Al-Karaji uses mathematical induction.

Tags: Mathematics, Algebra, Mathematical Induction, Al-Karaji, Islamic Golden Age, 11th Century

Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen): Optics, finite speed of light

Tags: Optics, Physics, Light, Ibn al-Haytham, Alhazen, Scientific Revolution (Precursor), 11th Century

al-Zarqālī in Islamic Spain discovers the apsidal precession of the Sun.

Tags: Astronomy, Solar System, Precession, Al-Zarqālī, Islamic Golden Age, 11th Century

Roger Bacon publishes his Opus Majus, compiling translated Classical Greek, and Arabic works on mathematics, optics, and alchemy into a volume, and de...

Tags: Scientific Method, Optics, Alchemy, Mathematics, Roger Bacon, Peer Review, 13th Century

Eyeglasses are invented in Northern Italy, possibly Pisa, demonstrating knowledge of human biology and optics, to offer bespoke works that compensate ...

Tags: Optics, Human Biology, Vision, Eyeglasses, Disability, 13th Century

Scottish priest Duns Scotus writes about the mutual beneficence of trade.

Tags: Economics, Trade, Duns Scotus, 13th Century, Medieval Philosophy

Madhava of Sangamagrama develops the Taylor series, and derives the Taylor series representation for the sine, cosine and arctangent functions, and us...

Tags: Mathematics, Calculus, Taylor Series, Infinite Series, Madhava of Sangamagrama, 14th Century, Trigonometry

Madhava of Sangamagrama discusses error terms in infinite series in the context of his infinite series for π.

Tags: Mathematics, Error Analysis, Infinite Series, Madhava of Sangamagrama, Pi, 14th Century

Madhava of Sangamagrama discovers continued fractions and uses them to solve transcendental equations.

Tags: Mathematics, Continued Fractions, Madhava of Sangamagrama, Transcendental Equations, 14th Century

The Kerala school develops convergence tests for infinite series.

Tags: Mathematics, Infinite Series, Convergence, Kerala School, 14th Century

Madhava of Sangamagrama solves transcendental equations by iteration.

Tags: Mathematics, Iteration, Transcendental Equations, Madhava of Sangamagrama, 14th Century

Madhava of Sangamagrama discovers the most precise estimate of π in the medieval world through his infinite series, a strict inequality with uncertain...

Tags: Mathematics, Pi, Madhava of Sangamagrama, Approximation, 14th Century

Madhava of Sangamagrama found pi and that it was infinite.

Tags: Mathematics, Pi, Madhava of Sangamagrama, Infinity, 15th Century

Nilakantha Somayaji discovers an infinite series for π.: 101–102

Tags: Mathematics, Infinite Series, Pi, Nilakantha Somayaji, 16th Century, Trigonometry

Nilakantha Somayaji develops a model similar to the Tychonic system. His model has been described as mathematically more efficient than the Tychonic s...

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Model, Tychonic System, Nilakantha Somayaji, 16th Century, Heliocentric

Nicolaus Copernicus: Heliocentrism

Tags: Heliocentrism, Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Copernicus, Cosmology, Renaissance, Model, Theory, Geocentric Model

Nicolaus Copernicus develops the quantity theory of money and states the earliest known form of Gresham's law: ("Bad money drowns out good").

Tags: Economics, Money, Gresham's Law, Quantity Theory of Money, Copernicus, Monetary Policy, Finance, Currency, Early Modern Period

Nicolaus Copernicus develops a heliocentric model, rejecting Aristotle's Earth-centric view, would be the first quantitative heliocentric model in his...

Tags: Heliocentrism, Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Copernicus, Cosmology, Renaissance, Model, Theory, Geocentric Model, Mathematics

Andreas Vesalius publishes the anatomy treatise De humani corporis fabrica.

Tags: Anatomy, Biology, Medicine, Vesalius, Scientific Revolution, Renaissance, Human Body, Medical Treatise, Observation

Gerolamo Cardano discovers complex numbers.

Tags: Mathematics, Complex Numbers, Cardano, Algebra, Number Theory, Renaissance, Innovation, Imaginary Numbers

Niccolò Tartaglia introduces parenthesis.

Tags: Mathematics, Algebra, Notation, Tartaglia, Symbols, Mathematical Notation, Renaissance

Robert Recorde introduces the equal sign.

Tags: Mathematics, Algebra, Notation, Recorde, Symbols, Mathematical Notation, Renaissance

Gerolamo Cardano is the first to produce a systematic treatment of probability.

Tags: Mathematics, Probability, Cardano, Statistics, Games of Chance, Renaissance, Theory

Rafael Bombelli provides rules for complex arithmetic.

Tags: Mathematics, Complex Numbers, Arithmetic, Bombelli, Algebra, Number Theory, Renaissance, Imaginary Numbers

Simon Stevin: Delft tower experiment

Tags: Physics, Experiment, Stevin, Gravity, Motion, Scientific Method, Early Modern Period

François Viète's New algebra shows the modern notational algebraic manipulation.

Tags: Mathematics, Algebra, Viète, Notation, Symbolism, Early Modern Period, Innovation

Andreas Libavius publishes Alchemia, a prototype chemistry textbook.

Tags: Chemistry, Libavius, Textbook, Alchemy, Scientific Literature, Early Chemistry, Renaissance

William Gilbert: Earth's magnetic field.

Tags: Physics, Magnetism, Gilbert, Earth, Geophysics, Early Modern Period, Scientific Revolution

Sir Francis Bacon publishes The Proficience and Advancement of Learning, which contains a description of what would later be known as the scientific m...

Tags: Scientific Method, Philosophy of Science, Bacon, Empiricism, Observation, Experimentation, Scientific Revolution

Michal Sedziwój publishes the alchemical treatise A New Light of Alchemy which proposed the existence of the "food of life" within air, much later rec...

Tags: Alchemy, Chemistry, Oxygen, Pneumatic Chemistry, Early Modern Period, Sedziwoj, Gases, Chemical Substances

Earliest known telescopes

Tags: Telescope, Optics, Instrumentation, Scientific Revolution, Early Modern Period, Technology, Observation

Kepler: Kepler's laws of planetary motion

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Motion, Kepler, Heliocentrism, Scientific Revolution, Celestial Mechanics, Laws of Nature

Galileo Galilei: discovered the Galilean moons of Jupiter

Tags: Astronomy, Galileo Galilei, Moons of Jupiter, Heliocentrism, Scientific Revolution, Observation, Planetary Science

Galileo Galilei: Inertia

Tags: Physics, Inertia, Galileo Galilei, Mechanics, Scientific Revolution, Motion, Newtonian Physics

John Napier: use of logarithms for calculation.

Tags: Mathematics, Logarithms, Napier, Calculation, Algebra, Scientific Revolution, Numerical Methods

Jean Beguin publishes the Tyrocinium Chymicum, an early chemistry textbook, and in it draws the first-ever chemical equation.

Tags: Chemistry, Chemical Equation, Beguin, Chemical Notation, Early Modern Period, Textbook, Stoichiometry

Kepler: Kepler's laws of planetary motion

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Motion, Kepler, Heliocentrism, Scientific Revolution, Celestial Mechanics, Laws of Nature

Appearance of the first compound microscopes in Europe.

Tags: Microscopy, Compound Microscope, Instrumentation, Cell Theory, Biology, Early Modern Period, Observation

Willebrord Snellius: Snell's law

Tags: Optics, Snell's Law, Refraction, Willebrord Snellius, Physics, Wave Theory of Light, Early Modern Period

Willebrord Snellius: the law of refraction also known as Snell's law.

Tags: Optics, Refraction, Physics, Light, Snellius, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Laws of Physics, Wave Theory

William Harvey published An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals

Tags: Biology, Circulation of Blood, William Harvey, Anatomy, Physiology, Scientific Revolution, Medicine

Galileo Galilei: The Galilean principle (the laws of motion are the same in all inertial frames)

Tags: Physics, Motion, Inertia, Galileo Galilei, Mechanics, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Relativity, Frames of Reference

René Descartes publishes Discours de la méthode, which contains an outline of the scientific method.

Tags: Scientific Method, Philosophy, René Descartes, Epistemology, Rationalism, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Methodology, Science

Galileo Galilei: laws of falling bodies.

Tags: Physics, Motion, Gravity, Galileo Galilei, Mechanics, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Acceleration, Experimentation

Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer.

Tags: Atmospheric Pressure, Measurement, Evangelista Torricelli, Physics, Meteorology, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Barometer, Experimentation

Posthumous publication of the book Ortus medicinae by Jan Baptist van Helmont, which is cited by some as a major transitional work between alchemy and...

Tags: Chemistry, Alchemy, Jan Baptist van Helmont, Conservation of Mass, Chemical Reactions, 17th Century, Early Chemistry, Robert Boyle, Experimentation

William Harvey concluded that all animals, including mammals, develop from eggs, and spontaneous generation of any animal from mud or excrement was an...

Tags: Biology, Embryology, William Harvey, Spontaneous Generation, Reproduction, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Development, Zoology

Blaise Pascal: Pascal's law

Tags: Physics, Fluid Mechanics, Blaise Pascal, Pressure, Hydrostatics, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Pascal's Law, Hydraulics

Robert Hooke: Hooke's law

Tags: Physics, Elasticity, Robert Hooke, Mechanics, Materials Science, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Hooke's Law, Experimentation

Robert Boyle publishes The Sceptical Chymist, a treatise on the distinction between chemistry and alchemy. It contains some of the earliest modern id...

Tags: Chemistry, Robert Boyle, Alchemy, Atoms, Molecules, Chemical Reaction, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Modern Chemistry

Robert Boyle: Boyle's law of ideal gases.

Tags: Boyle's Law, Physics, Gases, Robert Boyle, Pressure, Volume, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Ideal Gases

Robert Boyle: Boyle's law

Tags: Boyle's Law, Physics, Gases, Robert Boyle, Pressure, Volume, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Ideal Gases

Robert Boyle proposes Boyle's law, an experimentally based description of the behavior of gases, specifically the relationship between pressure and vo...

Tags: Boyle's Law, Physics, Gases, Robert Boyle, Pressure, Volume, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Ideal Gases

Otto von Guericke: first electrostatic generator

Tags: Electricity, Electrostatics, Otto von Guericke, Generator, Physics, 17th Century, Scientific Revolution, Experimentation, Static Electricity

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: first peer reviewed scientific journal published.

Tags: Scientific Publishing, Peer Review, Journal, Royal Society, England, 17th Century, Communication, Scientific Method, Information Dissemination

Robert Hooke saw cells in cork using a microscope.

Tags: Cell Theory, Microscopy, Robert Hooke, Biology, 17th Century, Scientific Discovery, Cytology, England, Observation

Francesco Redi disproved spontaneous generation by showing that fly maggots only appear on pieces of meat in jars if the jars are open to the air. Jar...

Tags: Spontaneous Generation, Francesco Redi, Biology, Germ Theory, 17th Century, Experimentation, Italy, Biogenesis, Microbiology

Nicholas Steno: proposes that fossils are organic remains embedded in layers of sediment, basis of stratigraphy.

Tags: Fossils, Stratigraphy, Geology, Nicholas Steno, 17th Century, Paleontology, Evolutionary Biology, Denmark, Italy

Jan Swammerdam: epigenesis in insects.

Tags: Epigenesis, Insect Biology, Jan Swammerdam, Biology, 17th Century, Developmental Biology, Netherlands, Embryology

Sir Isaac Newton: discovers that white light is a mixture of distinct coloured rays (the spectrum).

Tags: Optics, Sir Isaac Newton, Physics, Light, Color, 17th Century, England, Spectrum, Scientific Revolution

Marcello Malpighi published the first description of chick development, including the formation of muscle somites, circulation, and nervous system.

Tags: Embryology, Marcello Malpighi, Developmental Biology, 17th Century, Biology, Italy, Circulation, Nervous System

Christiaan Huygens: first study of oscillating system and design of pendulum clocks

Tags: Christiaan Huygens, Physics, Pendulum, Clocks, 17th Century, Netherlands, Oscillation, Timekeeping, Mechanics

Leibniz, Newton: infinitesimal calculus.

Tags: Calculus, Mathematics, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Sir Isaac Newton, 17th Century, Germany, England, Infinitesimals, Mathematical Analysis

Anton van Leeuwenhoek: observes microorganisms using a refined simple microscope.

Tags: Microbiology, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Microscopy, Microorganisms, 17th Century, Netherlands, Bacteria, Observation, Scientific Discovery

Ole Rømer: Rømer's determination of the speed of light traveling from the moons of Jupiter.

Tags: Speed of Light, Ole Rømer, Physics, Astronomy, Jupiter, 17th Century, Denmark, Moons, Scientific Discovery

Anton van Leeuwenhoek observed protozoa and calls them animalcules.

Tags: Protozoa, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Microbiology, Microscopy, 17th Century, Netherlands, Animalcules, Observation, Scientific Discovery

Anton van Leeuwenhoek observed spermatozoa.

Tags: Microscopy, Biology, Cell Biology, Reproduction, Leeuwenhoek, Early Modern Period, Observation, Scientific Discovery

Christiaan Huygens mathematical wave theory of light, published in his Treatise on Light

Tags: Optics, Wave Theory, Light, Huygens, Physics, Scientific Theory, Early Modern Period, Mathematical Physics

Anton van Leeuwenhoek observed bacteria. Leeuwenhoek's discoveries renew the question of spontaneous generation in microorganisms.

Tags: Microbiology, Bacteria, Leeuwenhoek, Spontaneous Generation, Biology, Microscopy, Early Modern Period, Scientific Discovery, Germ Theory

Isaac Newton: Newton's laws of motion, and Newton's law of universal gravitation

Tags: Physics, Newton, Gravity, Laws of Motion, Classical Mechanics, Scientific Revolution, Mathematical Physics, Universal Gravitation, Principia Mathematica

Edmond Halley calculates that the comets recorded at 76-year intervals from 1456 to 1682 are one and the same. He predicts that the comet will return ...

Tags: Astronomy, Halley, Comets, Orbital Mechanics, Prediction, Celestial Mechanics, Scientific Calculation, Scientific Revolution

Carl Linnaeus described a new system for classifying plants in Systema Naturae.

