Dictionary of Scientific Biography




Linda Hall Library Collection Table of Contents



Electronic edition published by Cultural Heritage Langauge Technologies (with permission from Charles Scribners and Sons) and funded by the National Science Foundation International Digital Libraries Program. This text has been proofread to a low degree of accuracy. It was converted to electronic form using data entry.

Table of Contents

First Page

AGRICOLA, GEORGIUS, also known as Georg Bauerb. Glauchau, Germany, 24 March 1494; d. Chemnitz, Germany [now Karl-Marx-Stadt, German Democratic Republic], 21 November 1555), mining, metallurgy.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

BALDI, BERNARDINO(b. Urbino, Italy, 5 June 1553; d. Urbino, 10 October 1617), mechanics.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

BORELLI, GIOVANNI ALFONSO(b. Naples, Italy, January 1608; d. Rome, Italy, 31 December 1679), astronomy, epidemiology, mathematics, physiology (iatromechanics), physics, volcanology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

BRUNO, GIORDANO (b. Nola, Italy, 1548; d. Rome, Italy, 17 February 1600), philosophy.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

BUCKLAND, WILLIAM (b. Axminster, England, 12 March 1784; d. Islip, England, 14 August 1856), geology, paleontology.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

BUFFON, GEORGES-LOUIS LECLERC, COMTE DE (b. Montbard, France, 7 September 1707; d. Paris, France, 16 April 1788); natural history.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

BURNET, THOMAS (b. Croft, Yorkshire, England, ca. 1635; d. London, England, 27 September 1715), cosmogony, geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

CARDANO, GIROLAMO (b. Pavia, Italy, 24 September 1501; d. Rome, Italy, 21 September 1576), medicine, mathematics, physics, philosophy.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

CHAMBERS, ROBERT (b. Peebles, Scotland, 10 July 1802; d. St. Andrews, Scotland, 17 March 1871), biology, geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

COMMANDINO, FEDERICO (b. Urbino, Italy, 1509; d. Urbino, 3 September 1575), mathematics.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

CONYBEARE, WILLIAM DANIEL (b. London, England, June 1787; d. Llandaff, Wales, 12 August 1857), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

CUVIER, GEORGES (b. Montbéliard, Württemberg, 23 August 1769; d. Paris, France, 13 May 1832), zoology, paleontology, history of science.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

DESCARTES, RENÉ DU PERRON (b. La Haye, Touraine, France, 31 March 1596; d. Stockholm, Sweden, 11 February 1650), natural philosophy, scientific method, mathematics, optics, mechanics, physiology.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
  DESCARTES: Mathematics and Physics.
    Mathematics.
    Optics.
    Mechanics.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.
  DESCARTES: Physiology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

GALILEI, GALILEO (b. Pisa, Italy, 15 February 1564; d. Arcetri, Italy, 8 January 1642), physics, astronomy.
  Early Years.
  Professorship at Pisa.
  Professorship at Padua.
  Early Work on Free Fall.
  The Telescope.
  Controversies at Florence.
  Dialogue on the World Systems.
  The Trial of Galileo.
  Two New Sciences.
  Last Years.
  Sources of Galileo's Physics.
  Experiment and Mathematics.
  The Influence of Galileo.
  Personal Traits.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

GASSENDI (GASSEND), PIERRE (b. Champtercier, France, 22 January 1592; d. Paris, France, 24 October 1655), philosophy, astronomy, scholarship.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

GESNER, KONRAD (b. Zurich, Switzerland, 26 March 1516; d. Zurich, 13 March 1565), natural sciences, medicine, philology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

GOMPERTZ, BENJAMIN (b. London, England, 5 March 1779; d. London, 14 July 1865), mathematics.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

GOODRICH, EDWIN STEPHEN (b. Weston-super-Mare, England, 21 June 1868; d. Oxford, England, 6 January 1946), comparative anatomy, embryology, paleontology, evolution.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

GOULD, JOHN (b. Lyme Regis, England, 14 September 1804; d. London, England, 3 February 1881), ornithology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

HITCHCOCK, EDWARD (b. Deerfield, Massachusetts, 24 May 1793; d. Amherst, Massachusetts, 27 February 1864), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

HARRIS, JOHN (b. Shropshire [?], England, ca. 1666; d. Norton Court, Kent, England, 7 September 1719), natural philosophy, dissemination of knowledge.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

HOBBES, THOMAS (b. Malmesbury, England, 5 April 1588; d. Hardwick, Derbyshire, England, 4 December 1679), political philosophy, moral philosophy, geometry, optics.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

HOOKE, ROBERT (b. Freshwater, Isle of Wight, England, 18 July 1635; d. London, England, 3 March 1702), physics.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

HUTTON, JAMES (b. Edinburgh, Scotland, 3 June 1726; d. Edinburgh, 26 March 1797), geology, agriculture, physical sciences, philosophy.
  Geology.
  The Theory of the Earth.
  Reception of the Theory.
  Agriculture and Evolution.
  Physical Sciences.
  Philosophy.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

JORDANUS DE NEMORE (fl. ca. 1220), mechanics, mathematics.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

KEILL, JOHN
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

LAMARCK, JEAN BAPTISTE PIERRE ANTOINE DE MONET DE (b. Bazentin-le-Petit, Picardy, France, 1 August 1744; d. Paris, France, 28 December 1829), botany, invertebrate zoology and paleontology, evolution.
  Botany.
  Institutional Affiliations.
  Chemistry.
  Meteorology.
  Invertebrate Zoology and Paleontology.
  Geology.
  Theory of Evolution.
  Origins of Lamarck's Theory.
  Lamarck's Reputation.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

LEA, ISAAC (b. Wilmington, Delaware, 4 March 1792; d. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 8 December 1886), malacology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

