Рустем Кадыров · CC BY 4.0

Worked out the physics of the semiconductor heterojunction — layering different semiconductor materials to control how electrons and light interact — laying the technical groundwork for LEDs, laser diodes, and the fiber-optic cables that carry most of the world's internet traffic. He shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for that work, and later served as a State Duma deputy for the Communist Party, criticizing the scientific funding cuts of post-Soviet Russia.