| Year | Scientist | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| 1638 | Galileo Galilei | Studied pendulum isochronism; laid foundation for SHM |
| 1660 | Robert Hooke | Hooke's Law: F = −kx; basis of SHM restoring force |
| 1678 | Christiaan Huygens | Wave theory of light; Huygens' principle for wave propagation |
| 1687 | Isaac Newton | Calculated speed of sound in air (underestimate — missed γ factor) |
| 1738 | Daniel Bernoulli | Superposition principle for waves on strings; harmonics |
| 1822 | Jean-Baptiste Fourier | Fourier theorem: any periodic wave = sum of sinusoidal harmonics |
| 1842 | Christian Doppler | Described Doppler effect for sound and light |
| 1877 | Lord Rayleigh | Published "The Theory of Sound" — comprehensive wave acoustics |
| 1887 | Michelson & Morley | Null result for aether — waves don't need a medium (EM waves) |
NEET relevance: Hooke, Bernoulli (harmonics), and Doppler are the experimenters behind the core NEET formulas.