109
compound, and so disproved the
idea that life chemistry operated
according to separate rules. In
Paris, Louis Pasteur further showed
that life cannot be generated
spontaneously. Inspiration for new
ideas came from various quarters.
The structure of the benzene
molecule came to German chemist
August Kekulé as he drifted off
to sleep, while Russian chemist
Dmitri Mendeleev used a pack of
cards to crack the problem of the
periodic table of the elements.
Marie (Skłodowska) Curie isolated
polonium and radium, and became
the only person to win Nobel prizes
in both Chemistry and Physics.
Clues from the past
The century saw nothing short of a
revolution in the understanding of
life. On the south coast of England,
Mary Anning documented a series
of fossils of extinct creatures she
had dug out of the cliffs. Soon
afterward, Richard Owen coined
the word “dinosaurs” to describe
the “terrible lizards” that had once
roamed the planet. Swiss geologist
Louis Agassiz suggested that large
parts of Earth had once been
covered with ice, further expanding
the idea that Earth has experienced
very different conditions through its
history. Alexander von Humboldt
used cross-disciplinary insights to
uncover the connections in nature
and established the study of
ecology. In France, Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck outlined a theory of
evolution, mistakenly believing
that the passing on of acquired
characteristics was its driving
force. Then, in the 1850s, British
naturalists Alfred Russel Wallaceand Charles Darwin both hit on
the idea of evolution by means
of natural selection. T. H. Huxley
demonstrated that birds may well
have evolved from dinosaurs, and
the evidence to support evolution
mounted. Meanwhile, a German-
speaking Silesian friar named
Gregor Mendel sorted out the
basic laws of genetics by studying
thousands of pea plants. Mendel’s
work would be neglected for some
decades, but its rediscovery would
provide the genetic mechanism
for natural selection.
In 1900, British physicist
Lord Kelvin is alleged to have
said “There is nothing new to be
discovered in physics now. All
that remains is more and more
precise measurement.” Little can
he have suspected what shocks
were just around the corner. ■A CENTURY OF PROGRESS
1859
1859
1865 1869 1895
1866 1873 1898
Charles Darwin
outlines his theory of
evolution in On the
Origin of Species by
Means of Natural
Selection.Louis Pasteur disproves
spontaneous
generation of life.August Kekulé
describes the
chemical structure
of the benzene
molecule.Dmitri Mendeleev lays
out the periodic table
of the elements.Wilhelm Röntgen
discovers X-rays.Gregor Mendel
publishes his work on
the genetics of peas.James Clerk Maxwell
publishes his laws of
electromagnetism.Marie Curie
isolates radioactive
polonium.