World-famous Swiss scientists include the physician and alchemist Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493?–1541); the outstanding mathematicians Johann Bernoulli (1667–1748) and Leonhard Euler (1707–83); the geologist Louis Agassiz (Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, 1807–73), who was active in the US; the physiologist, pathologist, and surgeon Emil Theodor Kocher (1841–1917), who received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1909; Charles Édouard Guillaume (1861–1938) and the German-born Albert Einstein (1879–1955, a naturalized Swiss citizen), Nobel Prize winners in physics in 1920 and 1921, respectively; and Paul Karrer (b.Russia, 1889–1971), authority on vitamins, who shared the 1937 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Other Nobel Prize winners in the sciences include Alfred Werner (1866–1919; chemistry, 1913); Yugoslav-born Leopold Ruzicka (1887–1976; chemistry, 1939); Yugoslav-born Vladimir Prelog (1906–1998; chemistry, 1975); Austrian-born Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958; physics, 1945); Paul Hermann Müller (1899–1965), Walter Rudolf Hess (1881–1973), and Polish-born Tadeus Reichstein (1897-1996), Nobel laureates for medicine in 1948, 1949, and 1950, respectively; Werner Arber (b.1929; medicine, 1978); Heinrich Rohrer(b.1933; physics, 1986); and K. Alex Müller (b.1927) and German-born J. Georg Bednorz (b.1950), for physics in 1987.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), a Geneva-born philosopher, musician, novelist, and diarist in France, was a great figure of the 18th century whose writings exerted a profound influence on education and political thought. Swiss-born Mme. Germaine de Staël (Anne Louise Germaine Necker, 1766–1817) was acclaimed the world over as defender of liberty against Napoleon. Other noted Swiss writers include Albrecht von Haller (1708–77), also an anatomist and physiologist; the novelists and short-story writers Johann Heinrich David Zschokke (1771–1848) and Jeremias Gotthelf (Albert Bitzius, 1797–1854), also a clergyman and poet; and the poets and novelists Gottfried Keller (1819–90), Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–98), and Carl Spitteler (1845–1924), the last of whom won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1919. The diaries of the philosopher, poet, and essayist Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–81) are famous as the stirring confessions of a sensitive man's aspirations and failures. Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947) is often regarded as the most powerful Swiss writer since Rousseau. The German-born novelist and poet Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946. Other recent and contemporary Swiss writers include Robert Walser (1878–1956), a highly individualistic author, and the novelists and playwrights Max Rudolf Frisch (1911–91) and Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-90), whose psychological dramas have been performed throughout Europe and the US.

Ludwig Senfl (1490–1543) was an outstanding Renaissance composer. The Dodecachordon (1547) of Henricus Glareanus (Heinrich Loris, 1488–1563) was one of the most important music treatises of the Renaissance period. Swiss-born composers of more recent times include Ernest Bloch (1880–1959), Othmar Schoeck (1886–1957), Arthur Honegger (1892–1955), Frank Martin (1890–1974), Ernst Lévy (1895-1981), Conrad Beck (1901-89), and Paul Burkhard (1911–77). Ernest Ansermet (1883–1969) was a noted conductor.Renowned Swiss painters include Konrad Witz (1400–1447), Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1741–1825), Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901), Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918), and Paul Klee (1879–1940). In sculpture and painting, artist Alberto Giacometti (1901–66) won world acclaim for his hauntingly elongated figures. Le Corbusier (Charles Édouard Jeanneret, 1887–1965) was a leading 20th-century architect.

Swiss religious leaders include Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531), French-born John Calvin (Jean Chauvin, 1509–64), and Karl Barth (1886–1968). Other famous Swiss are Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), an educational reformer who introduced new teaching methods; Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), the founder of modern linguistics; Auguste Henri Forel (1848–1931), psychologist and entomologist; the noted art historians Jakob Burckhardt (1818–97) and Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945); the psychiatrists Eugen Bleuler (1857–1939), Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961), and Hermann Rorschach (1884–1922); Jean Piaget (1896–1980), authority on child psychology; and the philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883–1969). Swiss winners of the Nobel Prize for peace are Henri Dunant (1828–1910) in 1901, founder of the Red Cross, and Elie Ducommun (1833–1906) and Charles Albert Gobat (1843–1914), both in 1902.

