Democritus proposes the existence of indivisible particles, which he calls atoms.

Tags: Ancient greece, Philosophy, Atomic Theory, Natural Philosophy, Physics, Ideas

1021: Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), a famous Iraqi scientist working in Egypt, feigns madness in fear of angering the Egyptian caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Alla...

Tags: Optics, Physics, Mathematics, Islam, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, House Arrest, Scientific Method

– Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) of Basra, Iraq writes his influential Book of Optics from 1011 to 1021 (while he was under house arrest in Egypt),

Tags: Optics, Physics, Mathematics, Scientific Method, Ibn al-Haytham, Islam, Islamic Golden Age

Galileo Galilei born on February 15

Tags: Astronomy, Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, Galileo Galilei, Physics, Heliocentrism, Scientific Method, Italian Renaissance, Telescope, Cosmology

Galileo Galilei invents a thermometer.

Tags: Galileo Galilei, Scientific Revolution, Instrumentation, Measurement, Physics

William Gilbert: Earth's magnetic field.

Tags: Astronomy, Physics, Magnetism, Scientific Revolution, Renaissance, Experimentation, Earth Science

Johannes Kepler starts investigating elliptical orbits of planets.

Tags: Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Heliocentrism, Planetary Motion, Johannes Kepler, Physics, Mathematics, Cosmology

Johannes Kepler: first two laws of planetary motion.

Tags: Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Planetary Motion, Physics, Mathematics, Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe

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

Tags: Physics, Optics, Scientific Revolution, Mathematics

Galileo Galilei: laws of falling bodies.

Tags: Scientific Revolution, Physics, Galileo Galilei, Mechanics, Experimentation, Scientific Method

Barometer: invented by Evangelista Torricelli, or possibly up to three years earlier by Gasparo Berti.

Tags: Physics, Measurement, Scientific Revolution, Instrumentation

Vacuum pump: Invented by Otto von Guericke.

Tags: Physics, Experimentation, Scientific Revolution, Mechanics

Christiaan Huygens describes the true shape of the rings of Saturn.

Tags: Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Physics, Cosmology, Telescope, Christiaan Huygens, Observation

Christiaan Huygens develops the first functional pendulum clock based on the learnings of Galileo Galilei.

Tags: Scientific Revolution, Timekeeping, Clockmaking, Physics, Mechanics, Galileo Galilei, Instrumentation, Precision

Robert Boyle: Boyle's law of ideal gases.

Tags: Scientific Revolution, Physics, Chemistry, Robert Boyle, Experimentation, Scientific Method, Mathematics

Friction machine: Invented by Otto von Guericke.

Tags: Electricity, Physics, Experimentation, Scientific Revolution

The first known operational reflecting telescope is built by Isaac Newton.

Tags: Optics, Telescopes, Isaac Newton, Scientific Revolution, Astronomy, Physics

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

Tags: Physics, Optics, Scientific Revolution, Experimentation, Light

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

Tags: Physics, Mechanics, Timekeeping, Scientific Revolution, Christiaan Huygens

Leibniz, Newton: infinitesimal calculus.

Tags: Mathematics, Calculus, Scientific Revolution, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Isaac Newton, Physics, Modern Science

Ole Rømer: first measurement of the speed of light.

Tags: Physics, Optics, Measurement, Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Light

Calculus independently developed by both Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton and used to formulate classical mechanics.

Tags: Calculus, Mathematics, Scientific Revolution, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Isaac Newton, Scientific Advancement, Physics, Enlightenment

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

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Sir Isaac Newton: classical mathematical description of the fundamental force of universal gravitation and the three physical laws of motion.

Tags: Scientific Revolution, Physics, Mathematics, Isaac Newton, Enlightenment, Scientific Method, Mechanics

Mercury thermometer by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit

Tags: Scientific Revolution, Measurement, Temperature, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Physics

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit proposes the Fahrenheit temperature scale.

Tags: Measurement, Temperature, Physics, Scientific Revolution, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit

Anders Celsius proposes an inverted form of the centigrade temperature, which is later renamed Celsius in his honor.

Tags: Measurement, Temperature, Physics, Scientific Revolution, Standardization

Musschenbroek and Kleist independently develop the Leyden jar, an early form of capacitor.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Capacitor, Scientific Revolution, Instrumentation, Experimentation

Ewald Georg von Kleist first capacitor, the Leyden jar.