LEIBNIZ, GOTTFRIED WILHELM (b. Leipzig, Germany, 1 July 1646; d. Hannover, Germany, 14 November 1716), mathematics, philosophy, metaphysics.
  LEIBNIZ: Physics, Logic, Metaphysics
    Rational Physics (Protophysics).
    Physics (Mechanical Hypothesis).
    Scientia Generalis.
    Formal Logic.
    General Logic.
    Methodological Principles.
    Metaphysics (Logical Atomism).
    Influence.
  NOTES
  LEIBNIZ: Mathematics
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

LISTER, MARTIN (christened Radclive, Buckinghamshire, England, 11 April 1639; d. Epsom, England, 2 February 1712), zoology, geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

LYELL, CHARLES (b. Kinnordy, Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland, 14 November 1797; d. London, England, 22 February 1875), geology, evolutionary biology.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

MANTELL, GIDEON ALGERNON (b. Lewes, Sussex, England, 3 February 1790; d. London, England, 10 November 1852), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

MILLER, HUGH (b. Cromarty, Scotland, 10 October 1802; d. Portobello, Scotland, 24 December 1856), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

MONTE, GUIDOBALDO, MARCHESE DEL (b. Pesaro, Italy, 11 January 1545; d. Montebaroccio, 6 January 1607), mechanics, mathematics, astronomy.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

MURCHISON, RODERICK IMPEY (b. Tarradale, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, 19 February 1792; d. London, England, 22 October 1871), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

NEWTON, ISAAC (b. Woolsthorpe, England, 25 December 1642; d. London, England, 20 March 1727), mathematics, dynamics, celestial mechanics, astronomy, optics, natural philosophy.
   Lucasian Professor. On 1 October 1667, some two years after his graduation, Newton was elected minor fellow of Trinity, and on 16 March 1668 he was admitted major fellow. He was created M.A. on 7 July 1668 and on 29 October 1669, at the age of twenty-six, he was appointed Lucasian professor. He succeeded Isaac Barrow, first incumbent of the chair, and it is generally believed that Barrow resigned his professorship so that Newton might have it.10
   Mathematics. Any summary of Newton's contributions to mathematics must take account not only of his fundamental work in the calculus and other aspects of analysis--including infinite series (and most notably the general binomial expansion)--but also his activity in algebra and number theory, classical and analytic geometry, finite differences, the classification of curves, methods of computation and approximation, and even probability.
  Optics.
  Dynamics, Astronomy, and the Birth of the “Principia.”
  Mathematics in the “Principia.”
  The “Principia”: General Plan.
  The “Principia”: Definitions and Axioms.
  Book I of the “Principia.”
  Book II of the “Principia.”
  Book III, “The System of the World.”
  Revision of the “Opticks” (the Later Queries); Chemistry and Theory of Matter.
  Alchemy, Prophecy, and Theology. Chronology and History.
  The London Years: the Mint, the Royal Society, Quarrels with Flamsteed and with Leibniz.
  Newton's Philosophy: The Rules of Philosophizing, the General Scholium, the Queries of the “Opticks.”
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    ORIGINAL WORKS
    SECONDARY LITERATURE
    SOURCES
    SOVIET LITERATURE: a special section devoted to Newtonian scholarship in the Soviet Union.
    ORIGINAL WORKS
    SECONDARY LITERATURE
    SOURCES
    SOVIET LITERATURE ON NEWTON

OWEN, RICHARD (b. Lancaster, England, 20 July 1804; d. Richmond Park, London, England, 18 December 1892), comparative anatomy, vertebrate paleontology, geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

PACIOLI, LUCA (b. Sansepolcro, Italy, ca. 1445; d. Sansepolcro, 1517), mathematics, bookkeeping.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

PLAYFAIR, JOHN (b. Benvie, near Dundee, Scotland, 10 March 1748; d. Edinburgh, Scotland, 20 July 1819), mathematics, physics, geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

PLAYFAIR, LYON (b. Chunar, India, 21 May 1818; d. London, England, 29 May 1898), chemistry.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

PLOT, ROBERT (b. Borden, Kent, England, 13 December 1640; d. Borden, 30 April 1696), natural history, archaeology, chemistry.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

SCHEUCHZER, JOHANN JAKOB (b. Zurich, Switzerland, 2 August 1672; d. Zurich, 23 June 1733), medicine, natural history, mathematics, geology, geophysics.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

SCHOTT, GASPAR (b. Königshofen, near Würzburg, Germany, 5 February 1608; d. Würzburg, 22 May 1666), mathematics, physics, technology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

SCROPE, GEORGE JULIUS POULETT (b. London, England, 10 March 1797; d. Fairlawn [near Cobham], Surrey, England, 19 January 1876), geology.
  NOTES
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY WORKS.

SEDGWICK, ADAM (b. Dent, Yorkshire, England, 22 March 1785; d. Cambridge, England, 27 January 1873), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

SMITH, WILLIAM (b. Churchill, Oxfordshire, England, 23 March 1769; d. Northampton, England, 28 August 1839), geology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

STENSEN, NIELS, also known as Nicolaus Steno (b. Copenhagen, Denmark, 1%6111 January 1638; d. Schwerin, Germany, 25 November/5 December 1686), anatomy, geology, mineralogy.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

STERNBERG, KASPAR MARIA VON (b. Prague, Bohemia [now in Czechoslovakia], 6 January 1761; d. Březina castle, Radnice, 20 December 1838), botany, geology, paleontology.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.

WOODWARD, JOHN (b. Derbyshire, England, 1 May 1665; d. London, England, 25 April 1728), geology, mineralogy, botany.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
    I. ORIGINAL WORKS.
    II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.