Notable Biologists Posters and Prints, “M...-N...-O...-P...-”
for the science classroom, home schoolers, science education scholars.

Wangari Maathai
b. 4-1-1940; Ihithe village, Colony of Kenya
d. 9-25-2011; Nairobi, Kenya (ovarian cancer)

Wangari Muta Maathai, best known as an environmental and political activist, who received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” She was also awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1984.

Maathai earned a degree in biology at Mount St. Scholastica (now Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas, and a Master of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh. After the job as a research assistant in Nairobi was given to someone else based on her gender and tribal affiliation, Maathai was offered another research position which lead to a doctorate in at the Univeristy of Munich and eventually to a professorship at the University of Nairobi.

In the 1970s, Maathai was the founder the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights.

Wangari Maathai quotes ~
• “In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.”
• “It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”
• “We are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. But often it is the powerful, including governments, that are responsible.”
• “I have warned people against false beliefs and misinformation such as attributing this disease to a curse from God or believing that sleeping with a virgin cures the infection. These prevalent beliefs in my region have led to an upsurge in rape and violence against children. It is within this context, also complicated by the cultural and religious perspective, that I often speak. I have therefore been shocked by the ongoing debate generated by what I am purported to have said. It is therefore critical for me to state that I neither say nor believe that the virus was developed by white people or white powers in order to destroy the African people. Such views are wicked and destructive.”

Elie Metchnikoff (Ilya Ilich Mechnikov)
b. 5-16-1845; Russia (now Ukraine)
d. 7-15-1916; Paris

Elie Metchnikoff, a microbiologist best remembered for his pioneering research into the immune system, shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1908 with Paul Ehrlich “in recognition of their work on immunity.”

Otto Fritz Meyerhof
b. 4-12-1884; Hanover, Germany
d. 10-6-1951; Philadelphia, PA

Otto Fritz Meyerhof was a physician and biochemist who was awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Medicine “for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle”. Meyerhof shared the prize with Archibald Vivian Hill.

Jacques-Lucien Monod
b. 2-9-1910; France
d. 5-31-1976

Jacques-Lucien Monod was a biochemist who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis” with Francois Jacob and Andre Lwoff.

• Origins of Molecular Biology: A Tribute to Jacques Monod

Johannes Peter Muller
b. 7-14-1801; Koblenz, Germany
d. 4-28-1858; Berlin

Physiologist, comparative anatomist, and ichthyologist Johannes Peter Muller is noted for his ability to synthesize knowledge from many disciplines for investigation of physiological problems.

His work increased understanding of voice, speech and hearing, as well as the chemical and physical properties of lymph, chyle and blood.

John Howard Northrop
b. 7-5-1891; Yonkers, NY
d. 5-27-1987; Arizona

Biochemist John Howard Northrop shared the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Wendell Meredith Stanley “for . . . preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form”.

Louis Pasteur
b. 12-27-1822; Dole, France
d. 9-28-1895, Paris

French chemist and biologist, Louis Pasteur founded the science of microbiology, proved the germ theory of disease, invented the process of pasteurization, and developed vaccines for several diseases including the first effective vaccine for anthrax in 1881.

“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”

• Home Milk Pasteurizer
• Louis Pasteur (biography)
• more Heroes of Science & Technology posters