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The Science Book PDF
The Science Book PDF
26 The Sun is like fire, the 53 Organisms develop in 60 One species never springs
Moon is like water a series of steps from the seed of another
Zhang Heng Jan Swammerdam John Ray
28 Light travels in straight 54 All living things are 62 Gravity affects everything
lines into our eyes composed of cells in the universe
Alhazen Robert Hooke Isaac Newton
96 No vestige of a beginning 115 Mapping the rocks of
EXPANDING and no prospect of an end a nation
HORIZONS
James Hutton William Smith
become more easterly 1800–1900 121 One day, sir, you may
George Hadley tax it
Michael Faraday
81 A strong current comes 110 The experiments may
out of the Gulf of Florida be repeated with great 122 Heat penetrates every
Benjamin Franklin ease when the Sun shines substance in the universe
Thomas Young Joseph Fourier
82 Dephlogisticated air
Joseph Priestley 112 Ascertaining the relative 124 The artificial production
weights of ultimate particles of organic substances
84 In nature, nothing is John Dalton from inorganic substances
created, nothing is lost, Friedrich Wöhler
everything changes 114 The chemical effects
Antoine Lavoisier produced by electricity 126 Winds never blow in
Humphry Davy a straight line
85 The mass of a plant comes Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis
from the air
Jan Ingenhousz 127 On the colored light of
the binary stars
86 Discovering new planets Christian Doppler
William Herschel
128 The glacier was God’s
88 The diminution of the great plough
velocity of light Louis Agassiz
John Michell
130 Nature can be represented
90 Setting the electric fluid as one great whole
in motion Alessandro Volta Alexander von Humboldt
136 Light travels more slowly 226 Particles have wavelike
in water than in air properties
Léon Foucault Erwin Schrödinger
S
cience is an ongoing search to be reinforced by the French comets reported in 1531 and 1607,
for truth—a perpetual philosopher René Descartes, and suggested that all three were
struggle to discover how the Bacon’s scientific method requires the same object, in orbit around the
universe works that goes back to scientists to make observations, Sun. He predicted that it would
the earliest civilizations. Driven form a theory to explain what is return in 1758, and he was right,
by human curiosity, it has relied going on, and then conduct an though only just—it was spotted on
on reasoning, observation, and experiment to see whether the December 25. Today, the comet is
experiment. The best known of theory works. If it seems to be true, known as Halley’s Comet. Since
the ancient Greek philosophers, then the results may be sent out astronomers are rarely able to
Aristotle, wrote widely on scientific for peer review, in which people perform experiments, evidence
subjects and laid foundations for working in the same or a similar can come only from observation.
much of the work that has followed. field are invited to pick holes in the Experiments may test a theory,
He was a good observer of nature, argument, and so falsify the theory, or be purely speculative. When the
but he relied entirely on thought and or to repeat the experiment to make New Zealand-born physicist Ernest
argument, and did no experiments. sure that the results are correct. Rutherford watched his students
As a result, he got a number of Making a testable hypothesis fire alpha particles at gold leaf in
things wrong. He asserted that big or a prediction is always useful. a search for small deflections, he
objects fall faster than little ones, for English astronomer Edmond Halley, suggested putting the detector
example, and that if one object had observing the comet of 1682, beside the source, and to their
twice the weight of another, it realized that it was similar to astonishment some of the alpha
would fall twice as fast. Although particles bounced back off the
this is mistaken, no one doubted it paper-thin foil. Rutherford said it
until the Italian astronomer Galileo was as though an artillery shell had
Galilei disproved the idea in 1590. bounced back off tissue paper—
While it may seem obvious today and this led him to a new idea
that a good scientist must rely on about the structure of the atom.
empirical evidence, this was not All truths are easy to An experiment is all the more
always apparent. understand once they are compelling if the scientist, while
discovered; the point is to proposing a new mechanism or
The scientific method discover them. theory, can make a prediction about
A logical system for the scientific Galileo Galilei the outcome. If the experiment
process was first put forward by the produces the predicted result, the
English philosopher Francis Bacon scientist then has supporting
in the early 17th century. Building evidence for the theory. Even
on the work of the Arab scientist so, science can never prove
Alhazen 600 years earlier, and soon that a theory is correct; as the
INTRODUCTION 13
20th-century philosopher of science Niels Bohr in the 1920s, which apparently to show he was
Karl Popper pointed out, it can only depended on the discovery of the immortal—and as a result we
disprove things. Every experiment electron in 1897, which in turn remember him to this day.
that gives predicted answers is depended on the discovery of
supporting evidence, but one cathode rays in 1869. Those could Stargazers
experiment that fails may bring not have been found without the Meanwhile, in India, China, and
an entire theory crashing down. vacuum pump and, in 1799, the the Mediterranean, people tried to
Over the centuries, long-held invention of the battery—and so the make sense of the movements of
concepts such as a geocentric chain goes back through decades the heavenly bodies. They made
universe, the four bodily humors, and centuries. The great English star maps—partly as navigational
the fire-element phlogiston, and a physicist Isaac Newton famously aids—and named stars and groups
mysterious medium called ether said, “If I have seen further, it is of stars. They also noted that a
have all been disproved and by standing on the shoulders of few traced irregular paths when
replaced with new theories. These giants.” He meant primarily Galileo, viewed against the “fixed stars.”
in turn are only theories, and may but he had probably also seen a The Greeks called these wandering
yet be disproved, although in many copy of Alhazen’s Optics. stars “planets.” The Chinese
cases this is unlikely given the spotted Halley’s comet in 240 BCE
evidence in their support. The first scientists and, in 1054, a supernova that is
The first philosophers with a now known as the Crab Nebula. ❯❯
Progression of ideas scientific outlook were active in
Science rarely proceeds in simple, the ancient Greek world during the
logical steps. Discoveries may be 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Thales
made simultaneously by scientists of Miletus predicted an eclipse of
working independently, but almost the Sun in 585 BCE; Pythagoras set
every advance depends in some up a mathematical school in what
measure on previous work and is now southern Italy 50 years later, If you would be a real seeker
theories. One reason for building and Xenophanes, after finding after truth, it is necessary
the vast apparatus known as the seashells on a mountain, reasoned that at least once in your
Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, was that the whole Earth must at one life you doubt, as far as
to search for the Higgs particle, time have been covered by sea. possible, all things.
whose existence was predicted In Sicily in the 4th century BCE, René Descartes
40 years earlier, in 1964. That Empedocles asserted that earth,
prediction rested on decades of air, fire, and water are the “fourfold
theoretical work on the structure of roots of everything.” He also took
the atom, going back to Rutherford his followers up to the volcanic
and the work of Danish physicist crater of Mt. Etna and jumped in,
14 INTRODUCTION
suggest that each element Uncertainty and infinity expanding, and started with a
consisted of unique atoms, and At the turn of the 20th century, Big Bang. The idea of black holes
propose the idea of atomic weights. a young German named Albert began to take root. Dark matter and
Then German chemist August Einstein proposed his theory of dark energy, whatever they were,
Kekulé developed the basis of relativity, shaking classical physics seemed to fill the universe, and
molecular structure, while Russian and ending the idea of an absolute astronomers began to discover
inventor Dmitri Mendeleev laid out time and space. New models of new worlds—planets in orbit
the first generally accepted periodic the atom were proposed; light was around distant stars, some of
table of the elements. shown to act as both a particle which may even harbor life. British
The invention of the electric and a wave; and another German, mathematician Alan Turing
battery by Alessandro Volta in Italy Werner Heisenberg, demonstrated thought of the universal computing
in 1799 opened up new fields of that the universe was uncertain. machine, and within 50 years
science, into which marched What has been most impressive we had personal computers, the
Danish physicist Hans Christian about the last century, however, worldwide web, and smartphones.
Ørsted and British contemporary is how technical advances have
Michael Faraday, discovering new enabled science to advance faster Secrets of life
elements and electromagnetism, than ever before, leap-frogging In biology, chromosomes were
which led to the invention of the ideas with increasing precision. shown to be the basis of inheritance
electric motor. Meanwhile, the ideas Ever more powerful particle and the chemical structure of DNA
of classical physics were applied to colliders revealed new fundamental was decoded. Just 40 years later
the atmosphere, the stars, the units of matter. Stronger telescopes this led to the human genome
speed of light, and the nature of showed that the universe is project, which seemed a daunting
heat, which developed into the task in prospect, and yet, aided by
science of thermodynamics. computing, got faster and faster as
Geologists studying rock strata it progressed. DNA sequencing is
began to reconstruct Earth’s past. now an almost routine laboratory
Paleontology became fashionable operation, gene therapy has moved
as the remains of extinct creatures from a hope into reality, and the
began to turn up. Mary Anning, an Reality is merely an illusion, first mammal has been cloned.
untutored British girl, became a albeit a very persistent one. As today’s scientists build on
world-famous assembler of fossil Albert Einstein these and other achievements,
remains. With the dinosaurs came the relentless search for the truth
ideas of evolution, most famously continues. It seems likely that there
from British naturalist Charles will always be more questions than
Darwin, and new theories on the answers, but future discoveries will
origins and ecology of life. surely continue to amaze. ■
THE BEG
OF SCIE
600 –14O0
BCE CE
INNING
NCE
18 INTRODUCTION
T
he scientific study of the scientific is probably Thales of explored the properties of fluids.
world has its roots in Miletus, of whom Plato said that A new center of learning developed
Mesopotamia. Following he spent so much time dreaming at Alexandria, founded at the
the invention of agriculture and and looking at the stars that he mouth of the Nile by Alexander the
writing, people had the time to once fell into a well. Possibly using Great in 331 BCE. Here Eratosthenes
devote to study and the means data from earlier Babylonians, measured the size of Earth,
to pass the results of those studies in 585 BCE, Thales predicted a Ctesibius made accurate clocks,
on to the next generation. Early solar eclipse, demonstrating the and Hero invented the steam
science was inspired by the wonder power of a scientific approach. engine. Meanwhile, the librarians
of the night sky. From the fourth Ancient Greece was not a in Alexandria collected the best
millennium BCE, Sumerian priests single country, but rather a loose books they could find to build the
studied the stars, recording their collection of city states. Miletus best library in the world, which was
results on clay tablets. They did (now in Turkey) was the birthplace burned down when Romans and
not leave records of their methods, of several noted philosophers. Many Christians took over the city.
but a tablet dating from 1800 BCE other early Greek philosophers
shows knowledge of the properties studied in Athens. Here, Aristotle Science in Asia
of right-angled triangles. was an astute observer, but he Science flourished independently
did not conduct experiments; in China. The Chinese invented
Ancient Greece he believed that, if he could bring gunpowder—and with it fireworks,
The ancient Greeks did not see together enough intelligent men, rockets, and guns—and made
science as a separate subject the truth would emerge. The bellows for working metal. They
from philosophy, but the first engineer Archimedes, who lived at invented the first seismograph
figure whose work is recognizably Syracuse on the island of Sicily, and the first compass. In 1054 CE,
THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE 19
Persian astronomer,
Eratosthenes, a friend of Hipparchus discovers Claudius Ptolemy’s Abd al-Rahman
Archimedes, calculates the precession of Almagest becomes the al-Sufi updates the
the circumference of Earth’s orbit and authoritative text on Almagest, and gives
Earth from the shadows compiles the Western astronomy in the many stars the
of the Sun at midday on world’s first star West, even though it Arabic names
midsummer day. catalogue. contains many errors. used today.
Ctesibius builds In China, Zhang Heng Indian mathematician Alhazen, one of the
clepsydras—water discusses the nature of Brahmagupta outlines first experimental
clocks—that remain for eclipses, and compiles the first rules to use scientists, conducts
centuries the most a catalogue of the number zero. original research on
accurate timepieces 2,500 stars. vision and optics.
in the world.
Chinese astronomers observed a of a martyr,” Caliph Harun al-Rashid Alhazen, born in Basra and
supernova, which was identified founded the House of Wisdom in educated in Baghdad, was one of
as the Crab Nebula in 1731. his new capital, intending it to be the first experimental scientists,
Some of the most advanced a library and center for research. and his book on optics has been
technology in the first millennium Scholars collected books from the likened in importance to the work
CE, including the spinning wheel, old Greek city states and India and of Isaac Newton. Arab alchemists
was developed in India, and translated them into Arabic. This devised distillation and other new
Chinese missions were sent to is how many of the ancient texts techniques, and coined words such
study Indian farming techniques. would eventually reach the West, as alkali, aldehyde, and alcohol.
Indian mathematicians developed where they were largely unknown Physician al-Razi introduced soap,
what we now call the “Arabic” in the Middle Ages. By the middle distinguished for the first time
number system, including negative of the 9th century, the library in between smallpox and measles,
numbers and zero, and gave Baghdad had grown to become and wrote in one of his many books
definitions of the trigonometric a fine successor to the library “The doctor’s aim is to do good,
functions sine and cosine. at Alexandria. even to our enemies.” Al-Khwarizmi
Among those who were inspired and other mathematicians invented
The Golden Age of Islam by the House of Wisdom were algebra and algorithms; and
In the middle of the 8th century, several astronomers, notably al-Sufi, engineer al-Jazari invented the
the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate who built on the work of Hipparchus crank-connecting rod system,
moved the capital of its empire from and Ptolemy. Astronomy was of which is still used in bicycles and
Damascus to Baghdad. Guided by practical use to Arab nomads for cars. It would take several centuries
the Quranic slogan “The ink of a navigation, since they steered their for European scientists to catch up
scholar is more holy than the blood camels across the desert at night. with these developments. ■
20
ECLIPSES OF
THE SUN CAN
BE PREDICTED
THALES OF MILETUS (624–546 BCE)
B
orn in a Greek colony in solar eclipse, now dated to May 28,
IN CONTEXT Asia Minor, Thales of 585 BCE, which famously brought a
Miletus is often viewed as battle between the warring Lydians
BRANCH
the founder of Western philosophy, and Medes to a halt.
Astronomy
but he was also a key figure in the
BEFORE early development of science. He Contested history
c.2000 BCE European was recognized in his lifetime for Thales’s achievement was not to be
monuments such as his thinking on mathematics, repeated for several centuries, and
Stonehenge may have been physics, and astronomy. historians of science have long
used to calculate eclipses. Perhaps Thales’s most famous argued about how, and even if,
achievement is also his most he achieved it. Some argue that
c.1800 BCE In ancient Babylon, controversial. According to the Herodotus’s account is inaccurate
astronomers produce the first Greek historian Herodotus, writing and vague, but Thales’s feat seems
recorded mathematical more than a century after the event, to have been widely known and
description of the movement Thales is said to have predicted a was taken as fact by later writers,
of heavenly bodies. who knew to treat Herodotus’s
2nd millennium BCE word with caution. Assuming it
is true, it is likely that Thales had
Babylonian astronomers
discovered an 18-year cycle in
develop methods for
the movements of the Sun and
predicting eclipses, but
Moon, known as the Saros cycle,
these are based on …day became night, and this which was used by later Greek
observations of the Moon, change of the day Thales the astronomers to predict eclipses.
not mathematical cycles. Milesian had foretold… Whatever method Thales used,
AFTER Herodotus his prediction had a dramatic effect
c.140 BCE Greek astronomer on the battle at the river Halys, in
Hipparchus develops a modern-day Turkey. The eclipse
system to predict eclipses ended not only the battle, but also
a 15-year war between the Medes
using the Saros cycle of
and the Lydians. ■
movements of the Sun
and Moon.
See also: Zhang Heng 26–27 ■ Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■
T
he nature of matter Empedocles saw the four roots
IN CONTEXT concerned many ancient of matter as two pairs of opposites:
Greek thinkers. Having fire/water and air/earth, which
BRANCH combine to produce everything we see.
seen liquid water, solid ice, and
Chemistry
gaseous mist, Thales of Miletus Fire
BEFORE believed that everything must be
c.585 BCE Thales suggests the made of water. Aristotle suggested
whole world is made of water. that “nourishment of all things is Hot Dry
moist and even the hot is created
c.535 BCE Anaximenes thinks from the wet and lives by it.”
that everything is made from Writing two generations after Air Earth
air, from which water and then Thales, Anaximenes suggested
stones are made. that the world is made of air,
AFTER reasoning that when air condenses Wet Cold
it produces mist, and then rain,
c.400 BCE The Greek thinker
and eventually stones.
Democritus proposes that the Water
Born at Agrigentum on the
world is ultimately made of tiny
island of Sicily, the physician and
indivisible particles—atoms. poet Empedocles devised a more centrifugal force, began to pull
1661 In his work Sceptical complex theory: that everything is them apart. For Empedocles, love
Chymist, Robert Boyle provides made of four roots—he did not use and strife are the two forces that
a definition of elements. the word elements—namely earth, shape the universe. In this world,
air, fire, and water. Combining strife tends to predominate, which
1808 John Dalton’s atomic these roots would produce qualities is why life is so difficult.
theory states that each element such as heat and wetness to make This relatively simple theory
has atoms of different masses. earth, stone, and all plants and dominated European thought—
1869 Dmitri Mendeleev animals. Originally, the four roots which referred to the “four
proposes a periodic table, formed a perfect sphere, held humors”—with little refinement
arranging the elements in together by love, the centripetal until the development of modern
groups according to their force. But gradually strife, the chemistry in the 17th century. ■
shared properties.
See also: Robert Boyle 46–49 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■ Dmitri Mendeleev 174–79
22
MEASURING THE
CIRCUMFERENCE
OF EARTH
ERATOSTHENES (276–194 ) BCE
T
he Greek astronomer 7.2° south of the zenith—which is
IN CONTEXT and mathematician 1/50th of the circumference of a
Eratosthenes is best circle. Therefore, he reasoned, the
BRANCH
remembered as the first person to separation of the two cities along
Geography
measure the size of Earth, but he a north–south meridian must be
BEFORE is also regarded as the founder of 1/50th of Earth’s circumference.
6th century BCE Greek geography—not only coining the This allowed him to figure out the
mathematician Pythagoras word, but also establishing many size of our planet at 230,000 stadia,
suggests Earth may be of the basic principles used to or 24,662 miles (39,690 km)—an
spherical, not flat. measure locations on our planet. error of less than 2 percent. ■
Born at Cyrene (in modern-day
3rd century BCE Aristarchus Libya), Eratosthenes traveled
of Samos is the first to place Sunlight reached Swenet at right
widely in the Greek world, studying angles, but cast a shadow at Alexandria.
the Sun at the center of the in Athens and Alexandria, and The angle of the shadow cast by the
known universe and uses eventually becoming the librarian gnomon allowed Eratosthenes to
a trigonometric method to of Alexandria’s Great Library. calculate Earth’s circumference.
estimate the relative sizes of It was in Alexandria that
the Sun and the Moon and Eratosthenes heard a report that
their distances from Earth. at the town of Swenet, south of 7.2˚
Alexandria, the Sun passed directly
Late 3rd century BCE
overhead on the summer solstice Alexandria
Eratosthenes introduces the (the longest day of the year, when
concepts of parallels and 7.2˚ Gnomon
the Sun rises highest in the sky).
meridians to his maps Assuming the Sun was so distant
(equivalent to modern that its rays were almost parallel to Swenet
longitude and latitude). each other when they hit Earth, he
used a vertical rod, or “gnomon,” Earth
AFTER
18th century The true to project the Sun’s shadow at Sunrays
the same moment in Alexandria.
circumference and shape
Here, he determined, the Sun was
of Earth is found through
enormous efforts by French
See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Johannes Kepler 40–41
and Spanish scientists.
THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE 23
THE HUMAN IS
RELATED TO THE
LOWER BEINGS
AL-TUSI (1201–1274)
A
Persian scholar born in
IN CONTEXT Baghdad in 1201, during
the Golden Age of Islam,
BRANCH
Nazir al-Din al-Tusi was a poet,
Biology
philosopher, mathematician, and
BEFORE astronomer, and one of the first to The organisms that can
c.550 BCE Anaximander of propose a system of evolution. He gain the new features faster
Miletus proposes that animal suggested that the universe had are more variable. As a result,
life began in the water, and once comprised identical elements they gain advantages
evolved from there. that had gradually drifted apart, over other creatures.
with some becoming minerals and al-Tusi
c.340 BCE Plato’s theory of others, changing more quickly,
forms argues that species developing into plants and animals.
are unchangeable. In Akhlaq-i-Nasri, al-Tusi’s work
c.300 BCE Epicurus says that on ethics, he set out a hierarchy of
many other species have been life forms, in which animals were
created in the past, but only higher than plants and humans
were higher than other animals. Al-Tusi believed that organisms
the most successful survive
He regarded the conscious will changed over time, seeing in that
to have offspring.
of animals as a step toward the change a progression toward
AFTER consciousness of humans. Animals perfection. He thought of humans
1377 Ibn Khaldun writes in are able to move consciously to as being on a “middle step of the
Muqaddimah that humans search for food, and can learn evolutionary stairway,” potentially
developed from monkeys. new things. In this ability to learn, able by means of their will to reach
al-Tusi saw an ability to reason: a higher developmental level. He
1809 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck “The trained horse or hunting was the first to suggest that not
proposes a theory of evolution falcon is at a higher point of only do organisms change over
of species. development in the animal world,” time, but that the whole range of
1858 Alfred Russel Wallace he said, adding, “The first steps of life has evolved from a time when
and Charles Darwin suggest human perfection begin from here.” there was no life at all. ■
a theory of evolution by means
See also: Carl Linnaeus 74–75 ■ Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 118 ■
of natural selection.
Charles Darwin 142–49 ■ Barbara McClintock 271
24
A FLOATING OBJECT
DISPLACES ITS OWN
VOLUME IN LIQUID
ARCHIMEDES (287–212 ) BCE
T
he Roman author Vitruvius, had substituted silver for some of
IN CONTEXT writing in the 1st century the gold, melting the silver with the
BCE, recounts the possibly remaining gold so that the color
BRANCH
apocryphal story of an incident that looked the same as pure gold.
Physics
happened two centuries earlier. The king asked his chief scientist,
BEFORE Hieron II, the King of Sicily, had Archimedes, to investigate.
3rd millennium BCE ordered a new gold crown. When Archimedes puzzled over the
Metalworkers discover that the crown was delivered, Hieron problem. The new crown was
melting metals and mixing suspected that the crown maker precious, and must not be damaged
them together produces an
alloy that is stronger than
either of the original metals.
Silver is less dense A crown made
600 BCE In ancient Greece, than gold, so a lump partly of silver will have
coins are made from an alloy of of silver will have a greater volume and displace
gold and silver called electrum. greater volume than more water than a lump
a lump of gold of the of pure gold of the same
AFTER same weight. weight as the crown.
1687 In his Principia
Mathematica, Isaac Newton
outlines his theory of gravity,
explaining how there is a force
that pulls everything toward The difference in The displaced water
the center of Earth—and upthrust between the causes an upthrust.
vice versa. two is small, but it can The partly silver crown
be detected if you hang experiences a greater
1738 Swiss mathematician them on a balance in water.
Daniel Bernoulli develops upthrust than the gold.
his kinetic theory of fluids,
explaining how fluids exert
pressure on objects by the
random movement of
molecules in the fluid. Eureka!
THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE 25
See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69
in any way. He went to the public realized that any object immersed
baths in Syracuse to ponder the in a liquid experiences an upthrust
problem. The bath was full to the (upward force) equal to the weight
brim, and when he climbed in, he of the liquid it has displaced.
noticed two things: the water level Archimedes probably solved the
rose, making some water slop over puzzle by hanging the crown and A solid heavier than a fluid
the side, and he felt weightless. He an equal weight of pure gold on will, if placed in it, descend to
shouted “Eureka!” (I have found the opposite ends of a stick, which he the bottom of the fluid, and the
answer!) and ran home stark naked. then suspended by its center so solid will, when weighed in
that the two weights balanced. the fluid, be lighter than its
Measuring volume Then he lowered the whole thing true weight by the weight of
Archimedes had realized that into a bath of water. If the crown the fluid displaced.
if he lowered the crown into a was pure gold, it and the lump of Archimedes
bucket filled to the brim with water, gold would experience an equal
it would displace some water— upthrust, and the stick would stay
exactly the same amount as its own horizontal. If the crown contained
volume—and he could measure some silver, however, the volume
how much water spilled out. This of the crown would be greater than
would tell him the volume of the the volume of the lump of gold—the
crown. Silver is less dense than crown would displace more water, it has displaced one ton of water,
gold, so a silver crown of the same and the stick would tilt sharply. but then will sink no further. Its
weight would be bigger than a gold Archimedes’ idea became deep, hollow hull has a greater
crown, and would displace more known as Archimedes’ principle, volume and displaces more water
water. Therefore, an adulterated which states that the upthrust on than a lump of steel of the same
crown would displace more water an object in a fluid is equal to the weight, and is therefore buoyed up
than a pure gold crown—and more weight of the fluid the object by a greater upthrust.
than a lump of gold of the same displaces. This principle explains Vitruvius tells us that Hieron’s
weight. In practice, the effect would how objects made of dense material crown was indeed found to contain
have been small and difficult to can still float on water. A steel ship some silver, and that the crown
measure. But Archimedes had also that weighs one ton will sink until maker was duly punished. ■
I
n about 140 BCE, the Greek
IN CONTEXT astronomer Hipparchus,
During the day probably the finest astronomer
BRANCH Earth is bright, with
shadows, because of the ancient world, compiled a
Physics
of sunlight. catalogue of some 850 stars. He
BEFORE also explained how to predict the
140 BCE Hipparchus figures movements of the Sun and Moon
out how to predict eclipses. and the dates of eclipses. In his
work Almagest of about 150 CE,
150 CE Ptolemy improves Ptolemy of Alexandria listed
on Hipparchus’s work, and 1,000 stars and 48 constellations.
produces practical tables for The Moon is sometimes Most of this work was effectively
calculating the future positions bright, with shadows. an updated version of what
of the celestial bodies. Hipparchus had written, but in a
more practical form. In the West,
AFTER
the Almagest became the standard
11th century Shen Kuo
astronomy text throughout the
writes the Dream Pool Essays,
Middle Ages. Its tables included
in which he uses the waxing all the information needed to
and waning of the Moon to calculate the future positions of the
demonstrate that all heavenly The Moon
Sun and Moon, the planets and
bodies (though not Earth) must be bright
because of sunlight. the major stars, and also eclipses
are spherical. of the Sun and Moon.
1543 Nicolaus Copernicus In 120 CE, the Chinese polymath
publishes On the Revolutions Zhang Heng produced a work
of the Celestial Spheres, entitled Ling Xian, or The Spiritual
in which he describes a Constitution of the Universe. In it,
heliocentric system. he wrote that “the sky is like a
hen’s egg, and is as round as a
1609 Johannes Kepler Therefore the Sun crossbow pellet, and Earth is like
explains the movements of is like fire, the Moon the yolk of the egg, lying alone at
the planets as free-floating like water. the center. The sky is large and the
bodies describing ellipses. Earth small.” This was, following
Hipparchus and Ptolemy, a universe
THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE 27
See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Johannes Kepler 40–41 ■
Key works
LIGHT TRAVELS
IN STRAIGHT LINES
INTO OUR EYES
ALHAZEN (c.965–1040)
IN CONTEXT
BRANCH The light of the Sun The light bounces off
Physics bounces off objects. in straight lines.
BEFORE
350 BCE Aristotle argues that
vision derives from physical
forms entering the eye from
an object.
300 BCE Euclid argues that the Light travels in
To see, we need to do nothing
eye sends out beams that are straight lines into but open our eyes.
bounced back to the eye. our eyes.
980s Ibn Sahl investigates
refraction of light and deduces
the laws of refraction.
T
he Arab astronomer and methodically testing them with
AFTER mathematician Alhazen, experiments. As he observed:
1240 English bishop Robert who lived in Baghdad, “The seeker after truth is not one
Grosseteste uses geometry in in present-day Iraq, during the who studies the writings of the
his experiments with optics Golden Age of Islamic civilization, ancients and…puts his trust in
and accurately describes the was arguably the world’s first them, but rather the one who
nature of color. experimental scientist. While suspects his faith in them and
earlier Greek and Persian thinkers questions what he gathers from
1604 Johannes Kepler’s theory had explained the natural world in them, the one who submits to
of the retinal image is based various ways, they had arrived at argument and demonstration.”
directly on Alhazen’s work. their conclusions through abstract
1620s Alhazen’s ideas reasoning, not through physical Understanding vision
influence Francis Bacon, who experiments. Alhazen, working in a Alhazen is remembered today as
advocates a scientific method thriving Islamic culture of curiosity a founder of the science of optics.
based on experiment. and inquiry, was the first to use His most important works were
what we now call the scientific studies of the structure of the eye
method: setting up hypotheses and and the process of vision. The
THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE 29
See also: Johannes Kepler 40–41 ■ Francis Bacon 45 ■ Christiaan Huygens 50–51 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69
Nicolaus Copernicus
publishes De Francis Bacon publishes
Revolutionibus Orbium Novum Organum
Coelestium, outlining Johannes Kepler suggests Scientarum and The
a heliocentric that Mars has an New Atlantis, outlining Evangelista Torricelli
universe. elliptical orbit. the scientific method. invents the barometer.
Astronomer William Gilbert Galileo observes the Jeremiah Horrocks Robert Boyle publishes
publishes De Magnete, a moons of Jupiter and observes the transit New Experiments
treatise on magnetism, experiments with balls of Venus. Physico-Mechanical:
and suggests that rolling down slopes. Touching the Spring of
Earth is a magnet. the Air, and its Effects,
investigating air pressure.
T
he Islamic Golden Age Nicolaus Copernicus completed his objects and devising the pendulum
was a great flowering of heretical model of the universe that as an effective timekeeper, which
the sciences and arts had the Sun at its center. Aware of Dutchman Christiaan Huygens
that began in the capital of the the heresy, he was careful to state used to build the first pendulum
Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad, in that it was only a mathematical clock in 1657. English philosopher
the mid-8th century and lasted model, and he waited until he Francis Bacon wrote two books
for about 500 years. It laid the was on the point of death before laying out his ideas for a scientific
foundations for experimentation publishing, but the Copernican method, and the theoretical
and the modern scientific method. model quickly won many advocates. groundwork for modern science,
In the same period in Europe, German astrologer Johannes Kepler based on experiment, observation,
however, several hundred years refined Copernicus’s theory using and measurement, was developed.
were to pass before scientific observations by his Danish mentor New discoveries followed thick
thought was to overcome the Tycho Brahe, and calculated that the and fast. Robert Boyle used an air
restrictions of religious dogma. orbits of Mars and, by inference, pump to investigate the properties
the other planets were ellipses. of air, while Huygens and English
Dangerous thinking Improved telescopes allowed Italian physicist Isaac Newton came up
For centuries, the Catholic Church’s polymath Galileo Galilei to identify with opposing theories of how light
view of the universe was based on four moons of Jupiter in 1610. The travels, establishing the science
Aristotle’s idea that Earth was at new cosmology’s explanatory of optics. Danish astronomer Ole
the orbital center of all celestial power was becoming undeniable. Rømer noted discrepancies in
bodies. Then, in about 1532, after Galileo also demonstrated the the timetable of eclipses of the
years of struggling with its complex power of scientific experiment, moons of Jupiter, and used these
mathematics, Polish physician investigating the physics of falling to calculate an approximate value
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 33
Nicolas Steno writes Antonie van Christiaan Huygens first Isaac Newton outlines
about solids (fossils and Leeuwenhoek observes announces his wave his laws of motion
crystals) contained single-celled theory of light, which in Philosophiae
within solids. organisms, sperm, and will later contrast with Naturalis Principia
even bacteria with Isaac Newton’s idea of Mathematica.
simple microscopes. light as corpuscular.
for the speed of light. Rømer’s Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, enormous encyclopedia of plants,
compatriot, Bishop Nicolas Steno, perhaps inspired by Hooke’s which marked the first serious
was sceptical of much ancient drawings, made hundreds of his attempt at systematic classification.
wisdom, and developed his own own microscopes and found tiny
ideas in both anatomy and geology. life forms in places where no one Mathematical analysis
He laid down the principles of had thought of looking before, such Heralding the Enlightenment, these
stratigraphy (the study of rock as water. Leeuwenhoek had discoveries laid the groundwork for
layers), establishing a new discovered single-celled life forms the modern scientific disciplines of
scientific basis for geology. such as protists and bacteria, astronomy, chemistry, geology,
which he called “animalcules.” physics, and biology. The century’s
Microworlds When he reported his findings to crowning achievement came with
Throughout the 17th century, the British Royal Society, they sent Newton’s treatise Philosophiæ
developments in technology three priests to certify that he had Naturalis Principia Mathematica,
drove scientific discovery at the really seen such things. Dutch which laid out his laws of motion
smallest scale. In the early 1600s, microscopist Jan Swammerdam and gravity. Newtonian physics
Dutch eyeglasses-makers showed that egg, larva, pupa, was to remain the best description
developed the first microscopes, and adult are all stages in the of the physical world for more than
and, later that century, Robert development of an insect, and not two centuries, and together with
Hooke built his own and made separate animals created by God. the analytical techniques of
beautiful drawings of his findings, Old ideas dating back to Aristotle calculus developed independently
revealing the intricate structure of were swept away by these new by Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm
tiny bugs such as fleas for the first discoveries. Meanwhile, English Leibniz, it would provide a powerful
time. Dutch fabric-store owner biologist John Ray compiled an tool for future scientific study. ■
AT THE CENTER
SUN
OF EVERYTHING IS THE
T
hroughout its early history,
IN CONTEXT Western thought was
shaped by an idea of
BRANCH
the universe that placed Earth
Astronomy
at the center of everything. This
BEFORE “geocentric model” seemed at If the Lord Almighty
3rd century BCE In a work first to be rooted in everyday had consulted me before
called The Sand Reckoner, observations and common sense— embarking on creation thus,
Archimedes reports the ideas we do not feel any motion of the I should have recommended
of Aristarchus of Samos, who ground on which we stand, and something simpler.
proposed that the universe superficially there seems to be no Alfonso X
was much larger than observational evidence that our King of Castile
commonly believed, and that planet is in motion either. Surely
the simplest explanation was
the Sun was at its center.
that the Sun, Moon, planets and
150 CE Ptolemy of Alexandria stars were all spinning around
uses mathematics to describe Earth at different rates? This
a geocentric (Earth-centered) system appears to have been
model of the universe. widely accepted in the ancient the Sun. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn,
world, and became entrenched in meanwhile, took 780 days, 12 years,
AFTER classical philosophy through the and 30 years respectively to circle
1609 Johannes Kepler resolves works of Plato and Aristotle in against the background stars, their
the outstanding conflicts in the the 4th century BCE. motion complicated by “retrograde”
heliocentric (Sun-centered) However, when the ancient loops in which they slowed and
model of the solar system by Greeks measured the movements temporarily reversed the general
proposing elliptical orbits. of the planets, it became clear direction of their motion.
that the geocentric system had
1610 After observing the problems. The orbits of the known Ptolemaic system
moons of Jupiter, Galileo planets—five wandering lights in To explain these complications,
becomes convinced that the sky—followed complex paths. Greek astronomers introduced
Copernicus was right. Mercury and Venus were always the idea of epicycles—“sub-orbits”
seen in the morning and evening around which the planets circled
skies, describing tight loops around as the central “pivot” points of the
sub-orbits were carried around Empire dwindled in subsequent to attempt ever more accurate
the Sun. This system was best centuries, the Christian Church measurements of the motions
refined by the great Greco-Roman inherited many of its assumptions. of the planets.
astronomer and geographer Ptolemy The idea that Earth was the center
of Alexandria in the 2nd century CE. of everything, and that man was Arabic scholarship
Even in the classical world, the pinnacle of God’s creation, The later centuries of the first
however, there were differences with dominion over Earth, became millennium corresponded with
of opinion—the Greek thinker a central tenet of Christianity and the first great flowering of Arabic
Aristarchus of Samos, for instance, held sway in Europe until the science. The rapid spread of
used ingenious trigonometric 16th century. Islam across the Middle East
measurements to calculate the However, this does not mean and North Africa from the 7th
relative distances of the Sun and that astronomy stagnated for century brought Arab thinkers
Moon in the 3rd century BCE. He a millennium and a half after into contact with classical texts,
found that the Sun was huge, and Ptolemy. The ability to accurately including the astronomical
this inspired him to suggest that predict the movements of the writings of Ptolemy and others.
the Sun was a more likely pivot planets was not only a scientific The practice of “positional
point for the motion of the cosmos. and philosophical puzzle, but also astronomy”—calculating the
However, the Ptolemaic system had supposed practical purposes positions of heavenly bodies—
ultimately won out over rival thanks to the superstitions of reached its apogee in Spain,
theories, with far-reaching astrology. Stargazers of all which had become a dynamic
implications. While the Roman persuasions had good reason melting pot of Islamic, Jewish,
and Christian thought. In the late
13th century, King Alfonso X of
Castile sponsored the compilation
of the Alfonsine Tables, which
combined new observations with
centuries of Islamic records to
bring new precision to the
Ptolemaic system and provide
Sun the data that would be used to
Mars calculate planetary positions
Mercury
until the early 17th century.
Venus
Earth Questioning Ptolemy
Moon However, by this point the
Ptolemaic model was becoming
absurdly complicated, with yet
more epicycles added to keep
prediction in line with observation.
In 1377, French philosopher
Nicole Oresme, Bishop of Lisieux,
Jupiter addressed this problem head-on in
the work Livre du Ciel et du Monde
Saturn (Book of the Heavens and the
Ptolemy’s model of the universe has Earth unmoving at the center, Earth). He demonstrated the lack
with the Sun, Moon, and the five known planets following circular of observational proof that Earth
orbits around it. To make their orbits agree with observations, Ptolemy was static, and argued that there
added smaller epicycles to each planet’s movement. was no reason to suppose that it ❯❯
38 NICOLAUS COPERNICUS
was not in motion. Yet, despite
his demolition of the evidence for
the Ptolemaic system, Oresme
concluded that he did not himself
believe in a moving Earth.
By the beginning of the 16th
century, the situation had become
very different. The twin forces of the
Renaissance and the Protestant
Reformation saw many old religious
dogmas opened up to question. It
was in this context that Nicolaus
Copernicus, a Polish Catholic canon
from the province of Warmia, put
forward the first modern heliocentric
theory, shifting the center of the
universe from Earth to the Sun.
Copernicus first published his
ideas in a short pamphlet known
as the Commentariolus, circulated
among friends from around 1514.
His theory was similar in essence
to the system proposed by
Aristarchus, and while it overcame
many of the earlier model’s failings,
it remained deeply attached to motions on certain parts of their This 17th-century illustration of the
certain pillars of Ptolemaic orbits. One important implication Copernican system shows the planets
thought—most significantly the of his model was that it vastly in circular orbits around the Sun.
idea that the orbits of celestial increased the size of the universe. If Copernicus believed that the planets
were attached to heavenly spheres.
objects were mounted on Earth was moving around the Sun,
crystalline spheres that rotated in then this should give itself away
perfect circular motion. As a result, through parallax effects caused by It was Rheticus who published
Copernicus had to introduce our changing point of view: the the first widely circulated account
“epicycles” of his own in order to stars should appear to shift back of the Copernican system, known
regulate the speed of planetary and forth across the sky throughout as the Narratio Prima, in 1540.
the year. Because they do not do so, Rheticus urged the aging priest
they must be very far away indeed. to publish his own work in full—
The Copernican model soon something that Copernicus had
proved itself far more accurate than contemplated for many years, but
any refinement of the old Ptolemaic only conceded to in 1543 as he
system, and word spread among lay on his deathbed.
Since the Sun remains intellectual circles across Europe.
stationary, whatever appears Notice even reached Rome, where, Mathematical tool
as a motion of the Sun is due contrary to popular belief, the Published posthumously, De
to the motion of the Earth. model was at first welcomed in Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium
Nicolaus Copernicus some Catholic circles. The new (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
model caused enough of a stir for Spheres) was not initially greeted
German mathematician Georg with outrage, even though any
Joachim Rheticus to travel to suggestion that Earth was in motion
Warmia and become Copernicus’s directly contradicted several
pupil and assistant from 1539. passages of Scripture and was
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 39
therefore regarded as heretical
by both Catholic and Protestant
theologians. To sidestep the issue,
a preface had been inserted that
explained the heliocentric model
as purely a mathematical tool for As though seated on a
prediction, not a description of royal throne, the Sun
the physical universe. In his life, governs the family of planets
however, Copernicus himself revolving around it.
had shown no such reservations. Nicolaus Copernicus
Despite its heretical implications,
the Copernican model was used
for the calculations involved in the
great calendar reform introduced Nicolaus Copernicus
by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.
However, new problems with Born in the Polish city of
the model’s predictive accuracy Church, thanks largely to the Torun in 1473, Nicolaus
Copernicus was the youngest
soon began to emerge, thanks to controversy surrounding Italian
of four children of a wealthy
the meticulous observations of the scientist Galileo Galilei. Galileo’s merchant. His father died
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe 1610 observations of the phases when Nicolaus was 10. An
(1546–1601), which showed that displayed by Venus and the uncle took him under his wing
the Copernican model did not presence of moons orbiting Jupiter and oversaw his education at
adequately describe planetary convinced him that the heliocentric the University of Krakow. He
motions. Brahe attempted to theory was correct, and his ardent spent several years in Italy
resolve these contradictions with support for it, from the heart of studying medicine and law,
a model of his own in which the Catholic Italy, was ultimately returning in 1503 to Poland,
planets went around the Sun but expressed in his Dialogue where he joined the canonry
the Sun and Moon remained in Concerning the Two Chief World under his uncle, who was now
orbit around Earth. The real Systems (1632). This led Galileo Prince-Bishop of Warmia.
solution—that of elliptical orbits— into conflict with the papacy, Copernicus was a master
would only be found by his pupil one result of which was the of both languages and
mathematics, translating
Johannes Kepler. retrospective censorship of
several important works and
It would be six decades before controversial passages in De
developing ideas about
Copernicanism became truly Revolutionibus in 1616. This economics, as well as working
emblematic of the split caused in prohibition would not be lifted on his astronomical theories.
Europe by the Reformation of the for more than two centuries. ■ The theory he outlined in
De Revolutionibus was
As Earth moves around the Sun, the apparent
daunting in its mathematical
Earth in position of stars at different distances changes complexity, so while many
January due to an effect called parallax. Since the stars are recognized its significance,
so far away, the effect is small and can only be it was not widely adopted
detected using telescopes. by astronomers for practical
everyday use.
THE ORBIT OF
EVERY PLANET
IS AN ELLIPSE
JOHANNES KEPLER (1571–1630)
W
hile the work of Nicolaus stated that the planets orbited the
IN CONTEXT Copernicus on celestial Sun on perfect circular paths, and
orbits, published in was forced to introduce a variety
BRANCH
1543, made a convincing case for a of complications to his model to
Astronomy
heliocentric (Sun-centered) model account for their irregularities.
BEFORE of the universe, his system suffered
150 CE Ptolemy of Alexandria from significant problems. Unable Supernova and comets
publishes the Algamest, a to break free from ancient ideas In the latter half of the 16th century,
model of the universe built that heavenly bodies were mounted Danish nobleman Tycho Brahe
on the assumption that Earth on crystal spheres, Copernicus had (1546–1601) made observations that
lies at its center and the
Sun, Moon, planets and
stars revolve around it in
circular orbits on fixed The birth of a new
star in a constellation Observations of comets
celestial spheres. show that they move
shows that the heavens
16th century The idea of beyond the planets are among the planets,
a Sun-centered cosmology not unchanging. crossing their orbits.
begins to gain followers
through the ideas of
Nicolaus Copernicus.
AFTER If the planets are not
1639 Jeremiah Horrocks uses This suggests
fixed onto spheres, an
Kepler’s ideas to predict and that heavenly bodies are
elliptical orbit around the
not attached to fixed
view a transit of Venus across Sun best explains their
celestial spheres.
the face of the Sun. observed motion.
1687 Isaac Newton’s laws of
motion and gravitation reveal
the physical principles that
give rise to Kepler’s laws. The orbit of every
planet is an ellipse.
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 41
See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Jeremiah Horrocks 52 ■
A FALLING BODY
ACCELERATES
UNIFORMLY
GALILEO GALILEI (1564–1642)
F
or 2,000 years, few people With the equipment available
IN CONTEXT challenged Aristotle’s during the 1630s, Galileo could
assertion that an external not directly measure the speed or
BRANCH
force keeps things moving and that acceleration of freely falling objects.
Physics
heavy objects fall faster than lighter By rolling balls down one ramp and
BEFORE ones. Only in the 17th century up another, he showed that the
4th century BCE Aristotle did the Italian astronomer and speed of a ball at the bottom of
develops ideas about forces mathematician Galileo Galilei the ramp depended on its starting
and motion, but does not test insist that the ideas had to be height, not on the steepness of the
them experimentally. tested. He devised experiments ramp, and that a ball would always
to test how and why objects move roll up to the same height it had
1020 Persian scholar Ibn Sina and stop moving, and was the first started from, no matter how steep
(Avicenna) writes that moving to figure out the principle of or shallow the inclines were.
objects have innate “impetus,” inertia—that objects resist a Galileo carried out his remaining
slowed only by external factors change in motion and need a force experiments with a ramp 16 ft (5 m)
such as air resistance. to start moving, speed up, or slow long, lined with a smooth material to
1586 Flemish engineer Simon down. By timing objects falling, reduce friction. For timing, he used a
Galileo showed that the rate of fall large container of water with a small
Stevin drops two lead balls of
is the same for all objects, and pipe in the bottom. He collected the
unequal weight from a church
came to realize the part played by water during the interval he was
tower in Delft to show that
friction in slowing them down. measuring, and weighed the water
they fall at the same speed.
AFTER Galileo demonstrated that the speed a ball
1687 Isaac Newton’s Principia reaches at the bottom of a ramp depends only on
formulates his laws of motion. its starting height, not the steepness of the ramp.
A Here, balls dropped from points A and B will B
1971 US astronaut Dave Scott reach the bottom of the ramp at the same speed.
demonstrates Galileo’s ideas
about falling bodies by
showing that a hammer and a
feather fall at the same rate on
the Moon, which has almost
no atmosphere to cause drag.
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 43
See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69
Galileo Galilei Galileo was born in Pisa, but made to recant this and other
later moved with his family to ideas. He was sentenced to
Florence. In 1581, he enrolled house arrest, which lasted
in the University of Pisa to the rest of his life. During
study medicine, then switched his confinement, he wrote a
to mathematics and natural book summarizing his work
philosophy. He investigated many on kinematics (the science
areas of science, and is perhaps of movement).
most famous for his discovery of
the four largest moons of Jupiter Key works
(still called the Galilean moons).
Galileo’s observations led him to 1623 The Assayer
support the Sun-centered model 1632 Dialogue Concerning the
of the solar system, which at Two Chief World Systems
the time was in opposition to the 1638 Discourses and
teachings of the Roman Catholic Mathematical Demonstrations
Church. In 1633, he was tried and Relating to Two New Sciences
44
THE GLOBE
OF THE EARTH
IS A MAGNET
WILLIAM GILBERT (1544–1603)
B
y the late 1500s, ships’ Gilbert’s breakthrough came not
IN CONTEXT captains already relied on from a flash of inspiration, but from
magnetic compasses to 17 years of meticulous experiment.
BRANCH
maintain their course across the He learned all he could from ships’
Geology
oceans. Yet no one knew how they captains and compass makers, and
BEFORE worked. Some thought the compass then he made a model globe, or
6th century BCE The Greek needle was attracted to the North “terrella,” out of the magnetic rock
thinker Thales of Miletus notes Star, others that it was drawn to lodestone and tested compass
magnetic rocks, or lodestones. magnetic mountains in the Arctic. needles against it. The needles
It was English physician William reacted around the terrella just as
1st century CE Chinese Gilbert who discovered that Earth ships’ compasses did on a larger
diviners make primitive itself is magnetic. scale—showing the same patterns
compasses with iron ladles of declination (pointing slightly
that swivel to point south. away from true north at the
1269 French scholar Pierre de geographic pole, which differs from
Maricourt sets out the basic magnetic north) and inclination
laws of magnetic attraction, (tilting down from the horizontal
toward the globe).
repulsion, and poles. Stronger reasons are obtained Gilbert concluded, rightly, that
AFTER from sure experiments and the entire planet is a magnet and
1824 French mathematician demonstrated arguments has a core of iron. He published
Siméon Poisson models the than from probable his ideas in the book De Magnete
forces in a magnetic field. conjectures and the opinions (On the Magnet) in 1600, causing
of philosophical speculators. a sensation. Johannes Kepler and
1940s American physicist William Gilbert Galileo, in particular, were inspired
Walter Maurice Elsasser by his suggestion that Earth is not
attributes Earth’s magnetic fixed to rotating celestial spheres,
field to iron swirling in its outer as most people still thought, but is
core as the planet rotates. made to spin by the invisible force
1958 Explorer 1 space mission of its own magnetism. ■
shows Earth’s magnetic field
See also: Thales of Miletus 20 ■ Johannes Kepler 40–41 ■ Galileo Galilei 42–43 ■
extending far out into space.