Tags: Biology, Taxonomy, Linnaeus, Classification, Systema Naturae, Botany, Scientific Revolution, Naming Conventions

Swedish chemist Georg Brandt analyzes a dark blue pigment found in copper ore. Brandt demonstrated that the pigment contained a new element, later nam...

Tags: Chemistry, Cobalt, Brandt, Element Discovery, Metallurgy, Early Modern Period, Chemical Analysis, Scientific Discovery

Daniel Bernoulli: First model of the kinetic theory of gases

Tags: Physics, Kinetic Theory, Gases, Bernoulli, Thermodynamics, Early Modern Period, Statistical Mechanics, Scientific Model

46 – Ewald Georg von Kleist and Pieter van Musschenbroek: discovery of the Leyden jar

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Capacitor, Leyden Jar, Kleist, Musschenbroek, Electrical Engineering, Early Modern Period, Scientific Instrument

Joseph Black: describes latent heat.

Tags: Physics, Heat, Latent Heat, Black, Thermodynamics, Calorimetry, Eighteenth Century, Scientific Discovery

French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille sails to southern oceans and begins work compiling a catalog of more than 10,000 stars in the southern sky. Alth...

Tags: Astronomy, Star Catalog, Lacaille, Southern Hemisphere, Celestial Observation, Mapping, Scientific Expedition, Eighteenth Century

Benjamin Franklin: lightning is electrical.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Lightning, Franklin, Atmospheric Electricity, Eighteenth Century, Scientific Experiment, Electrical Phenomenon

Benjamin Franklin: kite experiment

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Lightning, Franklin, Kite Experiment, Atmospheric Electricity, Eighteenth Century, Scientific Experiment

Joseph Black isolates carbon dioxide, which he called "fixed air".

Tags: Chemistry, Gases, Carbon Dioxide, Joseph Black, 18th Century, Scientific Revolution, Fixed Air

Immanuel Kant: Gaseous Hypothesis in Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven.

Tags: Cosmology, Nebular Hypothesis, Immanuel Kant, Philosophy of Science, Astronomy, 18th Century

Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt, while investigating arsenic compounds, creates Cadet's fuming liquid, later discovered to be cacodyl oxide, consider...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, Cadet's Fuming Liquid, Louis Claude Cadet de Gassicourt, Synthetic Chemistry, 18th Century

Joseph Black formulates the concept of latent heat to explain the thermochemistry of phase changes.

Tags: Thermochemistry, Heat, Phase Changes, Joseph Black, 18th Century, Thermodynamics, Latent Heat

Joseph-Louis Lagrange: Lagrangian mechanics

Tags: Physics, Lagrangian Mechanics, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Classical Mechanics, Mathematics, 18th Century

Mikhail Lomonosov: discovery of the atmosphere of Venus.

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Science, Venus, Atmosphere, Mikhail Lomonosov, 18th Century

Thomas Bayes: publishes the first version of Bayes' theorem, paving the way for Bayesian probability.

Tags: Statistics, Probability, Bayes' Theorem, Thomas Bayes, Mathematics, 18th Century, Bayesian Probability

Henry Cavendish discovers hydrogen as a colorless, odourless gas that burns and can form an explosive mixture with air.

Tags: Chemistry, Gases, Hydrogen, Henry Cavendish, 18th Century, Combustion

Kaspar Friedrich Wolff argued that the tissues of a developing chick form from nothing and are not simply elaborations of already-present structures i...

Tags: Biology, Embryology, Epigenesis, Kaspar Friedrich Wolff, Developmental Biology, 18th Century, Preformationism

Lazzaro Spallanzani again disproved spontaneous generation by showing that no organisms grow in a rich broth if it is first heated (to kill any organi...

Tags: Biology, Spontaneous Generation, Lazzaro Spallanzani, Germ Theory, Reproduction, 18th Century, Fertilization

Charles Messier: publishes catalogue of astronomical objects (Messier Objects) now known to include galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.

Tags: Astronomy, Messier Objects, Charles Messier, Nebulae, Star Clusters, Galaxies, 18th Century

Joseph Priestley demonstrated that plants produce a gas that animals and flames consume. This gas was oxygen.

Tags: Biology, Photosynthesis, Oxygen, Joseph Priestley, 18th Century, Respiration, Botany

Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Joseph Priestley independently isolate oxygen, called by Priestley "dephlogisticated air" and Scheele "fire air".

Tags: Chemistry, Oxygen, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Joseph Priestley, Gases, 18th Century, Phlogiston Theory

Antoine Lavoisier, considered "The father of modern chemistry", recognizes and names oxygen, and recognizes its importance and role in combustion.

Tags: Chemistry, Oxygen, Antoine Lavoisier, Combustion, 18th Century, Modern Chemistry, Phlogiston Theory

Amateur astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus, although he at first mistakes it for a comet. Uranus is the first planet to be discov...

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Science, Solar System, Discovery, Telescope, Herschel, 18th Century, Scientific Revolution

Antoine Lavoisier: conservation of mass

Tags: Chemistry, Law of Conservation of Mass, Lavoisier, Stoichiometry, Quantitative Analysis, 18th Century, Scientific Revolution, Chemical Reactions

Charles Messier publishes his catalog of star clusters and nebulas. Messier draws up the list to prevent these objects from being identified as comets...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Catalog, Nebulae, Star Clusters, Messier, 18th Century, Deep Sky Objects

William Withering: publishes the first definitive account of the use of foxglove (digitalis) for treating dropsy.

Tags: Medicine, Pharmacology, Digitalis, Foxglove, Dropsy, Withering, 18th Century, Cardiology

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb: Coulomb's inverse-square law for electric charges confirmed

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Coulomb's Law, Coulomb, Electricity, 18th Century, Scientific Revolution

Antoine Lavoisier publishes Méthode de nomenclature chimique, the first modern system of chemical nomenclature.

Tags: Chemistry, Nomenclature, Lavoisier, Chemical Naming, 18th Century, Scientific Revolution, Chemical Language, Standardization

Jacques Charles proposes Charles's law, a corollary of Boyle's law, describes relationship between temperature and volume of a gas.

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Charles's Law, Gases, Jacques Charles, 18th Century, Ideal Gas Law

Antoine Lavoisier publishes Traité Élémentaire de Chimie, the first modern chemistry textbook. It is a complete survey of (at that time) modern chemi...

Tags: Chemistry, Textbook, Lavoisier, Modern Chemistry, Stoichiometry, 18th Century, Scientific Revolution, Chemical Analysis

Georges Cuvier: Establishes extinction as a fact.

Tags: Paleontology, Extinction, Cuvier, Fossil Record, 18th Century, Biology, Evolutionary Biology

Edward Jenner: smallpox historical accounting.

Tags: Medicine, Vaccination, Smallpox, Jenner, Immunology, Public Health, 18th Century, Disease Prevention

Hanaoka Seishū: develops general anaesthesia.

Tags: Medicine, Anesthesia, Hanaoka Seishū, Surgery, Pain Management, 18th Century, Medical Innovation

Joseph Proust proposes the law of definite proportions, which states that elements always combine in small, whole number ratios to form compounds.

Tags: Chemistry, Law of Definite Proportions, Proust, Chemical Composition, 18th Century, Stoichiometry, Chemical Compounds

Thomas Malthus discussed human population growth and food production in An Essay on the Principle of Population.

Tags: Demography, Population, Food Production, Economics, Social Theory, Malthusianism, Enlightenment, 18th Century

Alessandro Volta devises the first chemical battery, thereby founding the discipline of electrochemistry.

Tags: Electrochemistry, Electricity, Battery, Volta, Energy, 19th Century, Experimentation

William Herschel splits sunlight through a prism and with a thermometer, measures the energy given out by different colours. He notices a sudden incre...

Tags: Physics, Optics, Spectroscopy, Infrared Radiation, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Herschel, 19th Century

Thomas Young: Wave theory of light

Tags: Physics, Optics, Wave Theory of Light, Young, Light, 19th Century

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck began the detailed study of invertebrate taxonomy.

Tags: Biology, Taxonomy, Invertebrates, Lamarck, Classification, 19th Century, Zoology

Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovers what appears to be a new planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, and names it Ceres. William Herschel p...

Tags: Astronomy, Asteroid, Ceres, Planetary Science, Herschel, 19th Century, Solar System

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck: teleological evolution.

Tags: Biology, Evolution, Lamarck, Teleology, 19th Century, Theory

The term biology in its modern sense was propounded independently by Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur) and ...

Tags: Biology, Terminology, Science, Treviranus, Lamarck, 19th Century

John Dalton: Atomic theory of matter

Tags: Chemistry, Atomic Theory, Atoms, Dalton, Matter, 19th Century

John Dalton proposes Dalton's law, which describes relationship between the components in a mixture of gases and the relative pressure each contribute...

Tags: Chemistry, Dalton's Law, Gases, Pressure, Dalton, 19th Century

John Dalton: Atomic Theory in (chemistry).

Tags: Chemistry, Atomic Theory, Dalton, Atoms, Matter, 19th Century

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac discovers that water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen by volume.

Tags: Chemistry, Water, Gay-Lussac, Composition, Volume, 19th Century

Thomas Young: Kinetic energy

Tags: Physics, Energy, Kinetic Energy, Young, Mechanics, 19th Century

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac collects and discovers several chemical and physical properties of air and of other gases, including experimental proofs of Bo...

Tags: Chemistry, Physics, Gas Laws, Boyle's Law, Charles's Law, Density, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, 19th Century Science, Experimental Physics

John Dalton publishes New System of Chemical Philosophy, which contains first modern scientific description of the atomic theory, and clear descriptio...

Tags: Chemistry, Atomic Theory, Atoms, Law of Multiple Proportions, John Dalton, 19th Century Science, Chemical Philosophy, Matter

Jöns Jakob Berzelius publishes Lärbok i Kemien in which he proposes modern chemical symbols and notation, and of the concept of relative atomic weight...

Tags: Chemistry, Chemical Notation, Chemical Symbols, Relative Atomic Weight, Jöns Jacob Berzelius, 19th Century Science, Nomenclature

Lamarck proposed a modern theory of evolution based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

Tags: Biology, Evolution, Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics, Lamarckism, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, 19th Century Biology, Natural History, Evolutionary Theory

Amedeo Avogadro proposes Avogadro's law, that equal volumes of gases under constant temperature and pressure contain equal number of molecules.

Tags: Chemistry, Gas Laws, Avogadro's Law, Molecules, Amedeo Avogadro, 19th Century Science, Physical Chemistry, Ideal Gas

Augustin-Jean Fresnel: Wave theory of light, optical interference

Tags: Physics, Optics, Wave Theory of Light, Optical Interference, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, 19th Century Physics, Light

Joseph von Fraunhofer builds the first accurate spectrometer and uses it to study the spectrum of the Sun's light. He discovers and maps hundreds of f...

Tags: Physics, Spectroscopy, Solar Spectrum, Joseph von Fraunhofer, Astronomy, 19th Century Science, Elements, Astrophysics

Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou isolated chlorophyll.

Tags: Biology, Chemistry, Chlorophyll, Photosynthesis, Pierre-Joseph Pelletier, Joseph Bienaimé Caventou, 19th Century Biology, Plant Biology

Hans Christian Ørsted discovers that a current passed through a wire will deflect the needle of a compass, establishing the deep relationship between ...

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Electricity, Magnetism, Hans Christian Ørsted, 19th Century Physics, Electromagnetics

Michael Faraday and James Stoddart discover alloying iron with chromium produces a stainless steel resistant to oxidising elements (rust).

Tags: Chemistry, Materials Science, Alloys, Stainless Steel, Michael Faraday, James Stoddart, 19th Century Chemistry, Corrosion Resistance

André-Marie Ampère, Jean-Baptiste Biot, and Félix Savart: Evidence for electromagnetic interactions (Biot–Savart law)

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Biot-Savart Law, Magnetic Fields, André-Marie Ampère, Jean-Baptiste Biot, Félix Savart, 19th Century Physics

Christian Friedrich Nasse formulated Nasse's law: hemophilia occurs only in males and is passed on by unaffected females.

Tags: Biology, Genetics, Hemophilia, Nasse's Law, Sex-linked Inheritance, 19th Century Biology, Medical Genetics, Heredity

Thomas Johann Seebeck is the first to observe a property of semiconductors.

Tags: Physics, Semiconductors, Thermoelectric Effect, Thomas Johann Seebeck, 19th Century Physics, Materials Science, Thermoelectricity

Joseph Fourier: Heat equation

Tags: Mathematics, Physics, Heat Equation, Joseph Fourier, 19th Century Mathematics, Thermodynamics, Differential Equations, Heat Transfer

Joseph Aspdin develops Portland cement (concrete), by heating ground limestone, clay and gypsum, in a kiln.

Tags: Construction, Materials science, Cement, Concrete, Engineering, 19th century, Technology

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot: Ideal gas cycle analysis (Carnot cycle), internal combustion engine

Tags: Thermodynamics, Carnot cycle, Internal combustion engine, Physics, 19th century, Heat engine, Science

J. L. Prevost and J. B. Dumas showed that the sperm in semen were not parasites, as previously thought, but, instead, the agents of fertilization.

Tags: Biology, Reproduction, Fertilization, Sperm, J. L. Prevost, J. B. Dumas, 19th Century Biology, Embryology, Sexuality

Friedrich Wöhler and Justus von Liebig perform the first confirmed discovery and explanation of isomers, earlier named by Berzelius. Working with cya...

Tags: Chemistry, Isomerism, Molecular structure, Organic chemistry, 19th century, Atoms, Scientific discovery

Ampère's circuital law

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Ampère, Electricity, 19th century, Circuital law, Science

Karl von Baer showed that the eggs of mammals are in the ovaries, ending a 200-year search for the mammalian egg.

Tags: Biology, Embryology, Mammalian egg, Reproduction, 19th century, Ovaries, Zoology

Évariste Galois development of group theory.

Tags: Mathematics, Group theory, Abstract algebra, 19th century, Galois, Algebra, Theory

Amedeo Avogadro: Avogadro's law (Gas law).

