There is a bad habit of thinking that, in developed or first-world countries, they are the only places where any type of advance or development happens in terms of an invention. However, this is not the case, in many regions of Latin America there have been events or scenarios not only of historical events that have contributed to some transformation, but are also the origin of great individuals who, with their academic training and faithful application in learning, have contributed and influenced the development of new studies and discoveries.
These brands that have transcended over time serve as the basis for new research or new contributions to be developed by new generations. This is the case of Mexico, which has had a scientific community that perhaps does not receive so much recognition, but it does receive honors in technological competence, thanks to the conscious and interested international support in their achievements.
Which Mexican scientists stand out?
Here is a list of the most important Mexican scientists in terms of influence and their contributions:
Mario Molina
Starting with one of the current ones, Mario Molina Henriquez is one of leading Mexican scientists of this time. He was born in Mexico City on March 19, 1943. He completed his first years of educational training in Mexico, then at the age of 11 he was sent to study in Switzerland, this because they considered the German language as an aspect of importance for the technological field and its development.
Upon his return, he studied at UNAM and graduated as a Chemical Engineer. In 1972 he obtained a Doctorate in Chemistry and Physics from the University of Berkeley. And on June 28, 1974, he published an article in the journal Nature, together with Sherry Rowland, on the decomposition generated by CFCs in the Ozone Layer.
For almost 20 years they tried to discredit his theory, like other scientists, but finally, the results were in his favor and as expected, they showed that he was right, so by October 11, 1995 it was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Rowland and Paul Crutzen.
Today, its discovery led to various issues being positioned in those with the highest priorities on the work agendas of the main nations; These include climate change, the health of the planet and its impact on humans.
These are concepts that have a maximum impact today and because of this, Dr. Molina is one of the most influential men in the scientific and social field; being considered as we already said, one of the best Mexican scientists and considered a key and essential element in the thought of development and survival of humanity.
Carmen Victoria Felix Chaidez
He was born in Sinaloa. At age 17 he attended the International Astronautical Congress that was held in Houston, United States; a step that would lead her to become one of the best Mexican scientists today.
He studied electronics and communications engineering (IEC) at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Superior Studies, Monterrey Campus, where he also became involved in other activities such as associations and congresses. It should be noted that she had such a good preparation that she became a lecturer in primary and secondary schools on the subject.
At the end of his career, he joined AT&T and Texas Instruments; later he entered the International Space University (ISU), whose internship was carried out at NASA Ames, in the department of Small Satellites. She has also been involved in the Consultation Forums for the creation of the Mexican Space Agency (AEM).
During his time at NASA Ames was in charge of test the feasibility of using commercial products to be implemented in the construction of small satellites, in order to reduce costs. To do this, he used a Google Nexus smartphone and worked together with the company's developer engineers and NASA researchers.
Upon returning to Mexico, after a year of collaborating with NASA, he worked with executives of the US space agency, so that, in 2012, young Mexicans from different states of the country had the opportunity to make similar stays.
Manuel Sandoval Vallarta
He was born on February 11, 1899, being a member of a family characterized as bourgeois in Mexico City. World War I prevented him from entering Cambridge University at the age of 16. At 18 he traveled to Boston to study at MIT, acquiring a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1921.
Then he obtained a Doctorate in Mathematical Physics at the age of 25 at the same institute. In 1927, Sandoval won a Guggenheim Foundation scholarship that allowed him to study Physics under the mentorship of Albert Einstein, Max Plank, Erwin Shrödinger, Max von Laue, and Hans Reichenbach. This event led the author to establish a great friendship with Einstein, for whom he had great admiration.
At the end of his stay he also met Heisenberg and collaborated with him in his recent investigations. He returned to MIT in 1929 and from then on he became the perfect reference in the American continent for know, understand and criticize Quantum Mechanics. There, he was the main tutor of several future geniuses such as Nathan Rosen, Richard Feynmann and Luis Walter Álvarez.
Most of his research was based on cosmic rays and thanks to them, the author was nominated for a Nobel Prize and was recognized worldwide for helping to materialize Quantum Physics. He is one of the most renowned Mexican scientists.
Due to the Second World War, the investigations at MIT were focused on military purposes, so he chooses to move to Mexico more frequently, thanks to the personal invitation of President Manuel Ávila Camacho.
His work was of great influence for the development of the Manhattan Project (aimed at creating the Atomic Bomb), in the observation of the Universe from a physical-mathematical point of view and in the dissemination of experimentation in the Cosmos. Finally, Dr. Sandoval passed away in Mexico City on April 18, 1977.
