List of Brazilian scientists facts for kids

Brazil is a big country, and it has been home to many amazing scientists! These are people who explore the world around us, from tiny atoms to huge galaxies, and help us understand how things work. They invent new things, discover cures for diseases, and teach us about our planet and its history.

This list introduces you to some of the most important Brazilian scientists, as well as some foreign scientists who lived and worked in Brazil. They have all made a big difference in fields like medicine, physics, biology, and more!

• Manuel de Abreu (1894–1962): A doctor who invented a special X-ray method called abreugraphy. It helped check many people's lungs for diseases like tuberculosis.
• Aziz Ab'Saber (1924–2012): A geographer and ecologist who studied the Amazon rainforest. He developed the "Theory of Refuges," explaining how different areas became safe places for plants and animals during climate changes.
• Fernando Flávio Marques de Almeida (1916–2013): A geologist who studied Earth's rocks and history.
• Carlos Paz de Araújo: An inventor with almost 600 patents in nanotechnology. This field works with incredibly tiny materials.
• José Márcio Ayres (1954–2003): A biologist who studied animals, especially primates like monkeys.
• Marcia Barbosa (born 1960): A physicist who studies how water behaves in different ways.
• Eddy Bensoussan (born 1938): A doctor.
• Wilson Teixeira Beraldo (1917–1998): Helped discover bradykinin, a substance in the body that affects blood pressure.
• Thaisa Storchi Bergmann (born 1955): An astrophysicist who studies stars and galaxies at a university in Brazil.
• Carlos Augusto Bertulani (born 1955): A physicist.
• Vital Brazil (1865–1950): A doctor and scientist who discovered how to make antivenom for snake bites and other poisonous animals.
• Ennio Candotti (born 1942): A physicist and a leader in science.
• Fernando Henrique Cardoso (born 1931): A sociologist (someone who studies society) and a former President of Brazil.
• José Cândido de Melo Carvalho (1914–1994): A biologist who studied animals, especially insects.
• Carlos Chagas (1879–1934): A biologist and public health worker. He discovered Chagas disease, a serious illness, and its cause.
• Evandro Chagas (1905–1940): A doctor and scientist who specialized in tropical diseases. He was the son of Carlos Chagas.
• Gauss Moutinho Cordeiro (born 1952): A mathematician and statistician.
• Vera Cordeiro (born 1950): A doctor and social entrepreneur, meaning she creates projects to help society.
• Newton da Costa (born 1929): A mathematician known for his work in "paraconsistent logic," which deals with ideas that might seem to contradict each other.
• Oswaldo Cruz (1872–1917): A doctor and public health hero. He helped get rid of diseases like yellow fever, bubonic plague, and smallpox in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1900s.
• Johanna Döbereiner (1924–2000): A biologist who discovered how certain soil bacteria help plants get nitrogen, which is important for their growth.
• Adolpho Ducke (1876–1959): A Croatian-Brazilian biologist who studied animals, insects, and plants.
• Florestan Fernandes (1920–1995): Known as one of the founders of Brazilian sociology, studying how society works.
• Sérgio Henrique Ferreira (1934–2016): A doctor and pharmacologist (someone who studies medicines). He discovered an important part of a drug used to treat high blood pressure.
• Carlos Chagas Filho (1910–2000): A doctor and physiologist (someone who studies how living things work). He was the son of Carlos Chagas.
• Hércules Florence (1804–1879): A pioneer in photography, one of the first people to experiment with taking pictures.
• Santiago Americano Freire (1908–1997): A doctor, professor, psychiatrist, writer, and painter.
• Gilberto Freyre (1900–1987): A historian and sociologist who wrote important books about Brazilian culture and society.
• Celso Furtado (1920–2004): A famous economist who studied the economies of developing countries.
• Marcelo Gleiser (born 1959): A physicist, writer, and professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in the USA.
• José Goldemberg (born 1928): A physicist who was also a Minister of Science & Technology and a leader at the University of São Paulo.
• Émil Göldi (1859–1917): A Swiss-Brazilian biologist who studied animals and nature.
• Bartolomeu de Gusmão (1685–1724): A Brazilian priest and an early pioneer of aviation. He invented a type of hot air balloon and was known as the "flying priest."
• Jacques Hüber (1867–1914): A Swiss-Brazilian biologist who studied plants.
• Ivan Izquierdo (1937–2021): A doctor and neuroscientist who discovered how our brains form memories.
• Jean Paul Jacob (1937–2019): An electronic engineer and researcher who worked at IBM.
• Adib Jatene (1929–2014): A famous heart surgeon.
• Alexander Kellner (born 1961): A paleontologist (someone who studies fossils) from Liechtenstein and Brazil.
• Warwick Estevam Kerr (1922–2018): A geneticist who researched the biology and genetics of bees.
• Eduardo Krieger (born 1928): A doctor and physiologist who studies how the body works.
• César Lattes (1924–2005): An experimental physicist who helped discover the pion, a tiny subatomic particle.
• Napoleão Laureano (1914–1951): A cancer researcher.
• Aristides Leão (1914–1993): A doctor and physiologist who discovered "Leão's depression," a phenomenon in nervous tissue.
• Ângelo Moreira da Costa Lima (1887–1964): A doctor and entomologist (someone who studies insects).
• Henrique da Rocha Lima (1879–1956): A doctor and pathologist who discovered the cause of epidemic typhus, a serious disease.
• José Leite Lopes (1918–2006): A theoretical physicist.
• Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940): A doctor and pioneer in public health.
• José Lutzenberger (1926–2002): An ecologist and zoologist who worked to protect the environment.
• Roberto Landell de Moura (1861–1928): An early pioneer of telephony, which is how we make phone calls.
• Fritz Müller (1821–1897): A German-Brazilian biologist who studied animals, plants, and insects.
• Miguel Nicolelis (born 1961): A neuroscientist recognized as one of the best scientists by Scientific American magazine in 2004.
• Jacob Palis (born 1940): A mathematician known internationally for his work.
• Maurício Peixoto (1921–2019): An engineer and mathematician who pioneered studies on "structural stability" and created "Peixoto's theorem."
• Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna (1818–1888): A biologist who studied animals and nature.
• José Aristodemo Pinotti (1934–2009): A doctor and gynecologist.
• Marcos Pontes (born 1963): The first Brazilian astronaut to travel to space.
• Patricia Pranke (born 1967): A stem cell researcher and professor.
• Ana Maria Primavesi (1920–2020): A soil scientist who promoted ecological ways to manage tropical soils.
• André Rebouças (1838–1898): A pioneering engineer.
• José Reis (1907–2002): A biologist and one of Brazil's greatest science writers.
• Gilberto Righi (1937–1999): A biologist who specialized in earthworms.
• Milton Santos (1926–2001): A geographer who won the Vautrin Lud International Geography Prize, a top award in geography.
• Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873–1932): A famous aviator and inventor, known for his work with early airplanes and airships.
• Ademar Agostinho Sauthier (1940): A theologian (someone who studies religion).
• Mário Schenberg (1914–1990): A theoretical physicist.
• Helmut Sick (1910–1991): A German-Brazilian biologist who studied animals, especially birds.
• Lotar Siewerdt (born 1939): An agronomist who studies forage production (plants grown for animal feed).
• Manuel Augusto Pirajá da Silva (1873–1961): Identified and described the cause and cycle of schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease.
• Maurício Rocha e Silva (1910–1983): A doctor and pharmacologist who discovered bradykinin, a substance that affects the heart and blood vessels.
• Emilio Joaquim da Silva Maia (1808–1859): A doctor and naturalist (someone who studies nature).
• Nise da Silveira (1905–1999): A psychiatrist who worked to improve mental health care.
• Jorge Stolfi (born 1950): A computer scientist and professor at UNICAMP university.
• Jayme Tiomno (1920–2011): An experimental and theoretical nuclear physicist.
• Paulo Emílio Vanzolini (1924–2013): A biologist who studied animals, especially reptiles and amphibians.
• Glaci Zancan (1935–2007): A biochemist (someone who studies the chemistry of living things).
• Mayana Zatz (born 1947): A biologist and geneticist (someone who studies genes and heredity).
• Euryclides Zerbini (1912–1993): A heart surgeon who performed the first heart transplant in Brazil.