Hans Christian Ørsted 120 ■ James Clerk Maxwell 180–85
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 45
NOT BY ARGUING,
BUT BY TRYING
FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626)
T
he English philosopher,
IN CONTEXT statesman, and scientist
Francis Bacon was not
BRANCH
the first to conduct experiments—
Experimental science
Alhazen and other Arab scientists
BEFORE conducted them 600 years earlier— Whether or no anything can
4th century BCE Aristotle but he was the first to explain the be known, can be settled not
deduces, argues, and writes, methods of inductive reasoning and by arguing, but by trying.
but does not test with set out the scientific method. He Francis Bacon
experiments—his methods also saw science as a “spring of a
persist for the next millennium. progeny of inventions, which shall
overcome, to some extent, and
c.750–1250 CE Arab scientists subdue our needs and miseries.”
conduct experiments during
the Golden Age of Islam. Evidence from experiment
According to the Greek philosopher scientific method: observation,
AFTER
Plato, truth was found by authority deduction to formulate a theory
1630s Galileo experiments
and argument—if enough intelligent that might explain what has been
with falling bodies. men discussed something for long observed, and experiment to test
1637 French philosopher René enough, the truth would result. His whether the theory is correct. In
Descartes insists on rigorous student, Aristotle, saw no need for The New Atlantis (1623), Bacon
scepticism and inquiry in his experiments. Bacon parodied such describes a fictitious island and
Discourse on Method. “authorities” as spiders, spinning its House of Salomon—a research
webs from their own substance. He institution where scholars conduct
1665 Isaac Newton uses a insisted on evidence from the real pure research centered on
prism to investigate light. world, particularly from experiment. experiment and make inventions.
Two key works by Bacon laid Sharing those goals, the Royal
1963 In Conjectures and out the future of scientific inquiry. Society was founded in 1660 in
Refutations, the Austrian In Novum Organum (1620), he sets London, with Robert Hooke as its
philosopher Karl Popper insists out his three fundamentals for the first Curator of Experiments. ■
that a theory may be tested
and proved false, but cannot See also: Alhazen 28–29 ■ Galileo Galilei 42–43 ■ William Gilbert 44 ■
TOUCHING
BRANCH
Physics
BEFORE
THE SPRING
1643 Evangelista Torricelli
invents the barometer using
a tube of mercury.
1648 Blaise Pascal and his
OF THE AIR
brother-in-law demonstrate
that air pressure decreases
with altitude.
1650 Otto von Guericke
performs experiments
I
n the 17th century, several
scientists across Europe
investigated the properties
of air, and their work was to lead
Anglo-Irish scientist Robert Boyle
to produce his mathematical laws
describing pressure in a gas. This
work was tied in to a wider debate
about the nature of the space
between stars and planets. The
“atomists” held that there was
empty space between celestial
bodies, whereas the Cartesians
(followers of the French philosopher
René Descartes) held that the space
between particles was filled with
an unknown substance called the
ether, and that it was impossible to
produce a vacuum.
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 47
See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■ Robert FitzRoy 150–55
The barometer
Torricellian vaccum invented by
Evangelista Torricelli
used a column of
mercury to measure
air pressure. Torricelli
We live submerged at the Mercury correctly reasoned
bottom of an ocean of Scale that it was the air
the element air, that by pressing down on
unquestioned experiments Pressure of the mercury in the
mercury column cistern that balanced
is known to have weight. the column of
Evangelista Torricelli Tube mercury in the tube.
Pressure of
atmosphere
Robert Boyle Robert Boyle was born in Ireland, to discuss their ideas. This
the 14th child of the Earl of Cork. group became the Royal Society
He was tutored at home before in 1663, and Boyle was one
attending Eton College in England of the first council members.
and then touring Europe. His In addition to his interests
father died in 1643, leaving him in science, Boyle performed
enough money to indulge his experiments in alchemy and
interest in science full time. Boyle wrote about theology and the
moved back to Ireland for a couple origin of different human races.
of years, but lived in Oxford from
1654 to 1668 so that he could do Key works
his work more easily, and then
moved to London. 1660 New Experiments
Boyle was part of a group of Physico-Mechanical:
men studying scientific subjects Touching the Spring of the
called the “Invisible College,” Air and their Effects
who met in London and Oxford 1661 The Sceptical Chymist
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 49
out of the top of the receiver and
sealed in place with cement. As
the pressure in the receiver was The height of mercury
The level of mercury falls
reduced, the level of the mercury in a barometer falls if
as air is pumped out of the
fell. He also performed the opposite you take the barometer
receiver in a barometer.
experiment, and found that raising up a mountain.
the pressure inside the receiver
made the level of the mercury rise.
This confirmed the previous
findings of Torricelli and Pascal.
Boyle noted that it became This is because there is This means that the
harder and harder to pump air out less air above you smaller the amount of
of the receiver as the amount of air pressing down air in the receiver, the
left decreased, and also showed on the mercury. lower its pressure.
that a half-inflated bladder in the
receiver increased in volume as
the air surrounding it was removed.
A similar effect on the bladder
could be achieved by holding it in The “spring of the air” decreases as
front of a fire. He gave two possible the mass of the air decreases.
explanations for the “spring” of
the air that caused these effects:
each particle of the air was
compressible like a spring and the remarkably similar to the modern Power, who performed a series
whole mass of air resembled fleece, kinetic theory, which describes of experiments with a Torricelli
or the air consisted of particles the properties of matter in terms barometer and published their
moving randomly. of moving particles. results in 1663. Boyle saw an early
This was similar to the view Some of Boyle’s experiments draft of the book and discussed
of the Cartesians, although Boyle were physiological, investigating the results with Towneley. He
did not agree with the idea of the effects on birds and mice of confirmed them by experiment
the ether, but suggested that the reducing the pressure of the and published “Mr Towneley’s
“corpuscles” were moving in air, and speculating on how air hypothesis” in 1662 as part of
empty space. His explanation is is moved in and out of lungs. a response to criticism of his
original experiments.
Boyle’s law Boyle’s work on gases was
Boyle’s law states that the pressure particularly significant because of
of a gas multiplied by its volume his careful experimental technique,
is a constant, as long as the amount and also his full reporting of all his
of gas and the temperature are experiments and their possible
If the height of the mercury kept the same. In other words, if sources of error, whether or not
column is less on the top of a you decrease the volume of a gas, they gave the expected results.
mountain than at the foot of it, its pressure increases. It is this This led many to seek to extend his
it follows that the weight of the increased pressure that produces work. Today, Boyle’s law has been
air must be the sole cause of the spring of the air. You can feel combined with laws figured out by
the phenomenon. this effect using a bicycle pump other scientists to form the “ideal-
Blaise Pascal by covering the end with a finger gas law,” which approximates to
and pushing the handle in. the behavior of real gases under
Although it bears his name, changes of temperature, pressure,
this law was first proposed not by or volume. His ideas would also
Boyle, but by English scientists eventually lead to the development
Richard Towneley and Henry of the kinetic theory. ■
50
IS LIGHT A
PARTICLE OR
A WAVE?
CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS (1629–1695)
IN CONTEXT
BRANCH Newton thought that…
Huygens thought that…
Physics a source of light emits large
space is filled with an ether.
numbers of tiny “corpuscles.”
BEFORE
11th century Alhazen
shows that light travels
in straight lines.
1630 René Descartes proposes
a wave description of light.
Light is disturbances in The corpuscles are
1660 Robert Hooke states the ether spreading weightless and travel
that light is a vibration of out as waves. in straight lines.
the medium through which
it propagates.
AFTER
1803 Thomas Young describes
experiments that demonstrate
how light behaves as a wave. Is light a particle or a wave?
1864 James Clerk Maxwell
predicts the speed of light and
concludes that light is a form
I
n the 17th century, Isaac is the bending of light as it passes
of electromagnetic wave. Newton and the Dutch from one substance to another, and
1900s Albert Einstein and astronomer Christiaan is the reason that lenses can focus
Max Planck show that light Huygens both pondered the true light. Diffraction is the spreading
is both a particle and a wave. nature of light, and reached very out of light when it passes through
The quanta of electromagnetic different conclusions. The problem a very narrow gap.
radiation they recognize they faced was that any theory Before Newton’s experiments,
become known as “photons.” about the nature of light had to it was widely accepted that light
explain reflection, refraction, gained its quality of color by
diffraction, and color. Refraction interacting with matter—that
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 51
See also: Alhazen 28–29 ■ Robert Hooke 54 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Thomas Young 110–11 ■
the “rainbow” effect seen when When white light passes through a
light passes through a prism is prism, it is refracted into its component
produced because the prism has parts. Huygens explained that this is
due to light waves traveling at different
somehow stained the light. Newton
speeds through different materials.
demonstrated that the “white” light
that we see is actually a mixture of
different colors of light, and these century later, in 1803, Thomas
are split up by a prism because Young showed that light does
they are all refracted by slightly indeed behave as a wave, and
different amounts. experiments in the 20th century
As with many natural have shown that it behaves both
philosophers of the time, Newton like a wave and a particle, although
held that light was made up of a there are big differences between
stream of particles, or “corpuscles.” Huygens’ “spherical waves” and
This idea explained how light our modern models of light.
traveled in straight lines and Huygens said that light waves were
“bounced” off reflective surfaces. It longitudinal as they passed through
also explained refraction in terms of spread out in spherical waves. a substance—the ether. Sound
forces at the boundaries between Refraction was thus explained waves are also longitudinal waves,
different materials. if different materials (be they ether, in which the particles of the
water, or glass) caused light waves substance the wave is passing
Partial reflection to travel at different speeds. through vibrate in the same
However, Newton’s theory could Huygens’ theory could explain why direction as the wave is traveling.
not explain how, when light hits both reflection and refraction can Our modern view of light waves is
many surfaces, some is reflected occur at a surface. It could also that they are transverse waves that
and some is refracted. In 1678, explain diffraction. behave more like waves of water.
Huygens argued that space was Huygens’ ideas made little They do not need matter to
filled with weightless particles impact at the time. This was in propagate (transmit), while particles
(the ether), and that light caused part due to Newton’s already giant vibrate at right angles (up and
disturbances in the ether that stature as a scientist. However, a down) to the wave’s direction. ■
THE FIRST
OBSERVATION OF A
TRANSIT OF VENUS
JEREMIAH HORROCKS (1618–1641)
P
lanetary transits offered
IN CONTEXT an opportunity to test the
first of Johannes Kepler’s
BRANCH
three laws of planetary motion—
Astronomy
that the planets orbit the Sun in an
BEFORE elliptical path. The brief passages I received my first
1543 Nicolaus Copernicus by Venus and Mercury across
intimation of the remarkable
makes the first complete the disk of the Sun—at the times
predicted by Kepler’s Rudolphine
conjunction of Venus and the
argument for a Sun-centered Sun…it induced me, in
(heliocentric) universe. Tables—would reveal whether the
underlying theory was correct. expectation of so grand a
1609 Johannes Kepler The first test—a 1631 transit spectacle, to observe with
proposes a system of of Mercury observed by French increased attention.
elliptical orbits—the first astronomer Pierre Gassendi— Jeremiah Horrocks
complete description of proved encouraging. However,
planetary motion. his attempt to spot the transit of
Venus a month later failed due
AFTER to inaccuracies in Kepler’s figures.
1663 Scottish mathematician These same figures predicted a
James Gregory devises a way “near miss” for Venus and the Sun
to measure the exact distance in 1639, but English astronomer marked its progress on the card,
from Earth to the Sun using Jeremiah Horrocks calculated that timing each interval, a friend
observations of the transits of a transit would in fact occur. measured the transit in another
Venus in 1631 and 1639. At sunrise on December 4, 1639, location. By using the two sets of
Horrocks set up his best telescope, measurements from the different
1769 British explorer Captain focusing the Sun’s disk onto a piece viewpoints, and by recalculating
James Cook observes and of card. Around 3:15 pm, the clouds the diameter of Venus relative to the
records the transit of Venus cleared, revealing a “spot of unusual Sun, Horrocks could then estimate
in Tahiti in the South Pacific. magnitude”—Venus—edging Earth’s distance from the Sun more
2012 Astronomers observe across the Sun. While Horrocks accurately than ever before. ■
the last transit of Venus
of the 21st century. See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Johannes Kepler 40–41
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 53
ORGANISMS
DEVELOP IN A
SERIES OF STEPS
JAN SWAMMERDAM (1637–1680)
T
he metamorphosis of organism took its fully mature form
IN CONTEXT a butterfly from egg to in its miniscule beginning, but that
caterpillar to chrysalis to “lower” animals were too simple to
BRANCH
adult is a familiar process to us have complex innards. In 1669,
Biology
today, but in the 17th century, pioneering Dutch microscopist Jan
BEFORE reproduction was viewed very Swammerdam disproved Aristotle
c.320 BCE Aristotle declares differently. Following the Greek by dissecting insects under the
that worms and insects arise philosopher Aristotle, most people microscope, including butterflies,
by spontaneous generation. believed that life—especially dragonflies, bees, wasps, and ants.
“lower” creatures such as insects—
1651 English physician William arose by spontaneous generation A new metamorphosis
Harvey considers the insect from nonliving matter. The theory The term “metamorphosis” had
larva a “crawling egg” and the of “preformism” held that a “higher” once meant the death of one
pupa a “second egg” with little individual followed by another’s
internal development. appearance from its remains.
Swammerdam showed that the
1668 Italian Francesco Redi stages in an insect’s life cycle—
provides early evidence to adult female, egg, larva and pupa
refute spontaneous generation. (or nymph), adult—are different
In the anatomy of a louse, you forms of the same creature. Each
AFTER will find miracles heaped on
1859 Charles Darwin explains life stage has its own fully formed
miracles and will see the internal organs, as well as early
how each stage of an insect’s wisdom of God clearly versions of the organs for later
life is adapted to its activity manifested in a minute point. stages. Seen in this new light,
and environment at that stage. Jan Swammerdam insects clearly warranted further
1913 Italian zoologist Antonio scientific study. Swammerdam
Berlese proposes that an insect went on to pioneer the classification
larva hatches at a premature of insects based on their
stage of embryo development. reproduction and development,
before dying of malaria at 43. ■
1930s British entomologist
Vincent Wigglesworth finds See also: Robert Hooke 54 ■ Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 56–57 ■
hormones control life cycles. John Ray 60–61 ■ Carl Linnaeus 74–75 ■ Louis Pasteur 156–59
54
T
he development of the crystals form and what happens
IN CONTEXT compound microscope when water freezes. The English
in the 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys called
BRANCH
opened up a whole new world Micrographia “the most ingenious
Biology
of previously unseen structures. book that I ever read in my life.”
BEFORE A simple microscope consists of
c.1600 The first compound just one lens, while the compound Describing cells
microscope is developed in microscope, developed by Dutch One of Hooke’s drawings was of a
the Netherlands, probably eyeglasses makers, uses two thin slice of cork. In the structure
by either Hans Lippershey or or more lenses, and generally of the cork, he noted what looked
Hans and Zacharius Janssen. provides greater magnification. like the walls dividing monks’ cells
English scientist Robert Hooke in a monastery. These were the first
1644 Italian priest and self- was not the first to observe living recorded descriptions and drawings
taught scientist Giovanni things using a microscope. of cells, the basic units from which
Battista Odierna produces However, with the publication all living things are made. ■
the first description of living of his Micrographia in 1665, he
tissue, using a microscope. became the first best-selling
popular science author, stunning
AFTER his readers with the new science of
1674 Antonie van microscopy. Accurate copperplate
Leeuwenhoek is the first to see drawings made by Hooke himself
single-celled organisms under showed objects the public had
the microscope. never seen before—the detailed
1682 Van Leeuwenhoek anatomies of lice and fleas; the
observes the nuclei inside the compound eyes of a fly; the delicate
red blood cells of salmon. wings of a gnat. He also drew some
Hooke’s drawings of dead cork cells
man-made objects—the sharp show empty spaces between the cell
1931 The invention of the point of a needle appeared blunt walls—living cells contain protoplasm.
electron microscope by under the microscope—and used He calculated that there were more than
Hungarian physicist Leó his observations to explain how a billion cells in 1 in3 (16 cm3) of cork.
Szilárd allows much higher
resolution images to be made. See also: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 56–57 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■
LAYERS OF ROCK
FORM ON TOP OF
ONE ANOTHER
NICOLAS STENO (1638–1686)
T
he sedimentary strata of
IN CONTEXT rocks that make up much
of Earth’s surface also form
BRANCH
the basis for Earth’s geological
Geology
history, which is normally depicted
BEFORE as a column of layers with the
Late 15th century Leonardo oldest strata at the bottom and the
da Vinci writes about his youngest at the top. The process
observations of the erosional of deposition of rock by water
and depositional action of and gravity had been known for Rock strata, as Steno realized, all
centuries, but Danish bishop and start life as horizontal layers, which
wind and water on landscapes are subsequently deformed and
and surface materials. scientist Niels Stensius, also known
as Nicolas Steno, was the first to twisted over time by huge forces
acting on them.
AFTER describe the principles that underlie
1780s James Hutton the process. His conclusions,
refers Steno’s principles to published in 1669, were drawn from disturbance after their deposition.
a continuing and cyclical his observations of geological strata Finally, his principle of crosscutting
geological process stretching in Tuscany, Italy. relationships states that “if a body
back in time. Steno’s Law of Superposition or discontinuity cuts across a
states that any single sedimentary stratum, it must have formed after
1810s Georges Cuvier and deposit, or stratum, is younger than that stratum”.
Alexandre Brongniart in the sequence of strata upon which Steno’s insights allowed the
France and William Smith it rests, and older than the strata later mapping of geological strata
in Britain apply Steno’s that rest upon it. Steno’s principles by the likes of William Smith in
principles of stratigraphy of original horizontality and lateral Britain and Georges Cuvier and
to geological mapping. continuity state that strata are Alexandre Brongniart in France.
1878 The first International deposited as horizontal and They also allowed the subdivision
Geological Congress in Paris continuous layers, and if they are of strata into time-related units,
found tilted, folded, or broken, which could be correlated with
sets out procedures for the
they must have experienced such each other across the world. ■
production of a standard
stratigraphic scale.
See also: James Hutton 96–101 ■ William Smith 115
56
MICROSCOPIC
OBSERVATIONS
OF ANIMALCULES
ANTONIE VAN LEEUWENHOEK (1632–1723)
A
ntonie van Leeuwenhoek Hooke made the first drawing of
IN CONTEXT rarely ventured far from his tiny living cells that he had seen in
home above a cloth store a slice of cork through a microscope.
BRANCH
in Delft in the Netherlands. But It never occurred to Hooke or
Biology
working on his own in his back any other microscopist of the time
BEFORE room, he discovered an entirely to look for life anywhere they could
2000 BCE Chinese scientists new world—the world of previously not already see it with their own
make a water microscope with unseen microscopic life, including eyes. Van Leeuwenhoek, by
a glass lens and a water-filled human sperm, blood cells, and, contrast, turned his lenses on
tube to see very small things. most dramatically of all, bacteria. places where there appeared to be
Before the 17th century, no one no life at all, particularly in liquids.
1267 English philosopher suspected there was life too small He studied raindrops, tooth plaque,
Roger Bacon suggests the to see with the naked eye. Fleas dung, sperm, blood, and much
idea of the telescope and were thought to be the smallest more. It was here, in these
the microscope. possible form of life. Then, in about
c.1600 The microscope is 1600, the microscope was invented
When van Leeuwenhoek’s
invented in the Netherlands. by Dutch eyeglasses makers who drawings of human sperm were first
put two glass lenses together to published in 1719, many people did
1665 Robert Hooke observes boost their magnification (p.54). not accept that such tiny swimming
living cells and publishes In 1665, English scientist Robert “animalcules” could exist in semen.
Micrographia.
AFTER
1841 Swiss anatomist
Albert von Kölliker finds that
each sperm and egg is a cell
with a nucleus.
1951 German physicist Erwin
Wilhelm Müller invents the
field ion microscope and sees
atoms for the first time.
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 57
See also: Robert Hooke 54 ■ Louis Pasteur 156–59 ■
Martinus Beijerinck 196–97 ■ Lynn Margulis 300–01
Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek
The son of a basket maker,
The world is teeming with microscopic, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
single-celled life forms. was born in Delft in 1632.
After working in his uncle’s
linen business, he established
his own fabric store at 20 years
apparently lifeless substances, that thinner than a human hair in a old and remained there for the
van Leeuwenhoek discovered the sample of lake water. These were rest of his long life.
richness of microscopic life. the green algae Spirogyra, an Van Leeuwenhoek’s
Unlike Hooke, van Leeuwenhoek example of the simple life forms business allowed him time to
did not use a two-lens “compound” that are now known as protists. pursue his hobby—microscopy.
microscope, but a single, high- Van Leeuwenhoek called these He began in about 1668 after a
quality lens—really a magnifying tiny creatures “animalcules.” In visit to London, where he may
glass. At the time, it was in fact October 1676, he discovered even have seen a copy of Robert
easier to produce a clear picture smaller single-celled bacteria in Hooke’s Micrographia. From
with such simple microscopics. A drops of water. In the following 1673 onward, he reported his
magnification greater than 30 times year, he described how his own findings in letters to the Royal
was impossible with compound semen was swarming with the Society in London, writing
more reports to them than any
microscopes since the image little creatures we now call sperm.
scientist in history. The Royal
became blurred. Van Leeuwenhoek Unlike the creatures he had found Society was initially sceptical
ground his own single lens in water, the animalcules in semen of the amateur’s reports, but
microscopes, and after years of were all identical. Each of the many Hooke repeated many of his
honing his technique, managed a thousands he looked at had the experiments and confirmed his
magnification of more than 200 same tiny tail and the same tiny discoveries. Van Leeuwenhoek
times. His microscopes were head, and nothing else, and he made over 500 microscopes,
small devices with tiny lenses could see them swimming like many designed to view
just fractions of an inch (a few tadpoles in the semen. specific objects.
millimeters) wide. The sample was Van Leeuwenhoek reported his
placed on a pin on one side of the findings in a series of hundreds Key works
lens, and van Leeuwenhoek held of letters to the Royal Society in
one eye up close to the other side. London. While he published his 1673 Letter 1, van
findings, he kept his lens-making Leeuwenhoek’s first letter to
the Royal Society
Single-celled life techniques secret. It is probable
1676 Letter 18, revealing his
At first, van Leeuwenhoek found that he made his tiny lenses by
discovery of bacteria
nothing unusual, but then, in 1674, fusing thin glass threads, but we
he reported seeing tiny creatures do not know for sure. ■
58
MEASURING THE
SPEED OF LIGHT
OLE RØMER (1644–1710)
J
upiter has many moons,
IN CONTEXT but only the four largest
Eclipses of Jupiter’s
moons do not always (Io, Europa, Ganymede,
BRANCH
match predictions. and Callisto) were visible through
Astronomy and physics
a telescope at the time that Ole
BEFORE Rømer was observing the skies
1610 Galileo Galilei of northern Europe, in the late
discovers the four largest 17th century. These moons are
moons of Jupiter. eclipsed as they pass through
The distance between the shadow cast by Jupiter and
1668 Giovanni Cassini Earth and Jupiter at certain times they can be
publishes the first accurate changes as the planets observed either entering or leaving
tables predicting eclipses orbit the Sun.
the shadow, depending on the
of the moons of Jupiter. relative positions of Earth and
Jupiter around the Sun. For nearly
AFTER
half of the year, the eclipses of
1729 James Bradley calculates
the moons cannot be observed
a speed of light of 185,000
If light does not at all, because the Sun is between
miles/s (301,000 km/s) based Earth and Jupiter.
propagate instantaneously,
on variations in the positions this explains the Giovanni Cassini, the director
of stars. discrepancies. of the Royal Observatory in Paris
1809 Jean-Baptiste when Rømer started work there in
Delambre uses 150 years’ the late 1660s, published a set
worth of observations of of tables predicting the moons’
Jupiter’s moons to calculate eclipses. Knowing the times of
a speed of light of 186,600 these eclipses provided a new
The speed of way to figure out longitude. The
miles/s (300,300 km/s). light can be measurement of longitude depends
1849 Hippolyte Fizeau calculated from the on knowing the difference between
measures the speed of light time differences the time at a given location and the
in a laboratory, rather than and distances in the time at a reference meridian (in this
using astronomical data. solar system. case, Paris). On land at least, it was
now possible to calculate longitude
by observing the time of an eclipse
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 59
See also: Galileo Galilei 42–43 ■ John Michell 88–89 ■ Léon Foucault 136–37
IN CONTEXT
Seeds nearly always grow
BRANCH Plants make seeds that
into plants similar to the
grow into new plants.
Biology parent plant.
BEFORE
4th century BCE The Greeks
use the terms “genus” and
“species” to describe groups
One species never A plant seed does not
of similar things.
grow into an adult of
1583 Italian botanist Andrea
springs from the seed a different species from
Cesalpino classifies plants
of another. its parent.
based on seeds and fruits.
1623 Swiss botanist Caspar
Bauhin classifies more than
T
6,000 plants in his Illustrated he modern concept of a approach persisting from ancient
plant or animal species Greece. The Greek philosophers
Exposition of Plants.
is based on reproduction. Plato, Aristotle, and Theophrastus
AFTER A species includes all individuals had discussed classification and
1690 English philosopher John that can actually or potentially used terms such as “genus” and
Locke argues that species are breed together to produce offspring, “species” to describe groups and
artificial constructs. which in turn can do the same. This subgroups of all manner of things,
concept, first introduced by English living or inanimate. In doing so,
1735 Carl Linnaeus publishes natural historian John Ray in 1686, they had invoked vague qualities
Systema Naturae, the first of still underpins taxonomy—the such as “essence” and “soul.” So
his many works classifying science of classification, in which members belonged to a species
plants and animals. genetics now plays a major role. because they shared the same
1859 Charles Darwin proposes “essence,” rather than sharing the
the evolution of species by Metaphysical approach same appearance or the ability to
natural selection in On the During this period, the term breed with one another.
Origin of Species. “species” was in common usage, By the 17th century, myriad
but intricately connected with classifications existed. Many were
religion and metaphysics—an organized in alphabetical order, or
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 61
See also: Jan Swammerdam 53 ■ Carl Linnaeus 74–75 ■ Christian Sprengel 104 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49 ■
IN CONTEXT
BRANCH Why does the apple always fall downward,
never sideways or upward?
Physics
BEFORE
1543 Nicolaus Copernicus
argues that the planets orbit
the Sun, not Earth.
There must be an attraction toward the
1609 Johannes Kepler argues center of Earth.
that the planets move freely in
elliptical orbits around the Sun.
1610 Galileo’s astronomical
observations support
Copernicus’s views. Could this attraction extend beyond the
apple, and reach as far as the Moon? If so,
AFTER it would affect the orbit of the Moon.
1846 Johann Galle discovers
Neptune after French
mathematician Urbain Le
Verrier uses Newton’s laws to
calculate where it should be.
Could it actually cause the orbit of the
1859 Le Verrier reports that Moon? In that case…
Mercury’s orbit is not explained
by Newtonian mechanics.
1915 With his general theory
of relativity, Albert Einstein
explains gravity in terms of Gravity affects everything in the universe.
the curvature of space-time.
A
t the time Isaac Newton “fixed” stars. This model was apple toward the center of
was born, the heliocentric superseded when Johannes Kepler Earth was the same force that
model of the universe, in published his laws of planetary kept the planets in their orbits
which Earth and the other planets motion in 1609. Kepler dispensed around the Sun, and demonstrated
orbit the Sun, was the accepted with Copernicus’s crystalline mathematically how this force
explanation for the observed spheres, and showed that the orbits changed with distance. The
movements of the Sun, Moon, and of the planets were ellipses, with mathematics he used involved
planets. This model was not new, the Sun at one focus of each ellipse. Newton’s three Laws of Motion and
but had returned to prominence He also described how the speed of his Law of Universal Gravitation.
when Nicolaus Copernicus a planet changes as it moves.
published his ideas at the end of What all these models of the Changing ideas
his life in 1543. In Copernicus’s universe lacked was an explanation For centuries, scientific thinking
model, the Moon and each of of why the planets moved in the had been dominated by the ideas
the planets revolved in its own way they did. This is where of Aristotle, who reached his
crystalline sphere around the Sun, Newton came in. He realized conclusions without carrying out
with an outer sphere holding the that the force that pulled an experiments to test them. Aristotle
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 65
See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ Johannes Kepler 40–41 ■ Galileo Galilei 42–43 ■ Christiaan Huygens 50–51 ■
taught that moving objects only a force acts on it, and a moving pushing the car forward balance
kept moving as long as they were object continues to move with the forces trying to slow it down,
being pushed, and that heavy constant velocity unless a force there is no net force and the car
objects fell faster than lighter ones. acts on it. Here, velocity means will maintain a constant velocity.
Aristotle explained that heavy both the direction of a moving Newton’s Second Law states
objects fell to Earth because they object and its speed. So an object that the acceleration (a change
were moving toward their natural will only change its speed or of velocity) of a body depends on
place. He also said that celestial change direction if a force acts on the size of the force acting on it,
bodies, being perfect, must all it. The force that is important is the and is often written down as
move in circles at constant speeds. net force. A moving car has many F = ma, where F is force, m is mass,
Galileo Galilei came up with forces on it, including friction and and a is acceleration. This shows
a different set of ideas, arrived at air resistance, and also the engine that the greater the force on a body,
through experiment. He observed driving the wheels. If the forces the greater the acceleration. ❯❯
balls running down ramps and
demonstrated that objects all fall
at the same rate if air resistance
is minimal. He also concluded that
moving objects continue to move
unless a force, such as friction,
acts to slow them down. Galileo’s
Principle of Inertia was to Rocket
become part of Newton’s First pushed
Law of Motion. Since friction and up
air resistance act on all moving
objects that we encounter in daily
life, the concept of friction is not
immediately obvious. It was only
by careful experimentation that
Galileo could show that the force
keeping something moving at a
steady speed was only needed to
counteract friction.
Exhaust flow
Laws of motion pushed down
Newton experimented in many
areas of interest, but no records of
his experiments on motion survive.
His three laws, however, have been
verified in many experiments,
holding true for speeds well below
the speed of light. Newton stated Rocket engines
his first law as: “Every body are an example of
perseveres in its state of rest, or Newton’s Third Law
of uniform motion in a right line, in action. The rocket
produces a jet that is
unless it is compelled to change that forced downward.
state by forces impressed thereon.” The jet exerts an equal
In other words, a stationary and opposite force that
object will only start to move if pushes the rocket up.
66 ISAAC NEWTON
It also shows that the body such as Earth.
acceleration depends on the mass Newton, seeing an apple fall from a
of a body. tree, reasoned that Earth must be
For a given force, a body with a attracting the apple and, since the
small mass will accelerate faster apple always fell perpendicular to
than one with a larger mass. the ground, its direction of fall was
I have not been able to
The Third Law is stated as directed to the center of Earth. So
“For every action there is an equal
discover the cause of these the attractive force between Earth
and opposite reaction.” It means
properties of gravity from and the apple must act as if it
that all forces exist in pairs: if phenomena, and I frame originated in the center of Earth.
one object exerts a force on a no hypotheses. These ideas opened the way to
second object, then the second Isaac Newton treating the Sun and planets as
object simultaneously exerts a force small points with large masses,
on the first object, and both forces which made calculations much
are equal and opposite. In spite of easier by measuring from their
the term “action,” movement is not centers. Newton saw no reason
required for this to be true. This to think that the force that made
is linked to Newton’s ideas about an apple fall was any different from
gravity, since one example of his Cambridge. At that time, several the forces that kept the planets in
Third Law is the gravitational people had suggested that there their orbits. Gravity, then, was a
attraction between bodies. Not was an attractive force from the universal force.
only is Earth pulling on the Moon, Sun, and that the size of this force If Newton’s theory of gravity is
but the Moon is pulling on Earth was inversely proportional to the applied to falling bodies, M1 is the
with the same force. square of the distance. In other mass of Earth and M2 is the mass
words, if the distance between of the falling object. So the greater
Universal attraction the Sun and another body is the mass of an object, the greater
Newton started thinking about doubled, the force between them the force pulling it downward.
gravity in the late 1660s, when he is only one quarter of the original However, Newton’s Second Law
retired to the village of Woolsthorpe force. However, it was not thought tells us that a larger mass does not
for a couple of years to avoid that this rule could be applied accelerate as quickly as a smaller
the plague that was ravaging close to the surface of a large one if the force is the same. So
the greater force is needed to
Newton’s Law of Gravity produces the equation below, accelerate the greater mass, and all
which shows how the force produced depends on the mass of objects fall at the same speed, as
the two objects and the square of the distance between them. long as there are no other forces
such as air resistance to complicate
matters. With no air resistance, a
The gravitational The masses of the hammer and a feather will fall at
constant (G). two bodies (M). the same speed—a fact finally
GM1M2 demonstrated in 1971 by astronaut
Dave Scott, who carried out the
F= experiment on the surface of the
The force of
attraction between
r2 The distance
between them (r).
Moon during the Apollo 15 mission.
Newton described a thought
two masses (F).
experiment to explain orbits in
an early draft of the Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
He imagined a cannon on a very
high mountain, firing cannon balls
horizontally at higher and higher
speeds. The higher the speed at
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 67
If a cannon ball is fired with
insufficient speed, gravity will pull
it to Earth (A and B). If fired with
sufficient speed, it will orbit Earth (C).
Key works
Swedish botanist Carl Daniel Bernoulli publishes Joseph Black’s American diplomat
Linnaeus publishes Hydrodynamica, which doctoral thesis on and scientist Benjamin
Systema Naturae, the lays the foundation for carbonates is a Franklin publishes
beginning of his the kinetic theory pioneering work in a chart of the
classification of of gases. quantitative Gulf Stream.
flora and fauna. chemistry.
A
t the end of the 17th Daniel Bernoulli, the brightest in oxygen and several other new
century, Isaac Newton set a family of Swiss mathematicians, gases. Dutchman Jan Ingenhousz
down his laws of motion formulated the Bernoulli principle— picked up where Priestley left off
and gravity, making science more that the pressure of a fluid falls and showed how green plants give
precise and mathematical than it when it is moving. This allowed off oxygen in sunlight and carbon
had ever been before. Scientists him to measure blood pressure. dioxide in the dark. Meanwhile, in
in various fields identified the It is also the principle that allows France, Antoine Lavoisier showed
underlying principles governing aircraft to fly. that many elements, including
the universe, and the various In 1754, Scottish chemist carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus,
branches of scientific enquiry Joseph Black, who would later burn by combining with oxygen
became increasingly specialized. formulate the theory of latent heat, to form what we now call oxides,
produced a remarkable doctoral thus debunking the theory that
Fluid dynamics thesis about the decomposition combustible materials contain a
In the 1720s, Stephen Hales, of calcium carbonate and the substance called phlogiston that
an English curate, performed a generation of “fixed air,” or carbon make them burn. (Unfortunately,
series of experiments with plants, dioxide. This sparked a chain French revolutionaries would send
discovering root pressure—by reaction of chemical research and Lavoisier to the guillotine.)
which sap rises through plants— discovery. In England, reclusive In 1793, French chemist Joseph
and inventing the pneumatic genius Henry Cavendish isolated Proust discovered that chemical
trough, a laboratory apparatus hydrogen gas and demonstrated elements nearly always combine
for collecting gases, which was that water is made of two parts of in definite proportions. This was a
to prove useful for later work hydrogen to one of oxygen. Dissident vital step toward figuring out the
identifying the components of air. minister Joseph Priestley isolated formulae of simple compounds.
EXPANDING HORIZONS 73
Nevil Maskelyne Thomas Malthus
Joseph Priestley makes calculates the produces his first
oxygen by heating density of Earth essay on human
mercuric oxide, using by measuring the population, which
sunlight and a magnifying gravitational James Hutton publishes later influences
glass; he calls it attraction of his theory concerning Charles Darwin and
dephlogisticated air. a mountain. the age of Earth. Alfred Russel Wallace.
Earth sciences geology after inheriting farmland and wrote An Essay on the
At the other end of the scale, in Scotland, and realized that Principle of Population, predicting
understanding of Earth processes Earth was a great deal older than catastrophe as the population
was making great advances. In the anyone had previously thought. grows. Malthus’s pessimism has
Americas, Benjamin Franklin, in proved unfounded (so far), but his
addition to performing a dangerous Understanding life idea that a population will grow to
experiment to prove that lightning As scientists learned of Earth’s outstrip resources if left unchecked
is a form of electricity, demonstrated extreme age, new ideas about how was later to have a profound
the existence of large-scale ocean life originated and evolved began influence on Charles Darwin.
currents with his investigations to emerge. Georges-Louis Leclerc, At the end of the century, Italian
of the Gulf Stream. George Hadley, Comte de Buffon, a larger-than-life physicist Alessandro Volta opened
English lawyer and amateur French author, naturalist, and up a new world by inventing the
meteorologist, published a short mathematician, took the first electric battery, which was to
paper explaining the action of steps toward a theory of evolution. accelerate advances in the decades
the trade winds in relation to the German theologian Christian that followed. Such had been the
rotation of Earth, while Nevil Sprengel spent much of his life progress through the 18th century
Maskelyne seized on an idea from studying the interaction of plants that English philosopher William
Newton and camped out for several and insects, and noted that Whewell proposed the creation of a
months in terrible weather to bisexual flowers produce male and new profession distinct from that of
measure the gravitational attraction female flowers at different times, philosopher: “We need very much
of a Scottish mountain. In doing so, so they cannot fertilize themselves. a name to describe a cultivator of
he figured out the density of Earth. English parson Thomas Malthus science in general. I should incline
James Hutton became interested in turned his attention to demography to call him a Scientist.” ■
74
T
he classification of the appeared. By the 17th century,
IN CONTEXT natural world into a clear scientists were striving to set out
hierarchy of groups of a more coherent and consistent
BRANCH
named and described organisms is system. In 1686, English botanist
Biology
a foundation stone of the biological John Ray introduced the concept
BEFORE sciences. These groupings help of the biological species, defined
c.320 BCE Aristotle groups to make sense of life’s diversity, by the ability of plants or animals
similar organisms on a scale allowing scientists to compare to reproduce with one another,
of increasing complexity. and identify millions of individual and this remains the most widely
organisms. Modern taxonomy— accepted definition today.
1686 John Ray defines a the science of identifying, naming,
biological species in his and classifying organisms—began
Historia Plantarum. with the Swedish naturalist, Carl KINGDOM
Linnaeus. He was the first to devise Animalia
AFTER
a systematic hierarchy, based on PHYLUM
1817 French zoologist Georges
his wide-ranging and detailed Chordata
Cuvier extends the Linnaean
study of physical characteristics
hierarchy in his study of fossils CLASS
of plants and animals. He also
as well as living animals. Mammalia
pioneered a way of naming different
1859 Charles Darwin’s On the organisms that is still in use today. ORDER
Origin of Species sets out how The most influential of early Carnivora
species arise and are related in classifications was that of the FAMILY
his theory of evolution. Greek philosopher Aristotle. In his Felidae
History of Animals, he grouped
1866 German biologist Ernst GENUS
similar animals into broad genera,
Haeckel pioneers the study of Panthera
distinguished the species within
evolving lineages, known as each group, and ranked them on a SPECIES
phylogenetics. scala naturae or “ladder of life” with Panthera
11 grades of increasing complexity tigris
1950 Willi Hennig bases a
new system of classification in form and purpose, from plants at
Linnaeus’s system groups organisms
on cladistics, which looks for the base to humans at the apex. according to shared characteristics. A
evolutionary links. Over the ensuing centuries, a tiger belongs to the cat family Felidae,
chaotic multiplicity of names and which in turn belongs to the order
descriptions of plants and animals Carnivora, in the class Mammalia.
EXPANDING HORIZONS 75
See also: Jan Swammerdam 53 ■ John Ray 60–61 ■ Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 118 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49
God-given order
For Linnaeus, classification
revealed that “nature does not “natural hierarchy,” with all species with one or more shared unique
proceed in leaps and bounds” in a genus or family related by characteristics, which they have
but rather in its God-given order. descent and divergence from a inherited from their last common
His work was the fruit of numerous common ancestor. A century after ancestor and which are not found
expeditions across Sweden and Darwin, German biologist Willi in more distant ancestors. The
Europe in search of new species. Hennig developed a new approach process of classification by clades
His classification system paved the to classification, called cladistics. continues to this day, with species
way for Charles Darwin, who saw To reflect their evolutionary links, reassigned new positions as fresh,
the evolutionary significance of its this groups organisms into “clades” often genetic, evidence is found. ■
Carl Linnaeus Born in 1707 in rural southern the world collecting plants. With
Sweden, Carl Linnaeus studied this vast collection, Linnaeus
medicine and botany in the expanded his Systema Naturae
universities of Lund and Uppsala, through 12 editions into a
and earned a degree in medicine multivolume work, more than
in the Netherlands in 1735. Later 1,000 pages long, encompassing
that year he published a 12-page more than 6,000 species of
booklet called Systema Naturae, plants and 4,000 animals. By the
which outlined a system of time he died in 1778, Linnaeus
classification for living organisms. was one of the most acclaimed
After further travels in Europe, scientists in Europe.
Linnaeus returned to Sweden in
1738 to practice medicine before Key works
being appointed professor of
medicine and botany at Uppsala 1753 Species Plantarum
University. His students, most 1778 Systema Naturae,
famously Daniel Solander, traveled 12th edition
76
A
professor of medicine at about the costs of running their
physicist Benjamin Thompson the University of Glasgow businesses. Why, they asked
suggests that heat is produced and later at Edinburgh, him, was it so expensive to
by the movement of particles. Joseph Black also gave lectures distill whisky, when all they were
1845 James Joule studies the on chemistry. Although he was a doing was boiling the liquid
conversion of motion into heat notable research scientist, he rarely and condensing the vapor.
and measures the mechanical published his results formally, but
equivalent of heat, stating instead announced them during his An idea brought to the boil
that a given quantity of lectures; his students were at the In 1761, Black investigated the
mechanical work generates cutting edge of new science. effects of heat on liquids, and
the same amount of heat. Some of Black’s students were discovered that if a pan of water is
the sons of Scottish whisky heated on a stove, the temperature
distillers, who were concerned increases steadily until it reaches
EXPANDING HORIZONS 77
See also: Robert Boyle 46–49 ■ Joseph Priestley 82–83 ■ Antoine Lavoisier 84 ■
INFLAMMABLE
AIR
HENRY CAVENDISH (1731–1810)
IN CONTEXT
When a metal such as zinc
BRANCH These bubbles
reacts with dilute acid,
may be a new air.
Chemistry it produces bubbles.
BEFORE
1661 Robert Boyle defines an
element, laying the foundations
for modern chemistry.
1754 Joseph Black identifies This must be an They burn rapidly
a gas, carbon dioxide, which inflammable air. when ignited.
he calls “fixed air.”
AFTER
1772–75 Joseph Priestley
I
n 1754, Joseph Black had Cavendish set out to measure the
and (independently) Sweden’s
described what we now call weight of a sample of the gas, by
Carl Scheele isolate oxygen,
carbon dioxide (CO2) as “fixed measuring the loss of weight of
followed by Antoine Lavoisier, air.” He was not only the first the zinc-acid mixture during the
who names the gas. Priestley scientist to identify a gas, but also reaction, and by collecting all
also discovers nitric oxide, demonstrated that there were the gas produced in a bladder and
nitrous oxide, and hydrogen various kinds of “air,” or gases. weighing it—first full of the gas,
chloride, and experiments with Twelve years later, an English then empty. Knowing the volume,
inhaling oxygen and making scientist named Henry Cavendish he could calculate its density. He
soda water. reported to the Royal Society in found that inflammable air was 11
1799 Humphry Davy suggests London that the metals zinc, iron, times less dense than ordinary air.
nitrous oxide could be useful and tin “generate inflammable air The discovery of low-density
as an anesthetic in surgery. by solution in acids.” He called his gas led to aeronautical balloons
new gas “inflammable air” because that were lighter than air. In France
1844 Nitrous oxide is first used it burned easily, unlike ordinary in 1783, inventor Jacques Charles
for anesthesia by American or “fixed air.” Today we call it launched the first hydrogen balloon,
dentist Horace Wells. hydrogen (H2). This was the second less than two weeks after the
gas to be identified and the first Montgolfier brothers launched
gaseous element to be isolated. their first manned hot-air balloon.
EXPANDING HORIZONS 79
See also: Empedocles 21 ■ Robert Boyle 46–49 ■ Joseph Black 76–77 ■ Joseph Priestley 82–83 ■
Henry Cavendish One of the strangest and most did significant original research
brilliant pioneers of 18th century into chemistry and electricity,
chemistry and physics, Henry accurately described the nature
Cavendish was born in 1731 in of heat, and measured Earth’s
Nice, France. His grandfathers density—or, as people said,
were both dukes, and he was “weighed the world.” He died
immensely rich. After his studies in 1810. In 1874, the University
at the University of Cambridge, of Cambridge named its new
he lived and worked alone in his physics laboratory in his honor.
house in London. A man of few
words and shy of women, it was Key works
said that he ordered his meals by
leaving notes for his servants. 1766 Three Papers Containing
Cavendish attended meetings Experiments on Factitious Air
of the Royal Society for about 40 1784 Experiments on Air
years, and also assisted Humphry (Philosophical Transactions of
Davy at the Royal Institution. He the Royal Society of London)
80
B
y 1700, it was known that at its greatest over the equator,
IN CONTEXT persistent surface winds, or causes air to rise, and that rising
“trade winds,” blow from a air is replaced by winds blowing
BRANCH
northeasterly direction between in from higher latitudes.
Meteorology
a latitude of 30°N and the equator In 1735, English physicist
BEFORE at 0°. Galileo had suggested that George Hadley published his
1616 Galileo Galilei points to Earth’s eastward rotation made it theory on trade winds. He agreed
trade winds as evidence of “get ahead” of the air in the tropics, that the Sun causes air to rise, but
Earth’s rotation. so the winds come from the east. rising air near the equator would
Later, English astronomer Edmond only cause winds to flow toward it
1686 Edmond Halley proposes Halley realized that the Sun’s heat, from the north and south, not from
that the Sun traveling west the east. As the air rotates with
through the sky causes air to Earth, air moving from 30° N
rise and be replaced by winds Earth rotates
toward the east toward the equator would have its
from the east. own momentum toward the east.
However, Earth’s surface moves
AFTER Easterly 60°N
trade faster at the equator than at higher
1793 John Dalton publishes 30°N
winds latitudes, so the surface speed
Meteorological Observations becomes greater than the air’s
and Essays, which supports 0°
speed and the winds appear to
Hadley’s theory. 30°S come from an increasingly easterly
Mid-
1835 De Coriolis builds on latitude direction as they near the equator.
60°S
Hadley’s ideas, describing a westerlies Hadley’s idea was a step on
“compound centrifugal force” the way to understanding wind
that deflects the wind. Polar easterlies patterns, but contained errors.
The key to the deflection of wind
1856 American meteorologist Wind patterns result from Earth’s
rotation combined with circulation direction is in fact that the wind’s
William Ferrel identifies a “cells” as hot air rises, cools, and falls angular momentum (causing it to
circulation cell in the mid- in polar cells (shown in gray), Ferrel rotate) is conserved, not its linear
latitudes (30–60°) where air cells (blue), and Hadley cells (pink). (straight-line) momentum. ■
pulled into a low-pressure
center creates the prevailing See also: Galileo Galilei 42–43 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■
westerly winds. Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis 126 ■ Robert FitzRoy 150–55
EXPANDING HORIZONS 81
A STRONG CURRENT
COMES OUT OF THE
GULF OF FLORIDA
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706–1790)
T
he warm Gulf Stream current
IN CONTEXT that flows eastward across
the North Atlantic Ocean
BRANCH
is one of the greatest movements
Oceanography
of water on Earth. It is driven
BEFORE east by prevailing westerly winds,
c.2000 BCE Polynesian and is part of a great loop that
seafarers use ocean currents to then recrosses the Atlantic to the
cross between Pacific islands. Caribbean. The current had been
known since 1513, when Spanish
1513 Juan Ponce de Léon explorer Juan Ponce de León found
is the first to describe the his ship moving back north off Franklin’s chart was published in
strong currents of the Atlantic Florida despite winds blowing him 1770 in Britain, but it would be years
Ocean’s Gulf Stream. south. But it was only properly before British captains learned to use
charted in 1770, by US statesman the Gulf Stream to cut sailing times.
AFTER
and scientist Benjamin Franklin.
1847 US naval officer Matthew
could spot it by whale migrations,
Maury publishes his chart of
Local advantage differences in temperature and color,
winds and currents, compiled As deputy postmaster of the British and the speed of surface bubbles,
by studying ships’ logs and American colonies, Franklin was and so they crossed over the current
charts in naval archives. fascinated by why it took British to escape it, while the westbound
1881 Prince Albert I of packet ships delivering mail two British packet ships battled against
Monaco realizes that the Gulf weeks longer to cross the Atlantic it all the way.
