List of British scientists

This is a list of British scientists.

A[edit]

• Alcuin (735-804), scholar and theologian
• Adelard (1080-1150), mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, physicist philosopher
• Frederick Abel (1827–1902), chemist
• Arthur Adams (1820–1878), physician and naturalist
• William Grylls Adams (1836-1915), physicist and astronomer
• Edgar Douglas Adrian (1889–1977), electrophysiologist
• Arthur Aikin (1773–1855), chemist
• William Aiton (1731–1793), botanist
• John Albery (1936–2013), physical chemist
• John Arderne (1307-1392), physician and surgeon
• Francis William Aston (1877–1945), physicist
• David Attenborough (born 1926), naturalist
• Charlotte Auerbach (1899–1994), geneticist
• David Axon (1951–2012), astrophysicist

B[edit]

• Bede (672-735), mathematician and astronomer
• Charles Babbage (1791–1871), mathematician and computer pioneer
• Roger Bacon (1219–1292 approximately), philosopher, advocate of the scientific method
• John Logie Baird (1888–1946), television pioneer
• Isaac Barrow (1640-1676), mathematician
• James Bradley (1692-1762), astronomer
• John Hutton Balfour (1808–1884), botanist
• Neil Bartlett (1932–2008), chemist
• Derek Barton (1918–1998), chemist
• Henry Walter Bates (1825–1892), naturalist
• Patrick Bateson (1938–2017), zoologist
• Michael Bearpark (born 20th century), chemist
• John Beddington (born 1945), population biologist
• Thomas Bell (1792–1880), zoologist
• David Bellamy (1933–2019), botanist
• Ralph Benjamin (1922–2019), inventor
• Edward Turner Bennett (1797–1836), zoologist
• George Bentham (1800–1884), botanist
• Robert Bentley (1821–1893), botanist
• Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955), computer scientist
• Kevin Beurle (1956–2009), space scientist
• Thomas Bewick (1753–1828), wood-engraver and natural history author
• Sheila Bingham (Rodwell) (1947–2009), nutritional epidemiologist
• Ann Bishop (1899–1990), biologist who studied Plasmodium
• Joseph Black (1728–1799), chemist
• John Blackwall (1790–1881), naturalist who studied spiders
• Thomas Blakiston (1832–1891), naturalist
• William Thomas Blanford (1832–1905), geologist
• David Mervyn Blow (1931–2004), biophysicist
• Edward Blyth (1810–1873), ornithologist
• Edward August Bond (1815–1898), palaeographer
• Edmund John Bowen (1898–1980), physical chemist
• Humphry John Moule Bowen (1929–2001), chemist
• Edward Augustus Bowles (1865–1954), botanist
• Robert Boyle (1627–1691), "father of chemistry"
• Charles Vernon Boys (1855–1944), physicist
• Dennis Bray (born 20th century), biologist
• Malcolm Brenner (born 1951), clinical scientist who studies gene therapy and immunotherapy
• Sydney Brenner (1927–2019), molecular biologist
• Alan Brisdon (born 20th century), fluorine chemist
• Donald Broadbent (1926–1993), experimental psychologist
• Robert Brown (1773–1858), botanist
• David Bruce (1855–1931), pathologist and microbiologist who discovered Brucella
• Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (1762–1829), physician, geographer, zoologist, and botanist
• John Burdon-Sanderson (1828–1905), physiologist
• Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943), astrophysicist
• Alan Butement (1904–1990), physicist

C[edit]

• Robert W. Cahn (1924–2007), metallurgist
• Sandy Cairncross (born 1948), epidemiologist
• George Caley (1770–1829), explorer and botanist
• Philip Pearsall Carpenter (1819–1877), conchologist
• Mark Catesby (1683–1749), naturalist
• Richard Caton (1842–1926), physiologist
• Henry Cavendish (1731–1810), physicist and chemist
• Colin Cherry (1914–1979), cognitive scientist
• Harriette Chick (1875–1977), microbiologist and protein scientist
• Samuel Hunter Christie (1784–1865), physicist and mathematician
• G. Marius Clore FRS (born 1955), molecular biophysicist
• Marcela Contreras (born 1942), blood expert and immunologist
• Verona Conway (1910–1986), plant ecologist
• Athel Cornish-Bowden (born 1943), biochemist
• Roger Coset (1682-1716), mathematician
• Charles Coulson (1910–1974), theoretical chemist
• Archibald Scott Couper (1831–1892), chemist
• Brian Cox (born 1968), physicist
• William Crabtree (1610-1644), mathematician and astronomer
• Eva Crane (1912–2007), entomologist
• Francis Crick (1916–2004), molecular biologist
• Andrew Crosse (1784–1855), pioneer in the study of electricity
• Alexander Crum Brown (1838–1922), organic chemist
• Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654), botanist
• Allan Cunningham (1791–1839), botanist
• William Curtis (1746–1799), botanist

