Josiah Willard Gibbs was an American scientist born on February 11, 1839, in New Haven, Connecticut. He is best known for his contributions to the fields of thermodynamics and physical chemistry. Gibbs developed the concept of Gibbs free energy, which helps predict the direction of chemical reactions and the equilibrium state of systems. Gibbs also made significant advancements in vector analysis and statistical mechanics. His work laid the foundation for many modern scientific principles and earned him recognition as one of the most influential scientists of the 19th century. He passed away on April 28, 1903.