Stream is a gyre (loop) and than American merchant ships. With Folger’s aid, Franklin
splits in two—one branch Already famous for his invention of charted the current’s course as it
flowing north toward the the lightning conductor, he asked flowed along the east coast of North
British Isles, and the other Nantucket whaling captain Timothy America from the Gulf of Mexico to
south to Spain and Africa. Folger why this might be. Folger Newfoundland and then streamed
explained that American captains east across the Atlantic. He also
1942 Norwegian knew of the west–east current. They gave the Gulf Stream its name. ■
oceanographer Harald
Sverdrup develops a theory See also: George Hadley 80 ■ Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis 126 ■
DEPHLOGISTICATED
AIR
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY (1733–1804)
F
ollowing Joseph Black’s vat, the candle went out about 12 in
IN CONTEXT pioneering discovery of (30 cm) above the froth, where the
“fixed air,” or carbon dioxide flame entered the layer of fixed air
BRANCH
(CO2), an English clergyman named floating there. The smoke drifted
Chemistry
Joseph Priestley became interested across the top of the fixed air,
BEFORE in investigating various other “airs,” making it visible and revealing
1754 Joseph Black isolates the or gases, and identified several the boundary between the two airs.
first gas, carbon dioxide. more—most notably oxygen. He also noticed that the fixed air
While a minister in Leeds, flowed over the side of the vat and
1766 Henry Cavendish Priestley visited the brewery close sank to the floor, because it was
prepares hydrogen. to his lodgings. The layer of air denser than “ordinary” air. When
1772 Carl Scheele isolates a above the brewing vat was already Priestley experimented with
third gas, oxygen, two years known to be fixed air. He found that dissolving fixed air in cold water,
before Priestley, but does not when he lowered a candle over the sloshing it from one vessel to
publish his findings until 1777.
AFTER
1774 In Paris, Priestley As Priestley discovers, Oxygen does not burn,
demonstrates his method to oxygen is separate from so it cannot contain the fire
“fixed air” (carbon dioxide). element phlogiston.
Antoine Lavoisier, who makes
the new gas and publishes his
results in May 1775.
1779 Lavoisier gives the gas
the name “oxygène.” But Lavoisier shows that other
gases and materials burn Oxygen is
1783 Geneva’s Schweppes readily in oxygen. dephlogisticated air.
Company starts making the
soda water Priestley invented.
1877 Swiss chemist Raoul
Pictet produces liquid oxygen,
which will be used in rocket So combustion is a process of Phlogiston
fuel, industry, and medicine. combining with oxygen. does not exist.
EXPANDING HORIZONS 83
See also: Joseph Black 76–77 ■ Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■
Antoine Lavoisier 84 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■ Humphry Davy 114
Releasing oxygen
On August 1, 1774, Priestley first The most remarkable of
isolated his new gas—which we all the kinds of air I have
now know as oxygen (O2)—from produced…is, one that is
mercuric oxide in a sealed glass five or six times better than
flask by heating it with sunlight common air, for the purpose
and a magnifying glass. He later of respiration. Joseph Priestley
discovered that this new gas kept Joseph Priestley
mice alive much longer than Born on a farm in Yorkshire,
ordinary air, was pleasant to Joseph Priestley was brought
up as a dissenting Christian,
breathe and more energizing than
and was intensely religious
ordinary air, and supported the and political all his life.
combustion of various substances Priestley became
he burned as fuel. He also showed interested in gases while
that plants produce the gas in not publish his results until 1777. living in Leeds in the early
sunlight—a first hint of the process Meanwhile in Paris, Antoine 1770s, but his best work
we call photosynthesis. At the time, Lavoisier heard of Scheele’s work, was done after he moved to
however, combustion was thought was given a demonstration by Wiltshire as librarian to the
to involve the release from a fuel Priestley, and promptly made his Earl of Shelburne. His duties
of a mysterious material called own oxygen. His experiments on were light and left him time
phlogiston. Because this new gas combustion and respiration proved to conduct research. He later
did not burn, and therefore must that combustion is a process of fell out with the earl—his
contain no phlogiston, he called it combining with oxygen, not political views may have been
“dephlogisticated air.” liberating phlogiston. In respiration, too radical—and in 1780, he
moved to Birmingham. Here
Priestley isolated several other oxygen absorbed from the air
he joined the Lunar Society,
gases at about this time, but then reacts with glucose and releases
an informal but influential
went on a European tour, and did carbon dioxide, water, and energy. group of freethinkers,
not publish his results until late the He named the new gas oxygène, or engineers, and industrialists.
following year. Swedish chemist “acid-maker,” when he discovered Priestley’s support for the
Carl Scheele had prepared oxygen that it reacts with some materials— French Revolution made him
two years before Priestley, but did such as sulfur, phosphorus, and unpopular. In 1791, his house
nitrogen—to make acids. and laboratory were burned
This led many scientists to down, forcing him to move to
abandon phlogiston, but Priestley, London and then to America.
though a great experimenter, clung He settled in Pennsylvania,
to the old theory to explain his and died there in 1804.
discoveries and made little further
contribution to chemistry. ■ Key works
IN NATURE, NOTHING IS
CREATED, NOTHING IS LOST,
EVERYTHING CHANGES
ANTOINE LAVOISIER (1743–1794)
F
rench chemist Antoine combustion, demolished the theory
IN CONTEXT Lavoisier brought a new of a fire element called phlogiston.
level of precision to science, For the past century, scientists had
BRANCH
not least by naming oxygen and thought inflammable substances
Chemistry
quantifying its role in combustion. contained phlogiston and released
BEFORE By taking careful measurements it when they burned. The theory
1667 German alchemist of mass in the chemical reactions explained why substances such as
Johann Joachim Becher that occur during combustion, wood lost mass on burning, but not
proposes that things are made he demonstrated the conservation why others, such as magnesium,
to burn by a fire element. of mass—the principle that, in a gained mass on burning. Lavoisier’s
reaction, the total mass of all the careful measurements showed that
1703 German chemist Georg substances taking part is the same oxygen was the key, in a process
Stahl renames it phlogiston. as the total mass of all its products. during which nothing was added or
1772 Swedish chemist Lavoisier heated various lost, but all was transformed. ■
Carl-Wilhelm Scheele discovers substances in sealed containers
“fire air” (later called oxygen) and found that the mass a metal
but does not publish his gained when it was heated was
exactly equal to the mass of air lost.
findings until 1777.
He also found that burning stopped
1774 Joseph Priestley isolates when the “pure” part of the air
“dephlogisticated air” (later (oxygen) had all gone. The air that I consider nature a vast
called oxygen) and tells remained (mostly nitrogen) did not chemical laboratory in which
Lavoisier about his findings. support combustion. He realized all kinds of composition and
that combustion therefore involved decompositions are formed.
AFTER a combination of heat, fuel (the Antoine Lavoisier
1783 Lavoisier confirms his burning material), and oxygen.
ideas on combustion with Published in 1778, Lavoisier’s
experiments on hydrogen, results not only demonstrated the
oxygen, and water. conservation of mass, but also,
1789 Lavoisier’s Elementary by identifying oxygen’s role in
Treatise on Chemistry names
See also: Joseph Black 76–77 ■ Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■
33 elements.
Joseph Priestley 82–83 ■ Jan Ingenhousz 85 ■ John Dalton 112–13
EXPANDING HORIZONS 85
THE MASS OF A
PLANT COMES
FROM THE AIR
JAN INGENHOUSZ (1730–1799)
I
n the 1770s, Dutch scientist Jan
IN CONTEXT Ingenhousz set out to discover
why plants, as earlier scientists
BRANCH
had noticed, put on weight. He went
Biology
to England and did his research at
BEFORE Bowood House—where Joseph
1640s Flemish chemist Jan Priestley discovered oxygen in
Baptista van Helmont deduces 1774—and was about to find the
that a potted tree gains weight keys to photosynthesis: sunlight
by absorbing water from soil. and oxygen. Pondweed bubbles at night show
respiration as plants convert glucose
1699 English naturalist John Bubbling weeds into energy, absorbing oxygen and
Woodward shows that water is Ingenhousz had read how plants in releasing carbon dioxide.
both taken in and given off by water produce bubbles of gas, but
plants, so their growth needs the bubbles’ precise composition carbon dioxide, was at least partly
another source of matter. and origin were unclear. In a series the source of a plant’s increased
1754 Swiss naturalist Charles of experiments, he saw that sunlit organic matter—that is, its extra
leaves gave off more bubbles mass came from air.
Bonnet notices that plant
than leaves in the dark. He collected As we now know, plants make
leaves produce bubbles of air
the gas produced only in sunlight, their food by photosynthesis—
under water when illuminated.
and found that it re-lit a glowing converting energy from sunlight into
AFTER splint—this was oxygen. The gas glucose by reacting the water and
1796 Swiss botanist Jean given off by plants in the dark put out carbon dioxide that plants absorb,
Sénébier shows that it is the a flame—this was carbon dioxide. and releasing oxygen as waste. As a
green parts in plants that Ingenhousz knew that plants put result, plants supply both the oxygen
release oxygen and absorb on weight with little change in the that is vital to life, and—as food for
carbon dioxide. weight of the soil they grew from. others—the energy. In a reverse
In 1779, he correctly reasoned that process called respiration, plants
1882 German scientist gas exchange with the atmosphere, use the glucose as food and release
Théodore Engelman pinpoints especially the absorption of the gas carbon dioxide, day and night. ■
chloroplasts as the oxygen-
making parts in plant cells. See also: Joseph Black 76–77 ■ Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■
DISCOVERING
NEW PLANETS
WILLIAM HERSCHEL (1738–1822)
IN CONTEXT
Better observations showed
BRANCH New telescopes allowed a new planet in
Astronomy for more detailed mapping orbit around the
of the skies. Sun—Uranus.
BEFORE
Early 1600s The lens-based
refracting telescope is
invented, but mirror-based
telescopes are not developed Uranus’s orbit was
Using Newton’s laws, it
until the 1660s, by Isaac was possible to calculate irregular, suggesting that
Newton and others. where to look for the it was being pulled
new planet. by the gravity of
1774 French observer another planet.
Charles Messier publishes his
astronomical survey, inspiring
Herschel to begin work on a
survey of his own.
Neptune was discovered.
AFTER
1846 Unexplained changes to
the orbit of Uranus lead French
mathematician Urbain Le
I
n 1781, German scientist through the construction of
Verrier to predict the existence William Herschel identified reflecting telescopes that used
and position of an eighth the first new planet to be seen mirrors rather than lenses to gather
planet—Neptune. since ancient times, although light, avoiding many of the problems
1930 US astronomer Clyde Herschel himself initially thought it associated with lenses at the time.
Tombaugh discovers Pluto, was a comet. His discovery would This was the age of the first great
also lead to the discovery of another astronomical surveys, as astronomers
which is initially recognized as
planet as a result of predictions scoured the sky and identified a
a ninth planet, but now seen
based on Newton’s laws. wide variety of “nonstellar”
as the brightest member of the
By the late 18th century, objects—star clusters and nebulae
Kuiper Belt of small icy worlds. astronomical instruments had that looked like amorphous clouds
advanced significantly—not least of gas or dense balls of light.
EXPANDING HORIZONS 87
See also: Ole Rømer 58–59 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Nevil Maskelyne 102–03 ■ Geoffrey Marcy 327
THE DIMINUTION
OF THE VELOCITY OF
LIGHT
JOHN MICHELL (1724–1793)
IN CONTEXT
Newton shows that If light is affected
BRANCH by gravity, a massive
the gravitational
Cosmology attraction of an object enough object will have
is proportional such a strong gravitational
BEFORE field that no light will be
1686 Isaac Newton formulates to its mass.
able to escape it.
his law of universal gravitation,
in which the strength of
the gravitational attraction
between objects is
proportional to their masses. Einstein explains
gravity as a distortion The velocity
AFTER of space-time, meaning of light will appear
1796 Pierre-Simon Laplace that massless light is to diminish.
independently theorizes about affected by gravity.
the possibility of black holes.
1915 Albert Einstein shows
that gravity is a warping of the
I
n a 1783 letter to Henry proportion of 500 to 1, a body falling
space-time continuum, which Cavendish at the Royal Society, from an infinite height toward it
is why massless light photons British polymath John Michell would have acquired at its surface
are affected by gravity. set out his thoughts on the effect of a greater velocity than that of light,
gravity. The letter was rediscovered & consequently, supposing light
1916 Karl Schwarzschild
in the 1970s and found to contain to be attracted by the same force…
proposes the event horizon,
a remarkable description of black all light emitted from such a body
beyond which no data can be holes. Newton’s law of gravity states would be made to return towards
received about a black hole. that an object’s gravitational pull it.” In 1796, French mathematician
1974 Stephen Hawking increases with its mass. Michell Pierre-Simon Laplace came up with
predicts that quantum effects considered what might happen to a similar idea in his Exposition du
at the event horizon will emit light if it is affected by gravity. He Système du Monde.
infrared radiation. wrote: “If the semidiameter of a However, the idea of a black
sphere of the same density with the hole would lie dormant until Albert
sun were to exceed the sun in the Einstein’s 1915 paper on general
EXPANDING HORIZONS 89
See also: Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar 248 ■
F
or centuries, philosophers
IN CONTEXT had wondered at the
terrifying power of A dead frog’s legs twitch
BRANCH
lightning, and also at the way in when connected to two
Physics
which sparks can be drawn from different pieces of metal.
BEFORE solids such as amber when rubbed
1754 Benjamin Franklin with a silk cloth. The Greek word
proves that lightning is natural for amber was “electron,” and the
electricity with his famous sparking phenomenon became
kite experiment. known as static electricity.
In an experiment of 1754,
1767 Joseph Priestley Benjamin Franklin flew a kite When the two metals
publishes a comprehensive into a thunderstorm and showed are touched to the tongue,
account of static electricity. that these two phenomena were it produces a curious
closely related. When he saw sensation…
1780 Luigi Galvani conducts sparks flying from a brass key tied
his frog’s legs experiments to the kite’s line, he proved that
with “animal electricity.” the clouds were electrified, and
AFTER that lightning is also a form of
1800 English chemists William electricity. Franklin’s work inspired
Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle Joseph Priestley to publish a
comprehensive work on The History This electrical force
use a Voltaic pile to split water must come from the two
and Present State of Electricity in
into its two elements, oxygen different metals attached
1767. But it was the Italian Luigi
and hydrogen. to the frog’s leg.
Galvani, a lecturer in anatomy at
1807 Humphry Davy isolates the University of Bologna, who, in
the elements potassium and 1780, took the first major steps
sodium using electricity. toward understanding electricity
when he noticed a frog’s leg twitch.
1820 Hans Christian Ørsted Galvani was investigating a
reveals the link between theory that animals are driven by The force can be
magnetism and electricity. “animal electricity,” whatever that multiplied by connecting
was, and was dissecting frogs to a series of these metals
look for evidence of this. He noticed in a column.
that if there was a machine nearby
generating static electricity, a frog’s
leg lying on the bench suddenly
twitched, even though the frog Volta’s breakthrough
was long dead. The same thing Galvani’s younger colleague
happened when a frog’s leg was Alessandro Volta, a professor of
hung on a brass hook that came natural philosophy, was intrigued
into contact with an iron fence. by Galvani’s observations and was
Galvani believed this evidence initially convinced by his theory.
supported his belief that electricity Volta himself had a notable
was coming from the frog itself. background in electricity
experiments. In 1775, he had
invented the “electrophorus,”
Luigi Galvani is shown here
conducting his famous frog’s legs a device that provided an
experiment. He believed that animals instant source of electricity for an
were driven by an electrical force, experiment (the modern equivalent
which he called “animal electricity.” is a capacitor). It consisted of a
EXPANDING HORIZONS 93
See also: Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■ Benjamin Franklin 81 ■ Joseph Priestley 82–83 ■ Humphry Davy 114 ■
resin disk rubbed with cat fur zinc, and so on, until he had a were connected by a piece of wire,
to give it a static electric charge. column, or stack. In other words, and enough to give him a mild
Each time a metal disk was placed he created a pile, or “battery.” The electric shock.
over the resin, the charge was point of the salty wet cardboard
transferred, electrifying the was to carry the electricity without The news spreads
metal disk. letting the metals on either side of Volta made his discovery in
Volta stated that Galvani’s it come into contact with each other. 1799, and news spread rapidly.
animal electricity was “among The result was, literally, He demonstrated the effect to
the demonstrated truths.” But he electrifying. Volta’s crude battery Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801, but
soon began to have his doubts. probably produced only a few volts more importantly, in March 1800,
He came to the conclusion that (the electrical unit named after he had reported his results in a
the electricity causing the frog’s him), but that was enough to make long letter to Sir Joseph Banks,
legs to twitch on the hook came a tiny spark when the two ends president of the Royal Society in ❯❯
from the touching of the two
different metals (the brass and the
This diagram of a voltaic
iron). He published his ideas in pile shows the copper and
1792 and 1793, and began zinc disks separated by
investigating the phenomenon. cardboard soaked in salt
Volta found that a single water. Volta’s original piles
junction of two different metals contained an additional
did not produce much electricity, zinc disk at the bottom,
and an additional copper
although there was enough for him
disk at the top. These
to feel a curious sensation with were later shown to be
his tongue. But then he had the Copper
disk unnecessary to produce
brilliant idea of multiplying the the electrical current.
effect by making a series of such
junctions connected by salt water.
He took a small disk of copper, then
placed a disk of zinc on top, then a Zinc disk
piece of cardboard soaked in salt
water, then another disk of copper,
zinc, salty wet cardboard, copper,
Cardboard disk
Individual
Each metal has a certain element
power, which is different from
metal to metal, of setting the
electric fluid in motion.
Alessandro Volta
94 ALESSANDRO VOLTA
Britain. The letter was titled plate of silver followed immediately pieces (not more) shocks which
“On the electricity excited by by another of zinc…I continue affect the whole finger with
the mere Contact of conducting to form…a column as high as considerable pain.” He then
Substances of different Kinds,” and possible without any danger of describes a more elaborate
in it Volta describes his apparatus: its falling.” apparatus, consisting of a series
“I place then horizontally, on a Without a buzzer or a of cups or drinking glasses, each
table or any other stand, one of the semiconductor to detect voltage, containing salt water, arranged
metallic pieces, for example one of Volta used his body as a detector, in a line or a circle. Each pair is
silver, and over the first I adapt one and did not seem to mind getting connected by a piece of metal that
of zinc; on the second I place one of electric shocks: “I receive from a dips into the liquid in each cup.
the moistened discs, then another column formed of twenty pairs of One end of this metal is silver, the
other zinc, and these metals may
be soldered together or connected
by a wire of any metal, provided
that only the silver dips into the
liquid in one cup, and only the zinc
into the next. He explains
that this is in some ways more
convenient than the solid pile,
albeit more cumbersome.
Volta describes in detail the
various unpleasant sensations
that result from putting one hand
in the bowl at one end of the chain
and touching a wire attached to
the other end to the forehead,
eyelid, or tip of the nose: “I feel
nothing for some moments;
afterward, however, there begins at
the part applied to the end of the
wire, another sensation, which is a
sharp pain (without shock), limited
precisely to the point of contact, a
quivering, not only continued, but
which always goes on increasing
to such a degree, that in a little
time it becomes insupportable,
and does not cease till the circle
is interrupted.”
Battery mania
That his letter reached Banks
at all is surprising, since the
Napoleonic wars were in progress,
Reclassifying metals
In addition to kick-starting the
The language of experiment is
study of current electricity, and
more authoritative than any thereby not only creating a new
reasoning: facts can destroy branch of physics but rapidly
our ratiocination [logical advancing the development of
argument]—not vice versa. modern technology, Volta’s pile
Alessandro Volta led to a whole new chemical
classification of metals, for he tried
a variety of pairs of metals in his Alessandro Volta
pile, and found that some worked
much better than others. Silver Born in 1745 in Como, northern
with zinc made an excellent Italy, Alessandro Giuseppe
Antonio Anastasio Volta was
combination, as did copper with
brought up in an aristocratic,
but Banks immediately spread tin, but if he tried silver and silver, religious family who hoped
the word to anyone who might be or tin and tin, he got no electricity that he would become a priest.
interested. Within weeks, people at all; the metals had to be Instead he became interested
all over Britain were making different. He showed that metals in static electricity, and, in
electric batteries and investigating could be arranged in a sequence 1775, he made an improved
the properties of current electricity. such that each became positive device for generating it, called
Before 1800, scientists had had to when placed in contact with the the “electrophorus.” He
work with static electricity, which next one below it in the series. This discovered methane in the
is difficult and unrewarding. Volta’s electrochemical series has been atmosphere at Lake Maggiore
invention allowed them to find out invaluable to chemists ever since. in 1776, and investigated its
how a range of materials—liquids, combustion by the novel
solids, and gases—react to a live Who was right? method of igniting it with
electrical current. An ironic aspect of this story is an electrical spark inside
a sealed glass vessel.
Among the first to work with that Volta started investigating the
In 1779, Volta was
Volta’s discovery were William touching of different metals only
appointed professor of
Nicholson, Anthony Carlisle, and because he doubted Galvani’s physics at the University of
William Cruickshank, who, in May hypothesis. Yet Galvani was not Pavia, a post he held for 40
1800, made their own “pile of entirely wrong—our nerves do years. Toward the end of his
thirty-six half crowns with the indeed work by sending electrical life, he pioneered the remotely
correspondent pieces of zinc and impulses around the body—while operated pistol, whereby
pasteboard” and passed the current Volta himself did not get his theory an electric current traveled
through platinum wires into a tube entirely right. He believed that 30 miles (50 km) from Como
filled with water. The bubbles of the electricity arose from just the to Milan and fired a pistol.
gas that appeared were identified touching together of two different This was the forerunner of
as two parts of hydrogen and one metals, whereas Humphry Davy the telegraph, which uses
part of oxygen. Henry Cavendish later showed that something could electricity to communicate.
had shown that the formula of not come from nothing. When The unit of electrical potential,
water is H2O, but this was the first electricity is being generated, the volt, is named after him.
time anyone had split water into its something else must be consumed.
Key work
separate elements. Davy suggested that there was a
Volta’s pile was the ancestor chemical reaction going on, and 1769 On the Attractive Force
of all modern batteries, used in this led him to further important of Electrical Fire
everything from hearing aids to discoveries about electricity. ■
NO VESTIGE OF A
BEGINNING
AND NO PROSPECT OF
AN END
JAMES HUTTON (1726 –1797)
98 JAMES HUTTON
F
or millennia, human
IN CONTEXT cultures have pondered
the age of Earth. Before
BRANCH
the advent of modern science,
Geology
estimates were based on beliefs
BEFORE rather than evidence. It was not All the years from the
10th century Al-Biruni uses until the 17th century that a creation of the world amount
fossil evidence to argue that growing understanding of Earth’s to a total of 5,698 years.
land must once have been geology provided the means to Theophilus of Antioch
under the sea. determine the planet’s age.
older, since eons of time would its parts,” with a new world activity. Today, this is known as
be needed for chalk mountains to constantly reshaped and recycled the geological cycle. From this
build up from the remains of marine from the ruins of the old. evidence, Hutton declared that
fossils, but he did not want to Hutton formulated his Earth- all continents are formed from
publish this view without evidence. machine theory before he had found materials derived from previous
the supporting evidence, but, in continents by the same processes,
Secrets of the rocks 1787, he found the “unconformities” and that these processes still
In Scotland, quite a different he was looking for—breaks in the operate today. Famously, he wrote
approach to the problem of Earth’s continuity of sedimentary rocks. that “the result, therefore, of this
age was being taken by James He saw that much of the land had present enquiry is, that we find
Hutton, one of the preeminent once been seabed, where layers no vestige of a beginning—no
natural philosophers of the Scottish of sediment had been laid down and prospect of an end.”
Enlightenment. Hutton was a compressed. In many places these The popularization of Hutton’s
pioneer of geological fieldwork, and layers had been pushed upward, so ideas about “deep time” was
used field evidence to demonstrate that they were above sea level, and primarily due to John Playfair, a
his arguments to the Royal Society often distorted, so that they were Scottish scientist who published
of Edinburgh in 1785. not horizontal. He repeatedly found Hutton’s observations in an
Hutton was impressed by that rock material from the illustrated book, and to British
the apparent continuity of the truncated upper boundary of older geologist Charles Lyell, who
processes by which landscape was strata was incorporated into the transformed Hutton’s ideas into a
denuded and its debris deposited base of the younger rocks above. system called uniformitarianism.
into the sea. And yet all these Such unconformities showed This held that the laws of nature ❯❯
processes did not lead to loss of the that there had been many episodes
land surface, as might be expected. in Earth’s history when the
In 1770, Hutton built a house
Perhaps thinking of the famous sequence of erosion, transportation, overlooking Salisbury Crags in
steam engine built by his friend and deposition of rock debris had Edinburgh, Scotland. Among the
James Watt, Hutton saw Earth as been repeated, and when rock crags he found evidence of volcanic
“a material machine moving in all strata had been moved by volcanic penetration through sedimentary rock.
100 JAMES HUTTON
have always been the same, and took Earth’s initial temperature at
therefore the clues to the past lie 7,000°F (3,900°C) and applied the
in the present. However, while observation that temperature
Hutton’s insights concerning the increases as you go downward from
antiquity of the planet rang true the surface—by about 1°F (0.5°C)
to geologists, there was still no The mind seemed to over every 50 ft (15 m) or so. From
satisfactory method of determining grow giddy by looking so this, Kelvin calculated that it had
just how old the planet was. far into the abyss of time. taken 98 million years for Earth to
John Playfair cool to its present state, which he
An experimental approach later reduced to 40 million years.
Since the end of the 18th century,
scientists had recognized that A radioactive “clock”
Earth’s crust comprises successive Such was Kelvin’s prestige that
layers of sedimentary strata. his measure was accepted by most
Geological mapping of these strata scientists. Geologists, however,
revealed that cumulatively they are observed that the processes of were left feeling that 40 million
very thick and many contain the erosion and deposition of the rock years was simply not long enough
fossil remains of the organisms materials that make up such strata for the observed rates of geological
that lived in their respective were very slow—estimated to be processes, accumulated deposits,
depositional environments. By a few inches (centimeters) every and history. However, they
the 1850s, the geological column 100 years. In 1858, Charles Darwin had no scientific method with
of strata (also known as the made a somewhat ill-judged foray which to contradict Kelvin.
stratigraphic column) had been into the debate when he estimated In the 1890s, the discovery
more or less carved up into some that it had taken some 300 million of naturally occurring radioactive
eight named systems of strata and years for erosion to cut through the elements in some of Earth’s
fossils, each of which represented Tertiary and Cretaceous period minerals and rocks provided the
a period of geological time. rocks of the Weald in southern key that would resolve the impasse
Geologists were impressed by England. In 1860, John Phillips, between Kelvin and the geologists,
the overall thickness of the strata, a geologist at Oxford University, since the rate at which atoms
estimated to be 16–70 miles estimated that Earth is about decay makes a reliable timer.
(25–112 km) thick. They had 96 million years old. In 1903, Ernest Rutherford
But in 1862, such geological predicted rates of radioactive
calculations were scorned by the decay and suggested that
eminent Scottish physicist William radioactivity might be used as
Thomson (Lord Kelvin) for being a “clock” to date minerals and
unscientific. Kelvin was a strict the rocks that contain them.
empiricist and argued that he In 1905, Rutherford obtained
could use physics to determine the very first radiometric dates
an accurate age for Earth, which of formation for a mineral from
he thought was constrained by Glastonbury, Connecticut: 497–500
the age of the Sun. Understanding million years. He warned that these
of Earth’s rocks, their melting were minimum dates. In 1907,
points and conductivity, had vastly American radiochemist Bertram
improved since Buffon’s day. Kelvin Boltwood improved on Rutherford’s
technique to produce the first
radiometric dates of minerals in
Lord Kelvin pronounced the world to rocks with a known geological
be 40 million years old in 1897, the year
in which radioactivity was discovered.
context. These included a
He did not know that radioactive decay 2.2-billion-year-old rock from
in Earth’s crust provides heat that Sri Lanka, whose age increased
greatly slows the rate of cooling. previous estimates by an order
EXPANDING HORIZONS 101
An uncomformity is a buried surface separating two rock
strata of different ages. This diagram shows an angular
unconformity, similar to those discovered by James Hutton
on the east coast of Scotland. Here, layers of rock strata have
been tilted by volcanic activity or movements in Earth’s
crust, producing an angular discordance with overlying,
younger layers.
James Hutton
Angular
discordance Born in 1726 to a respected
merchant in Edinburgh,
Scotland, James Hutton
studied humanities at
Edinburgh University. He
Older, tilted became interested in
rock strata chemistry and then medicine,
but did not practice as a
doctor. Instead, he studied
the new agrarian techniques
of magnitude. By 1946, British radiometric age of 4.56 billion being used in East Anglia,
geologist Arthur Holmes had made years for granite and basalt igneous England, where his exposure
some isotope measurements from rocks in Earth’s crust, he concluded to soils and the rocks they
lead-bearing rocks from Greenland, that the similarity of dates was were derived from led to an
which gave an age of 3.015 billion indicative of the age of Earth’s interest in geology. This took
years. This was one of the first formation. By 1956, he had made him on field expeditions all
reliable minimum ages for Earth. further measurements, which over England and Scotland.
Returning to Edinburgh
Holmes went on to estimate the increased his confidence in the
in 1768, Hutton became
age of the uranium from which the accuracy of the date of 4.55 billion
acquainted with some of
lead was derived, obtaining a date years. This remains the figure the major figures of the
of 4.46 billion years, but he thought accepted by scientists today. ■ Scottish Enlightenment,
that must be the age of the gas including the engineer
cloud from which Earth formed. James Watt and the moral
Finally, in 1953, American philosopher Adam Smith.
geochemist Clair Patterson Over the next 20 years, Hutton
obtained the first generally developed his famous theory
accepted radiometric age of 4.55 of Earth’s age and discussed it
billion years for Earth’s formation. The past history of our with his friends before finally
There are no known minerals or globe must be explained by publishing a long outline in
rocks dating from Earth’s origin, what can be seen to be 1788 and a much longer book
but many meteorites are thought happening now. in 1795. He died in 1797.
to originate from the same event James Hutton
Key work
in the solar system. Patterson
calculated the radiometric date for 1795 Theory of the Earth
lead minerals in the Canyon Diablo with Proofs and Illustrations
meteorite at 4.51 billion years.
Comparing it with the average
102
THE ATTRACTION
OF MOUNTAINS
NEVIL MASKELYNE (1732–1811)
IN CONTEXT
The plumb line
BRANCH The gravitational mass will hang at an angle that
Earth science and physics of a mountain should depends on the relative
attract a plumb bob. density of the mountain
BEFORE and Earth.
1687 Isaac Newton publishes
the Principia, in which he
suggests experiments for
calculating Earth’s density.
1692 In an effort to explain Measuring the deviation
Earth’s magnetic field, should allow calculation
Edmond Halley suggests that of Earth’s mass.
the planet consists of three
concentric hollow spheres.
1738 Pierre Bouguer attempts
I
n the 17th century, Isaac However, Newton himself
Newton’s experiment, without
Newton had suggested dismissed the idea because
success, on Chimborazo, a
methods for “weighing the he thought the deviation would
volcano in Ecuador.
Earth”—or calculating Earth’s be too small to be measured
AFTER density. One of these involved with the instruments of the day.
1798 Henry Cavendish measuring the angle of a plumb In 1738, Pierre Bouguer, a
uses a different method to line on each side of a mountain to French astronomer, attempted
calculate the density of find out how far the gravitational the experiment on the slopes of
Earth, and finds it to be attraction of the mountain pulled Chimborazo in Ecuador. Weather
340 lb/ft3 (5,448 kg/m3). it from the vertical. This deviation and altitude caused problems,
could be measured by comparing however, and Bouguer did not think
1854 George Airy figures the plumb line to a vertical his measurements were accurate.
out Earth’s density using calculated using astronomical In 1772, Nevil Maskelyne
pendulums in a mine. methods. If the density and proposed to the Royal Society in
volume of the mountain could be London that the experiment could
ascertained, then, by extension, be conducted in Britain. The
so could the density of Earth. Society agreed, and sent a surveyor
EXPANDING HORIZONS 103
See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■ John Michell 88–89
Nevil Maskelyne Born in London in 1732, Nevil much time trying to solve the
Maskelyne became interested problem of measuring longitude
in astronomy at school. After while at sea—a major issue of
graduating from Cambridge the day. His method involved
University and being ordained a carefully measuring the
priest, he became a member of distance between the Moon
the Royal Society in 1758, and and a given star, and consulting
was the Astronomer Royal from published tables.
1765 until his death.
In 1761, the Royal Society sent Key works
Maskelyne to the Atlantic island of
St. Helena to observe the transit 1764 Astronomical Observations
of Venus. Measurements taken Made at the Island of St Helena
as the planet passed across the 1775 An Account of
Sun’s disk allowed astronomers to Observations Made on
calculate the distance between the Mountain Schehallien
Earth and the Sun. He also spent for Finding its Attraction
104
I
n the mid-18th century, Swedish and female parts, and that in these,
IN CONTEXT botanist Carl Linnaeus realized the parts mature at different times,
that flower parts parallel the preventing self-fertilization.
BRANCH
reproductive organs of animals. Published in 1793, Sprengel’s
Biology
Forty years later, a German work was largely underappreciated
BEFORE botanist called Christian Sprengel during his lifetime. However,
1694 German botanist figured out how insects played a it was finally given due credit
Rudolph Camerarius shows major role in the pollination, and when Charles Darwin used it as
that flowers carry a plant’s so fertilization, of flowering plants. a springboard for his own studies
reproductive parts. on the coevolution of flowering
Mutual benefit plants and the particular species
1753 Carl Linnaeus publishes In the summer of 1787, Sprengel of insects that pollinate them and
Species Plantarum, devising a noticed insects visiting open ensure cross-fertilization—to their
classification system guided flowers to feed on the nectar inside. mutual benefit. ■
by flower structure. He began to wonder whether the
nectar was being “advertised”
1760s Josef Gottlieb Kölreuter, by the petals’ special color and
a German botanist, proves pattern, and deduced that the
that pollen grains are needed insects were being enticed onto
to fertilize a flower. the flowers so that pollen from the
AFTER stamen (male part) of one flower
1831 Scottish botanist Robert stuck to the insect and was carried
to the pistil (female part) of another
Brown describes how pollen
flower. The insect’s reward was a
grains germinate on a flower’s
drink of energy-rich nectar.
stigma (female part). Sprengel discovered that some
A honeybee lands on the sexual parts
1862 Charles Darwin flowering plants, if they lack color displayed at the center of these brightly
publishes Fertilisation of and scent, rely on wind to disperse colored petals. Honeybees account for
Orchids, a detailed study their pollen. He also observed that 80 percent of all insect pollination and
of the relationship between many flowers contain both male pollinate a third of all food crops.
flowers and pollinating insects.
See also: Carl Linnaeus 74–75 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49 ■
ELEMENTS
ALWAYS COMBINE
THE SAME WAY
JOSEPH PROUST (1754–1836)
T
he Law of Definite
IN CONTEXT Proportions, published
by French chemist Joseph
BRANCH
Proust in 1794, shows that no
Chemistry
matter how elements combine, the
BEFORE proportions of each element in a Iron, like many other metals,
c.400 BCE The Greek thinker compound are always precisely the is subject to the law of nature
Democritus proposes that the same. This theory was one of the which presides at every
world is ultimately made of tiny fundamental ideas about elements
true combination, that
indivisible particles—atoms. that emerged at this period to form
the basis of modern chemistry.
is to say, that it unites
1759 English chemist Robert In making his discovery, Proust
with two constant
Dossie argues that substances was following a trend in French proportions of oxygen.
combine when they are in the chemistry, pioneered by Antoine Joseph Proust
right proportion, which he calls Lavoisier, which advocated careful
the “saturation proportion.” measurement of weights, ratios,
and percentages. Proust studied
1787 Antoine Lavoisier and the percentages in which metals
Claude Louis Berthollet devise combined with oxygen in metal
the modern system of naming oxides. He concluded that when
chemical compounds. metal oxides formed, the proportion John Dalton’s new atomic theory of
AFTER of metal and oxygen was constant. elements—that elements are each
If the same metal combined with made of their own unique atoms. If
1805 John Dalton shows that
oxygen in a different proportion, it a compound is always made from
elements are made up of atoms
formed a different compound with the same combination of atoms,
of a particular mass, which different properties. Proust’s argument that elements
combine to make compounds. Not everyone agreed with always combine in fixed
1811 Italian chemist Amedeo Proust, but in 1811, the Swedish proportions must be true. This is
Avogadro makes a distinction chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius now accepted as one of the key
between atoms and the realized that Proust’s theory fit laws of chemistry. ■
molecules that are formed by
atoms to make compounds. See also: Henry Cavendish 78–79 ■ Antoine Lavoisier 84 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■
John Dalton introduces the Hans Christian Ørsted Louis Agassiz German explorer
idea of atomic weights. discovers that when a describes Alexander von
current is switched on, an ice age. Humboldt introduces
a nearby compass the idea of ecology.
needle flickers.
T
he invention of the electric William Herschel used a prism to of binary stars using the idea that
battery in 1799 opened separate the various colors of light is a wave with a spectrum
up whole new fields of sunlight to study their of various frequencies, laying out
scientific research. In Denmark, temperatures; he found that his the phenomenon now known as the
Hans Christian Ørsted accidentally thermometer showed a higher Doppler effect. Meanwhile, in Paris,
discovered a connection between temperature beyond the red end of French physicists Hippolyte Fizeau
electricity and magnetism. At the visible spectrum. Herschel had and Léon Foucault measured the
London’s Royal Institution, stumbled upon infrared radiation, speed of light, and showed that it
Michael Faraday imagined the and ultraviolet radiation was travels more slowly through water
shapes of magnetic fields, and discovered the following year— than through air.
invented the world’s first electric proving that there was more to the
motor. In Scotland, James Clerk spectrum than visible light. In a Chemical changes
Maxwell picked up Faraday’s similar accidental way, Wilhelm British meteorologist John Dalton
ideas and figured out the complex Röntgen later discovered X-rays in tentatively suggested that atomic
mathematics of electromagnetism. his laboratory in Germany. British weights might be a useful concept
physician Thomas Young devised for chemists and ventured to
Seeing the invisible a clever double-slit experiment to estimate a few of them. Fifteen
Invisible forms of electromagnetic determine whether light is really a years later, Swedish chemist Jöns
waves were discovered before wave or a particle. His discovery Jakob Berzelius drew up a much
they were understood or the laws of wavelike interference appeared more complete list of atomic
governing their behavior were to settle the argument. In Prague, weights. His student, the German
figured out. Working in Bath, Austrian physicist Christian chemist Friedrich Wöhler, turned
Britain, German astronomer Doppler explained the color an inorganic salt into an organic
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 109
Charles Darwin
outlines his theory of August Kekulé
evolution in On the describes the
Origin of Species by chemical structure Dmitri Mendeleev lays
Means of Natural of the benzene out the periodic table Wilhelm Röntgen
Selection. molecule. of the elements. discovers X-rays.
Louis Pasteur disproves Gregor Mendel James Clerk Maxwell Marie Curie
spontaneous publishes his work on publishes his laws of isolates radioactive
generation of life. the genetics of peas. electromagnetism. polonium.
compound, and so disproved the Mary Anning documented a series and Charles Darwin both hit on
idea that life chemistry operated of fossils of extinct creatures she the idea of evolution by means
according to separate rules. In had dug out of the cliffs. Soon of natural selection. T. H. Huxley
Paris, Louis Pasteur further showed afterward, Richard Owen coined demonstrated that birds may well
that life cannot be generated the word “dinosaurs” to describe have evolved from dinosaurs, and
spontaneously. Inspiration for new the “terrible lizards” that had once the evidence to support evolution
ideas came from various quarters. roamed the planet. Swiss geologist mounted. Meanwhile, a German-
The structure of the benzene Louis Agassiz suggested that large speaking Silesian friar named
molecule came to German chemist parts of Earth had once been Gregor Mendel sorted out the
August Kekulé as he drifted off covered with ice, further expanding basic laws of genetics by studying
to sleep, while Russian chemist the idea that Earth has experienced thousands of pea plants. Mendel’s
Dmitri Mendeleev used a pack of very different conditions through its work would be neglected for some
cards to crack the problem of the history. Alexander von Humboldt decades, but its rediscovery would
periodic table of the elements. used cross-disciplinary insights to provide the genetic mechanism
Marie (Skłodowska) Curie isolated uncover the connections in nature for natural selection.
polonium and radium, and became and established the study of In 1900, British physicist
the only person to win Nobel prizes ecology. In France, Jean-Baptiste Lord Kelvin is alleged to have
in both Chemistry and Physics. Lamarck outlined a theory of said “There is nothing new to be
evolution, mistakenly believing discovered in physics now. All
Clues from the past that the passing on of acquired that remains is more and more
The century saw nothing short of a characteristics was its driving precise measurement.” Little can
revolution in the understanding of force. Then, in the 1850s, British he have suspected what shocks
life. On the south coast of England, naturalists Alfred Russel Wallace were just around the corner. ■
110
THE EXPERIMENTS
MAY BE REPEATED
WITH GREAT EASE
WHEN THE SUN
THOMAS YOUNG (1773–1829)
SHINES
A
t the turn of the 19th
IN CONTEXT century, scientific opinion
BRANCH If light is made of particles was divided over the
that travel in straight question of the nature of light. Isaac
Physics lines, then this can be proved Newton had argued that a beam
BEFORE in a simple experiment… of light is made of countless,
1678 Christiaan Huygens first tiny, fast-moving “corpuscles”
proposes that light travels as (particles). If light consists of these
waves. He publishes his bulletlike corpuscles, he said, this
Treatise on Light in 1690. would explain why light travels in
straight lines and casts shadows.
1704 In his book Opticks, But Newton’s corpuscles did not
Shine a light through
Isaac Newton suggests that two adjacent slits onto a explain why light refracts (bends
light comprises streams of screen. Two pools of light when it enters glass) or splits into
particles, or “corpuscles.” should be seen on the colors of the rainbow—also
the screen. an effect of refraction. Christiaan
AFTER
Huygens had argued that light
1905 Albert Einstein argues
comprises not particles, but waves.
that light must be thought If light travels as waves, Huygens
of as particles, later called said, it is easy to explain these
photons, as well as waves. effects. However, Newton’s stature
1916 US physicist Robert But instead, it creates was such that most scientists
Andrews Millikan proves interfering patterns of backed the particle theory.
Einstein correct through light and dark, just as water Then, in 1801, British physician
experiment. waves would if water flowed and physicist Thomas Young hit on
through two slits. a design for a simple yet ingenious
1961 Claus Jönsson repeats experiment that would, he believed,
Young’s double-slit experiment settle the question one way or the
with electrons, and shows other. The idea began when Young
that, like light, they can was looking at the patterns of
behave as waves as well light made by a candle shining
as particles. Light must travel as waves. through a mist of fine water
droplets. The pattern showed
colored rings around a bright
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 111
See also: Christiaan Huygens 50–51 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■
ASCERTAINING THE
RELATIVE WEIGHTS OF
ULTIMATE PARTICLES
JOHN DALTON (1766–1844)
IN CONTEXT
Elements combine These fixed ratios must
BRANCH with each other to make depend on the relative
Chemistry compounds in simple weight of the atoms of
fixed ratios. each element.
BEFORE
c.400 BCE Democritus
proposes that the world is
made of indivisible particles.
8th century CE Persian Therefore, the atomic
polymath Jabir ibn Hayyan (or Tables of elements weight of an element
Geber) classifies elements into should be based on can be calculated from
metals and non-metals. the weights of their the weight of each element
ultimate particles. involved in a compound.
1794 Joseph Proust shows that
compounds are always made
of elements combined in the
same proportions.
T
oward the end of the The idea of atoms dates back to
AFTER 18th century, scientists ancient Greece, but it had always
1811 Amedeo Avogadro shows had begun to realize that been assumed that all atoms were
that equal volumes of different the world is made up of a range identical. Dalton’s breakthrough
gases contain equal numbers of basic substances, or chemical was to understand that each
of molecules. elements. But no one was certain element is made from different
what an element was. It was John atoms. He described the atoms that
1869 Dmitri Mendeleev draws Dalton, an English meteorologist, made up the elements then known—
up a periodic table, displaying who, through his study of weather, including hydrogen, oxygen, and
elements by atomic weight. saw that each element is made nitrogen—as “solid, massy, hard,
1897 Through his discovery wholly of its own unique, identical impenetrable, moveable particles.”
of the electron, J. J. Thomson atoms, and it is this special atom Dalton’s ideas originated in
shows that atoms are not the that distinguishes and defines his study of the way in which
smallest possible particle. an element. In developing the air pressure affected how much
atomic theory of elements, Dalton water could be absorbed by air.
established the basis of chemistry. He became convinced that air is
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 113
See also: Joseph Proust 105 ■ Dmitri Mendeleev 174–79
John Dalton Born into a Quaker family in papers for the Society, including
England’s Lake District in 1766, those about his atomic theory.
John Dalton made regular The atomic theory was quickly
observations of the weather from accepted, and Dalton became a
the age of 15. These provided celebrity in his own lifetime—
many key insights, such as that more than 40,000 people
atmospheric moisture turns to rain attended his funeral in
when the air cools. In addition to Manchester in 1844.
his meteorological studies, Dalton
became fascinated by a condition Key works
he and his brother shared: color
blindness. His scientific paper on 1805 Experimental Enquiry into
the subject gained him admission the Proportion of the Several
to the Manchester Literary and Gases or Elastic Fluids,
Philosophical Society, of which Constituting the Atmosphere
he was elected president in 1817. 1808–27 New System of
He wrote hundreds of scientific Chemical Philosophy
114
THE CHEMICAL
EFFECTS PRODUCED
BY ELECTRICITY
HUMPHRY DAVY (1778–1829)
I
n 1800, Alessandro Volta
IN CONTEXT invented the “voltaic pile”—
the world’s first battery, and
BRANCH
soon many other scientists began
Chemistry
to experiment with batteries.
BEFORE English chemist Humphry Davy
1735 Swedish chemist realized that the battery’s electricity
Georges Brandt discovers is produced by a chemical reaction.
cobalt, the first of many new Electric charge flows as the pile’s
metallic elements to be found two different metals (the electrodes)
over the next 100 years. react via the brine-soaked paper
between them. In 1807, Davy found
1772 Italian physician Luigi that he could use the electric
Galvani notices the effect charge from a pile to split chemical
of electricity on a frog and compounds, discovering new
believes electricity is biological. elements, and pioneering a process
that was later called electrolysis. Davy used apparatus similar to
1799 Alessandro Volta shows this in his lectures at London’s Royal
that touching metals produce New metals Institution to show how electrolysis
electricity, and creates the Davy inserted two electrodes into splits water into its two elements,
first battery. hydrogen and oxygen.
dry potassium hydroxide (potash),
AFTER which he moistened by exposing it
to the damp air in his laboratory so the same way and produced the
1834 Davy’s former assistant
that it would conduct electricity. To metal sodium. In 1808, he used
Michael Faraday publishes the
his delight, metallic globules began electrolysis to discover four more
laws of electrolysis. to form on the negatively charged metallic elements—calcium, barium,
1869 Dmitri Mendeleev electrode. The globules were a new strontium, and magnesium—and
arranges the known elements element: the metal potassium. A the metalloid boron. Like electrolysis,
into a periodic table, creating a few weeks later, he electrolyzed their commercial use would prove
group for the soft alkali metals sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in highly valuable. ■
that Davy had been the first
to identify in 1807. See also: Alessandro Volta 90–95 ■ Jöns Jakob Berzelius 119 ■
Hans Christian Ørsted 120 ■ Michael Faraday 121 ■ Dmitri Mendeleev 174–79
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 115
MAPPING THE
ROCKS OF
A NATION
WILLIAM SMITH (1769–1839)
I
n the mid to late 18th century, France, who mapped the geology
IN CONTEXT the need to find fuels and ores of the Paris Basin in 1811, and
to power Europe’s Industrial William Smith in Britain.
BRANCH
Revolution spurred a growing
Geology
interest in producing geological First national map
BEFORE maps. German mineralogists Smith was a self-taught engineer
1669 Nicholas Steno publishes Johann Lehmann and Georg and surveyor who produced the first
the principles of stratigraphy Füchsel produced detailed aerial nationwide geological map in 1815,
that will guide geologists’ views showing topography and showing England, Wales, and part
understanding of rock strata. rock strata. Many subsequent of Scotland. By amassing samples
geological maps did little more than from mines, quarries, cliffs, canals,
1760s In Germany, geologists show the surface distribution of and road and railroad cuttings,
Johann Lehmann and Georg different rock types—until the Smith established the succession
Füchsel make some of the first pioneering work of Georges Cuvier of rock strata, using Steno’s
measured sections and maps and Alexandre Brongniart in principles of stratigraphy and
of geological strata. identifying each stratum by its
1813 English geologist Robert characteristic fossils. He also drew
vertical sections of the succession
Bakewell makes the first
of strata and the geological
geognostic map of rock types
structures into which they had
in England and Wales.
been formed by earth movements.
