Images Dated 19th December 2012

Dmitri Mendeleev, caricature

Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907). Caricature of the Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev. Mendeleyev (also spelt Mendeleev) is best known for developing the first true periodic table of the elements (final version published in 1871). This contained some gaps, but new elements were discovered that fit the gaps and had the properties predicted by the table

© GARY BROWN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Joseph Lagrange, caricature

Joseph Lagrange (1736-1813). Caricature of the French mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange. Lagrange contributed to number and gravitational theory, and found solutions and proofs for various unsolved problems. His major work, Analytical Mechanics, was started when he was 19, but was not finished until 33 years later, when he was 52. In it, he applied a powerful combination of two forms of calculus to general mechanical problems. Lagrange also worked on weights and measures and the development of the metric system

© GARY BROWN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Albrecht von Haller, Swiss anatomist

Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), Swiss anatomist and physiologist. Von Haller worked on the nervous system, and recognised the tendency of muscle fibres to contract when the attached nerve is stimulated. He showed that only the nerves can transmit sensation. He wrote the first physiology textbook and worked on the circulation, respiration and digestion. He was the first to assess the effect of a medicine by testing it on the healthy. He was also a poet, bibliographer, botanist and political writer. Lithograph from Galerie medicale (1825-1829), a collection of portraits by Pierre Roch Vigneron (1789-1872)

© SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY