Jim Al-Khalili (b. 1962)

Al-Khalili is a British-Iraqi theoretical physicist, who broadcasts regularly on British media. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us explore how the natural sciences do not deal with absolute certainties.

Aristarchos (310 BC – 230 BC)

Aristarchos was the first thinker to propose the heliocentric theory of astronomy, suggesting that the sun, rather than the earth, was the centre of the solar system. He was also responsible for placing the planets in their correct order. Aristarchos’s ideas were generally rejected in favour of those of Aristotle and Ptolemy, who both favoured the geocentric theory. It took over 1800 years for his ideas to be confirmed, (largely because of the resistance of secular and religious authorities, who were reluctant to see the earth demoted in importance in the universe) first by the observations of Copernicus, then by the work of Kepler and Newton.

Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992)

Asimov (was an American science fiction and popular science writer, and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us explore how knowledge within the natural sciences develops over time.

Niels Bohr (1885-1962)

Bohr was a Danish physicist who, alongside Einstein (with whom he had famous but very productive arguments) helped to develop atomic theory and quantum mechanics. Although his model of the way in which the atom works has been superceded, the underlying principles are still mostly accepted. He helped to foster other great scientific thinkers, such as Werner Heisenberg, although unlike Heisenberg, he refused to work for the Nazis, and escaped before Nazi-controlled territory

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543)

Copernicus was the first person to present a complete version of the heliocentric theory of the universe, removing the earth from the centre of the cosmos. This idea is often cited as the best example of a paradigm shift in scientific thinking.

Brian Cox (b. 1968)

Cox is an British particle physicist who works at Manchester University. He is one of the best known communicators of science working in the media. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore how the natural sciences do not deal with absolute certainties.

Hannah Critchlow (b. 1980)

Critchlow is a British scientist, writer and broadcaster. Her work focuses on cellular and molecular neuroscience. She is one of our knowledge heroes, and appears in the BQ lessons to help us explore how knowers are affected by bias as they seek to understand the world.

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)

Darwin was a British geologist and naturalist, and possessor of one of the greatest minds in history. His theory of evolution is one of the most important bases of scientific knowledge, but he is also interesting for the strong faith he held early in his life, which he was forced to question due to his discoveries.

Richard Dawkins (b. 1941)

Dawkins is probably the most famous biologist in the world, best known for his book The Selfish Gene. He has staunch opinions on superstition and religion, which he believes are actively harmful to society. He argues that one’s approach to life should be based on the scientific method.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (b. 1958)

deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science broadcaster. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the nature of knowledge within the natural sciences, and the role science plays in society.

Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931)

Edison was an American scientist, inventor, and businessman. His inventions include the phonograph, the movie camera, and light bulb. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way knowledge is most effectively produced via collaboration.

Richard Feynman (1918 – 1988)

Feynman was an American Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist, known for his work in quantum mechanics and particle physics. He was also one of the greatest communicators of scientific ideas. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the difference between science and pseudoscience.

Stuart Firestein (b. 1949)

Firestein is a neuroscientist at Columbia University in New York. He runs a laboratory, and teaches various courses, one of which is devoted to the way in which ignorance is an integral element of scientific advancement. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore how science is not generally produced like the ‘scientific method’ would have us believe.

Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)

Along with Descartes and Newton, Galileo helped to get the scientific revolution underway, in particular with his emphasis on empirical observation of experiments as a way of ascertaining their results. He also developed Copernicus’s heliocentric theory.

Ben Goldacre (b. 1974)

Goldacre is a British doctor and science journalist, and author of the best selling Bad Science book. He writes a regular column attacking the way both the press and by the profit-making elements of the scientific community approach and present science.

Stephen Hawking (1942 – 2018)

Hawking was a Cambridge cosmologist and theoretical physicist. His book A Brief History of Time has sold more copies than any other science book ever written. One key question associated with his ideas is whether they provide us with the complete picture when considering the origins of the universe.

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976)

Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who was one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. He is best known for his uncertainty principle, which helped to develop the way we understand the behaviour of sub-atomic particles. Unlike Niels Bohr, he continued working within Germany during the Nazi regime.

Katharine Hayhoe

Hayhoe is a climate scientist who works at Texas Tech University. She is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore how scientific knowledge is not subject to politically-motivated interpretations.

Michio Kaku (b. 1947)

Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, futurist, and communicator of scientific ideas. He works as a professor of physics in the City College of New York. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore how developing a scientific outlook goes against our natural instincts.

Thomas Kuhn (1922 – 1996)

Kuhn was an American physicist who wrote extensively on the philosophy of science. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way scientific knowledge develops over time.

Primo Levi (1919 – 1987)

Levi was an Italian chemist, writer, and concentration camp survivor. He wrote widely on the abuse of power by fascist leaders, on the nature of humanity, and tried to bridge the gap between natural sciences and the arts. Tragically, he killed himself in 1987.

Jana Levin (b. 1967)

Levin is an American theoretical cosmologist. She works as a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the difference between the actual world, and the world of science.

James Clerk Maxwell (1831 – 1879)

Maxwell was a Scottish scientist who worked in the field of mathematical physics. His ideas helped to bring together electricity, magnetism, and light as different elements of the same phenomenon for the first time. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way new knowledge is produced in the natural sciences.

Tom McLeish (b. 1962)

McLeish is a theoretical physicist whose work focuses on the properties of soft matter. He is the first Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of York. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way new scientific ideas are developed.

Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727)

Newton was so many things – a physicist, a mathematician, an astronomer, a theologian, and even an alchemist. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way scientific knowledge develops over time.

Naomi Oreskes (b. 1958) 

Oreskes is an American Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, and a specialist on earth and planetary sciences. She is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore why we should place our trust in scientific knowledge.

Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895)

Pasteur was a French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist. He made huge breakthroughs in vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way scientific knowledge is often discovered by chance – and the caveat to that.

Linus Pauling (1901 – 1994)

Pauling was an American biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, writer, and educator. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the moral dimension of scientific knowledge.

Max Planck (1858 – 1947)

Planck, a German physicist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918. His views on the progression of ideas in the natural sciences can be seen as a forerunner to the paradigm shift idea, and are summed up by his statement: ‘A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it’.

Karl Popper (1902 – 1994)

Popper, an Austro-British academic, wrote on just about every subject there is. He is one of our knowledge heroes, and appears in the BQ lessons to help us explore the way scientific knowledge has to be ‘falsifiable’, and how we are often misled by our own biases.

Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996)

Sagan was an American astronomer and astrophysicist who was one of the most prolific science writers of the last 50 years. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the importance of evidence when making claims.

Sara Seager (b. 1971)

Seager is a Canadian-American astronomer. She is a professor at MIT and is known for her work on exoplanets and their atmospheres. She is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way scientific knowledge develops over time.

Nikola Tesla (1856 – 1943)

Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer, best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity system. He is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the way scientific knowledge is created.

Michelle Thaller (b. 1969)

Thaller is an American astronomer. She works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as the assistant director for science communication. She is one of our knowledge heroes, appearing in the BQ lessons to help us to explore the relationship between the arts and science.

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