AFTER Organized fossils are to Over the next few decades, the
1835 The Geological Survey the naturalist as coins first national geological surveys
of Great Britain is founded to to the antiquary. were established, and they set
conduct systematic geological William Smith about methodically mapping their
mapping of the country. entire countries. The correlation of
strata of similar age across national
1878 The first International boundaries was achieved by
Geological Congress is held in international agreement in the
Paris. Congresses have been latter part of the 19th century. ■
held every three to five years
ever since. See also: Nicholas Steno 55 ■ James Hutton 96–101 ■ Mary Anning 116–17 ■
SHE KNOWS TO
WHAT TRIBE THE
BONES BELONG
MARY ANNING (1799–1847)
IN CONTEXT
Fossils are the preserved Fossils have been
BRANCH remains of plants found of large animals
Paleontology and animals. no longer around today.
BEFORE
11th century Persian scholar
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) suggests
that rocks can be formed from
petrified fluids, leading to the In the past, very different animals lived on Earth.
formation of fossils.
1753 Carl Linnaeus includes
fossils in his system of
biological classification.
B
y the end of the 18th did they fit into the classification
century, it was generally systems, and when had they
AFTER
accepted that fossils become extinct? Within the Judeo-
1830 British artist Henry De
were the remains of once living Christian culture of the Western
la Beche paints one of the first organisms that had been petrified world, it was generally thought that
paleo-reconstructions of a as the sediment around them a benevolent God would not have
scene from “deep time.” hardened into rock. Both fossils allowed any of his creations to
1854 Richard Owen and and living organisms had been die out.
Benjamin Waterhouse classified for the first time into
Hawkins make the first a hierarchy of species, genera, Monsters from the abyss
life-size reconstructions of and families by naturalists such Some of the first of these large
extinct plants and animals. as the Swedish taxonomist Carl and distinctive fossil remains were
Linnaeus. However, fossil remains found by the Anning family of fossil
Early 20th century The were still seen in isolation collectors around Lyme Regis on
development of radiometric from their environmental and the coast of southern England.
dating techniques allows biological context. Here, Jurassic-period limestone and
scientists to date fossils In the early 19th century, the shale strata outcrop in the cliffs,
according to the rock strata discovery of large fossilized bones where they are eroded by the sea to
in which they are found. unlike those of any living animal reveal abundant remains of ancient
raised many new questions. Where marine organisms. In 1811, Joseph
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 117
See also: Carl Linnaeus 74–75 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49 ■
Anning found a 4 ft- (1.2 m-) long observed in 1824, Mary Anning
skull with a curiously elongated was “so thoroughly acquainted
toothed beak. His sister Mary with the science that the moment
found the rest of the skeleton, she finds any bones she knows to
which they sold for about $37 (£23). what tribe they belong.” She
Exhibited in London, this was the became an authority on many
first entire skeleton of an extinct kinds of fossils, especially
“monster of the abyss” and coprolites—fossilized dung.
attracted a great deal of popular The picture of life in ancient
attention. It was identified as an Dorset revealed by Anning’s fossils
extinct marine reptile and named was one of a tropical coast where Mary Anning
an ichthyosaur, meaning “fish-lizard.” a wide variety of now-extinct
The Anning family went on to animals thrived. In 1854, Anning’s Several biographies and
find more ichthyosaurs and the fossils provided models for the first novels have been written
about the life of Mary Anning,
first complete specimen of another life-size reconstruction of an
a self-taught fossil collector.
marine reptile, the plesiosaur, ichthyosaur, made for London’s She was one of two surviving
in addition to the first British Crystal Palace park by the sculptor children out of 10 born into an
specimen of a flying reptile, new Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and impoverished Dorset family of
fossil fish, and shellfish. Among the the paleontologist Richard Owen. It religious dissenters who lived
fish they found were cephalopods was Owen who coined the word in the coastal village of Lyme
known as belemnites, some with “dinosaur,” but Anning who had Regis. The family eked out a
the ink-sac preserved. The family, provided the first glimpse of the precarious living collecting
and especially Mary, had a talent richness of Jurassic life. ■ fossils for sale to the growing
for fossil hunting. Although poor, numbers of tourists. However,
Mary was literate and taught it was Mary who found and
In 1830, Henry De la Beche sold their most significant
herself geology and anatomy, which painted this reconstruction of life in
made her a far more effective fossil finds—fossils of Jurassic
the Jurassic seas around Dorset based
hunter. As Lady Harriet Sylvester on Anning’s fossil discoveries. reptiles that lived 201–145
million years ago.
Due to a combination of
her gender, humble social
standing, and religious
unorthodoxy, Anning received
little formal recognition of her
work in her lifetime, and she
noted in a letter, “The world
has used me unkindly, I fear
it has made me suspicious of
everyone.” However, she was
widely known in geological
circles and various scientists
sought out her expertise.
When her health failed,
Anning was provided with a
small annual pension of about
$40 (£25) in recognition of her
contribution to science. She
died of breast cancer at 47.
118
THE INHERITANCE
OF ACOUIRED
CHARACTERISTICS
JEAN-BAPTISTE LAMARCK (1744–1829)
I
n 1809, French naturalist
IN CONTEXT Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
introduced the first major theory
BRANCH
that life on Earth has evolved over
Biology
time. The impetus to his theory
BEFORE was the discovery of fossils of What nature does in the
c.1495 Leonardo da Vinci creatures unlike any alive today. course of long periods we do
suggests in his notebook that In 1796, French naturalist Georges every day when we suddenly
fossils are relics of ancient life. Cuvier had shown that fossilized change the environment in
elephant-like bones were markedly which some species of living
1796 Georges Cuvier proves different in anatomy from the bones plant is situated.
that fossil bones belong to of modern elephants, and must Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
extinct mastodons. come from extinct creatures now
1799 William Smith shows the called mammoths and mastodons.
succession of fossils in rock Cuvier explained the vanished
strata of different ages. creatures of the past as victims of
catastrophes. Lamarck challenged
AFTER this idea, and argued that life
1858 Charles Darwin had “transmutated,” or evolved, Lamarck believed characteristics
introduces his theory of gradually and continuously through were acquired during a creature’s
evolution by natural selection. time, developing from the simplest life and passed on. Later, Darwin
life forms to the most complex. A showed that changes occur because
1942 The “modern synthesis” change in the environment, he mutations at conception survive
reconciles Gregor Mendel’s suggested, could spur a change in to be passed on through natural
genetics with Darwin’s natural the characteristics of an organism. selection, and the idea of “acquired
selection, paleontology, and Those changes could then be characteristics” was ridiculed. But
ecology in trying to explain inherited through reproduction. recently, scientists have argued that
how new species arise. Characteristics that were useful the environment—chemicals, light,
2005 Eva Jablonka and Marion developed further; those that were temperature, and food—can in fact
Lamb claim that nongenetic, not useful might disappear. alter genes and their expression. ■
environmental, and behavioral
See also: William Smith 115 ■ Mary Anning 116–17 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49 ■
changes can affect evolution.
Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■ Michael Syvanen 318–19
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 119
EVERY CHEMICAL
COMPOUND HAS
TWO PARTS
JÖNS JAKOB BERZELIUS (1779–1848)
T
he leading light of a In 1803, Berzelius had teamed
IN CONTEXT generation of chemists up with a mine owner to make a
inspired by Alessandro voltaic pile and see how electricity
BRANCH
Volta’s creation of the battery, splits salts. Alkali metals and
Chemistry
Sweden’s Jöns Jakob Berzelius alkaline earths migrated to the
BEFORE conducted a series of experiments pile’s negative pole, while oxygen,
1704 Isaac Newton suggests looking at the effect of electricity on acids, and oxidized substances
that atoms are bonded by chemicals. He developed a theory migrated to the positive pole.
some force. called electrochemical dualism, He concluded that salt compounds
published in 1819, which proposed combine a basic oxide, which is
1800 Alessandro Volta shows that compounds are created by the positively charged, and an acidic
that placing two different coming together of elements with oxide, which is negatively charged.
metals next to each other can opposite electrical charges. Berzelius developed his
produce electricity, and so dualistic theory to suggest that
creates the first battery. compounds are bonded by the
attraction of opposite electrical
1807 Humphry Davy discovers
charges between their constituent
sodium and other metal
parts. Though later shown to be
elements by splitting salts incorrect, the theory triggered
with electrolysis. The habit of an opinion further research into chemical
AFTER
often leads to the complete bonds. In 1916, it was found that
1857–58 August Kekulé
conviction of its truth, and electrical bonding occurs as “ionic”
and others develop the idea
makes us incapable of bonding, in which atoms lose or
of valency—the number of
accepting the proofs against it. gain electrons to become mutually
bonds an atom can form.
Jöns Jakob Berzelius attractive charged atoms, or ions.
In fact, this is just one of several
1916 US chemist Gilbert ways in which the atoms in a
Lewis proposes the idea of compound bind—another is the
the covalent bond in which “covalent” bond, in which electrons
electrons are shared, while are shared between atoms. ■
German physicist Walther
Kossel suggests the idea See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Alessandro Volta 90–95 ■ Joseph Proust 105 ■
of ionic bonds. Humphry Davy 114 ■ August Kekulé 160–65 ■ Linus Pauling 254–59
120
THE ELECTRIC
CONFLICT IS NOT
RESTRICTED TO THE
CONDUCTING WIRE
HANS CHRISTIAN ØRSTED (1777–1851)
T
he quest to discover an idea that there is a unity to nature,
IN CONTEXT underlying unity to all Ørsted now investigated the
forces and matter is as old possibility in earnest.
BRANCH
as science itself, but the first big
Physics
break came in 1820, when the Chance discovery
BEFORE Danish philosopher Hans Christian Lecturing at the University of
1600 William Gilbert conducts Ørsted found a link between Copenhagen, Ørsted wanted to
the first scientific experiments magnetism and electricity. The link show his students how the electric
on electricity and magnetism. had been suggested to him by the current from a voltaic pile (the
German chemist and physicist battery invented by Alessandro
1800 Alessandro Volta creates Johann Wilhelm Ritter, whom he Volta in 1800) can heat up a wire
the first electric battery. had met in 1801. Already influenced and make it glow. He noticed that a
AFTER by the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s compass needle standing near the
1820 André-Marie Ampère wire moved every time the current
was switched on. This was the first
develops a mathematical
proof of a link between electricity
theory of electromagnetism.
and magnetism. Further study
1821 Michael Faraday is able convinced him that the current
to show electromagnetic produced a circular magnetic field
rotation in action, by creating It appears that the electric as it flowed through the wire.
the first electric motor. conflict is not restricted to the Ørsted’s discovery rapidly
conducting wire, but that it prompted scientists across Europe
1831 Faraday and US scientist has a rather extended sphere to investigate electromagnetism.
Joseph Henry independently of activity around it. Later that year, French physicist
discover electromagnetic Hans Christian Ørsted André-Marie Ampère formulated
induction; Faraday uses it in a mathematical theory for the
the first generator to convert new phenomenon and, in 1821,
motion into electricity. Michael Faraday demonstrated that
1864 James Clerk Maxwell electromagnetic force could convert
formulates a set of equations electrical into mechanical energy. ■
to describe electromagnetic
See also: William Gilbert 44 ■ Alessandro Volta 90–95 ■ Michael Faraday 121 ■
waves—including light waves.
James Clerk Maxwell 180–85
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 121
B
ritish scientist Michael
IN CONTEXT Faraday’s discovery of
the principles of both the
BRANCH
electric motor and the electric
Physics
generator paved the way for the
BEFORE electrical revolution that would
1800 Alessandro Volta invents transform the modern world,
the first electric battery. bringing everything from lightbulbs
to telecommunications. Faraday
1820 Hans Christian Ørsted himself foresaw the value of
discovers that electricity his discoveries—and the tax
creates a magnetic field. revenues they could generate In Faraday’s apparatus for showing
1820 André-Marie Ampère for government. electromagnetic induction, a current
In 1821, a few months after flows through the small magnetic coil,
formulates a mathematical which is moved in and out of the large
theory of electromagnetism. hearing of Hans Christian Ørsted’s
coil, inducing a current in it.
discovery of the link between
AFTER electricity and magnetism, Faraday
1830 Joseph Henry creates the demonstrated how a magnet will Generating electricity
first powerful electromagnet. move around an electric wire, and Ten years later, Faraday made an
an electric wire will move around a even more important discovery—
1845 Faraday demonstrates
magnet. The electric wire produces that a moving magnetic field can
the link between light and
a circular magnetic field around it, create or “induce” a current of
electromagnetism. which generates a tangential force electricity. This discovery—which
1878 Designed by Sigmund on the magnet, producing circular was also made independently by
Schuckert, the first steam- motion. This is the principle behind the US physicist Joseph Henry
driven power station generates the electric motor. A spinning around the same time—is the
electricity for the Linderhof motion is set up by alternating the basis for generating all electricity.
Palace in Bavaria, Germany. direction of the current, which Electromagnetic induction converts
alternates the direction of the the kinetic energy in a spinning
1882 US inventor Thomas magnetic field in the wire. turbine into electrical current. ■
Edison builds a power station
to power electric lighting in See also: Alessandro Volta 90–95 ■ Hans Christian Ørsted 120 ■
HEAT PENETRATES
EVERY SUBSTANCE
IN THE UNIVERSE
JOSEPH FOURIER (1777–1831)
T
oday, one of the most
IN CONTEXT fundamental laws of
Heat penetrates physics is that energy
BRANCH every substance is neither created nor destroyed,
Physics in the universe. but only changes from one form to
BEFORE another or moves from one place
1761 Joseph Black discovers to another. French mathematician
latent heat—the heat taken up Joseph Fourier was a pioneer in the
by ice to melt and water to boil study of heat and how heat moves
without changing temperature. from warm places to cool places.
He also studies specific heat— Fourier was interested in both
There is a temperature how heat diffused through solids by
required by substances to gradient between warmer
raise their temperature by a conduction and how things cooled
places and cooler places.
down by losing heat. His compatriot
certain amount.
Jean-Baptiste Biot had imagined
1783 Antoine Lavoisier and the spread of heat as “action at a
Pierre-Simon Laplace measure distance,” in which it spreads by
latent heat and specific heat. jumping from warm places to cool.
Biot represented the heat flow in
AFTER a solid as a series of slices, which
1824 By developing the Heat is transferred across
allowed it to be studied with
first theory of heat engines, the temperature gradient in
a wavelike movement. conventional equations showing
which turn heat energy into the heat jumping from one slice
mechanical energy, Nicolas to the next.
Sadi Carnot provides the
foundations for the theory Temperature gradients
of thermodynamics. Fourier looked at heat flow in an
1834 Émile Clapeyron shows entirely different way. He focused
on temperature gradients—
that energy must always Mathematically, a series
of sine and cosine continuous gradations between
become more diffuse,
functions can be used to warm and cool places. These could
formulating the second law
represent the movement. not be quantified with conventional
of thermodynamics. equations, so he devised new
mathematical techniques.
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 123
See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Joseph Black 76–77 ■ Antoine Lavoisier 84 ■ Charles Keeling 294–95
Joseph Fourier The son of a tailor, Joseph Fourier to France in 1801, Fourier was
was born in Auxerre, France. made governor of Isère in the
Orphaned at 10, he was taken Alps. In between administrative
into a local convent before going duties overseeing road building
on to a military school, where he and drainage planning, he
excelled at mathematics. France published a groundbreaking
was in the throes of revolution, study of ancient Egypt and
and during the Terror of 1794, he started his studies of heat. He
was briefly imprisoned after died in 1831 after tripping and
falling out with fellow falling down a flight of stairs.
revolutionaries.
After the Revolution, Fourier Key works
accompanied Napoleon on an
expedition to Egypt in 1798. 1807 On the Propagation of
He was made governor of Egypt Heat in Solid Bodies
and put in charge of the study of 1822 The Analytic Theory
ancient Egyptian relics. Returning of Heat
124
I
n 1807, the Swedish chemist endowed with a “life force” beyond
IN CONTEXT Jöns Jakob Berzelius suggested the understanding of chemists.
that a fundamental difference So it came as a surprise when
BRANCH
existed between the chemicals the pioneering experiments of a
Chemistry
involved in living things and all German chemist named Friedrich
BEFORE other chemicals. These unique, Wöhler showed that organic
1770s Antoine Lavoisier and “organic” chemicals, Berzelius chemicals are not unique at all,
others show that water and argued, could only be assembled by but behave according to the same
salt can return to their former living things themselves and, once basic rules as all chemicals.
state after heating, but sugar broken down, could not be remade We now know that organic
or wood cannot. artificially. His idea conformed with chemicals comprise a multitude of
the prevailing theory known as molecules based on the element
1807 Jöns Jakob Berzelius “vitalism,” which held that life was carbon. These carbon-based
suggests a fundamental special and that living things were molecules are indeed essential
difference between organic components of life, but many can
and inorganic chemicals. be synthesized from inorganic
chemicals—as Wöhler discovered.
AFTER
1852 British chemist Edward Chemistry rivals
Franklin suggests the idea of Wöhler’s breakthrough came about
valency, the ability of atoms to because of a scientific rivalry. In
combine with other atoms. the early 1820s, Wöhler and fellow
1858 British chemist chemist Justus von Liebig both
Archibald Couper suggests the came up with identical chemical
idea of bonds between atoms, analyses for what seemed to be two
very different substances—silver
explaining how valency works.
fulminate, which is explosive, and
1858 Couper and August silver cyanate, which is not. Both
Kekulé propose that organic men assumed that the other had
chemicals are made by chains the wrong results, but after
Widely used in fertilizers, urea is
of bonded carbon atoms with rich in nitrogen, which is essential to
corresponding, they found they
side branches of other atoms. the growth of plants. Synthetic urea, were both right. This group of
first made by Wöhler, is now a key raw compounds led chemists to realize
material in the chemical industry. that substances are defined not just
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 125
See also: Antoine Lavoisier 84 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■
Jöns Jakob Berzelius 119 ■ Leo Baekeland 140–41 ■ August Kekulé 160–65
Friedrich Wöhler
Born in Eschersheim, near
Frankfurt in Germany,
Friedrich Wöhler trained in
We can make obstetrics at the University
Organic substances organic substances of Heidelberg. But chemistry
are not unique. from inorganic was his passion and, in 1823,
substances. he went to study with Jöns
Jakob Berzelius in Stockholm.
On his return to Germany, he
embarked on a remarkable
and varied career in chemical
research and innovation.
by the number and kinds of atoms a key component of urine, and has Besides the first artificial
in the molecule but also by the the same chemical formula as synthesis of an organic
atoms’ arrangement. The same ammonium cyanate. According to substance, Wöhler’s many
formula may apply to different Berzelius’s theory, it could be made discoveries—often made with
structures with different only by living things—yet Wöhler Justus von Liebig—included
aluminum, beryllium, yttrium,
properties—these different had synthesized it from inorganic
titanium, and silicon. He also
structures were later named chemicals. Wöhler wrote to Berzelius:
helped to develop the idea of
isomers by Berzelius. “I must tell you that I can make “radicals”—basic molecular
Wöhler and Liebig went on to urea without the use of kidneys,” groups from which other
forge a brilliant partnership, but it explaining that urea was in fact an substances are built. Although
was Wöhler alone who, in 1828, isomer of ammonium cyanate. later disproved, this theory
stumbled upon the truth about The significance of Wöhler’s paved the way for today’s
organic chemicals. discovery took many years to sink understanding of how
in. Even so, it paved the way for the molecules assemble. In later
The Wöhler synthesis development of modern organic years, Wöhler became an
Wöhler was mixing silver cyanate chemistry, which not only reveals authority on the chemistry of
with ammonium chloride, expecting how all living things depend on meteorites and helped set up
to get ammonium cyanate. Instead, chemical processes, but enables a factory for purifying nickel.
he got a white substance that had the artificial synthesis of valuable
different properties from ammonium organic chemicals on a commercial Key works
cyanate. The same powder appeared scale. In 1907, a synthetic polymer
1830 Summary of
when he mixed lead cyanate with called Bakelite was produced from Inorganic Chemistry
ammonium hydroxide. Analysis two such chemicals and ushered in 1840 Summary of
showed the white powder to be the “Age of Plastics” that shaped Organic Chemistry
urea—an organic substance that is the modern world. ■
126
WINDS NEVER
BLOW IN A
STRAIGHT LINE
GASPARD-GUSTAVE DE CORIOLIS (1792–1843)
A
ir and ocean currents do Earth’s rotation causes winds to be
IN CONTEXT not flow in straight lines. deflected to the right in the northern
As the currents move, hemisphere and left in the southern.
BRANCH
they are deflected to the right in Initial direction Deflected
Meteorology
the northern hemisphere, and right
BEFORE to the left in the southern. In the
1684 Isaac Newton introduces 1830s, French scientist Gaspard-
the idea of centripetal force, Gustave de Coriolis discovered the
stating that any motion in a principle behind this effect, now
curved path must be the result known as the Coriolis effect.
of a force acting on it.
Deflected by rotation
1735 George Hadley suggests Coriolis got his ideas from
that trade winds blow toward studying turning waterwheels,
the equator because Earth’s but meteorologists later realized Deflected left Initial direction
rotation deflects air currents. that the ideas apply to the way
winds and ocean currents move. simply blow straight from high
AFTER
Coriolis showed how, when an pressure areas to low pressure
1851 Léon Foucault shows object is moving across a rotating areas. The wind direction is in fact
how the swing of a pendulum surface, its momentum seems to a balance between the pull of low
is deflected by Earth’s rotation. carry it on a curved path. Imagine pressure and the Coriolis deflection.
1856 US meteorologist William throwing a ball out from the center This is mostly why winds circle
Ferrel shows that winds blow of a spinning merry-go-round. The counterclockwise into low pressure
parallel to isobars—lines that ball appears to curve around—even zones in the northern hemisphere,
connect points of equal though to anyone watching from and clockwise in the southern
atmospheric pressure. outside the merry-go-round it is hemisphere. Similarly, ocean
actually moving in a straight line. surface currents circulate in
1857 Dutch meteorologist Winds on the rotating Earth are giant loops or gyres, clockwise
Christophorus Buys Ballot deflected in the same way. Without in the northern hemisphere and
formulates a rule stating that the Coriolis effect, winds would counterclockwise in the south. ■
if the wind is blowing on your
back, an area of low pressure See also: George Hadley 80 ■ Robert FitzRoy 150–55
is to your left.
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 127
ON THE COLORED
LIGHT OF THE
BINARY STARS
CHRISTIAN DOPPLER (1803–1853)
T
he color of light depends The colors of stars are now
IN CONTEXT on its frequency, which known to be mainly due to their
is the number of waves temperature (the hotter the star,
BRANCH
per second. If something moving the more blue it appears), but the
Physics
toward us is emitting waves, the movement of some stars can be
BEFORE second wave will have a shorter detected through Doppler shifts.
1677 Ole Rømer estimates distance to travel than the first Binary stars are pairs of stars
the speed of light by studying wave, so it will arrive sooner than it orbiting each other. Their rotation
Jupiter’s moons. would if the source were stationary. causes an alternating redshift and
Thus the frequency of waves blueshift in the light they emit. ■
AFTER increases if the source and receiver
1840s Dutch meteorologist are getting closer to each other, and
Christophorus Buys Ballot decreases if they are moving apart.
applies the Doppler shift to This effect applies to all types of
sound waves, as does French wave, including sound, and is
physicist Hippolyte Fizeau to responsible for the changing pitch
electromagnetic waves. of a siren as an ambulance passes. The heavens presented an
To the naked eye, most stars extraordinary appearance, for
1868 British astronomer appear to be white, but through all the stars directly behind
William Huggins uses redshift a telescope many can be seen to me were now deep red, while
to find the velocity of a star. be red, yellow, or blue. In 1842, an those directly ahead were
1929 Edwin Hubble relates Austrian physicist named Christian violet. Rubies lay behind me,
the redshift of galaxies to their Doppler suggested that the red color amethysts ahead of me.
distance from Earth, showing of some stars is due to the fact that Olaf Stapledon
the expansion of the universe. they are moving away from the From his novel, Star Maker (1937)
Earth, which would shift their light
1988 The first extrasolar to longer wavelengths. Since the
planet is detected, using the longest wavelength of visible light is
Doppler shift of light from red, this became known as redshift
the star that it orbits—the (as illustrated on p.241).
star appears to “wobble” as
the planet’s gravitational See also: Ole Rømer 58–59 ■ Edwin Hubble 236–41 ■ Geoffrey Marcy 327
pull disrupts its rotation.
128
THE GLACIER
WAS GOD’S
GREAT PLOUGH
LOUIS AGASSIZ (1807–1873)
W
hen glaciers sweep which is the usual way that rocks
were transported by ice from
across a landscape, are carried across a landscape. A
the Mont Blanc area in an
they leave signature rock of a different kind from rocks
“Alpine glaciation.” features behind them. Glaciers around it, therefore, is a telltale
AFTER can scour rocks flat or leave them sign that a glacier once passed
1875 Scottish scientist James smoothly rounded, often with by. Another is the presence of
Croll argues that variations in striations (scratch marks) showing moraines in valleys. These are piles
Earth’s orbit could explain the the direction in which the ice of boulders that were pushed aside
temperature changes that moved. They also leave behind when the glacier was growing, and
cause an ice age. erratics—boulders that have been left behind when it retreated.
carried long distances by the ice.
1938 Serbian physicist Milutin These can usually be identified Riddle of the rocks
Milankovic relates changes in because their composition is Geologists in the 19th century
climate to periodic changes different from the rocks on which recognized such features as
in Earth’s orbit. they lie. Many erratics are too large striations, erratics, and moraines
to have been moved by rivers, as evidence of glaciers. What they
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 129
See also: WIlliam Smith 115 ■ Alfred Wegener 222–23
could not explain was why such Agassiz wanted to convince others.
features were found in areas on He had met William Buckland, a
Earth that had no glaciers. One prominent English geologist, while
theory argued that rocks were excavating fossil fishes in the Old
moved by repeated flooding. Floods Red Sandstone rocks in the Alps.
could explain the “boulder drift” When Agassiz showed him the
(the sands, clays, and gravels that evidence for his theory of an ice
included erratic boulders) that age, Buckland was convinced,
overlay much of the bedrock of and in 1840 the two men toured
Europe. The material might have Scotland to look for evidence of
been deposited when the last flood glaciation there. After the tour, Louis Agassiz
retreated. The largest erratics could Agassiz presented his ideas to
have been caught up in icebergs, the Geological Society of London. Born in a small Swiss village
which deposited the rocks when Although he had convinced in 1807, Louis Agassiz studied
to be a physician, but became
they melted. But the theory could Buckland and Charles Lyell—two
a professor of natural history
not explain all of the features. of the leading geologists of the at the University of Neuchâtel.
day—the other members of the His first scientific work, under
The ice age revealed society were unimpressed. A nearly the French naturalist Georges
During the 1830s, Swiss geologist global glaciation seemed no more Cuvier, involved classifying
Louis Agassiz spent several probable than a global flood. freshwater fish from Brazil,
vacations in the European Alps However, the idea of ice ages and Agassiz went on to
studying glaciers and their valleys. gradually gained acceptance, and undertake extensive work
He realized that glacial features today there is evidence from many on fossilized fish. In the late
everywhere, not just in the Alps, different fields of geology that ice 1830s, his interests spread
could be explained if Earth had has covered much of Earth’s to glaciers and zoological
once been covered in far more surface many times in the past. ■ classification. In 1847, he took
ice than at present. The glaciers a post at Harvard University
of today must be the remnants of in the US.
Agassiz was the first to suggest Agassiz never accepted
ice sheets that had at one time that large erratics, such as these in the
Darwin’s theory of evolution,
covered most of the globe. But Caher Valley of Ireland, were deposited
by ancient glaciers. believing that species were
before he published his theory “ideas in the mind of God”
and that all species had been
created for the regions they
inhabited. He advocated
“polygenism,” a belief that
different human races did not
share a common ancestor, but
were created separately by
God. In recent years, his
reputation has been tarnished
by his apparent advocacy of
racist ideas.
Key works
T
he study of the
IN CONTEXT interrelationship between
the animate and inanimate
BRANCH
world, known as ecology, only
BIOLOGY
became a subject of rigorous and
BEFORE methodical scientific investigation The principal impulse by
5th–4th century BCE Ancient over the last 150 years. The term which I was directed was the
Greek writers observe the “ecology” was coined in 1866 by
earnest endeavour to
web of interrelationships the German evolutionary biologist,
Ernst Haeckel, and is derived from
comprehend the phenomena
between plants, animals, of physical objects in their
and their environment. the Greek words oikos, meaning
house or dwelling place, and logos, general connection, and to
AFTER meaning study or discourse. But represent nature as one great
1866 Ernst Haeckel coins it is an earlier German polymath whole, moved and animated
the word “ecology.” named Alexander von Humboldt by internal forces.
who is regarded as the pioneer of Alexander von Humboldt
1895 Eugenius Warming modern ecological thinking.
publishes the first university Through extensive expeditions
course book on ecology. and writings, Humboldt promoted
1935 Alfred Tansley coins the a new approach to science. He
word “ecosystem.” sought to understand nature as
a unified whole, by interrelating
1962 Rachel Carson warns of all of the physical sciences and by ancient Greek writers, such as
the dangers of pesticides in employing the latest scientific Herodotus in the 5th century BCE.
Silent Spring. equipment, exhaustive observation, In one of the first accounts of
and meticulous analysis of data on interdependence, technically
1969 Friends of the Earth and an unprecedented scale. known as mutualism, he describes
Greenpeace are established. crocodiles on the Nile River in
1972 James Lovelock’s Gaia The crocodile’s teeth Egypt opening their mouths to
hypothesis presents Earth as Although Humboldt’s holistic allow birds to pick their teeth clean.
a single organism. approach was new, the concept A century later, observations
of ecology developed from early by the Greek philosopher Aristotle
investigations of natural history and his pupil Theophrastus on
species’ migration, distribution,
and behavior provided an early
version of the concept of the
ecological niche—the particular
place in nature that shapes and is
shaped by a species’ way of life.
Theophrastus studied and wrote
extensively on plants, realizing the
importance of climate and soils to
their growth and distribution. Their
ideas influenced natural philosophy
for the next 2,000 years.
Nature’s unifying forces as a means of characterizing and showed the global application
Humboldt’s approach to nature mapping the global environment, of these zones by comparing the
followed in the late 18th-century especially the climate, and then Andean zones with those of the
Romantic tradition that reacted comparing the climatic conditions European Alps, Pyrenees, Lapland,
to rationalism by insisting on the in various countries. Tenerife, and the Asian Himalayas.
value of senses, observation, and Humboldt was also one of
experience in understanding the first scientists to study how Defining ecology
the world as a whole. Like his physical conditions—such as When Haeckel coined the word
contemporaries, the poets Johann climate, altitude, latitude, and “ecology,” he too was following in
Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich soils—affected the distribution of the tradition of viewing a Gestalt
Schiller, Humboldt promoted the life. With Bonpland’s assistance, he (unity) of the living and inanimate
idea of the unity (or Gestalt in mapped the changes in flora and world. An enthusiastic evolutionist,
German) of nature—and of natural fauna between sea level and high he was inspired by Charles Darwin,
philosophy and the humanities. His altitude in the Andes. In 1805, whose publication of On the Origin
studies ranged from anatomy and the year after his return from the of Species in 1859 banished the
astronomy to mineralogy and Americas, he published a now- notion of Earth as an immutable
botany, commerce, and linguistics, celebrated work on the geography world. Haeckel questioned the role
and provided him with the breadth of the area, summarizing the of natural selection, but believed
of knowledge necessary for his interconnectedness of nature and that the environment played an
exploration of the natural world illustrating the altitudinal zones of important role in both evolution
beyond the confines of Europe. vegetation. Years later, in 1851, he and ecology. ❯❯
As Humboldt explained, “The
sight of exotic plants, even of dried
specimens in a herbarium, fired my
imagination and I longed to see Ecology is the study of all the interactions
the tropical vegetation in southern between organisms and their environment that
countries with my own eyes.” determine their distribution and abundance.
His five-year exploration of Latin
America with the French botanist
Aimé Bonpland was his most
important expedition. Setting out
in June 1799, he declared, “I shall
These interactions must include…
collect plants and fossils, and make
astronomical observations with the
best of instruments. Yet this is not
the main purpose of my journey. I
shall endeavor to discover how
nature’s forces act upon one another
and in what manner the geographic …biotic factors, such …abiotic factors, such
as human activity and animal as climate, soils, and the
environment exerts its influence on
and plant communities. hydrological cycle.
animals and plants. In short, I must
find out about the harmony in
nature.” And he did just that.
Among many other projects,
Humboldt measured ocean water
temperature and suggested the use
Nature can be represented
of “isolines,” or isothermal lines, to as one great whole.
connect points of equal temperature
134 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
By the end of the 19th century, the encompassing all those factors that
first university course in ecology influence it—both biotic (living
was being taught by the Danish organisms) and abiotic (nonliving
botanist Eugenius Warming, factors such as soil, water, air,
who also wrote the first ecology temperature, and sunlight). The
textbook Plantesamfund (Plant scope of modern ecology ranges
This whole chain of
Ecology) in 1895. From Humboldt’s from the individual organism to
pioneering work, Warming populations of individuals of the
poisoning, then, seems
developed the global geographical same species, and the community,
to rest on a base of minute
subdivision of plant distribution made up of populations that share plants which must have been
known as biomes, such as the a particular environment. the original concentrators.
tropical rain-forest biome, which Many of the basic terms and Rachel Carson
are largely based on the interaction concepts of ecology came from the
of plants with the environment, work of several pioneer ecologists
especially climate. in the first few decades of the 20th
century. The formal concept of the
Individuals and community biological community was first
Early in the 20th century, the developed in 1916 by the American
modern definition of ecology botanist Frederic Clements. He which successive communities
developed as the scientific study believed that the plants of a given of different species adjust to one
of the interactions that determine area develop a succession of another to form a tightly integrated
the distribution and abundance communities over time, from and interdependent unit, similar
of organisms. These interactions an initial pioneer community to an to the organs of a body. Clements’
include an organism’s environment, optimal climax community within metaphor of the community as a
“complex organism” was criticized
at first but influenced later thinking.
A food chain transfers energy from primary
producers (plants and algae that convert the Sun’s
The idea of further ecological
energy into food energy) to consumer organisms that integration at a higher level than
eat the plants (such as rabbits and other herbivores), the community was introduced
and then to the predators that feed on the consumers. in 1935 with the concept of the
ecosystem, developed by the
English botanist Arthur Tansley.
An ecosystem consists of both
living and nonliving elements.
Lion, an apex
predator (not preyed Their interaction forms a stable
on by others) unit with a sustaining flow of
energy from the environmental
to the living part (through the food
Jackal chain) and can operate on all
scales, from a puddle to an ocean
Kite or the whole planet.
Goat Studies of animal communities
Wild cat
by the English zoologist Charles
Elton led him to develop in 1927 the
concept of the food chain and food
Owl cycle, subsequently known as the
Green
plants “food web.” A food chain is formed
Rabbit by the transfer of energy through an
ecosystem from primary producers
(such as green plants on land)
Snake Mouse through a series of consuming
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 135
Rachel Carson (far right) made a
significant contribution to the science
and public understanding of ecology
by drawing attention to the destructive
impact of pollution on the environment.
Alexander von Born in Berlin to a wealthy and On his return, Humboldt was
Humboldt well-connected family, Humboldt honored across Europe. Based in
studied finance at the University Paris, he took 21 years to process
of Frankfurt, natural history and and publish his data in over 30
linguistics in Göttingen, language volumes, and then synthesized
and commerce in Hamburg, his ideas in four volumes titled
geology in Freiburg, and anatomy Kosmos. A fifth volume was
in Jena. The death of his mother in completed after his death in
1796 provided Humboldt with the Berlin at 89. Darwin called him
means to fund an expedition to “the greatest scientific traveller
the Americas from 1799 to 1804, who ever lived.”
accompanied by botanist Aimé
Bonpland. Using the latest Key works
scientific equipment, Humboldt
measured everything from plants 1825 Journey to the Equinoctial
to population statistics and Regions of the New Continent
minerals to meteorology. 1845–1862 Kosmos
136
BEFORE
1676 Ole Rømer makes the
first successful estimate of the
speed of light, using eclipses Newton thought
of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons.
Foucault found light particles would
that light travels speed up going from air
1690 Christiaan Huygens more slowly in to water, while Huygens
publishes his Treatise on water than in air. thought waves would
Light, in which he proposes slow down.
that light is a type of wave.
1704 Isaac Newton’s Opticks
suggests that light is a stream
of “corpuscles.” Therefore, light must
travel in waves.
AFTER
1864 James Clerk Maxwell
realizes that the speed of
I
electromagnetic waves is so n the 17th century, scientists published his theory of light
nearly the same as the speed began to investigate light, as a stream of “corpuscles,” or
of light that light must be a and whether it had a finite, particles. Newton’s explanation
form of electromagnetic wave. measurable speed. In 1690, for refraction—the bending of a
Christiaan Huygens published his beam of light as it passes from one
1879–83 German-born US theory that light is a pressure wave, transparent material to another—
physicist Albert Michelson moving in a mysterious fluid called assumed that light travels faster
refines Foucault’s method and ether. Huygens thought of light as after it passes from air into water.
obtains a measurement for the a longitudinal wave, and predicted Estimates for the speed of light
speed of light (through air) that that the wave would travel more relied on astronomical phenomena,
is very close to today’s value. slowly through glass or water than showing how fast light travels
through air. In 1704, Isaac Newton through space. The first terrestrial
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 137
See also: Christiaan Huygens 50–51 ■ Ole Rømer 58–59 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Thomas Young 110–11 ■
James Clerk Maxwell 180–85 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Richard Feynman 272–73
Léon Foucault Born in Paris, France, Léon a pendulum in 1851 and later a
Foucault was educated mainly gyroscope. Although he had no
at home before entering medical formal training in science, a post
school, where he studied under was created for Foucault at the
the bacteriologist Alfred Donné. Imperial Observatory in Paris.
Since he could not bear the sight He was also made a member of
of blood, Foucault soon gave up several scientific societies, and
his studies, became Donné’s is one of 72 French scientists
laboratory assistant, and devised named on the Eiffel Tower.
a way of taking photographs
through a microscope—he later Key works
teamed up with Hippolyte Fizeau
to take the first ever photograph of 1851 Demonstration of Physical
the Sun. In addition to measuring Movement of Rotation of the
the speed of light, Foucault is best Earth by Means of the Pendulum
known for providing experimental 1853 On the Relative Velocities
evidence of Earth’s rotation, using of the Light in Air and in Water
138
T
he principle of the was ever lost in this conversion.
IN CONTEXT conservation of energy His ideas were largely ignored
states that energy is never until 1847, when German physicist
BRANCH
lost but only changed in form. But Hermann Helmholtz published a
Physics
in the 1840s, scientists had only a paper summarizing the theory of
BEFORE vague idea of what energy was. the conservation of energy, and
1749 French mathematician It was a British brewer’s son, Joule then presented his work at
Émilie du Châtelet derives her James Joule, who showed that the British Association in Oxford.
law of the conservation of heat, mechanical movement, and The standard unit of energy, a joule,
energy from Newton’s laws. electricity are interchangeable is named after him. ■
forms of energy, and that when
1824 French engineer Sadi one is changed to another the
Carnot states that there are no total energy remains the same.
reversible processes in nature,
paving the way for the second Converting energy
law of thermodynamics. Joule began his experiments in
a laboratory in the family home.
1834 French physicist Émile In 1841, he figured out how much
Clapeyron develops Carnot’s heat an electric current generates.
work, stating a version of the He experimented with converting
second law of thermodynamics. mechanical movement into heat,
AFTER and developed an experiment in
which a falling weight turns a
1850 German physicist Rudolf
paddle wheel in water, heating
Clausius gives the first clear
the water. By measuring the rise
statement of the first and second in temperature of the water, Joule
laws of thermodynamics. was able to figure out the exact In Joule’s experiment, a falling
1854 Scottish engineer amount of heat a certain amount of weight drove a paddle that turned
William Rankine adds the mechanical work would create. He inside a bucket of water. The energy of
concept that is later named went on to assert that no energy the movement was changed into heat.
entropy (a measure of disorder)
in the transformation of energy. See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Joseph Black 76–77 ■ Joseph Fourier 122–23
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 139
STATISTICAL
ANALYSIS OF
MOLECULAR
MOVEMENT
LUDWIG BOLTZMANN (1844–1906)
B
y the middle of the In the early 18th century, Swiss
IN CONTEXT 19th century, atoms and physicist Daniel Bernoulli had
molecules had become suggested that gases are made of a
BRANCH
central ideas in chemistry, and multitude of moving molecules. It is
Physics
most scientists understood that their impact that creates pressure
BEFORE they were the key to the identity and their kinetic energy (the energy
1738 Daniel Bernoulli and behavior of elements and of their movement) that creates
suggests that gases are compounds. Few thought they heat. In the 1840s and 1850s,
made of moving molecules. had much relevance to physics, scientists had begun to realize that
but in the 1880s, Austrian physicist the properties of gases reflect the
1827 Scottish botanist Ludwig Boltzmann developed the average movement of the countless
Robert Brown identifies the kinetic theory of gases, putting particles. In 1859, James Clerk
movement of pollen in water, atoms and molecules right at the Maxwell calculated the speed
which becomes known as heart of physics, too. of molecules and how far they
Brownian motion. traveled before colliding, showing
that temperature is a measure of
1845 Scottish physicist John the average speed of the molecules.
Waterston describes how
energy among gas molecules Centrality of statistics
is distributed according to Boltzmann revealed how important
statistical rules. Available energy is the the statistics are. He showed that the
main object at stake in the properties of matter are simply a
1857 James Clerk Maxwell struggle for existence and combination of the basic laws of
calculates the mean speed the evolution of the world. motion and the statistical rules of
of molecules and the mean Ludwig Boltzmann probability. Following this principle,
distance between collisions. he calculated a number now called
AFTER the Boltzmann constant, providing
1905 Albert Einstein a formula linking the pressure and
analyzes Brownian motion volume of a gas to the number and
mathematically, showing energy of its molecules. ■
how it is the result of the
impact of molecules. See also: John Dalton 112–13 ■ James Joule 138 ■
James Clerk Maxwell 180–85 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21
140
PLASTIC IS NOT
WHAT I MEANT
TO INVENT
LEO BAEKELAND (1863–1944)
T
he discovery of synthetic Baekeland created one of the first
IN CONTEXT plastics in the 19th century commercially successful plastics,
opened the way to the now known as Bakelite.
BRANCH
creation of a huge range of solid What gives plastic its special
Chemistry
materials unlike anything that quality is the shape of its
BEFORE had ever been known before— molecules. With only a few
1839 Berlin apothecary light, noncorroding, and capable exceptions, plastics are made
Eduard Simon distils styrol of being molded into almost any from long organic molecules, known
resin from the Turkish sweet- imaginable shape. While plastics as polymers, strung together
gum tree. A century later, this can occur naturally, all of the from many smaller molecules, or
is developed into polystyrene plastics now in widespread use are monomers. A few polymers occur
by the German IG Farben entirely synthetic. In 1907, Belgian- naturally, such as cellulose, the
company. born American inventor Leo main woody substance in plants.
IN CONTEXT
Most organisms produce more offspring than
BRANCH can survive due to constraints such as lack of
Biology food and living space.
BEFORE
1794 Erasmus Darwin
(Charles’s grandfather)
recounts his vision of
evolution in Zoonomia. Offspring vary from each other in many ways.
1809 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
proposes a form of evolution
through the inheritance of
acquired characteristics.
AFTER
Variation means some offspring are better
1937 Theodosius Dobzhansky
suited or adapted to the struggle for survival.
publishes his experimental
evidence for the genetic basis
of evolution.
1942 Ernst Mayr defines the
concept of species through
populations that reproduce If these individuals pass on the advantageous
traits to their offspring, these also survive.
only with one another.
1972 Niles Eldredge and
Stephen Jay Gould propose
that evolution occurs mainly in
short bursts interspersed with
periods of relative stability. I have called this principle “natural selection.”
T
he British naturalist Preservation of Favoured Races in biology, providing a simple, but
Charles Darwin was by no the Struggle for Life, published in immensely powerful, explanation
means the first scientist London in 1859. Darwin described of life forms both past and present.
to suggest that plants, animals, and the book as “one long argument.” Darwin was acutely aware of
other organisms are not fixed and the potential blasphemy in his
unchanging—or, to use the popular “Confessing a murder” work during the decades he spent
word of the time, “immutable.” Like On the Origin of Species met with writing it. Fifteen years before
others before him, Darwin proposed academic and popular opposition. publication, he explained to his
that species of organisms change, It made no mention of religious confidant, the botanist Joseph
or evolve, through time. His great doctrine, which insisted that Hooker, that his theory required
contribution was to show how species were indeed fixed and no God or unchanging species:
evolution took place by a process immutable and designed by God. “At last gleams of light have come,
he termed natural selection. He But gradually the ideas in the book & I am almost convinced (quite
laid out his central idea in his changed the scientific perspective contrary to opinion I started with)
book On the Origin of Species by on the natural world. Its core notion that species are not (it is like
Means of Natural Selection, or the forms the basis for all modern confessing a murder) immutable.”
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 145
See also: James Hutton 96–101 ■ Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 118 ■ Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Henry Huxley 172–73 ■
Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■ Barbara McClintock 271 ■ James Watson and Francis Crick 276–83 ■ Michael Syvanen 318–19
Warbler finch
Small tree finch has a thin beak for
has a short, sharp probing for small
beak for grasping insects and
insects. spearing them.
Camarhynchus Certhidea
parvulus olivacea
fossils he found on his explorations, potential to double after one evidence to support his theory of
which he now saw “through Lyell’s generation of 25 years, then double evolution. Scientists around the
eyes.” However, while he was in again in the next generation, and world sent him specimens and
South America, volume two of so on. However, food supplies data. He studied the domestication
Principles of Geology arrived. In could not expand in the same way, of animals and plants, and the
it, Lyell rejected ideas of gradual and the result was a struggle for role of selective breeding, or artificial
evolution of plants and animals, existence. Malthus’s ideas were selection, especially in pigeons. In
including Lamarck’s theories. one of the main inspirations for 1855, he started breeding varieties
Instead, he invoked the concept Darwin’s theory of evolution. of Columbia livia, or rock doves, and
of “centres of Creation” to explain they would feature prominently in
species’ diversity and distribution. The quiet years the first two chapters in On the
Although Darwin admired Lyell as Even before the Beagle had Origin of Species.
a geologist, he had to discount this returned to England, the interest Through his work on pigeons,
latest concept as the evidence for generated by the specimens Darwin began to understand
evolution mounted. Darwin had sent back had made the extent and relevance of
Another piece of the jigsaw him a celebrity. After his return, variation among individuals.
was revealed in 1838 when Darwin his scientific and popular accounts He rejected the accepted wisdom
read An Essay on the Principle of the voyage increased his fame. that environmental factors were
of Population by the English However, his health deteriorated responsible for such differences,
demographer Thomas Malthus, and gradually he withdrew from insisting that reproduction was
which had been published 40 years the public eye. the cause, with variation somehow
earlier. Malthus described how In 1842, Darwin moved to the inherited from parents. He added
human populations can increase peace and quiet of Down House in this to the ideas of Malthus and
in an exponential way, with the Kent, where he continued to amass applied them to the natural world. ❯❯
148 CHARLES DARWIN
Much later, in his autobiography, Alfred Russel Wallace, like Darwin,
Darwin recalled his reaction when developed his theory of evolution in the
he first read Malthus back in 1838. light of extensive field work, conducted
first in the Amazon River Basin and
“Being well prepared to appreciate
later in the Malay Archipelago.
the struggle for existence…it
at once struck me that under
these circumstances favourable Worried about precedence, Darwin
variations would tend to be consulted Charles Lyell. They
preserved, and unfavourable ones agreed to a joint presentation of
to be destroyed. The result of this Darwin’s and Wallace’s papers at
would be the formation of new the Linnaean Society in London on
species…I had at last got a theory July 1, 1858. Neither author would
by which to work.” attend in person. The audience’s
Knowing more about the role of response was polite, with no outcry
variation, by 1856 Darwin the pigeon about blasphemy. Encouraged,
breeder could imagine not humans Darwin now finished his book.
but nature doing the choosing. From Published on November 24, 1859,
the term “artificial selection” he On the Origin of Species sold out nonetheless present, among the
derived “natural selection.” on its first day. offspring within a species. For
evolution, these variations must
Jolt into action Darwin’s theory fulfill two criteria. One: they should
On June 18, 1858, Darwin received Darwin states that species are not have some effect on the struggle
a short essay by a young British immutable. They change, or evolve, to survive and breed, that is, they
naturalist named Alfred Russel and the main mechanism for this should help to confer reproductive
Wallace. Wallace described a change is natural selection. The success. Two: they should be
flash of insight in which he had process relies on two factors. inherited, or passed to offspring,
suddenly understood how evolution First, more offspring are born than where they would confer the same
occurred, and asked Darwin for can survive when faced with the evolutionary advantage.
his opinion. Darwin was startled challenges of climate, food supply, Darwin describes evolution as
to read that Wallace’s insight competition, predators, and a slow and gradual process. As a
replicated almost exactly the same diseases; this leads to a struggle population of organisms adapts
ideas he himself had been working for existence. Second, there is to a new environment, it becomes
on for more than 20 years. variation, sometimes tiny but a new species, different from
Aftermath
Faced with such a thorough,
reasoned, evidence-based
exposition of evolution by natural
selection, most scientists soon
accepted Darwin’s concept of
“survival of the fittest.” Darwin’s
book was careful to avoid any
mention of humans in connection
with evolution, other than the
single sentence, “Light will be
shed on the origin of man, and
his history.” However, there were
protests from the Church, and the
clear implication that humans had
evolved from other animals was
ridiculed in many quarters.
