A scientist is a person who studies the natural world through observation and experiments to discover how things work.
Formed in the 1800s from “science” plus the suffix “-ist” meaning “person who practices.” Before that, people used words like “natural philosopher” instead.
The word “scientist” is surprisingly new—people like Newton were never called that in their own time. The job existed long before the label, which shows how our picture of science as a profession is modern.
The term ‘scientist’ emerged in the 19th century in contexts where formal scientific roles were largely restricted to men, and women scientists often worked unpaid, as assistants, or under male relatives’ names. Language and imagery around scientists has long defaulted to male figures.
Use ‘scientist’ as a gender-neutral term and avoid assuming a scientist is male; highlight women and nonbinary scientists explicitly where their contributions have been obscured.
["researcher","experimentalist","theorist"]
Women scientists in fields from physics and chemistry to computing and biology have made foundational discoveries, frequently without equal recognition, so naming them and citing their work is important for accurate history.
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