Rulers of Science

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood.

This ruler lists people who have made important contributions in any number of scientific disciplines: Medicine, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Psychology, to name just a few. We have tried to find individuals whose contributions were important to mankind, and who came from various time periods, regions of the world and educational backgrounds.

As you read through the list of names, you might notice several familiar terms. The words Fahrenheit (as in temperature), volt and ampere (electricity), daguerreotype (photography), Morse (like the telegraph code) and pasteurization all come from the names of scientists on the ruler.

Many of these women and men have earned a Nobel prize. That prize is also named after a scientist, Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).

The dates listed are the years of each scientist’s birth and death, if known. We’ve done our best to summarize in a single word or phrase the most important aspect of their career.

Women play an increasingly important role in the world of science. Marie Curie (1867-1934), Barbara McClintock (1902-1992), and Tu Youyou (1930- ) are all featured on Rulers of Science.

We regularly update our rulers and recently added Tim Berners-Lee (1955- ), inventor of the World Wide Web.

The “head” image is of Albert Einstein (1879-1955), known for his Theory of Relativity. It is somewhat reminiscent of the 1947 photograph taken of him by Orren Jack Turner (1919-2008), now in the Library of Congress.

If you like this ruler, you might also be interested in Great Women Rulers of Science.