A scientist is someone who conducts scientific
research to advance knowledge in an area of
interest.In classical antiquity, there was
no real ancient analog of a modern scientist.
Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical
study of nature called natural philosophy,
a precursor of natural science.
It was not until the 19th century that the
term scientist came into regular use after
it was coined by the theologian, philosopher,
and historian of science William Whewell in
1833.
The term 'scientist' was first coined by him
for Mary Somerville, partly because the term
"man of science", more custom at that time,
was clearly inappropriate here.In modern times,
many scientists have advanced degrees in an
area of science and pursue careers in various
sectors of the economy such as academia, industry,
government, and nonprofit environments.
== History ==
The roles of "scientists", and their predecessors
before the emergence of modern scientific
disciplines, have evolved considerably over
time.
Scientists of different eras (and before them,
natural philosophers, mathematicians, natural
historians, natural theologians, engineers,
and others who contributed to the development
of science) have had widely different places
in society, and the social norms, ethical
values, and epistemic virtues associated with
scientists—and expected of them—have changed
over time as well.
Accordingly, many different historical figures
can be identified as early scientists, depending
on which characteristics of modern science
are taken to be essential.
Some historians point to the Scientific Revolution
that began in 16th century as the period when
science in a recognizably modern form developed.
It wasn't until the 19th century that sufficient
socioeconomic changes occurred for scientists
to emerge as a major profession.
=== Classical antiquity ===
Knowledge about nature in classical antiquity
was pursued by many kinds of scholars.
Greek contributions to science—including
works of geometry and mathematical astronomy,
early accounts of biological processes and
catalogs of plants and animals, and theories
of knowledge and learning—were produced
by philosophers and physicians, as well as
practitioners of various trades.
These roles, and their associations with scientific
knowledge, spread with the Roman Empire and,
with the spread of Christianity, became closely
linked to religious institutions in most of
European countries.
Astrology and astronomy became an important
area of knowledge, and the role of astronomer/astrologer
developed with the support of political and
religious patronage.
By the time of the medieval university system,
knowledge was divided into the trivium—philosophy,
including natural philosophy—and the quadrivium—mathematics,
including astronomy.
Hence, the medieval analogs of scientists
were often either philosophers or mathematicians.
Knowledge of plants and animals was broadly
the province of physicians.
=== Middle Ages ===
Science in medieval Islam generated some new
modes of developing natural knowledge, although
still within the bounds of existing social
roles such as philosopher and mathematician.
Many proto-scientists from the Islamic Golden
Age are considered polymaths, in part because
of the lack of anything corresponding to modern
scientific disciplines.
Many of these early polymaths were also religious
priests and theologians: for example, Alhazen
and al-Biruni were mutakallimiin; the physician
Avicenna was a hafiz; the physician Ibn al-Nafis
was a hafiz, muhaddith and ulema; the botanist
Otto Brunfels was a theologian and historian
of Protestantism; the astronomer and physician
Nicolaus Copernicus was a priest.
During the Italian Renaissance scientists
like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo
Galilei and Gerolamo Cardano have been considered
as the most recognizable polymaths.
=== Renaissance ===
During the Renaissance, Italians made substantial
contributions in science.
Leonardo Da Vinci made significant discoveries
in paleontology and anatomy.
The Father of modern Science,Galileo Galilei,
made key improvements on the thermometer and
telescope which allowed him to observe and
clearly describe the solar system.
Descartes was not only a pioneer of analytic
geometry but formulated a theory of mechanics
and advanced ideas about the origins of animal
movement and perception.
Vision interested the physicists Young and
Helmholtz, who also studied optics, hearing
and music.
Newton extended Descartes' mathematics by
inventing calculus (contemporaneously with
Leibniz).
He provided a comprehensive formulation of
classical mechanics and investigated light
and optics.
Fourier founded a new branch of mathematics
— infinite, periodic series — studied
heat flow and infrared radiation, and discovered
the greenhouse effect.
Girolamo Cardano, Blaise Pascal Pierre de
Fermat, Von Neumann, Turing, Khinchin, Markov
and Wiener, all mathematicians, made major
contributions to science and probability theory,
including the ideas behind computers, and
some of the foundations of statistical mechanics
and quantum mechanics.