Tags: Electricity, Physics, Capacitor, Experimentation

Joseph Black: describes latent heat.

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Scientific Revolution

Benjamin Franklin: lightning is electrical.

Tags: Electricity, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, Benjamin Franklin, Physics, Experimentation, Royal Society

Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod.

Tags: Electricity, Physics, Benjamin Franklin, Enlightenment, Scientific Revolution

Jacques Charles discovers Charles's law

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, Scientific Revolution, Temperature

Alessandro Volta: discovers electrochemical series and invents the battery.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Electrochemistry, Energy

Alessandro Volta invents the voltaic pile, an early form of battery in Italy, based on previous works by Luigi Galvani.

Tags: Electricity, Battery, Physics

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, Experimentation, Scientific Revolution, Discovery

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

Tags: Physics, Semiconductors, Electricity, Energy, Experimentation

Carnot: described the Carnot cycle, the idealized heat engine.

Tags: Thermodynamics, Physics, Industrial Revolution, Energy

William Sturgeon invents the electromagnet.

Tags: Electricity, Magnetism, Physics, Industrial Revolution

Georg Ohm: Ohm's law (Electricity).

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Scientific Revolution, Mathematics, Energy, Electronics

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

Tags: Chemistry, Physics, Scientific Revolution

Hungarian physicist Ányos Jedlik invents the first commutated rotary electromechanical machine with electromagnets.

Tags: Electricity, Electromagnetism, Physics, Mechanical Engineering

Michael Faraday invents a method of electromagnetic induction. It would be independently invented by Joseph Henry the following year. Faraday is credi...

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Magnetism, Electromagnetism, Michael Faraday

Moritz von Jacobi invents the first practical electric motor.

Tags: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Revolution, Physics

Friedrich Bessel: first successful measure of stellar parallax (to star 61 Cygni).

Tags: Astronomy, Physics, Scientific Revolution, Observational Astronomy, Stars, Measurement

Edmond Becquerel invents a method for the photovoltaic effect, effectively producing the first solar cell.

Tags: Physics, Energy

Christian Doppler: Doppler effect.

Tags: Physics, Astronomy, Sound, Light

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

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Energy, Scientific Revolution

Lord Kelvin: absolute zero.

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Temperature

Heinrich Geissler invents the Geissler tube.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Experimentation

James Clerk Maxwell publishes On Physical Lines of Force, formulating the four Maxwell's Equations.

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Scientific Revolution, Theoretical Physics, James Clerk Maxwell, Global Impact

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

Tags: Physics, Atmospheric Science, Global Warming

James Clerk Maxwell: Theory of electromagnetism.

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Scientific Theory, Theoretical Physics, Global Impact

Rudolf Clausius: Definition of entropy.

Tags: Thermodynamics, Physics, Energy, Scientific Revolution

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

Tags: Physics, Optics, Atmospheric Science, Light, 19th Century Science, Scientific Theory

Maxwell's A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism published.

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Scientific Revolution, James Clerk Maxwell, Theory, Mathematics, Global Impact

William Crookes, a chemist, invents the Crookes radiometer as the by-product of some chemical research.

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, Scientific Instruments, Experimentation

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

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, Physical Chemistry

Frederick Guthrie discovers thermionic emission.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Experimentation

Willoughby Smith discovers photoconductivity.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Semiconductors, Materials Science, Telecommunications

William Crookes invented the Crookes tube and studied cathode rays.

Tags: Physics, Experimentation

Josiah Willard Gibbs founded chemical thermodynamics, the phase rule.

Tags: Thermodynamics, Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Scientific Revolution, Global Impact, Physics

Ludwig Boltzmann: Statistical definition of entropy.

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Scientific Revolution, Energy, Theoretical Physics

Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie: Piezoelectricity.

Tags: Physics, Electricity, Materials Science

Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley: Michelson–Morley experiment which showed a lack of evidence for the aether.

Tags: Physics, Relativity, Global Impact, Scientific Revolution

Heinrich Hertz publishes a conclusive proof of James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory in experiments that also demonstrate the existence of radi...

