Oxford Portraits in Science is a collection of biographies of famous scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

s for young adult

Youth

Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...

s edited by the Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 astronomer Owen Gingerich

Owen Gingerich

Dr. Owen Jay Gingerich is a former Research Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University, and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory...

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Each book portrays the life and personality of an eminent scientist, and the thought processes by which they made their discoveries.

The series is notable as an example of the Sobel effect - an interest in popular accounts of scientific history and biography, stimulated by the success of the book Longitude

Longitude (book)

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time is a best-selling book by Dava Sobel about John Harrison, an 18th century clockmaker who created the first clock sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at sea—an important development...

written by journalist Dava Sobel

Dava Sobel

Dava Sobel is a writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and Binghamton University...

. Some works in this series have also been written by science journalists as well as scientists and science historians.

Works

Title	Date:	Author:	ISBN:
Bell Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone.... : Making Connections	1996	Pasachoff Naomi Pasachoff	9780195099089
Babbage Charles Babbage Charles Babbage Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer... : And the Engines of Perfection	1999	Collier Bruce Collier	9780195089974
Darwin Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory... : And the Evolution of Revolution	1996	Stefoff Rebecca Stefoff	9780195089967
Fermi Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics... : And the Revolutions of Modern Physics	1999	Cooper Dan Cooper	9780195117622
Rutherford Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...  and the Explosion of Atoms	2003	Heilbron John L. Heilbron John L. Heilbron John Lewis Heilbron, born 17 March 1934, is an American historian of science best known for his work in the history of physics and the history of astronomy...	9780195123784
Galilei Galileo Galilei Galileo Galilei Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism... : First Physicist	1999	MacLachlan James MacLachlan	9780195093421
Mendel Gregor Mendel Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance...			9780195122268
Newton Isaac Newton Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...			9780195092240
Pavlov Ivan Pavlov Ivan Pavlov Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....			9780195105148
Kepler Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...			9780195116809
Pauling Linus Pauling Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century... : And the Chemistry of Life	1998	Hager Tom Hager	9780195108538
Pasteur Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...  and the Hidden World of Microbes	2001	Robbins Louise E. Robbins	9780195122275
Mead Margaret Mead Margaret Mead Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s.... : Coming of Age in America	1999	Mark Joan Mark	9780195116793
Curie Marie Curie Marie Curie Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry... : And the Science of Radioactivity	1997	Pasachoff Naomi Pasachoff	9780195120110
Faraday Michael Faraday Michael Faraday Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.... : Physics and Faith	2001	Russell Colin A. Russell Colin A. Russell Colin Archibald Russell is Emeritus Professor of History of Science and Technology at the Open University and is a research scholar affiliated to the History and Philosophy of Science Department, Cambridge University...	9780195117639
Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....			9780195161731
Harvey William Harvey William Harvey William Harvey was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart... and the Mechanics of the Heart			9780195120493