Discoverers

Best known for his research on the Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, American archaeologist Hiram Bingham III had learned mountaineering from his missionary father. Though not a professional archaeologist, he ventured into exploration after gaining an interest in South America while teaching South American history at Yale.

John O'Keefe is an American-British neuroscientist and psychologist. He is best known for his discovery of place cells in the hippocampus. Along with May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2014. He is also the recipient of several other awards. He spent his entire academic career at the University College London.  

Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede served the Lutheran Church. Known for his missionary campaigns in Greenland, he earned the nickname the Apostle of Greenland. He established Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and lived among the Inuit community. He also translated books into Inuit and is revered as the National Saint of Greenland.

Paul Hermann Müller was a Swiss chemist known for his discovery of insecticidal qualities and the use of DDT in the control of vector diseases. He received the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this work. He began his career as a research chemist and later became the Deputy Director of Scientific Research on Substances for Plant Protection. 

Shiga Kiyoshi was a Japanese bacteriologist and physician. He is credited for many scientific discoveries, including the discovery of the Shigella dysenteriae microorganism. He also conducted research on diseases such as trypanosomiasis and tuberculosis. Kiyoshi Shiga is also credited with making numerous advancements in immunology and bacteriology.

Bernard Courtois was a French chemist. He is credited with isolating iodine and morphine. Interested in chemistry from a young age, he learned how to make potassium nitrate for gunpowder for the French Revolution. He later found work at the École Polytechnique in Paris. Later in life, he went into manufacturing high-quality iodine and its salts. 

Kasimir Fajans was a physical chemist of Polish-Jewish origin. He was a pioneer in the science of radioactivity. He is credited with the discovery of the chemical element protactinium. He began his career working under physicist Ernest Rutherford. He later researched radioactivity and nuclear reactions. He became the head of the Institute of Physical Chemistry in 1932.  

The son of an affluent surgeon from Provence, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc grew up to be a famous astronomer, known mostly for his research on longitudes. He is also remembered for discovering the Orion Nebula and owned a huge collection of coins, which he used to study history.

While he initially aspired to become a mining engineer, Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac later worked at a porcelain factory and eventually became a professor of chemistry and mineralogy. He is remembered for his research on atomic weights and rare earth elements. He discovered ytterbium and co-discovered gadolinium, too.

Swedish analytical chemist Anders Gustav Ekeberg is primarily known for his discovery of tantalum in 1802. He first studied at and later taught at the University of Uppsala. He was also a member of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 2018, Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center started an award in his name to acknowledge work in the field of tantalum research. 

Merrill Wallace Chase was an American immunologist best remembered for discovering cell-mediated immunology. He discovered that white blood cells were important agents of the immune system. Merrill Wallace ChaCse's discoveries laid the foundation for later research that identified the role of T cells, B cells, and other kinds of white blood cells.