Helen A. Keller, an American author and lecturer, is perhaps the most wellknown and inspiring visually challenged person. She lost her sight when she was only 18 months old. But because of her resolve and courage she could complete her graduation from a university. She wrote a number of books including The Story of my … Read more

Louis Braille, himself a visually challenged person, developed a system for visually challenged persons and published it in 1821.

Heinrich Rudolph Hertz was born on 22 February 1857 in Hamburg, Germany, and was educated at the University of Berlin. Through his experiments, he confirmed J. C. Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory. His work laid the foundation for the future development of radio, telephone, telegraph, and television. He also discovered the photoelectric effect, which was later explained … Read more

James Prescott Joule was an outstanding British physicist best known for his research in electricity and thermodynamics. He formulated the law of the heating effect of electric current and experimentally verified the law of conservation of energy. He also discovered the value of the mechanical equivalent of heat. In recognition of his contributions to science, … Read more

Archimedes was a Greek scientist who became famous for his work in the fields of geometry and mechanics. He discovered the principle later named after him when he noticed that water in a bathtub overflowed as he stepped into it. On realizing this, he ran through the streets shouting “Eureka!”, which means “I have got … Read more

Galileo Galilei was born on 15 February 1564 in Pisa, Italy. From childhood, he showed a keen interest in mathematics and natural philosophy, though his father, Vincenzo Galilei, wanted him to become a medical doctor. Accordingly, Galileo enrolled for a medical degree at the University of Pisa in 1581, but he never completed it because … Read more

Camillo Golgi was born in 1843 at Corteno near Brescia. He studied medicine at the University of Pavia and, after graduating in 1865, continued to work at the Hospital of St. Matteo in Pavia. During this period, most of his investigations were concerned with the nervous system. In 1872, he accepted the post of Chief … Read more

Niels Bohr (1885–1962) was born in Copenhagen on 7 October 1885. He was appointed Professor of Physics at Copenhagen University in 1916. He received the Nobel Prize in 1922 for his work on the structure of the atom. Among Professor Bohr’s numerous writings, three that appeared as books are:(i) The Theory of Spectra and Atomic … Read more

E. Rutherford (1871–1937) was born at Spring Grove on 30 August 1871. He was known as the ‘Father’ of nuclear physics. He is famous for his work on radioactivity and the discovery of the nucleus of an atom with the gold foil experiment. He got the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1908.

J.J. Thomson (1856– 1940), a British physicist, was born in Cheetham Hill, a suburb of Manchester, on 18 December 1856. He was awarded the Nobel prize in Physics in 1906 for his work on the discovery of electrons. He directed the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge for 35 years and seven of his research assistants subsequently … Read more