Luis Ernest Miramontes
Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas was born in the City of Tepic, Nayarit, on March 22, 1925. His academic training took place in high school in Mexico City, also the studies carried out in Chemical Engineering at UNAM. By 1950 he was already working at the Syntex Laboratories, whose objective was to develop synthetic hormones and at that headquarters he had the opportunity to work with Carl Djerassi and Jorge Rosenkranz in various investigations of Organic Chemistry.
On October 15, 1951, at only 26 years of age, Miramontes was already one of the most outstanding Mexican scientists and manages to synthesize norethisterone, the base component for oral contraceptives. His synthesis took hold immediately, being considered one of the main inventions of the last two thousand years, for which he was placed in the Hall of Fame of Inventors in history, along with Pasteur, the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison and Alexander Bell. , being the only Mexican.
By 2004, his invention was considered the 2005th most important in history due to the technological and social repercussions it had, and in XNUMX, norethisterone was named as the most important Mexican scientific contribution of the XNUMXth century by the Mexican Academy of Science. It should be noted that he is characterized or recognized for causing a sexual revolution with his invention.
He had a family consisting of 10 children. In addition to his maximum achievement, the scientist Miramontes became a professor of Chemistry at UNAM, continuing his studies and registering another 40 patents. He also served as director of the Faculty of Chemistry of the Ibero-American University and Director of Basic Research of the Mexican Institute of Petroleum. He passed away in 2004 in Mexico City on September 13.
Carlos de Singüenza and Góngora
Singüenza y Góngora was born in Mexico City in 1645, her parents were Spanish. In his youth he began his religious studies, but he was expelled for having an undisciplined behavior. In time he graduated from the Royal and Pontifical University. Due to his high level of observation and ecological experience, he was appointed to create the Hydrological maps of all of New Spain, which at that time included as far as Florida.
He directed the excavations at Teotihuacán in 1675, which were the first archaeological excavations carried out in Mexico in colonial times.
One of the facts that characterizes him among the best Mexican scientists was that in America he was the precursor of the separation of Astrology and Astronomy, an event for which he was widely criticized in the scientific community, even in Europe. However, he did not stop and maintained his posture; Firm and convinced he debated the theory to the end, based and arguing it with rigorous facts and observations.
In addition, he was in charge of rescuing the vestiges of what little was left of pre-Columbian Mexico, but his sudden death in 1700 interrupted one of the most important archaeological investigations of Mexico up to that moment.
Guillermo gonzalez camarena
Guillermo González Camarena, also known as the little genius among Mexican scientists, was born on February 17, 1917 in Guadalajara, Jalisco. According to records, since he was a child he was interested in technology; So much so that at age 12 he was able to build his own radio on his own and at 15 his own television camera. At that age it occurred to him to have a color television so as not to see it so boring.
In 1939 he presented his great "Field Sequential Trichromatic System". The invention caused great fury and when he was only 23 years old he obtained the patent for color television in Mexico and the United States, on August 19, 1940. By the age of 29 he was able to create the first experimental television broadcasting station in Mexico, beginning to spread television as a means of communication and education.
It should be noted that its creation had a great influence on a global level, which led to immediate recognition. The Universities also already had a name given to it; the title of Honoris Causa and even "Doctor of Science" (it should be noted that this was a title that was not awarded in more than half a century in the United States Institutions). On October 20, 1962, he patented the "Simplified Bicolor System", which is the current system for televisions.
As we mentioned previously, the recognition and influence of the inventions of this author immediately spread throughout the world; promoting science and education, which were always together within the country. In full swing and when his career was having a great boom that was increasing, considered one of the best Mexican scientists, he died, due to a car accident on April 18, 1970 that took his life.
Fernando Mier Hicks
He was born in Aguascalientes and is a graduate of Monterrey technology. Just 28 years old, recently graduated, he is a doctor of space engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It should be noted that a simulator was carried out at said institution to test the conditions that nano-satellite prototypes will face in outer space.
Before entering the doctorate, co-founded the startup Action Systems, which designs its own electric powerplants and will put the first to the test next year.
Among his achievements is the creation of a design for a machine that simulates three out-of-this-world conditions: zero friction environments, vacuum (absence of air) and space plasma.
In an interview for Forbes, the young scientist explained that the zero friction environment makes any movement, no matter how minute, last for long periods. In addition, it is capable of making small forces produced by the external environment able or capable of modifying its orientation, for example, the interaction of sunlight with the satellite.
This also carried out the realization of a team that, by recreating the conditions of outer space (weightlessness, zero friction and an environment with plasma), allowed to test the operation of the electronic components and propulsion systems of this type of satellites.
He is still not sure if he will dedicate himself to research or enter the aerospace business, which is definitive, it is his place among the best Mexican scientists.