Many people with disabilities work in various professions, including scientists.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Many persons with disabilities work in various professions. One of them is a scientist.
Scientists with disabilities have changed the world. They pursue scientific exploration without letting social barriers or other people’s negative views of their disability stop them.
Several famous scientists in history had physical or mental conditions that might be considered disabled. Yet they act as pioneers in their respective fields. Who are some famous scientists who are also disabled? Here’s the list as reported Zdnet, Tuesday (1/2):
1.Thomas Edison
Edison was born in 1847 with most of his hearing loss in his early 20s. Even so, Edison worked in the field of telegraphy. He transmits information through communication systems and develops as an innovator and inventor. In Edison’s lab in New Jersey, he developed audio devices, invented the incandescent light bulb, and helped give birth to the film industry.
2.Ralph Braun
After the diagnosis of muscular dystrophy, Ralph Braun developed an innovative mobility device. Braun’s experience informs inventions such as motorized scooters, wheelchair accessible vehicles, and wheelchair lifts. He advocates for the education and employment of individuals with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Braun, who died in 2013, is known as the “Father of the Mobility Movement.”
3.Sang Mook Lee
Born in Korea and trained as an oceanographer, Sang Mook Lee was teaching in the United States when a car accident in 2006 paralyzed him from the shoulders down. The experience gave Lee greater purpose as a scientist and as an educator.
Lee advocates the development of assistive technology for science and engineering education while continuing his own research. His efforts reach the world, including his home country of South Korea.
4.Stephen Hawking
After a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 21, Stephen Hawking spent decades working as a mathematician and physicist. Hawking uses a wheelchair, sound synthesizer, and other technology to research, write, and communicate.
Hawking contributed groundbreaking theories about the origin of the universe, black holes, radiation, and much more. In addition, Hawking also published, taught, and won numerous awards for his scientific contributions before his death in 2018.
5.Geerat Vermeij
Geerat Vermeij is an evolutionary biologist who has been blind since childhood. He uses touch in his work with mollusks as he investigates extinct species and their predators. Vermeij linked his interest in nature and its history.
His parents and teachers supported him throughout his life. Vermeij claims being blind has helped him as a scientist because realizing it has made him a better observer.
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