcendental Meditation® to the world.
Whatever we put our attention on will grow stronger in our life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharshi, Ramana (born Venkataraman Iyer) (1879–1950): Indian guru.
Mahasaya, Lahiri (1828–1895): Indian yogi.
Mahler, Gustav (1860–1911): Austrian composer of 9 complete symphonies (with another left unfinished upon his passing), and numerous songs.
Maimon, Gaby: American neurobiologist.
Mandelbrot, Benoît B. (1924–2010): Polish-born French American mathematician, known for his work in fractal geometry.
Margulis, Lynn (1938–2011): American evolutionary theorist, science writer, and educator.
Martial, Charlotte: Belgian neuropsychologist, interested in near-death experiences and altered states of consciousness.
Martinez-Conde, Susana: American neurobiologist.
Martínez-González, José A.: Mexican biochemist.
Mashour, George A.: American neurobiologist and anesthesiologist, interested in consciousness.
Mathern, Gary: American neurosurgeon.
Maus, Gerrit W.: American psychologist.
Maxwell, James Clerk (1831–1879): Scottish physicist, most famous for formulating classical electromagnetic theory in 1865. Before then, electricity and magnetism were considered separate forces.
Mayer, William E. (1923–2015): American psychologist who served in the US military.
McCarthy, Randy J.: American psychologist.
McCrea, Sean M.: American social psychologist.
McRae, Cynthia: American psychologist, interested in the placebo effect.
McNutt, Marcia (1952–): American geophysicist.
Meder, Amanda Linette: American spiritualist.
Mersenne, Marin (1588–1648): French theologian, natural philosopher, and mathematician.
Merton, Thomas (1915–1968): Anglo American Catholic writer and mystic.
Mill, John Stuart (1806–1873): English philosopher, politician, and economist.
Millay, Edna St. Vincent (1892–1950): American poet and playwright.
Mitchell, David (1969–): English novelist.
Moseley, J. Bruce: American physician.
Muenke, Max: American pediatric brain defect specialist.
Muijres, Florian: Dutch biomechanist.
Murdoch, Iris (1919–1999): Irish author and philosopher.
Nagel, Thomas (1937–): Yugoslavian-born American philosopher.
Nahm, Michael: German American neurobiologist.
Neill, Charles: American physicist.
Newton, Isaac (1642–1727): English physicist, astronomer, alchemist, mathematician, natural philosopher, and theologian; widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential scientists. Classical mechanics are typically termed Newtonian physics.
Nobu, Ishi (1955–): American prophet.
Nuallain, Sean O.: Irish psychologist and musician.
O’Keeffe, Ciarán: English psychologist.
Oakley, David A.: English psychologist.
Obuchowski, Pat: American leadership coach.
Olberg, Robert M.: American entomologist who specializes in dragonfly vision.
Onsager, Lars (1903–1976): Norwegian-born American physical chemist and theoretical physicist.
Oparin, Alexander (1894–1980): Russian biochemist, best known for his book The Origin of Life (1936).
Orr, H. Allen: American biologist.
Otten, Marte: Dutch psychologist.
Palmer, Benjamin A.: Israeli biologist.
Parkinson, James (1755–1824): English surgeon, apothecary, geologist, paleontologist, and liberal political activist who described symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in 1817.
Parmenides of Elea (late 6th or early 5th century BCE): Greek philosopher. The single known work of Parmenides is a poem – On Nature – which presents 2 views of reality. One, “the “way of truth,” posits reality as eternal, necessary, uniform, and unchanging. The other, “the way of opinion,” is the world of appearances, in which one’s senses lead to conceptions which are deceptive and false.
Parry, Andrew O.: English physicist.
Pascal, Blaise (1623–1662): French Christian philosopher, physicist, mathematician, inventor, writer; a child prodigy.
Patañjali (~250 BCE): Indian yogi.
Pérez-García, David: Spanish mathematician.
Pert, Candace (1946–2013): American pharmacologist and cognitive scientist.
Pietschnig, Jakob: Austrian psychologist.
Pinker, Steven (1954–): Canadian experimental cognitive psychologist; considered by some to be one of the world’s most influential 21st-century intellectuals, which is a sad statement of how momentous misinformation can be.
Planck, Max (1858–1947): German physicist who founded quantum field theory, then rejected it out of philosophic revulsion, owing to the indeterminate nature of wave/particle duality (Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle). Planck philosophically preferred determinism.
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.
Poe, Edgar Allen (1809–1849): American writer.
