5 fathers of science who were childless

Father of something, or fathers of science, refers to a man who initiated a concept, or invented a product, For instance, Mahatma Gandhi known as the founding father of Indian independence or father of the Nation because of his roled in earning freedom for India.

There are many fathers of science and invention who were childless. Because of their dedication to their call some of them did not get married. Some of them married but died issueless.

Fathers of science

They had emotions and loved their families. They took care of their parents, siblings and children of siblings, but thier prime commitment remained towards the greater common good.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Father of Astronomy

In the frist place, Nicolaus Copernicus, famous for the Copernicus theory, heliocentrism need mention.  A mathematician and an astronomer, who formulated the theory that sun and not the earth was at the centre of the solar system.

Copernicus never married and did not have any children. Henceforth, he took care of the five children of his sister Katharina after her death.

Father of something, or fathers of science, refers to a man who initiated a concept, or invented a product, For instance, Mahatma Gandhi known as the founding father of Indian independence or father of the Nation because of his roled in earning freedom for India.

There are many fathers of science and invention who were childless. Because of their dedication to their call some of them did not get married. Some of them married but died issueless.

Fathers of science

They had emotions and loved their families. They took care of their parents, siblings and children of siblings, but thier prime commitment remained towards the greater common good.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Father of Astronomy

In the frist place, Nicolaus Copernicus, famous for the Copernicus theory, heliocentrism need mention.  A mathematician and an astronomer, who formulated the theory that sun and not the earth was at the centre of the solar system.

Copernicus never married and did not have any children. Henceforth, he took care of the five children of his sister Katharina after her death.

Isaac Newton

Father of Physics

Isaac Newton, accepted as the father of Physics, for jumpstarting the scientific revolution remained a chronice bachelor. Evidently, he is famous for the Newton’s 3 laws of motion, especially the third law of motion, quoted even by those with no inclination to science. ‘For every action, there is equal and opposite reaction’.

A chronic bachelor, he divided all his estates among his relatives before his death.

Nikola Tesla

Father of Radio

Nikola Tesla was an engineer, physicist, inventor and poet, to name a few. We know a lot about his contemporary Thomas Alva Edison. Tesla worked for a while with Edison.

Tesla is the inventor of wireless communication. He is now accepted as a pioneer of wireless communication by the Science world. He invented the AC current. His contribution to the present day is so immense that there are many things named after him, like:

• Teslas, an SI derived unit
• Tesla an electric car manufacturer
• Nikola Tesla Award

He never married and he said that he was doing a sacrifice for his work. Though he earned a lot of money as patents and contracts he was mostly penniless because of his zeal for investing in scientific experiments. He worked until the end of his life at the age of 84.

Gregor Mendel

Father of Genetics

Gregor Mendel was an abbot or a priest. He was from a traditional farming background. Both financial and health issues came in the way of his studies. Yet, he did get a formal University education. He was an abbot with a scientific zeal, who chose the monastic life so that his livelihood will be taken care of while pursuing science.

Mendel’s experimented with peas and learnt about traits of inheritance. His works are the first in the field of Genetic inheritance. The laws of ‘Mendelian inheritance‘ were rediscovered and understood nearly two decades after his death. And he was accepted as the ‘father of modern genetics‘.

He was a monk, therefore, his sister Theresia gave him her dowry to help with his studies. Later he helped her three sons and two of them became doctors.

Leonardo da Vinci

Father of Palaeontology and ichnology

Leonardo da Vinci, a famous painter, painting still needs to be decoded for the layers of mystery,  adorned careers as scientist, philosopher, architect, mathematician and writer, to name a few. 

However, he remained a bachelor and an illegitimate child of his father. He had twelve step-siblings. He divided all his assets among his devout disciples, siblings and serving-woman.

Fathers of science who had children

On the other hand,  founding fathers like Perrie Curie, Albert Einstein and Hippocrates, married and had children, yet they sacrificed their lives for their work.

Mother of Science

According to documents, Perrie Curie’s, wife Marie Curie, daughter and son-in-law died of died of diseases related to high exposure to radioactive substances. Moreover,  Marie and Perrie both accidentally and voluntarily exposed to radioactive substances during their experiments to discover polonium and radium. (Marie Curie is known as the mother of modern physics).

To conclude,  salute to all the Fathers of Science on this fathers day for their dedicated, courageous and undying spirit for discovery and invention.

Happy Fathers Day!

(Thanks to the Suggestive Topic on Blog Compass, the Gooogle Apps for Bloggers. Yesterday ‘Fathers Day’ was one of the trending topics on google. Hence, the inspiration prompted me to write a post dedicated to all the fathers in the world.)