St John's College, Cambridge

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher. Widely regarded as the co-founder of modern political philosophy, Hobbes is best known for his influential book Leviathan. Apart from political philosophy, Thomas Hobbes also contributed immensely to various other fields, such as ethics, theology, geometry, history, and jurisprudence.

English author, screenwriter, and essayist, Douglas Adams, is most remembered for his comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As a screenwriter, he wrote two stories for the TV series Doctor Who. He advocated for environmentalism and spoke about environmental issues in his non-fiction radio series Last Chance to See.

Roger Penrose’s contribution to the research related to the black hole and general relativity earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020. The Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at Oxford, Roger is also a fellow of Wadham College, St John's College of Cambridge, and University College London.

Cecil Beaton was a British war, portrait, and fashion photographer. A multi-talented personality, Beaton is also known for his work as a painter, diarist, interior designer, and costume designer. Cecil Beaton worked with popular publications like Vogue before becoming a leading war photographer. His work as a costume designer for the theatre and films earned him Oscars and Tony Awards.  

The son of renowned astronomer William Herschel, John Herschel was educated at Eton and Cambridge and grew up to be a polymath. Apart from contributing to the field of photography, he was known for cataloguing and naming stars and satellites. He briefly also served as the Master of the Royal Mint.

British economist Mervyn King, Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal, serves as School Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and as Chairman of the Philharmonia. He taught at the University of Birmingham, Harvard and MIT, and served the Bank of England as a non-executive director, chief economist, deputy governor and lastly as Governor.  

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury was a British statesman best remembered for his contribution during the Union of the Crowns. One of the main discoverers of the infamous Gunpowder Plot, Robert Cecil served as the Lord High Treasurer from 1608 to 1612. From 1596 to 1612, he served as the Secretary of State of England.

William Gilbert was a 16th-century English physician, physicist, astronomer, and natural philosopher. He earned his MD from Cambridge and practiced medicine in London. He was a much-respected figure and was made the president of the Royal College of Physicians. He served as Queen Elizabeth I's and King James VI and I’s personal physician. 

Born in England, to an American father and an Irish mother, Jamie Bamber grew up in both England and France. The LAMDA alumnus is best known as Lee Adama from Battlestar Galactica and has also played major roles in series such as Law & Order: UK and movies such as Pulse 2: Afterlife.

Copley Medal-winning engineer Charles Algernon Parsons revolutionized marine transport with his invention of a multi-stage steam turbine. His other inventions include a mechanical reducing gear. Apart from being named a Fellow of the Royal Society, he was also knighted and awarded an Order of Merit for his contributions.

John Ambrose Fleming was an English electrical engineer and physicist. He is known for inventing the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube and designing the radio transmitter with which the first transatlantic radio transmission was made. Along with  Douglas Dewar and Bernard Acworth, he helped establish the Evolution Protest Movement. Fleming was also a noted photographer and artist. 

John Gardner was an English spy and author. He is best remembered for his thriller novels, including the continuation novels containing Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's villain Professor James Moriarty. John Gardner wrote over 50 works of fiction, including 14 original James Bond novels.

Born to legendary biologist Charles Darwin, George Darwin initially studied law and became a barrister. However, his interest in science made him deviate to astronomy. He believed the Moon was one part of the Earth. He later also taught at Cambridge and was made a Fellow of The Royal Society.

Edwin Abbott Abbott was a theologian, schoolmaster, and Anglican priest. He is remembered for writing the 1884 novella Flatland. He served as the principal of the City of London School where he supervised the education of H.H. Asquith, who would go on to serve as the prime minister of the UK. Abbott is also credited with writing educational text books.

German-born British physicist Rudolf Peierls is best-remembered for co-authoring the Frisch–Peierls memorandum with Otto Frisch which revealed that an atomic bomb can be developed from a small amount of fissile uranium-235. This led to formation of MAUD Committee, development of the Tube Alloys project and the Manhattan Project, and atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War.

One of the co-founders of the chain of health-oriented fast-food eateries, Leon Restaurants, John Vincent has also penned seven cookbooks. He has also launched the School Food Plan, which has improved the diet of millions of students. He has chaired the Council for Sustainable Business, too.

Norman Heatley was an English biochemist and biologist. He was part of a team of Oxford University scientists whose work led to the development of penicillin. Heatley is credited with developing a technique for purifying penicillin in bulk. Norman Heatley's contribution in the development of penicillin was not fully recognized until 1990.

Considered a pioneer in radio physics, Nobel laureate Sir Edward Victor is remembered as much for his pioneering work on physics of the upper atmosphere as for his discovery of the Appleton layer. His investigations, which proved the existence of ionosphere and established its characteristics, helped not only to develop an unfailing long-range radio communication, but also the much-needed radars.

British physicist Nevill Francis Mott revolutionized science with his research on the magnetic and electrical properties of amorphous semiconductors, which earned him a Nobel Prize. Born to teachers of science and math, Mott grew up to teach physics. He was also knighted for his contribution to science.

Apart from teaching at Cambridge, British social anthropologist Jack Goody also penned books such as Death, Property and the Ancestors. He had also fought in World War II. His work in sociology earned him the knighthood. He was also made a Fellow of The British Academy.

George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon had earned the nickname The Great Lord Clarendon. A Liberal Party politician, he had been the foreign secretary of Britain under 4 prime ministers. He was also a significant member of the Congress of Paris, which put an end to the Crimean War.

Apart from being a famed British athlete, Christopher William Brasher was also a skilled mountaineer, who was part of Edmund Hillary’s reserve team for his Everest mission and had led two missions to the Arctic. He was an award-winning journalist, too, but was best known for co-founding the London Marathon.