Scientists
| Name | Lifetime | Montana connection | Comments | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton, LorenLoren Acton | 1936–present | Born in Lewistown; attended college in Bozeman | Physicist and astronaut who flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-51-F as a payload specialist; unsuccessful candidate for the Montana legislature in 2006; physics professor at Montana State University | |
| Burgdorfer, WillyWilly Burgdorfer | 192?–present | Lived in Hamilton | Medical entomologist; discovered the bacterial pathogen that causes Lyme disease, a spirochete which was named Borrelia burgdorferi in his honor; worked for many years at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) in Hamilton, a U.S. National Institutes of Health research facility | |
| Despain, Don G.Don G. Despain | 1940–present | Lives in Bozeman | Botanist; plant ecologist; fire behavior specialist; specializes in the flora of Yellowstone National Park | |
| Grinnell, George BirdGeorge Bird Grinnell | 1849–1938 | Signficant contributions to the preservation of Glacier National Park and bison in Montana; Grinnell Glacier named in his honor | Anthropologist; historian; naturalist; writer; associate of James Willard Schultz | |
| Hayden, ToreyTorey Hayden | 1951–present | Born in Livingston; attended high school in Billings | Child psychologist; non-fiction author; special education teacher | |
| Hilleman, MauriceMaurice Hilleman | 1919–2005 | Born and raised near Miles City; attended college in Bozeman | Microbiologist who developed over three dozen vacciness; credited with saving more lives than any other scientist of the 20th century; Robert Gallo described him as "the most successful vaccinologist in history" | |
| Hogan, LesterLester Hogan | 1920–2008 | Born and raised in Great Falls; attended college in Bozeman | Physicist and a pioneer in microwave and semiconductor technology | |
| Holter, Norman Jefferis "Jeff"Norman Jefferis "Jeff" Holter | 1914–1983 | Born attended college, and died in Helena | Biophysicist; invented the Holter monitor; awarded the Laufman-Greatbatch Prize for his contributions to medical technology by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation in 1979 | |
| Hood, LeroyLeroy Hood | 1938–present | Born in Missoula | Biologist; physician; biochemist; Lemelson–MIT Prize recipient; member of National Inventors Hall of Fame | |
| Horner, JackJack Horner | 1946–present | Born in Shelby; attended college in and resides in Bozeman | Paleontologist; discovered and named Maiasaura, providing the first clear evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young; technical advisor for all of the Jurassic Park films, including being partial inspiration for the characters Dr. Alan Grant | |
| Ricketts, Howard TaylorHoward Taylor Ricketts | 1871–1910 | Worked in the Bitterroot Valley on Rocky Mountain spotted fever | Bacteriologist; pathogen causing Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii was named after him | |
| Urey, HaroldHarold Urey | 1893–1981 | Studied zoology in Missoula | Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 | |
| Weissman, IrvingIrving Weissman | 1939–present | Born and studied science in Great Falls | Professor at Stanford University; director of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine |
Read more about this topic: List Of People From Montana
Famous quotes containing the word scientists:
“Y’know scientists are funny. We probe and measure and dissect. Invent lights without heat, weigh a caterpillar’s eyebrow. But when it comes to really important things we’re as stupid as the caveman.... Like love. Makes the world go ‘round, but what do we know about it? Is it a fact? Is it chemistry? Electricity?”
—Martin Berkeley, and Jack Arnold. Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson)
“Maybe we were the blind mechanics of disaster, but you don’t pin the guilt on the scientists that easily. You might as well pin it on M motherhood.... Every man who ever worked on this thing told you what would happen. The scientists signed petition after petition, but nobody listened. There was a choice. It was build the bombs and use them, or risk that the United States and the Soviet Union and the rest of us would find some way to go on living.”
—John Paxton (1911–1985)
“All you of Earth are idiots!... First was your firecracker, a harmless explosive. Then your hand grenade. They begin to kill your own people a few at a time. Then the bomb. Then a larger bomb, many people are killed at one time. Then your scientists stumbled upon the atom bomb—split the atom. Then the hydrogen bomb, where you actually explode the air itself.”
—Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1922–1978)