Many mathematically inclined scientists, including
Galileo, were also musicians.
There are many compelling stories in medicine
and biology, such as the development of ideas
about the circulation of blood from Galen
to Harvey.
=== Age of Enlightenment ===
During the age of Enlightenment, Luigi Galvani,
the pioneer of the bioelectromagnetics, discovered
the animal electricity.
He discovered that a charge applied to the
spinal cord of a frog could generate muscular
spasms throughout its body.
Charges could make frog legs jump even if
the legs were no longer attached to a frog.
While cutting a frog leg, Galvani's steel
scalpel touched a brass hook that was holding
the leg in place.
The leg twitched.
Further experiments confirmed this effect,
and Galvani was convinced that he was seeing
the effects of what he called animal electricity,
the life force within the muscles of the frog.
At the University of Pavia, Galvani's colleague
Alessandro Volta was able to reproduce the
results, but was sceptical of Galvani's explanation.Lazzaro
Spallanzani is one of the most influential
figures in experimental physiology and the
natural sciences.
His investigations have exerted a lasting
influence on the medical sciences.
He made important contributions to the experimental
study of bodily functions and animal reproduction.Francesco
Redi discovered that microorganisms can cause
disease.
=== 19th century ===
Until the late 19th or early 20th century,
scientists were still referred to as "natural
philosophers" or "men of science".English
philosopher and historian of science William
Whewell coined the term scientist in 1833,
and it first appeared in print in Whewell's
anonymous 1834 review of Mary Somerville's
On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences
published in the Quarterly Review.
Whewell's suggestion of the term was partly
satirical, a response to changing conceptions
of science itself in which natural knowledge
was increasingly seen as distinct from other
forms of knowledge.
Whewell wrote of "an increasing proclivity
of separation and dismemberment" in the sciences;
while highly specific terms proliferated—chemist,
mathematician, naturalist—the broad term
"philosopher" was no longer satisfactory to
group together those who pursued science,
without the caveats of "natural" or "experimental"
philosopher.
Members of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science had been complaining
about the lack of a good term at recent meetings,
Whewell reported in his review; alluding to
himself, he noted that "some ingenious gentleman
proposed that, by analogy with artist, they
might form [the word] scientist, and added
that there could be no scruple in making free
with this term since we already have such
words as economist, and atheist—but this
was not generally palatable".Whewell proposed
the word again more seriously (and not anonymously)
in his 1840 "The Philosophy of the Inductive
Sciences:
As we cannot use physician for a cultivator
of physics, I have called him a physicist.
We need very much a name to describe a cultivator
of science in general.
I should incline to call him a Scientist.
Thus we might say, that as an Artist is a
Musician, Painter, or Poet, a Scientist is
a Mathematician, Physicist, or Naturalist.
He also proposed the term physicist at the
same time, as a counterpart to the French
word physicien.
Neither term gained wide acceptance until
decades later; scientist became a common term
in the late 19th century in the United States
and around the turn of the 20th century in
Great Britain.
By the twentieth century, the modern notion
of science as a special brand of information
about the world, practiced by a distinct group
and pursued through a unique method, was essentially
in place.
=== 20th century ===
Ramón y Cajal won the Nobel Prize in 1906
for his remarkable observations in neuroanatomy.
Marie Curie became the first female to win
the Nobel Prize and the first person to win
it twice.
Her efforts led to the development of nuclear
energy and Radio therapy for the treatment
of cancer.
In 1922, she was appointed a member of the
International Commission on Intellectual Co-operation
by the Council of the League of Nations.
She campaigned for scientist's right to patent
their discoveries and inventions.
She also campaigned for free access to international
scientific literature and for internationally
recognized scientific symbols.
== Profession ==
As a profession, the scientist of today is
widely recognized.
=== Education ===
In modern times, many professional scientists
are trained in an academic setting (e.g.,
universities and research institutes), mostly
at the level of graduate schools.
Upon completion, they would normally attain
an academic degree, with the highest degree
being a doctorate such as a Doctor of Philosophy
(PhD), Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of
Engineering (DEng), or even a dual doctoral
degree (e.g., MD, PhD).
