Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

science, history of

457

1800-1900

The invention of the battery by Italian Alessandro Volta

(1745-1827) led to discoveries about electricity and

magnetism by scientists such as Englishman Michael Faraday

(1791-1867) and many electrical inventions such as electric

light. Englishman John Dalton (1766-1844) and other

scientists found out that everything is made of tiny atoms.

Frenchman Louis Pasteur (1822-95) showed that bacteria

cause disease, which led to better healthcare. Transportation

advanced with the invention of locomotives, powered ships,

and cars.

History

of science

5000 bce Metal objects first

made in Middle East.

400 bce Greek scientist

Democritus suggests that all

things are made of atoms.

105 ce Chinese inventor Ts’ai

Lun makes paper.

650 ce Persians invent the

windmill.

1000 ce Chinese use

gunpowder in warfare.

1657 Dutchman Christiaan

Huygens constructs

pendulum clock.

1712 English engineer Thomas

Newcomen builds first practical

steam engine.

1775 Englishman Joseph

Priestley discovers oxygen.

1789 French scientist Antoine

Lavoisier explains chemical

reactions.

1803 English scientist John

Dalton explains existence

of atoms.

1826 Frenchman Joseph

Niépce takes first photograph.

1879 Thomas Edison (US)

and Englishman Joseph Swan

invent electric light bulb.

1885 German engineer Karl

Benz builds first car.

1888 German scientist Heinrich

Hertz discovers radio waves.

1898 French-Polish scientist

Marie Curie discovers radium.

1911 English scientist Ernest

Rutherford discovers nucleus

of the atom.

1924 US astronomer

Edwin Hubble discovers

galaxies and, in 1929, the

expansion of the universe.

1942 Italian scientist

Enrico Fermi builds first

nuclear reactor.

1959 Soviet Union

launches first space probe.

1969 ARPANET (first

version of the Internet)

goes live.

1993 World Wide

Web developed.

2003 Scientists

map the entire

human genetic

structure.

1900 To THE PRESENT

Scientists delved into the atom, finding electrons

and the nucleus, and then studied the nucleus

itself. This led to the invention of nuclear power

and to the science of electronics, which brought

us television, computers, and the Internet.

Scientists also explored living cells and found new

ways of fighting diseases. Astronomers studied stars,

planets, and distant galaxies. The invention of

aircraft and space flight allowed people to travel into

the air and out into space.

In 1804,

Englishman

Richard Trevithick

invented the

steam locomotive.

WRIGHT BRoTHERS

In 1903, orville

Wright (1871-1948)

and his brother

Wilbur (1867-1912)

made the

first powered

airplane flight.

Shakespeare, William

Computers, televisions, and other

electronic devices depend on

the transistor, invented in 1948

by a team of scientists headed by

William Shockley (1910-1989).

Now millions of transistors can

be packed into a tiny microchip.

MAx PLANCK

In about 1900, German scientist Max

Planck (1858-1947) published his

quantum theory, which ex plained

the nature of energy and led to

many new ideas. For example,

although we usually think of light as

waves, quantum theory explains how

light sometimes seems to behave

as tiny particles called photons.

Several scientists

developed television

during the 1920s.

The first public

television

service started

in the 1930s.

Theodore Maiman

and Charles Townes

invented the first

working laser in 1960.

Artificial

satellites were

first launched

in 1957.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

In 1905 and 1915, the

German scientist Albert

Einstein (1879-1955)

proposed his theories

of relativity. They showed

that light is the fastest

thing in the universe and

that time would slow

down, length would

shorten, and mass would

increase if you could travel

at almost the speed of light.

The sun’s source of energy

and nuclear power, and how

black holes can exist in space

are explained by his discoveries.

The telephone was invented by

a Scottish-American, Alexander

Graham Bell, in 1876.

THoMAS EDISoN

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) was one of the world’s most

successful inventors. He made more than 1,000 inventions,

including a sound recording system (patented 1878) and a

system for making motion pictures. Edison was also one of

the inventors of the electric light bulb.

In 1943-45, a team

of British scientists

built the first fully

electronic computer.

In 1895, Italian scientist Guglielmo

Marconi invented radio transmission.

Find out more

Biology

Chemistry

Medicine, history of

Physics

Renaissance

Science

Technology

US_457_Science_hist_of_2.indd 457 29/01/16 10:30 am