Tags: Chemistry, Avogadro's Law, Gas law, Molecular theory, 19th century, Avogadro, Physics

Georg Ohm: Electrical resistance

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Electrical resistance, Ohm, 19th century, Electrical circuits, Electrical engineering

William Prout classifies biomolecules into their modern groupings: carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.

Tags: Biochemistry, Biomolecules, Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids, 19th century, Classification

Friedrich Woehler synthesized urea; first synthesis of an organic compound from inorganic starting materials.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic chemistry, Urea, Chemical synthesis, Vitalism, 19th century, Woehler

Friedrich Wöhler synthesizes urea, thereby establishing that organic compounds could be produced from inorganic starting materials, disproving the the...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic chemistry, Urea, Chemical synthesis, Vitalism, 19th century, Woehler

Nikolai Lobachevsky created Non-Euclidean geometry.

Tags: Mathematics, Non-Euclidean geometry, Geometry, 19th century, Lobachevsky, Space, Euclidean Geometry

Michael Faraday: Faraday's law of induction

Tags: Electromagnetism, Physics, Faraday, Law of Physics, Electricity, 19th Century, Scientific Theory

Friedrich Wöhler and Justus von Liebig discover and explain functional groups and radicals in relation to organic chemistry.

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Chemistry, Functional Groups, Wöhler, Liebig, 19th Century, Chemical Theory

Anselme Payen isolates first enzyme, diastase.

Tags: Enzymology, Biochemistry, Enzyme, Diastase, Payen, 19th Century, Biology

William Rowan Hamilton: Hamiltonian mechanics

Tags: Physics, Mechanics, Hamiltonian Mechanics, Hamilton, Mathematical Physics, Theoretical Physics, 19th Century

Theodor Schwann discovered pepsin in extracts from the stomach lining; first isolation of an animal enzyme.

Tags: Enzymology, Biochemistry, Enzyme, Pepsin, Schwann, Animal Biology, 19th Century

Charles Babbage proposes a design for the construction of a Turing complete, general purpose Computer, to be called the Analytical Engine.

Tags: Computer Science, Computer, Babbage, Analytical Engine, Turing Complete, 19th Century, Technology

Theodor Schwann showed that heating air will prevent it from causing putrefaction.

Tags: Microbiology, Germ Theory, Putrefaction, Schwann, Sterilization, 19th Century, Medical Science

Michael Faraday: Lines of force

Tags: Electromagnetism, Physics, Faraday, Lines of Force, 19th Century, Scientific Theory, Fields

Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Carl Friedrich Gauss: Earth's magnetic field

Tags: Geophysics, Magnetism, Earth Science, Weber, Gauss, Earth's Magnetic Field, 19th Century

Matthias Schleiden proposed that all plants are composed of cells.

Tags: Cell Theory, Botany, Schleiden, Cell Biology, 19th Century, Biology, Cytology

Friedrich Bessel successfully uses the method of stellar parallax, the effect of Earth's annual movement around the Sun, to calculate the distance to ...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Stellar Parallax, Bessel, Distance Measurement, 61 Cygni, 19th Century

Theodor Schwann proposed that all animal tissues are composed of cells. Schwann and Schleinden argued that cells are the elementary particles of life.

Tags: Cell Theory, Biology, Schwann, Cell Biology, 19th Century, Cytology, Histology

Germain Hess proposes Hess's law, an early statement of the law of conservation of energy, which establishes that energy changes in a chemical process...

Tags: Chemistry, Thermodynamics, Energy, Conservation of Energy, Hess's Law, Germain Hess, 19th Century, Chemical Reactions

43 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin and Julius von Mayer: Conservation of energy

Tags: Physics, Energy, Conservation of Energy, William Thomson, Julius von Mayer, Thermodynamics, 19th Century, Scientific Discovery

Christian Doppler: Doppler effect

Tags: Physics, Doppler Effect, Wave Phenomena, Christian Doppler, 19th Century, Sound, Light

James Prescott Joule: Law of Conservation of energy (First law of thermodynamics), also 1847 – Helmholtz, Conservation of energy.

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Energy, Conservation of Energy, James Prescott Joule, Hermann von Helmholtz, 19th Century, First Law of Thermodynamics

Martin Barry reported the fusion of a sperm and an egg for rabbits in a 1-page paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

Tags: Biology, Reproduction, Fertilization, Martin Barry, Embryology, 19th Century, Cell Biology

German amateur astronomer Heinrich Schwabe, who had been studying the Sun for the past 17 years, announces his discovery of a regular cycle in sunspot...

Tags: Astronomy, Solar Physics, Sunspots, Heinrich Schwabe, 19th Century, Solar Cycle, Astronomy

Michael Faraday: Faraday rotation (interaction of light and magnetic field)

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Light, Magnetic Field, Michael Faraday, Faraday Rotation, 19th Century

Irish astronomer William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse completes the first of the world's great telescopes, with a 180-cm mirror. He uses it to study and...

Tags: Astronomy, Telescope, William Parsons, Observational Astronomy, 19th Century, Nebulae, Whirlpool Galaxy

French physicists Jean Foucault and Armand Fizeau take the first detailed photographs of the Sun's surface through a telescope - the birth of scientif...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophotography, Jean Foucault, Armand Fizeau, Photography, 19th Century, Sun, Moon

A new planet, Neptune, is identified by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle while searching in the position suggested by Urbain Le Verrier. Le Ve...

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Science, Neptune, Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams, Johann Gottfried Galle, 19th Century, Celestial Mechanics, Gravitation

George Boole: publishes The Mathematical Analysis of Logic, defining Boolean algebra; refined in his 1854 The Laws of Thought.

Tags: Mathematics, Logic, Boolean Algebra, George Boole, Computer Science, 19th Century, Abstract Algebra

Hermann von Helmholtz & James Prescott Joule: Conservation of Energy 2

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Energy, Conservation of Energy, Hermann von Helmholtz, James Prescott Joule, 19th Century, First Law of Thermodynamics

Hermann Kolbe obtains acetic acid from completely inorganic sources, further disproving vitalism.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Vitalism, Hermann Kolbe, Synthesis, 19th Century, Chemical Synthesis

Lord Kelvin: absolute zero.

Tags: Thermodynamics, Temperature, Absolute Zero, Lord Kelvin, Physics, 19th Century, Science

Lord Kelvin establishes concept of absolute zero, the temperature at which all molecular motion ceases.

Tags: Thermodynamics, Temperature, Absolute Zero, Lord Kelvin, Physics, 19th Century, Science

Louis Pasteur discovers that the racemic form of tartaric acid is a mixture of the levorotatory and dextrotatory forms, thus clarifying the nature of ...

Tags: Stereochemistry, Optical Isomerism, Tartaric Acid, Louis Pasteur, Chemistry, Molecular Structure, 19th Century

51 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin & Rudolf Clausius: Second law of thermodynamics

Tags: Thermodynamics, Second Law, Entropy, Lord Kelvin, Rudolf Clausius, Physics, 19th Century

August Beer proposes Beer's law, which explains the relationship between the composition of a mixture and the amount of light it will absorb. Based p...

Tags: Spectrophotometry, Beer's Law, August Beer, Analytical Chemistry, Light Absorption, 19th Century, Chemistry

Benjamin Silliman, Jr. pioneers methods of petroleum cracking, which makes the entire modern petrochemical industry possible.

Tags: Petroleum Cracking, Petrochemical Industry, Benjamin Silliman Jr., Oil Refining, Industrial Revolution, 19th Century, Chemical Engineering

Robert Forester Mushet develops a process for the decarbonisation, and re-carbonisation of iron, through the addition of a calculated quantity of spie...

Tags: Steel Production, Decarbonisation, Robert Forester Mushet, Metallurgy, Industrial Revolution, 19th Century, Engineering

Louis Pasteur stated that microorganisms produce fermentation.

Tags: Fermentation, Microorganisms, Louis Pasteur, Germ Theory, Biology, 19th Century, Biochemistry

William Henry Perkin synthesizes Perkin's mauve, the first synthetic dye. Created as an accidental byproduct of an attempt to create quinine from coa...

Tags: Synthetic Dye, Perkin's Mauve, William Henry Perkin, Dye Industry, Chemistry, Industrial Revolution, 19th Century

Rudolf Clausius: Introduced translational, rotational, and vibrational molecular motions

Tags: Molecular Motion, Kinetic Theory, Rudolf Clausius, Physics, Thermodynamics, 19th Century, Science

Rudolf Clausius: Introduced the concept of mean free path

Tags: Mean Free Path, Kinetic Theory, Rudolf Clausius, Physics, Statistical Mechanics, 19th Century, Science

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz proposes that carbon is tetravalent, or forms exactly four chemical bonds.

Tags: Carbon Tetravalence, Molecular Structure, Friedrich August Kekulé, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Bonds, 19th Century, Chemistry

Charles R. Darwin and Alfred Wallace independently proposed a theory of biological evolution ("descent through modification") by means of natural sele...

Tags: Evolution, Natural Selection, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Biology, 19th Century, Descent with modification

Rudolf Virchow proposed that cells can only arise from pre-existing cells; "Omnis cellula e celulla," all cell from cells. The Cell Theory states that...

Tags: Cell Theory, Omnis cellula e cellula, Rudolf Virchow, Biology, Cytology, 19th Century, Cellular Biology

Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace: Theory of evolution by natural selection.

Tags: Evolution, Natural Selection, Biology, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, 19th Century Science, Scientific Revolution, Theory of Evolution, Genetics

Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen lay the foundations of spectroscopy as a means of chemical analysis, which lead them to the discovery of caesium an...

Tags: Spectroscopy, Chemical Analysis, Element Discovery, Caesium, Rubidium, Indium, Thallium, Helium, 19th Century Science, Analytical Chemistry

James Clerk Maxwell: Introduced statistical mechanics with the Maxwell distribution

Tags: Statistical Mechanics, Maxwell Distribution, Physics, James Clerk Maxwell, Thermodynamics, 19th Century Science, Kinetic Theory, Probability, Boltzmann

Stanislao Cannizzaro, resurrecting Avogadro's ideas regarding diatomic molecules, compiles a table of atomic weights and presents it at the 1860 Karls...

Tags: Atomic Weights, Molecular Formulas, Chemistry, Periodic Table, Stanislao Cannizzaro, 19th Century Science, Karlsruhe Congress, Diatomic Molecules, Mendeleev

Louis Pasteur: Germ theory.

Tags: Germ Theory, Biology, Medicine, Louis Pasteur, Infectious Disease, 19th Century Science, Microbiology, Pathology, Public Health

John Tyndall: Experiments in Radiant Energy that reinforced the Greenhouse effect.

Tags: Greenhouse Effect, Climate Science, John Tyndall, 19th Century Science, Radiant Energy, Atmospheric Science, Global Warming, Physics

Gustav Kirchhoff: Black body

Tags: Black Body Radiation, Physics, Gustav Kirchhoff, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, 19th Century Science, Theoretical Physics, Radiation

62 – Maxwell's equations

Tags: Maxwell's Equations, Electromagnetism, Physics, James Clerk Maxwell, 19th Century Science, Unified Field Theory, Electrodynamics, Wave Theory, Light

Alexander Parkes exhibits Parkesine, one of the earliest synthetic polymers, at the International Exhibition in London. This discovery formed the fou...

Tags: Synthetic Polymer, Plastics, Alexander Parkes, Chemistry, Materials Science, 19th Century Science, Industrial Revolution, Parkesine, Polymer Chemistry

Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois publishes the telluric helix, an early, three-dimensional version of the periodic table of the elements.

Tags: Periodic Table, Chemistry, Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, Element Classification, 19th Century Science, Telluric Helix, Chemical Elements

Rudolf Clausius: Entropy

Tags: Entropy, Thermodynamics, Rudolf Clausius, Physics, 19th Century Science, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Energy, Heat

James Clerk Maxwell: A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field (electromagnetic radiation)

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Electromagnetic Radiation, Maxwell, Theoretical Physics, 19th Century, Waves, Scientific Revolution

Louis Pasteur disproved the spontaneous generation of cellular life.

Tags: Spontaneous Generation, Biology, Louis Pasteur, Microbiology, 19th Century Science, Germ Theory, Biogenesis, Cell Theory

John Newlands proposes the law of octaves, a precursor to the periodic law.

Tags: Law of Octaves, Periodic Law, Chemistry, John Newlands, Element Classification, 19th Century Science, Periodic Table

Lothar Meyer develops an early version of the periodic table, with 28 elements organized by valence.

Tags: Periodic Table, Chemistry, Lothar Meyer, Element Classification, 19th Century Science, Periodic Law, Valence, Chemical Elements

Cato Maximilian Guldberg and Peter Waage, building on Claude Louis Berthollet's ideas, proposed the law of mass action.

Tags: Law of Mass Action, Chemical Kinetics, Cato Maximilian Guldberg, Peter Waage, Chemistry, 19th Century Science, Chemical Equilibrium, Claude Louis Berthollet

Rudolf Clausius: Definition of entropy.

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Entropy, Clausius, 19th Century, Heat, Statistical Mechanics, Energy

Gregor Mendel demonstrated in pea plants that inheritance follows definite rules. The Principle of Segregation states that each organism has two genes...

Tags: Biology, Genetics, Mendel, Inheritance, 19th Century, Heredity, Segregation, Independent Assortment, Scientific Revolution, Botany

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz realized that benzene is composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms in a hexagonal ring.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Kekulé, Benzene, Molecular Structure, 19th Century, Structural Formula, Chemical Bonding

Johann Josef Loschmidt determines exact number of molecules in a mole, later named Avogadro constant.

Tags: Chemistry, Physics, Loschmidt, Avogadro Constant, Molecular Physics, 19th Century, Kinetic Theory, Statistical Mechanics

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz, based partially on the work of Loschmidt and others, establishes structure of benzene as a six carbon ring wit...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Kekulé, Benzene, Molecular Structure, 19th Century, Structural Formula, Chemical Bonding

Adolf von Baeyer begins work on indigo dye, a milestone in modern industrial organic chemistry which revolutionizes the dye industry.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Baeyer, Dyes, Industrial Chemistry, 19th Century, Color, Chemical Synthesis

James Clerk Maxwell: On the Dynamical Theory of Gases (kinetic theory of gases)

Tags: Physics, Kinetic Theory of Gases, Maxwell, Thermodynamics, 19th Century, Gases, Statistical Mechanics, Molecular Physics

Robert Forester Mushet discovers that alloying steel with tungsten produces a harder, more durable alloy.

