List Of Spanish Inventors And Discoverers - Hispanic Inventors

This is a list of Spanish inventors and discoverers

A

• José de Acosta (1540â€"1600), one of the first naturalists and anthropologists of the Americas.
• Andrés Alcázar (1490-1585), neurosurgeon and anatomist, designed new tools for surgical treatments.
• José María Algué (1856â€"1930), meteorologist, inventor of the barocyclometer, the nephoscope, and the microseismograph.
• Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont (1553â€"1613), registered design for steam-powered water pump for use in mines (1606).
• Martín de Azpilicueta (1492â€"1586), economist, member of the School of Salamanca, precursor of the quantitative theory of money.

B

• Ignacio Barraquer (1884â€"1965), leading ophthalmologist, pioneer of cataract surgery.
• José Ignacio Barraquer (1916â€"1998), leading ophthalmologist, father of modern refractive surgery, he invented the microkeratome and the cryolathe, developed the surgical procedures of keratomileusis and keratophakia.
• Juan Pablo de Bonet (1573-1633), pioneer of education for the deaf, he published Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos ("Summary of the letters and the art of teaching speech to the mute") in 1620 in Madrid, the first modern treatise of sign language phonetics, setting out a method of oral education for deaf people and the first recognizable sign language alphabet.

C

• Ángel Cabrera (1879â€"1960), naturalist, investigated the South-American fauna.
• Nicolás Cabrera (1913â€"1989), physicist, did important work on the theories of crystal growth and the oxidisation of metals.
• Celedonio Calatayud (1880-1931) pioneered the use of radiology and electrology in Europe for both diagnostics and therapeutical purposes, introducing radiotherapy in Spain in 1906.
• Manuel Cardona Castro (1934-2014), physicist, researched superconductivity and the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with a semiconductor material.
• Julio Cervera Baviera (1854-1927), engineer, pioneer in the development of radio, educator, explorer, and military man. He established the second and third regular radiotelegraph service in the history of the world in 1901 and 1902 by maintaining regular transmissions between Tarifa and Ceuta for three consecutive months, and between Javea and Ibiza. Some consider him the actual inventor of the radio.
• Juan de la Cierva (1895â€"1936), aeronautical engineer, pioneer of rotary flight, inventor of the autogyro.
• Juan Ignacio Cirac Sasturain (born 1965), one of the pioneers of the field of quantum computing and quantum information theory.
• Josep Comas i Solà (1868â€"1937), astronomer, discovered the periodic comet 32P/Comas Solá and 11 asteroids, and in 1907 observed limb darkening of Saturn's moon Titan (the first evidence that the body had an atmosphere).
• Avelino Corma Canós (born 1951), chemist, distinguished for his world-leading work on heterogeneous catalysis, developed catalysts that are being used commercially in several industrial processes.

D

• Francisco Díaz de Alcalá (1527-1590), urologist and doctor, wrote the first treatises on diseases of the bladder, kidneys, and urethra; he is generally regarded as the founder of modern urology.
• Pedro Duque (born 1963), astronaut and veteran of two space missions.

E

• Fausto de Elhúyar (1755â€"1833), chemist, joint discoverer of tungsten with his brother Juan José de Elhúyar in 1783.

F

• Carlos Fernández Casado (1905â€"1988), civil engineer, designer and builder of bridges and viaducts.
• Jaime Ferrán (1852â€"1929), doctor and researcher, discovered several vaccines.

G

• Manuel García (1805-1906) singer, music educator, and vocal pedagogue, inventor of the first laryngoscope.
• Antoni de Gimbernat, (1734â€"1816), surgeon and anatomist, described in detail the anatomy of the inguinal and femoral regions of the human body and laid the groundwork for modern techniques of inguinal hernia repai. The lacunar ligament is named after him.
• Alejandro Goicoechea Omar (1895-1984), engineer, worked for and co-founded Talgo company, where he developed the Talgo trains famous design.

H

• Francisco Hernández (1514â€"1587), botanicist, carried out important research about the Mexican flora.
• Juan de Herrera (1530-1597), architect, mathematician and geometrician, designed the construction plans of El Escorial and the Cathedral of Valladolid among others and created a compass to measure length and width and a machine to cut iron.
• Bartolomé Hidalgo Agüero (1530-1597), doctor, developed, described and evaluated a revolutionary healing method for stab wounds
• Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529â€"1588), physician and psychologist, his Examen de ingenios para las ciencias was the first attempt to show the connexion between psychology and physiology.

J

• Manuel Jalón Corominas (1925â€"2011), inventor of the mop (1956) and a worldwide used "two-piece" disposable syringe (1978).
• Carlos Jiménez Díaz (1898â€"1967), doctor and researcher, leading figure in pathology.