Foreign Scientists Who Lived or Live in Brazil

Many scientists from other countries have also contributed to science in Brazil. They came to Brazil to live, work, and share their knowledge.

• Alexander Grothendieck (1928–2014): A French mathematician.
• David Bohm (1917–1992): An American physicist.
• Gregory Chaitin (born 1947): An Argentine-American mathematician.
• Louis Couty (1854–1884): A French physiologist and pharmacologist.
• Miguel Rolando Covian (1913–1992): An Argentinian physiologist.
• Orville Adalbert Derby (1851–1915): An American geologist.
• Heinz Ebert (1907–1983): A German geologist.
• Luigi Fantappiè (1901–1956): An Italian mathematician.
• Richard Feynman (1918–1988): An American physicist.
• Charles Frederick Hartt (1840–1878): A Canadian-American geologist and paleontologist.
• Hermann von Ihering (1850–1930): A German naturalist.
• Fritz Köberle (1910–1983): An Austrian physician and pathologist.
• Grigori Ivanovitch Langsdorff (1774–1852): A German/Russian naturalist.
• Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009): A French anthropologist (someone who studies human societies and cultures).
• Emmanuel Liais (1826–1900): A French astronomer and naturalist.
• Lucien Lison (1908–1984): A Belgian anatomist (someone who studies the structure of living things).
• Fritz Müller (1821–1897): A German naturalist.
• Giuseppe Occhialini (1907–1993): An Italian physicist.
• Ludwig Riedel (1790–1861): A German botanist (someone who studies plants).
• Oscar Sala (1922–2010): An Italian nuclear physicist.
• Carl August Wilhelm Schwacke (1848–1904): A German botanist.
• Friedrich Sellow (1789–1831): A German botanist.
• Helmut Sick (1910–1991): A German zoologist (someone who studies animals).
• Peter Szatmari (born 1950): A Hungarian geologist.
• Gleb Wataghin (1899–1986): A Russian/Italian physicist.
• Stefan Zweig (1881–1942): An Austrian writer and journalist.

See also

• Brazilian expatriate academics
• List of Brazilian mathematicians
• National Order of Scientific Merit
• List of Brazilian intellectuals and thinkers