Both agricultural and consumer cooperatives are numerous. The Swiss Office for Commercial Expansion is an important foreign trade promotion organization. The Swiss Federation of Commerce and Industry also promotes commerce, trade and industry. The Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions serves the interests of workers/employees. The International Labor Organization has a base office in Geneva. There are chambers of commerce in all the major cities. Trade unions and professional associations exist for most occupations.

Geneva serves as home to a variety of international organizations including the Red Cross, the International Olympic Committee, the World Council of Churches, The World Health Organization, and the World Scout Foundation. Several United Nation's committee offices are based here as well, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, UN Environment Programme, UN High Commission for Refugees, the UN Institute for Training and Research, and the UN Research Institute for Social Development. Other international organizations with national chapters include Amnesty International, Defence for Children International, and Greenpeace.

There are numerous cultural and educational organizations. A few with national interest include the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Swiss Academy of Sciences. The European Center for Culture is a multinational organization promoting understanding and cooperation between cultures. There are a large number of sports associations nationwide, including several international organizations such as the International Baseball Federation, the International Basketball Federation, and the International Gymnastic Federation.

Several human rights, social justice, and social action organizations exist, including the Association of International Consultants on Human Rights, the Berne Declaration, Green Cross, The National Council of Women of Switzerland, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. The International Alliance Women and the Women's World Summit Foundation both focus on health and equal rights for women. Soroptimist International of Europe is a multinational organization of business-women working toward the causes of peace, justice, health, and equal rights.

The library of Basel University (3.1 million volumes) and the Swiss National Library in Bern (3.1 million volumes) are the largest in Switzerland. The University of Geneva has 1.8 million volumes; the University of Lausanne has about 1.7 million; and the University of Fribourg has two million. Switzerland has an extensive public library system with 2,344 service points in 1997 holding 28 million volumes in total. The federal archives, the libraries of the UN European Center and the International Labor Office in Geneva are among the most important special libraries.

The National Museum, a federal institution in Zürich, houses historic objects; other historical museums are located in Basel, Bern, and Geneva. Basel houses both the Museum of Ancient Art and the Basel Museum of Fine Arts, which has a fine collection of 15th- and 16th-century German masterworks, paintings by Dutch artists of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a survey from Corot to Picasso. The Museum of Fine Arts in Bern contains paintings by old masters and impressionists (Klee Foundation). The Zürich Art Museum houses modern Swiss paintings, as well as works by Dutch and Flemish masters of the 17th century. Geneva houses the Museum of the Voltaire Institute, the Museum of the Institute of Henri Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross, the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Museum, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, which opened in 1994. There are arts and crafts museums in most of the larger cities, and Neuchâtel has an ethnographic museum. Many fine examples of Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque architecture are found in Switzerland.

The postal system and the telephone, telegraph, radio, and television systems are government owned and operated. The telephone system is completely automatic, utilizing 4.82 million telephone lines in 1998. There were an additional 1.9 million mobile cellular phones in use in 1999. International communications, air navigation services, and the new electronic media, including data transmission and electronic mail, are the province of Radio Suisse, a public corporation of which the Confederation holds 95%. Broadcasting is controlled by the Swiss Broadcasting Corp. (SBC), an autonomous corporation under federal supervision. In 1995, there were six SBC radio channels and three television channels. A number of independent local radio stations have been operating since 1983. Radio programs are broadcast in German, French, Italian, and Romansh. As of 1999, Switzerland had seven AM and 50 FM radio stations and 108 television stations. In 2000, there were about 1,002 radios and 548 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were about 500 personal computers in use for every 1,000 people with 44 Internet service providers serving about 3.4 million people by 2001.

Switzerland has one of the world's highest numbers of newspapers. A few papers, such as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the Journal de Genève, are widely read even beyond the borders of Switzerland and have excellent international coverage. The Agence Télégraphique Suisse (Schweizerische Depeschenagentur), co-owned by some 40 newspaper publishers, is Switzerland's most important national news agency.

The Schweizer Illustrierte (circulation 195,894) is the most popular illustrated weekly, and the Nebelspalter (38,630) is the best-known satirical periodical.

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and a free press, and the government is said to uphold these freedoms in practice.