Tags: Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mushet, Steel, Alloys, 19th Century, Tungsten, Industrial Revolution

Astronomers notice a new bright emission line in the spectrum of the Sun's atmosphere during an eclipse. The emission line is caused by an element's g...

Tags: Astronomy, Physics, Helium, Lockyer, Spectroscopy, 19th Century, Elements, Solar System

Friedrich Miescher discovered nucleic acids in the nuclei of cells.

Tags: Biology, Biochemistry, Miescher, Nucleic Acids, DNA, 19th Century, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology

Dmitri Mendeleev publishes the first modern periodic table, with the 66 known elements organized by atomic weights. The strength of his table was its...

Tags: Chemistry, Periodic Table, Mendeleev, Elements, 19th Century, Atomic Theory, Chemical Properties, Classification

Lord Rayleigh: Diffuse sky radiation (Rayleigh scattering) explains why sky appears blue.

Tags: Optics, Rayleigh Scattering, Atmospheric Physics, Light, Color, 19th Century Science, Physics

89 – Ludwig Boltzmann & Josiah Willard Gibbs: Statistical mechanics (Boltzmann equation, 1872)

Tags: Statistical Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Boltzmann Equation, Physics, 19th Century Science, Gibbs, Boltzmann, Gas Dynamics, Entropy

An American astronomer Henry Draper takes the first photograph of the spectrum of a star (Vega), showing absorption lines that reveal its chemical mak...

Tags: Spectroscopy, Astronomy, Stellar Composition, Redshift, William Huggins, Henry Draper, Astrophysics, 19th Century Science

Johannes Diderik van der Waals: was one of the first to postulate an intermolecular force: the van der Waals force.

Tags: Intermolecular Forces, van der Waals Force, Physical Chemistry, 19th Century Science, van der Waals, Molecular Interactions

Frederick Guthrie discovers thermionic emission.

Tags: Thermionic Emission, Electronics, Vacuum Tubes, Guthrie, Physics, 19th Century Science

Willoughby Smith discovers photoconductivity.

Tags: Photoconductivity, Solid-State Physics, Photoelectric Effect, Smith, 19th Century Science, Materials Science

Maxwell: A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism

Tags: Electromagnetism, Maxwell's Equations, Physics, 19th Century Science, Maxwell, Electricity, Magnetism

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff and Joseph Achille Le Bel, working independently, develop a model of chemical bonding that explains the chirality experim...

Tags: Stereochemistry, Chemical Bonding, Chirality, Optical Activity, Organic Chemistry, van 't Hoff, Le Bel, 19th Century Science

Jacobus van 't Hoff and Joseph-Achille Le Bel advanced a three-dimensional stereochemical representation of organic molecules and propose a tetrahedra...

Tags: Stereochemistry, Tetrahedral Carbon, Organic Chemistry, Molecular Structure, van 't Hoff, Le Bel, 19th Century Science

William Crookes invented the Crookes tube and studied cathode rays.

Tags: Crookes Tube, Cathode Rays, Physics, Vacuum Tube, Crookes, 19th Century Science, X-ray

Oskar Hertwig and Hermann Fol independently described (in sea urchin eggs) the entry of sperm into the egg and the subsequent fusion of the egg and sp...

Tags: Fertilization, Cell Biology, Reproduction, Hertwig, Fol, Embryology, 19th Century Biology

Josiah Willard Gibbs publishes On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances, a compilation of his work on thermodynamics and physical chemistry whic...

Tags: Thermodynamics, Physical Chemistry, Free Energy, Chemical Equilibrium, Gibbs, Phase Rule, 19th Century Science

Ludwig Boltzmann establishes statistical derivations of many important physical and chemical concepts, including entropy, and distributions of molecul...

Tags: Statistical Mechanics, Entropy, Boltzmann, Thermodynamics, Gas Dynamics, 19th Century Science, Physical Chemistry

Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie: Piezoelectricity.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Materials Science, Pierre Curie, Jacques Curie, Crystal Physics, 19th Century

Svante Arrhenius develops ion theory to explain conductivity in electrolytes.

Tags: Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Ion Theory, Svante Arrhenius, Solution Chemistry, Electrolytes, 19th Century

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff: discovered the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions (in his work "Études de dynamique chimique").

Tags: Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Dynamics, Osmotic Pressure, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Solution Chemistry, 19th Century

Boltzmann derives Stefan radiation law

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Radiation, Stefan-Boltzmann Law, Ludwig Boltzmann, 19th Century

Emil Fischer began his detailed analysis of the compositions and structures of sugars.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Sugars, Carbohydrates, Emil Fischer, Structural Chemistry, 19th Century

Hermann Emil Fischer proposes structure of purine, a key structure in many biomolecules, which he later synthesized in 1898. Also begins work on the ...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Purines, Sugars, Hermann Emil Fischer, Molecular Structure, 19th Century

Henry Louis Le Chatelier develops Le Chatelier's principle, which explains the response of dynamic chemical equilibria to external stresses.

Tags: Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Equilibrium, Thermodynamics, Le Chatelier's Principle, Henry Louis Le Chatelier, 19th Century

Eugen Goldstein names the cathode ray, later discovered to be composed of electrons, and the canal ray, later discovered to be positive hydrogen ions ...

Tags: Physics, Atomic Physics, Cathode Rays, Canal Rays, Eugen Goldstein, Early Atomic Theory, 19th Century

Michelson–Morley experiment

Tags: Physics, Optics, Aether Theory, Michelson-Morley Experiment, Albert A. Michelson, Edward W. Morley, Special Relativity, 19th Century

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz: Electromagnetic waves

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Electromagnetic Waves, Radio, Heinrich Hertz, Maxwell's Equations, 19th Century

Friedrich Reinitzer discovers liquid crystals.

Tags: Chemistry, Materials Science, Liquid Crystals, Friedrich Reinitzer, Solid State Physics, 20th Century

Johannes Rydberg: Rydberg formula

Tags: Physics, Atomic Physics, Spectroscopy, Rydberg Formula, Johannes Rydberg, Quantum Mechanics, 19th Century

Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction

Tags: Physics, Special Relativity, Lorentz-FitzGerald Contraction, Hendrik Lorentz, George FitzGerald, Length Contraction, 19th Century

Dmitri Ivanovsky discovers viruses.

Tags: Virology, Infectious Disease, Pathology, Microbiology, Ivanovsky, Dmitri, 19th Century Science, Filtration Experiments, Tobacco Mosaic Virus, Viruses, Germ Theory

Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction

Tags: Physics, Relativity, Electromagnetism, Lorentz, Hendrik, FitzGerald, George, Length Contraction, Special Relativity, Aether Theory, 19th Century Physics, Theoretical Physics

Hans Driesch separated the individual cells of a 2-cell sea urchin embryo and shows that each cell develops into a complete individual, thus disprovin...

Tags: Embryology, Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Totipotency, Sea Urchin, Experimental Biology, 19th Century Science, Germ Theory, Driesch, Hans

Wilhelm Wien: Wien's displacement law for black-body radiation

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Black-body Radiation, Wien's Displacement Law, Wien, Wilhelm, Spectroscopy, 19th Century Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermal Radiation, Electromagnetic Spectrum

Alfred Werner discovers the octahedral structure of cobalt complexes, thus establishing the field of coordination chemistry.

Tags: Chemistry, Coordination Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Werner, Alfred, Octahedral Complexes, Chemical Bonding, Molecular Structure, 19th Century Chemistry, Ligands

William Ramsay discovers the noble gases, which fill a large and unexpected gap in the periodic table and led to models of chemical bonding.

Tags: Chemistry, Noble Gases, Periodic Table, Ramsay, William, Argon, Helium, Chemical Elements, 19th Century Chemistry, Inert Gases, Chemical Bonding

Wilhelm Röntgen: X-rays

Tags: Physics, X-rays, Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad, Medical Imaging, Ionizing Radiation, Electromagnetic Radiation, Cathode Rays, 19th Century Physics, Radiology, Discovery

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky publishes his first article on the possibility of space flight. His greatest discovery is that a rocket, unlike other forms of ...

Tags: Spaceflight, Rocketry, Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, Multistage Rockets, Astronautics, Space Exploration, Vacuum, 20th Century, Theoretical Physics, Aerospace Engineering

Svante Arrhenius derives the basic principles of the greenhouse effect

Tags: Climate Science, Greenhouse Effect, Arrhenius, Svante, Global Warming, Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, 20th Century, Infrared Radiation, Atmosphere

Henri Becquerel: Radioactivity

Tags: Physics, Radioactivity, Becquerel, Henri, Nuclear Physics, Radiation, Uranium, Nuclear Decay, 19th Century Physics, Marie Curie, Discovery

Pieter Zeeman: Zeeman effect

Tags: Physics, Zeeman Effect, Zeeman, Pieter, Spectroscopy, Magnetism, Atomic Physics, Spectral Lines, Electrons, 19th Century Physics, Magnetic Fields

J. J. Thomson discovers the electron using the cathode ray tube.

Tags: Physics, Electron, Thomson, J. J., Cathode Ray Tube, Atomic Structure, Subatomic Particle, Charge-to-Mass Ratio, 19th Century Physics, Discovery, Particle Physics

J.J. Thomson proposed the plum pudding model of an atom

Tags: Physics, Atomic Model, Plum Pudding Model, J.J. Thomson, Atomic Structure, 19th Century, History of Physics

J. J. O'Donnell discovers and documents the order-of-sequence for the sound of an approaching tornado

Tags: Meteorology, Tornado, Sound, Observation, Atmospheric Science, O'Donnell, Weather

Martinus Beijerinck used filtering experiments to show that tobacco mosaic disease is caused by something smaller than a bacterium, which he names a v...

Tags: Biology, Virology, Virus, Infectious Disease, Microbiology, Beijerinck, Germ Theory, Scientific Method

Wilhelm Wien demonstrates that canal rays (streams of positive ions) can be deflected by magnetic fields, and that the amount of deflection is proport...

Tags: Physics, Mass Spectrometry, Ion, Canal Rays, Magnetic Fields, Wilhelm Wien, Analytical Chemistry, 19th Century Physics

Maria Sklodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie isolate radium and polonium from pitchblende.

Tags: Chemistry, Physics, Radioactivity, Radium, Polonium, Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, Nuclear Physics, 20th Century

Max Planck: Formula for black-body radiation – the quanta solution to radiation ultraviolet catastrophe

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Black Body Radiation, Max Planck, Quantum Theory, Ultraviolet Catastrophe, Energy, 20th Century Physics

Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns and Erich von Tschermak independently rediscovered Mendel's paper on heredity.

Tags: Biology, Genetics, Heredity, Mendel, De Vries, Correns, Tschermak, 20th Century Biology

A comprehensive survey of stars, the Henry Draper Catalogue, is published. In the catalog, Annie Jump Cannon proposes a sequence of classifying stars ...

Tags: Astronomy, Stellar Classification, Henry Draper Catalogue, Annie Jump Cannon, Spectroscopy, Stars, 20th Century

Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri, independently proposed that the chromosomes carry the hereditary information.

Tags: Biology, Genetics, Chromosomes, Heredity, Sutton, Boveri, Cell Biology, 20th Century

Mikhail Semyonovich Tsvet invents chromatography, an important analytic technique.

Tags: Chemistry, Chromatography, Analytical Chemistry, Tsvet, Separation Techniques, 20th Century, Scientific Instrumentation

J. J. Thomson's plum pudding model of the atom 1904

Tags: Atomic Theory, Model, J.J. Thomson, Subatomic Particles, Physics, Early 20th Century, Scientific Revolution

Hantaro Nagaoka proposes an early nuclear model of the atom, where electrons orbit a dense massive nucleus.

Tags: Physics, Atomic Model, Nuclear Model, Hantaro Nagaoka, Atomic Structure, 20th Century, Physics

Albert Einstein: Special relativity, proposes light quantum (later named photon) to explain the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, Mass–energy equ...

Tags: Physics, Special Relativity, Photoelectric Effect, Photon, Mass-Energy Equivalence, Albert Einstein, Early 20th Century, Quantum Physics, E=mc2

William Bateson coined the term "genetics" to describe the study of biological inheritance.

Tags: Genetics, Biology, Inheritance, William Bateson, Early 20th Century, Evolution, Heredity, Scientific Terminology

Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch develop the Haber process for making ammonia from its elements, a milestone in industrial chemistry with deep consequences ...

Tags: Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Haber-Bosch Process, Ammonia, Fertilizer, Agriculture, Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, 20th Century

Albert Einstein explains Brownian motion in a way that definitively proves atomic theory.

Tags: Physics, Atomic Theory, Brownian Motion, Albert Einstein, Early 20th Century, Scientific Revolution, Thermodynamics

Walther Nernst: Third law of thermodynamics

Tags: Thermodynamics, Walther Nernst, Third Law, Physics, Chemistry, Early 20th Century, Laws of Thermodynamics

Mikhail Tsvet discovered the chromatography technique for organic compound separation.

Tags: Chemistry, Chromatography, Mikhail Tsvet, Separation Technique, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Early 20th Century

Ejnar Hertzsprung establishes the standard for measuring the true brightness of a star. He shows that there is a relationship between color and absolu...

Tags: Astronomy, Stellar Evolution, Hertzsprung, Absolute Magnitude, Milky Way, Early 20th Century, Henry Norris Russell, Arthur Eddington

Alfred Bertheim: Arsphenamine, the first modern chemotherapeutic agent

Tags: Medicine, Chemotherapy, Arsphenamine, Alfred Bertheim, Pharmaceuticals, Early 20th Century, Medical Breakthrough

Ivan Pavlov demonstrated conditioned responses with salivating dogs.

Tags: Psychology, Conditioning, Ivan Pavlov, Behaviorism, Classical Conditioning, Early 20th Century, Physiology

Hermann Emil Fischer artificially synthesized peptide amino acid chains and thereby shows that amino acids in proteins are connected by amino group-ac...

Tags: Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, Hermann Emil Fischer, Proteins, Amino Acids, Peptides, Synthesis, Early 20th Century

Leo Hendrik Baekeland invents bakelite, one of the first commercially successful plastics.

