About Famous Personalities
Famous personalities asks two things about each figure: the field of work they belong to, and the single achievement they are known for. The people here are settled figures whose standing does not depend on anything recent.
What you need to understand
- The physicists form the largest group: Einstein with relativity, Newton with gravitation and the laws of motion, Bohr with the hydrogen atom, and Curie with radium and polonium.
- The Indian scientists are asked about as often as the European ones: C. V. Raman and the scattering of light, Homi Bhabha and the nuclear programme, Vikram Sarabhai and the space programme, and Kalam with the missile programme.
- The mathematicians run from the ancient to the modern: Aryabhata with the place-value system, Brahmagupta with the rules for computing with zero, Bhaskara with early work on the differential, and Ramanujan with number theory.
- The medical figures are a small group: Harvey with the circulation of the blood, Pasteur with the germ theory, Fleming with penicillin and Ronald Ross with the transmission of malaria.
- The astronomers are grouped by what they changed: Copernicus placed the sun at the centre, Kepler gave the laws of planetary motion, Galileo observed with the telescope and Hubble showed the universe expanding.
- The Indian writers are learned with one work each: Tagore with Gitanjali, Premchand with the novels of village life, Bankim Chandra with Anandmath and Vande Mataram, and Kalidasa with Abhijnanashakuntalam.
- The painters are a group of four in most lists: Raja Ravi Varma, Amrita Sher-Gil, M. F. Husain and Nandalal Bose.
- The musicians are learned with their instruments or their tradition: M. S. Subbulakshmi with Carnatic vocal music, Bismillah Khan with the shehnai, Ravi Shankar with the sitar and Ariyakudi with the concert form.
- The social reformers are best learned with the reform each is known for: Ram Mohan Roy with sati, Vidyasagar with widow remarriage, Jyotirao Phule with education, and Ambedkar with the Constitution.
- The space and adventure figures include Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman in space, and Hillary and Tenzing with the first ascent of Everest.
- The sports figures are learned with the achievement rather than the sport: Dhyan Chand with three Olympic hockey golds, Kapil Dev with the World Cup of 1983, Anand with five world chess titles and Padukone with the All England of 1980.
- Two figures can be in the same field and must not be confused: Einstein and Newton are both physicists, and what separates them in a question is the theory each is known for.
- Nobody here holds an office now. The list is made of historical figures, so the questions do not date.
How to work through these questions
- Learn each person with one thing rather than with a list of attributes. The questions ask for the field or the achievement, and one firm fact per person is enough.
- Group by field first. A question asking which field a person belongs to can often be answered by the company they keep in the list.
- Where two figures share a field, learn what distinguishes them, because the options will include the other one.
- For the Indian figures, use the period. The ancient mathematicians and the modern scientists are four centuries and more apart.
- For the reformers, learn the reform rather than the year: the questions are about what each is known for, not when he lived.
- For the sports figures, remember the specific achievement, since the options usually offer another sportsperson's achievement.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Mixing up Einstein's relativity with Newton's gravitation, the two most common options in a physics question.
- Giving Tagore for Vande Mataram, which is Bankim Chandra's, and Gitanjali for Bankim Chandra, which is Tagore's.
- Confusing Aryabhata's place-value system with Brahmagupta's rules for zero, the two ancient mathematicians being asked together.
- Mixing up M. S. Subbulakshmi's vocal music with Ravi Shankar's sitar or Bismillah Khan's shehnai.
- Giving Pasteur for penicillin, which is Fleming's, or Fleming for the germ theory.
- Confusing Ram Mohan Roy's campaign against sati with Vidyasagar's work on widow remarriage.
- Mixing up Rakesh Sharma, who was the first Indian in space, with Kalpana Chawla, who was the first Indian-born woman.
- Confusing the sporting achievements, such as Kapil Dev's World Cup with Dhyan Chand's Olympic golds.
Worked example
Which field is C. V. Raman associated with?
- The name is Indian and the period is the twentieth century, which places him with Bhabha, Sarabhai and Kalam rather than with the ancient mathematicians.
