| Babbage, Charles |
(1791
- 1871)
Inventor in 1834 of
the Difference Engine - a forerunner of the modern computer |
Boulsover,
Thomas
|
(1705 - 1788)  Inventor
in 1743 of
old sheffield plate - silver bonded to copper - that helped create the
thriving Sheffield
cutlery industry. The discovery was accidental. A
plaque dedicated to him stands on the site of his invention close to
the Winter Gardens in the city.
|
| Dalton, John |
(1766
- 1844)
Devised atomic
theory (1802)
that said all matter consists of indivisible elemental particles of
specific weights that combine to create compounds. |
| Darwin,
Charles |
(1809-1882) Responsible for the
Theory of Evolution. |
| Davy, Sir Humphry |
(1778 - 1829)
Chemist and inventor. Isolated potasium and sodium. Perhaps best known
for the miners' safety lamp, which surrounded the flame in wire gauze
to prevent explosions. |
| Dunlop, John Boyd |
(1840-1921)
Inventor
in 1888
of the
pneumatic tyre. Fort Dunlop is an eight
storey building on the
outskirts of Birmingham (alongside the M6 motorway) established in 1916
to manufacture Dunlop's tyres and currently (2005) the largest
advertising hording in the world because the, now empty, building
carries a single banner advertisement on its long, side wall. |
| Einstein,
Albert |
(1879
-
1955) Creator of
the Special Theory of Relativity |
| Faraday,
Michael. |
(1791
- 1867) Experimenter in
electricity
and
discoverer of the dynamo principle (in 1831). He realised that by
having
any two of electricity, magnetic field and motion, it was possible to
induce the third and hence laid down the principles of the electric
engine. |
| Flinders,
Matthew. |
(1774-1814) Hydrographer who
charted most
of the
coastline of Australia and Tasmania. Also studied the effects of iron
components on ships' compasses. Compensating bars on ships' compasses
are named after him. |
Fox-Talbot,
William Henry
|
(1800-1877) Invented the
positive-negative photographoc process.
|
| Franklin, Benjamin |
(1706-1790)
Philadelphia printer and experimenter in static electricity. Managed in
1752
to draw an
electric charge from a thunder cloud by flying a kite in a storm. |
| Galvani,
Luigi. |
In 1782
discovered what he called "animal electricity" by making dead frogs'
legs twitch when he applied a steel scalpel to them wile they were laid
on a zinc plate. |
| Halley,
Edmond |
(1656-1742)
Astronomer. Predicted the return of the comet
named after him. |
| Hargreaves,
James |
(1720
-
1778) Inventor of the spinning jenny, used in the cotton industry. |
| Herschel,
William |
(1738
-
1822) Astronomer. Discoverer of the planet Uranus in 1781
and infrared
radiation in 1800.
Was
also the first to identify and describe the shape of the Milky Way
galaxy. |
Huxley,
TH
|
(1825-1895) "Darwin's Bulldog".
Supported Darwin
at the
1860 Bishop Wilberforce meeting on the theory of evolution. Wilberforce
asked Huxley whether he was descended from apes through his father or
his mother and Huxley replied that he would sooner be descended from
apes than be a man afraid to face the truth. |
| Jenner, Edward. |
(1749 - 1823)
Pioneer of immunisation and innoculation, particularly against
smallpox. |
Mendel,
Gregor
|
(1822 - 84)
Monk and discoverer of the simple principles of genetic inheritance.
Discovered dominant and recessive traits by breeding pea plants. |
Muntz,
George Frederick
|
(1794-1857) Patented
Muntz's Metal. A yellow alloy of
copper and zinc that was used to sheathe the bottom
of wooden ships. Muntz's had factories at Great Bridge and French
Walls, Smethwick in the West Midlands. |
Pasteur, Louis.
|
(1822 - 85)
Pioneer of "pasteurisation" purification process. |
| Pavlov, Ivan |
(1849 - 1936)
Russian physiologist who carried out the classic experiment on dogs in
1907 proving that it was
possible to induce a conditioned response to neutral stimuli. By
ringing a bell when the dogs were fed he was able eventually to cause
the dogs to salivate just by sounding the bell, even when there was no
food present. |
| Plimsoll,
Samuel |
(1824-98)
Inventor of the Plimsoll Line safety
device |
| Priestley, Joseph |
(1733 - 1804)
Father of modern chemistry and experimenter with gases, discoverer of
oxygen and inventor of carbonated water. Member of the Lunar Society. |
| Rutherford,
Ernest |
(1871
-
1937) Father of nuclear physics. First man to split the atom. |
| Volta,
Allesandro |
(1745
- 1827)
Inventor of the first electric battery, the voltaic pile, precursor of
the modern alkaline battery. (1800) |
| White, Gilbert. |
(1720 - 1793)
Clergyman and amateur naturalist, lived at Selborne, Hampshire, where
he wrote his study "The Natural History of Selborne" (1788) |
Withering, William
|
(1741-1799) Doctor, born Wellington,
Shropshire,
who first derived digitalis from foxgloves. |
|
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