D[edit]

• John Dalton (1766–1844), chemist: "father of modern atomic theory"
• Charles Darwin (1809–1882), originator of the theory of natural selection
• Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), naturalist
• George Darwin (1845-1912), astronomer
• Donald Davies (1924–2000), computer scientist
• Humphry Davy (1778–1829), chemist and inventor
• Richard Dawkins (born 1941), ethologist and evolutionary biologist
• James Dewar (1842–1923), chemist and physicist
• Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778–1855), botanist and conchologist
• Paul Dirac (1902–1984), theoretical physicist
• Deborah Doniach (1912–2004), clinical immunologist
• James Donn (1758–1813), botanist
• Henry Doubleday (1808–1875), entomologist
• David Douglas (1799–1834), botanist

E[edit]

• George Edwards (1693–1773), ornithologist
• Harry Julius Emeléus (1903–1993), inorganic chemist
• Thomas Campbell Eyton (1809–1880), zoologist

F[edit]

• Hugh Falconer (1808–1865), palaeontologist
• Michael Faraday (1791–1867), pioneer of electricity
• John Farrah (1849–1907), English botanist and meteorologist
• Barry Fell (1917–1994), zoologist
• David Fell (born 1947), biochemist and systems biologist
• James Fisher (1922–1970), ornithologist
• Ronald Fisher (1890–1962), geneticist and statistician
• John Flamsteed (1646-1719), astronomer
• Jim Flegg (born 20th century), ornithologist
• Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), physician and microbiologist
• Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher (1878–1950), entomologist
• E. B. Ford (1901–1988), ecological geneticist
• Jeff Forshaw (born 1968), particle physicist
• Robert Fortune (1813–1880), botanist
• Carey Foster (1835–1919), chemist and physicist
• Henry Foster (1797–1831), naval surveyor
• Ruth Fowler Edwards (1930–2013), geneticist
• Edward Frankland (1825–1899), chemist
• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), philosopher, physicist, political scientist
• Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), X-ray crystallographer
• Elizabeth Fulhame (18th–19th centuries), chemist, pioneer in study of catalysis
• Vera Furness (1921–2002) industrial chemist

G[edit]

• William Gascoigne (1610-1644), mathematician and astronomer
• Patrick Geddes (1854–1932), biologist and geographer
• John Gerard (1545–1611/12), botanist
• Michael Gerzon (1945–1996), acoustic physicist
• William Gilbert (1544-1603), philosopher and physician
• Charles Henry Gimingham (1923–2018), botanist
• Stephan Gray (1666-1736), physicist who studied electrostatic induction
• Frederick DuCane Godman (1834–1919), naturalist and ornithologist
• Jane Goodall (born 1934), primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist
• June Goodfield (born 1927), historian of science
• Dougal Goodman (born 20th century), low-temperature physicist
• Guy Goodwin (born 1947), neuroscientist
• George Gordon (1806–1879), botanist
• Raymond Gosling (1926–2015), physicist
• Philip Henry Gosse (1810–1888), naturalist
• John Gould (1804–1881), ornithologist
• Monica Grady (born 1958), space scientist
• Thomas Graham (1805–1869) chemist
• George Robert Gray (1808–1872), zoologist
• John Edward Gray (1800–1875), zoologist
• Malcolm Green (1936–2020), inorganic chemist
• Edward Grey (1862–1933), ornithologist
• Frederick Griffith (1879–1941), bacteriologist
• Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253), mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, theologian
• Albert Günther (1830–1914), zoologist
• Frederick Guthrie (1833–1886), physicist and chemist
• Helen Gwynne-Vaughan (1879–1967), botanist and mycologist

H[edit]

