Science, Tech, Math › Science Famous Scientists Who Contributed to Chemistry Share Flipboard Email Print Science Chemistry Famous Chemists Basics Chemical Laws Molecules Periodic Table Projects & Experiments Scientific Method Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Medical Chemistry Chemistry In Everyday Life Activities for Kids Abbreviations & Acronyms Biology Physics Geology Astronomy Weather & Climate By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. Facebook Twitter Chemistry Expert Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on November 05, 2019 These are images of famous chemists or other scientists who made significant contributions to the field of chemistry. Pictures containing multiple famous chemists appear first. First Solvay Conference First Solvay Conference (1911), Marie Curie (seated, 2nd from right) confers with Henri Poincaré. Standing, 4th from right, Ernest Rutherford; 2nd from right, Albert Einstein; far right, Paul Langevin. Benjamin Couprie/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Seated (L-R): Walther Nernst, Marcel Brillouin, Ernest Solvay, Hendrik Lorentz, Emil Warburg, Jean Baptiste Perrin, Wilhelm Wien, Marie Curie, Henri Poincaré. Standing (L-R): Robert Goldschmidt, Max Planck, Heinrich Rubens, Arnold Sommerfeld, Frederick Lindemann, Maurice de Broglie, Martin Knudsen, Friedrich Hasenöhrl, Georges Hostelet, Edouard Herzen, James Hopwood Jeans, Ernest Rutherford, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin. Alfred Bernhard Nobel Chemist and inventor of dynamite. Creator of the Nobel Foundation. Gösta Florman/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. Curie Lab Pierre Curie, Pierre's assistant, Petit, and Marie Curie. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Marie and Pierre Curie discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium. Curie Women Marie Curie with Meloney, Irène, and Eve shortly after their arrival in the United States. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 J. J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford J. J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford in the 1930s. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Lavoisier Portrait of Monsieur Lavoisier and his Wife (1788). Oil on canvas. 259.7 x 196 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Jacques-Louis David/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Antoine Lavoisier is often considered to be the Father of Chemistry. Emil Abderhalden Emil Abderhalden was a famous Swiss biochemist and physiologist. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Richard Abegg Richard Wilhelm Heinrich Abegg was the German chemist who described valence theory. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Svante A. Arrhenius Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Francis W. Aston Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Amedeo Avogadro Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Avogadro formulated Avogadro's law. Avogadro's number is named in honor of him. Adolf von Baeyer Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley was a farmer and hobbyist snow crystal photomicrographer. He took over 5000 images of snowflakes. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Friedrich Bergius Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Karl Bosch Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Eduard Buchner Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Robert Wilhelm Bunsen Pioneer of spectroscopy and inventor of the bunsen burner. F. J. Moore, 'A History of Chemistry' c.1918 George Washington Carver George Washington Carver at work in his lab. USDA History Collection, Special Collections, National Agricultural Library/Public Domain George Washington Carver George Washington Carver was an American inventor, scientist, and educator. Frances Benjamin Johnston/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 De Chancourtois De Chancourtois was a French geologist who devised a periodic table of the elements in which the elements were grouped according to periodic properties and ordered according to increasing atomic weight. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Marie Curie Marie Curie driving a radiology car in 1917. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Marie Curie The Granger Collection, New York Marie Curie Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Marie Curie Marie Sklodowska, before she moved to Paris. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Pierre Curie Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 John Dalton John Dalton (September 6, 1766 – July 27, 1844) was an English chemist and physicist. Dalton is best known for his work on atomic theory and research into color blindness. William Henry Worthington/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Sir Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy (17 December 1778 29 May 1829) was a British chemist and physicist. He discovered several alkali and alkaline earth metals and investigated the properties of the elements chlorine and iodine. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Sir Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy (17 December 1778 29 May 1829) was a British chemist and physicist. He discovered several alkali and alkaline earth metals and investigated the properties of the elements chlorine and iodine. The Life of Sir Humphry Davy by John A. Paris, London: Colburn and Bentley, 1831. This engraving is circa 1830, based on a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769 - 1830). Sir Humphry Davy Thorpe's 1896 biography of Davy Fausto D'Elhuyar Fausto D'Elhuyar (1755 - 1833) Co-discoverer of tungsten. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Juan Jose D'Elhuyar Famous Chemists Juan Jose D'Elhuyar (1754 - 1796) co-discoverer of tungsten. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Albert Einstein This photo was inscribed "To Linus Pauling" from Albert Einstein (1958). Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC by 1.0 Einstein's Tongue Famous Scientists Silly (and famous) picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out. Public Domain Albert Einstein Famous Scientists Photograph of Albert Einstein (1947). Library of Congress, Photograph by Oren Jack Turner, Princeton, N.J. Hans von Euler-Chelpin Hans Fischer Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Franklin used x-ray crystallography to see the structure of DNA and the tobacco mosaic virus. I believe this is a photo of a portrait in the National Portait Gallery in London. Victor Grignard Sir Arthur Harden Mae Jemison Mae Jemison is a retired medical doctor and American astronaut. In 1992, she became the first black woman in space. She holds a degree in chemical engineering from Stanford and a degree in medicine from Cornell. NASA Gilbert N. Lewis Among other contributions to chemistry, Gilbert N. Lewis isolated heavy water and brought E. O. Lawrence to Berkeley. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Shannon Lucid Shannon Lucid as an American biochemist and US astronaut. For a while, she held the American record for the most time in space. She studies the effects of space on human health, often using her own body as a test subject. NASA Lise Meitner Lise Meitner (November 17, 1878 October 27, 1968) was an Austrian/Swedish physicist who studied radioactivity and nuclear physics. She was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission, for which Otto Hahn received a Nobel Prize. Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Mendeleev is credited with developing the first periodic table of the elements. There were earlier tables, but Mendeleev's table showed the elements exhibited a periodicity of properties when they were arranged according to their atomic weight. Dmitri Mendeleyev Dmitri Mendeleyev (or Dmitri Mendeleev) is credited with developing one of the first periodic tables that organized the elements according to increasing atomic weight and accounted for trends in their chemical and physical properties. public domain Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Mendeleev (1834 - 1907). Library of Congress Julius Lothar Meyer Julius Lothar Meyer was a German chemist and contemporary of Dmitri Mendeleev. The scientists independently developed the periodic table in which the elements were ordered according to increasing atomic weight and grouped according to periodic properties. 19th century photograph of Julius Lothar Meyer. Robert Millikan Famous Scientists Robert Millikan is famous for his measurement of the charge on the electron and his work on the photoelectric effect. Millikan received the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics. photograph by Clark Millikan (1891) Henri Moissan Gaylord Nelson Gaylord Anton Nelson (June 4, 1916 – July 3, 2005) was an American Democratic politician from Wisconsin. He is best remembered for founding Earth Day and for calling for Congressional hearings on the safety of combined oral contraceptive pills. US Congress Walther H. Nernst Wilhelm Ostwald Linus Pauling Linus Pauling - Age 7. Linus Pauling lived in the rural town of Condon, Oregon. Linus Pauling Linus Pauling - age 17 (1918). Fritz Pregl Sir William Ramsay Theodore W. Richards Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen or Roentgen (1845-1923), discoverer of x-rays. Universität Gießen Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford. Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, oil painting by J. Dunn, 1932. J. Dunn, National Portrait Gallery, London Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford in academic garb. Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection, University of Pennsylvania Library Sir Ernest Rutherford Paul Sabatier Frederick Soddy Theodor Svedberg J.J. Thomson J.J. Thomson. Chemical Heritage Foundation Collections Sir Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson Sir Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson. Johannes Diderik van der Waals Famous Chemists Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837 - 1923). Tuan Vo-Dinh Famous Chemists - Tuan Vo-Dinh Professor Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh is famous chemist and inventor who specializes in the field of photonics. Image courtesy of Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh James Walker Famous Chemists James Walker (1863 - 1935). Otto Wallach Alfred Werner Heinrich O. Wieland Richard M. Willstätter Adolf O. R. Windaus Richard A. Zsigmondy Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Famous Scientists Who Contributed to Chemistry." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/pictures-of-famous-chemists-4071313. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2021, February 16). Famous Scientists Who Contributed to Chemistry. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pictures-of-famous-chemists-4071313 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Famous Scientists Who Contributed to Chemistry." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/pictures-of-famous-chemists-4071313 (accessed May 31, 2023). copy citation