20 Types of Scientists | A Guide on Their Study and Contribution to Society

Scientists help in human development and progress in technology in the current lifestyle.

Different types of scientists work in various areas of science to gain more knowledge.

They contribute to better health, quality products, safety measures, ease of living, and economic and employment enhancement.

The options like industrialization, the internet, social media, and connectivity that humans enjoy now are products of the collective efforts of scientists working in different sectors.

20 Different types of scientists and what they study

1. Space scientist

• He is involved in exploring the solar system, space, galaxies, and the movement of planets.

• They enhance our knowledge about the sun, Mars, Saturn, and other planets.

• They also explore the possibility of life on other planets, other space technology exploration, defense, etc.

• Their contribution to the current lifestyle includes mobile networks, television, and other communication through various satellites in space.

• Some of them even go to space and work by staying in space centers.

• They are also called astronauts.

2. Geoscientist

• Unlike the above type of scientist, geoscientists’ work involves exploring the earth and its internal environment.

• They study the composition, structure, and movements of the earth.

• They contribute to discovering mines, petroleum deposits, minerals, and other aspects of the earth.

3. Seismologists

• These scientists study the origin and movement of seismic waves on the Earth.

• They can help in detecting earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, etc.

4. Hydrologist

• He learns about water distribution, its movement, rainfall, water cycle, and water resources.

• He also studies the chemical nature of water, its interactions with other living beings, methods of storage, etc.

5. Meteorologists

• They are also similar to space scientists. But their focus is on weather, climate, and the environment.

• They give us a weather report, forecast rainfalls, Hurricanes, cyclones, regional temperatures, global warming, etc.

6. Medical scientists

• These scientists work to improve human health.

• They study the cause of the disease, its mechanism, and options for treatment.

• They also explore the human body in complete detail to prevent, diagnose, and treat disorders.

• When there are new infections like recent swine flu, Ebola virus, etc., they study the viral structure in detail to check for possible vaccines.

• They design drugs, vaccines, antidotes, diagnostic kits, nutrition supplements, and other essential health requirements.

Some of the other types of medical scientists are pathologists, pharmacologists, etc.

7. Pharmacologist

• He is also a medical scientist involved in discovering new drugs and molecules for diseases with no treatment.

• He is mainly concerned with how the drug, once administered, behaves in the body.

• How it produces the drugs’ therapeutic effects, metabolism, toxicity, and side effects.

8) Nutritional Scientist/dietitian

• The one who assesses the nutrition contribution of different foods and their contribution to the well-being and treatment of malnutrition.

• They can work in sports nutrition and medical nutrition therapy as clinical dietitians, community dietitians, etc.

9) Social scientists

• This is a group of similar scientists who can be defined based on their area of social research, like social behavior and patterns of human interactions, to know how societies have developed and function. They include

• Anthropologist
• Archaeologist
• Criminologist
• Demographer
• Economist
• Geographer
• Linguist
• Psychologist
• Political Scientist

10) Anthropologist

• Is one who studies aspects of human society of the past and present. They explore human cultures, their evolution, and their origins.
• Researchers frequently engage in fieldwork to examine past and present societies’ customs, languages, and social structures.

11) Archeologists

• These are a group of scientists who try to explain past human activity by exploring past remains.
• They explore artifacts and physical remains and even reconstruct ancient civilizations.

12) Geographers

• As the name indicates, they study the earth’s physical features and interactions between the region’s land, habitat, and human life.

• They also help make maps and visualize spatial data. Besides, they focus on issues like soil erosion, climate change, deforestation, etc.

13) Historians

• These social scientists try to interpret past events, people, and cultures to explain how they shaped current events and the possible effects on the future.
• They rely on the available records or events from the past.

14. Physicist

• He is a scientist with knowledge and curiosity in the field of physics.

• The knowledge involves interactions of matter and energy at all time scales in the universe.

• Based on observation, these scientists postulate laws or principles that help understand the universe’s principles, like gravitation, motion, time, etc.

• Examples of great scientists in this area include Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.

These physicists can be of different types, like

a) Astrophysicists: They study celestial objects, black holes, dark space, and the universe.

b) Condensed Matter Physicists: As the name indicates, they study matter in condensed form, like liquids and solids.

c) Nuclear physicists

• These scientists study the structure, atomic nuclei characters, and their components’ interactions.

• These scientists’ work helps develop nuclear energy, X-ray techniques, and other radiation-related methods.

f) Particle Physicists: They study the subatomic particles in terms of their existence and interactions. These particles can be electrons, quarks, photons etc.