• J. B. S. Haldane (1892–1964), evolutionary biologist
• John Scott Haldane (1860–1936), physiologist
• Wendy Hall (born 1952), computer scientist
• Edmond Halley (1656–1742), astronomer
• Frances Mary Hamer (1894–1980), chemist
• William Donald Hamilton (1936–2000), evolutionary biologist
• Sylvanus Charles Thorp Hanley (1819–1899), conchologist and malacologist
• William Vernon Harcourt (1789–1871), clergyman and student of glass
• Arthur Harden (1865–1940), biochemist
• Anita Harding (1952–1995), neurologist
• Thomas Hardwicke (1755–1835), naturalist
• Alister Clavering Hardy (1896–1985), marine biologist
• Richard Harrison (born 20th century), physicist
• William Henry Harvey (1811–1866), phycologist
• Charles Hatchett (1765–1847), mineralogist and analytical chemist
• Walter Norman Haworth (1883–1950), chemist
• Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), cosmologist
• Arthur Hay (1824–1878), ornithologist
• Oliver Heaviside (1850–1925), mathematician and physicist
• James Hector (1834–1907), geologist and naturalist
• John Stevens Henslow (1796–1861), mineralogist and botanist
• William Herschel (1738-1822), astronomer
• Vernon Heywood (1927–2022), botanist
• Julia Higgins (born 1942), polymer scientist
• Peter Higgs (1929–2024), particle physicist
• Archibald Vivian Hill (1886–1977), physiologist,
• Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1897–1967), physical chemist
• Peter Hirsch (born 1925), minerals scientist
• George Hockham (1938–2013), electromagnetic engineer
• Dorothy Hodgkin (1910–1994), chemist
• Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800–1894), naturalist
• Anthony Hollander (born 1964), integrative biologist
• Robert Hooke (1635–1703), natural philosopher
• Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911), botanist
• William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), botanist
• Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947), biochemist
• Jeremiah Horrocks (1618-1641), astronomer
• Victor Horsley (1857–1916), medical scientist
• Albert Howard (1873–1947), botanist
• Henry Eliot Howard (1873–1940), ornithologist
• Allan Octavian Hume (1829–1912), ornithologist
• Rob Hume (born 20th century), ornithologist
• Robert Hues (1553-1632), geographer
• Rosalinde Hurley (1929–2004), microbiologist
• Harold Edwin Hurst (1880–1978), hydrologist
• Janet Husband (born 20th century), radiologist
• Frederick Hutton (1835–1905), biologist and geologist
• Hugh Huxley (1924–2013), muscle biochemist
• Julian Sorell Huxley (1887–1975), zoologist and evolutionary theorist
• Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895), zoologist

I[edit]

• Ray Iles (born 20th century), oncologist
• Jan Ingenhousz (1730–1799), botanist
• Jane Ingham (1897–1982), botanist
• Christopher Kelk Ingold (1893–1970), mechanistic organic chemist
• Keith Ingold (1929–2023), chemist
• Tom Iredale (1880–1972), conchologist and ornithologist

J[edit]

• William Jardine (1800–1874), naturalist
• Alec Jeffreys (born 1950), geneticist
• Edward Jenner (1749–1823), pioneer immunologist
• John Gwyn Jeffreys (1809–1885), conchologist and malacologist
• Thomas C. Jerdon (1811–1872), zoologist and botanist
• Harren Jhoti (born 1962), structural biologist
• Joanne Johnson (born 1977): geologist, Antarctic scientist
• Mark H. Johnson (born 1960), cognitive neuroscientist
• Pauline Johnson (born 20th century), immunologist and microbiologist
• James Prescott Joule (1818-1889), physicist and chemist

K[edit]

• Henrik Kacser (1918–1995), geneticist and biochemist
• Charles K. Kao (1933–2018), electrical engineer and physicist
• Alan R. Katritzky (1928–2014), chemist
• Janet Kear (1933–2004), ornithologist
• Frank Kearton (1911–1992), chemist
• Peter Keightley (born 20th century), evolutionary geneticist
• Douglas Kell (born 1953), biochemist
• David Kelly (1944–2003), weapons expert
• 1st Baron Kelvin, born William Thomson (1824–1907), mathematical physicist
• John Kendrew (1917–1997) biochemist and crystallographer
• Gerald A. Kerkut (1927–2004), zoologist and physiologist
• Ebenezer Kinnersley (1711-1778), physicist
• Alexander King (1909–2007), chemist
• Norman Boyd Kinnear (1882–1957), zoologist
• William Kirby (1759–1850), entomologist
• Aaron Klug (1926–2018), biophysicist and chemist
• Gilbert Knowles (1667–1734), botanist
• Jeremy Knowles (1935–2008), enzyme chemist
• Rudolf Kompfner (1909–1977), engineer and physicist
• Harry Kroto (1939–2016), chemist.
• John Howard Kyan (1774–1850), inventor of a process for preserving wood

