Gilbert V. Levin, Who Said He Found Signs of Life on Mars, Dies at 97

Most planetary scientists dismissed his conclusions, but he remained steadfast that the experiment he conducted in the mid-1970s had been a success.

Paula Caplan, 74, Dies; Feminist Psychologist Took On Her Profession

She argued that categorizing premenstrual syndrome or feelings of guilt as disorders resulted from sexism in a field dominated by men.

George Forss, 80, Photographer Discovered on the Streets of N.Y., Dies

He was peddling his black-and-white photos of New York City’s majesty for $5 each in the 1980s — until a famous photographer came upon them in “astonishment.”

Rabbi Yoel Kahn, Oral Scribe for the Grand Rabbi, Dies at 91

For decades he memorized virtually verbatim the speeches and discourses of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson and meticulously compiled them into about 150 volumes.

Jay Pickett, Veteran Soap Opera Actor, Dies at 60

His credits included “General Hospital,” “Days of Our Lives” and “Port Charles.” He died while filming a western in Idaho, where he was raised.

Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80

A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Vedic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership.

Reynold Ruffins, Push Pin Studios Graphic Artist, Dies at 90

With Milton Glaser, Ed Sorel and Seymour Chwast, he was part of a movement that upended the ’50s era advertising style with witty, faux-nostalgic imagery.

Frenchy Cannoli, Evangelist for Hashish, Dies at 64

He left France at 18 for a nearly two-decade sojourn to India, Nepal, Mexico and Morocco to learn the secrets of making hash and became an authority.

Chuck E. Weiss, Musician Who, in Love, Inspired a Hit Song, Dies at 76

He and Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones were inseparable in the late ’70s, and when Mr. Weiss’s romantic life took a turn, Ms. Jones memorialized it in “Chuck E.’s in Love.”

Carl Levin, the Senate Scourge of Corporate America, Dies at 87

The longest-serving U.S. senator in Michigan history, Mr. Levin was regarded by colleagues and Washington observers as a paragon of probity.

Albert Bandura, Leading Psychologist of Aggression, Dies at 95

He was most known for his Bobo doll experiment, in which children mimicked adults in attacking an inflatable doll. The work challenged basic tenets of psychology.

Dusty Hill, Long-Bearded Bassist for ZZ Top, Dies at 72

The band, known for its hard-charging, blues-inflected rock, was one of the biggest acts of the 1980s, selling more than 50 million albums.

George Rhoads, Designer of Fantastical ‘Ball Machines,’ Dies at 95

In his ingeniously conceived sculptures, balls seem to travel randomly and trigger various sounds. “Each pathway that the ball takes,” he said, “is a different drama.”

Robert Ellison, Ceramics Collector With a Giving Streak, Dies at 89

The more than 600 works he gave to the Met enriched the museum’s collection enormously.

Dr. J. Allan Hobson, Who Studied the Dreaming Brain, Dies at 88

He disputed the Freudian view that dreams held encrypted codes of meaning, believing instead that they resulted from random firings of neurons in the brain.

Harry deLeyer, 93, Dies; He Saved a Horse and Made Him a Legend

A Dutch immigrant, he bought a plow horse for $80 in 1956 and named him Snowman. Two years later the pair won the show-jumping triple crown.

Steven Weinberg, Groundbreaking Nobelist in Physics, Dies at 88

His discoveries deepened understanding of the basic forces at play in the universe, and he took general readers back to its dawn in his book “The First Three Minutes.”

Purnell Choppin, 91, Dies; Researcher Laid Groundwork for Pandemic Fight

He explored how viruses multiply. An accomplished administrator, he also turned the Howard Hughes Medical Institute into a global biomedical powerhouse.

Bruce Kirby, Who Transformed Sailing With a ‘Doodle,’ Dies at 92

On yellow legal paper, Mr. Kirby, a self-taught designer and Olympic sailor, came up with an impromptu design for a lightweight craft that changed the face of sailing.

Rick Laird, Bassist at the Forefront of Fusion, Dies at 80

He played with jazz greats and helped make music history with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. But he gave it up in his 40s to become a photographer.