Darwin, as ever avoiding the
limelight, remained engrossed in
his studies at Down House. As
controversy mounted, numerous
scientists sprang to his defense.
The biologist Thomas Henry Huxley
was vociferous in supporting the
theory—and arguing the case for
human descent from apes—and
dubbed himself “Darwin’s bulldog.”
FORECASTING THE
WEATHER
ROBERT FITZROY (1805 –1865)
152 ROBERT FITZROY
A
century and a half ago,
IN CONTEXT notions of weather
prediction were deemed
BRANCH
little more than folklore. The man
Meteorology
who changed that and gave us
BEFORE modern weather forecasting was With a barometer, two or
1643 Evangelista Torricelli British naval officer and scientist three thermometers, some
invents the barometer, which Captain Robert FitzRoy. brief instructions, and an
measures air pressure. FitzRoy is better known today attentive observation, not of
as the captain of the Beagle, the instruments only, but the sky
1805 Francis Beaufort ship that carried Charles Darwin and atmosphere, one may
develops the Beaufort scale on the voyage that led to his theory utilise Meteorology.
of wind force. of evolution by natural selection. Robert FitzRoy
Yet FitzRoy was a remarkable
1847 Joseph Henry proposes scientist in his own right.
a telegraph link to warn the FitzRoy was just 26 when he
eastern United States of sailed from England with Darwin
storms coming from the west. in 1831. Yet he had already served
AFTER more than a decade at sea, and
1870 The US Army Signal had studied at the Royal Naval Naval weather pioneers
Corps begins creating weather College at Greenwich, where he It was no coincidence that many
maps for the whole US. was the first candidate to pass the of the first breakthroughs in
lieutenant’s exam with perfect weather forecasting came from
1917 The Bergen School marks. He had even commanded naval officers. Knowing what
of Meteorology in Norway the Beagle on an earlier survey trip weather lay ahead was crucial in
develops the notion of around South America, where the the days of sailing ships. Missing
weather fronts. importance of studying the weather a good wind could have huge
was impressed upon him. His financial consequences—and
2001 Systems of Unified ship almost met with disaster in being caught at sea in a storm
Surface Analysis use powerful a violent wind off the coast of could be disastrous.
computers to give highly Patagonia after he had ignored Two naval officers in particular
detailed local weather. the warning signs of falling had already made significant
pressure on the ship’s barometer. contributions. One was Irish
OMNE VIVUM
BRANCH
Biology
BEFORE
EX VIVO—
1668 Francesco Redi
demonstrates that maggots
arise from flies—and not
spontaneously.
ALL LIFE
1745 John Needham boils
broth to kill microbes, and
believes that spontaneous
generation has occurred
when they grow back.
FROM LIFE
1768 Lazzaro Spallanzani
shows that microbes do not
grow in boiled broth when
air is excluded.
M
odern biology teaches
that living things can
only arise from other
living things by a process of
reproduction. This may seem self-
evident today, but when the basic
principles of biology were in their
infancy, many scientists adhered to
a notion called “abiogenesis”—the
idea that life could spontaneously
generate itself. Long after Aristotle
claimed that living organisms
could emerge from decaying
matter, some even believed in
methods that purported to make
creatures from inanimate objects.
In the 17th century, for example,
Flemish physician Jan Baptista
von Helmont wrote that sweaty
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 157
See also: Robert Hooke 54 ■ Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 56–57 ■ Thomas Henry Huxley 172–73 ■
Spoilage or infection
Many living organisms do not occur if microbes
Some of these microbes
are microscopic, and are are prevented from
cause spoilage of food
suspended in the air contaminating and
or infectious disease.
around us. reproducing.
Microorganisms
get trapped in
the curve
The broth is boiled to kill When the broth cools Tilting the tube allows The microorganisms
any microoganisms in it. it remains free of microorganisms back quickly multiply again.
microorganisms. into the broth.
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 159
with a microscope. He found it It was a crushing blow to the
to be teeming with the type of last devotees of spontaneous
microbes that had been linked generation, and marked the birth
with the decay and spoilage of of a new biology solidly founded
food. It looked as though infection on the disciplines of cell theory,
was caused when microbes literally biochemistry, and genetics. By the
fell out of the air. This was the 1880s, German physician Robert
critical information Pasteur needed Koch had shown that the disease
to succeed in the next step, when anthrax was transmitted by
he took up a challenge laid down by infectious bacteria.
the French Academy of Sciences— Nevertheless, nearly a century
to disprove the idea of spontaneous after Huxley’s address, abiogenesis
generation once and for all. would once again focus the minds
For his experiment, Pasteur of a new generation of scientists as Louis Pasteur
boiled nutrient-rich broth—just as they began to ask questions about
Needham and Spallanzani had done the origin of the very first life on Born to a poor French family
a century before—but this time Earth. In 1953, American chemists in 1822, Louis Pasteur became
such a towering figure in the
made a critical modification to the Stanley Miller and Harold Urey
world of science that, upon
flask. He heated the flask’s neck to sent electrical sparks through his death, he was given a full
soften the glass, then drew the glass a mix of water, ammonia, methane, state funeral. After training
outward and downward to form a and hydrogen to simulate the in chemistry and medicine,
tube in the shape of a swan’s neck. atmospheric conditions at the dawn his professional career
When the setup had cooled, the tube of life on Earth. Within weeks, they included academic positions
was part-way directed downward so had created amino acids—the at the French universities
that microbes could not fall onto the building blocks of proteins and key of Strasbourg and Lille.
broth, even though the temperature chemical constituents of living His first research was on
was now suitable for their growth cells. Miller and Urey’s experiment chemical crystals, but he is
and there was plentiful oxygen triggered a resurgence of work better known in the field of
since the tube communicated with directed at showing that living microbiology. Pasteur showed
the outside air. The only way organisms can emerge from that microbes turned wine
microbes could grow back in the nonliving matter, but this time into vinegar and soured milk,
and developed a heat-treating
flask was spontaneously—and this scientists were equipped with
process that killed them—
did not happen. the tools of biochemistry and an
known as pasteurization. His
As final proof that microbes understanding of processes that work on microbes helped to
needed to contaminate the broth took place billions of years ago. ■ develop modern germ theory:
from the air, Pasteur repeated the the idea that some microbes
experiment, but snapped off the caused infectious disease.
swan-necked tube. The broth Later in his career, he
became infected: he had finally developed several vaccines,
disproved spontaneous generation, and established the Institut
and had shown that all life came Pasteur devoted to the study
from life. It was clear that microbes I observe facts alone; of microbiology, which thrives
could no more spontaneously I seek but the scientific to this day.
appear in a flask of broth than conditions under which
mice could appear in a dirty jar. life manifests itself. Key works
Louis Pasteur
1866 Studies on Wine
Abiogenesis returns 1868 Studies on Vinegar
In 1870, English biologist Thomas 1878 Microbes: Their Roles in
Henry Huxley championed Fermentation, Putrefaction,
Pasteur’s work in a lecture entitled and Contagion
“biogenesis and abiogenesis.”
ONE OF THE SNAKES
GRABBED
ITS OWN TAIL
AUGUST KEKULÉ (1829 –1896)
162 AUGUST KEKULÉ
T
he early years of the
IN CONTEXT 19th century saw huge
developments in chemistry
BRANCH
that fundamentally changed the
Chemistry
scientific view of matter. In 1803,
BEFORE John Dalton suggested that each I spent a part of the night
1852 Edward Frankland element was made of atoms that putting at least sketches of
introduces the idea of valency are unique to that element, and those musings down on paper.
—the number of bonds an atom used the concept of atomic weight This is how the structural
can form with other atoms. to explain how elements always theory came into being.
combine with each other in whole- Friedrich August Kekulé
1858 Archibald Couper number proportions. Jöns Jakob
suggests that carbon atoms Berzelius studied 2,000 compounds
can link directly to one to investigate these proportions.
another, forming chains. He invented the naming system we
use today—H for hydrogen, C for
AFTER carbon, and so on—and compiled
1858 Italian chemist Stanislao a list of atomic weights for all 40 elements. Atoms and molecules
Cannizzaro explains the elements that were then known. remained essentially theoretical
difference between atoms He also coined the term “organic concepts that nobody had seen
and molecules, and publishes chemistry” for the chemistry of directly, but they were concepts
atomic and molecular weights. living organisms—the term later with growing explanatory power.
came to mean most chemistry
1869 Dmitri Mendeleev lays
involving carbon. In 1809, French Valency
out the periodic table.
chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac In 1852, the first step toward
1931 Linus Pauling elucidates explained how gases combine in an understanding of how atoms
the structure of the chemical simple proportions by volume, combine with each another was
bond in general, and that of and two years later the Italian taken by English chemist Edward
the benzene molecule in Amedeo Avogadro suggested that Frankland, who introduced the idea
particular, using the ideas equal volumes of gas contain equal of valency—which is the number of
of quantum mechanics. numbers of molecules. It was atoms each atom of an element
clear that there were strict rules can combine with. Hydrogen
governing the combination of the has a valency of one; oxygen has
H C H H Establishing symmetry
C C Ortho-dichlorobenzine An unsolved mystery still remained
C C over the observed symmetry of
H H H
C the benzene ring. To satisfy
Cl C Cl its tetravalency, each carbon atom
H C C should have four bonds to other
C C atoms. This meant that they all
H H C H
had a “spare” bond. At first,
C H Kekulé drew alternating single
H H and double bonds around the
C C Meta-dichlorobenzine
ring, but when it became
C C H
H C H apparent that the ring had to
Cl C H be symmetrical, he suggested
H C C that the molecule oscillated
Benzene C6H6 C C between the two structures.
H C Cl
The electron was not discovered
H until 1896. The idea that bonds
Para-dichlorobenzine form through the sharing of
electrons was first proposed by
American chemist G. N. Wilson in
1916. In the 1930s, Linus Pauling
then used quantum mechanics
Kekulé suggested that double and single bonds between carbon to explain that the six spare
atoms in a benzene ring alternated (left). Two chlorine atoms can electrons in the benzene ring are
substitute for two of the hydrogen atoms in three different ways (right). not localized in double bonds, but
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 165
Kekulé described the moment that he
formulated his theory of benzene rings
as a dreamlike vision, in which he saw
a snake biting its own tail as in the
ancient symbol of the ouroboros, which
is depicted here as a dragon.
Dream of inspiration
Kekulé’s report of his dream is
the most cited personal account
of a flash of inspiration in all of
science. It seems that he was in a
hypnagogic state—on the edge of
going to sleep: that state where the manner of their motion. Today with the benzene ring theory…
realities and imagination slide into I saw how frequently two smaller I turned the chair to face the
each another. He described it as ones merged into a pair; how fireplace and slipped into a
Halbschlaf, or half-sleep. In fact he larger ones engulfed two smaller languorous state…atoms fluttered
describes two such reveries: the ones, still larger ones bonded three before my eyes.…Long rows,
first, probably in 1855, on top of a and even four of the small ones.” frequently linked more densely;
bus in south London, heading for The second occasion was in his everything in motion, winding and
Clapham Road. “Atoms fluttered study in Ghent in Belgium, possibly turning like snakes. And lo, what
before my eyes. I had always seen inspired by the ancient ouroboros was that? One of the snakes grabbed
these tiny particles in motion, but I symbol of a snake biting its own its own tail and the image whirled
had never succeeded in fathoming tail: “The same thing happened mockingly before my eyes.” ■
I
n the history of scientific
IN CONTEXT understanding, one of the
greatest of all the natural
BRANCH
mysteries was the mechanism of
Biology
inheritance. The fact of heredity
BEFORE had been known ever since people
1760 German botanist noticed that family members were
Josef Kölreuter describes recognizably similar. Practical
experiments in breeding implications were everywhere—
tobacco plants, but fails to from the breeding of crops and
explain his results correctly. livestock in agriculture, to the
knowledge that some diseases,
1842 Swiss botanist Carl von such as hemophilia, could be
Nägeli studies cell division passed on to children. But no one
and describes threadlike knew how it happened.
bodies that are later identified Greek philosophers thought Inherited characteristics had been
as chromosomes. that there was some sort of essence observed for millennia before Mendel,
or material “principle” that was but the biological mechanism
1859 Charles Darwin that produced phenomena such
passed from parents to offspring. as identical twins was unknown.
publishes his theory of Parents conveyed the principle to
evolution by natural selection. the next generation during sexual
AFTER intercourse; it was supposed to over many generations—and in
have originated in the blood, and doing so gave rise to biological
1900 Botanists Hugo de Vries,
paternal and maternal principles diversity. But if inheritance relied
Carl Correns, and William
blended to make a new person. on the blending of chemical
Bateson concurrently This idea persisted for centuries— principles, surely the biological
“rediscover” Mendel’s laws. mainly because no one came up diversity would be diluted out
1910 Thomas Hunt Morgan with anything better—but when of existence? It would be like
corroborates Mendel’s laws it reached Charles Darwin, its mixing paints of different colors,
and confirms the chromosomal fundamental weakness became and ending up with gray. The
basis for heredity. all too clear. Darwin’s theory of adaptations and novelties upon
evolution by natural selection which Darwin’s theory rested
proposed that species changed would not persist.
Mendel’s discovery and characteristics of plants in the shape—it was possible to identify
The breakthrough in understanding next generation, and the generation dominant and recessive varieties
inheritance came nearly a century after that. He found that alternate according to these proportions.
before the chemical structure of varieties (such as purple flower
DNA was established—and and white flower) were inherited The key conclusion
less than a decade after Darwin in fixed proportions. In the first Mendel went further and tested the
published On the Origin of Species. generation, only one variety, such inheritance of two characteristics
Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian as purple flower, came through; in simultaneously—such as flower
monk in Brno, was a teacher, the second generation, this variety color and seed color. He found that
scientist, and mathematician who accounted for three-quarters offspring ended up with different
succeeded where many better- of the offspring. Mendel called this combinations of traits and—once
known naturalists had failed. It the dominant variety. He called the again—these combinations
was, perhaps, Mendel’s skills in other variety the recessive variety. occurred in fixed proportions. In
mathematics and probability In this case, white flower was the first generation, all plants
theory that proved the difference. recessive, and made up a quarter of had both dominant traits (purple
Mendel conducted experiments the second generation plants. For flower, yellow seed), but in the
with the common pea, Pisum each characteristic—tall/short; second generation there was a
sativum. This plant varies in seed color; flower color; and seed mixture of combinations. ❯❯
several identifiable ways, such
as height, flower color, seed color,
and seed shape. Mendel started
looking at the inheritance of one Purebred purple
characteristic at a time and applied peas crossed with
his mathematical mind to the A pea’s flower may purebred white peas
results. By breeding pea plants, be white or purple. produce a first generation
which were easily cultivated in of peas that are
the monastery grounds, he could all purple.
conduct a series of experiments
to obtain meaningful data.
Mendel took critical precautions
in his work. Recognizing that
characteristics can skip and hide Breeding the first
through generations, he was careful generation of purple plants
Purple is the
to start with pea plants of “pure” dominant characteristic. with each other produces a
stock—such as white-flowered White is the recessive second generation with
plants that only produced white- characteristic. both purple and white
flowered offspring. He crossed in a proportion
pure white-flowered plants of 3 to 1.
with pure purple-flowered ones,
pure tall with pure short, and so
on. In each case, he also precisely
controlled the fertilization: using
tweezers, he transferred pollen from
unopened flower buds to stop them This is explained if inheritance
from scattering indiscriminately. is controlled by pairs of particles
He performed these breeding inherited from the parents.
experiments many times
and documented the numbers
170 GREGOR MENDEL
For example, one-sixteenth of the inherited two identical doses of
plants had the combination with the particle concerned. Today we
both recessive traits (white flower, recognize these particles as genes.
green seed). Mendel concluded
that the two characteristics were Genius recognized
inherited independently of one Mendel published the results of Traits disappear entirely in
another. In other words, inheritance his findings in a journal of natural the hybrids, but reappear
of flower color had no effect on history in 1866, but his work failed unchanged in their progeny.
inheritance of seed color and vice to make an impact in the wider Gregor Mendel
versa. The fact that heredity was scientific world. The esoteric
precisely proportional in this way nature of his title—Experiments
led Mendel to conclude that it was in Plant Hybridization—might have
not due to the blending of vague restricted the readership but,
chemical principles after all, but in any case, it took more than
happened because of discrete 30 years for Mendel to be properly
“particles.” There were particles appreciated for what he had A few months later, German
controlling flower color, particles done. In 1900, Dutch botanist botanist Carl Correns explicitly
for seed color, and so on. These Hugo de Vries published the results described Mendel’s mechanism
particles were transferred from of plant breeding experiments for inheritance. Meanwhile, in
parents to offspring intact. This similar to those of Mendel— England—spurred on after reading
explained why recessive traits including a corroboration of the the papers of de Vries and
could hide their effects and skip three-to-one ratio. De Vries followed Correns—Cambridge biologist
a generation: a recessive trait up with an acknowledgment William Bateson read Mendel’s
would only show through if a plant that Mendel had got there first. original paper for the first time
and immediately recognized its
significance. Bateson would
Parent generation become a champion of Mendelian
ideas, and he ended up coining
the term “genetics” for this new
field of biology. Posthumously,
the Augustinian monk had at
last been appreciated.
F1 By then, work of a different
kind—in the fields of cell biology
and biochemistry—was guiding
biologists down new avenues
of research. Microscopes
were replacing plant breeding
F2 experiments as scientists searched
for clues by looking right inside
cells. Nineteenth-century biologists
had a hunch that the key to
heredity lay in the cell’s nucleus.
3:1 proportion Unaware of Mendel’s work, in
1878, German Walther Flemming
The first generation of peas (F1) bred from KEY identified the threadlike structures
“pure” white- and purple-flowered plants all inside cell nuclei that moved
have one particle from each parent. Purple is Particle for white
dominant, so all the F1 flowers are purple. around during cell division.
In the second generation (F2), one plant in Particle for purple He named them chromosomes,
four will inherit two “white” particles and meaning “colored body.” Within
produce white flowers. a few years of the rediscovery
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 171
Hugo de Vries discovered the 3:1
ratio of characteristics in experiments
with a variety of plants in the 1890s.
He would later concede that Mendel
had a claim to priority in the discovery.
AN EVOLUTIONARY
LINK BETWEEN BIRDS
AND DINOSAURS
THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY (1825–1895)
I
n 1859, Charles Darwin
IN CONTEXT described his theory of
evolution by natural selection.
BRANCH
In the heated debates that followed,
Biology
Thomas Henry Huxley was the
BEFORE most formidable champion of
1859 Charles Darwin Darwin’s ideas, earning himself
publishes On the Origin the nickname “Darwin’s bulldog.”
of Species, describing his More significantly, the British
theory of evolution. biologist did pioneering work
on a key tenet in the evidence Eleven fossils of Archaeopteryx
1860 The first Archaeopteryx for Darwin’s theories—the idea have been discovered. This birdlike
fossil, discovered in Germany, that birds and dinosaurs are dinosaur lived in the Late Jurassic
is sold to London’s Natural closely related. period, about 150 million years ago,
History Museum. in what is now southern Germany.
If Darwin’s theory that species
gradually changed into others was
AFTER
true, then the fossil record should could simply have been one of
1875 The “Berlin specimen”
show how species that were very the earliest birds, rather than a
of Archaeopteryx, with teeth, different had diverged from feathered dinosaur. But Huxley
is found. ancestors that were very similar. In began to study closely the anatomy
1969 US paleontologist John 1860, a remarkable fossil was found of both birds and dinosaurs, and for
Ostrom’s study of microraptor in limestone in a German quarry. him, the evidence was compelling.
dinosaurs highlights new It dated from the Jurassic period,
similarities with birds. and was named Archaeopteryx A transitional fossil
lithographica. With wings and Huxley made detailed comparisons
1996 Sinosauropteryx, the first feathers like a bird’s, yet from the between Archaeopteryx and
known feathered dinosaur, is time of the dinosaurs, it seemed various other dinosaurs, and found
discovered in China. to be an example of the kind of that it was very similar to the small
2005 US biologist Chris Organ missing link between species that dinosaurs Hypsilophodon and
shows the similarity between Darwin’s theory predicted. Compsognathus. The discovery,
the DNA of birds and that of One sample, however, was in 1875, of a more complete
Tyrannosaurus rex. not nearly enough to prove the Archaeopteryx fossil, this time
connection between birds and with dinosaur-like teeth, seemed
dinosaurs, and Archaeopteryx to confirm the connection.
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 173
See also: Mary Anning 116–17 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49
I
n 1661, Anglo-Irish physicist Humphry Davy did not distinguish
IN CONTEXT Robert Boyle defined elements between them when he first
as “certain primitive and discovered them. Similarly,
BRANCH
simple, or perfectly unmingled the halogen elements chlorine
Chemistry
bodies; which not being made and bromine are both pungent,
BEFORE of any other bodies, or of one poisonous oxidizing agents,
1803 John Dalton introduces another, are the ingredients of even though chlorine is a gas
the idea of atomic weights. which all those called perfectly and bromine a liquid. British
mixt bodies are immediately chemist John Newlands noticed
1828 Johann Döbereiner compounded, and into which that when the known elements
attempts first classification. they are ultimately resolved.” were listed in order of increasing
In other words, an element cannot
1860 Stanislao Cannizzaro
be broken down by chemical
publishes an extensive table of
means into simpler substances.
atomic and molecular weights. In 1803, British chemist John
AFTER Dalton introduced the idea of
1913 Lothar Meyer shows the atomic weights (now called relative
periodic relationship between atomic masses) for these elements.
elements by plotting atomic Hydrogen is the lightest element,
weight against volume. and he gave it the value 1, which
we still use today.
1913 Henry Moseley redefines
the periodic table using atomic Law of eight
numbers—the number of In the first half of the 19th century,
protons in an atom’s nucleus. chemists gradually isolated more
elements, and it became clear that
1913 Niels Bohr suggests certain groups of elements had
a model for the structure of similar properties. For example,
the atom. It includes shells sodium and potassium are silvery
of electrons that explain the The first to attempt a classification
solids (alkali metals) that react of the elements was German chemist
relative reactivity of the violently with water, liberating Johann Döbereiner. By 1828, he had
different groups of elements. hydrogen gas. In fact, they are found that some elements formed
so similar that British chemist groups of three with related properties.
Assuming a periodicity
of properties, predictions can be The periodic table
made from the gaps in a periodic can be used to
table for the discovery of guide experiments.
missing elements.
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 177
See also: Robert Boyle 46–49 ■ John Dalton 112–13 ■ Humphry Davy 114 ■ Marie Curie 190–95 ■
3 4
had not yet been discovered, and
2 Li Be
LITHIUM BERYLLIUM
used these to predict the properties element
el B
BORON
C
CARBON
N
NITROGEN
O
OXYGEN
F
FLUORINE
Ne NEON
11 12
of the missing elements. name 13 14 15 16 17 18
3 Na Mg
SODIUM MAGNESIUM
Al
ALUMINUM
Si
SILICON
P S
SULPHUR
Cl Ar
CHLORINE ARGON
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 PHOSPHORUS
PERIOD
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
4 K
POTASSIUM
Ca Sc
CALCIUM SCANDIUM
Ti
TITANIUM
V
VANADIUM
Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
CHROMIUM MANGANESE IRON COBALT NICKEL COPPER ZINC GALLIUM GERMANIUM ARSENIC SELENIUM BROMINE KRYPTON
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
5 Rb Sr
RUBIDIUM STRONTIUM
Y
YTTRIUM
Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te
ZIRCONIUM NIOBIUM MOLYBDNUM TECHNETIUM RUTHENIUM RHODIUM PALLADIUM SILVER CADMIUM INDIUM TIN ANTIMONY TELLURIUM
I
IODINE
Xe
XENON
55 56 5771 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
6 Cs Ba
CAESIUM BARIUM
La-Lu
LANTHANIDE
Hf Ta W Re Os
HAFNIUM TANTALUM TUNGSTEN RHENIUM OSMIUM
Ir
IRIDIUM
Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi
PLATINUM GOLD MERCURY THALLIUM LEAD BISMUTH
Po At Rn
POLONIUM ASTATINE RADON
87 88 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118
7 Fr Ra
FRANCIUM RADIUM
Ac-Lr
ACTINIDE
Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Uun Uuu Cn Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo
RUTHERFORDIUM DUBNIUM SEABORGIUM BOHRIUM HASSIUM MEITNERIUM UNUNNILIUM UNUNUNIUM COPERNICIUM UNUNTRIUM UNUNQUADIUM UNUNPENTIUM UNUNHEXIUM UNUNSEPTIUM UNUNOCTIUM
57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
LANTHANIUM CERIUM PRASEODYMIUM NEODYMIUM PROMETHIUM SAMARIUM EUROPIUM GADOLINIUM TERBIUM DYSPROSIUM HOLMIUM ERBIUM THULIUM YTTERBIUM LUTETIUM
Ac Th Pa
ACTINIUM THORIUM PROTACTINIUM
U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
URANIUM NEPTUNIUM PLUTONIUM AMERICIUM CURIUM BERKELIUM CALIFORNIUM EINSTEINIUM FERMIUM MENDELEVIUM NOBELIUM LAWRENCIUM
KEY
Alkali metals Transition metals Other metals Other non-metals Noble gases
Alkali earth metals Rare earth metals Metalloids Halogens Radioactive rare earths
atomic weight, similar elements The significance of Newlands’ there must be a pattern to them.
occurred every eighth place. He achievement would not be In an effort to solve the puzzle,
published his findings in 1864. recognized for more than 20 years. he made a set of 56 playing cards,
In the journal Chemical News Meanwhile, French mineralogist each labeled with the name and
Newlands wrote: “Elements Alexandre-Émile Béguyer de major properties of one element.
belonging to the same group Chancourtois had also noticed the Mendeleev is said to have made
appear in the same horizontal patterns, publishing his ideas in his breakthrough as he was about
line. Also the numbers of similar 1862, but few people noticed. to embark on a winter journey in
elements differ by seven or 1868. Before setting out, he laid out
multiples of seven…This peculiar Card puzzle his cards on the table and began
relationship I propose to call The Around the same time, Dmitri to ponder the puzzle, as though
Law of Octaves.” The patterns Mendeleev was struggling with playing a game of solitare. When
in his table make sense as far the same problem as he wrote his his coachman came to the door for
as calcium, but then go haywire. book Principles of Chemistry in the luggage, Mendeleev waved him
On March 1, 1865, Newlands was St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1863, away, saying he was busy. He
ridiculed by the Chemical Society, there were 56 known elements, and moved the cards back and forth
who said that he might as well list new ones were being discovered until finally he managed to arrange
the elements in alphabetical order, at a rate of about one a year. all 56 elements to his satisfaction,
and refused to publish his paper. Mendeleev was convinced that with the similar groups running ❯❯
178 DMITRI MENDELEEV
vertically. The following year, Predicting new elements
Mendeleev read a paper at the In his paper, Mendeleev made a
Russian Chemical Society stating bold prediction: “We must expect
that: “The elements, if arranged the discovery of many yet unknown
according to their atomic weight, elements—for example, two
exhibit an apparent periodicity elements, analogous to aluminum
of properties.” He explained that and silicon, whose atomic weights
elements with similar chemical would be between 65 and 75.”
properties have atomic weights Mendeleev’s arrangement
that are either of nearly the same included crucial improvements over
value (such as potassium, iridium, Newlands’ Octaves. Below boron
and osmium) or that increase and aluminum, Newlands had
regularly (such as potassium, placed chromium, which made
rubidium, and cesium). He further little sense. Mendeleev reasoned The six alkali metals are all soft,
explained that the arrangement of that there must exist an as-yet highly reactive metals. The outer layer
the elements into groups in the undiscovered element, and of this lump of pure sodium has reacted
with the oxygen in the air to give it a
order of their atomic weights predicted that one would be found
coating of sodium oxide.
corresponds to their valency, which with an atomic weight of about 68.
is the number of bonds the atoms It would form an oxide (a compound
can form with other atoms. formed by an element with oxygen) predictions that are proved true.
with a chemical formula of M 2O3, In this case, the element gallium
where “M” is the symbol for (atomic weight 70, forming the
the new element. This formula oxide Ga2O3) was discovered in
meant that two atoms of the 1875; scandium (weight 45, Sc2O3)
new element would combine in 1879; and germanium (weight 73,
with three oxygen atoms to GeO2) in 1886. These discoveries
It is the function of science to make the oxide. He predicted two made Mendeleev’s reputation.
discover the existence of a more elements to fill other spaces:
general reign of order in nature one with an atomic weight of about Mistakes in the table
and to find the causes 45, forming the oxide M 2O3, and the Mendeleev did make some
governing this order. other with an atomic weight of 72, mistakes. In his 1869 paper, he
Dmitri Mendeleev forming the oxide MO2. asserted that the atomic weight
Critics were sceptical, but of tellurium must be incorrect: it
Mendeleev had made very should lie between 123 and 126,
specific claims, and one of the because the atomic weight of
most powerful ways to support iodine is 127, and iodine should
a scientific theory is to make clearly follow tellurium in the table,
The six noble gases that occur naturally (listed in group 18 of the table) are
helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon. They have very low chemical
reactivity because they each have a full valence shell—a shell of electrons
surrounding the atom’s nucleus. Helium has just one shell containing two
electrons, while the other elements have outer shells of eight electrons.
Radioactive radon is unstable.
He Ne Ar Kr Xe
Nucleus Electron
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 179
according to its properties. He was This came to be called the atomic
wrong—the relative atomic weight number of the element, and it is
of tellurium is in fact 127.6; it is this number that determines the
greater than that of iodine. A element’s position on the periodic
similar anomaly occurs between table. The fact that atomic weights
potassium (weight 39) and argon had given a close approximation
(weight 40), where argon clearly followed from the fact that for the
precedes potassium in the table— lighter elements, the atomic weight
but Mendeleev was not aware of is roughly (though not exactly)
these problems in 1869, because twice the atomic number.
argon was not discovered until
1894. Argon is one of the noble Using the table
gases, which are colorless, odorless, The periodic table of the elements
and hardly react with other may look like just a cataloguing Dmitri Mendeleev
elements. Difficult to detect, none system—a neat way of ordering
of the noble gases were known at the elements—but it has far greater The youngest of at least 12
that time, so there were no spaces importance in both chemistry children, Dmitri Mendeleev
was born in 1834 in a village
for them in Mendeleev’s table. Once and physics. It allows chemists
in Siberia. When his father
argon had turned up, however, to predict the properties of an went blind and lost his
there were several more holes to fill, element, and to try variations teaching post, Mendeleev’s
and by 1898, Scottish chemist in processes; for example, if a mother supported the family
William Ramsay had isolated particular reaction does not work with a glass factory business.
helium, neon, krypton, and xenon. with chromium, perhaps it works When that burned down, she
In 1902, Mendeleev incorporated with molybdenum, the element took her 15-year-old son across
the noble gases into his table as below chromium in the table. Russia to St. Petersburg to
Group 18, and this version of the The table was also crucial in receive a higher education.
table forms the basis of the periodic the search for the structure of the In 1862, Mendeleev
table we use today. atom. Why did the properties of married Feozva Nikitichna
The anomaly of the “wrong” elements repeat in these patterns? Leshcheva, but in 1876 he
atomic weights was solved in 1913 Why were the Group 18 elements became obsessed with Anna
by British physicist Henry Moseley, so unreactive, while the elements Ivanova Popova, and married
her before his divorce from
who used X-rays to determine the in the groups on either side were
his first wife was final.
number of protons in the nucleus of the most reactive of all? Such
In the 1890s, Mendeleev
each atom of a particular element. questions led directly to the picture organized new standards
of the structure of the atom that has for producing vodka. He
been accepted ever since. investigated the chemistry
Mendeleev was to some extent of oil, and helped to set up
lucky to have been credited for his Russia’s first oil refinery.
table. Not only did he publish his In 1905, he was elected a
ideas after Béguyer and Newlands, member of the Royal Swedish
We must expect the discovery but also German chemist Lothar Academy of Science, who
of elements analogous to Meyer, who plotted atomic weight recommended him for a Nobel
aluminum and silicon— against atomic volume to show Prize, but his candidacy was
whose atomic weight would the periodic relationship between blocked, possibly due to his
be between 65 and 75. elements, was ahead of him, too, bigamy. The radioactive
Dmitri Mendeleev publishing in 1870. As so often in element 101 mendelevium
is named in his honor.
science, the time had been ripe for
a particular discovery, and several Key work
people had reached the same
conclusion independently, without 1870 Principles of Chemistry
knowing about each other’s work. ■
LIGHT
AND MAGNETISM ARE
AFFECTATIONS
OF THE SAME SUBSTANCE
JAMES CLERK MAXWELL (1831–1879)
182 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL
IN CONTEXT
A magnetic field can change the
BRANCH polarization of light.
Physics
BEFORE
1803 Thomas Young’s double-
slit experiments appear to
show that light is a wave.
This suggests that light may be an
1820 Hans Christian Ørsted electromagnetic wave.
demonstrates a link between
electricity and magnetism.
1831 Michael Faraday shows
that a changing magnetic field
produces an electric field. Assuming light to be an electromagnetic wave,
it is possible to formulate equations to describe
AFTER mathematically the behavior of light.
1900 Max Planck suggests
that in some circumstances,
light can be treated as if it
were composed of tiny “wave
packets,” or quanta. The discovery of long-wavelength
radio waves (also part of the electromagnetic
1905 Albert Einstein shows spectrum) confirms the equations.
that light quanta, today known
as photons, are real.
1940s Richard Feynman
and others develop quantum
electrodynamics (QED) to Light and magnetism are affectations
explain the behavior of light. of the same substance.
T
he series of differential consequences in the 20th century, Michael Faraday. Today, Faraday
equations describing and today offers hope for unifying is perhaps best known for his
the behavior of our understanding of the universe invention of the electric motor and
electromagnetic fields developed into a comprehensive “Theory of the discovery of electromagnetic
by Scottish physicist James Clerk Everything.” induction, but it was a less
Maxwell through the 1860s and celebrated discovery that provided
1870s are rightly considered one The Faraday effect Maxwell’s departure point.
of the towering achievements in Danish physicist Hans Christian For two decades, Faraday
the history of physics. A truly Ørsted’s discovery, in 1820, of had been attempting, on and off,
transformative discovery, they not a link between electricity and to find a link between light and
only revolutionized the way that magnetism set the stage for a electromagnetism. Then, in
scientists viewed electricity, century of attempts to discover 1845, he devised an ingenious
magnetism, and light, but also the links and interconnections experiment that answered the
laid the ground rules for an entirely between seemingly unconnected question once and for all. It involved
new style of mathematical physics. phenomena. It also inspired passing a beam of polarized light
This would have far-reaching a significant breakthrough by (one in which the waves oscillate
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 183
See also: Alessandro Volta 90–95 ■ Hans Christian Ørsted 120 ■ Michael Faraday 121 ■ Max Planck 202–05 ■
Theories of
electromagnetism
However, while Faraday was
a brilliant experimentalist, it
took the genius of Maxwell to put
this intuitive idea onto sound
theoretical footing. Maxwell came
to the problem from the opposite
RAYS WERE
COMING FROM
THE TUBE
WILHELM RÖNTGEN (1845–1923)
IN CONTEXT
When an electric current
BRANCH is passed through a sealed Fluorescent screens
glass tube, cathode rays near the tube also glow,
Physics even when it is covered
cause part of the tube
BEFORE to glow. in black cardboard.
1838 Michael Faraday passes
an electrical current through
a partially evacuated glass
tube, producing a glowing
electric arc.
1869 Cathode rays are Some unknown type of
Invisible rays ray must have passed
observed by Johann Hittorf. are coming through the cardboard to
AFTER from the tube. make the screen glow.
1896 First clinical use of
X-rays in diagnosis, producing
an image of a bone fracture.
L
1896 First clinical use of ike many scientific Cathode rays
X-rays in cancer treatment. discoveries, X-rays were This arrangement of electrodes
first observed by scientists inside a sealed container is called
1897 J. J. Thomson discovers studying something else—in this a discharge tube. By the 1860s,
that cathode rays are in case, electricity. An artificially British physicist William Crookes
fact streams of electrons. produced electric arc (a glowing had developed discharge tubes
X-rays are produced when discharge jumping between two with hardly any air in them.
a stream of electrons hits a electrodes) was first observed in German physicist Johann Hittorf
metal target. 1838 by Michael Faraday. He used these tubes to measure the
1953 Rosalind Franklin passed an electrical current electricity carrying capacity of
uses X-rays to help her to through a glass tube that had charged atoms and molecules.
determine the structure been partially evacuated of air. There was no glowing arc between
of DNA. The arc stretched from the negative the electrodes in Hittorf’s tubes,
electrode (the cathode) to the but the glass tubes themselves
positive electrode (the anode). glowed. Hittorf concluded that the
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 187
See also: Michael Faraday 121 ■ Ernest Rutherford 206–13 ■
“rays” must have come from the laboratory notes were burned after
cathode, or negative electrode. his death, so we cannot be sure
They were named cathode rays exactly how he discovered these
by Hittorf’s colleague Eugen “X-rays,” but he may have first
Goldstein, but in 1897, British observed them when he noticed
physicist J. J. Thomson showed that a screen near his discharge
that they are streams of electrons. tube was glowing even though
the tube was covered in black
Discovering X-rays cardboard. Röntgen abandoned his
During his experiments, Hittorf original experiment and spent the
noticed that photographic plates next two months investigating the Wilhelm Röntgen
in the same room were becoming properties of these invisible rays,
fogged, but he did not investigate which are still called Röntgen rays Wilhelm Röntgen was born
this effect any further. Others in many countries. We now know in Germany, but lived in
the Netherlands for part of
observed similar effects, but that X-rays are a form of short-
his childhood. He studied
Wilhelm Röntgen was the first to wavelength electromagnetic mechanical engineering
investigate their cause—finding radiation. They have a wavelength in Zurich before becoming
that it was a ray that could pass ranging from 0.01–10 nanometers a lecturer in physics at
right through many opaque (billionths of a meter). In contrast, Strasbourg University
substances. At his request, his visible light falls between the range in 1874, and a professor
of 400–700 nanometers. two years later. He took
senior positions at several
Using X-rays today universities during his career.
Today, X-rays are produced by firing Röntgen studied many
a stream of electrons at a metal different areas of physics,
target. They pass through some including gases, heat transfer,
materials better than others, and and light. However, he is best
can be used to form images of the known for his research into
X-rays, and in 1901 he was
insides of the body or to detect
awarded the first Nobel Prize
metals in closed containers. In
in Physics for this work. He
CT (computed tomography) scans, refused to limit the potential
a computer combines a series of uses of X-rays by taking out
X-ray images to form a 3D image patents, saying that his
of the inside of the body. discoveries belonged to
X-rays can also be used to form humanity, and gave away his
images of very small objects, and Nobel Prize money. Unlike
X-ray microscopes were developed in many of his contemporaries,
the 1940s. The image resolution that Röntgen used lead protective
is possible when using light shields in his work with
microscopes is limited by the radiation. He died from
wavelengths of visible light. With an unrelated cancer at
their much shorter wavelengths, 77 years old.
X-rays can be used to form images of
Key works
much smaller objects. Diffraction of
The first X-ray image was taken by
Röntgen of his wife Anna’s hand. The X-rays can be used to figure out how 1895 On a New Kind of Rays
dark circle is her wedding ring. On atoms in crystals are arranged—a 1897 Additional Observations
seeing the image, Anna is said to have technique that proved crucial in on the Properties of X-rays
exclaimed: “I have seen my own death.” elucidating the structure of DNA. ■
188
SEEING INTO
THE EARTH
RICHARD DIXON OLDHAM (1858–1936)
T
he shaking caused by
IN CONTEXT earthquakes spreads out
There are different types in the form of seismic
BRANCH
of seismic wave. waves, which we can detect using
Geology
seismographs. While working for
BEFORE the Geological Survey of India
1798 Henry Cavendish between 1879 and 1903, Richard
publishes his calculations Dixon Oldham wrote a survey of an
of the density of Earth. The earthquake that struck Assam in
value is greater than the 1897. In it he made his greatest
density of the surface rocks, P waves are not contribution to plate tectonic
showing that Earth must detected at certain distances theory. Oldham noted that the
from an earthquake… quake had three phases of motion,
contain denser materials.
which he took to represent three
1880 British geologist John different types of wave. Two of
Milne invents the modern these were “body” waves, which
seismograph. traveled through Earth. The third
type was a wave that traveled
1887 Britain’s Royal Society around the surface of Earth.
…therefore rocks
funds 20 earthquake
inside Earth must be
observatories worldwide. deflecting the paths Wave effects
AFTER of the waves. The body waves Oldham identified
1909 Croatian seismologist are today known as P waves and
Andrija Mohorovicic identifies S waves (primary and secondary—
the seismic boundary between the order in which they arrive at
a seismograph). P waves are
Earth’s crust and the mantle.
longitudinal waves; as the wave
1926 Harold Jeffreys claims passes, rocks are moved backward
that the core of Earth is liquid. Earth’s core has and forward in the same direction
properties that are as the waves are traveling. S waves
1936 Inge Lehmann argues different from those
are transverse waves (like the
that Earth has a solid inner in Earth’s upper layers.
waves on the surface of water); the
core and a molten outer core.
rocks are moved sideways to the
direction of the wave. P waves
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 189
See also: James Hutton 96–101 ■ Nevil Maskelyne 102–03 ■ Alfred Wegener 222–23
e
zon
do ave
earthquake were detected in this
zone. Oldham knew that the speed
S-w
ha P-w
w
Mantle
at which seismic waves travel
av
sh s
e
L
ike many major scientific
IN CONTEXT discoveries, radiation was
found by accident. In 1896,
BRANCH
French physicist Henri Becquerel
Physics
was investigating phosphorescence,
BEFORE which occurs when light falls on a It was necessary at this
1895 Wilhelm Röntgen substance that then emits light of point to find a new term
investigates the properties a different color. Becquerel wanted to define this new property
of X-rays. to know whether phosphorescent of matter manifested by the
minerals also emitted X-rays, which elements of uranium and
1896 Henri Becquerel had been discovered by Wilhelm thorium. I proposed the
discovers that uranium salts Röntgen a year earlier. To find out, word radioactivity.
emit penetrating radiation. he placed one of these minerals on Marie Curie
top of a photographic plate that was
1897 J. J. Thomson discovers wrapped in thick black paper and
the electron while exploring the exposed both to the Sun. The
properties of cathode rays. experiment worked—the plate
AFTER darkened; the mineral appeared
1904 Thomson proposes to have emitted X-rays. Becquerel
the “plum pudding” model also showed that metals would Rays produced by atoms
of the atom. block the “rays” that caused the Following Becquerel’s discovery,
plate to darken. The next day was his Polish doctoral student, Marie
1911 Ernest Rutherford cloudy so he could not repeat the Curie, decided to investigate
and Ernest Marsden experiment. He left the mineral on these new “rays.” Using an
propose the “nuclear model” a photographic plate in a drawer, electrometer—a device for
of the atom. but the plate still darkened, even measuring electrical currents—she
without the sunshine. He realized found that air around a sample of a
1932 British physicist that the mineral must have an uranium-containing mineral was
James Chadwick discovers internal source of energy, which conducting electricity. The level
the neutron. turned out to be the result of the of electrical activity depended
breakdown of atoms of uranium in only on the amount of uranium
the mineral he was using. He had present, not on the total mass of the
detected radioactivity. mineral (which included elements
Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska was the University of Paris, the first
born in Warsaw in 1867. At that woman to hold this position. She
time Poland was under Russian was also the first woman to be
rule and women were not allowed awarded a Nobel Prize, and the
into higher education. She worked first to be awarded a second
to help finance her sister’s medical Nobel. During World War I, she
studies in Paris, France, and in helped set up radiology centers.
1891 moved there herself to study She died in 1934 of anemia,
mathematics, physics, and probably caused by her long
chemistry. There, she married her exposure to radiation.
colleague, Pierre Curie, in 1895.
When her daughter was born in Key works
1897, she began teaching to help
support the family, but continued 1898 Emissions of Rays
to research with Pierre in a by Uranium and
converted shed. After Pierre’s Thorium Compounds
death, she accepted his chair at 1935 Radioactivity
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 193
See also: Wilhelm Röntgen 186–87 ■ Ernest Rutherford 206–13 ■ J. Robert Oppenheimer 260–65
A CONTAGIOUS
LIVING FLUID
MARTINUS BEIJERINCK (1851–1931)
AFTER
1903 Ivanovsky reports
T
light-microscope “crystal hese days, the word “virus” and medicine. It was suggested
inclusions” in infected host is all too familiar as a in 1898 by Dutch microbiologist
cells, but suspects they are medical term, and many Martinus Beijerinck for a new
very small bacteria. people understand the idea that category of contagious disease-
viruses are just about the smallest causing agents. Beijerinck had
1935 US biochemist Wendell of the harmful agents, or germs, a special interest in plants and a
Stanley studies the structure that cause infections in humans, skilled talent for microscopy. He
of the tobacco mosaic virus, other animals, plants, and fungi. experimented with tobacco plants
and realizes that viruses are Yet at the end of the 19th that were suffering from mosaic
large chemical molecules. century, the term virus was only disease, a discoloring mottled
just making its way into science effect on the leaves that was costly
A CENTURY OF PROGRESS 197
See also: Friedrich Wöhler 124–25 ■ Louis Pasteur 156–59 ■ Lynn Margulis 300–01 ■ Craig Venter 324–25
for the tobacco industry. His results that could pass on disease. In 1892, microbiological techniques,
led him to apply the term virus— Russian botanist Dmitri Ivanovsky Beijerinck figured out that they
already in occasional use for performed tests on tobacco mosaic really did exist. He insisted that
substances that were toxic or disease, showing that its infection they caused disease, propelling
poisonous—to the contagious agent passed through the filters. microbiology and medical science
agents that caused the disease. He established that the agent in into a new era. It would not be
At the time, most of Beijerinck’s this case could not be bacteria, until 1939, with the aid of electron
contemporaries in science and but did not investigate further to microscopes, that tobacco mosaic
medicine were still grappling with discover what the agent might be. virus became the first virus to have
understanding bacteria. Louis Beijerinck repeated Ivanovsky’s its photograph taken. ■
Pasteur and German physician experiment. He, too, established
Robert Koch had first isolated and that even after juice pressed from
identified them as disease-causing the leaves was filtered, tobacco
in the 1870s, and more were being mosaic disease was still present.
discovered constantly. Indeed, at first he thought that the
A common method of testing cause was the fluid itself, which he
for bacteria at the time was to pass called contagium vivum fluidium
liquid containing the suspected (contagious living fluid). He further
contagions through various sets of demonstrated that the contagion
filters. One of the best known was carried in the fluid could not be
the Chamberland filter, invented in grown in laboratory nutrient gels
1884 by Pasteur’s colleague Charles or broths, nor in any host organism.
Chamberland. It used minute pores It had to infect its own specific
in unglazed porcelain to capture living host in order to multiply
particles as small as bacteria. and spread the disease.
Even though viruses could not
This electron micrograph image
Too small to filter be seen by light microscopes of shows particles of the tobacco mosaic
Several researchers had suspected the time, grown with the usual virus at 160,000x magnification.
that there was a class of infectious laboratory culture methods, or The particles have been stained
agents even tinier than bacteria detected by any of the standard to enhance their visibility.
Albert Einstein produces Alfred Wegener Erwin Schrödinger Paul Dirac introduces
his paper on special proposes a theory of unleashes wave quantum
relativity. continental drift. mechanics. electrodynamics.
