The greatest minds, all in one grid
Science is built on the curiosity of a few remarkable people, and this word search gathers many of them. You'll be finding the household names — EINSTEIN, NEWTON and DARWIN — the pioneers like CURIE and PASTEUR, and the stargazers who mapped the heavens, from GALILEO to KEPLER.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection of surnames from the list, so the roll call changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a longer-word challenge once the diagonals and backwards words appear on Hard.
Names across every field of science
The grid spans the whole of science. There are physicists — EINSTEIN, NEWTON, HAWKING, FARADAY, BOHR, PLANCK, FEYNMAN and MAXWELL — and chemists like CURIE and BOYLE. There are the life scientists — DARWIN, MENDEL, PASTEUR, PAVLOV, and WATSON and CRICK who cracked DNA — the astronomers GALILEO, KEPLER, COPERNICUS, HALLEY and HUBBLE, the electrical pioneer TESLA, and great communicators like SAGAN.
The stories behind the names
Every name here changed how we understand the world. NEWTON worked out why an apple falls and how the planets move; DARWIN explained how living things evolve; and Marie CURIE discovered radioactivity and is still the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. EINSTEIN rewrote our ideas of space, time and gravity — and reportedly wasn't a top student at school, proof that big ideas can come from anywhere.
Their discoveries often took daring and patience. GALILEO was put on trial for daring to say the Earth orbits the Sun (he turned out to be right); PASTEUR's work on germs led to vaccines and safer food, saving countless lives; and Stephen HAWKING did groundbreaking work on black holes while living with a severe illness. Putting a face and a story to each surname is exactly what makes this a brilliant STEM-week or biography-project topic — every word in the grid is a real person who asked 'why?' and changed the answer for everyone.
Great for a STEM topic
It's a great fit for a STEM week or biography project — we use surnames to keep words short, and Easy mode uses a small grid with no diagonals or reverse words (longer names like COPERNICUS appear on Medium and Hard). Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own list of scientists.
Frequently asked questions
Which scientists are in the word search?
Famous scientists across the ages — Einstein, Newton, Darwin, Curie, Galileo, Hawking and more. Each puzzle uses a fresh selection of surnames.
Does it span different fields of science?
It does — physicists like EINSTEIN, NEWTON and HAWKING, the chemist CURIE, the naturalist DARWIN, and astronomers from GALILEO and KEPLER to COPERNICUS and HUBBLE.
Is it good for a STEM topic?
Great fit for a STEM week or biography project. We use surnames to keep words short, and Easy mode uses a small grid with no diagonals or reverse words.