L[edit]

• David Lack (1910–1973), ornithologist
• Patrick Laidlaw (1881–1940), virologist
• Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761–1842), botanist
• Hugh Lamprey (1928–1996), ecologist
• John Latham (1740–1837), ornithologist
• John Latham (1937–2021), physicist
• Colin Leakey (1933–2018), tropical botanist
• Louis Leakey (1903–1972), archaeologist and naturalist
• Louise Leakey (born 1972), paleontologist
• Mary Leakey (1913–1996), paleoanthropologist
• Meave Leakey (born 1942), paleontologist
• Richard Leakey (1944–2022), paleontologist and archaeologist
• John Henry Lefroy (1817–1890), physicist and magnetism surveyor
• John Lennard-Jones (1894–1954), theoretical physicist
• John Lightfoot (1735–1788), conchologist and botanist
• John Lindley (1799–1865), botanist
• Joseph Lister (1827–1912), pioneer of antiseptic surgery
• Christopher Longuet-Higgins (1923–2004), theoretical chemist and cognitive scientist
• John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843), botanist
• Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), mathematician and computing pioneer
• James Lovelock (1919–2022), father of the Gaia hypothesis
• Percy Lowe (1870–1948), ornithologist
• Martin Lowry (1874–1936), physical chemist
• Richard Lydekker (1849–1915), naturalist

M[edit]

• John Macadam (1827–1865), botanist
• George G. Macfarlane (1916–2007), researcher on radar
• William MacGillivray (1796–1852), naturalist
• Walcher of Malvern (death 1135), mathematician
• Harry Marsh (1926–2023), carbon chemist
• Charles James Martin (1866–1955), epidemiologist
• John Martyn (1699–1768), botanist
• Thomas Martyn (1735–1825), botanist, entomologist and conchologist
• Francis Masson (1741–1805), botanist
• Neil D. Mathur (born 20th century), materials physicist
• James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), physicist
• Harold Maxwell-Lefroy (1877–1925), entomologist
• John McCafferty (born 20th century), immunologist
• Robert May (1936–2020), ecologist and mathematician
• Edmund Meade-Waldo (1855–1934), ornithologist
• Archibald Menzies (1754–1852), naturalist
• Peter H Millard (1937–2018), geriatrician
• Philip Miller (1691–1771), botanist
• John F. B. Mitchell (born 1948), climatologist
• Peter Mitchell (1920–1992), biochemist
• George Jackson Mivart (1827–1900), biologist
• Henry Moseley (1887–1915), physicist, originator of the concept atomic number
• William Musgrave (1655–1721), physician and antiquary

N[edit]

• John Napier (1550–1617), mathematician, physicist and astronomer
• John Needham (1713–1781), naturalist
• Joseph Needham (1900–1995), biochemist and historian
• Charles F. Newcombe (1851–1924), botanist
• John Newlands (1837–1898), chemist who studied the periodicity of elements
• Alfred Newton (1829–1907), zoologist
• Isaac Newton (1642–1726/27), mathematician, physicist and astronomer
• Henry Alleyne Nicholson (1844–1899), zoologist
• William Nicholson (1753–1815), chemist
• Denis Noble (born 1936), physiologist
• Ronald George Wreyford Norrish (1897–1978), chemist
• Thomas Norton (1416-1513), alchemist
• Paul Nurse (born 1949), biochemist and geneticist

O[edit]

