Thomas Young
Engineer
English polymath who contributed to the fields of vision, light, solid mechanics, energy, physiology, musical harmony, and Egyptology.
He started studying medicine in London in 1792 and earned a degree of doctor of physics in 1796 before starting his own career as a physician in 1799.
He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1828.
He was born the eldest of ten children in a Quaker family in Milverton, Somerset.
He was called a "truly original genius" by fellow scientist John Herschel.