Thomas Young

Thomas Young (13 June 1773 – 10 May 1829) was an English polymath. He is famous for having partly deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics (specifically the Rosetta Stone) before Jean-François Champollion eventually expanded on his work. He was admired by, among others, Herschel, Helmholtz, Maxwell, and Einstein.

Young's research:

• Wave theory of light
• Young's modulus
• Vision and colour theory
• Young–Laplace equation
• Young's equation and Young–Dupré equation

Thomas Young died in London on 10 May 1829, and was buried in the cemetery of St. Giles Church in Farnborough, Kent, England. Westminster Abbey houses a white marble tablet in memory of Young bearing the epitaph by Hudson Gurney.