Health standards and medical care are excellent. The pharmaceuticals industry ranks as one of the major producers of specialized pharmaceutical products. Managed-care systems are widely used, especially with a "gatekeeper" component to control costs. In 1998, Switzerland reported that it had 23,679 practicing physicians, of which 56% were in private practice. As of 1999, there were an estimated 3.4 physicians and 18.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people. The ratio of doctors per population varies by region, with the highest proportions in Basle and Geneva and the lowest in Appenzell. As of 1999 total health care expenditure was estimated at 10.4% of GDP.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 9.8 and 8.8 per 1,000 people. In the mid-1990s about 71% of married women (ages 15 to 49) were using contraception. The fertility rate was 1.5 children per woman surviving her childbearing years in 2000. The infant mortality rate, which had been 70.3 per 1,000 live births in 1924, was 4 in 2000. As of 1999, the vaccination rates for DPT and measles were, respectively, 94% and 81%. In 2000, life expectancy was averaged at 80 years.

There were about nine cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people reported in 1999. Cardiovascular disease-related deaths numbered nearly 30,000 in the mid-1990s. Tobacco consumption has dramatically decreased from 3.1 kg (6.8 lbs) per year per adult in 1984–86 to 2.4 kg (5.3 lbs) in 1995. In 1996, voters in Zurich approved a government plan to supply heroin addicts with free access to their drug.

As of 1999, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 17,000 and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at 150. HIV prevalence was 0.5 per 100 adults.

Primary education is free, and adult illiteracy is virtually nonexistent. Education at all levels is first and foremost the responsibility of the cantons. Thus, Switzerland has 26 different systems based on differing education laws and varied cultural and linguistic needs. The cantons decide on the types of schools, length of study, teaching materials, and teachers' salaries. Education is compulsory in most cantons for nine years, and in a few for eight. An optional 10th year has been introduced in several cantons. Church schools in some cantons are tax supported. After primary school, students complete the compulsory portion of their education in various types of secondary Grade I schools, which emphasize vocational or academic subjects to varying degrees. Secondary Grade II schools, which are not compulsory, include trade and vocational preparatory schools and gymnasiums, which prepare students for the university and lead to the matura, or higher school-leaving certificate. As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 5.5% of GDP.

Switzerland has eight cantonal universities, including four in French-speaking areas and four in German-speaking ones. The universities' expenditures are largely financed by the cantons, with a 53% contribution from the Confederation. Approximately one-third of all higher-level educational funding goes to research and development. The largest universities are those of Zürich, Geneva, and Basel; others include those of Lausanne, Bern, Fribourg, and Neuchâtel. The Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, the Economics College at St. Gallen, and the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne are also important.

Switzerland has a large number of private schools attracting primarily foreign students. These schools, most of them located in the French-speaking cantons, are known for their high-quality education, of either the academic or "finishing school" variety.

In 1996, 477,643 students were enrolled in primary schools. In the same year, 559,924 students were enrolled in secondary schools, and 148,024 students attended tertiary institutions. The pupil-teacher ratio at the primary level was 14 to 1 in 1999. In the same year, 99% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while 88% of those eligible attended secondary school.

The social insurance system is financed by both employer and employee contributions as well as governmental subsidies. There is also a mandatory occupational pension system funded by contributions from employees and and employers. Old-age pensions are paid at age 65 for men and 63 for women. Full pensions are only available if contributions were made in all years from the age of 21. Disability and Survivorship pensions are also available to qualified recipients. Sickness and Maternity benefits were first implemented in 1911. Medical care is available to all persons living in Switzerland, and there is a voluntary insurance plan for all employees to provide cash benefits. Maternity benefits are payable up to 16 weeks. Work injury insurance is compulsory, with contribution rates varying according to risk. Unemployment and disability is also covered. Family allowances are provided by the cantons, but there is a federal program covering agricultural workers.

The law provides for equal pay and prohibits gender discrimination, but there is significant bias against women in the workplace. Women earn 22% less than men for the same job and educational level. There are few women in managerial positions, and they are also promoted less than men. Sexual harassment in the workplace continues, although laws and advocacy groups work to eradicate the problem. The Federal Office for Equality Between Women and Men and the Federal Commission on Women are charged with eliminating all types of gender discrimination. Physical and sexual violence against women and domestic abuse persist.

Extremist organizations continue physical and verbal attacks on religious, racial, and ethnic minorities. The government is taking some action to curtail the activities of these groups. Human rights are generally respected in Switzerland.