Tags: Physics, Electromagnetism, Scientific Revolution, Communication, Global Impact

Friedrich Reinitzer discovers liquid crystals.

Tags: Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science

Wilhelm Röntgen identifies x-rays.

Tags: Physics, Medical Imaging, Experimentation, Electromagnetism

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen invented the first radiograph (X-ray).

Tags: Medical Imaging, Physics, Discovery

Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie discover radioactivity; J. J. Thomson identifies the electron, though not by name.

Tags: Physics, Radioactivity, Atomic Theory, Marie Curie, J.J. Thomson, Modern Science

Svante Arrhenius derives the basic principles of the greenhouse effect

Tags: Climate Change, Atmospheric Science, Physics, Environmental Science, Global Warming

J.J. Thomson discovers the electron in cathode rays

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Atomic Theory, J.J. Thomson, Scientific Revolution, Modern Science, Discovery

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

Tags: Atomic Theory, Physics, Scientific Revolution, J.J. Thomson

Marie Curie discovered radium and polonium

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, Radioactivity, Marie Curie, Nobel Prize, Elements

Max Planck: explains the emission spectrum of a black body

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics, Scientific Revolution, Energy, Electromagnetism

December 10: First Nobel Prizes awarded.

Tags: Awards, Philanthropy, Alfred Nobel, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace

September 26: Albert Einstein's formulation of special relativity.

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Albert Einstein: theory of special relativity, explanation of Brownian motion, and photoelectric effect

Tags: Physics, Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Scientific Revolution, Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physics, Modern Science, Cosmology

Walther Nernst: Third law of thermodynamics

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, German Science

Robert Andrews Millikan: conducts the oil drop experiment and determines the charge on an electron

Tags: Physics, Atomic Theory, Experimental Physics, Scientific Method, Modern Physics, Quantum Mechanics

The cloud chamber, the first particle detector, is invented by Charles Thomson Rees Wilson.

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Experimentation, Discovery, Scientific Revolution

Ernest Rutherford: Atomic nucleus

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Heike Kamerlingh Onnes: Superconductivity

Tags: Physics, Discovery, Scientific Breakthrough, Material Science, Nobel Prize

Max von Laue: x-ray diffraction

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Scientific Revolution

Vesto Slipher: galactic redshifts

Tags: Astronomy, Cosmology, Galaxies, Observational Astronomy, Expansion of the Universe, Physics

Niels Bohr formulates the first cohesive model of the atomic nucleus, and in the process paves the way to quantum mechanics.

Tags: Physics, Atomic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Scientific Revolution, Modern Physics, Theoretical Physics

Henry Moseley: defined atomic number

Tags: Physics, Chemistry, Atomic Theory, Periodic Table, Ernest Rutherford, Scientific Revolution, Modern Physics

Niels Bohr: Model of the atom

Tags: Physics, Atomic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Scientific Revolution

Albert Einstein: theory of general relativity – also David Hilbert

Tags: Physics, Relativity, Theoretical Physics, Cosmology, Scientific Revolution, Modern Physics

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

Tags: Physics, Cosmology, Relativity, Black Holes, Theoretical Physics, Astronomy, German Science

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

Tags: Physics, Mathematics, Theoretical Physics, Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Scientific Revolution

First experimental evidence for the General theory of relativity obtained by Arthur Eddington.

Tags: Physics, Relativity, Astronomy, Scientific Revolution, Theory, Albert Einstein, Cosmology

Ernest Rutherford discovers the proton.

Tags: Physics, Atomic Physics, Particle Physics, Ernest Rutherford, Nuclear Physics, Modern Science, Chemistry

Wolfgang Pauli: quantum Pauli exclusion principle

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Physics, Theoretical Physics, Scientific Revolution, Modern Physics

Erwin Schrödinger: Schrödinger equation (Quantum mechanics)

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Atomic Theory, Theoretical Physics, Scientific Revolution, Modern Science

Werner Heisenberg: Uncertainty principle (Quantum mechanics)

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics, Scientific Revolution

Georges Lemaître: Theory of the Big Bang

Tags: Cosmology, Physics, Astronomy, Relativity, Expansion of the Universe, Scientific Theory, Global Impact

Paul Dirac: Dirac equation (Quantum mechanics)

Tags: Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics, Physics, Particle Physics, Electromagnetism, Scientific Revolution

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

Tags: Physics, Thermodynamics, Theoretical Physics, 20th Century Science, Nobel Prize, Physical Chemistry

The electron microscope is invented by Ernst Ruska.