• William of Ockham (1287-1347), physicist and philosopher
• William Ogilby (1808–1873), naturalist
• Bridget Ogilvie (born 1938), parasitologist
• William Robert Ogilvie-Grant (1863–1924), ornithologist
• Tony Orchard (1941–2005) inorganic chemist.
• Edward Latham Ormerod (1819–1873), physician and entomologist
• Eleanor Anne Ormerod (1828–1901), entomologist
• William Charles Osman Hill (1901–1975), anatomist and primatologist
• Ian Osterloh (born 20th century), clinical researcher
• Richard Owen (1804–1892), biologist, palaeontologist and taxonomist

P[edit]

• Edward Palmer (1829–1911), botanist
• Woodbine Parish (1796–1882), geology and palaeontologist
• William Paterson (1755–1810), botanist and explorer
• Arthur Lindo Patterson (1902–1966), X-ray crystallographer
• Robert Patterson (1802–1872), naturalist
• David Peakall (1931–2001), toxicologist
• Thomas Pennant (1726–1798), naturalist and antiquary
• Joseph Barclay Pentland (1797–1873), geographer
• William Henry Perkin (1838–1907), organic chemist
• William Henry Perkin, Jr. (1860–1929), organic chemist
• Max Perutz (1914–2002), x-ray crystallographer and molecular biologist
• George Perry (born 1771), naturalist
• Samuel Victor Perry (1918–2009), muscle biochemist
• Eva Philbin (1914–2005), chemist
• Chris Phillips (born ca. 1958), physicist
• Constantine John Phipps (1744–1792), explorer
• David Andrew Phoenix (born 1966), biochemist
• Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1860–1905), entomologist
• Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1828–1917), entomologist
• Henry Piddington (1797–1858), meteorologist
• Andrew Pitman (born 1964), atmospheric scientist
• Reginald Innes Pocock (1863–1947), taxonomist
• Vicky Pope (born 20th century), climatologist
• John Pople (1925–2004), theoretical chemist
• Cicely Popplewell (1920–1995), computer scientist
• George Porter (1920–2002), chemist
• Thomas Littleton Powys (1833–1896), ornithologist
• James Price (1752—1783), chemist
• Joseph Hubert Priestley (1883–1944), botanist
• Joseph Priestley (1733–1804), chemist and philosopher

R[edit]

• Stamford Raffles (1781–1826), statesman and botanist
• Venki Ramakrishnan (born 1952), structural biologist
• William Ramsay (1852–1916), chemist who discovered the noble gases
• Matthew Raper (1705–1778), astronomer and mathematician
• Chris Rapley (born 1947), climatologist
• John Ray, also written John Wray (1627–1705), naturalist
• Lovell Augustus Reeve (1814–1865), conchologist
• Michael Reiss (born 1960), bioethicist
• Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912), physicist
• Tracey Reynolds (born early 1970s), sociologist
• John Richardson (1787–1865) naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer
• Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855–1956) botanist, geologist and naturalist
• George Ripley (1415-1490), alchemist
• Robert Robinson (1886–1975) organic chemist
• Sheila Rodwell (Sheila Bingham, 1947–2009), nutritional epidemiologist
• Lawrence Rooke (1622-1662), mathematician and astronomer
• Miriam Louisa Rothschild (1908–2005), entomologist
• Walter Rothschild (1868–1937), zoologist
• William Roxburgh (1759–1815), botanist
• Gordon Rugg (born 1955), computer scientist
• Daniel Rutherford (1749–1819), physician, chemist and botanist
• Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937), physicist, known as the father of nuclear physics
• Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), philosopher and mathematician

S[edit]

