During the last centuries, many scientists and inventors from Romania made important discoveries and inventions, making the country well known abroad. Some key Romanian discoveries were made after the second half of the 19th century and include contributions to aviation history, important findings in medicine, biology, chemistry and physics. Notable Romanian inventors and scientists include Traian Vuia who made early flights in 1906, Petrache Poenaru who invented the fountain pen in 1827, and Nicolae Paulescu who discovered insulin in 1921.

1. Science in
Romania

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3. INVENTORS and SCIENTISTS
On March 18th 1906 TTrraaiiaann VVuuiiaa
(1872-1950) said he had achieved
a short hop at a height of about 1
foot.
THE FIRST PLANE
His flight was
performed in
Montesson near
Paris and was
about 12 m long.
TRAIAN VUIA

5. HHeennrrii CCooaannddăă (1886-1972) was another
Romanian inventor and pioneer of
aviation. He exhibited the non-flying
Coanda-1910 at the Second International
Aeronautical Exhibition in Paris in October
1910, and built his first flying aircraft in
1911.
HHEENNRRII CCOOAANNDDĂĂ He discovered the Coandă effect of fluids.
THE FIRST AIRCRAFT

6. PPeettrraacchhee PPooeennaarruu (1799–1875) was a Romanian
inventor of the Enlightenment era.
He invented the world’s first fountain pen, an
invention for which the French Government issued
a patent on 25th May 1827.
NNiiccoollaaee PPaauulleessccuu (1869-1931) was a
Romanian physiologist, professor
of medicine, the discoverer of
pancreatin, later called insulin.
NNIICCOOLLAAEE PPAAUULLEESSCCUU
PPEETTRRAACCHHEE PPOOEENNAARRUU

7. A Romanian-born, cell biologist,
GGeeoorrggee EEmmiill PPaallaaddee (1912-
2008) won the Nobel Prize in
Physiology/Medicine in 1974 for
his study of internal organization
of such cell structures as
mitochondria, chloroplasts, the
Golgi apparatus, and for the
discovery of the ribosomes.
He also won the National Medal for
Science in 1986.
GGEEOORRGGEE EEMMIILL PPAALLAADDEE
CHLOROPLASTS

8. ŞŞtteeffaann OOddoobblleejjaa (1902–1978 )
was a Romanian scientist, one of
the precursors of cybernetics.
His major work, Psychologie
consonantiste (in French), first
published in 1938, in Paris, had
established many of the major
themes of cybernetics and
systems thinking.
ŞŞTTEEFFAANN OODDOOBBLLEEJJAA
Other important inventors and scientists are:
• Horia Hulubei in atomic physics;
• Șerban Țițeica in theoretical physics;
• Mihai Gavrilă in quantum theory;
• Ştefan Procopiu known for the first theory of the magnetic moment of the electron in
1911;
• Mircea Sabău and Florentina I. Mosora known for their contributions to Nuclear
Medicine;
• Ana Aslan who discovered the anti-aging effects of procaine
and the list could continue.

9. One of the notable days for Romania is
May 14th 1981 because it became the 11th
country in the world to have an astronaut
in space.
DDuummiittrruu PPrruunnaarriiuu is now the president of
the Romanian Space Agency.
Now Romania is reported to be among the
countries with the highest number of
computer programmers in the world. Some
examples of successful software include
RAV (Romanian AntiVirus) which was
bought in 2003 by Microsoft for use in their
development of Windows Defender.

10. One of the notable days for Romania is
May 14th 1981 because it became the 11th
country in the world to have an astronaut
in space.
DDuummiittrruu PPrruunnaarriiuu is now the president of
the Romanian Space Agency.
Now Romania is reported to be among the
countries with the highest number of
computer programmers in the world. Some
examples of successful software include
RAV (Romanian AntiVirus) which was
bought in 2003 by Microsoft for use in their
development of Windows Defender.