Tags: Microscopy, Physics, Instrumentation, Scientific Revolution, Medical Advancements, Materials Science

The neutron is discovered by James Chadwick.

Tags: Physics, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, World War II, Global Impact

Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft: Nuclear fission by proton bombardment

Tags: Physics, Nuclear Physics, Experimentation, Scientific Breakthrough

Enrico Fermi: Nuclear fission by neutron irradiation

Tags: Physics, Nuclear Physics, Radioactivity

Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann: Nuclear fission of heavy nuclei

Tags: Nuclear Physics, Physics, World War II, Energy, Atomic Bomb

Isidor Rabi: Nuclear magnetic resonance

Tags: Physics, Nuclear Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Spectroscopy, Research, Nobel Prize

John Randall and Harry Boot would develop the high power, microwave generating, cavity magnetron, later applied to commercial Radar and Microwave oven...

Tags: World War II, Radio Technology, Physics, Electromagnetism

Willard Libby began his work on radiocarbon dating. He published his paper in 1946, a second paper in Science in 1947. Libby and James Arnold succeede...

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Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, Sin-Itiro Tomonaga and Freeman Dyson: Quantum electrodynamics

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Theoretical Physics, Electromagnetism, Post-War, Scientific Revolution

The first atomic clock is developed at the National Bureau of Standards.

Tags: Precision, Physics, Scientific Advancement

The Toroidal chamber with axial magnetic fields (the Tokamak) is developed by Igor E. Tamm and Andrei D. Sakharov.

Tags: Physics, Scientific Innovation, Cold War, Soviet Union

April 18: Death of Albert Einstein.

Tags: Physics, Relativity, Theoretical Physics, Scientific Revolution, Nobel Prize, Atomic Age, Global Impact, Modern Science

Antimatter first produced.

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Fundamental Particles, Experimental Physics, Discovery

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

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Experimental Physics, Quantum Mechanics, 20th Century Science

May 16: Construction of the first laser.

Tags: Laser, Physics, Optics, Quantum Mechanics

The first functioning laser is invented by Theodore Maiman.

Tags: Laser, Physics, Scientific Breakthrough, Optics, Global Impact

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

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Standard Model, Theoretical Physics

Russell Alan Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. discover indirect evidence for gravitational wave radiation in the Hulse–Taylor binary

Tags: Physics, Astrophysics, Relativity, Gravitational Waves, Radio Astronomy, 20th Century Science

Klaus von Klitzing discovered the quantum Hall effect

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Fundamental Physics, Nobel Prize, Materials Science

Karl Müller and Johannes Bednorz: Discovery of High-temperature superconductivity

Tags: Physics, Materials Science, Research

Bart van Wees  and colleagues at TU Delft and Philips Research discovered the quantized conductance in a two-dimensional electron gas.

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Nanotechnology, Electronics

Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman and Wolfgang Ketterle attained the first Bose-Einstein Condensate with atomic gases, so called fifth state of matter at an e...

Tags: Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Experimental Physics

CDF and DØ experiments at Fermilab: Top quark.

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Standard Model, High-Energy Physics, 20th Century Science

The Tau neutrino is discovered by the DONUT collaboration

Tags: Physics, Particle Physics, Standard Model, Experimental Physics, High Energy Physics, Fundamental Particles

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov isolated graphene, a monolayer of carbon atoms, and studied its quantum electrical properties.

Tags: Physics, Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Nobel Prize

The first quantum machine

Tags: Quantum Computing, Computer Science, Physics, Scientific Advancement, Research and Development

Photonic molecules are discovered at MIT

Tags: Physics, Nanotechnology

October 14: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle.

Tags: Aviation, Space Exploration, Physics

Photonic metamaterials are discovered to make passive daytime radiative cooling possible by Raman et al.

Tags: Physics, Materials Science, Climate Change, Nanotechnology

February 11: Detection of gravitational waves by LIGO confirmed.

Tags: Physics, Astronomy, Gravitational Waves, General Relativity, LIGO, Black Holes, Cosmology