L

• Rodrigo López de Segura (1540-1580), humanist and chess player, wrote one of the first definitive books about modern chess in Europe: Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez.
• Emilio Herrera Linares (1879-1967), military engineer and physicist, designed a pressurized space suit for stratospheric flights (escafandra estratonáutica), precedent of the modern space suits.
• José Luis López Gómez (1941-) is an engineer and inventor. He made a number of inventions related to high speed trains.

M

• Gregorio Marañón (1887â€"1960), doctor and researcher, leading figure in endocrinology.
• Narcís Monturiol (1818â€"1885), physicist and inventor, pioneer of underwater navigation and first machine powered submarine.
• José Celestino Bruno Mutis (1732â€"1808), botanicist, doctor, philosopher and mathematician, carried out relevant research about the American flora, founded one of the first astronomic observatories in America (1762).
• Aureliano Maestre de San Juan (1828-1890), scientist, histologist, physician and anatomist credited as being one of the first scientists to recognize the disorder known as Kallmann syndrome.

O

• Severo Ochoa (1905â€"1993), doctor and biochemist, achieved the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA), Nobel prize Laureate (1959).
• Federico Olóriz Aguilera, (1855-1912), doctor, created the primary fingerprint classification system used in Portugal and Spain prior to the use of computer filing systems.
• Mateu Orfila (1787â€"1853), doctor and chemist, father of modern toxicology, leading figure in forensic toxicology.
• Joan Oró (1923â€"2004), biochemist, carried out important research about the origin of life, he worked with NASA on the Viking missions.

P

• Julio Palacios Martínez (1891â€"1970), physicist and mathematician.
• Isaac Peral (1851â€"1895), engineer and sailor, designer of the first fully operative military submarine.
• Juan Tomás Porcell (1528-1580), doctor and anatomist, carried decisive research on the Black Death and wrote influential treaties of epidemiology.

R

• Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852â€"1934), father of Neuroscience, Nobel prize Laureate (1906).
• Julio Rey Pastor (1888â€"1962), mathematician, leading figure in geometry.
• Wifredo Ricart (1897â€"1974), engineer, designer and executive manager in the automotive industry.
• Andrés Manuel del Río (1764â€"1849), geologist and chemist, discovered vanadium (as vanadinite) in 1801.
• Pío del Río Hortega (1882â€"1945), neuroscientist, discoverer of the microglia or Hortega cell.
• Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (1928â€"1980), naturalist, leading figure in ornithology, ethology, ecology and science divulgation.
• Ángela Ruiz Robles (1895-1975) teacher, writer and inventor, pioneer of the electronic book.

S

• Margarita Salas (born 1938), biochemist, molecular genetist and researcher.
• Mónico Sánchez Moreno (1880-1961), electrical engineer, inventor and industrialist; early developer of high frequency electrical conduction equipment, mobile telephony, radiology, electrotherapy and inventor of the first portable X-ray machine in 1909.
• Miguel Servet (1511â€"1553), scientist, surgeon and humanist; first European to describe pulmonary circulation.
• Luis Simarro Lacabra (1851â€"1921), psychiatrist; developed a silver bromide modification of Camillo Golgi's silver chromate technique.

T

• Esteban Terradas i Illa (1883â€"1950), mathematician, physicist and engineer.
• Leonardo Torres Quevedo (1852â€"1936), engineer and mathematician, pioneer of automated calculation machines, inventor of the automatic chess, pioneer of remote control, designer of the funicular over the Niagara Falls.
• Eduardo Torroja (1899â€"1961), civil engineer, structural architect, world famous specialist in concrete structures.
• Juanelo Turriano (1500-1585) Italo-Spanish clockmaker, engineer and mathematician, he built the Artificio de Juanelo, an engine that, driven by the river itself, lifted water from the Tagus to a height of almost 100 meters.
• Josep Trueta (1897â€"1977), doctor, his new method for treatment of open wounds and fractures helped save a great number of lives during World War II.

U

• Antonio de Ulloa (1716â€"1795), scientist, soldier and author; joint discoverer of element platinum with Jorge Juan y Santacilia (1713â€"1773).

V

• Francisco Vallés (1524-1592), physician, regarded as the founder of modern anatomical pathology.
• Joseph de la Vega (1650â€"1692), businessman, wrote Confusion of Confusions (1688), first book on stock markets.
• Arnold of Villanova (c. 1235â€"1311), alchemist and physician, he discovered carbon monoxide and pure alcohol.
• Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1480/86 â€" 1546), member of the School of Salamanca, precursor of international law theory.