Physicists and astronomers

L

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando 1901-1958
American physicist. Invented the cyclotron as a method of accelerating charged particles.

Leavitt, Henrietta 1868- 1921
Observations of Cepheids in the small Magellanic Cloud. Proposed the Period-Luminosity relationship for Cepheid variables.

Leclanché, George 1839-1882
French physicist. Electric cell (1867)

Lees, C.H 1869-1952
British physicist. Lees disc to measure the thermal conductivity of a poor conductor

Leeuwenhoek , A. van 1632-1723
A Dutch clothes maker. He invented and used the microscope.

Leibnitz, G.W von 1646-1716
Developed differential and integral calculus.

Lenz, Heinrich Friedrich Emil 1804-1864
Russian physicist. Proposed the law of electromagnetic induction now named after him – direction of the induced e.m.f (1834). He also studied geophysics.

Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
Artist and inventor. Helicopter. One of the first to realise that moonlight was reflected light. Explained the principles of simple machines like pulleys, levers and balances. A believer in the idea of impetus. Studied ballistics.

Leslie, John 1766-1832
British physicist. Leslie's cube – infra red radiation from different surfaces. Differential air thermometer.

Lissajous, Jules Antoine 1822- 1880
French physicist. He developed Lissajous figures used in the study of wave motion.

Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon 1853-1928
A Dutch physicist. He developed the theory of electromagnetism and invented the Lorentz rotating disc for the study of induced e.m.fs. Nobel prize for Physics in 1902.

Lyman, Theodore 1874-1954
American physicist. Discovered a series of lines in the ultra violet region of the hydrogen spectrum.