Category Scientist & Invensions

Wilhelm Wundt, a German doctor and philosopher, is acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential psychologists of all time.

       As one of the early pioneers of scientific psychology, Wundt introduced the usage of experimental methods in psychology. He developed psychology as an independent field of science, and set up a laboratory to explore the nature of religious beliefs, identify mental disorders and abnormal behavior, and find damaged part of the brain.

      He also published the first journal of psychology, ‘philosophische studies’ or ‘philosophical studies’ in 1881. Wilhelm Wundt was in fact, the first person to ever call himself a ‘psychologist’.

Joseph Lister, a British surgeon, made surgery safer for generations of patients by introducing sterilization techniques in the operation theatre. His greatest contribution to medicine was to promote the use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic.

     He lived in an era when surgeons wore dirty aprons, surgical instruments were unclean, and surgeons didn’t even wash their hands before carrying out operations. Lister soon realized that urgent changes were needed to prevent so many people dying after surgery, due to infection. He tested what would happen if the surgical instruments and bandages were treated with carbolic acid, and he was pleased to see that infection was significantly reduced.

     Other surgeons soon followed his example. Carbolic acid was used on bandages, and was even sprayed into the air during operations to kill bacteria, and reduce the risk of the wound becoming infected.

    Lister is often called the ‘father of modern surgery’ because of the life saving precautions he introduced in the field of surgery.

Gustav Kirchhoff, a German physicist, is remembered for his pioneering work in spectroscopy, which permitted investigation of the chemical composition of stars.

       His circuit laws are the foundation of electrical engineering. In 1845, while still only a student at the university, Kirchhoff wrote a paper detailing his circuit laws.

      Kirchhoff discovered that radiation is given off by all objects that have a temperature greater than absolute zero, and gave a proof for his law of thermal radiation in 1861. He experimented with electrical circuits and spectroscopy, and coined the term ‘black-body’ radiation in 1862.

       Along with Robert Bunsen, Kirchhoff founded the science of spectrum analysis by proving that every element gives off a characteristic wave length of light when heated to incandescence.

     He also discovered that when light is passed through a gas, the gas absorbs those wavelengths it would have emitted if heated. This discovery was of great importance to the field of astronomy.

Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist made many important discoveries related to the immune system, vaccinations, chemistry, and the nature of diseases.

     Pasteur’s work helped show that microorganisms are the true cause of many diseases. Pasteur used his knowledge of germs to investigate how beverages such as wine and milk were spoiled by microbes such as bacteria.

      He found that heating up the liquids would kill most of the microbes, and allow the beverages to last longer, and be safer to drink. This process became known as pasteurization, and is still done on many foods such as milk, vinegar, wines, cheese, and juices. He studied the immune system and vaccination through his research, and helped produce the first vaccine for rabies, saving the life of a young boy in 1885.

     Pasteur is also responsible for many breakthroughs in the field of chemistry. He discovered the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals, and made important discoveries related to the nature of tartaric acid.

     Today, Louis Pasteur is known as one of the most important scientist in history.

Gregor Mendel, a 19th century monk, is the founder of modern genetics. He is famous for his pea plant experiments which helped to establish some of the now accepted laws of heredity. Heredity is when certain traits like eye colour, height, and athletic ability are passed from the parents to the children. In biology the study of heredity is called genetics.

     In 1856, Mendel began studying hereditary features in pea plants, and concluded that all living things, including humans, passed on their characteristics to their children in predictable ways.

    Mendel grew, and tested almost 28,000 pea plants during 8 years of research. He came up with the terms recessive and dominant, to describe type of genes that are passed down through generations.

     Mendel’s findings, which he presented on meetings of the natural history society of Brno, in 1865, were rejected by his fellow scientists while he was alive. It wasn’t until later that his work was rediscovered and confirmed through further experimentation.

The English physicist James Joule studied the nature of heat, and established its relationship to mechanical work.

         He showed that the various forms of energy mechanical, electrical, and heat are basically the same, and can be changed, one into another. This is known as the conservation of energy, and the idea was proved by Joule in a series of experiments.

        In his early years, joule proved that heat produced in a small electromagnet built by him was from electrical energy, which was in turn, generated by mechanical energy which powered the dynamo. The principle of conservation of energy became the first law of thermodynamics, a field of physics that Joule is referred to as the chief founder of.

       Joule was the first person to calculate the speed of a molecule of gas, about 457 meters a second for oxygen at average temperatures. This would lay the foundations for the kinetic theory of gases in the future. Joule recognized the need for standard units of electricity. In fact, the unit of energy is named the ‘joule’ in recognition of his contributions.