SCIENTISTS

                         SCIENTISTS

Over  the centuries, some people have worked hard to answer important questions about the world, the Universe, and the nature of the things around us. The theories of these scientists have often gone against what most people thought. Galileo and Darwin, for example, clashed with the Christian Church by denying that the Earth was at the center of the Universe, and that humans were created in an instant.

        ITALIAN ASTRONOMER

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a scientist who studied the stars using the first effective telescopes. He confirmed that the Earth moves around the Sun. He also explained how the sea’s tides are caused by the movements of the Moon.

        FIRST ATOMIC SCIENTIST

John Dalton (1766-1844), an English chemist, was the first to calculate the weights of atom. Particles that make up the different chemical elements. Although he was mistaken in some of his calculations, his discoveries helped to make chemistry an exact science.

         DISCOVER OF GRAVITY

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was an English mathematician and astronomer. By watching apples falling from a tree, he worked out the theory of gravity. He also found out the sunlight is made up of different colors, and invented a new branch of mathematics, known as calculus.

        EARLY CHINESE SCIENTIST

Zhang Heng (A.D. 78-139) was the first person to explain the disappearance of the Moon during an eclipse. He also made the first seismograph, to detect earthquakes.

        TRACKING THE PLANETS

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German astronomer. He explained that the planets do not move around the Sun in a perfect circle, but along an egg-shaped path called an ellipse. He also proved that they move faster as they draw closer to the Sun.

AMAZING FACTS

    In 1633, the Catholic Church imprisoned Galileo for believing that the planets moved around the Sun. The Church declared that it may have made a mistake – 350 years later.

MORE GREAT  SCIENTISTS

CHARLES DARWIN (1809-82)

Englishman Darwin proposed the theory of evolution.  This explained how all forms of life developed over billions of years from simple organisms.

MARIE CURIE (1867-1934)

Born in Poland, curie went to france and studied radioactivity. She discovered the elements polonium and radium, and became the first scientist to win two noble prizes.