Young, Thomas
The Englishman Thomas Young (1773 - 1829), son from a Quaker family, was a polymath.
In 1799 he established himself as a physician. He made an important contribution to the understanding of the dynamics of blood flow. He explained that the eye accommodates itself by changeing the curvature of the lens, and he was the first to describe astigmatism.
To demonstrate the wave theory of light, he performed and analysed experiments on the interference of light. He described the characterization of elasticity that came to be known as Young's modulus. He was the first to use the term energy in the modern sense.
He compared the grammar and vocabulary of 400 languages, and introduced the term Indo-European languages.
He made significant contributions to the decipherment of ancient Egyptian writing systems.
He lent his name to, among many others, the Young modulus.