Special Sub-Topic: Chemists Through the Ages Click Here To Play: Chemists Through the Ages

This man had to flee to the USA in 1791 from England when his books on chemisty caused an uproar. He founded not only English Unitarianism, but helped found the modern basis of chemistry by discovering of oxygen and explaning of photosynthesis.

Joseph Priestley. Priestley traveled with to Europe and met a number of scientists and published a 6-volume account of his work called "Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air" from 1774 to 1786.

This French chemist was a leader in research of catalysis. His 1912 Nobel Prize for chemistry with Victor Grignard was for discovering catalytic hydrogenation, which is used to make finely divided metals such as nickel, copper, and iron.

Paul Sabatier. Sabatier's theory of catalysis showed that a catalyst's effectiveness increases with its surface area and was later called chemisorption.

This man was a Swedish chemist, inventor, and industrialist who invented dynamite. Among his 355 patents were blasting gelatin, smokeless powder ballistite, and organic packing material which absorbed the liquid in nitroglycerin.

Alfred Nobel. Nobel left most of his fortune in 1896 to a foundation which awards prizes that bear his name.

In 1860, this chemist discovered the concept of critical temperature. He also wrote his own textbook series, "Principles of Chemistry", in Russian, English, French, and German, yet he most well known for creating the periodic table.

Dmitry Mendeleyev. Mendeleyev correctly predicted the elements gallium, scandium, and germanium, making his periodic table universally accepted. He also helped found the Russian Chemical Society in 1868.

Considered one of the greatest experimentalists who has ever lived, this English chemist and physicist is best known for his experiments dealing with electricity and magnetism. He has his own laws of electrolysis and tells about his work in chemistry (such as discovering two chlorides of carbon and succeeding in liquefying chlorine and other gases) in his 1858 work, "Experimental Researches in Chemistry and Physics."

Michael Faraday. Over three decades, Faraday published "Experimental Researches in Electricity" where he described his numerous experiments in electricity and electromagnetism.

This man is best known for developing the concept of atoms into a scientific theory which became the foundation for modern chemistry. He expressed his atomic theory in his 1803 work, "New System of Chemical Philosophy."

John Dalton. Dalton also explained the condensation of dew and produced a table of vapor pressures of water.

This American was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize for chemistry for discovering the element deuterium, which is heavy hydrogen. With his experience in isotope separation, he was brought into the Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb, but later spoke out against the misuse of nuclear energy.

Harold Urey. In his later life, he focused on figuring out the origin of life.

This Italian laid the foundations of modern chemistry with his analysis of experimental atomic weight determinations. In 1811, he showed that the application of Avogadro's law could yield atomic weights.

Stanislao Cannizzaro. When Stanislao Cannizzaro presented his ideas at the first annual International Congress of Chemists at Karlsruhe in 1860, there was little fanfare, but when his ideas were the basis Lothar Meyer's 1864, Cannizzaro's propositions became famous.

This Frenchman was famous for his work in chemistry where he influenced Jacques Charles' law which states that all gases expand by equal amounts when subjected to equal increments in temperature. Amedeo Avogadro used this man's skill to formulate Avogadro's number.

Joseph Gay-Lussac. Gay-Lussac also introduced the terms "pipette" and "burette."

This French man discovered no new elements or laws, but was a founder of modern chemistry with his 1789 book, "Elements of Chemistry." He proposed a new system of chemistry that was based on a modern concept of chemical elements which made more extensive use of the conservation of mass in chemical reactions.

Antoine Lavoisier. During the French Revolution, Lavoisier was subjected to attacks by radicals for his involvement with the unpopular Ferme Générale which led to his execution by guillotine during the Reign of Terror.