Tags: Chemistry, Plastics, Bakelite, Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Polymers, Materials Science, Early 20th Century, Industrial Revolution

Hermann Minkowski: Minkowski space

Tags: Physics, Minkowski Space, Hermann Minkowski, Relativity, Mathematics, Early 20th Century

Fritz Haber: Haber Process for industrial production of ammonia

Tags: Chemistry, Haber, Industrial Chemistry, Ammonia, Fertilizer, Industrial Revolution, Nitrogen Fixation

Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word "gene."

Tags: Genetics, Gene, Wilhelm Johannsen, Biology, Heredity, Early 20th Century, Terminology

Robert Millikan measures the charge of individual electrons with unprecedented accuracy through the oil drop experiment, confirming that all electrons...

Tags: Physics, Electron, Millikan, Oil Drop Experiment, Atomic Physics, Experimental Physics, Quantum Mechanics (precursor)

S. P. L. Sørensen invents the pH concept and develops methods for measuring acidity.

Tags: Chemistry, pH, Acidity, Measurement, Solutions, Sørensen

Williamina Fleming publishes her discovery of white dwarf stars.

Tags: Astronomy, Stellar Astronomy, White Dwarf, Fleming, Astrophysics

Ernest Rutherford: Discovery of the atomic nucleus (Rutherford model)

Tags: Physics, Atomic Physics, Rutherford, Nuclear Model, Atom

Kamerlingh Onnes: Superconductivity

Tags: Physics, Superconductivity, Kamerlingh Onnes, Low Temperature Physics

Thomas Hunt Morgan proposed that genes are arranged in a line on the chromosomes.

Tags: Biology, Genetics, Chromosomes, Genes, Morgan, Inheritance

Antonius van den Broek proposes the idea that the elements on the periodic table are more properly organized by positive nuclear charge rather than at...

Tags: Chemistry, Periodic Table, Atomic Number, van den Broek, Elements

The first Solvay Conference is held in Brussels, bringing together most of the most prominent scientists of the day. Conferences in physics and chemi...

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, Conferences, Scientific Collaboration, Solvay

Ernest Rutherford, Hans Geiger, and Ernest Marsden perform the gold foil experiment, which proves the nuclear model of the atom, with a small, dense, ...

Tags: Physics, Atomic Physics, Rutherford, Gold Foil Experiment, Nuclear Model, Atom

Alfred Wegener: Continental drift

Tags: Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics, Geology, Geophysics, Alfred Wegener, Earth Science, Early 20th Century

Vesto Slipher: galactic redshifts

Tags: Redshift, Galaxies, Cosmology, Vesto Slipher, Doppler Effect, Spectroscopy, Early 20th Century Astronomy

Henrietta Swan Leavitt: Cepheid variable period-luminosity relation

Tags: Cepheid Variables, Period-Luminosity Relation, Astronomy, Distance Measurement, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cosmology, Stellar Astronomy

William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg propose Bragg's law and establish the field of X-ray crystallography, an important tool for elucidating...

Tags: X-ray, Crystallography, Bragg's Law, Structure of Matter, Materials Science, William Henry Bragg, William Lawrence Bragg, Early 20th Century Physics

Peter Debye develops the concept of molecular dipole to describe asymmetric charge distribution in some molecules.

Tags: Molecular Dipole, Polarity, Molecular Structure, Physical Chemistry, Peter Debye, Chemical Bonds, Early 20th Century Chemistry

Henrietta Swan Leavitt discovers the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variables, where the intrinsic brightness of a star is proportional to its...

Tags: Astronomy, Cepheid Variables, Leavitt, Cosmology, Distance Measurement, Extragalactic Astronomy

Henry Moseley: defined atomic number

Tags: Atomic Number, Moseley, Periodic Table, Atomic Physics, Chemistry, Early 20th Century Chemistry

Niels Bohr: Bohr model of the atom

Tags: Bohr Model, Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Structure, Niels Bohr, Atomic Orbitals, Early 20th Century Physics, Quantum Physics

Henry Moseley, working from Van den Broek's earlier idea, introduces concept of atomic number to fix inadequacies of Mendeleev's periodic table, which...

Tags: Atomic Number, Periodic Table, Henry Moseley, Atomic Physics, Chemistry, Periodic Law, Early 20th Century Chemistry

Frederick Soddy proposes the concept of isotopes, that elements with the same chemical properties may have differing atomic weights.

Tags: Isotopes, Radioactivity, Frederick Soddy, Nuclear Chemistry, Atomic Physics, Early 20th Century Chemistry

J. J. Thomson expanding on the work of Wien, shows that charged subatomic particles can be separated by their mass-to-charge ratio, a technique known ...

Tags: Mass Spectrometry, J.J. Thomson, Analytical Chemistry, Isotopes, Spectroscopy, Early 20th Century Chemistry

Karl Schwarzschild: discovery of the Schwarzschild radius leading to the identification of black holes

Tags: Schwarzschild Radius, Black Holes, General Relativity, Karl Schwarzschild, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Theoretical Physics

Albert Einstein: General relativity

Tags: Relativity, General Relativity, Einstein, Physics, Theoretical Physics, Gravity, Cosmology, 20th Century Physics

Emmy Noether: Noether's theorem relates symmetries to conservation laws.

Tags: Noether's Theorem, Physics, Mathematics, Conservation Laws, Symmetry, Theoretical Physics, Emmy Noether, 20th Century

Gilbert N. Lewis publishes "The Atom and the Molecule", the foundation of valence bond theory.

Tags: Chemistry, Valence Bond Theory, Molecular Chemistry, Lewis, Chemical Bonding, Theoretical Chemistry, 20th Century Chemistry

German physicist Karl Schwarzschild uses Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity to lay the groundwork for black hole theory. He suggests that ...

Tags: Black Holes, General Relativity, Schwarzschild, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Theoretical Physics, Einstein, 20th Century Physics

Emmy Noether: Noether's theorem – conditions under which the conservation laws are valid

Tags: Noether's Theorem, Physics, Mathematics, Conservation Laws, Symmetry, Theoretical Physics, Emmy Noether, 20th Century

Arthur Eddington:Light bending confirmed – evidence for general relativity

Tags: General Relativity, Eddington, Einstein, Astrophysics, Experimental Physics, Cosmology, 20th Century Physics, Light Bending

1926 – Kaluza–Klein theory proposing unification of gravity and electromagnetism

Tags: Kaluza-Klein Theory, Physics, Theoretical Physics, Electromagnetism, Gravity, Unification, Cosmology, 20th Century Physics

Arthur Eddington: Stellar nucleosynthesis

Tags: Stellar Nucleosynthesis, Astrophysics, Eddington, Nuclear Physics, Cosmology, Stars, 20th Century

Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach establish concept of quantum mechanical spin in subatomic particles.

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Spin, Subatomic Particles, Stern-Gerlach Experiment, Physics, 20th Century Physics

Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, John Macleod: isolation and production of insulin to control diabetes

Tags: Insulin, Diabetes, Banting, Best, Collip, Macleod, Medicine, Endocrinology, 20th Century Medicine

Alexander Friedmann proposes expanding universe

Tags: Expanding Universe, Friedmann, Cosmology, General Relativity, Big Bang, 20th Century Physics

37 – Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric cosmological model

Tags: FLRW metric, Cosmology, General Relativity, Friedmann, Lemaître, Robertson, Walker, 20th Century Physics

Aleksandr Oparin proposed that the Earth's early atmosphere contained methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water vapor, and that these were the raw materia...

Tags: Origin of Life, Oparin, Biochemistry, Astrobiology, Early Earth, Atmosphere, 20th Century Biology

Stern–Gerlach experiment

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Physics, Stern-Gerlach Experiment, Spatial Quantization, Atomic Structure, 1920s, Experimental Physics, Measurement

Edwin Hubble: Galaxies discovered

Tags: Astronomy, Cosmology, Galaxies, Hubble, Extragalactic Astronomy, 20th Century Astronomy, Space, Universe

Arthur Compton: Particle nature of photons confirmed by observation of photon momentum

Tags: Physics, Quantum Physics, Photon, Compton Effect, Wave-Particle Duality, Electromagnetic Radiation, 20th Century Physics, Particle Physics

Gilbert N. Lewis and Merle Randall publish Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances, first modern treatise on chemical thermodynamics...

Tags: Thermodynamics, Chemical Thermodynamics, Free Energy, Physical Chemistry, Lewis, Randall, 20th Century Science, Treatise

Gilbert N. Lewis develops the electron pair theory of acid/base reactions.

Tags: Acids and Bases, Electron Pair Theory, Chemical Reactions, Organic Chemistry, Lewis, 20th Century Chemistry, Molecular Chemistry, Chemical Bonding

Edwin Hubble discovers a Cepheid variable star in the "Andromeda Nebula" and proves that Andromeda and other nebulas are galaxies far beyond our own. ...

Tags: Hubble, Galaxies, Cosmology, Andromeda, Astronomy, 20th Century Astronomy, Expanding Universe

Wolfgang Pauli: quantum Pauli exclusion principle

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Pauli Exclusion Principle, Quantum Physics, Atomic Physics, Electrons, Pauli, 1920s, Fundamental Particles

Edwin Hubble: the discovery that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies

Tags: Astronomy, Cosmology, Galaxies, Milky Way, Hubble, Extragalactic Astronomy, 20th Century Astronomy, Universe

Bose–Einstein statistics

Tags: Statistical Mechanics, Quantum Statistics, Bose-Einstein Statistics, Bose, Einstein, Quantum Physics, 1920s, Physics

Louis de Broglie: De Broglie wave

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, De Broglie Wave, Wave-Particle Duality, De Broglie, Quantum Physics, 1920s, Physics, Theoretical Physics

Louis de Broglie introduces the wave-model of atomic structure, based on the ideas of wave–particle duality.

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Structure, Wave-Particle Duality, De Broglie, Wave Model, Quantum Physics, 1920s, Theoretical Physics

Erwin Schrödinger: Schrödinger equation (Quantum mechanics)

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Schrödinger Equation, Quantum Physics, Wave Mechanics, Schrödinger, 1920s, Theoretical Physics, Mathematical Physics

Werner Heisenberg: Matrix mechanics

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Matrix Mechanics, Quantum Physics, Heisenberg, Theoretical Physics, 1920s, Physics, Mathematics

27 – Niels Bohr & Max Planck: Quantum mechanics

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Theoretical Physics, Atomic Theory, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, 20th Century Physics, Wave-particle duality

Stellar structure understood

Tags: Astrophysics, Stellar Physics, Stars, Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, Stellar Evolution, 20th Century Astronomy, Theoretical Astrophysics

Wolfgang Pauli develops the exclusion principle, which states that no two electrons around a single nucleus may have the same quantum state, as descri...

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Pauli Exclusion Principle, Quantum Physics, Atomic Physics, Electrons, Pauli, 1920s, Atomic Structure

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin discovers that hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Sun's atmosphere, and accordingly, the most abundant element in t...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Solar Physics, Hydrogen Abundance, Payne-Gaposchkin, Stellar Atmospheres, Chemical Composition, Universe

Fermi-Dirac Statistics

Tags: Quantum Statistics, Physics, Enrico Fermi, Paul Dirac, Statistical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Particle Physics

Erwin Schrödinger: Schrödinger Equation

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Erwin Schrödinger, Wave mechanics, Atomic Structure, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Field Theory

James B. Sumner showed that the urease enzyme is a protein.

Tags: Biochemistry, Enzymes, Proteins, James B. Sumner, Crystallization, Enzyme Catalysis, 20th Century Biology

Erwin Schrödinger proposes the Schrödinger equation, which provides a mathematical basis for the wave model of atomic structure.

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Erwin Schrödinger, Wave mechanics, Atomic Structure, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Field Theory

Robert Goddard launches the first rocket powered by liquid fuel. He also demonstrates that a rocket can work in a vacuum. His later rockets break the ...

Tags: Rocketry, Aerospace Engineering, Robert Goddard, Liquid Fuel, Space Exploration, 20th Century Inventions, Sound Barrier

Werner Heisenberg: Uncertainty principle

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Werner Heisenberg, Uncertainty Principle, Atomic Theory, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Measurement

Georges Lemaître: Big Bang

Tags: Cosmology, Big Bang Theory, Georges Lemaître, Expanding Universe, Early Universe, 20th Century Cosmology, General Relativity

Paul Dirac: Dirac equation

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Paul Dirac, Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, Particle Physics, Theoretical Physics, Antimatter

Max Born: Born rule

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Max Born, Probability Amplitude, Wave Function, Quantum Measurement, Theoretical Physics

Fritz London and Walter Heitler apply quantum mechanics to explain covalent bonding in the hydrogen molecule, which marked the birth of quantum chemis...

Tags: Quantum Chemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Fritz London, Walter Heitler, Covalent Bonding, Molecular Theory, Quantum Mechanics

Paul Dirac proposes the antiparticle

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Antimatter, Paul Dirac, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Subatomic Physics, 20th Century

Otto Diels and Kurt Alder discovered the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction for forming ring molecules.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Reaction, Cycloaddition, Diels-Alder Reaction, Synthetic Chemistry, Molecular Structure, 20th Century

Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin

Tags: Biology, Medicine, Antibiotics, Penicillin, Infectious Disease, Alexander Fleming, Bacteriology, 20th Century, Drug Discovery

Lars Onsager's reciprocal relations, a potential fourth law of thermodynamics

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Lars Onsager, Irreversible Thermodynamics, Physical Chemistry, 20th Century

Phoebus Levene discovered the sugar deoxyribose in nucleic acids.

Tags: Biology, Biochemistry, Nucleic Acids, Deoxyribose, Phoebus Levene, Molecular Biology, Genetics, 20th Century

Edward Doisy and Adolf Butenandt independently discovered estrone.

Tags: Chemistry, Biochemistry, Hormones, Estrone, Endocrinology, Edward Doisy, Adolf Butenandt, 20th Century, Steroid Chemistry

Linus Pauling publishes Pauling's rules, which are key principles for the use of X-ray crystallography to deduce molecular structure.