Although graduate education for scientists
varies among institutions and countries, some
common training requirements include specializing
in an area of interest, publishing research
findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals
and presenting them at scientific conferences,
giving lectures or teaching, and defending
a thesis (or dissertation) during an oral
examination.
To aid them in this endeavor, graduate students
often work under the guidance of a mentor,
usually a senior scientist, which may continue
after the completion of their doctorates whereby
they work as postdoctoral researchers.
=== Career ===
After the completion of their training, many
scientists pursue careers in a variety of
work settings and conditions.
In 2017, the British scientific journal Nature
published the results of a large-scale survey
of more than 5,700 doctoral students worldwide,
asking them which sectors of the economy that
would like to work in.
A little over half of the respondents wanted
to pursue a career in academia, with smaller
proportions hoping to work in industry, government,
and nonprofit environments.Scientists are
motivated to work in several ways.
Many have a desire to understand why the world
is as we see it and how it came to be.
They exhibit a strong curiosity about reality.
Other motivations are recognition by their
peers and prestige.
The Nobel Prize, a widely regarded prestigious
award, is awarded annually to those who have
achieved scientific advances in the fields
of medicine, physics, chemistry, and economics.
Some scientists have a desire to apply scientific
knowledge for the benefit of people's health,
the nations, the world, nature, or industries
(academic scientist and industrial scientist).
Scientists tend to be less motivated by direct
financial reward for their work than other
careers.
As a result, scientific researchers often
accept lower average salaries when compared
with many other professions which require
a similar amount of training and qualification.
==== Research interests ====
Scientists include experimentalists who mainly
perform experiments to test hypotheses, and
theoreticians who mainly develop models to
explain existing data and predict new results.
There is a continuum between two activities
and the division between them is not clear-cut,
with many scientists performing both tasks.
Those considering science as a career often
look to the frontiers.
These include cosmology and biology, especially
molecular biology and the human genome project.
Other areas of active research include the
exploration of matter at the scale of elementary
particles as described by high-energy physics,
and materials science, which seeks to discover
and design new materials.
Although there have been remarkable discoveries
with regard to brain function and neurotransmitters,
the nature of the mind and human thought still
remains unknown.
=== By specialization ===
==== Natural science ====
===== 
Physical science =====
===== Life science =====
==== 
Social science ====
==== 
Formal science ====
==== Applied ====
==== Interdisciplinary ====
=== 
By employer ===
Academic
Independent scientist
Industrial/applied scientist
Laypeople scientists/citizen scientist
Government scientist
== 
Demography ==
=== 
By country ===
The number of scientists is vastly different
from country to country.
For instance, there are only four full-time
scientists per 10,000 workers in India while
this number is 79 for the United Kingdom and
the United States.
==== United States ====
According to the United States National Science
Foundation 4.7 million people with science
degrees worked in the United States in 2015,
across all disciplines and employment sectors.
The figure included twice as many men as women.
Of that total, 17% worked in academia, that
is, at universities and undergraduate institutions,
and men held 53% of those positions.
5% of scientists worked for the federal government
and about 3.5% were self-employed.
Of the latter two groups, two-thirds were
men.
59% of US scientists were employed in industry
or business, and another 6% worked in non-profit
positions.
=== By gender ===
Scientist and engineering statistics are usually
intertwined, but they indicate that women
enter the field far less than men, though
this gap is narrowing.
The number of science and engineering doctorates
awarded to women rose from a mere 7 percent
in 1970 to 34 percent in 1985 and in engineering
alone the numbers of bachelor's degrees awarded
to women rose from only 385 in 1975 to more
than 11000 in 1985.
== See also ==
Engineers
Inventor
Researcher
Fields Medal
Hippocratic Oath for Scientists
History of science
Intellectual
Mad scientist
Natural science
Nobel Prize
Protoscience
Normative science
Pseudoscience
Scholar
Science
Social scienceRelated listsList of engineers
List of mathematicians
List of Nobel laureates in Physics
List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry
List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
List of Russian scientists
List of Roman Catholic cleric-scientists
