Scientists

Germ buster: Happy Birthday to Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (1845-1922), a French physician and military officer who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1907 for his discoveries of parasitic protozoans as causative agents of infectious diseases such as malaria and trypanosomiasis. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Dr. Laveran, designed and engraved by French artist Raoul Serres (1881-1971), and issued for use in Algeria on January 4, 1954, Scott No. 252, plus a photo of Alphonse Laveran.

- nethryk

Sultan of soda ash: Ernest Solvay (1838-1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist who in 1861 developed the ammonia-soda process named for him. Here is an image of a semi-postal (charity) stamp honoring Dr. Solvay, designed by Jean Van Noten (1903-1982), printed by photogravure, and issued by Belgium on October 22, 1955, Scott No. B573, plus an image of a photograph of Ernest Solvay, c. 1900.

- nethryk

Enlightened cleric: Father Pietro Angelo Secchi SJ (1818-1878) was an Italian astronomer, a pioneer in astronomical spectroscopy, and one of the first scientists to assert authoritatively that the Sun is a star. Here are images of the three stamps in a set depicting Secchi, solar protuberances, light spectrums, and various scientific instruments (respectively: meteorograph, spectroscope and telescope), combined engraved by Italian artist Pietro Nicolò Arghittu (1946- ) and lithography, and issued by Vatican City on June 25, 1979 to commemorate the centenary of the astronomer's death, Scott Nos. 654-56, plus an image of a photograph of Father Secchi.

- nethryk

No lazybones: Here is an image of a semi-postal (charity) stamp featuring a portrait of Austrian anatomist Josef Hyrtl (1810-1894), designed by Wilhelm Dachauer (1881-1951), engraved by Ferdinand Lorber (1883-1957), and issued by Austria on December 5, 1937, Scott No. B162, plus an image of another portrait of Josef Hyrtl.

- nethryk

Went with the flow: Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky (1847-1921) was a Russian scientist and a founding father of modern aerodynamics who was the first to explain mathematically the origin of aerodynamic lift. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Zhukovsky and depicting aeronautical symbols, designed by Vasili Vasilievich Zavialov (1906-1972), printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on January 17, 1947 to commemorate the scientist's birth centenary, Scott No. 1098, Zagorski No. 1013, plus an image of a photograph of Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky.

- nethryk

All shook up: Antonino Lo Surdo (1880-1949) was an Italian physicist who specialized in seismology and geophysics, but who is perhaps best known for his (co-)discovery in 1913 of the effect on an electric field on the emission spectrum of a gas, an important contribution to the development of quantum theory. Here is an image of a stamp depicting Lo Surdo and a terrestrial globe, designed by Luca Vangelli, printed by lithography, and issued by Italy on April 28, 1980 as a EUROPA stamp to commemorate the scientist's birth centenary, Scott No. 1396, plus an image of a photography of Antonino Lo Surdo.

- nethryk

Learned Hans: Here are images of the four stamps in a set featuring portraits of Chinese scientists, engraved and printed on buff paper, and issued by China (People's Republic) on August 25, 1955, Scott Nos. 245-48.

- nethryk

Zhang Heng (78-139), astronomer, mathematician, scientist, engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar.


Zu Chongzhi (429-500), courtesy name Wenyuan, mathematician and astronomer.


Yi Xing (born Zhang Sui, 683-727), astronomer, mathematician, mechanical engineer and Buddhist monk.


Li Shizhen (1518-1593), courtesy name Dongbi, polymath, medical doctor, scientist, pharmacologist, herbalist and acupuncturist.

Science for science's sake: Happy Birthday to Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894), a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions in physiology and psychology, visual perception, acoustics, conservation of energy, electrodynamics, thermodynamics, and philosophy of science. Here is an image of a stamp honoring Dr. Helmholtz, designed by Margit Zauner, combined engraved and lithography, and issued by Germany on September 8, 1994 to commemorate the centenary of his death, Scott No. 1867, plus an image of a photograph of Hermann von Helmholtz.