Poland, David: American physicist.
Polyakov, Alexander M. (1945–): Russian theoretical physicist.
Pope, Alexander (1688–1744): English poet, best known for his satirical verse, and for his translation of Homer.
Pross, Addy: Israeli chemist.
Pynchon, Thomas (1937–): American novelist, noted for his densely woven, complex novels.
Rabin, Trevor (1954–): South African musician.
Ramachandran, Vilayanur S. (1951–): Indian cognitive scientist, interested in behavioral neurology and visual psychophysics.
Ramdas, Samarth (1608–1681): Indian guru.
Randeria, Mohit: Indian American physicist.
Rascón, Carlos: Spanish mathematician.
Ray, Michael W.: American experimental physicist.
Reagan, Maureen (1941–2001): American actress and political activist (Republican); daughter of Ronald Reagan.
Reagan, Ronald (1911–2004): American actor and politician (Republican); 40th US President (1981–1989).
Reid, Chris R.: Australian ethologist.
Revonsuo, Antti: Finnish psychologist, cognitive neurobiologist, and philosopher of mind.
Romero, Aldemaro Jr. (1951–): Venezuelan American biologist.
Roosevelt, Eleanor (1884–1962): American social activist and diplomat; wife of Franklin Roosevelt. As First Lady, Roosevelt was controversial for her outspoken support of universal civil and human rights.
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (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).
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712–1778): Genevan philosopher and composer.
Rowe, Harry: American mortician.
Rubin, Marty (1930–1994): American novelist.
Ruiz, Don Miguel (1952–): Mexican author of spiritualist texts.
Rush, Benjamin (1745–1813): American physician, politician, social reformer, educator, civic leader, and humanitarian.
Russell, Bertrand (1872–1970): English philosopher, logician, mathematician, and historian.
Rychkov, Slava: Russian theoretical physicist.
Sanders, Mark D. (1950–): American songwriter.
Sankara (aka Sri Sankara, Adi Shankara) (8th century?): Indian guru and prolific author who established the main currents of thought in Hinduism.
Saraswatī, Brahmānanda (1868–1953): Indian guru.
Saraswatī, Sivananda (1887–1963): Indian guru.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von (1775–1854): German philosopher who coined the term unconscious in 1800.
Schopenhauer, Arthur (1788–1860): German philosopher who believed that humans were driven through life by a continually dissatisfied will.
Segal, Alan F. (1945–2011): American religion scholar.
Seiberg, Nathan (1956–): Israeli theoretical physicist.
Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, aka Seneca the Younger) (4 BCE–65 ce): Roman philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and humorist.
Shoseki, Gido (1814–1865): Japanese Zen Buddhist monk.
Sillers, Tia: American songwriter.
Simmons-Duffin, David: American physicist, interested in strongly coupled quantum field theories, with especial interest in conformal field theories.
Simpson, Homer: a character in the American cartoon TV series (1989–) about the Simpson family, entitled The Simpsons.
Skinner, Brian: American physicist, interested in condensed matter.
Skowronski, John J.: American psychologist.
Skyttner, Lars: Swedish systems analyst.
Smith, Adam (1723–1790): Scottish moral philosopher, remembered for his musings on economics.
Sorel, Georges (1847–1922): French philosopher.
Spevak, Christopher: American doctor who works with military personnel and veterans in pain.
Spinoza, Baruch (1632–1677): Dutch philosopher who laid the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment.
Sponberg, Simon: American biologist and physicist.
Stenger, Victor J. (1935–2014): American particle physicist, atomist philosopher, and godless heathen who advocated science and reason.
Stevenson, Ian P. (1918–2007): Canadian-born American psychiatrist, interested in reincarnation.
Stöckl, Anna Lisa: Swedish neurobiologist, interested in animal nocturnal vision.
Sulutvedt, Unni: Norwegian cognitive psychologist.
Sussman, Dafna: Canadian physicist.
Swann, Ingo D. (1933–2013): American painter, capable of remote viewing.
Swenson, David X.: American systems analyst, interested in forensic psychology.
Swindoll, Charles R. (1934–): American evangelical Christian pastor and author.
Szent-Györgyi, Albert (1893–1986): Hungarian physiologist who discovered vitamin C.
Targ, Russell (1934 –): American physicist and parapsychologist, interested in remote viewing.
Tart, Charles T.: American psychologist.