W
hile the 19th century “black box,” which had stubbornly aspects of the same phenomenon,
had seen a fundamental resisted classical equations, by capable of being converted from
change in the way imagining that electromagnetism one to the other, and his equation
scientists view life processes, traveled not in continuous describing their relation—E = mc2
the first half of the 20th would waves, but in discrete packets, —hinted at an enormous potential
prove even more of a shock. The or “quanta.” Five years later, energy locked inside atoms.
old certainties of classical physics, Albert Einstein, a clerk working
largely unchanged since Isaac at the Swiss Patent Office, Wave–particle duality
Newton, were about to be thrown produced his paper on special Worse was to follow for the old
away, and nothing short of a new relativity, asserting that the picture of the universe. At
way to view space, time, and speed of light is constant and Cambridge, English physicist
matter was to replace it. By 1930, independent of the movement of J. J. Thomson discovered the
the old idea of a predictable source or observer. After working electron, showing that it has a
universe had been shattered. through the implications of general negative charge and is at least
relativity, Einstein had found by a thousand times smaller and
A new physics 1916 that notions of an absolute lighter than any atom. Studying
Physicists were finding that the time and space independent of the the properties of the electron
equations of classical mechanics observer had gone, to be replaced was to produce new puzzles.
were producing some nonsensical by a single space-time, which was Not only did light have particle-like
results. It was clear that something warped by the presence of mass properties, but particles had
was fundamentally wrong. In 1900, to produce gravity. Einstein had wavelike properties, too. Austrian
Max Planck solved the puzzle of the further demonstrated that matter Erwin Schrödinger drew up a
spectrum of radiation emitted by a and energy should be considered series of equations that described
A PARADIGM SHIFT 201
the probability of finding a particle Linus Pauling took this new picture universe was suddenly enormously
in a particular place and state. of an atom and used the ideas of bigger than anyone had thought.
His German colleague Werner quantum physics to explain how Hubble further found that the
Heisenberg showed that there atoms bonded to each another. In universe was expanding in all
was an inherent uncertainty to the process, he showed how the directions. Belgian priest and
the values of place and momentum, discipline of chemistry was, in physicist Georges Lemaître
which was initially thought to be a reality, a subsection of physics. By proposed that the universe had
problem of measurement, but later the 1930s, physicists were working expanded from a “primeval atom.”
found to be fundamental to the on ways to unlock the energy in This was to become the Big Bang
structure of the universe. A strange the atom, and in the US, J. Robert theory. A further puzzle was
picture was emerging of a warped, Oppenheimer led the Manhattan uncovered when astronomer Fritz
relative space-time with particles Project, which was to produce the Zwicky coined the term “dark
of matter smeared across it in the first nuclear weapons. matter” to explain why the Coma
form of probability waves. galaxy cluster appeared to contain
The universe expands 400 times as much mass (as seen
Splitting the atom Up to the 1920s, nebulae were from its gravity) as he could explain
New Zealander Ernest Rutherford thought to be clouds of gas or dust from the observable stars. Not only
first showed that an atom is made within our own galaxy, the Milky was matter not quite what it had
mostly of space, with a small, Way, which comprised the entire been thought to be, but much of it
dense nucleus and electrons in known universe. Then American was not even directly detectable.
orbit around it. He explained astronomer Edwin Hubble It was clear that there were
certain forms of radioactivity as the discovered that these nebulae still major holes in scientific
splitting of this nucleus. Chemist were in fact distant galaxies. The understanding. ■
202
IN CONTEXT
OUANTA ARE
BRANCH
Physics
BEFORE
DISCRETE
1860 The distribution of
so-called black-body radiation
fails to match predictions
made by theoretical models.
PACKETS
1870s Austrian physicist
Ludwig Boltzmann’s analysis
of entropy (disorder) introduces
a probabilistic interpretation of
quantum mechanics.
OF ENERGY
AFTER
1905 Albert Einstein proposes
that the quantum is a real
entity, using Planck’s concept
of quantized light to introduce
MAX PLANCK (1858–1947) the idea of the photon.
1924 Louis de Broglie proves
that matter behaves both as a
particle and as a wave.
1926 Erwin Schrödinger
formulates an equation for the
wave behavior of particles.
I
n December 1900, the German
theoretical physicist Max
Planck presented a paper
setting out his method for resolving
a long-standing theoretical conflict.
In doing so, he made one of the
most important conceptual leaps
in the history of physics. Planck’s
paper marked the turning point
between the classical mechanics of
Newton and quantum mechanics.
The certainty and precision of
Newtonian mechanics was to give
way to an uncertain, probabilistic
description of the universe.
Quantum theory has its roots in
the study of thermal radiation, the
phenomenon that explains why we
feel heat from a fire, even when the
A PARADIGM SHIFT 203
See also: Ludwig Boltzmann 139 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33
Radiation intensity
absolute, truth. Thus, we observe increased exponentially as its wavelength
entropy simply because it is shortened. By quantizing radiation,
overwhelmingly more likely than Planck produced a formula that fit the
the alternative. A plate breaks but experimental data.
Visible light
does not remake itself, but there
is no absolute law preventing a
plate from putting itself back Rayleigh–
together—it is just exceedingly Planck Jeans Law
unlikely to happen. Radiation
Formula
Quantum of action 1000 2000 3000
Planck used Boltzmann’s statistical Wavelength of radiation (nm)
interpretation of entropy to arrive at
a new expression for the radiation
law. Imagining thermal radiation as Introducing “quanta” of energy to come to terms with the
being produced by individual reduced the number of states of consequences of his own work.
“oscillators,” he needed to count the energy available to the system, While he was never in any doubt
ways in which a given energy could and in doing this (although it about the revolutionary impact
be distributed between them. wasn’t his goal), Planck solved the of what he had done, he was—
To do this, he divided the total ultraviolet catastrophe. He thought according to historian James
energy into a finite number of of his quanta as a mathematical Franck—“a revolutionary against
discrete energy chunks—a process necessity—as a “trick”—rather his own will.” He found the
called “quantization.” Planck was a than something that was real. But consequences of his equations
gifted cellist and pianist and might when Albert Einstein used the not to his taste since they often
have imagined these “quanta” in concept to explain the photoelectric gave descriptions of physical reality
the same way that a fixed number effect in 1905, he insisted that that clashed with our everyday
of harmonics is available to the quanta were a real property of light. experience of the world. But for
vibrating string of an instrument. As with many of the pioneers better or worse, after Max Planck,
The resulting equation was simple, of quantum mechanics, Planck the world of physics has never
and it fit the experimental data. spent the rest of his life struggling been the same. ■
Max Planck Born in Kiel in northern Germany giving birth to their children.
in 1858, Planck was an able pupil During World War II, an Allied
at school and graduated early, bomb destroyed his house in
at 17. He chose to study physics at Berlin and his papers, and in the
the University of Munich, where closing stages of the war, his
he soon became a pioneer of remaining son was caught up in
quantum physics. He received the plot to assassinate Hitler
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918 and was executed. Planck
for his discovery of energy quanta, himself died soon after the war.
although he never was able to
satisfactorily describe the Key works
phenomena as a physical reality.
Planck’s personal life was 1900 Entropy and Temperature
beset by tragedy. His first wife of Radiant Heat
died in 1909, and his eldest 1901 On the Law of Distribution
son was killed in World War I. of Energy in the Normal
Both of his twin daughters died Spectrum
NOW I KNOW WHAT THE
ATOM
LOOKS LIKE
ERNEST RUTHERFORD (1871–1937)
208 ERNEST RUTHERFORD
T
he discovery at the turn theory based on his “law of multiple
IN CONTEXT of the 20th century that proportions,” which explained
the basic constituent of how elements (simple, uncombined
BRANCH
matter—the atom—could be substances) always combine in
Physics
broken into smaller fragments simple, whole-number ratios. Dalton
BEFORE was a watershed moment for saw that this meant that a chemical
c.400 BCE Greek philosopher physics. This astonishing reaction between two substances
Democritus envisages atoms breakthrough revolutionized ideas is no more than the fusing of
as solid, indestructible about how matter is constructed individual small components,
building blocks of matter. and the forces that hold it and repeated countless times. This
the universe together. It revealed was the first modern atomic theory.
1805 John Dalton’s atomic an entirely new world at the
theory of matter marries subatomic level—one that required A stable science
chemical processes to physical a new physics to describe its A self-congratulatory mood was
reality and allows him to interactions—and a slew of detectable in physics at the end of
calculate atomic weights. tiny particles that filled this the 19th century. Certain eminent
infinitesimally small domain. physicists made grandstanding,
1896 Nuclear radiation is Atomic theories have a long declarations to the effect that the
discovered by Henri Becquerel, history. The Greek philosopher subject was all but finished—that
and is used to reveal the Democritus developed the ideas of the principal discoveries had all
internal structure of the atom. earlier thinkers that everything is been made and the program going
AFTER composed of atoms. The Greek forward was one of improving the
word átomos, which is credited to accuracy of known quantities “to
1938 Otto Hahn, Fritz
Democritus, means indivisible and the sixth decimal place.” However,
Strassman, and Lise Meitner
referred to the basic units of matter. many research physicists of the
split the atomic nucleus. Democritus thought that the time knew better. It was already
2014 Firing increasingly materials must reflect the atoms clear that they were facing an
energetic particles at the they are made of—so atoms of iron entirely new and strange set of
nucleus continues to reveal are solid and strong, while those of phenomena that defied explanation.
a slew of new subatomic water are smooth and slippery. In 1896, Henri Becquerel,
particles and antiparticles. At the turn of the 19th century, following a lead from Wilhelm
English natural philosopher John Röntgen’s discovery of mysterious
Dalton proposed a new atomic “X-rays” the previous year, had
Max Planck 202–05 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Linus Pauling 254–59 ■ Murray Gell-Mann 302–07
6 protons +
6 neutrons
Plum-pudding model Rutherford model Bohr model
A PARADIGM SHIFT 213
more convincing was the way in James Chadwick discovered the neutron by bombarding
which the theoretical energy levels beryllium with alpha particles from radioactive polonium.
of the shells neatly fit actual The alpha particles knocked neutrons out of the beryllium.
Then the neutrons dislodged protons from a layer of paraffin,
“spectral series”—the frequencies and these protons were detected by an ionization chamber.
of light absorbed and emitted by
different atoms. A long sought after
way to marry electromagnetism Alpha
and matter had been realized. particles Neutrons
Protons
Going inside the nucleus
Once this picture of the nuclear
atom had been accepted, the next
stage was to ask what lay inside
the nucleus. In experiments
reported in 1919, Rutherford found
that his beams of alpha particles
could generate hydrogen nuclei
Ionization
from many different elements. Polonium Beryllium Paraffin chamber
Hydrogen had long been
recognized as the simplest of all
the elements and thought of as positive charges crammed into a it feels no repulsion as it passes
a building block for all other tiny nucleus. Like charges repel through matter. However, with
elements, so Rutherford proposed each other, so he theorized that mass slightly greater than a proton,
that the hydrogen nucleus was in there must be another particle it can easily knock protons out
fact its own fundamental particle, that somehow dissipates the of the nucleus, something that
the proton. charge or binds the jostling protons otherwise only extremely energetic
The next development in atomic tightly together. There was also electromagnetic radiation can do.
structure was James Chadwick’s extra mass in elements heavier
1932 discovery of the neutron, in than hydrogen, which could be Electron clouds
which Rutherford once again had accounted for by a third, neutral but The discovery of the neutron
a hand. Rutherford had postulated equally massive subatomic particle. completed the picture of the
the existence of the neutron in 1920 However, the neutron proved atom as a massive nucleus
as a way to compensate for the difficult to detect and it took nearly with electrons in orbit around
repulsive effect of many point-sized a decade of searching to find it. it. New discoveries in quantum
Chadwick was working at the physics would refine our view of
Cavendish Laboratory under the electrons in orbit around a nucleus.
supervision of Rutherford. Guided Modern models of the atom feature
by his mentor, he was studying a “clouds” of electrons, which
new kind of radiation that had been represent only those areas in
found by the German physicists which we are most likely to find
The difficulties disappear Walther Bothe and Herbert Becker an electron, according to its
if it be assumed that the when they bombarded beryllium quantum wavefunction (p.256).
radiation consists of particles with alpha particles. The picture has been further
of mass 1 and charge 0, Chadwick duplicated the complicated by the discovery
or neutrons. Germans’ results and realized that neutrons and protons are
James Chadwick that this penetrating radiation was not fundamental particles, but
the neutron Rutherford had been are made of arrangements of
looking for. A neutral particle, smaller particles called quarks.
such as the neutron, is much Questions about the true structure
more penetrating than a charged of the atom are still actively
particle, such as a proton, because being researched. ■
GRAVITY
IS A DISTORTION IN THE
SPACE-TIME
CONTINUUM
ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879 –1955)
216 ALBERT EINSTEIN
IN CONTEXT
BRANCH If the speed of light through a vacuum is
unchanging…
Physics
BEFORE
17th century Newtonian
physics provides a description
of gravity and motion, which
is still adequate for most And the laws of physics appear the same
to all observers…
everyday calculations.
1900 Max Planck first argues
that light can be considered to
consist of individual packets,
or “quanta,” of energy.
Then there can be no absolute
AFTER time or space.
1917 Einstein uses general
relativity to produce a model
of the universe. Assuming
that the universe is static,
he introduces a factor called
Observers in relative motion to each other
the cosmological constant experience space and time differently.
to prevent its theoretical
collapse.
1971 Time dilation due
to general relativity is
demonstrated by flying
Special relativity shows that there
atomic clocks around the is no absolute simultaneity.
world in jet aircraft.
I
n the year 1905, the German of the nature of light and energy. of general relativity that presented
scientific journal Annalen der A second was an elegant proof a new and deeper understanding
Physik published four papers that a long-observed physical of gravity, space, and time.
by a single author—a little-known effect called Brownian motion
26-year-old physicist named Albert could demonstrate the existence Quantizing light
Einstein, then working at the of atoms. A third showed the The first of Einstein’s 1905 papers
Swiss patent office. Together, these presence of an ultimate speed limit addressed a long-standing problem
papers would lay the foundations to the universe, and considered the with the photoelectric effect. This
for much of modern physics. strange effects thereof, known as phenomenon had been discovered
Einstein resolved some special relativity, while the fourth by German physicist Heinrich
fundamental problems that forever changed our understanding Hertz in 1887. It involves metal
had appeared in the scientific of the nature of matter, showing electrodes producing a flow
understanding of the physical that it was interchangeable with of electricity (that is, emitting
world toward the end of the energy. A decade later, Einstein electrons) when illuminated by
19th century. One of the papers of followed up the implications of certain wavelengths of radiation—
1905 transformed understanding these latter papers with a theory typically ultraviolet light. The
A PARADIGM SHIFT 217
See also: Christiaan Huygens 50–51 ■ Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ James Clerk Maxwell 180–85 ■ Max Planck 202–05 ■
Albert Einstein Born in the southern German city He continued to explore the
of Ulm in 1879, Einstein had a implications of his earlier work,
somewhat bumpy secondary contributing to innovations in
education, eventually training at quantum theory. In 1933, fearing
Zurich Polytechnic to become a the rise of the Nazi party,
mathematics teacher. After failing Einstein elected not to return
to find teaching work, he took a to Germany from a foreign tour,
job at the Swiss Patent Office in settling eventually at Princeton
Bern, where he had plenty of University in the United States.
spare time to develop the papers
published in 1905. He attributed Key works
his success in this work to the fact
that he had never lost his childlike 1905 On a Heuristic Viewpoint
sense of wonder. Concerning the Production and
Following the demonstration Transformation of Light
of general relativity, Einstein 1915 The Field Equations
was propelled to global stardom. of Gravitation
A PARADIGM SHIFT 219
In Einstein’s thought experiment, appears to run more slowly as
for a stationary observer at point M, measured from the observer’s
two lightning flashes at A and B occur reference frame.
simultaneously. However, to an observer
at point M1 on a train moving at high
speed away from A and toward B, the Illustrating relativity
flash at B occurs before the flash at A. Einstein illustrated special
relativity by asking us to consider
Near the speed of light two frames of reference in motion
relative to each other: a moving
M1 train and the embankment next
to it. Two flashes of lightning, at
points A and B, appear to occur
simultaneously to an observer
A B standing on the embankment at
a midpoint between them, M.
An observer on the train is at a
position M1 in a separate frame
of reference. When the flashes
occur, M1 may be passing right by
M. However, by the time the light
has reached the observer on the
M
train, the train has moved toward
point B and away from point A.
Hendrik Lorentz, whose “Lorentz Lorentz’s work had been coolly As Einstein puts it, the observer is
factor” lay at the heart of Einstein’s received, largely because it “riding ahead of the beam of light
description of physics close to the could not be incorporated into coming from A.” The observer on
speed of light. It is defined standard ether theories. Einstein the train concludes that lightning
mathematically as: 1 approached the problem from the strike B occurred before strike A.
other direction, showing that Einstein now insists that: “Unless
the Lorentz factor arose as an we are told the reference-body to
√ 1 –– v2 / c2 inevitable consequence of the which the statement of time refers,
Lorentz developed this equation to principle of special relativity and there is no meaning in a statement
describe the changes in time and reexamining the true meaning of the time of an event.” Both time
length measurements required in of measured time and distance and position are relative concepts.
order to reconcile the Maxwell intervals. An important result of
equations of electromagnetism this was the realization that events Mass-energy equivalence
with the principle of relativity. that appeared simultaneous for an The last of Einstein’s 1905 papers
It was crucial to Einstein since it observer in one reference frame was called Does the Inertia of a
provided a term for transforming were not necessarily so for Body Depend on its Energy
results as seen by one observer to someone in a different reference Content? Its three brief pages
show what they look like to another frame (a phenomenon known as expanded on an idea touched on in
observer who is in motion relative the relativity of simultaneity). the previous paper—that the mass
to the first observer. In the term Einstein also showed how from of a body is a measure of its energy.
quoted above, v is the speed of one the point of view of a distant Here, Einstein demonstrated that
observer compared to the other, observer, the length of moving if a body radiates away a certain
and c is the speed of light. In most objects in their direction of travel amount of energy (E) in the form
situations, v will be very small became compressed as they of electromagnetic radiation, its
compared to c, so v2 /c2 will be close approached the speed of light, in mass will diminish by an amount
to zero, and the Lorentz factor accordance with a simple equation equivalent to E/c2. This equation
close to 1, meaning that it makes governed by the Lorentz factor. is easily rewritten to show that the
almost no difference to calculations. Even more strangely, time itself energy of a stationary particle ❯❯
220 ALBERT EINSTEIN
within a particular reference frame Over the next few years, many a person standing in a sealed
is given by the equation E = mc2. scientists reached the conclusion elevator in empty space. The
This principle of “mass-energy that special relativity offered a elevator is being accelerated in one
equivalence” was to become a better description of the universe direction by a rocket. The person
keystone of 20th-century science, than the discredited ether theory, feels a force pushing up from the
with applications that range from and devised experiments that floor, and pushes back against the
cosmology to nuclear physics. demonstrated relativistic effects floor with equal and opposite force
in action. Meanwhile, Einstein following Newton’s Third Law.
Gravitation fields was already moving on to a new Einstein realized that the person in
Although Einstein’s papers in challenge, extending the principles the elevator would feel exactly as
that annus mirabilis seemed too that he had now established in they would if they were standing
obscure at first to make much order to consider “noninertial” still in a gravitational field.
impression beyond the rarefied situations—those involving In an elevator undergoing
world of physics, it propelled him acceleration and deceleration. constant acceleration, a beam of
to fame within that community. As early as 1907, Einstein had light fired at an angle perpendicular
hit upon the idea that a situation to the acceleration would be
of “free fall” under the influence deflected onto a curved path, and
of gravity is equal to an inertial Einstein reasoned that the same
situation—the equivalence would occur in a gravitational field.
Our experience of
gravity is equivalent to principle. In 1911, he realized that It was this effect of gravity on
that of being inside a a stationary frame of reference light—known as gravitational
constantly accelerating influenced by a gravitational field lensing—that would first
frame of reference. is equivalent to one undergoing demonstrate general relativity.
constant acceleration. Einstein Einstein considered what this
illustrated this idea by imagining said about the nature of gravity.
Apparent light
trajectory
If objects with mass
distort space-time, Sun
this explains their
gravitational attraction.
Space-time manifold
Meanwhile, also in 1907, Einstein’s
former tutor Hermann Minkowski
had hit upon another important
part of the puzzle. Considering the
effective trade-offs between
the dimensions of space and time
involved in special relativity, he
developed the idea of combining
the three dimensions of space to solve a long-standing mystery— a few months after the end of the
with one of time in a space-time the way in which Mercury’s closest war, Eddington led an expedition
manifold. In Minkowski’s approach to the Sun (aphelion) to the island of Príncipe, off the
interpretation, relativistic effects precesses, or rotates, around the west coast of Africa, in order to
could be described in geometrical Sun much more quickly than test the theory of general relativity
terms by considering distortions in predicted by Newtonian physics. and its prediction of gravitational
the way that observers in relative General relativity solved the puzzle. lensing in the most spectacular
motion observe the manifold in a circumstances. Einstein had
different frame of reference. Gravitational lensing predicted as early as 1911 that a
In 1915, Einstein published his Einstein published at a time when total solar eclipse would allow the
complete theory of general relativity. much of the world was swept up in effects of gravitational lensing to be
In its finished form, it was nothing World War I, and English-speaking seen, in the form of apparently out-
less than a new description of the scientists had other things on their of-place stars around the eclipsed
nature of space, time, matter, and minds. General relativity was a disk (a result of their light being
gravity. Adopting Minkowski’s complex theory and might have deflected as it passed through the
ideas, Einstein saw the “stuff of the languished in obscurity for many warped space-time around the
universe” as a space-time manifold years had it not been for the Sun). Eddington’s expedition
that could be distorted thanks to interest of Arthur Eddington, a delivered both impressive images
relativistic motion, but could also conscientious objector to the war, of the solar eclipse and convincing
be warped by the presence of large and, as it happened, Secretary of proof of Einstein’s theory. When
masses such as stars and planets the Royal Astronomical Society. published the following year, they
in a way that was experienced as Eddington became aware of proved to be a worldwide sensation,
gravity. The equations that described Einstein’s work thanks to letters propelling Einstein to global fame
the link between mass, distortion, from Dutch physicist Willem and ensuring that our ideas about
and gravity were fiendishly complex, de Sitter, and soon became its the nature of the universe would
but Einstein used an approximation chief advocate in Britain. In 1919, never be the same again. ■
222
EARTH’S DRIFTING
CONTINENTS ARE
GIANT PIECES IN AN
EVER-CHANGING JIGSAW
ALFRED WEGENER (1880–1930)
I
n 1912, German meteorologist eastern coasts of the Americas are
IN CONTEXT Alfred Wegener combined roughly parallel with the western
several strands of evidence to coasts of Europe and Africa. This
BRANCH
put forward a theory of continental led scientists to speculate that these
Earth science
drift, which suggested that Earth’s landmasses were once connected,
BEFORE continents were once connected but challenging conventional notions of
1858 Antonio Snider-Pellegrini moved apart over millions of years. a solid, unchanging planet.
makes a map of the Americas Scientists only accepted his theory In 1858, Paris-based geographer
connected to Europe and once they had figured out what Antonio Snider-Pellegrini showed
Africa, to account for identical made such vast landmasses move. that similar plant fossils had been
fossils found on opposite sides Looking at the first maps of the found on either side of the Atlantic,
of the Atlantic Ocean. New World and Africa, Francis dating back to the Carboniferous
Bacon had noted, in 1620, that the period, 359–299 million years ago.
1872 French geographer
Élisée Reclus proposes that
motion of the continents
caused the formation of the South America’s Similar plant and Matching rock
oceans and mountain ranges. east coast fits animal fossils formations
Africa’s west coast are found in South are found in
1885 Eduard Suess suggests like two giant America and South America
the southern continents were jigsaw pieces. in Africa. and in Africa.
once linked by land bridges.
AFTER
1944 British geographer
Arthur Holmes proposes
convection currents in Earth’s The continents must once have formed a single landmass.
mantle as the mechanism that
moves the crust at the surface.
1960 American geologist
Harry Hess proposes that
seafloor spreading pushes the Earth’s drifting continents are giant pieces
continents apart. in an ever-changing jigsaw.
A PARADIGM SHIFT 223
See also: Francis Bacon 45 ■ Nicholas Steno 55 ■ James Hutton 96–101 ■ Louis Agassiz 128–29 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49
He made maps showing how the ago, and pointed to Africa’s Great destruction of ocean crust that
American and African continents Rift Valley as evidence of ongoing leads to the displacement of
may once have fit together, and continental breakup. continents. This theory not only
attributed their separation to the vindicated Wegener but is now
biblical Flood. When fossils of Search for a mechanism the bedrock of modern geology. ■
Glossopteris ferns were found in Wegener’s theory was criticized by
South America, India, and Africa, geophysicists for not explaining
Austrian geologist Eduard Suess how continents move. In the
argued that they must have evolved 1950s, however, new geophysical
on a single landmass. He suggested techniques revealed a wealth of
that the southern continents were new data. Studies of Earth’s past
once linked by land bridges across magnetic field indicated that the
Pangaea, 200 million years ago
the sea, forming a supercontinent ancient continents lay in a different
that he called Gondwanaland. position relative to the poles. Sonar
Wegener found more examples mapping of the seabed revealed
of similar organisms separated by signs of more recent ocean-floor
oceans, but also similar mountain formation. This was found to occur
ranges and glacial deposits. Instead at mid-ocean ridges, as molten rock
of earlier ideas that portions of a erupts through cracks in Earth’s 75 million years ago
supercontinent had sunk beneath crust and spreads away from the
the waves, he thought perhaps it ridges as new rock erupts.
had split apart. Between 1912 and In 1960, Harry Hess realized
1929, he expanded on this theory. that seafloor spreading provided
His supercontinent—Pangaea— the mechanism for continental drift,
connected Suess’s Gondwanaland and presented his theory of plate Present day
to the northern continents of North tectonics. Earth’s crust is made up
Wegener’s supercontinent is just
America and Eurasia. Wegener of giant plates that continually shift one in a long series. Geologists think
dated the fragmentation of this as convection currents in the the continents may be converging
single landmass to the end of the mantle below bring new rock to the again, to form another supercontinent
Mesozoic era, 150 million years surface, and it is the formation and 250 million years from now.
Alfred Wegener Born in Berlin, Alfred Lothar produced revised and expanded
Wegener obtained a doctorate in editions in 1920, 1922, and 1929,
astronomy from the University of but was frustrated by the lack of
Berlin in 1904, but soon became recognition for his work.
more interested in earth science. In 1930, Wegener led a fourth
Between 1906 and 1930, he made expedition to Greenland, hoping
four trips to Greenland as part of to collect evidence in support of
his pioneering meteorological the drift theory. On November 1,
studies of Arctic air masses. He his 50th birthday, he set out
used weather balloons to track air across the ice to get badly
circulation and took samples from needed supplies, but he died
deep within the ice for evidence of before reaching the main camp.
past climates.
In between these expeditions, Key work
Wegener developed his theory
of continental drift in 1912, and 1915 The Origin of Continents
published it in a book in 1915. He and Oceans
224
CHROMOSOMES
PLAY A ROLE IN
HEREDITY
THOMAS HUNT MORGAN (1866–1945)
D
AFTER uring the 19th century, roles of genes and chromosomes
1913 Morgan’s student Alfred biologists observing cells in inheritance, explaining evolution
Sturtevant constructs the first divide under a microscope at a molecular level.
genetic “map,” of the fruit fly. noticed the appearance of pairs of
tiny threads in every cell’s nucleus. Particles of inheritance
1930 Barbara McClintock These threads could be stained by By the early 20th century, scientists
discovers that genes can shift dyes for observation, and came to had traced the chromosome’s
positions on chromosomes. be called chromosomes, meaning precise movements at cell division,
1953 James Watson and “colored bodies.” The biologists and noticed that the number of
Francis Crick’s double-helix soon began to wonder whether chromosomes varied between
model of DNA explains how chromosomes had something to species, but that the number in the
genetic information is passed do with heredity. body cells of the same species were
on during reproduction. In 1910, experiments conducted usually the same. In 1902, German
by American geneticist Thomas biologist Theodor Boveri, having
Hunt Morgan would confirm the studied the fertilization of a sea
A PARADIGM SHIFT 225
See also: Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Barbara McClintock 271 ■
James Watson and Francis Crick 276–83 ■ Michael Syvanen 318–19
E
rwin Schrödinger was a key wavelengths of light emitted when
IN CONTEXT figure in the advancement certain elements were heated. By
of quantum physics—the modeling the structure of the atom
BRANCH
science that explains the tiniest with electrons orbiting in discrete
Physics
levels of subatomic matter. His star “shells” whose distance from the
BEFORE contribution was a famous equation nucleus determined their energy,
1900 A crisis in the that showed how particles moved Bohr could explain the emission
understanding of light in waves. It formed the basis of spectra (distribution of light
inspires Max Planck to find today’s quantum mechanics and wavelengths) of atoms in terms
a theoretical solution that revolutionized the way we perceive of photons of energy given off as
involves treating light as the world. But this revolution did electrons jumped between orbits.
quantized packets of energy. not happen suddenly. The process However, Bohr’s model lacked a
of discovery was a long one, with theoretical explanation, and could
1905 Albert Einstein many pioneers along the way. only predict the emissions from
demonstrates the reality Quantum theory was originally hydrogen, the simplest atom.
of Planck’s quantized light limited to the understanding of
through his explanation of light. In 1900, as part of an attempt Wavelike atoms?
the photoelectric effect. to solve a troubling problem in Einstein’s idea had breathed new
theoretical physics known as life into the old theory of light as
1913 Niels Bohr’s model of the “ultraviolet catastrophe,” the streams of particles, even though
the atom uses the idea that German physicist Max Planck light had also been proved, through
electrons shifting between proposed treating light as though Thomas Young’s double-slit
energy levels within an atom it came in discrete packets, or experiment, to behave as a wave.
emit or absorb individual quanta, of energy. Albert Einstein The puzzle of how light could
quanta of light (photons). then took the next step and argued possibly be both particle and wave
that light quanta were indeed a real received a new twist in 1924 from
AFTER physical phenomenon.
1930s Schrödinger’s work, Danish physicist Niels Bohr
along with that of Paul Dirac knew that Einstein’s idea was 1927 saw a gathering of greats at the
and Werner Heisenberg, forms Solvay Conference of physics in Brussels.
saying something fundamental Among others are: 1. Schrödinger,
the foundation of modern about the nature of light and 2. Pauli, 3. Heisenberg, 4. Dirac,
particle physics. atoms, and in 1913 used it to solve 5. de Broglie, 6. Born, 7. Bohr, 8. Planck,
an old problem—the precise 9. Curie, 10. Lorentz, 11. Einstein.
1
2 3
4
5 6
7
8 9 10 11
A PARADIGM SHIFT 229
See also: Thomas Young 110–11 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Werner Heisenberg 234–35 ■ Paul Dirac 246–47
Richard Feynman 272–73 ■ Hugh Everett III 284–85
a French PhD student, Louis de h divided by its wavelength. also relatively easy to test. By
Broglie, whose suggestion led the However, since he was dealing 1927, scientists in two separate
quantum revolution into a dramatic with particles whose energy and laboratories had conducted
new phase. Not only did de Broglie mass might be affected by motion experiments to show that electrons
demonstrate with a simple at speeds close to that of light, de diffracted and interfered with each
equation how, in the subatomic Broglie incorporated the Lorentz other in exactly the same way as
world, particles could equally be factor (p.219) into his equation. photons of light. De Broglie’s
waves, he also showed how any This produced a more sophisticated hypothesis was proved.
object, of whatever mass, could version that took into account
behave as a wave to some extent. the effects of relativity. Growing significance
In other words, if light waves had De Broglie’s idea was radical In the meantime, a number of
particle-like properties, then particles and daring, but it soon had theoretical physicists were
of matter—such as electrons— influential supporters, including sufficiently intrigued by de Broglie’s
must have wavelike properties. Einstein. The hypothesis was hypothesis to investigate it further.
Planck had calculated the In particular, they wanted to know
energy of a light photon with the how the properties of such matter
simple equation E = hv, where E waves could give rise to the pattern
is the energy of the electromagnetic of specific energy levels among the
quanta, v is the wavelength of electron orbitals of the hydrogen
the radiation involved, and h is atom proposed by Bohr’s model of
a constant, today known as Two seemingly incompatible the atom. De Broglie himself had
the Planck constant. De Broglie conceptions can each represent suggested that the pattern arose
showed that a light photon also has an aspect of the truth. because the circumference of each
momentum, something normally Louis de Broglie orbital must accommodate a whole
only associated with particles number of wavelengths of the
with mass and given by multiplying matter wave. Since the electron’s
the particle’s mass with its speed. energy level depends on its
De Broglie showed that a light distance from the atom’s positively
photon had a momentum of charged nucleus, this meant that ❯❯
230 ERWIN SCHRÖDINGER
only certain distances, and certain A classic illustration of wave-particle Interference
energy levels, would be stable. duality involves firing electrons from a pattern
However, de Broglie’s solution relied “gun” through a barrier with two slits in
it. If electrons are allowed to build up over
on treating the matter wave as a time, an interference pattern forms, just
one-dimensional wave trapped in as it would for light waves.
orbit around the nucleus—a full
description would need to describe
the wave in three dimensions.
Uncertainty principle
The great debate that shaped the
development of quantum physics
during the middle years of the 20th
century (and remains essentially
unresolved today) surrounded what
the wave function actually meant
for reality. In an echo of the Planck/
Einstein debate two decades
previously, de Broglie saw his and
Schrödinger’s equations as mere
mathematical tools for describing
movement: for de Broglie, the particle can never be “localized” to a Dane Niels Bohr (left) collaborated
electron was still essentially a point in space and at the same time with Werner Heisenberg, to formulate
particle—just one that had a wave have a defined wavelength. The the Copenhagen interpretation of
Schrödinger’s wave function.
property governing its motion and more accurately a particle’s position
location. For Schrödinger, however, was pinned down, for example,
the wave equation was far more the harder its momentum was to apparatus (subject to the classical
fundamental—it described the measure. Thus, particles defined by laws of physics) that causes the
way in which the properties of the a quantum wave function existed wave function to “collapse” and
electron were physically “smeared in a general state of uncertainty. a definite outcome to arise. This
out” across space. Opposition to interpretation is perhaps the most
Schrödinger’s approach inspired The road to Copenhagen widely (though not universally)
Werner Heisenberg to develop Measuring the properties of a accepted, and appears to be
another of the century’s great quantum system always revealed borne out by experiments such
ideas—the uncertainty principle the particle to be in one location, as electron diffraction and the
(pp.234–35). This was a realization rather than in its wavelike smear. double-slit experiment for light
that the wave function meant that a On the scale of classical physics waves. It is possible to devise
and everyday life, most situations an experiment that reveals the
involved definite measurements wavelike aspects of light or
and definite outcomes, rather than electrons, but impossible to record
myriad overlapping possibilities. the properties of individual
The challenge of reconciling particles in the same apparatus.
quantum uncertainty with reality However, while the Copenhagen
God knows I am no friend is called the measurement problem, interpretation seems reasonable
of probability theory, I have and various approaches to it when dealing with small-scale
hated it from the first moment have been put forward, known systems such as particles, its
when our dear friend as interpretations. implication that nothing is
Max Born gave it birth. The most famous of these is determined until it is measured
Erwin Schrödinger the Copenhagen interpretation, troubled many physicists. Einstein
devised by Niels Bohr and Werner famously commented that “God
Heisenberg in 1927. This states does not throw dice,” while
simply that it is the very interaction Schrödinger devised a thought
between the quantum system and experiment to illustrate what he
a large-scale, external observer or viewed as a ridiculous situation.
A PARADIGM SHIFT 233
Schrödinger’s cat universe splits into mutually an attempt at a strictly causal,
Taken to its logical conclusion, the unobservable alternate histories rather than probabilistic,
Copenhagen interpretation resulted for each of the possible outcomes. explanation, and postulates the
in a seemingly absurd paradox. In other words, Schrödinger’s cat existence of a hidden “implicate”
Schrödinger imagined a cat sealed would both live and die. order to the universe. The
in a box that contains a vial of The “Consistent Histories” transactional approach involves
poison linked to a radioactive approach addresses the problem waves traveling both forward
source. If the source decays and in a rather less radical way, using and backward in time.
emits a particle of radiation, a complex mathematics to generalize Perhaps the most intriguing
mechanism will release a hammer the Copenhagen interpretation. possibility of all, however, is one
that breaks the vial of poison. This avoids the issues around the that verges on the theological.
According to the Copenhagen collapse of the wave function, but Working in the 1930s, Hungarian-
interpretation, the radioactive instead allows probabilities to be born mathematician John von
source remains in its wave function assigned to various scenarios, or Neumann concluded that the
form (as a so-called superposition “histories,” on both a quantum measurement problem implied
of two possible outcomes) until it and classical scale. The approach that the entire universe is subject
is observed. But if that is the case, accepts that only one of these to an all-encompassing wave
the same has to be said of the cat. histories eventually conforms equation known as the universal
to reality, but does not allow wave function, and that it is
New interpretations prediction of which outcome constantly collapsing as we
Dissatisfaction with apparent that will be—instead it simply measure its various aspects.
paradoxes such as Schrödinger’s describes how quantum physics Von Neumann’s colleague and
cat has spurred scientists to can give rise to the universe we see countryman Eugene Wigner took
develop various alternative without wave function collapse. the theory and expanded it to
interpretations of quantum The ensemble, or statistical, suggest that it was not simply
mechanics. One of the best known approach is a minimalist interaction with large-scale
is the “Many Worlds Interpretation” mathematical interpretation that systems (as in the Copenhagen
put forward in 1956 by American was favored by Einstein. The interpretation) that caused the
physicist Hugh Everett III. This de Broglie–Bohm theory, which wave function to collapse—it
resolved the paradox by suggesting developed from de Broglie’s initial was the presence of intelligent
that during any quantum event, the reaction to the wave equation, is consciousness itself. ■
Geiger
counter
Hammer
Radioactive
material
Poison
A cat inside a sealed box remains If the source decays, it releases We must measure the
alive as long as a radioactive source poison and the cat dies. system to find out
in the box does not decay. whether the source has
decayed. Until then, we
Schrödinger’s thought experiment produces a situation must think of the cat as
in which, according to a strict reading of the Copenhagen both dead and alive.
interpretation, a cat is both alive and dead at the same time.
234
UNCERTAINTY
IS INEVITABLE
WERNER HEISENBERG (1901–1976)
F
ollowing Louis de Broglie’s Working with Danish physicist
IN CONTEXT suggestion in 1924 that Niels Bohr, Heisenberg built on
on the smallest scales of Schrödinger’s work to develop the
BRANCH
matter, subatomic particles could “Copenhagen interpretation” of
Physics
display wavelike properties the way that quantum systems,
BEFORE (pp.226–33), a number of physicists governed by the laws of probability,
1913 Niels Bohr uses the turned their attention to the interact with the large-scale world.
concept of quantized light to question of understanding how One key element of this is the
explain the specific energy the complex properties of an atom “uncertainty principle,” which
levels associated with could arise from the interaction limits the accuracy to which we
electrons inside atoms. of “matter waves” associated can determine properties in
with its constituent particles. quantum systems.
1924 Louis de Broglie In 1925, German scientists The uncertainty principle arose
proposes that just as light can Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, as a mathematical consequence of
exhibit particle-like properties and Pascual Jordan used “matrix matrix mechanics. Heisenberg
so, on the smallest scale, mechanics” to model the hydrogen realized that his mathematical
particles might sometimes atom’s development over time. This method would not allow certain
show wavelike behavior. approach was later supplanted by pairs of properties to be determined
Erwin Schrödinger’s wave function. simultaneously with absolute
AFTER
1927 Heisenberg and Bohr put
forward the highly influential Classical picture Quantum tuneling
Copenhagen interpretation is explained by
Energy Heisenberg’s principle.
of the way that quantum-level barrier There is a nonzero
events affect the large-scale chance that an electron
(macroscopic) world. Electron can pass through
a barrier even if it
1929 Heisenberg and appears to have too
Wolfgang Pauli work on the little energy to do so.
Quantum picture
development of quantum field
theory, whose foundations
have been laid by Paul Dirac.
Electron
wave
A PARADIGM SHIFT 235
See also: Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33 ■
Paul Dirac 246–47 ■ Richard Feynman 272–73 ■ Hugh Everett III 284–85
B
y the early 20th century, amorphous cloud of light, including
IN CONTEXT ideas about the scale of objects that were later found to be
the universe divided galaxies beyond the Milky Way.
BRANCH
astronomers into two schools of As telescopes improved
Cosmology
thought—those who believed that dramatically during the 19th
BEFORE the Milky Way galaxy was, generally century, some of the objects
1543 Nicolaus Copernicus speaking, its entire extent, and catalogued as nebulae began to
concludes that Earth is not those who thought that the Milky reveal distinctive spiral features.
the center of the universe. Way could be just one galaxy At the same time, the development
among countless others. Edwin of spectroscopy (the study of the
17th century The changing Hubble was to solve the puzzle, and interaction between matter and
view of stars offered by Earth’s show that the universe is much radiated energy) suggested that
orbit around the Sun gives rise larger than anyone imagined. these spirals were in fact made
to the parallax method for Key to the debate was the up of countless individual stars,
measuring stellar distances. nature of “spiral nebulae.” Today, blending seamlessly together.
a nebula is the term used for an The distribution of these
19th century Improvements interstellar cloud of dust and gas, nebulae was interesting too—
to telescopes pave the way for but at the time of this debate, it unlike other objects that clustered
the study of starlight and the was the name used for any together in the plane of the Milky
rise of astrophysics. Way, they were more common in
AFTER the dark skies away from the plane.
1927 Georges Lemaître As a result, some astronomers
adopted an idea from the German
proposes that the universe
philosopher Immanuel Kant, who
can be traced back to a single
There is a simple relation in 1755 suggested that nebulae
point of origin. were “island universes”—systems
between the brightness of the
1990s Astronomers discover variables and their periods. similar to the Milky Way but vastly
that the expansion of the Henrietta Leavitt more distant, and only visible
universe is accelerating, where the distribution of material
driven by a force known in our galaxy permits clear views
as dark energy. into what we now call intergalactic
space. Those who continued to
believe that the universe was far
A Cepheid variable
is a star whose brightness If the Cepheid variable
we can know for certain, is millions of light years
which means that away, it must be
we can calculate in a galaxy far
how far away it is. outside our own.
THE RADIUS
BRANCH
Astronomy
BEFORE
OF SPACE
1912 US astronomer
Vesto Slipher discovers
the high redshifts of spiral
nebulae, suggesting they
are moving away from Earth
BEGAN
at high speeds.
1923 Edwin Hubble confirms
that the spiral nebulae are
distant, independent galaxies.
AT ZERO
AFTER
1980 US physicist Alan Guth
proposes a brief period of
dramatic inflation in the early
universe to produce the
GEORGES LEMAÎTRE (1894–1966) conditions we see today.
1992 The COBE (Cosmic
Background Explorer) satellite
detects tiny ripples in the
cosmic microwave background
radiation (CMBR)—hints of the
first structure that emerged in
the early universe.
T
he idea that the universe
began with a Big Bang,
expanding from a tiny,
superdense, and extremely hot
point in space, is the basis of
modern cosmology, and one that is
often said to have originated with
Edwin Hubble’s 1929 discovery
of cosmic expansion. But the
precursors of the theory predate
Hubble’s breakthrough by several
years, and first sprang from
interpretations of Albert Einstein’s
theory of general relativity as it
applied to the universe as a whole.
When formulating his theory,
Einstein drew on the available
evidence of the time to assume
that the universe was static—
A PARADIGM SHIFT 243
See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■
Since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, the expansion of the
universe has been through different phases. There was an initial
period of rapid expansion known as inflation. After that, expansion
slowed, then started to speed up once more.
Present
Georges Lemaître
(~15 billion years)
Accelerating
Born in Charleroi, Belgium, in
Time
expansion
1894, Lemaître studied civil
Slowing expansion engineering at the Catholic
University of Louvain and
Inflation served in World War I before
Big Bang returning to academia, where
Expanding universe he studied physics and
mathematics as well as
theology. From 1923, he
neither expanding nor contracting. Famously, Einstein later called the studied astronomy in Britain
General relativity indicated that constant his greatest mistake, and the United States. On his
the universe should collapse under but even at the time he proposed return to Louvain in 1925 as
its own gravity, so Einstein fudged it there were some who found it a lecturer, Lemaître began
his own equations by adding a unsatisfactory. The Dutch physicist to develop his theory of an
term known as the cosmological Willem de Sitter and Russian expanding universe as an
constant. Einstein’s constant mathematician Alexander explanation for the redshifts
mathematically counteracted the Friedmann independently of the extragalactic nebulae.
First published in 1927, in
gravitational contraction to produce suggested a solution to general
a little-read Belgian journal,
the presumed static universe. relativity in which the universe was
Lemaître’s ideas took off
expanding, and, in 1927, Belgian after he published an English
astronomer and priest Georges translation with Arthur
Lemaître reached the same Eddington. He lived until
conclusion, two years ahead of 1966—long enough to see
Hubble’s observational proof. proof that his ideas were
correct with the discovery
The first stages of the Beginning in fire of the cosmic microwave
expansion consisted of a In an address to the British background radiation (CMBR).
rapid expansion determined Association in 1931, Lemaître
by the mass of the initial atom, took the idea of cosmic expansion Key works
almost equal to the present to its logical conclusion, suggesting
mass of the universe. that the universe had sprung from 1927 A Homogeneous Universe
Georges Lemaître a single point that he called the of Constant Mass and
Growing Radius Accounting
“primeval atom.” The response
for the Radial Velocity of
to this radical idea was mixed. Extragalactic Nebulae
The astronomical establishment 1931 The Evolution of the
of the time was attached to the Universe: Discussion
idea of an eternal universe ❯❯
244 GEORGES LEMAÎTRE
away from a steady state universe.
General relativity leads This was a 1948 paper written by
Lemaître to predict that Hubble demonstrates Ralph Alpher and George Gamow
the universe is expanding. cosmic expansion. of the Johns Hopkins University
in the US. It was called The Origin
of Chemical Elements, and
described in detail how subatomic
particles and lightweight chemical
elements could have been produced
Lemaître theorizes that the universe began with a from the raw energy of the Big
“primeval atom,” a theory later dubbed the “Big Bang.” Bang, in accordance with
Einstein’s equation E = mc2. But
this theory, later known as Big
Bang nucleosynthesis, explained a
process that could form only the
four lightest elements—hydrogen,
The discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation helium, lithium, and beryllium.
(CMBR) confirms the Big Bang theory. Only later was it discovered that
the heavier elements of the
universe are the product of stellar
nucleosynthesis (a process that
takes place inside stars). Ironically,
The radius of space began at zero. the evidence showing how stellar
nucleosynthesis worked was to be
developed by Fred Hoyle.
Nevertheless, there was still
without end or beginning, and the In 1949, Hoyle scornfully referred no direct observational evidence
prospect of a distinct point of origin to the rival theory as a “Big Bang.” to determine the truth of either
(especially when proposed by a The name stuck. the Big Bang or a steady state
Catholic priest) was seen as universe. Early attempts to test
introducing an unnecessary Making the elements the theories were made in the
religious element into cosmology. By the time Hoyle had inadvertently 1950s using a basic radio telescope
However, Hubble’s observations named the theory, a persuasive known as the Cambridge
were undeniable, and some kind of piece of evidence in favor of Interferometer. These tests relied
model was needed to explain the Lemaître’s hypothesis had been on a simple principle: if the steady
expanding universe. Numerous published, tipping the balance state theory was true, then the
theories were put forward in the
1930s, but by the late 1940s, just
two remained in play—Lemaître’s
primeval atom, and the rival
“steady state” model, in which
matter was continuously created
as the universe expanded. British
astronomer Fred Hoyle was the
champion of the steady state idea.
EVERY PARTICLE OF
MATTER HAS AN
ANTIMATTER
COUNTERPART
PAUL DIRAC (1902–1984)
E
nglish physicist Paul Dirac
IN CONTEXT contributed a huge amount
Dirac corrects to the theoretical framework
BRANCH Schrödinger’s wave of quantum physics in the 1920s,
Physics equation to take into account but is probably best known today
relativistic effects. for predicting the existence of
BEFORE
1925 Werner Heisenberg, antiparticles through mathematics.
Max Born, and Pascual Jordan Dirac was a postgraduate
develop matrix mechanics student at Cambridge University
to describe the wavelike when he read Werner Heisenberg’s
behavior of particles. groundbreaking paper on matrix
mechanics, which described how
1926 Erwin Schrödinger Dirac’s new equation
particles jump from one quantum
develops a wave function predicts the existence
of antimatter. state to another. Dirac was one
describing the change in of the few people capable of grasping
an electron over time. the paper’s difficult mathematics,
and noticed parallels between
AFTER
Heisenberg’s equations and parts
1932 The existence of the of the classical (pre-quantum)
positron, the antiparticle to theory of particle motion known
the electron, is confirmed by Antimatter is as Hamiltonian mechanics. This
Carl Anderson. subsequently discovered, allowed Dirac to develop a method
1940s Richard Feynman, confirming Dirac’s prediction. by which classical systems could
Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, and be understood on a quantum level.
Julian Schwinger develop One early result of this work
quantum electrodynamics— was a derivation of the idea of
a mathematical way to quantum spin. Dirac formulated a
describe the interaction set of rules now known as “Fermi-
Every particle Dirac statistics” (since they were
between light and matter,
of matter has also independently found by Enrico
which fully unites quantum
an antimatter Fermi). Dirac named particles such
theory with special relativity.
counterpart. as electrons that have a half-integer
spin value “fermions,” after Fermi.