• Joseph Sabine (1770–1837), botanist and horticulturist
• Johannes de Sacrobosco (1195-1256), mathematician and astronomer
• Edward James Salisbury (1886–1978), botanist
• Richard Anthony Salisbury (1761–1829), botanist
• Frederick Sanger (1918–2013), biochemist
• Herbert M. Sauro (born 1960), biochemist and systems biologist
• Thomas Savery (17-18th century), Engineer who invented the first commercial steam pump
• Philip Sclater (1829–1913), zoologist
• Henry Seebohm (1832–1895), ornithologist
• Prideaux John Selby (1788–1867), botanist and ornithologist
• Sydney Selwyn (1934–1996), medical microbiologist
• Nigel Shadbolt (born 1956), computer scientist
• Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847–1909), zoologist
• George Shaw (1751–1813), botanist and zoologist
• George Ernest Shelley (1840–1910), ornithologist
• John Sherwood (ca. 1933 to 2020), physical organic chemist
• Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1922), physiologist and neuroscientist
• Andrew Smith (1797–1872), zoologist
• Edgar Albert Smith (1847–1916), zoologist and conchologist
• Frederick Smith (1805–1879), entomologist
• George D. W. Smith (born 1943), materials scientist
• James Edward Smith (1759–1828), botanist
• John Maynard Smith (1920–2004), biologist
• Douglas Spalding (1841–1877), behaviourist
• Walter Baldwin Spencer (1860–1929), anthropologist
• Charles Stanhope (1753–1816), mathematician and physicist
• Edward Stanley (1775–1851), naturalist
• James Francis Stephens (1792–1853), zoologist
• Frederick Campion Steward (1904–1993), botanist
• James Stirling (1953–2018), physicist
• Peter A. Stott (born 20th century), climatologist
• John Struthers (1823–1899), anatomist
• Audrey Stuckes (1923–2006), material scientist
• Samuel Stutchbury (1798–1859), naturalist and geologist
• William John Swainson (1789–1855), ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist and entomologist
• Robert Swinhoe (1836–1877), naturalist
• Peter Sykes (1923–2003), chemist
• William Henry Sykes (1790–1872), ornithologist
• Frederick Soddy (1877-1956), chemist

T[edit]

• Oldfield Thomas (1858–1929) zoologist
• Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford, 1753–1814), physicist and inventor
• D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860–1942), mathematician and biologist
• William Thompson (1805–1852), ornithologist and naturalist
• Charles Wyville Thomson (1832–1882), marine biologist
• J. J. Thomson (1856–1940), physicist
• William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), 1824–1907), physicist
• Samuel Tickell (1811–1875), ornithologist
• Stephen Toulmin (1922–2009), philosopher and historian of science
• John Sealy Townsend (1868–1957), mathematical physicist
• Thomas Stewart Traill (1781–1862), doctor and naturalist
• Eric Trist (1909–1993), psychologist
• Henry Baker Tristram (1822–1906), ornithologist
• Bernard Tucker (1901–1950), ornithologist
• Marmaduke Tunstall (1743–1790), ornithologist
• Alan Turing (1912–1954), computer scientist
• Arthur James Turner (1889–1971), textile technologist
• William Turton (1762–1835), naturalist

U[edit]

• James Underwood (born 1942), pathologist
• Olga Uvarov (1910–2001), veterinary surgeon

V[edit]

• Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785–1840), zoologist

W[edit]

• Nicholas Wald (born 20th century), Professor of Preventive Medicine
• Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), naturalist and biologist
• Richard of Wallingford (1292-1336), mathematician, astronomer, astrologer
• Kevin Warwick (born 1954), computer scientist and neurobiologist
• Charles Waterton (1782–1865), naturalist
• Andrew Watson (born 1952), marine biologist
• Alexander Watt (1892–1985), botanist
• John Westwyk (born 14th century), astronomer
• Edwin C. Webb (1921–2006), biochemist
• Philip Barker Webb (1793–1854), botanist
• Hugh Algernon Weddell (1819–1877), botanist
• Richard Burkewood Welbourn (1919–2005), endocrinologist
• Michael Wells (born 1952), pathologist
• Thomas Summers West (1927–2010), chemist
• Michael Whelan (born 1931), materials scientist
• William Joseph Whelan (1924–2021) biochemist
• Gilbert White (1720–1795), naturalist
• John White (c. 1756–1832), botanist
• Frank Whittle (1907–1996), engineer and aviation pioneer
• Elsie Widdowson (1906–2000), nutritionist
• Maurice Wilkins (1916–2004), biophysicist
• James H. Wilkinson (1919–1986), numerical analyst
• Mark Williamson (born 20th century), biologist
• Francis Willoughby (1635-1672), ornithologist and ichthyologist
• Alan Wilson (born 1939), mathematician
• Alexander Wilson (1766–1813), ornithologist
• E. A. Wilson (1872–1912), naturalist
• Greg Winter (born 1951), molecular biologist
• Heinz Wolff (1928–2017), bioengineer
• John Wray, also written John Ray (1627–1705), naturalist

Y[edit]

• William Yarrell (1784–1856), naturalist
• John Zachary Young (1907–1997), neurophysiologist
• Thomas Young (1773–1829), polymath