PHYSICIST

Thomas Young

1773 - 1829

Photo of Thomas Young

Icon of person Thomas Young

Thomas Young FRS (13 June 1773 – 10 May 1829) was a British polymath who made notable contributions to the fields of vision, light, solid mechanics, energy, physiology, language, musical harmony, and Egyptology. He was instrumental in the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, specifically the Rosetta Stone. Young has been described as "The Last Man Who Knew Everything". Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Thomas Young has received more than 67,216 page views. His biography is available in 70 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 67 in 2019). Thomas Young is the 56th most popular physicist (down from 45th in 2019), the 160th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 154th in 2019) and the 11th most popular British Physicist.

Thomas Young was most famous for his work in the field of optics, specifically his work with light and lenses. He also made contributions to the fields of Egyptology and linguistics.

Memorability Metrics

  • 67k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 76.26

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 70

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.47

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.54

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Thomas Young ranks 56 out of 851. Before him are Barry Barish, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Wilhelm Wien, Ernst Mach, and Gabriel Lippmann. After him are Charles Édouard Guillaume, Ludwig Boltzmann, Hermann von Helmholtz, Robert Andrews Millikan, Maria Goeppert Mayer, and Otto Stern.

Most Popular Physicists in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1773, Thomas Young ranks 3. Before him are Louis Philippe I, and Klemens von Metternich. After him are Robert Brown, William Henry Harrison, Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich Mohs, Aimé Bonpland, James Mill, Thérésa Tallien, Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, and Louis I of Etruria. Among people deceased in 1829, Thomas Young ranks 5. Before him are Niels Henrik Abel, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, John Jay, and Pope Leo XII. After him are Humphry Davy, Paul Barras, Maria Anna Mozart, Friedrich Schlegel, François-Joseph Gossec, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, and Alexander Griboyedov.

Others Born in 1773

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1829

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Thomas Young ranks 160 out of 8,785. Before him are John, King of England (1166), James VI and I (1566), Alfred Russel Wallace (1823), Joseph Priestley (1733), Catherine Parr (1512), and Catherine Howard (1523). After him are J. K. Rowling (1965), Alfred Marshall (1842), Francis Crick (1916), Saint Patrick (385), Edward V of England (1470), and Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (1846).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, Thomas Young ranks 11. Before him are Robert Hooke (1635), James Clerk Maxwell (1831), Paul Dirac (1902), J. J. Thomson (1856), William Gilbert (1544), and William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824). After him are James Chadwick (1891), C. F. Powell (1903), Charles Glover Barkla (1877), Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869), Peter Higgs (1929), and Owen Willans Richardson (1879).

British born Physicists

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous