1. James Clerk Maxwell (1831)

Physicist

Scottish physicist who is considered by some to be the father of modern physics because of his discovery of electromagnetism. His research laid the groundwork for such fields as special...

2. Owen Willans Richardson (1879)

Physicist

British physicist who won the 1928 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in thermionic emission, which is what led to Richardson's Law.

3. John H. Vanvleck (1970)

Physicist

Winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering research in magnetism. His revolutionary research led to technologies like radar and greatly contributed to our understanding of the...

4. Merle Tuve (1970)

Physicist

Acclaimed scientist and pioneer in the use of pulsed radio waves. His work helped bring about the development of both radar and nuclear energy.

5. J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904)

Physicist

Led America into the atomic era with his research into nuclear physics and supervision of the Los Alamos laboratories from the very beginning of the Manhattan Project. In 1953, after...

6. Heinz Pose (1970)

Physicist

A German nuclear scientist who worked on understanding nuclear energy levels. He was awarded the War Merit Cross from the Nazi Party in 1943.

7. Rudolf Kompfner (1970)

Physicist

Engineer and physicist who invented the traveling-wave tube (TWT). He received the National Medal of Science in 1974 for his invention.

8. John Archibald Wheeler (1911)

Physicist

Influential Princeton University physicist who worked with Neils Bohr and Albert Einstein on atomic theory and helped with the development of the atomic bomb as a part of the Manhattan project. He...

9. Luis Walter Alvarez (1911)

Physicist

Revered physicist who received the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physics for his hand in designing a liquid hydrogen bubble chamber. He was also involved in high-profile projects like the Manhattan...

10. David Shoenberg (1970)

Physicist

British physicist who was considered a leading figure in the study of low-temperature physics. He served as a Professor of Physics at Cambridge University from 1973 to 1978 and later...

11. Martin D. Kamen (1913)

Physicist

Physicist who discovered the Carbon-14 element, which allowed biologists to peer inside the chemistry of living cells. He also worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II, which developed...

12. James Henry Deese (1914)

Physicist

NASA manager who worked at Kennedy Space center from 1960 to 1964 and contributed to five major U.S. Space Programs including Mercury, Apollo, and Saturn. In his long career he...

13. John Parsons (1914)

Physicist

American rocket propulsion researcher and pioneer of solid rocket fuel research who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Aerojet Corp. Unfortunately he lost his security clearance and ability to...

14. Donald Hughes (1970)

Physicist

Best remembered as a signer of the famous 1945 Franck Report, this nuclear physicist urged the United States government to abandon its plans to detonate atomic bombs over Hiroshima and...

15. Sean Carroll (1966)

Physicist

Theoretical physicist who is recognized for his contributions to the studies of quantum mechanics and cosmology. He worked as a research professor for the Department of Physics at the California Institute of...

16. Samuel Cohen (1921)

Physicist

Famous for developing a nuclear weapon known as the W70, this New York-born physicist is considered an early architect of the combined fission and fusion neutron bomb.

17. Bryce Seligman Dewitt (1923)

Physicist

American theoretical physicist who developed canonical quantum gravity. He also originated the field of numerical relativity.

18. Fred Begay (1932)

Physicist

Nuclear physicist who was a part of the physics staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory and worked on the use of the laser, electron, and ion beams to heat thermonuclear...

19. Abdul Qadeer Khan (1936)

Physicist

Pakistani nuclear scientist who participated in his country's atomic bomb project and made significant contributions in molecular morphology.

20. Rajagopala Chidambaram (1936)

Physicist

Indian nuclear and condensed matter physicist who served as Chairman of the Indian government's Atomic Energy Commission. He was also the Vice-President of the International Union of Crystallography from 1996...

21. Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. (1941)

Physicist

The co-recipient (with Russell Alan Hulse) of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics, he is famous for his discovery of a new variety of pulsar, a binary pulsar, which he...

22. Fazle Hussain (1970)

Physicist

Physicist who taught mechanical engineering and has contributed to the fields of turbulent flows and vortex dynamics.

23. Lawrence Krauss (1954)

Physicist

Well-known theoretical physicist and author of "The Physics of Star Trek" and "A Universe from Nothing." He has written editorials for The New York Times and he was chairman of...

24. Steven R White (1959)

Physicist

Professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is also the founder of The White Group, which studies strongly correlated quantum systems using numerical simulations. 

25. Jim Gates (1950)

Physicist

Known for his work in the particle and theoretical physics sub-fields of superstring theory, supersymmetry, and super gravity, this renowned African-American physicist and University of Maryland professor was awarded the...

26. Bob Lazar (1959)

Physicist

Physicist and alien conspiracy theorist who founded the United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies company. His claims have been refuted by ufologists and physicists. Many of his claims were related...

27. Aaron D. O'Connell (1981)

Physicist

Physicist who created the first quantum machine. He also won th Science journal's Breakthrough of the Year.