Tags: Chemistry, X-ray Crystallography, Molecular Structure, Linus Pauling, Pauling's Rules, Crystallography, Structural Chemistry, 20th Century

Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding and that the farther away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from us. Two years later, G...

Tags: Astronomy, Cosmology, Expanding Universe, Hubble's Law, Big Bang Theory, Edwin Hubble, Georges Lemaître, 20th Century, Astrophysics

John Howard Northrop showed that the pepsin enzyme is a protein.

Tags: Biology, Biochemistry, Enzymes, Pepsin, Proteins, John Howard Northrop, Enzyme Kinetics, 20th Century

By applying new ideas from subatomic physics, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar predicts that the atoms in a white dwarf star of more than 1.44 solar masses ...

Tags: Physics, Astrophysics, Stellar Evolution, White Dwarf, Neutron Star, Supernova, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Walter Baade, Fritz Zwicky, 20th Century

Clyde Tombaugh discovers the dwarf planet Pluto at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. The object is so faint and moving so slowly that he h...

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Science, Pluto, Dwarf Planet, Clyde Tombaugh, Solar System, Lowell Observatory, 20th Century

Kurt Gödel: incompleteness theorems prove formal axiomatic systems are incomplete

Tags: Logic, Mathematics, Gödel, Incompleteness Theorems, Formal Systems, Foundations of Mathematics, Metamathematics, 20th Century Mathematics

Adolf Butenandt discovered androsterone.

Tags: Biochemistry, Steroids, Hormones, Endocrinology, Androsterone, Butenandt, Organic Chemistry, Sex Hormones

Erich Hückel proposes Hückel's rule, which explains when a planar ring molecule will have aromatic properties.

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Aromaticity, Hückel's Rule, Planar Ring Molecules, Molecular Structure, Theoretical Chemistry, Hückel, Chemical Bonding

Harold Urey discovers deuterium by fractionally distilling liquid hydrogen.

Tags: Isotopes, Deuterium, Heavy Water, Urey, Nuclear Chemistry, Fractional Distillation, Atomic Physics, 20th Century Science

Karl Guthe Jansky discovers the first astronomical radio source, Sagittarius A

Tags: Radio Astronomy, Jansky, Sagittarius A, Galactic Center, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmic Radio Sources, 20th Century Astronomy

Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft: Nuclear fission by proton bombardment

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Fission, Cockcroft, Walton, Nuclear Reactions, Particle Accelerators, Atomic Energy, 20th Century Physics

Carl David Anderson: Antimatter (positrons) discovered

Tags: Particle Physics, Antimatter, Positrons, Anderson, Quantum Electrodynamics, Subatomic Particles, Relativity, 20th Century Physics

James Chadwick: Neutron discovered

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Neutron, Chadwick, Atomic Structure, Subatomic Particles, Particle Physics, Nuclear Reactions, 20th Century Physics

Hans Adolf Krebs and Kurt Henseleit discovered the urea cycle.

Tags: Biochemistry, Urea Cycle, Krebs, Henseleit, Metabolism, Nitrogen Metabolism, Enzymology, Cellular Respiration

James Chadwick discovers the neutron.

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Neutron, Chadwick, Atomic Structure, Subatomic Particles, Particle Physics, Nuclear Reactions, 20th Century Physics

Linus Pauling and Robert Mulliken quantify electronegativity, devising the scales that now bear their names.

Tags: Chemistry, Electronegativity, Pauling, Mulliken, Chemical Bonding, Molecular Properties, Chemical Scales, Theoretical Chemistry

Karl Jansky detects the first radio waves coming from space. In 1942, radio waves from the Sun are detected. Seven years later radio astronomers ident...

Tags: Radio Astronomy, Jansky, Cosmic Radio Waves, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Crab Nebula, Centaurus A, M87, 20th Century Astronomy

Ernst Ruska: Invention of the electron microscope

Tags: Microscopy, Electron Microscopy, Instrumentation, Physics, Ernst Ruska, 20th Century, Scientific Revolution, Imaging

Tadeus Reichstein artificially synthesized vitamin C; first vitamin synthesis.

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Vitamin C, Reichstein, Vitamin Synthesis, Biochemistry, Nutritional Science, Pharmaceuticals, 20th Century Chemistry

Enrico Fermi: Nuclear fission by neutron irradiation

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Fission, Radioactivity, Enrico Fermi, Atomic Physics, 20th Century, Manhattan Project, Nuclear Energy

Clive McCay: Calorie restriction extends the maximum lifespan of another species

Tags: Longevity, Aging, Calorie Restriction, Clive McCay, Biology, Nutrition, Experimental Biology, Gerontology

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: Chandrasekhar limit for black hole collapse

Tags: Astrophysics, Black Holes, Stellar Evolution, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Theoretical Physics, 20th Century, Cosmology, Relativity

Rudolf Schoenheimer used deuterium as a tracer to examine the fat storage system of rats.

Tags: Biochemistry, Isotopes, Rudolf Schoenheimer, Metabolism, Fat Metabolism, Tracers, Experimental Techniques, 20th Century

Wendell Stanley crystallized the tobacco mosaic virus.

Tags: Virology, Viruses, Wendell Stanley, Crystallography, Molecular Biology, 20th Century, Biochemistry, Protein Structure

Konrad Lorenz described the imprinting behavior of young birds.

Tags: Ethology, Animal Behavior, Konrad Lorenz, Imprinting, Behavioral Biology, 20th Century, Psychology, Evolution

Wallace Carothers leads a team of chemists at DuPont who invent nylon, one of the most commercially successful synthetic polymers in history.

Tags: Polymer Chemistry, Wallace Carothers, DuPont, Synthetic Polymers, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, 20th Century, Industrial Chemistry

Muon discovered by Carl David Anderson and Seth Neddermeyer

Tags: Particle Physics, Muon, Carl Anderson, Seth Neddermeyer, Elementary Particles, Cosmic Rays, 20th Century, Nuclear Physics

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin discovered the three-dimensional structure of cholesterol.

Tags: Biochemistry, X-ray Crystallography, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Cholesterol, Organic Chemistry, Structure Determination, 20th Century, Molecular Structure

Hans Adolf Krebs and William Arthur Johnson discovered the tricarboxylic acid cycle.

Tags: Biochemistry, Metabolism, Hans Krebs, William Arthur Johnson, Citric Acid Cycle, Cellular Respiration, 20th Century, Physiology

In Genetics and the Origin of Species, Theodosius Dobzhansky applies the chromosome theory and population genetics to natural populations in the first...

Tags: Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Modern Synthesis, Population Genetics, 20th Century, Darwinism, Neo-Darwinism

Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè perform the first confirmed synthesis of technetium-97, the first artificially produced element, filling a gap in the p...

Tags: Chemistry, Nuclear Chemistry, Carlo Perrier, Emilio Segrè, Technetium, Periodic Table, Radioactive Elements, 20th Century

Eugene Houdry develops a method of industrial scale catalytic cracking of petroleum, leading to the development of the first modern oil refinery.

Tags: Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Refining, Eugene Houdry, Catalysis, Oil Industry, 20th Century, Industrial Processes, Energy

Pyotr Kapitsa, John Allen and Don Misener produce supercooled helium-4, the first zero-viscosity superfluid, a substance that displays quantum mechani...

Tags: Physics, Superfluidity, Cryogenics, Pyotr Kapitsa, Quantum Mechanics, Condensed Matter Physics, Low-Temperature Physics, 1930s

Isidor Rabi: Nuclear magnetic resonance

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Spectroscopy, Isidor Rabi, Magnetic Resonance, Quantum Mechanics, Molecular Physics, 1930s, Physics

Pyotr Kapitsa: Superfluidity discovered

Tags: Low-Temperature Physics, Superfluidity, Quantum Mechanics, Pyotr Kapitsa, Condensed Matter Physics, Cryogenics, 1930s

Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann Nuclear fission discovered

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Fission, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Fritz Strassmann, Radioactivity, Atomic Energy, 1930s, Heavy Nuclei

39 – Stellar fusion explains energy production in stars

Tags: Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Stellar Nucleosynthesis, Nuclear Fusion, Hans Bethe, Energy Production, Stars, 1930s

Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered a living coelacanth off the coast of southern Africa.

Tags: Paleontology, Zoology, Evolution, Marine Biology, Coelacanth, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, Fossil Record, 1930s

German physicist Hans Bethe explains how stars generate energy. He outlines a series of nuclear fusion reactions that turn hydrogen into helium and re...

Tags: Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Stellar Nucleosynthesis, Nuclear Fusion, Hans Bethe, Energy Production, Stars, 1930s

Uranium fission discovered

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Fission, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Radioactivity, Atomic Energy, Uranium, 1930s

Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner discover the process of nuclear fission in uranium.

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Fission, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Radioactivity, Atomic Energy, Uranium, 1930s

Linus Pauling publishes The Nature of the Chemical Bond, a compilation of a decades worth of work on chemical bonding. It is one of the most importan...

Tags: Chemistry, Chemical Bonding, Linus Pauling, Molecular Structure, Covalent Bonding, Ionic Bonding, Hybridization, Electronegativity, Resonance, 1930s

Donald Griffin and Robert Galambos announced their discovery of echolocation by bats.

Tags: Biology, Zoology, Animal Behavior, Echolocation, Donald Griffin, Robert Galambos, Sensory Biology, 1940s

Edwin McMillan and Philip H. Abelson identify neptunium, the lightest and first synthesized transuranium element, found in the products of uranium fis...

Tags: Nuclear Chemistry, Transuranium Elements, Neptunium, Edwin McMillan, Philip H. Abelson, Radioactivity, Atomic Physics, 1940s

Feynman path integral

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Richard Feynman, Path Integral, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Field Theory, 1940s

Glenn T. Seaborg takes over McMillan's work creating new atomic nuclei. Pioneers method of neutron capture and later through other nuclear reactions....

Tags: Nuclear Chemistry, Glenn T. Seaborg, Transuranium Elements, Radioactivity, Isotopes, Atomic Physics, Neutron Capture, 1940s

Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria demonstrated that bacterial resistance to virus infection is caused by random mutation and not adaptive change.

Tags: Genetics, Bacteriology, Evolution, Mutation, Max Delbrück, Salvador Luria, Viral Resistance, 1940s

Oswald Avery proves that DNA is the genetic material of the chromosome

Tags: Genetics, DNA, Molecular Biology, Avery, Chromosome, Heredity, Scientific Breakthrough, 20th Century Science

Theory of magnetism in 2D: Ising model

Tags: Physics, Magnetism, Ising Model, Theoretical Physics, Statistical Mechanics, 20th Century Physics

Oswald Avery shows that DNA carried the hereditary information in pneumococcus bacteria.

Tags: Genetics, DNA, Molecular Biology, Avery, Heredity, Pneumococcus, Scientific Breakthrough, 20th Century Science

Robert Burns Woodward and William von Eggers Doering synthesized quinine.

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Quinine, Woodward, Doering, Drug Discovery, Chemical Synthesis, Medicinal Chemistry

Robert Burns Woodward and William von Eggers Doering successfully synthesized of quinine. This achievement, characterized of fully artificial chemical...

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Quinine, Woodward, Doering, Drug Discovery, Chemical Synthesis, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Industry

A team of German scientists led by Wernher von Braun develops the V-2, the first rocket-powered ballistic missile. Scientists and engineers from Braun...

Tags: Rocketry, Missile Technology, World War II, Wernher von Braun, Ballistic Missile, Space Race, Military Technology, Cold War

Howard Florey Mass production of penicillin

Tags: Medicine, Antibiotics, Penicillin, Florey, Mass Production, World War II, Drug Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin discovered the three-dimensional structure of penicillin.

Tags: Chemistry, X-ray crystallography, Penicillin, Hodgkin, Antibiotics, Drug Discovery, Structural Biology, 20th Century Science

Felix Bloch and Edward Mills Purcell develop the process of nuclear magnetic resonance, an analytical technique important in elucidating structures of...

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, NMR, Bloch, Purcell, Spectroscopy, Analytical Chemistry, Molecular Structure

William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain invent the first transistor

Tags: Electronics, Transistor, Shockley, Bardeen, Brattain, Semiconductor, Technology, Computing

C.F. Powell, Giuseppe Occhialini, César Lattes: Pion discovered

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Pion, Powell, Lattes, Occhialini, Cosmic Rays, Nuclear Physics

The US sent up the first animals in space although not into orbit, through a V-2 rocket launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The anima...

Tags: Space Exploration, V-2 Rocket, Animal Testing, Fruit Flies, Aerospace, Early Spaceflight, Biological Experiments, White Sands Missile Range

Claude Elwood Shannon: 'A mathematical theory of communication' a seminal paper in Information theory.

Tags: Information Theory, Shannon, Communication, Mathematics, Computer Science, Digital Communication, Data Transmission, Cybernetics

Richard Feynman, Shinichiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, Freeman Dyson: Quantum electrodynamics

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Theoretical Physics, Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Freeman Dyson, Post-WWII Science

Invention of the maser and laser by Charles Townes

Tags: Physics, Optics, Quantum Electronics, Charles Townes, Microwave Amplification, Laser Technology, Post-WWII Science, Innovation

Feynman diagrams

Tags: Physics, Quantum Electrodynamics, Richard Feynman, Theoretical Physics, Diagrammatic Representation, Mathematical Physics, Post-WWII Science

Erwin Chargaff showed that in DNA the number of guanine units equals the number of cytosine units and the number of adenine units equals the number of...

Tags: Genetics, DNA, Chargaff, Base Pairing, Molecular Biology, Heredity, DNA Structure, 20th Century Science

The largest telescope in the world, with a 5.08m (200 in) mirror, is completed at Palomar Mountain in California. At the time, the telescope pushes si...

Tags: Astronomy, Telescope, Palomar Observatory, Optical Astronomy, Astrophysics, Observational Science, Technological Advancement, Large Telescopes

George Otto Gey propagates first cancer cell line, HeLa

Tags: Biology, Cell Biology, Cancer Research, HeLa cells, George Otto Gey, Cell Culture, Medical Breakthrough, Biomedical Research

The research group of Robert Robinson with John Cornforth (Oxford University) publishes their synthesis of cholesterol, while Robert Woodward (Harvard...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Cholesterol, Cortisone, Robert Robinson, Robert Woodward, Drug Discovery, Steroid Chemistry

Fred Sanger, Hans Tuppy completed their chromatographic analysis of the insulin amino acid sequence.

