Category Scientist & Invensions

Paracelsus was a renowned German physicist, and botanist of Swiss origin. His path breaking findings in botany and medicine made him a pioneer in his field.

     Paracelsus became a notable physician in the early 16th century. He rejected most of the prevalent and widely accepted world views, and magic theories of medicine. While working on medicines, Paracelsus brought together the use of chemicals in medicines. In1526, he coined the term ‘ZINCUM’ for the chemical element zinc. He is also known for discovering ‘Laudanum’ which is an alcoholic herbal preparation.

      Paracelsus was a strict follower, and a firm believer of the classical Greek concept of elements. However, he added his own findings to this concept. Paracelsus’ real name was Philipp us von Hohenheim.

       The name ‘Paracelsus’ was actually a nickname. It means ‘equal to or greater than celsus’ and refers to his medical skill.

Nicolaus Copernicus was a 15th century astronomer, mathematician, translator, artist, and physicist, among other things.

      He is best known as the first astronomer to put forward the idea of a system in which the planets and planetary objects orbit the sun.

         By 1508, Copernicus had begun to create his model of the planetary system, suggesting that the sun, and not our Earth, was the centre of the universe. His model of the universe was accepted, whereas earlier models had not been, because his was more detailed and accurate. He also had a better formula for the calculation of the positions of the planets at different times of the year.

     The Roman Catholic Church criticized Copernicus’ theories. It went so far as to ban his book ‘De Revolution bus Erbium Coelestium,’ after he died, and it remained a forbidden book for almost three hundred years.

          The ideas of Copernicus were instrumental in the evolution of the field of astronomy. In fact, almost every notable astronomer who came after him was influenced by his theories.

Roger Bacon was an English philosopher and Franciscan monk who promoted experimental science and was deeply interested in the study of nature.

      He studied mathematics, astronomy, optics, alchemy and languages. His studies on the nature of light, and on rainbows, are especially noteworthy, and he seems to have planned and interpreted these experiments carefully.

     He seriously studied the problem of flying in a machine with flapping wings. He was also the first person in the West to give exact directions for making gun-powder.

     Roger Bacon’s work was talked about everywhere, and eventually won him a place in popular literature as a kind of wonder worker. He was also called Doctor Mirabilis- ‘mirabilis’ in Latin means ‘wonderful teacher.’

Galen was a Greek who became the Ancient Roman Empire’s greatest physician. He had great expertise in anatomy, surgery, pharmacology and therapeutic methods.

    Galen had an absolute belief in the power of experiment and observation. He did not believe in merely following what books told him was true. He needed to verify the truth for himself.

     His anatomical reports, based mainly on dissection of monokeys, remained uncontested until 1543, when printed descriptions and illustrations of human dissections were published.

   Galen, the great scientist, consolidated the work of previous Greek medical researchers, adding the results of his own research, to create an incredibly long-lasting medical doctrine. This medical doctrine dominated the Western world for 1500 years.

Ptolemy was a Greek astronomer, astrologer, mathematician and geographer who lived and worked in Alexandria in Ancient Egypt, in the second century AD.

      His work ‘Almagest,’ is one of the most important works in ancient astronomy. It covers the motion of sun, moon, and the planets around the Earth. It also contains a catalogue of stars with their brightness on a logarithmic scale.

      Ptolemy’s description of the universe was accepted by the astronomical community for more than a thousand years. Ptolemy’s second important work is called ‘Geography.’ It is a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world.

       Ptolemy’s treatise on astrology was influential because of its practical treatment of astrology. Ptolemy discarded practices that did not have a logical basis, and also believed that astrology was not a completely reliable science.

Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek scientist born in the town of Cyrene, which is no in Libya, in about 276 BC. He was famous as a mathematician and geographer.

         Eratosthenes produced a reliable, logical method to discover prime numbers. It’s known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, and is still important in modern number theory in an updated form.

    Assuming that the earth was a sphere, Eratosthenes calculated its size with good accuracy. He also calculated the tilt of earth’s axis fairly accurately. Eratosthenes produced the first map of the world which used meridian lines and parallel lines. These were similar to our modern lines of latitude and longitude. This great scientist can be said to have invented geography

     In fact, today we still use the word he invented for this new discipline. ‘Geo’ was Greek for ‘Earth’ and ‘graphy’ meant ‘field of study.’

      Eratosthenes also wrote books on philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, history, comedy, and poetry. His all-round knowledge made him the ideal choice for the most prestigious job an academic could enjoy in Ancient Greece. He was the director of the library of Alexandria, the greatest intellectual institution of the ancient world.