The rules describe how large
A PARADIGM SHIFT 247
See also: James Clerk Maxwell 180–85 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33 ■
THERE IS AN UPPER
LIMIT BEYOND WHICH
A COLLAPSING STELLAR
CORE BECOMES UNSTABLE
SUBRAHMANYAN CHANDRASEKHAR (1910–1995)
T
he development of known as a singularity—forming a
IN CONTEXT quantum physics in the black hole. This “Chandrasekhar
1920s had implications for Limit” for a collapsing stellar core is
BRANCH
astronomy, where it was applied to now known to be 1.44 solar masses
Astrophysics
the understanding of superdense (or 1.44 times the mass of the Sun).
BEFORE stars known as white dwarfs. However, there is a middle stage
19th century White dwarf These are the burned-out cores of between white dwarf and black
stars are discovered when sunlike stars that have exhausted hole—a city-sized neutron star
astronomers identify a star their nuclear fuel and collapsed, stabilized by another quantum
that has far more mass than under their own gravity, to objects effect called “neutron degeneracy
its tiny size would suggest. about the size of Earth. In 1926, pressure.” Black holes are created
physicists Ralph Fowler and Paul only when the neutron star’s core
AFTER Dirac explained that collapse stops exceeds an upper limit somewhere
1934 Fritz Zwicky and Walter at this size due to the “degenerate between 1.5 and 3 solar masses. ■
Baade propose that explosions electron pressure” that arises
known as supernovae mark whenever electrons are packed
the deaths of massive stars, together so tightly that the Pauli
and the collapse of their cores exclusion principle (p.230)—that no
form neutron stars. two particles can occupy the same
quantum state—comes into play.
1967 British astronomers The black holes of nature are
Jocelyn Bell and Anthony Forming a black hole the most perfect macroscopic
Hewish detect rapidly pulsing In 1930, Indian astrophysicist objects in the Universe.
radio signals from an object Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Subrahmanyan
now known as a “pulsar”—a figured out that there was an upper Chandrasekhar
rapidly rotating neutron star. limit to the mass of a stellar core
beyond which gravity would
1971 X-ray emissions from a overcome the degenerate electron
source known as Cygnus X-1 pressure. The stellar core would
are found to originate from hot collapse to a single point in space
material spiraling into what is
probably a black hole—the first See also: John Michell 88–89 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Paul Dirac 246–47 ■
LIFE ITSELF IS
A PROCESS OF
OBTAINING
KNOWLEDGE
KONRAD LORENZ (1903–1989)
A
mong the first to conduct
IN CONTEXT scientific experiments on
the behavior of animals
BRANCH
was 19th-century English biologist
Biology
Douglas Spalding, who studied
BEFORE birds. The prevailing view was that
1872 Charles Darwin complex behavior in birds was
describes inherited behavior learned, but Spalding thought that
in The Expression of the some behavior was innate: it
Emotions in Man and Animals. was inherited and essentially These cranes and geese, hatched and
“hardwired”—such as the tendency raised by Christian Moullec, imprinted
1873 Douglas Spalding of a hen to incubate her eggs. on him and follow him everywhere.
makes a distinction between Modern ethology—the study Taking to the air in his microlight, he
innate (genetic) and learned teaches them their migratory routes.
of animal behavior—accepts that
behavior in birds. behavior includes both learned and
1890s Russian physiologist innate components: innate mother—within a critical period
Ivan Pavlov demonstrates behavior is stereotypical and, after hatching. The mother’s
because it is inherited, it can example triggers an instinctive
that dogs can be conditioned
evolve by natural selection, whereas behavior known as a “fixed action
to salivate in a simple form
learned behavior can be modified pattern” in her offspring.
of learning.
by experience. Lorenz demonstrated this with
AFTER goslings, which adopted him as
1976 British zoologist Imprinting geese their mother and followed him
Richard Dawkins publishes In the 1930s, Austrian biologist everywhere. They would even
The Selfish Gene, in which he Konrad Lorenz focused on a form of imprint on inanimate objects, and
emphasizes the role of genes learned behavior in birds that he followed a model train in circles
in driving behavior. called “imprinting.” He studied the on its track. Together with Dutch
way that greylag geese imprint on, biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen,
2000s New research reveals or follow, the first eligible moving Lorenz was awarded the Nobel
growing evidence of the stimulus they see—usually their Prize in Physiology in 1973. ■
importance of teaching among
many species of animal, from See also: Charles Darwin 142–49 ■ Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■
95 PERCENT
OF THE UNIVERSE
IS MISSING
FRITZ ZWICKY (1898–1974)
T
he idea that the universe A decade later, Zwicky set out to
IN CONTEXT might be dominated by measure the overall mass of the
something other than Coma cluster of galaxies. He used
BRANCH
detectable luminous matter was a mathematical model called the
Physics and cosmology
first proposed by Swiss astronomer Virial theorem, which allowed him
BEFORE Fritz Zwicky. In 1922–23, Edwin to calculate the overall mass from
1923 Edwin Hubble confirms Hubble had realized that “nebulae” the relative velocities of individual
the true nature of galaxies were in fact distant galaxies. cluster galaxies. To Zwicky’s
as independent star systems
millions of light years beyond
the Milky Way.
The universe The outer regions of galaxies rotate
1929 Hubble establishes that is expanding more quickly than their visible mass
the universe is expanding, and at an ever suggests they should.
that galaxies move away from increasing rate.
us more rapidly the farther
away they are (the so-called
Hubble Flow).
So they must have additional, hidden,
AFTER mass that would explain their rotation.
1950s American astronomer Expansion is
George Abell compiles the first caused by dark
detailed catalogue of galaxy energy, which
clusters. Subsequent studies accounts for
of galaxy clusters have 68.3 percent This additional mass is known as
repeatedly confirmed the of all energy. dark matter, and accounts for
existence of dark matter. 26.8 percent of all energy.
1950s–present Various
models of the Big Bang predict
that it should have generated
much more matter than that Just 4.9 percent of the universe’s energy is accounted for
which is currently visible. by visible matter.
A PARADIGM SHIFT 251
See also: Edwin Hubble 236–41 ■ Georges Lemaître 242–45
Rotational velocity
[km/s]
200 Measured
100
Calculated
50,000 100,000
Distance from center of galaxy (light years)
If our galaxy’s mass distribution matched that of its visible matter, Fritz Zwicky
then stars in the galaxy’s outer disk would move more slowly at greater
distances from the massive center. Vera Rubin’s research found that beyond Born in Varna, Bulgaria, in
a certain distance the stars tend to move at a uniform speed regardless of 1898, Fritz Zwicky was raised
their distance from the hub, revealing dark matter in the galaxy’s outer halo. by his Swiss grandparents
and showed an early talent for
physics. In 1925, he left for the
surprise, his results suggested Today it is widely accepted that US to work at the California
that the cluster contained about dark matter constitutes around Institute of Technology
400 times more mass than that 84.5 percent of the mass in the (Caltech), where he spent
suggested by the combined light universe. Any hopes that it might the rest of his career.
of its stars. Zwicky called this actually be normal matter in hard- Aside from his work on
staggering amount of unseen to-detect forms, such as black holes dark matter, Zwicky is also
matter “dark matter.” or rogue planets, have not been known for his research into
Zwicky’s conclusion was largely borne out by research. It is now massive exploding stars. He
overlooked at the time, but by the thought that dark matter comprises and Walter Baade were the
1950s, new technology had opened so-called Weakly Interacting first to show the existence of
up new means of detecting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The neutron stars intermediate in
nonluminous material. It was clear properties of these hypothetical size between white dwarfs
and black holes, and coined
that large amounts of matter are subatomic particles are still
the term “supernovae” for the
too cool to glow in visible light but unknown—they are not only dark
enormous stellar explosions
still radiate in infrared and radio and transparent, but they do not in which these massive
wavelengths. As scientists began interact with normal matter or stellar remnants are born.
to understand the visible and radiation except through gravity. By showing that one class
invisible structure of our galaxy Since the late 1990s, it has of supernovae always reach
and others, the amount of “missing become clear that even dark the same peak brightness
mass” fell substantially. matter is dwarfed by “dark energy.” during their explosions, they
This phenomenon is the force also provided a means of
The invisible is real accelerating the expansion of the measuring the distance to
The reality of dark matter was universe (pp.236–41), and its nature far-off galaxies independently
finally recognized in the 1970s, is still unknown—it may be an of Hubble’s Law, paving the
after US astronomer Vera Rubin integral feature of space-time itself, way for the later discovery
mapped the velocity of stars orbiting or a fifth fundamental force known of dark energy.
in the Milky Way and measured as “quintessence.” Dark energy is
Key works
the distribution of its mass. She thought to account for 68.3 percent
showed that large amounts of of all the energy in the universe, 1934 On Supernovae
mass are distributed beyond the with the energy of dark matter (with Walter Baade)
galaxy’s visible confines, in a amounting to 26.8 percent, and 1957 Morphological Astronomy
region known as the galactic halo. normal matter a mere 4.9 percent. ■
252
A UNIVERSAL
COMPUTING
MACHINE
ALAN TURING (1912–1954)
IN CONTEXT
Computing the A Turing machine
BRANCH answers to many number can, with the right
Computer science problems can be reduced instructions, compute
BEFORE to a series of mathematical the solution to any
steps, or algorithm. solvable algorithm.
1906 US electrical engineer
Lee De Forest invents the
triode valve, the mainstay of
early electronic computers.
1928 German mathematician
David Hilbert formulates the Varied tasks
“decision problem,” asking if can be solved using
algorithms can deal with all
This is a universal different sets of instructions
kinds of input.
computing machine. in a programmable
device.
AFTER
1943 Valve-based Colossus
computers, using some of
Turing’s code-breaking ideas,
I
magine sorting 1,000 random This set of instructions is a
begin work at Bletchley Park. numbers, for example 520, 74, sequence known as an algorithm.
1945 US-based mathematician 2395, 4, 999…, into ascending It begins with a starting condition
John von Neumann describes order. Some kind of automatic or state; receives data or input;
the basic logical structure, or procedure could help. For instance: executes itself a finite number of
architecture, of the modern A Compare the first pair of numbers. times; and yields a finished result,
stored-program computer. B If the second number is lower, or output. The idea is familiar to
swap the numbers, go back to A. any computer programmer today.
1946 The first general-purpose If it is the same or higher, go to C. It was first formalized in 1936,
electronic programmable C Make the second number of the when British mathematician and
computer, ENIAC, based last pair the first of a new pair. If logician Alan Turing conceived
partly on Turing’s concepts, there is a next number, make it the of machines now known as
is unveiled. second number of the pair, go to B. Turing machines to perform such
If there is no next number, finish. procedures. His work was initially
A PARADIGM SHIFT 253
See also: Donald Michie 286–91 ■ Yuri Manin 317
BOND
LINUS PAULING (1901–1994)
256 LINUS PAULING
I
n the late 1920s and early Electron orbits
IN CONTEXT 1930s, in a series of landmark y
papers, American chemist z
BRANCH
Linus Pauling figured out a
Chemistry
quantum-mechanical explanation x
BEFORE of the nature of chemical bonds. x
1800 Alessandro Volta lists Pauling had studied quantum s orbital px orbital
metals in decreasing order mechanics in Europe with the
German physicist Arnold y
of electropositivity.
Sommerfeld in Munich, with Niels z
1852 British chemist Edward Bohr in Copenhagen, and with
Frankland states that atoms Erwin Schrödinger in Zurich.
have definite combining He had already decided that he
power, which determines the wanted to research the bonding
formulae of compounds. within molecules, and realized that pz orbital
quantum mechanics gave him the py orbital
1858 August Kekulé shows right tools to do so.
that carbon has a valency Electrons orbit an atomic nucleus in
of four—it forms four bonds various ways—in shells around the
Hybridization of orbitals center (s) or lobes along one axis (p).
with other atoms. When he returned to the US,
1916 American physical Pauling published about 50 papers,
chemist Gilbert Lewis shows and, in 1929, he laid down a set A carbon atom has six electrons
of five rules for interpreting the in total. The European pioneers of
that a covalent bond is a pair
X-ray diffraction patterns of quantum mechanics designated
of electrons shared by two
complicated crystals, now known the first two as “1s-electrons”:
atoms in a molecule. as Pauling’s rules. At the same these have a spherical orbital or
AFTER time, he was turning his attention shell around the carbon nucleus—
1938 British mathematician to the bonding between atoms in like a balloon inflated around a
Charles Coulson calculates covalent molecules (molecules in golf ball in the center. Outside the
an accurate molecular orbital which atoms are bonded by sharing 1s shell is another shell containing
wave function for hydrogen. two electrons with each other), two “2s-electrons.” The 2s shell
especially of organic compounds— is like another, bigger balloon
those based on carbon. outside the first. Lastly, there are
“p-orbitals,” which have big lobes
sticking out either side of the
nucleus. The px orbital lies on the
x-axis, the py on the y axis, and
Quantum mechanics the pz orbital on the z-axis. The last
It can be modified
provides a new way to two electrons of the carbon atom
to explain the structure
describe the behavior
of molecules. occupy two of these orbitals—
of electrons.
perhaps one in px and one in py.
The new quantum-mechanical
picture of electrons treated their
orbits as “clouds” of probability
densities. It was no longer quite
The nature of the right to think of the electrons as
chemical bond reflects the points moving around their orbits;
quantum-mechanical rather, their existence was smeared
behavior of electrons. across the orbits. This new nonlocal
picture of reality allowed for some
radical new ideas for chemical
A PARADIGM SHIFT 257
See also: August Kekulé 160–65 ■ Max Planck 202–05 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33 ■ Harry Kroto 320–21
C H C sigma bond C
H
H H H
Four electrons in the Three electrons in the carbon atoms hybridize
carbon atom hybridize to to form three sp2 orbitals. The remaining
form four sp3 orbitals. unhybridized orbitals form a second pi bond
between the carbon atoms.
Carbon dioxide
Two electrons in
pi bond the carbon atom form Each carbon atom in a diamond
two sp orbitals, each is bonded by sp3 hybrids to four
O sigma bond C O of which bonds with other atoms to form the corner
an oxygen atom. of a tetrahedron. The result is an
The remaining two infinite lattice held together by
orbitals bond to the covalent carbon–carbon bonds,
oxygen in a pi bond. which are immensely strong.
258 LINUS PAULING
with the structure of carbon Ionic bonding
dioxide (CO2), where the sp hybrids
each form a sigma bond with the
oxygen, and a second pi bond is
formed by the remaining two
unhybridized orbitals.
OF AN ATOM
J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1904 –1967)
262 J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
IN CONTEXT
Splitting the nucleus of an atom of uranium
BRANCH releases three neutrons.
Physics
BEFORE
1905 Albert Einstein’s famous
mass-energy equivalence
equation E = mc2 describes The three released neutrons can cause the nuclei of up to three
how tiny masses “store” large more atoms to split, but if at least one splits, a
chain reaction can be initiated.
amounts of energy.
1932 John Cockcroft and
Ernest Walton’s experiments
splitting lithium nuclei
with protons hint at the Each time a nucleus is split, a fraction of its mass is
enormous energy locked turned into energy.
inside the nucleus.
1939 Leó Szilárd spots that
a single fission event of
uranium-235 releases three
neutrons and suggests that The chain reaction The chain reaction can
a chain reaction is possible. can be controlled by be uncontrolled, releasing
absorbing neutrons enough energy to cause an
AFTER (nuclear fission reactor). explosion (nuclear bomb).
1954 The USSR’s Obninsk
Nuclear Power Plant goes into
operation. It is the first nuclear
power station to generate
electricity for a country’s An awesome power is locked inside the
national grid. nucleus of an atom.
I
n 1938, the world stood at the and this compulsion took the newly to be computed. Oppenheimer’s
threshold of the atomic age. graduated Harvard man to Europe, work in Germany has proved
One man would step forward the center of a blossoming of crucial to calculating energy in
to lead the scientific drive that theoretical physics. At Göttingen modern chemistry, but the final
would usher in this new era. For J. University, Germany, in 1926, he breakthrough that would lead to
Robert Oppenheimer, this decision produced the Born–Oppenheimer the atomic bomb came after he
would ultimately destroy him. He approximation with Max Born, had returned to the US.
was the administrator of the largest used to explain, as Oppenheimer
scientific project the world had put it, “why molecules are Fission and black holes
seen—the Manhattan Project—but molecules.” This method extended The chain reaction that led to the
came to deeply regret his part in it. quantum mechanics beyond single building of the atomic bomb began
atoms to describe the energy of in mid-December 1938, when
Drive to the center chemical compounds. It was an German chemists Otto Hahn and
Oppenheimer’s varied professional ambitious mathematical exercise Fritz Strassmann “split the atom”
life had been characterized by a as a dizzying range of possibilities in their Berlin laboratory. They had
ruthless drive to “be where it’s at” for each electron in a molelcule had been firing neutrons at uranium,
A PARADIGM SHIFT 263
See also: Marie Curie 190–95 ■ Ernest Rutherford 206–13 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21
Uranium-235
J. Robert Oppenheimer Educated at the Ethical Culture had a notoriously sharp tongue
school of New York City, Julius and a desire to be regarded as
Robert Oppenheimer was a a superior intellect. Although
thin, highly-strung boy with a he is best known for his work on
quick grasp of concepts. After the Manhattan Project, his most
graduating from Harvard lasting contribution to science
University, he spent two years was his prewar research at
at Cambridge University under the University of California,
Ernest Rutherford, followed by a Berkeley, on neutron stars and
move to Göttingen in Germany, black holes.
where he was taken under the
wing of Max Born. Key works
Oppenheimer was a complex
character whose great talent 1927 On the Quantum
was to be at the center of things, Theory of Molecules
and he made influential friends 1939 On Continued
wherever he went. However, he Gravitational Contraction
A PARADIGM SHIFT 265
On August 9, 1945, the plutonium
bomb “Fat Man” was dropped over
Nagasaki in southern Japan. About
40,000 people were killed instantly, and
many more died in the following weeks.
Barbara McClintock
demonstrates genetic James Watson and Sheldon Glashow
recombination, Francis Crick discover presents a new
Fred Hoyle describes showing how genes the chemical symmetry model for
how new elements can move around on structure electroweak
are made in stars. a chromosome. of DNA. interactions.
Richard Feynman works Harold Urey and Stanley Hugh Everett III is Charles Keeling
on the new discipline Miller demonstrate a the first to propose shows that the
of quantum possible chemical the many-worlds concentration of
electrodynamics. mechanism for the interpretation carbon dioxide in the
origin of life. (MWI) of quantum air is increasing.
physics.
T
he second half of the The code of life proposed the apparently absurd
20th century saw rapidly At the University of Chicago theory that some organisms can
improving technology in 1953, American chemists be absorbed by others, while both
being employed in almost every Harold Urey and Stanley Miller continue to flourish, and that this
field of science, from telescopes to set up an ingenious experiment process had produced the complex
chemical analysis. New technology to find out whether life could have cells of all multicellular life forms.
has widened the possibilities started on Earth when lightning After years of scepticism, she
for calculation and experiment. sparked chemical reactions in was vindicated by discoveries in
The first computers were built the atmosphere. In the same genetics made 20 years after her
in the 1940s, and a new science, year, two molecular biologists— proposal. American microbiologist
Artificial Intelligence, has emerged. American James Watson and Briton Michael Syvanen showed how
CERN’s Large Hadron Collider—a Francis Crick—in a race against genes can jump from one species
particle accelerator—is the biggest rival teams in the US and Soviet to another, while in the 1990s, the
piece of scientific equipment ever Union, figured out the molecular old Lamarckian idea that acquired
made. Powerful microscopes have structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, characteristics can be passed
allowed the first direct glimpses or DNA, providing the key to the on gained new traction with
of atoms, while new telescopes genetic code of life, which would the discovery of epigenetics.
have revealed planets beyond our lead less than half a century later Knowledge of the mechanisms
solar system. By the 21st century, to the complete mapping of the by which evolution can take place
science has become largely a human genome. was becoming far richer.
team activity, involving ever Armed with new knowledge By the end of the century,
more expensive apparatus and about the genetic mechanism, American Craig Venter, fresh from
interdisciplinary cooperation. American biologist Lynn Margulis running his own human genome
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 269
Lynn Margulis
shocks her colleagues
Peter Higgs suggests with the idea of Craig Venter claims
that there is a endosymbiosis, in Yuri Manin suggests to be able to design
fundamental particle which whole organisms the idea of quantum synthetic
responsible for mass. are absorbed by others. computing. life forms.
Murray Gell-Mann puts Stephen Hawking Michael Syvanen says The Higgs boson is
forward the idea of shows that black holes that genes can move detected by CERN.
quarks, leading to the emit low-level from one species
standard model of radiation. to another.
particle physics.
project, had created artificial life by fundamental particles of nature the three of space and one of
planning its DNA on his computer. according to their properties. time. American physicist Hugh
In Scotland, after many setbacks, Not all physicists were convinced, Everett III suggested that there
Ian Wilmut and colleagues had but the power of the standard may be a mathematical basis for
succeeded in cloning a sheep. model received a huge boost in the existence of more than one
2012 when the Higgs boson it universe. Everett’s theory of a
New particles had predicted was detected by constantly splitting multiverse
In physics, the strangeness of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. was at first ignored, but has gained
quantum mechanics was further Meanwhile, the search for supporters over the last few years.
explored by American Richard a “theory of everything”—a
Feynman and others, who theory that would unite all four Future directions
explained quantum interactions fundamental forces of nature Deep puzzles remain to be solved,
in terms of exchange of “virtual” (gravity, electromagnetism, and including an elusive theory that
particles. Paul Dirac had correctly the strong and weak nuclear would unite quantum mechanics
predicted the existence of forces)—took many new directions. with general relativity. But
antimatter in the 1930s, and American Sheldon Glashow tantalizing possibilities are also
in subsequent decades, more united electromagnetism with opening up, including a potential
new subatomic particles emerged the weak nuclear force into one revolution in computing courtesy
from the collisions of ever more “electroweak” theory, while of the quantum mechanical qubit.
powerful particle colliders. From string theory attempted to unite It is probable that new problems we
this menagerie of exotic particles, every theory of physics into one cannot even imagine will emerge.
the standard model of particle by proposing the existence of six If the history of science is a guide,
physics emerged, arranging the hidden dimensions in addition to we should expect the unexpected. ■
270
WE ARE MADE
OF STARDUST
FRED HOYLE (1915–2001)
T
he idea that stars generate Between 1946 and 1957, British
IN CONTEXT energy through the process astronomer Fred Hoyle and others
of nuclear fusion was first developed Bethe’s ideas to show
BRANCH
proposed by British astronomer how further fusion reactions
Astrophysics
Arthur Eddington in 1920. Stars, involving helium could generate
BEFORE he argued, were factories for fusing carbon and heavier elements up
1854 German physicist nuclei of hydrogen into helium. to and including the mass of iron.
Hermann von Helmholtz A helium nucleus contains slightly This explained the origin of many
suggests that the Sun less mass than the four hydrogen of the universe’s heavier elements.
generates heat through slow nuclei required to create it. This We now know that elements
gravitational contraction. mass is converted into energy in heavier than iron form in supernova
accordance with the equation explosions—the death throes
1863 English astronomer E = mc2. Eddington developed a of massive stars. The elements
William Huggins’ spectrum model of star structure in terms of needed for life are made in stars. ■
analysis of stars shows they the balance between the inward
share elements found on Earth. pull of gravity and the outward
pressure of escaping radiation, but
1905–10 Astronomers in the he did not figure out the physics of
US and Sweden analyze stars’ the nuclear reactions involved.
luminosity and group them
into dwarfs and giants. Making heavier elements Space isn’t remote at all.
In 1939, German-born US physicist It’s only an hour’s drive
1920 Arthur Eddington argues away if your car could go
Hans Bethe published a detailed
that stars turn hydrogen into straight upwards.
analysis of the different pathways
helium through nuclear fusion. Fred Hoyle
that hydrogen fusion might take.
1934 Fritz Zwicky coins the He identified two routes—a slow,
term “supernova” for a massive low-temperature chain that
star’s explosive end. dominates in stars like our Sun, and
a rapid, high-temperature cycle that
AFTER dominates in more massive stars.
2013 Deep-sea fossils reveal
what may be biological traces See also: Marie Curie 190–95 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■
of iron from a supernova. Ernest Rutherford 206–13 ■ Georges Lemaître 242–45 ■ Fritz Zwicky 250–51
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 271
JUMPING GENES
BARBARA MCCLINTOCK (1902–1992)
I
n the early 20th century, the
IN CONTEXT laws of inheritance that had
been described by Gregor
BRANCH
Mendel in 1866 were refined as new
Biology
discoveries were made about the
BEFORE particles of inheritance, identified
1866 Gregor Mendel describes as genes, and the microscopic
inheritance as a phenomenon threads that carry them, called
determined by “particles”— chromosomes. In the 1930s,
later called genes. American geneticist Barbara Variable colors in corn prompted
McClintock first realized that McClintock to trace the genetic
1902 Theodor Boveri and chromosomes were not the stable recombinations responsible for this
Walter Sutton independently structures previously imagined, variety, which she reported in 1951.
conclude that chromosomes and that the position of genes in
are involved in inheritance. chromosomes could alter. chromosomes paired up when sex
1915 Thomas Hunt Morgan’s cells were formed, creating an X
fruit fly experiments confirm Exchanging genes shape. She realized that these
McClintock was studying X-shaped structures marked
earlier theories and show that
inheritance in corn plants. A locations where chromosome pairs
genes can be linked together
corncob has hundreds of kernels, were exchanging segments. Genes
on the same chromosome.
each colored yellow, brown, or that were once linked together on
AFTER streaked, according to the cob’s the same chromosome were shuffled
1953 James Watson and genes. A kernel is a seed—a single around, which resulted in new
Francis Crick’s double-helix offspring—so studying many cobs traits, including variable colors.
model of the DNA that makes gives a range of data on the This shuffling of genes—called
up chromosomes shows how inheritance of kernel color. genetic recombination—produces
genetic material is replicated. McClintock combined breeding a far greater genetic variety in the
experiments with microscope work offspring. As a result, the chances
2000 The first human genome on chromosomes. In 1930, she found of survival in different environments
is published, cataloguing the that, during sexual reproduction, are enhanced. ■
location of 20,000–25,000
genes on humans’ 23 pairs See also: Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■
of chromosomes. James Watson and Francis Crick 276–83 ■ Michael Syvanen 318–19
272
THE STRANGE
THEORY OF LIGHT
AND MATTER
RICHARD FEYNMAN (1918–1988)
O
ne of the questions to particles interacted through the
IN CONTEXT arise from the quantum exchange of quanta, or “photons,”
mechanics of the 1920s of electromagnetic energy—the
BRANCH
was how particles of matter same electromagnetic quanta that
Physics
interacted by means of forces. comprise light. Photons can be
BEFORE Electromagnetism also needed a created out of nothing for very brief
1925 Louis de Broglie theory that worked on the quantum periods of time in accordance with
suggests that any particle with scale. The theory that emerged, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle,
mass can behave like a wave. quantum electrodynamics (QED), and this allows fluctuations in
explained the interaction of the amount of energy available
1927 Werner Heisenberg particles through the exchange of in “empty” space. Such photons
shows there is an inherent electromagnetism. It has proved are sometimes called “virtual”
uncertainty in certain pairs very successful, although one of its particles, and physicists have
of values at the quantum level, pioneers, Richard Feynman, called subsequently confirmed their
such as the position and it a “strange” theory because involvement in electromagnetism.
momentum of a particle. the picture of the universe that More generally, the messenger
it describes is hard to visualize. particles in quantum field theories
1927 Paul Dirac applies
are known as “gauge bosons.”
quantum mechanics to fields Messenger particles However, there were problems
rather than single particles. Paul Dirac made the first step with QED. Most significantly,
AFTER toward a theory of QED based on its equations often generated
Late 1950s Julian Schwinger the idea that electrically charged nonsensical infinite values.
and Sheldon Glashow develop
the electroweak theory, which Feynman diagrams
unites the weak nuclear force show the ways in
with electromagnetism. e1 e2 which particles can
Virtual photon interact. Here, two
1965 Moo-Young Han, Yoichiro electrons repel each
Time
LIFE IS NOT
A MIRACLE
HAROLD UREY (1893–1981)
STANLEY MILLER (1930–2007)
S
cientists have long pondered
IN CONTEXT the origin of life. In 1871,
Earth’s early atmosphere Charles Darwin wrote in a
BRANCH
contained a mixture letter to his friend Joseph Hooker,
Chemistry of gases. “But if…we could conceive in
BEFORE some warm little pond, with all
1871 Charles Darwin suggests sorts of ammonia and phosphoric
that life might have begun in salts, lights, heat, electricity etc
“some warm little pond.” present, that a protein compound
was chemically formed ready to
1922 Russian biochemist undergo still more complex
Alexander Oparin proposes Given enough energy, changes…” In 1953, American
that complex compounds those gases might have chemist Harold Urey and his
might have formed in a reacted together.
student Stanley Miller found a
primitive atmosphere. way to replicate Earth’s early
1952 In the US, Kenneth A. atmosphere in the laboratory, and
Wilde passes 600-volt sparks generated from inorganic matter
organic (carbon-based) compounds
through a mixture of carbon
that are essential to life.
dioxide and water vapor, and
More complex molecules Before the Urey–Miller
obtains carbon monoxide. might have been formed, experiment, advances in chemistry
AFTER providing the building and astronomy had analyzed the
1961 Spanish biochemist blocks of the earliest atmospheres on the other, lifeless
life forms. planets in the solar system. In the
Joan Oró adds further likely
chemicals to the Urey–Miller 1920s, Soviet biochemist Alexander
mix and obtains molecules Oparin and British geneticist J. B. S.
vital for DNA, among others. Haldane independently suggested
that if conditions on prebiotic
2008 Miller’s former student (prelife) Earth resembled those
Jeffrey Bada and others use planets, then simple chemicals
newer, more sensitve Life is not a miracle. could have reacted together in
techniques to obtain many a primordial soup to form more
more organic molecules. complex molecules, from which
living things might have evolved.
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 275
See also: Jöns Jakob Berzelius 119 ■ Friedrich Wöhler 124–25 ■
Harold Urey and
Charles Darwin 142–49 ■ Fred Hoyle 270
Stanley Miller
Laboratory apparatus replicated Gases (Earth’s atmosphere) Harold Clayton Urey was born
the effect of lightning on early Earth’s in Walkerton, IN. His work on
primitive atmosphere, in a continual the separation of isotopes led
loop of chemical reactions. to the discovery of deuterium,
which won him the Nobel Prize
Spark in Chemistry in 1934. He went
Vapor (cloud (lightning) on to develop enrichment of
formation) uranium-235 by gaseous
diffusion which was crucial for
Condensing the Manhattan Project’s
column development of the first atomic
Boiling water bomb. After his prebiotic
(Earth’s oceans) experiments with Stanley
Miller in Chicago he moved to
Cooled water (containing Power San Diego and studied the
Heat source organic molecules) supply Moon rocks brought back by
Apollo 11.
Stanley Lloyd Miller was
Recreating Earth’s building blocks of the proteins in all
born in Oakland, CA. After
early atmosphere living things. Urey encouraged
studying chemistry at the
In 1953, Urey and Miller carried out Miller to send a paper about the University of California at
the first prolonged experiment to experiment to the journal Science, Berkeley, he was a teaching
test the Oparin–Haldane theory. In which published it as “Production assistant at the University of
a closed series of connected glass of amino acids under possible Chicago, and worked with
flasks, sealed from the atmosphere, primitive earth conditions.” The Urey. Later, he became a
they put water and a mixture of world could now imagine how professor in San Diego.
gases thought to have been present Darwin’s “warm little pond” may
in Earth’s primitive atmosphere— have generated the first life forms. Key work
hydrogen, methane, and ammonia. In an interview, Miller said that
The water was heated so that water “just turning on the spark in a basic 1953 Production of Amino
vapor formed and wafted its way prebiotic experiment will yield Acids under Possible Primitive
around all the flasks in the closed amino acids.” Scientists later found, Earth Conditions
loop. In one of the flasks was a pair using better equipment than was
of electrodes, between which sparks available in 1953, that the original
were passed continuously to experiment had produced at least
represent lightning—one of the 25 amino acids—more than are
hypothetical triggers for primordial found in nature. Since Earth’s early
reactions. The sparks provided atmosphere almost certainly
enough energy to break up some of contained carbon dioxide, nitrogen,
the molecules, and generate highly hydrogen sulphide, and sulfur My study [of the universe]
reactive forms that would go on to dioxide released from volcanoes, leaves little doubt that life has
react with other molecules. a much richer mixture of organic occurred on other planets. I
Within a day, the mixture had compounds might well have been doubt if the human race is the
turned pink, and after two weeks created then—and was indeed most intelligent form of life.
Urey and Miller found that at least formed in subsequent experiments. Harold C. Urey
10 percent of the carbon (from the Meteorites containing dozens of
methane) was now in the form of amino acids, some found on Earth
other organic compounds. Two and others not, have also spurred
percent of the carbon had formed on the search for signs of life on
amino acids, which are the vital planets beyond the solar system. ■
WE WISH TO SUGGEST A
STRUCTURE
FOR THE SALT OF
DEOXYRIBOSE
NUCLEIC ACID
JAMES WATSON (1928 –)
(DNA)
FRANCIS CRICK (1916 –2004)
278 JAMES WATSON AND FRANCIS CRICK
I
n April 1953, the answer to on the challenge of DNA’s structure
IN CONTEXT a fundamental mystery about at the Cavendish Laboratory,
living organisms appeared in University of Cambridge, under
BRANCH
a short article published without its director, Sir Lawrence Bragg.
Biology
fanfare in the scientific journal, DNA was the hot topic of the
BEFORE Nature. The article explained both day, and an understanding of its
1869 Friedrich Miescher first how genetic instructions are held structure seemed so tantalizingly
identifies DNA, in blood cells. inside organisms and how they are within reach that by the early
passed on to the next generation. 1950s, teams in Europe, the US,
1920s Phoebus Levene and Crucially, it described, for the and the Soviet Union were vying
others analyze the components first time, the double-helix to be the first to “crack” DNA’s
of DNA as sugars, phosphates, structure of deoxyribose nucleic three-dimensional shape—the
and four types of base. acid (DNA), the molecule that elusive model that allowed DNA
contains the genetic information. simultaneously to carry genetic
1944 Experiments show DNA The article was written by data in some kind of chemically
to be a carrier of genetic data. James Watson, a 29-year-old coded form, and to replicate
1951 Linus Pauling proposes American biologist, and his itself completely and accurately,
the alpha-helix structure for older British research colleague, so that the same genetic data
certain biological molecules. biophysicist Francis Crick. Since was passed to offspring, or
1951, they had jointly been working daughter cells, including those
AFTER of the next generation.
1963 Frederick Sanger
develops sequencing methods The past in DNA
to identify bases along DNA. The DNA molecule was not
discovered in 1953, as is often
1960s DNA’s code is cracked: popularly thought, nor were Crick
three DNA bases of code for So beautiful it has to be true. and Watson the first to find out what
each amino acid in a protein. James Watson it was made from. DNA has a much
2010 Craig Venter and his longer history of research. In the
team implant artificially made 1880s, the German biologist Walther
DNA into a living bacterium. Flemming had reported that “X”-like
bodies (later named chromosomes)
appeared inside cells as the cells
James Watson and James Watson (on the right) was during World War II. In 1947,
Francis Crick born in 1928 in Chicago, IL. he went to Cambridge to study
At the precocious age of 15 he biology and here began work
entered the University of Chicago. with James Watson. Later, Crick
After postgraduate study in became known for the “central
genetics, Watson moved to dogma”: that genetic data flow
Cambridge, England, to team in cells in essentially one way. In
up with Francis Crick. He later later life, Crick turned to brain
returned to the US to work at the research and developed a theory
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in of consciousness.
New York. From 1988, he worked
on the Human Genome Project, Key works
but left after a disagreement over
patenting genetic data. 1953 Molecular Structure of
Francis Crick was born in 1916 Nucleic Acids: A Structure for
near Northampton in Britain. He Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid
developed antisubmarine mines 1968 The Double Helix
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 279
See also: Charles Darwin 142–49 ■ Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■ Barbara McClintock 271 ■
These are human male chromosomes. the pieces to fit together, producing cell how to make the particular
Before Crick and Watson’s discovery, an elegant double helix in which protein or other molecule that was
it had been known that chromosomes the pairs of bases linked along the the physical manifestation of the
carry genes that pass from a dividing middle. Unlike the protein alpha- genetic data and had a particular
cell to a daughter cell.
helix, which had 3.6 subunits in role in the cell’s fabric and function.
one complete turn, DNA had about
In assembling the cardboard 10.4 subunits per turn. Zip and unzip
pieces for their 3-D jigsaw, Watson The model that Watson and Each pair of bases is connected
and Crick were juggling a vast Crick described consisted of two by what chemists call hydrogen
amount of data, working from helical or corkscrew phosphate- bonds. These are made and broken
mathematics, X-ray images, their sugar backbones curling around relatively easily, so the sections of
own knowledge of chemical bonds each other, like the uprights of a the double-helix can be “unzipped”
and their angles, and other data— “twisted ladder,” connected by by undoing the bonds, which then
all approximate and subject to pairs of bases serving as rungs. exposes the code of bases as a
ranges of errors. Their final The sequence of bases worked like template for making a copy.
breakthrough came when they letters in a sentence, carrying small This zip-unzip allowed two
realized that making slight units of information that combined processes to occur. First, a mirror
adjustments to the configurations to make an overall instruction, complementary copy of nucleic acid
of thymine and guanine allowed or gene—which in turn told the could be made from one unzipped
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 283
half of the double helix; then, “for their discoveries concerning A DNA molecule is a double helix
carrying its genetic information the molecular structure of nucleic formed by base pairs attached to a
as the sequence of bases, it would acids and its significance for backbone made of sugar-phosphates.
leave the cell nucleus to become information transfer in living The base pairs always match up in
combinations of either adenine–thymine
involved in the protein production. material.” The award, however, or cytosine–guanine.
Second, when the whole length was surrounded in controversy.
of the double helix was unzipped, In the preceding years, Rosalind
each part would act as a template Franklin had received little official
to build a new complementary credit for producing the key X-ray
partner—resulting in two lengths images and for writing the reports
of DNA that were identical to the that helped to direct Watson
original and to each other. In this and Crick’s research. She died of
way, DNA was copied as cells ovarian cancer in 1958, at only 37,
divided into two for growth and and was therefore ineligible
repair throughout an organism’s for the Nobel Prize in 1962, since
life—and as sperm and eggs, the the prizes are not awarded
sex cells, carried their quotient of posthumously. Some said the
the genes to make a fertilized egg, award should have been made Base pairs
so beginning the next generation. earlier, with Franklin as one of
the co-recipients, but the rules
“Secret of life” allow a maximum of three.
On February 28, 1953, elated by Following their momentous
their discovery, Watson and Crick work, Watson and Crick became
went for lunch to The Eagle, one of world celebrities. They continued
Cambridge’s oldest inns, where their research in molecular biology
colleagues from the Cavendish and and received great numbers of
other laboratories often met. Crick awards and honors. Now that the
Sugar-
is said to have startled drinkers by structure of DNA was known, the
phosphate
announcing that he and Watson next big challenge was to solve the backbone
had discovered “the secret of life”— genetic “code.” By 1964, scientists
or so Watson later recalled in his figured out how sequences of its
book, The Double Helix, though bases were translated into the
Crick denied this really happened. amino acids that make up specific
In 1962, Watson, Crick, and proteins and other molecules that
Wilkins were awarded the Nobel are the building blocks of life.
Prize in Physiology or Medicine Today, scientists can identify
base sequences for all the genes of
an organism, collectively known as
its genome. They can manipulate
DNA to move genes around, delete
them from specific lengths of DNA,
and insert them into others. In
I never dreamed that in my 2003, the Human Genome Project,
lifetime my own genome the largest international biological
would be sequenced. research project ever, announced
James Watson that it had completed the mapping
of the human genome—a sequence
of more than 20,000 genes. Crick Adenine Thymine
and Watson’s discovery had paved
the way for genetic engineering
and gene therapy. ■ Guanine Cytosine
284
EVERYTHING
THAT CAN
HAPPEN HAPPENS
HUGH EVERETT III (1930–1982)
H
ugh Everett III is a cult bizarre results that seem to
interpretation may work. figure to sci-fi enthusiasts be at odds with experiment,
2000s Swedish cosmologist because his many-worlds a dichotomy at the heart of the
interpretation (MWI) of quantum measurement paradox (pp.232–33).
Max Tegmark describes an
mechanics changed scientists’ In the quantum world,
infinity of universes.
ideas about the nature of reality. subatomic particles are allowed
2000s In quantum computer Everett’s work was inspired by to exist in any number of possible
theory, computational power is the embarrassing flaw at the heart states of location, velocity, and
sourced from superpositions of quantum mechanics. Although spin, or “superpositions,” as
that are not in our universe. it can explain interactions at the described by Erwin Schrödinger’s
most fundamental level of matter, wave function, but the phenomenon
quantum mechanics also produces of many possibilities disappears as
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 285
See also: Max Planck 202–05 ■ Werner Heisenberg 234–35 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33
“Multiverse” is an installation
of 41,000 LED lights at the National
Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
It was inspired by the many-worlds
interpretation.
C
omputers in 1961 were
IN CONTEXT mostly mainframes
the size of a room.
BRANCH
Minicomputers would not arrive
Artificial intelligence
until 1965 and microchips as we
BEFORE know them today were several Can machines think? The
1950 Alan Turing suggests years in the future. With computer short answer is “Yes: there are
a test to measure machine hardware so huge and specialized, machines which can do what
intelligence (the Turing Test). British research scientist Donald we would call thinking, if it
Michie decided to use simple were done by a human being.”
1955 American programmer physical objects for a small project Donald Michie
Arthur Samuel improves his on machine learning and artificial
program to play tic-tac-toe by intelligence— matchboxes and
writing one that learns to play. glass beads. He selected a simple
task, too—the game of tic-tac-toe,
1956 The term “artificial also known as noughts-and-
intelligence” is coined by crosses. Or, as Michie called it
American John McCarthy. “tit-tat-to.” The result was the rotated to give others, and
1960 American psychologist Matchbox Educable Noughts some are mirror images of, or
Frank Rosenblatt makes a And Crosses Engine (MENACE). symmetrical to, each other.
computer with neural networks Michie’s main version of This made 304 permutations
that learn from experience. MENACE comprised 304 an adequate working number.
matchboxes glued together in a In each matchbox box were
AFTER chest-of-drawers arrangement. beads of nine different kinds,
1968 MacHack, the first chess A code number on each box was distinguished by color. Each
program to achieve a good keyed into a chart. The chart color of bead corresponded to
level of skill, is created by showed drawings of the 3x3 game MENACE putting its O on a certain
American Richard Greenblatt. grid with various arrangements one of the nine squares. For
of Os and Xs, corresponding to example, a green bead meant O
1997 World chess champion possible layout permutations as in the lower left square, a red one
Garry Kasparov is defeated by the game progressed. There are designated O in the central square,
IBM’s Deep Blue computer. actually 19,683 possible layout and so on.
combinations but some can be
Mechanics of the game
MENACE opened the game
using the matchbox for no Os or
Xs in the grid—the “first move”
Animals learn by Machines can be box. In the tray of each matchbox
experience of trial built that change with were two extra pieces of card at
and error. each experience. one end forming a “V” shape. To
play, the tray was removed from
the box, jiggled, and tilted so the
V was at the lower end. The beads
randomly rolled down and one
nestled into the apex of the V.
Reinforcing positive Thus chosen, this bead’s color
…a perfect game of outcomes in a simple determined the position of
tic-tac-toe. mechanical system, MENACE’s first O in the grid.
machines can play… This bead was then put aside,
and the tray replaced in its box
but left slightly open.
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 289
See also: Alan Turing 252–53
Next, the opponent positioned The chances of choosing that bead, For a draw, each bead from that
their first X. For the second turn and so the same move and another game was replaced in its relevant
of MENACE, the matchbox was possible win, were increased. box, along with a small reward,
selected that corresponded to If MENACE lost it was one bonus bead of the same
the positions of the X and O “punished” by not receiving color. This increased the chances
on the grid at this time. Again the back the removed beads, which of that bead being selected if the
matchbox was opened, the tray represented the losing sequence same permutation came around
shaken and tilted, and the color of moves. But this was still again, but not as much as the
of the randomly selected bead positive. In future games, if the win with three bonus beads.
determined the position of same permutation of Xs and Os Michie’s goal was that MENACE
MENACE’s second O. The cropped up, the beads designating would “learn from experience.” For
opponent placed their second X. the same move as the previous time given permutations of Os and Xs,
And so on, recording MENACE’s were either fewer in number or when a certain sequence of moves
sequence of beads and so moves. absent, thereby lessening the had been successful, it should
chance of another loss. gradually become more likely, while
Win, lose, draw moves that led to losses would
Eventually there came a result. become less likely. It should
If MENACE won, it received progress by trial and error, adapt
reinforcement or a “reward.” with experience, and with more
The removed beads showed the games, become more successful.
sequence of winning moves. Each
of these beads was put back in its Controlling variables
box, identified by the code number Michie considered potential
and slightly open tray. The tray problems. What if the selected
also received three extra “bonus” bead from a tray decreed that
beads of the same color. As a MENACE’s O should be placed
consequence, in a future game, if on a square already occupied
the same permutation of Os and by an O or X? Michie accounted
Colossus, the world’s first electronic
Xs occurred on the grid, this programmable computer, was made in
for this by ensuring that each
matchbox would come into play 1943 to crack codes at Bletchley Park matchbox contained only beads
again—and it had more of the in England. Michie trained staff to corresponding to empty squares for
beads that previously led to a win. use the computer. its particular permutation. So the ❯❯
290 DONALD MICHIE
box for the permutation of O top left Human vs MENACE
and X bottom right did not contain So what were the results? Michie
beads for putting the next O on was MENACE’s first opponent
those squares. Michie considered in a tournament of 220 games.
that putting beads for all nine MENACE began shakily but soon
possible O positions in every box settled down to draw more often,
Expert knowledge is intuitive;
would “complicate the problem then notch up some wins. To
unnecessarily.” It meant MENACE
it is not necessarily accessible counter, Michie began to stray
would not only learn to win or draw, to the expert himself. from safe options and employ
it would also have to learn the rules Donald Michie unusual strategies. MENACE took
as it went along. Such start-up time to adapt but then began
conditions might lead to one or two to cope with these too, coming
early disasters that collapsed the back to achieve more draws, then
whole system. This demonstrated wins. At one point in a series of
a principle: machine learning works 10 games, Michie lost eight.
best starting simple and gradually MENACE provided a simple
add more sophistication. Michie simulated this by having example of machine learning
Michie also pointed out that different numbers of beads for and how altering variables could
when MENACE lost, its last move each move. So for MENACE’s affect the outcome. Michie’s
was the 100 percent fatal one. The second move (third move overall), description of MENACE was, in
move before contributed to the loss, each box that could be called upon fact, part of a longer account that
as though backing the machine into to play—those with permutations went on to compare its performance
a corner, but less so—usually it still of one O and one X already in the with trial-and-error animal learning,
left open the possibility of escaping grid—had three of each kind of as Michie explained:
defeat. Working back toward the bead. For MENACE’s third move, ‘“Essentially, the animal makes
start of the game, each earlier move there were two beads of each kind, more-or-less random movements
contributed less to the final defeat— and for its fourth (seventh move and selects, in the sense that it
that is, as moves accumulate, the overall), just one. A fatal choice subsequently repeats, those which
probability that each becomes the on the fourth move would result produced the ‘desired’ result. This
final one increases. Therefore as in removal of the only bead description seems tailor-made
the total number of moves grows, it specifying that position on the for the matchbox model. Indeed,
becomes more important to get rid grid. Without that bead, the same MENACE constitutes a model of
of choices that have proved fatal. situation could not recur. trial-and-error learning in so pure
a form, that when it shows elements learn in ways perhaps not even New computer technology has led to
of other categories of learning guessed at by their human a rapid development in AI, and in 1997,
we may reasonably suspect originators. Michie demonstrated the chess machine Deep Blue defeated
world champion Garry Kasparov.
these of contamination with that careful application of The computer learned strategy by
a trial-and-error component.” human intelligence empowered analyzing thousands of past games.
machines to make themselves
Turning point smarter. Recent developments
Before developing MENACE, in AI use similar principles to
Donald Michie had pursued a develop networks that mirror the
distinguished research career in neural networks of animals’ brains.
biology, surgery, genetics, and Michie also conceived the
embryology. After MENACE, he notion of memoization, in which
moved into the fast-developing the result of each set of inputs in a He had this concept that
area of artificial intelligence (AI). machine or computer was stored as he wanted to try out that he
He developed his machine learning a reminder or “memo.” If the same thought might possibly solve
ideas into “industrial-strength set of inputs recurred, the device computer chess…It was the
tools” applied in hundreds of would at once activate the memo idea of reaching a steady state.
situations, including assembly and recall the answer, rather than Kathleen Spracklen
lines, factory production, and steel recalculating afresh, thereby saving
mills. As computers spread, his time and resources. He contributed
artificial intelligence work was the memoization technique to
used to design computer programs computer programming languages
and control structures that could such as POP-2 and LISP. ■
292
THE UNITY OF
FUNDAMENTAL
FORCES
SHELDON GLASHOW (1932–)
T
he idea of forces of nature, Messenger particles
IN CONTEXT or fundamental forces, goes In the quantum mechanical
back at least to the ancient description of fields, a force is
BRANCH
Greeks. Physicists currently “felt” by the exchange of a gauge
Physics
recognize four fundamental forces— boson, such as the photon, which
BEFORE gravity, electromagnetism, and carries electromagnetic interaction.
