Discoverers

Jean-Baptist-Point Du Sable is considered the first permanent non-Indigenous settler of the area that would later become known as Chicago, Illinois. He was of African descent and married to a Native American woman. He established a prosperous trading settlement and traded around the Great Lakes and in the Illinois Country. He is recognized as the "Founder of Chicago." 

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.

Australian-American roboticist Rodney Brooks is known for popularizing the concept of behavioral robotics and making autonomous robots. The Stanford alumnus has also been associated with Carnegie Mellon University and MIT. Allen and Baxter remain two of his most popular intelligent robots. He also designed Cog, a robot meant to learn through interaction.

Best remembered for his co-discovery of viruses during his research on the mosaic disease in tobacco, Russian botanist Dmitri Ivanovsky is regarded as one of the pioneers of virology. Interestingly, following his discovery, he didn’t focus on virology much and taught plant anatomy and physiology instead.

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. 

British astronomer Norman Lockyer is known for his discovery of the gas helium, along with French astronomer Pierre Janssen, though both worked independently. A talented author, too, he established the periodical Nature and remained associated with it till death. He was knighted for his achievements.

German chemist Christian Friedrich Schönbein is best remembered for his discovery of ozone and the fuel cell. He also discovered guncotton, or nitrocellulose, as a result of a kitchen accident. He was an apprentice at a chemical firm at 13 and grew up to teach at the at the University of Basel.

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. 

French chemist Anselme Payen is known for co-discovering the first enzyme diastase, and for discovering the carbohydrate cellulose. He broke the Dutch monopoly for borax by developing a method to synthesize borax from soda and boric acid; developed a method to determine nitrogen and methods for refining sugar; and invented a decolorimeter.

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.  

Carl Humann, one of the 19th century self-made archaeologists who never studied archaeology nor did any advanced degree in the field, rose to prominence after he discovered the Pergamon Altar that is counted among the finest examples of Hellenistic sculpture. His excavation of the ancient Greek city of Pergamum also brought to light much about Hellenistic city planning.

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.