Tags: Biology, Biochemistry, Protein Sequencing, Insulin, Fred Sanger, Chromatography, Amino Acids, Molecular Biology

Linus Pauling uses X-ray crystallography to deduce the secondary structure of proteins.

Tags: Biology, Biophysics, Protein Structure, X-ray Crystallography, Linus Pauling, Secondary Structure, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology

Jonas Salk: developed and tested first polio vaccine

Tags: Medicine, Immunology, Vaccines, Jonas Salk, Polio, Public Health, Infectious Diseases, Medical Breakthrough

Stanley Miller: demonstrated that the building blocks of life could arise from primeval soup in the conditions present during early Earth (Miller-Urey...

Tags: Biology, Astrobiology, Origin of Life, Stanley Miller, Miller-Urey Experiment, Prebiotic Chemistry, Evolution, Chemical Evolution

Frederick Sanger: demonstrated that proteins are sequences of amino acids

Tags: Biochemistry, Protein Structure, Amino Acids, Molecular Biology, Cambridge, Sanger, 1950s, Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Scientific Method

American developmental biologists Robert Briggs and Thomas King cloned the first vertebrate by transplanting nuclei from leopard frogs embryos into en...

Tags: Biology, Developmental Biology, Cloning, Robert Briggs, Thomas King, Vertebrates, Cell Differentiation, Reproductive Biology

Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase showed that DNA is the genetic material in bacteriophage viruses.

Tags: Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, DNA, Alfred Hershey, Martha Chase, Bacteriophages, Genetic Material

Rosalind Franklin concluded that DNA is a double helix with a diameter of 2 nm and the sugar-phosphate backbones on the outside of the helix, based on...

Tags: Biology, Molecular Biology, DNA Structure, X-ray Diffraction, Rosalind Franklin, Double Helix, Structural Biology, Chargaff's Rules

Alan Walsh pioneers the field of atomic absorption spectroscopy, an important quantitative spectroscopy method that allows one to measure specific con...

Tags: Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Analytical Chemistry, Alan Walsh, Quantitative Analysis, Atomic Absorption, Instrumentation

Robert Burns Woodward, Geoffrey Wilkinson, and Ernst Otto Fischer discover the structure of ferrocene, one of the founding discoveries of the field of...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, Ferrocene, Robert Burns Woodward, Geoffrey Wilkinson, Ernst Otto Fischer, Chemical Structure

After examining Franklin's unpublished data, James D. Watson and Francis Crick published a double-helix structure for DNA, with one sugar-phosphate ba...

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA, Genetics, Watson, Crick, Double Helix, Chargaff, Hershey-Chase Experiment, Scientific Revolution, 1950s

Stanley Miller showed that amino acids can be formed when simulated lightning is passed through vessels containing water, methane, ammonia, and hydrog...

Tags: Origin of Life, Amino Acids, Prebiotic Chemistry, Miller, Urey, Organic Chemistry, Astrobiology, 1950s, Experiment, Biogenesis

James D. Watson and Francis Crick propose the structure of DNA, opening the door to the field of molecular biology.

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA, Watson, Crick, Double Helix, Genetics, Scientific Revolution, Cambridge, 1950s, Scientific Discovery

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin discovered the three-dimensional structure of vitamin B12.

Tags: Chemistry, X-ray Crystallography, Vitamin B12, Hodgkin, Biochemistry, Structural Biology, Cambridge, 1950s, Complex Molecules, Scientific Visualization

Marianne Grunberg-Manago and Severo Ochoa discovered the first nucleic-acid-synthesizing enzyme (polynucleotide phosphorylase), which links nucleotide...

Tags: Biochemistry, Enzymes, RNA, Nucleotides, Grunberg-Manago, Ochoa, Molecular Biology, Macromolecules, 1950s, Scientific Research

Arthur Kornberg discovered DNA polymerase enzymes.

Tags: Biochemistry, Enzymes, DNA Polymerase, Kornberg, DNA Replication, Molecular Biology, 1950s, Scientific Research, Nucleic Acids, Genetics

Bruce Cork: Antineutron discovered

Tags: Particle Physics, Antineutron, Cork, Subatomic Particles, Nuclear Physics, Berkeley, 1950s, Experimental Physics, Antimatter, Fundamental Physics

Electron neutrino discovered

Tags: Particle Physics, Neutrino, Subatomic Particles, Weak Interaction, Nuclear Physics, Fundamental Particles, 1950s, Experimental Physics, Quantum Physics, Brookhaven

57 – Parity violation proved by Chien-Shiung Wu

Tags: Particle Physics, Weak Interaction, Parity Violation, Wu, Nuclear Physics, Fundamental Forces, 1950s, Experimental Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Columbia University

Chien Shiung Wu: demonstrated that parity, and thus charge conjugation and time-reversals, are violated for weak interactions

Tags: Particle Physics, Weak Interaction, Parity Violation, Wu, Nuclear Physics, Charge Conjugation, Time Reversal, 1950s, Experimental Physics, Fundamental Physics

BCS theory explaining superconductivity

Tags: Physics, Superconductivity, BCS Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Bardeen, Cooper, Schrieffer, Solid-State Physics, 1950s, Theoretical Physics

Jens Skou discovers Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, the first ion-transporting enzyme.

Tags: Biochemistry, Enzymes, Na+/K+-ATPase, Skou, Membrane Transport, Cell Biology, Physiology, 1950s, Ion Channels, Active Transport

The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit, beginning the space age. The US launches its first satellite, Explore...

Tags: Space Exploration, Sputnik, Satellite, Space Race, Soviet Union, United States, Cold War, Technology, 1950s, Geopolitics

John Gurdon used nuclear transplantation to clone an African Clawed Frog; first cloning of a vertebrate using a nucleus from a fully differentiated ad...

Tags: Cloning, Vertebrates, Cell Biology, Genetics, Nuclear Transplantation, Developmental Biology, John Gurdon

Matthew Stanley Meselson and Franklin W. Stahl proved that DNA replication is semiconservative in the Meselson-Stahl experiment

Tags: DNA Replication, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Meselson-Stahl Experiment, Semiconservative Replication, Matthew Meselson, Franklin Stahl

Max Perutz and John Kendrew use X-ray crystallography to elucidate a protein structure, specifically sperm whale myoglobin.

Tags: X-ray Crystallography, Protein Structure, Myoglobin, Molecular Biology, Max Perutz, John Kendrew

July 29 marks the beginning of the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), agency newly created by the United States to catch up with So...

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Cold War, Government Agencies, Scientific Organizations, Aeronautics, NACA

60 – Role of topology in quantum physics predicted and confirmed

Tags: Quantum Physics, Topology, Theoretical Physics, Mathematical Physics

Max Perutz comes up with a model for the structure of oxygenated hemoglobin.

Tags: Hemoglobin, Protein Structure, Molecular Biology, Max Perutz, Oxygen Transport

Severo Ochoa and Arthur Kornberg received the Nobel Prize for their work.

Tags: Nobel Prize, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Arthur Kornberg, Severo Ochoa, Nucleotide Synthesis

The USSR and the US both launch probes to the Moon, but NASA's Pioneer probes all failed. The Soviet Luna program was more successful. Luna 2 crash-la...

Tags: Space Exploration, Moon, Luna Program, Space Race, Soviet Union, NASA, Lunar Missions, Pioneer Probes

John Kendrew described the structure of myoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in muscle.

Tags: Myoglobin, Protein Structure, Molecular Biology, John Kendrew, Muscle Physiology

Four separate researchers (S. Weiss, J. Hurwitz, Audrey Stevens Niyogi and J. Bonner) discovered bacterial RNA polymerase, which polymerizes nucleotid...

Tags: RNA Polymerase, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Transcription, Bacteria, S. Weiss, J. Hurwitz, Audrey Stevens Niyogi, J. Bonner

Robert Woodward synthesized chlorophyll.

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Chlorophyll, Photosynthesis, Robert Woodward, Chemical Synthesis

Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake performed the first modern SETI experiment, named "Project Ozma", after the Queen of Oz in L. Frank Baum's f...

Tags: SETI, Astronomy, Extraterrestrial Life, Frank Drake, Radio Astronomy, Project Ozma

J. Heinrich Matthaei cracked the first codon of the genetic code (the codon for the amino acid phenylalanine) using Grunberg-Manago's 1955 enzyme syst...

Tags: Genetic Code, Codon, Genetics, Molecular Biology, J. Heinrich Matthaei, Polynucleotides

Joan Oró found that concentrated solutions of ammonium cyanide in water can produce the nucleotide adenine, a discovery that opened the way for theori...

Tags: Origin of Life, Nucleotides, Adenine, Chemical Evolution, Joan Oró, Prebiotic Chemistry

As part of NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, the chimpanzee Ham becomes the first Hominidae in space. Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit ...

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Mercury-Redstone Program, Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepard, Ham the Chimp

Riccardo Giacconi and his team discover the first cosmic x-ray source, Scorpius X-1

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, X-ray Astronomy, Cosmic X-rays, Scorpius X-1, Space-based Observatories, High-energy Astrophysics

Murray Gell-Mann and Yuval Ne'eman: SU(3) theory of strong interactions

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Strong Interaction, SU(3), Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), Elementary Particles, Theoretical Physics, Gell-Mann, Ne'eman

Muon neutrino discovered

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Neutrinos, Weak Interaction, Elementary Particles, Standard Model, Experimental Physics

Max Perutz and John Kendrew shared the Nobel prize for their work on the structure of hemoglobin and myoglobin.

Tags: Nobel Prize, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Protein Structure, Hemoglobin, Myoglobin, X-ray Crystallography, Structural Biology

Neil Bartlett synthesizes xenon hexafluoroplatinate, showing for the first time that the noble gases can form chemical compounds.

Tags: Chemistry, Noble Gases, Xenon, Chemical Compounds, Inorganic Chemistry, Reactivity, Chemical Synthesis

George Olah observes carbocations via superacid reactions.

Tags: Organic Chemistry, Carbocations, Superacids, Reaction Mechanisms, Chemical Reactions, Olah

John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth. Mariner 2 becomes the first probe to reach another planet, flying past Venus in December. NASA f...

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Planetary Science, Venus, Mars, Cold War, Astronauts, Rockets

Lawrence Morley, Fred Vine, and Drummond Matthews: Paleomagnetic stripes in ocean crust as evidence of plate tectonics (Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothes...

Tags: Geology, Plate Tectonics, Paleomagnetism, Geophysics, Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis, Oceanic Crust, Continental Drift, Earth Science

Chien-Shiung Wu confirms the conserved vector current theory for weak interactions

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Weak Interactions, Conserved Vector Current, Theoretical Physics, Experimental Physics, Chien-Shiung Wu

Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig: Quarks predicted

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Quarks, Standard Model, Elementary Particles, Strong Interaction, Theoretical Physics, Gell-Mann, Zweig

Dutch-American astronomer Maarten Schmidt measures the spectra of quasars, the mysterious star-like radio sources discovered in 1960. He establishes t...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Quasars, Active Galaxies, Cosmology, Redshift, Maarten Schmidt

Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig: postulates quarks, leading to the standard model

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Quarks, Standard Model, Elementary Particles, Strong Interaction, Theoretical Physics, Gell-Mann, Zweig

Bell's Theorem initiates quantitative study of quantum entanglement

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Entanglement, Bell's Theorem, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Information

CP violation discovered by James Cronin and Val Fitch.

Tags: Particle Physics, Symmetry, Fundamental Particles, James Cronin, Val Fitch, 1960s, Weak Interaction, Nobel Prize

Richard R. Ernst performs experiments that will lead to the development of the technique of Fourier transform NMR. This would greatly increase the se...

Tags: Chemistry, Spectroscopy, NMR, Fourier Transform, Analytical Chemistry, MRI, Richard R. Ernst, Magnetic Resonance

Leonard Hayflick: normal cells divide only a certain number of times: the Hayflick limit

Tags: Biology, Cell Biology, Cell Division, Hayflick Limit, Leonard Hayflick, Aging, Cellular Senescence, 1960s

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson: Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) discovered

Tags: Cosmology, Big Bang, Cosmic Microwave Background, Arno Penzias, Robert Wilson, Early Universe, Radio Astronomy, 1960s, Discovery

Robert Burns Woodward and Roald Hoffmann propose the Woodward–Hoffmann rules, which use the symmetry of molecular orbitals to explain the stereochemis...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Stereochemistry, Molecular Orbitals, Woodward–Hoffmann Rules, Robert Burns Woodward, Roald Hoffmann, Chemical Reactions, 1960s

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson announce the discovery of a weak radio signal coming from all parts of the sky. Scientists figure out that this must be...

Tags: Cosmology, Big Bang Theory, Arno Penzias, Robert Wilson, Cosmic Background Radiation, Early Universe, 1960s, Radio Astronomy, Universe Expansion

Genetic code fully cracked through trial-and-error experimental work.

Tags: Genetics, Molecular Biology, Genetic Code, Protein Synthesis, Trial-and-error, 1960s, DNA, Central Dogma

Kimishige Ishizaka discovered a new type of immunoglobulin, IgE, that develops allergy and explains the mechanisms of allergy at molecular and cellula...

Tags: Immunology, Allergy, IgE, Kimishige Ishizaka, Antibodies, Immune System, 1960s

Lynn Margulis proposed the endosymbiotic theory, that the eukaryotic cell is a symbiotic union of primitive prokaryotic cells. Richard Dawkins called ...

Tags: Biology, Evolution, Endosymbiotic Theory, Lynn Margulis, Eukaryotic Cells, Prokaryotic Cells, Cellular Biology, 1960s

Hitoshi Nozaki and Ryōji Noyori discovered the first example of asymmetric catalysis (hydrogenation) using a structurally well-defined chiral transiti...

Tags: Chemistry, Catalysis, Asymmetric Catalysis, Hitoshi Nozaki, Ryōji Noyori, Transition Metals, 1960s, Organic Chemistry, Chiral

Soviet Luna 9 probe makes the first successful soft landing on the Moon in January, while the US lands the far more complex Surveyor missions, which f...

