The Top 10 Scientists Who Took Their Own Lives

In the world of science and art, many brilliant individuals have faced inner suffering, and tragically, some have ended their own lives. This article presents a list of ten renowned scientists who committed suicide.

10. Viktor Meyer

Viktor Meyer, a German chemist born in Berlin in 1848, made significant contributions to both organic and inorganic chemistry. He is best known for inventing the Viktor Meyer apparatus, which measures vapor densities, and for his discovery of thiophene.

A remarkably talented chemist, Meyer was a dedicated workaholic, and his demanding lifestyle eventually took a toll on his mental health. After suffering a series of breakdowns, he tragically ended his life by ingesting cyanide in 1897, at the age of 49.

David Christopher Kelly was a British Ministry of Defence (MoD) employee, a renowned expert in biological warfare, and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq.

David Kelly's skepticism about the authenticity of the WMD dossier compiled by the Blair Government led to a political scandal. He was summoned to a Parliamentary committee hearing to address his concerns. A humble man, Kelly was relentlessly questioned by the Committee, speaking so softly that the air conditioning had to be turned off to hear him clearly.

On July 17th, 2003, Kelly took his usual walk through the Oxfordshire countryside. According to the official report, he ingested up to 29 painkillers and slashed his wrist.

Yet, many individuals, including MPs and paramedics, continue to question the exact circumstances surrounding Kelly's death, with some even suggesting that it was a case of murder.

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann, an Austrian physicist, is renowned for his foundational work in statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. He was a passionate advocate for atomic theory at a time when it was still met with skepticism in the scientific community.

Born in Vienna on February 20th, 1844, Boltzmann studied at the University of Vienna, earning his PhD at 22. By 25, he had become a Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Graz. In 1893, he reached his long-held ambition of becoming Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Vienna, succeeding his former mentor, Joseph Stefan.

Boltzmann, likely suffering from bipolar disorder, tragically took his own life while on vacation with his family. He is interred in Vienna, with a tombstone engraved with the equation S=k*logW.

Valeri Alekseevich Legasov was a distinguished Soviet scientist in inorganic chemistry and a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He is most well-known for his role as the head of the investigative committee for the Chernobyl disaster on April 26th, 1986.

Following the Chernobyl catastrophe, Legasov became an essential member of the government commission tasked with determining the causes and managing the aftermath. In August 1986, he delivered a report at a special meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, which stunned his Western colleagues with its thorough analysis and unflinching honesty about the scale and repercussions of the disaster. His candid and unwavering stance, however, caused significant discomfort within the Soviet government. As a result, despite being nominated twice for the title of Hero of Socialist Labor in 1986-1987 for his efforts, his nominations were both rejected, with the second vetoed personally by Gorbachev. Having been exposed to radiation at Chernobyl, Legasov’s health rapidly declined. Combined with his frustration over the lack of recognition, this led to his tragic suicide on April 27th, 1988.

On September 20, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin posthumously awarded Legasov the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation for his 'courage and heroism' in managing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

Hans Berger, born in Neuses, Germany in 1873, is renowned for being the first to record electroencephalograms (EEGs) from human subjects and for discovering the rhythmic Alpha brain waves.

Berger studied medicine, neurology, psychiatry, and psychology at the University of Jena, focusing on neurology. Building on the groundbreaking work of British scientist Richard Caton in animals, Berger successfully recorded the first human EEG in 1924. This achievement led to his discovery of the alpha wave and his pioneering description of how epilepsy affects the brain.

Deeply disturbed by the rise of Nazism and the impact of World War II, Berger tragically took his own life by hanging on June 1st, 1941.

Edwin Armstrong, born on December 18th, 1890, was an American electrical engineer best known for inventing FM radio. He began developing the concept of FM radio while at university and patented his idea in 1914.

However, a series of patent disputes and an attempt by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to block the technology, fearing it would undermine AM radio, stalled its progress.

Convinced that FM radio would never reach its potential, Armstrong tragically ended his life by jumping from the 13th floor of his apartment in 1954, at the age of 63.

Nicolas Leblanc was a French chemist and surgeon, renowned for being the first to successfully manufacture soda from common salt.

Born in 1742, Leblanc developed an early passion for medicine and entered the Paris College of Surgeons in 1759. By 1780, he became the private physician to Louis Philip II, Duke of Orleans.

In 1775, the French Academy of Sciences offered a prize for a method to produce soda ash from salt, aiming to generate sodium carbonate from cheap sodium chloride. By 1791, Leblanc had perfected a two-step process to create sodium carbonate from salt, using sea salt and sulfuric acid as the raw materials. For his achievement, he was awarded the prize, and he later established a plant that produced 320 tons of soda ash annually.

Two years later, the French revolutionary government seized his plant and refused to pay him the prize money he had earned a decade earlier.

In 1802, Napoleon returned the plant (but not the prize money) to Leblanc, though by that time, he was in such financial distress that he could no longer afford to operate it. In 1806, he tragically took his own life.

George Eastman, born in Waterville, New York, in 1854, founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, which made photography more accessible to the public and laid the foundation for the creation of motion picture film in 1888.

In 1874, Eastman became fascinated with photography but was frustrated by the cumbersome process of coating glass plates with liquid emulsion that had to be used before drying. In 1884, he patented a new photographic medium that replaced fragile glass plates with photo-emulsion coated paper rolls. This innovation greatly accelerated the process of capturing multiple images. On September 4th, 1888, Eastman registered the Kodak trademark.

In 1932, Eastman ended his life, leaving a note that simply read, 'My work is done. Why wait?' He was laid to rest in Rochester, New York.

Wallace Hume Carothers was an American chemist, renowned for inventing Nylon.

Carothers led a research team at DuPont’s Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware, a hub for polymer research. Besides his groundbreaking work on nylon, he contributed to the development of Neoprene. After earning his Ph.D., he taught at various universities before joining DuPont to focus on pioneering scientific research.

Following his groundbreaking discovery, Carothers battled with depression, which worsened due to a creative block and the sudden death of his sister. Overcome by despair, he tragically took his life by poisoning in 1937 at the age of 41.

Alan Turing was a British scientist, mathematician, logician, and cryptographer, widely regarded as one of the most significant scientists of the 20th century.

Often hailed as the father of modern computer science, Turing played a crucial role in formalizing the concepts of algorithms and computation through the Turing machine. His work on the Turing test raised provocative questions about artificial intelligence, particularly whether a machine could ever be conscious or capable of thought. He later worked at the National Physical Laboratory, where he designed one of the earliest models for a stored-program computer, though it was never constructed. In 1948, Turing moved to the University of Manchester to contribute to the development of the Manchester Mark I, one of the world's first true computers.

During World War II, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the UK's center for code-breaking, where he led Hut 8, the division tasked with decoding German naval communications. His work was pivotal in cracking the German Enigma code.

In 1952, Turing was convicted for 'Acts of Gross Indecency' after confessing to a sexual relationship with another man. Faced with a choice between 18 months in prison or chemical castration, which carried troubling side effects like breast enlargement, he opted for the latter.

On June 8th, 1954, overwhelmed by the humiliation and physical toll of his punishment, Turing tragically ended his life by ingesting an apple laced with cyanide. However, it would take another 13 years before homosexuality was decriminalized in Britain.

Contributor: JT

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