Tegmark, Max (1967–): Swedish American cosmologist.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1881–1955): French energyist philosopher, Jesuit priest, paleontologist, and geologist. Although the Catholic Church censored many of Teilhard’s writings during his lifetime, he has been posthumously praised by eminent Catholic figures, including popes.
Terence (aka Publius Terentius Afer) (195/185–159? BCE): North African-born Roman playwright.
Thomas, Manoj: Indian American psychologist and marketing academic, interested in consumer behavior.
Thompson, Benjamin (aka Count Rumford) (1753–1814): American-born English physicist who helped shaped the modern understanding of thermodynamics.
Thompson, Edmund R. (1930–): American military commander.
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; hence the Kelvin temperature scale.
Thoreau, Henry David (1817–1862): American author, poet, philosopher, and historian.
Tiedemann, Friedrich (1781–1861): German physiologist and anatomist.
Tolle, Eckhart (1948–): German guru.
Tolman, Richard C. (1881–1948): American mathematical physicist and physical chemist, interested in statistical mechanics.
Torquato, Salvatore: Italian American theoretical scientist who has contributed to physics, chemistry, mathematics, materials science, engineering, and biological physics.
Trope, Yaacov: Israeli psychologist who developed construal level theory with Nira Liberman.
Truman, Harry S. (1884–1972): American jurist and politician (Democrat); 33rd US President (1945–1953).
Trump, Donald (1946–): American real estate magnate, con artist, and plutocrat disguising himself as a populist politician (Republican); 45th US President (2017–).
Tsai, Claire I.: Taiwanese behavioral economist, interested in decision-making.
Twain, Mark (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835–1910): American author, prized for his wit.
Underwood, Peter (1923–2014): English paranormal researcher.
Vahidassr, Djamil: Indian elderly care physician.
van der Waals, Johannes Diderik (1837–1923): Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist, famous for his work modeling gases and liquids.
van Eeden, Frederik (1860–1932): Dutch psychiatrist and prolific writer.
Vedral, Vlatko: Serbian-born British physicist, working on theories of entanglement and quantum information theory.
Vasistha (aka Vashistha): ancient Indian guru; credited as the chief author of the 7th mandala (book) of Rig Veda, comprising 104 hymns.
Vinggaard Christensen, Anne: Danish public health scholar.
Voltaire (1694–1778): nom 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.
Vonnegut, Kurt (1922–2007): American writer.
Wang Yangming (1472–1529): Chinese philosopher, scholar, bureaucrat, and general.
Wardill, Trevor J.: English neurobiologist.
Warrant, Eric: Australian zoologist, entomologist, and physicist, interested an animal nocturnal vision.
Weatherall, James O.: American physicist and mathematician.
Wheeler, John A. (1911–2008): American theoretical physicist.
Whittemore, Flora: American author.
Wigner, Eugene P. (1902–1995): Hungarian American theoretical physicist and mathematician.
Wikholm, Catherine: English psychologist, interested in debunking paranormal phenomena.
Wilhelmina, Helena P.M. (1880–1962): Queen of the Netherlands (1890–1948).
Williamson, Marianne (1952–): American author and spiritual teacher.
Winfrey, Oprah (1954–): American talk show host, interested in self-improvement.
Wiseman, Richard J. (1966–): English psychologist.
Witten, Ed (1951–): American theoretical physicist.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889–1951): Austrian philosopher and logician, interested in mathematics, language, and the mind.
The world is the totality of facts, not of things. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein
Wittstein, Ilan S.: American cardiologist, interested in broken heart syndrome.
Woese, Carl (1928–2012): American microbiologist and physicist who declared archaea a new domain of life (distinct from bacteria) in 1977.
Wolf, Michael M.: German mathematician.
Womack, Lee Ann (1966–): American country music singer and songwriter.
Wright, Judith (1951–): American author.
Wright, Stephen (1955–): American comedian.
Yael, Zahar: Israeli neurobiologist.
Yogananda, Paramahansa (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh) (1893–1952): Indian yogi and guru, known for his book Autobiography of a Yogi (1946).
Yogaswami (given name: Sadasivan) (1872–1964): Sri Lankan guru.
Yukteswar, Sri (born Priya Nath Karar) (1855–1936): Indian guru, yogi, astronomer, Vedic astrologer, and scholar of the Bhagavad Gita and The Bible.
Zeno of Citium (334–262 BCE): Hellenist philosopher who founded Stoicism.
Zimbardo, Philip G. (1933–): American psychologist.
Zukav, Gary (1942–): American spiritual teacher.
