By Victoria Moore

When we think of great Polish scientists, the name Mikolaj Kopernik (1473-1543) immediately comes to mind. Everyone knows that through the publication of his heliocentric theory at age seventy, Copernicus became one of the seminal figures in the history of scientific thought. His discovery that the earth was moving around the Sun established him as the scientist who "stopped the sun and moved the earth." His work marked the beginning of the scientific revolution. But there are many "lesser-known" great Polish minds in the history and practice of science. All these men and women had great influence in the world of science. It is these men and women whom we celebrate in this article. It was difficult to choose from amongst the forty-eight Polish scientists whom I considered. I have chosen four.

The first scientist to be celebrated is Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska. This illustrious woman lived from 1829 until 1902. Dr. Zakrzewska immigrated to the United States in 1853 after having been trained as a midwife. She was helped by a female physician in gaining admission to Cleveland Medical College (now Western Reserve). She subsequently moved to New York, where she planned to open a hospital and a medical school for women. Dr. Zakrzewska single-handedly raised the funds for these projects. So in 1857, she established the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (now Beth Israel Medical Center).

A professor of Medicine as well as the most well known female physician of her time in America, Dr. Zakrzewska specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. In 1859, she moved to Boston to teach at the New England Female Medical College. She was the first female physician in New England. Dissatisfied with the level of medical education offered at the school, she masterminded the opening of
a new teaching hospital-The New England Hospital for Women and Children. Opening in 1862, the hospital had an all-female staff.
In 1872, this hospital opened the first professional nursing school in the country, accepting the first African-American nursing students in the country. Dr. Zakrzewska’s goal was to administer a medical college for women that was superior to medical schools for male students. By 1881, her school was so renowned that she could limit her resident students to those women who already had their
M.D. degrees.

Our second scientist of great renown is Walther Hermann Nernst. Dr. Nernst lived from 1864 until 1941. He studied physics and mathematics, graduating from Wurzburg in 1887 with a thesis on electromagnetic forces produced by magnetism in heated metal plates. Dr. Nernst moved to Gottingen, Germany in 1894, where lie founded and directed The Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. In 1905, he was appointed Professor of Chemistry, later of Physics, at The University of Berlin. He became Director of the newly founded "Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut" in 1924. Dr. Nernst made many outstanding contributions to the diffusion, hydration, and dissociation of electrolytes. In 1889, he theorized that there was an "electrolytic pressure of dissolution", which forces ions from electrodes into solution, and which was opposed to the osmotic pressure of the dissolved ions.

His famous heat theorem known as the Third Law of Thermodynamics, was developed in 1906. It demonstrated that the maximum work obtainable from a process could be calculated from the heat evolved at temperatures close to absolute zero. Earlier ideas had not considered the effects of temperature, so now conditions of equilibrium in many chemical reactions could be precisely worked out. This theorem was soon applied to industrial problems.

In 1918, his studies of photochemistry led him to his atom chain-reaction theory. This theory assumed that once the energy of a quantum has initiated a reaction in which free atoms are formed, these formed atoms could decompose other molecules with the liberation of more free atoms. The reaction can thus continue for long periods without reinitiating.

Dr. Nernst was so brilliantly scientifically minded that he was always in the forefront in considering ways of applying the results of scientific research to industry. He improved the electric light, naming it the Nernst Lamp. He also invented an electric piano. In 1920, Dr. Nernst received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in thermochemistry.

Our third celebrated scientist is Bronislaw Malinowski, who lived from 1884 until 1942. Dr. Malinowski was one of the most important anthropologists of the 20th century. He was a founder of social anthropology, contributing to ethnography, sociology, linguistics, psychology, and The Theory of Culture. Dr. Malinowski received his Ph.D. in philosophy, physics, and mathematics. He also received a Ph.D. in science in 1916.

Dr. Malinowski founded the field of social anthropology known as functionalism, holding the belief that all components of society interlock to form a well-balanced system. He emphasized characteristics of beliefs, ceremonies, customs, institutions, religion, ritual, and sexual taboos.

In his first field study in 1915-1918 with the Trobriand Islanders of New Guinea, Dr. Malinowski discovered evidence to discredit Sigmund Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex. Dr. Malinowski proved that individual psychology depends on cultural context.
He wrote about this fieldwork and conclusions in the famous "Argonauts of the Western Pacific" (1922). Malinowski held many positions at the university level. Other famous books written by Dr. Malinowski include "The Scientific Theory of Culture" (1922), and "Magic, Science, and Religion" (1948).

The last scientist to be celebrated is Stanislaw Marcin Ulam. This brilliant scientist lived from 1909 until 1984. Receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Lvov, Poland, Dr. Ulam solved the problem of how to initiate fusion in the hydrogen bomb. He worked on the hydrogen bomb at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. While there he developed the "Monte-Carlo Method". This method searched for solutions to mathematical problems using a statistical sampling method with random numbers. This method is widely used in formulating mathematical software.

In tandem with J.C.Everett, Dr. Ulam proposed the "Orion" plan for nuclear propulsion of space vehicles. He was a professor at Harvard University and at The University of Wisconsin. He was the chairman of the Mathematics Department at the University of Colorado, and was subsequently a professor of biomathematics at the University of Colorado.

Dr. Ulam’s well-known books include "A Collection of Mathematical Problems" (1960); "Sets, Numbers, and Universes" (1974); and "Adventures of a Mathematician" (1976). Dr. Ulam was quite a raconteur as well as pleasing others socially with his brilliant word-play and facile mind.