February 20

Born in 1751, Johann Heinrich Voss became a leading figure in German literary classicism. He held professorships in literature and was elected to the Göttingen Academy of Sciences. Voss produced influential German versions of the Iliad and Odyssey that shaped literary German. He also wrote original poetry and essays on poetics and philology. His scholarship advanced the study of classical languages in Germany. Voss’s work bridged academic research and creative writing in the late 18th century.

Born in 1759, Johann Christian Reil studied medicine at Halle and Göttingen before teaching physiology. He coined the term “psychiatrie” and published groundbreaking work on mental illness. Reil’s research advanced understanding of the brain’s physiology and nervous system. He held professorships in Munich and Berlin and influenced hospital reforms for the mentally ill. His writings combined anatomical insight with humane treatment principles. Reil is remembered as a founder of both psychiatry and neurology.

Born in 1774 in Spain, Vicente Sebastián Pintado trained as a military engineer and surveyor. He was appointed to survey Spanish territories in North America, producing detailed maps and land grants. Pintado’s work documented coastlines, waterways, and settlements critical for colonial administration. His surveys influenced boundary negotiations after the Louisiana Purchase. He also served as a military officer overseeing fortifications in the region. His archive remains a key resource for historians of early American cartography.

Ludwig Boltzmann formulated the statistical interpretation of entropy and the Boltzmann equation, laying the groundwork for statistical mechanics. Born in Vienna, he studied under Josef Loschmidt and later held professorships across Europe. Boltzmann introduced the Boltzmann constant, linking microscopic particle behavior to macroscopic physical properties. His philosophical writings defended atomism at a time of scientific skepticism. Despite facing criticism and institutional resistance, his theories gained acceptance after his death, profoundly influencing quantum mechanics and information theory.

Hulusi Behçet was a Turkish dermatologist and physician who identified the systemic inflammatory condition now known as Behçet's disease. Born in Istanbul in 1889, he studied medicine at Istanbul University and served as a military doctor in Libya and the Balkan Wars. In 1937, he published his observations on the triad of oral ulcers, genital ulcers, and uveitis. Behçet's research laid the foundation for understanding vasculitic disorders. He held professorships and contributed extensively to dermatology and internal medicine in Turkey. Behçet died in 1948 and is remembered for his pioneering role in clinical medicine.

Elizabeth Holloway Marston was an American psychologist and author whose work influenced both science and popular culture. Born in 1893, she earned degrees from Mount Holyoke College and Radcliffe College before pursuing research in psychology. Together with her husband, William Moulton Marston, she helped develop the systolic blood pressure test for lie detection. Holloway Marston also contributed to the creation of Wonder Woman stories, advocating for strong female characters. She wrote books on ethics, child development, and social reform. Marston lived to age 100, passing away in 1993 and leaving a multifaceted legacy.

Born in 1901 in France, Dubos earned his doctorate at the University of Paris. He conducted pioneering research on antibiotics and environmental microbiology at Rockefeller University. Dubos authored influential science books that bridged public understanding of ecology and health. His best-known work, 'So Human an Animal,' examined the interplay between humanity and the environment. He championed sustainable development long before it became mainstream. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to science communication, his ideas continue to influence environmental policy.

John Milnor was born in 1931 and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1957 under the supervision of Ralph Fox. He solved the Poincaré conjecture for 3-manifolds, for which he was awarded the Fields Medal in 1962 at the age of 31. Milnor's work spans exotic spheres, dynamical systems, singularity theory, and differential topology. He has taught at MIT and Stony Brook University, mentoring generations of mathematicians. Milnor authored several influential textbooks and papers that remain central to modern mathematics. He received the Abel Prize in 2011 for his pioneering contributions. Milnor continues to inspire with his deep insights and elegant proofs.

Born in 1937 in Munich, Robert Huber studied chemistry and biology at the Technical University of Munich. He led pioneering X-ray crystallography research into the photosynthetic reaction center of purple bacteria. In 1988, Huber shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Johann Deisenhofer and Hartmut Michel for determining the high-resolution structure of this complex. His work provided crucial insights into how organisms convert light into chemical energy. Huber served as director of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and mentored generations of structural biologists. His contributions have laid the foundation for advances in bioenergetics and structural biology. Still active in research, he continues to influence the field through publications and collaborations.