15. Chemical scientist

• The science of chemistry is so vast. The work involves discovering the chemical structure of any compound either from nature or obtained by synthesis.

• They also formulate methods to identify a substance and determine its chemical and physical properties.

• Further, they also identify their uses and toxic properties. 

• Many scientists are involved in the research of chemistry in different areas of study, like

a) Organic chemists.

• They are concerned that the study of pure organic compounds is so wide, and most compounds, including drugs, poisons, and disinfectants, are organic in nature.

• They try to study these compounds’ structure, synthesis methods, and reactions.

b) Biochemist

• He is involved in the study of chemistry in biological systems like animals and plants.

• These scientists study the organism’s food source, digestion, metabolism, and excretion.

• They also study processes like fermentation, transcription, translation, etc.

• They are the ones involved in the human genome project.

c) Medicinal chemists

• The scientists in this area study the structure of available drug molecules and explore the structure by further modification to find more new molecules.

• They also try to minimize the toxicity of existing medicine by suitable modifications in the parent molecule.

See Chemistry in Medicine for more.

d) Inorganic chemist

• This area involves the study of noncarbon compounds or inorganic compounds.

• These chemical compounds are used daily, like table salt, baking soda, talc, etc.

• There are many inorganic compounds, and they are explored for their chemical and physical properties.

Further, their uses and harmful effects are sorted out.

e) Analytical chemist.

• Analytical chemistry tries to analyze substances.

• Scientists try to find new ways to inexpensively determine a substance with more accuracy in a shorter time.

f) Formulation chemist.

• He is the one who mixes chemicals to derive formulations.

• The formulation can be home-related cleaning solutions, such as personal hygiene products like shampoos and hair gels.

• Further, they can be involved in pharmaceutical formulations to make different dosage forms like lozenges, gels, etc.

16. Astronomers

• They are the scientists who study celestial objects like planets and stars and the details of how they are formed, behave, etc.

• They help discover new stars and comets with the use of telescopes.

17. Behavioral scientists

• Behavioral scientists study human actions and the factors influencing those actions.

• This includes their biology, psychology, culture, and environment.

• They aim to understand, predict, and modify behavior for various applications. Here are some types of behavioral scientists you can add to the list:

18. Biologists

• These scientists study living beings and their characters in all forms.

They are again of different types, like

a. Zoologists

• These are scientists who study animals in detail.

• They focus on animals’ origin structure, living habitats, genetics, reproduction, etc.

• They also try to predict and explain the evolution of animals.

b. Botanist

• Is one who explores the knowledge about plants.

• They try to understand plants‘ evolution, physiology, growth, age, etc.

• Further, they explore the distribution of plant species and types in the nation and the world.

• They also define plant identification methods and study their external and internal structures.

• Even the uses of plant constituents are explored. Hence, we use plants for medicine, dye, textile, and other uses due to plant studies.

c. Microbiologist

• This person studies microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, algae, etc.

• He is also concerned with methods like sterilization (destruction of microbes), disinfection, body immunity, vaccination, etc.

d) Bacteriologist

• They specialized in the knowledge of bacteria. This includes their classification, distribution, food habits, benefits to man, etc.

e) Virologist

• A scientist with immense knowledge of viruses, their emergence, growth, distribution, pathogenicity, etc.

d. Bio-technologist

• He studies living beings’ genetic and other traits and develops new biological entities to benefit humanity.

e) Ornithologists

• These scientists are involved in the study of birds.

• Their primary focus is the study of birds’ behaviors, habits, habitats, migration, and other features.

f) Entomologist

• He studies and works on insects.

• He tries to classify insects and study their anatomy, physiology, food habits, reproduction, and life cycle.

g) Ichthyologist

• He is involved in the study of fish. This includes their anatomy, characters, habits, habitats, etc.

i) Marine biologist

He is involved in the study of animals in the sea and ocean.

They study a variety of aquatic organisms, starting from the minute plankton and major animals.

19. Agriculturist

• Scientists are concerned with the methods and improvement of agriculture. They study crop varieties, soil characteristics, crop disease, etc.

• They aim to enhance crop yield, prevent diseases, and survive drought and other conditions crops.

20. Environmental scientist

• These scientists advise about global warming, melting glaciers in Antarctica, and the possibility of sea-level rise risking coastal cities.

• They study the reasons for pollution and global warming and methods to prevent or overcome them.

References:

• Geoscientists
• What is a Meteorologist
• Physicists and Astronomers
• What do Archaeologists do?
• What does a particle physicist do?
• Condensed Matter Theory
• Astrophysics