Tags: Space Exploration, Moon Landing, Luna Program, Space Race, Soviet Union, 1960s, Soft Landing, Lunar Missions

Vela nuclear test detection satellites discover the first gamma-ray burst

Tags: Astronomy, Gamma-Ray Burst, Vela Satellites, Nuclear Test Detection, Astrophysics, 1960s, High-Energy Astrophysics

Unification of weak interaction and electromagnetism (electroweak theory)

Tags: Physics, Electroweak Theory, Weak Interaction, Electromagnetism, Particle Physics, 1960s, Fundamental Forces, Unification

Solar neutrino problem found

Tags: Physics, Nuclear Physics, Solar Neutrinos, Neutrino Physics, Solar Fusion, Particle Physics, 1960s

Pulsars (rotating neutron stars) discovered

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Neutron Stars, Radio Astronomy, Cosmology, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Cambridge University

Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish detected the first pulsar, an object emitting regular pulses of radio waves. Pulsars are eventually recognized ...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Pulsar, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Antony Hewish, Neutron Stars, Radio Waves, 1960s, Supernova

Experimental evidence for quarks found

Tags: Particle Physics, Quarks, Standard Model, High Energy Physics, Experimental Physics, SLAC

Vera Rubin: Dark matter theories

Tags: Cosmology, Dark Matter, Galaxies, Astrophysics, Vera Rubin, Galaxy Rotation Curves

Fred Sanger used radioactive phosphorus as a tracer to chromatographically decipher a 120 base long RNA sequence.

Tags: Molecular Biology, RNA Sequencing, Biochemistry, Chromatography, Radioactive Isotopes, Sanger Sequencing, Fred Sanger

NASA's Apollo 8 mission becomes the first human spaceflight mission to enter the gravitational influence of another celestial body and to orbit it.

Tags: Space Exploration, Apollo Program, Moon, NASA, Human Spaceflight, Space Race, Astronauts

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin deciphered the three-dimensional structure of insulin.

Tags: Biochemistry, Structural Biology, X-ray Crystallography, Insulin, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Protein Structure

The US wins the race for the Moon as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step onto the lunar surface on July 20. Apollo 11 is followed by five further land...

Tags: Space Exploration, Apollo Program, Moon Landing, NASA, Human Spaceflight, Space Race, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin

James H. Ellis proposed the possibility of "non-secret encryption", more commonly termed public-key cryptography, a concept that would be implemented ...

Tags: Cryptography, Public-key Cryptography, Computer Science, Encryption, James H. Ellis, Clifford Cocks, RSA algorithm

73 – Standard Model of elementary particles invented

Tags: Particle Physics, Standard Model, Elementary Particles, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Higgs Boson

Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans discovered DNA restriction enzymes.

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA, Restriction Enzymes, Genetic Engineering, Hamilton Smith, Daniel Nathans, Biotechnology

Howard Temin and David Baltimore independently discovered reverse transcriptase enzymes.

Tags: Molecular Biology, Reverse Transcriptase, Enzymes, Virology, Howard Temin, David Baltimore, RNA viruses

John Pople develops the Gaussian program greatly easing computational chemistry calculations.

Tags: Computational Chemistry, Gaussian, John Pople, Software, Quantum Chemistry

The Uhuru satellite, designed to map the sky at X-ray wavelengths, is launched by NASA. The existence of X-rays from the Sun and a few other stars has...

Tags: Astronomy, X-ray Astronomy, Satellite, NASA, Astrophysics, Black Holes, Uhuru

Place cells in the brain are discovered by John O'Keefe

Tags: Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Brain, John O'Keefe, Memory, Spatial Cognition, Hippocampus, 1970s

Helium 3 superfluidity

Tags: Physics, Superfluidity, Helium-3, Low Temperature Physics, Quantum Mechanics, 1970s

75 – Michael Fisher, Kenneth G. Wilson, and Leo Kadanoff: Renormalization group

Tags: Physics, Theoretical Physics, Renormalization Group, Quantum Field Theory, Statistical Mechanics, Kenneth G. Wilson, Leo Kadanoff, Michael Fisher, 1970s

Yves Chauvin offered an explanation of the reaction mechanism of olefin metathesis reactions.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Olefin Metathesis, Reaction Mechanism, Yves Chauvin, Catalysis

The USSR launches its first space station Salyut 1 into orbit. It is followed by a series of stations, culminating with Mir in 1986. A permanent platf...

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Station, Salyut Program, USSR, Human Spaceflight, Cosmonauts

Jacob Bekenstein: Black Hole Entropy suggested

Tags: Physics, Theoretical Physics, Black Hole, Entropy, Jacob Bekenstein, Thermodynamics, General Relativity, 1970s

Albert Eschenmoser and Robert Woodward synthesized vitamin B12.

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Vitamin B12, Synthesis, Albert Eschenmoser, Robert Woodward, Complex Molecule, 1970s

Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge proposed an idea they call "punctuated equilibrium", which states that the fossil record is an accurate depiction...

Tags: Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Paleontology, Punctuated Equilibrium, Stephen Jay Gould, Niles Eldredge, Fossil Record, 1970s

Seymour Jonathan Singer and Garth L. Nicholson developed the fluid mosaic model, which deals with the make-up of the membrane of all cells.

Tags: Biology, Cell Biology, Cell Membrane, Fluid Mosaic Model, Seymour Jonathan Singer, Garth L. Nicholson, Membrane Structure, 1970s

Charles Thomas Bolton was the first astronomer to present irrefutable evidence of the existence of a black hole.

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Black Hole, Charles Thomas Bolton, Binary Star System, X-ray Astronomy, 1970s

Russell Alan Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. discover indirect evidence for gravitational wave radiation in the Hulse–Taylor binary

Tags: Physics, Astronomy, Gravitational Waves, Binary Pulsar, Russell Alan Hulse, Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., General Relativity, 1970s

Stephen Hawking: Black hole radiation (Hawking radiation) predicted

Tags: Physics, Theoretical Physics, Black Hole, Hawking Radiation, Stephen Hawking, Quantum Gravity, General Relativity, 1970s

Charmed quark discovered

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Quark, Charmed Quark, Elementary Particles, Standard Model, SLAC, 1970s

Manfred Eigen and Manfred Sumper showed that mixtures of nucleotide monomers and RNA replicase will give rise to RNA molecules which replicate, mutate...

Tags: Biology, Biochemistry, RNA, Evolution, Manfred Eigen, Manfred Sumper, Origin of Life, Replication, 1970s

Leslie Orgel showed that RNA can replicate without RNA-replicase and that zinc aids this replication.

Tags: Biology, Biochemistry, RNA, Replication, Origin of Life, Leslie Orgel, Zinc, 1970s

Tau lepton found

Tags: Particle Physics, Standard Model, Elementary Particles, High-Energy Physics, Collider Experiments, 1970s, Subatomic, Tau Lepton

Abraham Pais and Sam Treiman: Introduction of the Standard Model of particle physics term

Tags: Particle Physics, Standard Model, Theoretical Physics, 1970s, Abraham Pais, Sam Treiman, Theoretical Framework, Elementary Particles

Karl Barry Sharpless and group discover a stereoselective oxidation reactions including Sharpless epoxidation, Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation, a...

Tags: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Stereochemistry, Oxidation, Sharpless Epoxidation, Karl Barry Sharpless, Asymmetric Synthesis, 1970s

The Soviet probe Venera 9 lands on the surface of Venus and sends back the first picture of its surface. The first probe to land on another planet, Ve...

Tags: Space Exploration, Venus, Venera Program, Planetary Science, Soviet Union, Space Probe, 1970s

NASA's Viking 1 and Viking 2 space probes arrive at Mars. Each Viking mission consists of an orbiter, which photographs the planet from above, and a l...

Tags: Space Exploration, Mars, Planetary Science, NASA, Viking Program, Space Probes, 1970s, Astrobiology

Frederick Sanger sequences the first DNA genome of an organism using Sanger sequencing

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA Sequencing, Genetics, 1970s, Frederick Sanger, Sanger Sequencing, Genome, PhiX174

Bottom quark found

Tags: Particle Physics, Standard Model, Quarks, Elementary Particles, High-Energy Physics, Collider Experiments, 1970s, Subatomic

Anderson localization recognised (Nobel prize in 1977, Philip W. Anderson, Mott, Van Fleck)

Tags: Solid-State Physics, Anderson Localization, Condensed Matter Physics, Disorder, 1970s, Philip W. Anderson, Nobel Prize, Quantum Mechanics

John Corliss and ten coauthors discovered chemosynthetically based animal communities located around submarine hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos Rif...

Tags: Marine Biology, Ecology, Hydrothermal Vents, Deep Sea, Chemosynthesis, 1970s, John Corliss, Extremophiles

Walter Gilbert and Allan Maxam present a rapid DNA sequencing technique which uses cloning, base destroying chemicals, and gel electrophoresis.

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA Sequencing, Genetics, 1970s, Walter Gilbert, Allan Maxam, Cloning, Gel Electrophoresis

Carl Woese and George E. Fox discover archaebacteria, a third domain of life distinct from prokaryotes and eukaryotes, by analyzing 16S ribosomal RNA.

Tags: Microbiology, Evolutionary Biology, Archaea, Phylogeny, Carl Woese, George E. Fox, 16S rRNA, Three-Domain System

Frederick Sanger and Alan Coulson presented a rapid gene sequencing technique which uses dideoxynucleotides and gel electrophoresis.

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA Sequencing, Genetics, 1970s, Frederick Sanger, Alan Coulson, Dideoxynucleotides, Gel Electrophoresis

On August 20 the Voyager 2 space probe launched by NASA to study the Jovian system, Saturnian system, Uranian system, Neptunian system, the Kuiper bel...

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Voyager Program, Planetary Science, Outer Solar System, 1970s, Space Probes, Jovian System, Saturnian System

On September 5 The Voyager 1 space probe launched by NASA to study the Jovian system, Saturnian system and the interstellar medium.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Voyager Program, Planetary Science, Outer Solar System, 1970s, Space Probes, Jovian System, Saturnian System, Interstellar Medium

Frederick Sanger presented the 5,386 base sequence for the virus PhiX174; first sequencing of an entire genome.

Tags: Molecular Biology, DNA Sequencing, Virology, 1970s, Frederick Sanger, Genome, PhiX174, Gene Sequencing

Strangeness as a signature of quark-gluon plasma predicted

Tags: Particle Physics, Quark-Gluon Plasma, High-Energy Physics, Theoretical Physics, 1980s, Strangeness, Heavy Ion Collisions

Richard Feynman proposes quantum computing

Tags: Quantum Computing, Theoretical Physics, Richard Feynman, Computational Science, Information Theory, 1980s, Quantum Mechanics, Technology

Quantum Hall effect

Tags: Quantum Hall Effect, Solid-State Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Klaus von Klitzing, 1980s, Quantum Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Fundamental Physics

Alan Guth Theory of cosmic inflation proposed

Tags: Cosmology, Cosmic Inflation, Alan Guth, Big Bang Theory, Theoretical Physics, 1980s, Early Universe, Particle Physics

Fractional quantum Hall effect discovered

Tags: Fractional Quantum Hall Effect, Solid-State Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Quantum Mechanics, 1980s, Physics, Daniel Tsui, Horst Störmer, Discovery

Space Shuttle Columbia, the first of NASA's reusable Space Shuttles, makes its maiden flight, ten years in development, the Shuttle will make space tr...

Tags: Space Shuttle, NASA, Space Exploration, Columbia, 1980s, Reusable Spacecraft, Aerospace Engineering, Technology

Donald C. Backer et al. discover the first millisecond pulsar

Tags: Pulsars, Radio Astronomy, Donald C. Backer, Astrophysics, Neutron Stars, 1980s, Astronomy, Celestial Objects

Aspect experiment confirms violations of Bell's inequalities

Tags: Quantum Entanglement, Bell's Inequalities, Alain Aspect, Quantum Mechanics, Experimental Physics, 1980s, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Physics

Stanley B. Prusiner proposed the existence of infectious proteins, or prions. His idea is widely derided in the scientific community, but he wins a No...

Tags: Prions, Protein Misfolding, Stanley Prusiner, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Molecular Biology, 1980s, Biochemistry, Nobel Prize

Simulated annealing

Tags: Simulated Annealing, Optimization Algorithms, Computer Science, 1980s, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Mathematics, Optimization

Kary Mullis invented "PCR" ( polymerase chain reaction), an automated method for rapidly copying sequences of DNA.

Tags: PCR, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Kary Mullis, Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, 1980s, Genetics, DNA Replication, Nobel Prize

The first infrared astronomy satellite, IRAS, is launched. It must be cooled to extremely low temperatures with liquid helium, and it operates for onl...

Tags: Infrared Astronomy, IRAS, Space-based Observatories, Astronomy, 1980s, Telescopes, Astrophysics, Space Exploration

W and Z bosons directly observed

Tags: W and Z bosons, Particle Physics, Standard Model, CERN, High Energy Physics, 1980s, Fundamental Forces, Discovery

First laboratory implementation of quantum cryptography

Tags: Quantum Cryptography, Cryptography, Quantum Information, Information Security, 1980s, Technology, Physics, David Deutsch

Alec Jeffreys devised a genetic fingerprinting method.

Tags: Genetic Fingerprinting, Alec Jeffreys, Forensic Science, DNA Analysis, Genetics, 1980s, Biotechnology, Criminology

Harry Kroto, J.R. Heath, S.C. O'Brien, R.F. Curl, and Richard Smalley discovered the unusual stability of the buckminsterfullerene molecule and deduce...

Tags: Chemistry, Materials Science, Fullerenes, Carbon Molecules, Nanotechnology, Structural Chemistry, Kroto, Smalley, 1980s, Molecular Structure

Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley discover fullerenes, a class of large carbon molecules superficially resembling the geodesic dome design...

Tags: Chemistry, Fullerenes, Carbon, Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Molecular Chemistry, Smalley, Curl, Kroto, 1980s

Karl Müller and Johannes Bednorz: Discovery of High-temperature superconductivity

Tags: Physics, Superconductivity, Materials Science, High-Temperature Superconductors, Müller, Bednorz, 1980s, Solid-State Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Nobel Prize

Alexander Klibanov demonstrated that enzymes can function in non-aqueous environments.