- nethryk

"Whoever, in the pursuit of science, seeks after immediate practical utility may rest assured that he seeks in vain." — Hermann von Helmholtz, Academic Discourse (Heidelberg, 1862).

Breathtaking: Roger Joseph Boscovich (1711-1787) was a physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and polymath from the city of Dubrovnik in the Republic of Ragusa (modern-day Croatia) who in 1753 discovered the absence of atmosphere on the Moon. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Boscovich, designed by Matija Zlamalik (1905-1965), engraved by Tanasije Krnjajic, and issued by Yugoslavia on December 24, 1960, Scott No. 595, plus an image of a portrait (1760) of Roger Joseph Boscovich by English painter Robert Edge Pine (1730-1788).

- nethryk

Cutting edge docs: Here are images of the five stamps in a set honoring medical pioneers: Hippocrates (460-377 BC), Greek physician; Avicenna, aka Ibn Sina (980-1037), Islamic pharmacist and diagnostician; Ambroise Pare (1510-1590), French surgeon; William Harvey (1578-1657), English physician and anatomist; and Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865), Hungarian obstetrician, designed by János Kass (1927-2010), printed by lithography, and issued by Hungary on March 31, 1987, Scott Nos. 3060-64.

- nethryk

Unspontaneous: Here is an image of a stamp honoring renowned French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), designed by French artist Jean Chesnot, engraved by Roger Fenneteaux (1913-2000), and issued by Monaco on December 4, 1972 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the scientist's birth, Scott No. 854, plus an image of a photograph of Louis Pasteur.

- nethryk

Obscure curer: Ernest Duchesne (1874-1912) was a French physician and military officer who noted that certain molds kill bacteria 32 years before Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of penicillin, a substance derived from those molds. However, because Duchesne was only 23 years old and unknown at the time of his discovery, the Institut Pasteur did not even acknowledge receipt of his dissertation, and his research went unnoticed in the scientific community. Duchesne was posthumously honored in 1949, 5 years after Alexander Fleming had received the Nobel Prize. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Ernest Duchesne and depicting Penicillium glaucum mold, designed and engraved by French artist Jean Pheulpin (1907-1991), and issued by Monaco on May 8, 1974 to commemorate the scientist's birth centenary, Scott No. 908, plus an image of a photograph of Ernest Duchesne which may have been a model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

I'm looking through you: Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (also spelled Roentgen, 1845-1923), called "the father of diagnostic radiology," and depicting an X-ray tube and a diagram of a lithium atom, printed by photogravure, and issued by Spain on April 3, 1967 to publicize the VII Latin and I European Congress of Radiology, held in Barcelona, Scott No. 1450, plus an image of a portrait of Wilhelm Röntgen.

- nethryk

nethryk -

Very nice stamps and write-ups! I have always only collected stamps by country and time period. I've never before seriously considered topical collecting, but being a scientist myself and always having an interest in biographies of scientists and in the history of science, I could see that collecting scientists on stamps could be very fun and educational.

Given these kinds of stamps would be spread out across all countries and all time periods, how do you go about finding the stamps and how do you display them including write ups?

Chris

chris2015 - Thanks! The American Topical Association prints handbooks and checklists for stamp collectors, but I have found most of my topical stamps serendipitously at shows and bourses. I enjoy researching my stamps, using various stamp catalogues, online reference resources, and private correspondence with other collectors. By posting articles here I hope to share some of the interesting and entertaining facts I have discovered. Also, you may wish to review the SCF topical thread on Nobel Prize winners, which includes some scientists: https://goscf.com/t/40073

Here is an image of a stamp honoring Swiss-born veterinarian Sir Arnold Theiler (1867-1936), considered to be the father of veterinary science in South Africa, printed by lithography, and issued by South Africa on October 9, 1991, Scott No. 810, plus an image of a photograph of Dr. Theiler in 1923.

- nethryk