- Within that group, Bhabha worked on the nuclear programme, Sarabhai on space and Kalam on missiles, so none of them is the answer.
- Raman's work was on the scattering of light, which is a subject within physics.
- His field is physics, and he received the Nobel Prize for the effect that carries his name.
Answer: physics
Practice questions with answers
A few Famous Personalities questions with the full solution shown, so you can see
how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.
Question 1
Which field is Euclid associated with?
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A
medicine
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B
biology
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C
chess
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D
mathematics
Answer: Option D — with explanation
Euclid worked in mathematics and is known for the elements of geometry.
Learn each figure with the one thing they are known for rather than as a list of names against subjects. Where two figures worked in the same field, the achievement is what distinguishes them, and it is the achievement that the questions ask about.
Common mistakes
- this is the field of another figure: medicine
- this is the field of another figure: biology
- this is the field of another figure: chess
Question 2
In which field did Srinivasa Ramanujan work?
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A
law and social reform
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B
mathematics
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C
painting
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D
medicine
Answer: Option B — with explanation
Srinivasa Ramanujan worked in mathematics and is known for work on number theory and infinite series.
Learn each figure with the one thing they are known for rather than as a list of names against subjects. Where two figures worked in the same field, the achievement is what distinguishes them, and it is the achievement that the questions ask about.
Common mistakes
- this is the field of another figure: medicine
- this is the field of another figure: painting
- this is the field of another figure: law and social reform
Question 3
Munshi Premchand is best known for which of these?
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A
the sprint events of the 1980s
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B
the Bhoodan land gift movement
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C
Hindi and Urdu novels of village life
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D
the discovery of penicillin
Answer: Option C — with explanation
Munshi Premchand worked in literature and is known for Hindi and Urdu novels of village life.
Learn each figure with the one thing they are known for rather than as a list of names against subjects. Where two figures worked in the same field, the achievement is what distinguishes them, and it is the achievement that the questions ask about.
Common mistakes
- this is the work of another figure: the sprint events of the 1980s
- this is the work of another figure: the discovery of penicillin
- this is the work of another figure: the Bhoodan land gift movement
Question 4
Baba Amte is best known for which of these?
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A
the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympic Games
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B
the care of people with leprosy
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C
the principle of buoyancy
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D
the sun-centred model of the planets
Answer: Option B — with explanation
Baba Amte worked in social service and is known for the care of people with leprosy.
Learn each figure with the one thing they are known for rather than as a list of names against subjects. Where two figures worked in the same field, the achievement is what distinguishes them, and it is the achievement that the questions ask about.
Common mistakes
- this is the work of another figure: the principle of buoyancy
- this is the work of another figure: the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympic Games
- this is the work of another figure: the sun-centred model of the planets
Question 5
Which of these is Louis Pasteur known for?
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A
the germ theory and pasteurisation
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B
painting without the use of a brush
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C
the elements of geometry
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D
the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympic Games
Answer: Option A — with explanation
Louis Pasteur worked in microbiology and is known for the germ theory and pasteurisation.
Learn each figure with the one thing they are known for rather than as a list of names against subjects. Where two figures worked in the same field, the achievement is what distinguishes them, and it is the achievement that the questions ask about.
Common mistakes
- this is the work of another figure: painting without the use of a brush
- this is the work of another figure: the elements of geometry
- this is the work of another figure: the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympic Games
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know the prizes each person won?
No. The field and the achievement are what the questions ask about. A prize is a useful way to remember a person, but it is not usually the answer.
Why are living figures left out?
Because their work and their offices change. A list of settled figures keeps its value, and the questions then do not need to be revised.
Which people are asked about most?
Einstein, Newton, Raman, Kalam, Tagore, Premchand, Ambedkar and the sporting figures. Between them they account for a large share of the questions in most papers.
How is this different from books and authors?
The two overlap for the writers, and that is deliberate: one topic asks you to go from the person to the work, and the other from the work to the person. Practising both makes either question easy.
Where does this topic appear in a paper?
In the general knowledge sections of bank, SSC and railway papers. The scientists and the social reformers are the groups asked about most often.
