Famous scientists on coins

[Globetrotter]

Hi,

Niels Bohr is the only one of them getting a Nobel price, since it didn't exist when the others made their "inventions", but yes, they certainly were all higly skilled scientists.

Ole

[<k>]

Darwin is a popular subject on coins of the Anglo-Saxon world. I think of Darwin as the Newton of evolution: there is a lot more to discover. His ground-breaking book was called "The Origin of Species" and explained how natural selection drove species change. Now, species changes are relatively minor. We are told that birds evolved from dinosaurs. That is more than a mere species change. What are the mechanics of developing wings? You grow a little bit of a wing, then add to it, each generation, then you flap a bit, then you fly? No - surely it must be more complicated and logical than that. Don't get me wrong - I don't disbelieve the theory of evolution - I'd just like to see of the gaps filled in.

Darwin has appeared on both a UK 2009 two pound coin and a UK ten pound note.

[<k>]

Falkland Islands, 1 crown, 2007 and 2009.  Charles Darwin.

[<k>]

Tuvalu, $1, 2009.  200th Anniversary of the Birth of Charles Darwin + 150th Anniversary of publication of "The origin of species".

[<k>]

Congo Republic, 1000 francs, 1999.  Charles Darwin.

[Figleaf]

Switzerland issued two coins to honour Albert Einstein in 1979. We have one in this thread. Here is its companion.

Peter

[<k>]

Jamaica, $25, 1995.  Tycho Brahe.

[trdsf]

I'm awful surprised to not see the 1967 10 złotych commemorating Marie Skłodowska-Curie in this list (and I am reminded that I need to take a *much* better picture than this one of my example):

[brandm24]

Astronomer Annie Jump Cannon on a American Innovation Series $1 coin.

[chrisild]

Two fairly recent ones from Germany; since I already showed images of them, here are the links to the WoC posts:

Alexander von Humboldt (2019)
Now Humboldt was pretty much a polymath, and thus also a scientist.

Ernst Otto Fischer (2018)
E. O. Fischer is famous for having won the Nobel Prize for the invention of the sandwich.   Or so ... he studied the sandwich structure of pentahapto compounds for example.

Christian

[brandm24]

I was about to proclaim Fischer my favorite scientist until you mentioned pentahapto compound sandwiches. I was thinking more along the lines of a ham and cheese sandwich with mayo.

Alright, I have to go and eat lunch now.

Bruce

[WillieBoyd2]

United States Commemorative Half Dollar Carver-Washington 1953-S

George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist and chemist.
Booker T. Washington was the president of a university.

[Figleaf]

Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989) was one of the scientists working on the development of atomic bombs who was so shocked by its destructive capacity that he worked against it. Other scientists in this category are Oppenheimer and Fermi. Sakharov's principal belief that led him to his opposition was that Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was not enough of a deterrent to prevent a ruinous nuclear war. Therefore, he strongly supported bilateral Soviet - US negotiations to limit nuclear arms. This stance and his activism on human rights (exemplified by his insistance on the right of free immigration) brought him in conflict with the Soviet leadership and under tight KGB surveillance. He was removed from work on the atomic programme and from Moscow, to live in Nizhny Novgorod.

Sakharov was significantly supported by his wife, Yelena Bonner and by writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Sakharov did not agree with Solzhenitsyn's mystical ideas but respected and admired him for his courage. The three shaped the cold war terminology in its final stages. Sakharov was awarded the Nobel peace prize when he was already considered "domestic enemy number one". Eventually, Sakharov and Bonner were allowed to travel to the US, where Bonner was operated for a heart condition. Shortly after, he was elected in a reformed Russian parliament, leading the opposition against Mikhail Gorbachev, working for further democratic reforms. He died in that position.



The picture is from a thread by Wizard-Russia.

Peter