1820 Hans Christian Ørsted the two nuclear forces, weak and A boson is emitted by one particle
discovers that magnetism and strong interactions, which hold and absorbed by a second. Normally,
electricity are aspects of the together the subatomic particles neither particle is fundamentally
same phenomenon. inside the nucleus of an atom. changed by this interaction—an
We now know that the weak force electron is still an electron after
1864 James Clerk Maxwell and the electromagnetic force are absorbing or emitting a photon. The
describes electromagnetic different manifestations of a single weak force breaks this symmetry,
waves in a set of equations. “electroweak” force. Discovering changing quarks (the particles
1933 Enrico Fermi’s theory this was an important step on that protons and neutrons are made
of beta decay describes the the way to finding a “Theory of from) from one kind to another.
weak force. Everything” that would explain the
relationship between all four forces.
1954 The Yang–Mills theory
lays the mathematical The weak force
groundwork for unifying the The weak force was first invoked
four fundamental forces. to explain beta decay, a type of
nuclear radiation in which a
AFTER neutron turns into a proton inside
1974 A fourth kind of the nucleus, emitting electrons or
quark, the “charm” quark, is positrons in the process. In 1961,
discovered, revealing a new a graduate student at Harvard,
underlying structure to matter. Sheldon Glashow, was given the
1983 The force-carrying W ambitious brief to unify the theories
and Z bosons are discovered of weak and electromagnetic
in CERN’s Super Proton interactions. Glashow fell short of Decay of particles via the weak force
Synchrotron in Switzerland. this, but did describe the force- drives the Sun’s proton–proton fusion
carrying particles that mediate reaction, turning hydrogen into helium.
interaction via the weak force. Without it, the Sun wouldn’t shine.
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 293
See also: Marie Curie 190–95 ■ Ernest Rutherford 206–13 ■
T
he realization that carbon
IN CONTEXT dioxide (CO2) levels in
Carbon dioxide the atmosphere are not
BRANCH is a greenhouse gas only rising but might also cause
Meteorology that traps heat in disastrous warming first came
Earth’s atmosphere. to widespread scientific and
BEFORE
1824 Joseph Fourier suggests public attention in the 1950s.
that Earth’s atmosphere makes Past scientists had assumed that
the planet warmer. the concentration of CO2 in the
atmosphere varied from time to
1859 Irish physicist John time, but was always around
Tyndall proves that carbon 0.03 percent, or 300 parts per
dioxide (CO2), water vapor, Its concentration in the million (ppm). In 1958, American
and ozone trap heat in air is rising in line with geochemist Charles Keeling began
Earth’s atmosphere. fossil fuel consumption. to measure the concentration of
1903 Swedish chemist Svante CO2 using a sensitive instrument
Arrhenius suggests that the he had developed. It was his
findings that alerted the world
CO2 released by burning
to the relentless rise of CO2 and,
fossil fuel might be causing
by the late 1970s, to the human
atmospheric warming.
role in accelerating the so-called
1938 British engineer Earth’s temperature greenhouse effect.
Guy Callendar reports that is rising.
Earth’s average temperature Regular measurements
increased by 1°F (0.5°C) Keeling measured CO2 in several
between 1890 and 1935. places: Big Sur in California, the
Olympic peninsula in Washington
AFTER State, and the high mountain
1988 The Intergovernmental forests of Arizona. He also recorded
Panel on Climate Change We are the measurements at the South Pole
(IPCC) is set up to assess cause of global and from aircraft. In 1957, Keeling
scientific research and warming. founded a meteorological station at
guide global policy. 10,000 ft (3,000 m) above sea level
on the top of Mauna Loa in Hawaii.
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 295
See also: Jan Ingenhousz 85 ■ Joseph Fourier 122–23 ■ Robert FitzRoy 150–55
atmosphere year
370 after year. The
likely to lead to global warming.
360 small annual Keeling found the following:
350 fluctuation (shown “At the South Pole the concentration
340 by the blue line) is has increased at the rate of about
330 due to seasonal 1.3 ppm per year…the observed
320 changes in CO2 rate of increase is nearly that to
310 uptake by plants. be expected from the combustion
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
of fossil fuel (1.4 ppm).” In other
words, humans are at least part
Keeling measured the carbon back for winter. Third, crucially, of the cause. ■
dioxide level at the station regularly, the concentration was increasing
and discovered three things. inexorably. Cores of polar ice
First, there was a daily variation contained bubbles of air, which
locally. The concentration was at showed that during most of
a minimum midafternoon, when the time since 9000 BCE, the CO2
green plants were at their most concentration varied from 275 to
active in soaking up CO2. Second, 285 ppm by volume. In 1958, The demand for energy is
there was annual variation globally. Keeling measured 315 ppm; by certain to increase…as
The northern hemisphere had more May 2013, the average concentration an ever larger population
land for plants to grow, and the exceeded 400 ppm for the first time. strives to improve its
level of CO2 rose slowly during the The increase from 1958 to 2013 standard of living.
northern winter when plants were was 85 ppm, meaning that the Charles Keeling
not growing. It reached a peak in concentration had increased by
May before plants started to grow 27 percent in 55 years. This
and began soaking up CO2 again. was the first concrete evidence
The level dropped to a minimum in that the concentration of CO2 in
October, when northern plants died Earth’s atmosphere is increasing.
THE BUTTERFLY
EFFECT
EDWARD LORENZ (1917–2008)
M
uch of the history of planetary motion, lend themselves
IN CONTEXT science has been readily to this schema. With a
devoted to developing description of the initial
BRANCH
simple models that predict the conditions—the mass of a planet,
Meteorology
behavior of systems. Certain its position, velocity, and so on—
BEFORE phenomena in nature, such as future configurations can be
1687 Newton’s three laws of
motion hold that the universe
is predictable.
1880s Henri Poincaré shows Calculating the
trajectories of pool
that the motion of three or According to Newton’s
balls after a break should
more bodies interacting laws, the universe can
be possible if we have all
gravitationally is generally be predicted.
the data about the
chaotic and unpredictable. balls and table.
AFTER
1970s Chaos theory is used
to model traffic flow, digital
encryption, function, and in …because the
many, tiny differences But no matter how
designs for cars and aircraft. accurate our data, it is
in the initial setup will cause
1979 Benoît Mandelbrot the final distribution of impossible to replicate
discovers the Mandelbrot set, balls to vary wildly. a pool break…
which shows how complex
patterns can be created using
very simple rules.
1990s Chaos theory is
thought of as a subset of These minute Accurate predictions
complexity science, which uncertainties forbid us of chaotic phenomena
seeks to explain complex from knowing how a are impossible.
natural phenomena. system will change.
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 297
See also: Isaac Newton 62–69 ■ Benoît Mandelbrot 316
A VACUUM IS
NOT EXACTLY
NOTHING
PETER HIGGS (1929–)
T
2012 Scientists at CERN he great scientific event of boson gives mass to all things in
announce the discovery 2012 was the announcement the universe, and is the missing
of a new particle matching from scientists at the Large piece that completes the standard
the description of the Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in model of physics. Its existence had
Higgs boson. Switzerland that a new particle had been hypothesized by six physicists,
been found, and that it might be among them Peter Higgs, in 1964.
the elusive Higgs boson. The Higgs Finding the Higgs boson was of
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 299
See also: Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33 ■ Georges Lemaître 242–45 ■ Paul Dirac 246–47 ■
SYMBIOSIS IS
EVERYWHERE
LYNN MARGULIS (1938–2011)
C
harles Darwin’s theory of cells arise? The answer lay in
IN CONTEXT evolution coincided with a endosymbiosis—a theory that was
cellular theory of life that first proposed by Mereschkowsky
BRANCH
emerged in the 1850s, asserting in 1905, but was only accepted
Biology
that all organisms were made of after an American biologist called
BEFORE cells, and new cells could only Lynn Sagan (later Margulis)
1858 German doctor Rudolf come from existing ones by a furnished the evidence in 1967.
Virchow proposes that cells process of division. Some of their Complex cells with internal
arise only from other cells, and internal components, such as food- structures called organelles—the
are not formed spontaneously. making chloroplasts, apparently nucleus (which controls the cell),
reproduced by division too. mitochondria (which release
1873 German microbiologist This last discovery led Russian energy), and chloroplasts (which
Anton de Bary coins the term botanist Konstantin Mereschkowsky conduct photosynthesis)—are
“symbiosis” for different kinds to the idea that chloroplasts may found in animals, plants, and many
of organisms living together. once have been independent life microbes. These cells, now called
1905 According to Konstantin forms. Evolutionary and cellular eukaryotic, evolved from simpler
Mereschkowsky, chloroplasts biologists asked: how did complex bacterial cells, which lack
organelles and are now called
and nuclei originated by a
prokaryotic. Mereschkowsky
process of symbiosis, but his
imagined primordial communities
theory lacks evidence.
of the simpler cells—some making
1937 French biologist Edouard food by photosynthesis, others
Chatton divides life forms by preying on their neighbors and
cell structure, into eukaryote engulfing them whole. Sometimes
(complex) and prokaryote the engulfed cells were left
(simple). His theory is undigested and, he suggested,
rediscovered in 1962. became chloroplasts—but without
proof, this theory of endosymbiosis
AFTER (living together and within) faded.
1970–75 US microbiologist
Mitochondria are organelles that
Carl Woese discovers that make the energy-carrying chemical New evidence
chloroplast DNA is similar adenosine triphosphate (ATP) inside The invention of the electron
to that of bacteria. a eukaryotic cell. This mitochondrion microscope in the 1930s, combined
has been artificially colored blue. with advances in biochemistry,
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 301
See also: Charles Darwin 142–49 ■ James Watson and Francis Crick 276–83 ■
Lynn Margulis
Lynn Alexander (later Sagan,
These organelles
The DNA of chloroplasts then Margulis) entered
lived independent lives
and mitochondria Chicago University at just 14,
before coming
is similar to that before earning a PhD at
together in the process
of bacteria. the University of California,
of endosymbiosis.
Berkeley. Her interests in the
cellular diversity of organisms
led her to revive and champion
the evolutionary theory
of endosymbiosis, which
biologist Richard Dawkins has
Symbiosis is everywhere. described as “one of the great
achievements of 20th-century
evolutionary biology.”
For Margulis, cooperative
helped biologists to unlock the up” the oxygen in their energy- interactions were as important
inner working of cells. By the 1950s, releasing processes. These became as competition in driving
evolution—and she viewed
scientists knew that DNA provided mitochondria: the “power packs” of
living things as self-organizing
genetic instructions for carrying cells today. At first, this appeared
systems. She later supported
out life processes and was relayed farfetched to most biologists, but James Lovelock’s Gaia
from generation to generation. In the evidence for Margulis’s theory hypothesis that Earth, too,
eukaryotic cells, DNA is packaged gradually became persuasive, could be viewed as a self-
in the nucleus, but it is also found in and it has now been widely regulating organism. In
chloroplasts and mitochondria. accepted. For example, the DNA of recognition of her work, she
In 1967, Margulis used this mitochondria and chloroplasts are was made a member of the
discovery as evidence to revive and made from circular molecules—just US National Academy of
substantiate the endosymbiosis like the DNA of living bacteria. Science and received the
theory. She included the suggestion Evolution by cooperation was National Medal of Science.
that there had been an oxygen not something new: Darwin himself
“holocaust” in the early history of had conceived the idea to explain Key works
life on Earth. About two billion the mutually beneficial interplay
years ago, as photosynthesizers between nectar-giving plants and 1967 On the Origin of
Mitosing Cells
flourished, they saturated the world pollinating insects. But few had
1970 Origin of Eukaryotic Cells
with oxygen, which poisoned many thought it could happen so 1982 Five Kingdoms: An
of the microbes around at the time. intimately—and fundamentally— Illustrated Guide to the Phyla
Predatory microbes survived by as when cells merged together at of Life on Earth
engulfing others that could “soak the very dawn of life. ■
OUARKS COME IN
THREES
MURRAY GELL-MANN (1929 –)
304 MURRAY GELL-MANN
U
nderstanding of the
IN CONTEXT structure of the atom
has changed dramatically
BRANCH
since the end of the 19th century.
Physics
In 1897, J. J. Thomson made the
BEFORE bold suggestion that cathode rays How can it be that
1932 A new particle, the are streams of particles far smaller writing down a few simple
neutron, is discovered by than the atom; he had discovered and elegant formulae can
James Chadwick. There are the electron. In 1905, building predict universal regularities
now three known subatomic on the light quanta theory of Max of Nature?
particles with mass: the Planck, Albert Einstein suggested Murray Gell-Mann
proton, neutron, and electron. that light should be thought of as a
stream of tiny massless particles,
1932 The first antiparticle, which we now call photons. In
the positron, is discovered. 1911, Thomson’s protégé Ernest
Rutherford deduced that an atom’s
1940s–50s Increasingly nucleus is small and dense, with
powerful particle accelerators— electrons in orbit around it. The energies, and hence with greater
which smash particles image of an atom as an indivisible masses according to Einstein’s
together at high speeds— whole had been destroyed. principle of mass–energy
produce large numbers of In 1920, Rutherford named the equivalence (E = mc2).
new subatomic particles. nucleus of the lightest element, Seeking to explain the nature
hydrogen, the proton. Twelve years of interactions inside the atomic
AFTER
later, the neutron was discovered, nucleus, scientists in the 1950s
1964 The discovery of the
and a more complex picture of and 1960s produced an enormous
omega (Ω–) particle confirms nuclei made of protons and body of work providing the
the quark model. neutrons emerged. Then, in the conceptual framework for all matter
2012 The Higgs boson is 1930s, a glimpse of further realms in the universe. Many figures
discovered at CERN, adding of particles came from studies of contributed to this process, but
weight to the standard model. cosmic rays—high-energy particles American physicist Murray
that are thought to originate in Gell-Mann played a pivotal role in
supernovae. The studies revealed the construction of a taxonomy of
new particles associated with high fundamental particles and force-
carriers called the standard model.
and John Cockcroft using Collisions between subatomic and then sifting through the
a particle accelerator in Cambridge, particles splinter them into their wrecked pieces in an attempt to
England. Since then, ever more core units. The energy released is find out how the timepiece works.
powerful particle accelerators have sometimes enough to produce new By 1953, with colliders
been constructed. These machines generations of particles that cannot achieving ever-increasing energies,
boost tiny subatomic particles to exist under everyday conditions. exotic particles not found in
nearly the speed of light before Showers of short-lived, exotic ordinary matter seemed to tumble
slamming them into targets or particles spray off these pileups, out of thin air. More than 100
each other. Research is now driven before swiftly annihilating or strongly interacting particles were
by theoretical predictions—the decaying. With ever-increasing detected, all thought at the time ❯❯
largest particle accelerator, the energies at their disposal,
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in researchers attempt to probe the
Switzerland, was built primarily to mysteries of matter by getting The Stanford Linear Accelerator
in California, built in 1962, is 2 miles
find the theoretical Higgs boson even closer to the conditions at the (3 km) long—the longest linear
(pp.298–99). The LHC is a 17-mile birth of matter itself—the Big Bang. accelerator in the world. It was here,
(27-km) ring of superconducting The process has been likened to in 1968, that it was first demonstrated
magnets that took 10 years to build. smashing two watches together that protons are composed of quarks.
306 MURRAY GELL-MANN
to be fundamental. This merry “hadrons,” which include the
circus of new species was proton and neutron, are “strongly
dubbed the “particle zoo.” interacting” and influenced by all
four fundamental forces, while the
The Eightfold Way lightweight “leptons,” such as
By the 1960s, scientists had the electron and neutrino, are Three quarks for Muster Mark!
grouped particles according to unaffected by the strong force. James Joyce
how they were affected by the Gell-Mann made sense of the
four fundamental forces: gravity, particle zoo with an octet ordering
electromagnetic force, and the system he called the “Eightfold
weak and strong nuclear forces. Way,” a pun on the Buddhist Noble
All particles with mass are Eightfold Path. Just as Mendeleev
influenced by gravity. The had done when arranging the
electromagnetic force acts on any chemical elements into a periodic most economical design, he
particle with an electric charge. table, Gell-Mann imagined a proposed that hadrons contained
The weak and strong forces chart into which he placed the a new and as-yet-unseen
operate over the miniscule ranges elementary particles, leaving fundamental subunit. Since the
found within the atomic nucleus. spaces for as yet undiscovered heavier particles were no longer
Heavyweight particles called pieces. In an effort to make the fundamental, this change reduced
the number of fundamental
particles down to a manageable
Fermions Bosons number—hadrons were now simply
combinations of multiple
≈2.3 MeV/c² ≈1.275 GeV/c² ≈173.07 GeV/c² 0 ≈126 GeV/c²
elementary components. Gell-
U C t g H Mann, with his penchant for wacky
names dubbed this particle a
Higgs
up charm top gluon boson “quark” (pronounced “kwork”), after
a favorite line from James Joyce’s
≈4.8 MeV/c² ≈95 MeV/c² ≈4.18 GeV/c² 0
novel Finnegans Wake.
IN CONTEXT
String theory treats particles
BRANCH as vibrating strings of energy.
Physics
BEFORE
1940s Richard Feynman
and other physicists develop
quantum electrodynamics Adding hidden dimensions and
(QED), which describes “supersymmetric” particles produces
quantum-level interactions due superstring theory.
to the electromagnetic force.
1960s The standard model of
particle physics reveals the full
range of subatomic particles
known so far and the Superstring theory Superstring theory
interactions that affect them. gives rise to may explain the interaction
multidimensional of the four fundamental
AFTER branes. forces in the universe.
1970s String theory falls out of
favor temporarily as quantum
chromodynamics appears to
offer a better explanation of
the strong nuclear force.
1980s Lee Smolin and Italian
Carlo Rovelli develop the String theory is
The Big Bang may
theory of loop quantum be the result of two a possible candidate
gravity, which removes branes colliding. for a “Theory of
the need to theorize hidden Everything.”
extra dimensions.
P
ut simply, string theory is The development of string theory hadrons, the composite particles
the remarkable—and still has had a long and bumpy road, that are subject to the influence of
controversial—idea that all and it is still not accepted by many the strong force.
matter in the universe is made up physicists. But work on the theory In 1960, as part of an ongoing
not of pointlike particles, but of tiny continues—not least because it is study of the properties of hadrons,
“strings” of energy. The theory lays currently the only theory trying to American physicist Geoffrey
out a structure that we cannot unite the “quantum gauge” theories Chew proposed a radical new
detect, but that explains all the of the electromagnetic, weak, approach—abandoning the
phenomena that we see. Waves of and strong nuclear forces with preconception that hadrons were
vibration within these strings give Einstein’s theory of gravity. particles in the traditional sense,
rise to the quantized behaviors and modeling their interactions
(discrete properties such as electric Explaining the strong force in terms of a mathematical object
charge and spin) that are found in String theory began life as a model called an S-matrix. When Italian
nature, and mirror the harmonics to explain the strong force that physicist Gabriele Veneziano
that can be produced, for example, binds together the particles in the investigated the results of
by plucking a violin string. nuclei of atoms, and the behavior of Chew’s model, he found patterns
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 311
See also: Albert Einstein 214–21 ■ Erwin Schrödinger 226–33 ■ Georges Lemaître 242–45 ■ Paul Dirac 246–47 ■
Richard Feynman 272–73 ■ Hugh Everett III 284–85 ■ Sheldon Glashow 292–93 ■ Murray Gell-Mann 302–07
Theories of everything
M-theory has been proposed as a
possible “Theory of Everything”—
a means of uniting the quantum
field theories that successfully
describe electromagnetism and
the weak and strong nuclear forces
with the description of gravity
provided by Einstein’s general in nature from the other three This is a 2-dimensional slice of a
theory of relativity. Hitherto, a forces. These three forces all act 6-dimensional mathematical structure
quantum description of gravitation between individual particles but called a Calabi-Yau manifold. It is
suggested that string theory’s six
has remained elusive. Gravity only on relatively small scales,
hidden dimensions may take this form.
appears to be radically different while gravity is insignificant except
when huge numbers of particles
conglomerate, but acts across quantized properties of particles
enormous distances. One possible arise not from their stringlike
explanation of gravity’s unusual nature, but rather from the small-
behavior is that its influence at the scale structure of space-time itself,
quantum level may “leak out” which is quantized into tiny loops.
If string theory is a mistake, into the higher dimensions, so that LQG and its various developments
it’s not a trivial mistake. It’s a only a small fraction is perceived offer several intriguing advantages
deep mistake and therefore within the familiar dimensions of over string theory, removing the
kind of worthy. our universe. need for additional dimensions, and
Lee Smolin String theory is not the it has been applied successfully
only candidate for a Theory of to several major cosmological
Everything. Loop quantum gravity problems. However, the case for
(LQG) was developed by Lee either string particles or looped
Smolin and Carlo Rovelli from space-time as the “Theory of
the late 1980s. In this theory, the Everything” remains inconclusive. ■
314
BLACK HOLES
EVAPORATE
STEPHEN HAWKING (1942–)
I
n the 1960s, British physicist Around 1973, Hawking became
IN CONTEXT Stephen Hawking was one interested in quantum mechanics
among several brilliant and the behavior of gravity on a
BRANCH
researchers who became interested subatomic scale. He made an
Cosmology
in the behavior of black holes. important discovery—that despite
BEFORE He wrote his doctoral thesis their name, black holes do not just
1783 John Michell theorizes on the cosmological aspects swallow up matter and energy but
objects whose gravity is so of a singularity (the point in emit radiation. So-called Hawking
great that they trap light. space-time at which all of a black radiation is emitted at the black
hole’s mass is concentrated), hole’s event horizon—the outer
1930 Subrahmanyan and drew parallels between the boundary at which the black hole’s
Chandrasekhar proposes singularities of stellar-mass black gravity becomes so strong that not
that a collapsing stellar core holes and the initial state of the even light can escape. Hawking
above a certain mass would universe during the Big Bang. showed that in the case of a
give rise to a black hole. rotating black hole, the intense
gravity would give rise to the
1971 The first likely black hole production of virtual, subatomic
is identified—Cygnus X-1. particle-antiparticle pairs. On the
AFTER event horizon, it would be possible
2002 Observations of stars for one element of each pair to
My goal is simple. It is a be pulled into the black hole,
orbiting close to the center complete understanding of the
of our galaxy suggest the effectively boosting the survivor
universe, why it is as it is and into a sustained existence as a real
presence of a giant black hole. why it exists at all. particle. The result of this to a
2012 American string theorist Stephen Hawking distant observer is that the event
Joseph Polchinski suggests horizon emits low-temperature
that quantum entanglement thermal radiation. Over time,
produces a super-hot “firewall” the energy carried away by this
at a black hole’s event horizon. radiation causes the black hole to
lose mass and evaporate away. ■
2014 Hawking announces
that he no longer thinks See also: John Michell 88–89 ■ Albert Einstein 214–21 ■
D
uring the early 1960s,
IN CONTEXT a team was assembled
by NASA in Pasadena,
BRANCH
California, to think about how
Biology
to look for life on Mars. British
BEFORE environmental scientist James Evolution is a tightly coupled
1805 Alexander von Humboldt Lovelock was asked how he would dance, with life and the
declares that nature can be tackle the problem, which prompted material environment as
represented as one whole. him to think about life on Earth. partners. From the dance
Lovelock soon discovered a emerges the entity Gaia.
1859 Charles Darwin argues range of necessary features for life. James Lovelock
that life forms are shaped by All life on Earth depends on water.
their environment. The average surface temperature
must stay within 50–60°F (10–16°C)
1866 German naturalist for enough liquid water to be
Ernst Haeckel coins the present, and it has remained within
term ecology. this range for 3.5 million years.
1935 British botanist Arthur Cells require a constant level of The Gaia hypothesis
Tansley describes Earth’s life salinity and generally cannot Lovelock suggested that the
forms, landscape, and climate survive levels above 5 percent, and entire planet makes up a single,
as a giant ecosystem. ocean salinity has remained at self-regulating, living entity,
about 3.4 percent. Since oxygen which he called Gaia. The very
AFTER first appeared in the atmosphere, presence of life itself regulates
1970s Lynn Margulis about two billion years ago, its the temperature of the surface, the
describes the symbiotic concentration has remained close concentration of oxygen, and
relationship of microbes and to 20 percent. If it were to drop the chemical composition of the
Earth’s atmosphere; she later below 16 percent, there would oceans, optimizing conditions
defines Gaia as a series of not be enough to breathe—if it for life. However, he warned that
interacting ecosystems. rose to 25 percent, forest fires would human impact on the environment
never go out. may disrupt this delicate balance. ■
1997 The Kyoto Protocol
sets targets for the reduction See also: Alexander von Humboldt 130–35 ■ Charles Darwin 142–49 ■
A CLOUD IS MADE
OF BILLOWS
UPON BILLOWS
BENOÎT MANDELBROT (1924–2010)
B
elgian mathematician Benoît
IN CONTEXT Mandelbrot used computers
to model the patterns in
BRANCH
nature in the 1970s. In doing so, he
Mathematics
launched a new field of mathematics
BEFORE —fractal geometry—which has
1917–20 In France, Pierre since found uses in many fields.
Fatou and Gaston Julia build
mathematical sets using Fractional dimensions
complex numbers—that is, Whereas conventional geometry
combinations of real and uses whole-number dimensions,
imaginary numbers (multiples fractal geometry employs fractional
of the square root of –1). The dimensions, which can be thought The Mandlebrot set is a fractal
of as a “roughness measure.” To generated using a set of complex
resulting sets are either numbers, and conceals limitless
understand what this means, think
“regular” (Fatou sets) or representations of itself at every scale.
of measuring Britain’s coastline
“chaotic” (Julia sets) and are When visualized graphically, it produces
with a stick. The longer the stick, the distinctive shape shown here.
the precursors of fractals. the shorter the measurement, as
1926 British mathematician it will smooth out any roughness
and meteorologist Lewis Fry along its length. The British coast close they are to us without
Richardson publishes Does has a fractional dimension of 1.28, external clues—clouds look the
the Wind Possess a Velocity, which is an index of how much the same from all distances. Our
pioneering mathematical measurement increases as the bodies contain many examples
models for chaotic systems. length of the stick decreases. of fractals, such as the way the
A characteristic of fractals is lungs branch out to fill space
AFTER self-similarity—meaning that there efficiently. Like chaotic functions,
Present-day Fractals form is an equal amount of detail at all fractals show sensitivity to small
part of the field of complexity scales of magnification. The fractal changes in initial conditions, and
science. They are used in nature of clouds, for example, they are used to analyze chaotic
marine biology, earthquake makes it impossible to tell how systems such as the weather. ■
modeling, population studies,
and oil and fluid mechanics. See also: Robert FitzRoy 150–55 ■ Edward Lorenz 296–97
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 317
A OUANTUM
MODEL OF
COMPUTING
YURI MANIN (1937–)
Q
uantum information made of “trapped” subatomic
IN CONTEXT processing is one of the particles, and also has two possible
newest fields in quantum states. An electron, for example,
BRANCH
mechanics. It operates in a can be spin-up or spin-down, and
Computer science
fundamentally different way from photons of light can be polarized
BEFORE conventional computing. The horizontally or vertically. However,
1935 Albert Einstein, Boris Russian-German mathematician the quantum mechanical wave
Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen Yuri Manin was among the very function allows qubits to
develop the “EPR paradox,” first pioneers developing the theory. exist in a superposition of both
providing the first description The bit is the fundamental states, increasing the amount of
of quantum entanglement. carrier of information in a information that they can carry.
computer, and can exist in two Quantum theory also permits
AFTER states: 0 and 1. The fundamental qubits to become “entangled,”
1994 American mathematician unit of information in quantum which exponentially increases the
Peter Shor develops an computing is called a qubit. It is data carried with each additional
algorithm that can achieve qubit. This parallel processing
the factorization of numbers could theoretically produce
0
using quantum computers. extraordinary computing power.
IN CONTEXT
BRANCH Heat-killed bacteria
This happens because
Biology can transfer their
genes can move between
characteristics
bacterial cells.
BEFORE to living bacteria.
1928 Frederick Griffith shows
that one strain of bacteria can
be transformed into another,
by the transfer of what is later
found to be DNA.
1946 Joshua Lederberg and Similar genes
Edward Tatum discover the Genes can have been identified
natural exchange of genetic move from species in distantly related
to species. species of organisms,
material in bacteria. including vertebrates.
1959 Tomoichiro Akiba and
Kunitaro Ochia report that
antibiotic-resistant plasmids
(rings of DNA) can move
T
he continuity of life—the Back in 1928, British physician
between bacteria. growth, reproduction, and Frederick Griffith was studying the
AFTER evolution of organisms—is bacteria implicated in pneumonia.
1993 American geneticist widely seen as a vertical process, He found that a harmless strain
Margaret Kidwell identifies driven by genes passed down from could be made dangerous simply
instances where genes have parents to offspring. But in 1985, by mixing its living cells with the
crossed species boundaries American microbiologist Michael dead remnants of a heat-killed
in complex organisms. Syvanen proposed that, rather than virulent one. He attributed his
being simply passed down, genes results to a transforming “chemical
2008 American biologist could also be passed horizontally principle” that had leaked from the
John K. Pace and others between species, independently dead cells into the living ones. A
present evidence of horizontal of reproduction, and that horizontal quarter of a century before DNA’s
gene transfer in vertebrates. gene transfer (HGT) plays a key structure was unlocked by James
role in evolution. Watson and Francis Crick, Griffith
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 319
See also: Charles Darwin 142–49 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■ James Watson and Francis Crick 276–83 ■
This sort of horizontal gene transfer occur in not only microbes but also
can also happen via viruses, as more complex organisms, in both
Lederberg’s student Norton Zinder plants and animals. Darwin’s tree
discovered. Viruses are even of life may look more like a net,
smaller than bacteria and can with multiple ancestors rather than
The flow of genes invade living cells—including a last universal common ancestor.
bacteria. They may interfere with With potential implications for
between different species
the host genes, and when they taxonomy, disease and pest control,
represents a form of move from host to host, they may and genetic engineering, HGT’s full
genetic variation whose take host genes with them. significance is still unfolding. ■
implications have not been
fully appreciated. Genes for development
Michael Syvanen From the mid-1980s, Syvanen set
HGT in a wider context. He noted
similarities in how the development
of embryos is genetically controlled
at a cellular level—even between
distantly related species—and
attributed this to genes moving
had found the first evidence between different organisms in
that DNA could pass horizontally evolutionary history. He argued
between cells of the same that the genetic control of animal
generation, as well as vertically development had evolved to be
between generations. similar in different groups because
In 1946, American biologists this maximized the chances that
Joshua Lederberg and Edward gene-swapping would work.
DNA plasmids, colored blue in
Tatum demonstrated that bacteria As genome sequences are this micrograph, are independent of
exchange genetic material as part completed for more species, and a cell’s chromosomes, yet they can
of their natural behavior. In 1959, as the fossil record is reexamined, replicate genes and be used to insert
a team of Japanese microbiologists evidence suggests that HGT may new genes into organisms.
led by Tomoichiro Akiba and
Kunitaro Ochia showed that this Michael Syvanen his theory of horizontal gene
kind of DNA transfer explains how transfer (HGT) and its role in
resistance to antibiotics can spread Michael Syvanen trained in adaptation and evolution.
through bacteria so quickly. chemistry and biochemistry at Since 1987, Syvanen has
the University of Washington been professor of medical
Transforming microbes and the University of California microbiology and immunology
Bacteria have small, mobile rings at Berkeley before going on at the School of Medicine in the
of DNA called plasmids that pass to specialize in the field of University of California at Davis.
from cell to cell when they come microbiology. He was appointed
into direct contact—taking their professor of microbiology and Key works
genes with them. Some bacteria molecular genetics at Harvard
contain genes that make them Medical School in 1975, where 1985 Cross-species Gene
he conducted research in the Transfer: Implications for a
resist the action of certain types of
development of antibiotic New Theory of Evolution
antibiotics. The genes are copied
resistance in bacteria, and 1994 Horizontal Gene Transfer:
whenever the DNA replicates, and insecticide resistance in flies. Evidence and Possible
can spread through a population of His findings led him to publish Consequences
bacteria as the DNA is transferred.
320
IN CONTEXT
We’ve made a molecule that is so tough and resilient that…
BRANCH
Chemistry
BEFORE
1966 British chemist …it has multiple applications in many fields of technology
David Jones predicts the and medicine.
creation of hollow carbon
molecules.
1970 Scientists in Japan
and Britain independently
predict the existence of the It is shaped like a soccer ball.
carbon-60 (C60) molecule.
AFTER
1988 C60 is found in soot
from candles.
The soccer ball can withstand a lot of pressure.
1993 German physicist
Wolfgang Krätschmer and
American physicist Don
F
Huffman develop a method or more than two centuries, with a laser beam to produce
for synthesizing “fullerenes.” scientists thought that various carbon clusters, forming
elemental carbon (C) molecules with an even number of
1999 Austrian physicists existed in only three forms, or carbon atoms. The most abundant
Markus Arndt and Anton allotropes: diamond, graphite, clusters had the formulae C60 and
Zeilinger demonstrate that C60 and amorphous carbon—the main C70. These were molecules that had
has wavelike properties. constituent of soot and charcoal. never been seen before.
2010 The spectrum of C60 is That changed in 1985 with the C60 (or carbon-60) soon turned
seen in cosmic dust 6,500 work of British chemist Harry Kroto out to have remarkable properties.
light years from Earth. and his American colleagues The chemists realized that it had
Robert Curl and Richard Smalley. a structure like a soccer ball—a
The chemists vaporized graphite complete spherical cage of carbon
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 321
See also: August Kekulé 160–65 ■ Linus Pauling 254–59
INSERT GENES
INTO HUMANS TO
CURE DISEASE
WILLIAM FRENCH ANDERSON (1936–)
T
he human genome—the
IN CONTEXT entirety of a human’s
Many diseases are hereditary information—
BRANCH
inherited and are caused consists of about 20,000 genes.
Biology by defective genes. A gene is a living organism’s
BEFORE molecular unit of heredity.
1984 US researcher Richard However, genes often malfunction.
Mulligan uses a virus as a tool A defective gene is made when a
for inserting genes into cells normal gene is not copied properly,
taken from mice. and the “error” is passed down from
Functional genes parents to offspring. The symptoms
1985 William French can be isolated from that arise from these so-called
Anderson and Michael Blaese normal cells using enzymes genetic diseases depend upon
show this technique can be that cut DNA. the gene involved. A gene works
used to correct defective cells. by controlling the production of a
1989 Anderson performs the protein—one of many that perform
first safety test in human gene a vast variety of functions in living
organisms—but this production
therapy, injecting a harmless
fails if there is an error. For
marker into a 52-year-old man. Genes can be example, if a blood-clotting gene
He performs the first clinical transferred between malfunctions, the body stops
trial a year later. cells by using vectors: producing the blood protein that
viruses or rings of DNA makes blood clot—causing the
AFTER called plasmids.
1993 UK researchers describe disease hemophilia.
the results of successful Genetic diseases cannot be
animal experiments providing cured by conventional drugs, and
gene therapy treatment of for a long time, it was only possible
cystic fibrosis. to alleviate the symptoms and
make a sufferer’s life as comfortable
2012 The first multidose trial Genes can be inserted as possible. But in the 1970s,
of cystic fibrosis gene therapy into humans to scientists began considering the
on humans begins. cure disease. possibility of “gene therapy” to cure
disease—using “healthy” genes to
replace or override faulty ones.
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 323
See also: Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■ Craig Venter 324–25 ■ Ian Wilmut 326
DESIGNING NEW
LIFE FORMS ON A
COMPUTER
CRAIG VENTER (1946–)
SCREEN
IN CONTEXT
Living cells are
BRANCH assembled and maintained The DNA’s instructions
Biology using instructions encoded are held in a
in DNA. precise sequence.
BEFORE
1866 Gregor Mendel shows
that the inherited traits in pea
plants follow certain patterns.
1902 American biologist and DNA can be created
physician Walter Sutton artificially by bonding This sequence can
suggests that chromosomes its chemical building blocks be deciphered.
are the carriers of heredity. in a particular order.
1910–11 Thomas Hunt
Morgan proves Sutton’s theory
in fruit fly experiments.
1953 Francis Crick and James One day we will be able to design new
Watson reveal how DNA life forms on a computer screen.
carries genetic instructions.
1995 A bacterium’s genome
(complete set of genes) is the
I
n May 2010, an American 1771, Luigi Galvani used electricity
first to be sequenced.
team of scientists led by to make a dissected frog’s leg
2000 The human genome is biologist Craig Venter created twitch, inspiring novelist Mary
first sequenced. the first wholly artificial life form. Shelley to write Frankenstein. But
The organism—a single-celled scientists gradually realized that
2007 Craig Venter synthesizes
bacterium—was assembled from life depends less on a physical
an artificial chromosome. its raw chemical building blocks. “spark” and more on the chemical
AFTER This was a testament to the processes taking place inside cells.
2010 Venter announces the advance in our understanding of By the mid-1950s, the real secret
first synthesis of a life form. the nature of life itself. The dream of life had been found in a molecule
of creating life is nothing new. In called deoxyribonucleic acid, or
FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS 325
See also: Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■ Barbara McClintock 271 ■
James Watson and Francis Crick 276–83 ■ Michael Syvanen 318–19 ■ William French Anderson 322–23
Craig Venter Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, whole genomes, focusing first
Craig Venter performed poorly at on the bacterium Haemophilus
school. Drafted into the Vietnam influenzae. Turning to the
War, he worked in a field hospital human genome, he set up the
and became drawn to biomedical profit-making company Celera
science. After studying at the and helped build advanced
University of California, San Diego, sequencing machines. In 2006,
he joined the US National Institute he founded the not-for-profit
of Health in 1984. In the 1990s, he J. Craig Venter Institute to
helped develop technology that conduct research into the
could locate genes in the human creation of artificial life forms.
genetic makeup, becoming a
pioneer in the growing field of Key works
genome research. He left the NIH
to set up the not-for-profit Institute 2001 The Sequence of the
of Genomic Research in 1992. He Human Genome
invented a way of sequencing 2007 A Life Decoded
326
A NEW LAW
OF NATURE
IAN WILMUT (1944–)
C
loning is the production of multicell organism was achieved
IN CONTEXT a new, genetically identical in 1958 by British biologist
organism from a single F. C. Stewart, who grew a carrot
BRANCH
parent. It occurs in nature, such as plant from a single mature cell.
Biology
when a strawberry plant sends out Cloning animals proved trickier.
BEFORE runners and the offspring inherit all
1953 James Watson and their genes asexually. However, Cloning animals
Francis Crick demonstrate artificial cloning is tricky, as not In animals, fertilized eggs and the
that DNA has a double helix all cells have the potential to grow cells of a young embryo are among
structure that carries the into complete individuals, and the few totipotent cells—cells that
genetic code and can replicate. mature cells may be reluctant to do can grow to form a whole body. By
so. The first successful cloning of a the 1980s, scientists could produce
1958 F. C. Stewart clones clones by separating young embryo
carrots from mature cells, but it was difficult. British
(differentiated) tissues. biologist Ian Wilmut and his team
instead inserted the nuclei of body
1984 Danish biologist Steen cells into fertilized eggs that had
Willadsen develops a way of had their genetic material removed—
fusing embryo cells with egg The pressures for human thereby making them totipotent.
cells that have had their cloning are powerful; Using udder cells of sheep as
genetic material removed. but we need not assume the source of nuclei, the team
that it will ever become a inserted the resultant embryos into
AFTER
common or significant feature sheep to develop normally. In total,
2001 The first endangered
of human life. 27,729 of these cells grew into
animal, a gaur (Indian bison)
Ian Wilmut embryos, and one, named Dolly,
named Noah, is born in the US born in 1996, survived into
by reproductive cloning. It dies adulthood. Research into cloning
of dysentery two days later. for agriculture, conservation,
2008 Therapeutic cloning of and medicine continues, as does
tissue is shown to be effective public debate over its ethics. ■
at curing Parkinson’s disease
in mice. See also: Gregor Mendel 166–71 ■ Thomas Hunt Morgan 224–25 ■
WORLDS BEYOND
THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
GEOFFREY MARCY (1954–)
A
stronomers have long Planet hunter
IN CONTEXT pondered the possibility of Astronomer Geoffrey Marcy at the
planets orbiting stars other University of California, Berkeley,
BRANCH
than our Sun, but technology has, along with his team, currently
Astronomy
until recently, limited our ability holds the record for the most
BEFORE to detect them. First to be found planets found by a human observer,
1960s Astronomers hope to were planets that orbited pulsars— including 70 out of the first 100.
detect new planets through rapidly spinning neutron stars Such distant planets are too
measurement of “wobbles” in whose radio signals vary slightly faint to be seen directly, but can
the paths of stars, but such as their planets pull them this way be revealed indirectly. The effect
movements remain beyond the and that. Then, in 1995, Swiss of a planet’s gravity on its host star
range of even the strongest astronomers Michel Mayor and produces variations in the star’s
telescopes today. Didier Queloz discovered 51 Pegasi radial velocity—the speed at which
b—a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting it moves toward or away from
1992 Polish astronomer a Sunlike star about 51 light years Earth—which can be measured
Aleksander Wolszczan finds from Earth. Since then, more than from changes in its light frequency.
the first confirmed extrasolar 1,000 other extrasolar planets, or Whether any exoplanets support
planets in orbit around a pulsar “exoplanets,” have been confirmed. life remains to be seen. ■
(a burned-out stellar core).
AFTER The radial velocity method relies on Host star
detecting slight Doppler shifts (p.127)
2009–2013 NASA’s Kepler in a star’s light frequency as it is pulled
satellite discovers more than back and forth in relation to Earth by
3,000 candidate exoplanets by the gravity of an orbiting planet.
looking for minute drops in the Blueshift as star moves
brightness of stars as planets toward Earth
pass in front of them. Based
on Kepler data, astronomers
predict there could be as many
as 11 billion Earthlike worlds Redshift as star recedes from Earth Exoplanet
orbiting Sunlike stars in the
Milky Way galaxy. See also: Nicolaus Copernicus 34–39 ■ William Herschel 86–87 ■
DIRECTORY
F
rom its roots with individuals or small groups working mostly in
isolation, often in pursuit of quasi-religious goals, science has been
transformed into a practical activity that is central to the working
of modern society. Today, many projects are highly collaborative in nature,
and it can be hard—and indeed invidious—to pick out particular figures.
More areas of research exist than ever before, and the boundaries
between disciplines are becoming blurred. Mathematicians provide
solutions to the problems of physics and physicists explain the nature of
chemical reactions, while chemists delve into the mysteries of life and
biologists turn their attention to artificial intelligence. Here, we list just
some of the figures who have added to our understanding of the world.
became the best-known book on and produced one of the first Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 56–57
332 DIRECTORY
mathematics: accept nothing as Leipzig. During his studies, he Christiaan Huygens 50–51 ■
true unless it is self-evident; divide became increasingly interested in Joseph Black 76–77
DIRECTORY 333
must exchange some of its pressure letters, White laid out a record
STEPHEN HALES for kinetic energy in order not to of his systematic observations of
1677–1761 violate the principle of the nature and developed his ideas
conservation of energy. In addition about the interrelationships
English clergyman Stephen Hales to mathematics and physics, of living things. He was, in
conducted a series of pioneering Bernoulli studied astronomy, effect, the first ecologist. White
experiments on plant physiology. biology, and oceanography. recognized that all living things
He measured the water vapor See also: Joseph Black 76–77 ■ have a role to play in what we
emitted by the leaves of plants Henry Cavendish 78–79 Joseph
■ would now call the ecosystem,
in a process called transpiration, Priestley 82–83 James Joule 138
■ noting of earthworms that they
and this led him to the discovery ■ Ludwig Boltzmann 139 “seem to be the great promoters
that transpiration drives a of vegetation, which would
continuous upward flow of proceed but lamely without them.”
fluid from the roots that carries GEORGES-LOUIS LECLERC, White’s methods, including taking
dissolved nutrients around the COMTE DE BUFFON recordings in the same places over
whole plant. Sap moves from an 1707–1788 many years, were highly influential
area of high pressure in the roots on subsequent biologists.
to areas of lower pressure where From 1749 to the end of his life, See also: Alexander von Humboldt
water vapor is transpiring. French aristocrat and naturalist the 130–35 James Lovelock 315
■
first time. Daguerre wrote a full Museum built a Difference Engine James Joule 138
DIRECTORY 335
also conducted important work in molecules needed to make Ludwig Boltzmann 139 ■
the field of hydraulics, studying the body tissues. His major work, Ernest Rutherford 206–213
compressibility of water. An Introduction to the Study of
See also: Léon Foucault 136–37 Experimental Medicine, was
published in 1865. JOHANNES VAN
See also: Louis Pasteur 156–59 DER WAALS
JUSTUS VON LIEBIG 1837–1923
1803–1873
WILLIAM THOMSON Dutch physicist Johannes van
The son of a chemical manufacturer 1824–1907 der Waals made a significant
in Darmstadt, Germany, Justus contribution to the field of
von Liebig conducted his first Born in Belfast, physicist William thermodynamics with his 1873
chemistry experiments as a child Thomson became professor of doctoral thesis, in which he showed
in his father’s laboratory. He natural philosophy at Glasgow that there is a continuity between
grew up to become a charismatic University at 22 years old. In 1892, a liquid and gaseous state at a
professor of chemistry whose he was ennobled, and became molecular level. Van der Waals
laboratory-based teaching methods Baron Kelvin, after the river that showed not only that these two
were hugely influential. Von Liebig runs through Glasgow University. states of matter merge into one
discovered the importance of Kelvin viewed physical change as another, but also that they should
nitrates to plant growth and fundamentally a change in energy, be considered as essentially
developed the first industrial and his work produced a synthesis of the same nature. He postulated
fertilizers. He was also interested of many areas of physics. He the existence of forces between
in the chemistry of food and developed the second law of molecules, which are now called
developed a manufacturing process thermodynamics and established the van der Waals forces, and
to produce beef extracts. The the correct value for “absolute which explain properties of
company he founded, the Liebig zero,” the temperature at which all chemicals such as their solubility.
Extract of Meat Company, would molecular movement ceases, at See also: James Joule 138 ■
later produce the trademarked –459.6°F (–273.15°C). The Kelvin Ludwig Boltzmann 139 ■
Oxo stock cubes. scale, which starts at 0 at absolute August Kekulé 160–65 ■
See also: Friedrich Wöhler 124–25 zero, is named after him. He Linus Pauling 254–59
336 DIRECTORY
period of learning (conditioning), allowed the industrial production Charles Keeling 294–95
DIRECTORY 337
from his post as a professor of the atom. In 1913, Bohr added the Lynn Margulis 300–01
physics at the University of Paris. idea that electrons occupy specific
He fled to unoccupied southern quantized orbits around the
France, but was captured by the nucleus. In 1927, Bohr collaborated DAVID BOHM
Gestapo in 1944 and deported to with Werner Heisenberg to 1917–1992
Auschwitz, where he was killed. formulate an explanation of
See also: Albert Einstein 214–21 quantum phenomena that came American theoretical physicist
to be known as the Copenhagen David Bohm advanced an
interpretation. A concept central unconventional interpretation of
MAX BORN to this interpretation was Bohr’s quantum mechanics. He postulated
1882–1970 complementarity principle, which the existence of an “implicate
states that a physical phenomenon, order” to the universe that is a more
In the 1920s, German physicist such as the behavior of a photon or fundamental order of reality than
Max Born, while professor an electron, may express itself the phenomena we experience as
of experimental physics at differently depending on the time, space, and consciousness.
the University of Göttingen, experimental set-up used to He wrote: “an entirely different sort
collaborated with Werner observe it. of basic connection of elements is
Heisenberg and Pascual Jordan See also: Ernest Rutherford possible, from which our ordinary
to formulate matrix mechanics, 206–13 Erwin Schrödinger
■ notions of space and time, along
a mathematical means of dealing 226–33 Werner Heisenberg
■ with those of separately existent
with quantum mechanics. When 234–35 Paul Dirac 246–47
■ material particles, are abstracted
Erwin Schrödinger formulated his as forms derived from the deeper
wave function equation to describe order.” Bohm worked with Albert
the same thing, Born was the first GEORGE EMIL PALADE Einstein at Princeton University
to suggest the real-world meaning 1912–2008 until the early 1950s, when his
of Schrödinger’s mathematics—it Marxist political views led him to
described the probability of finding Romanian cell biologist George leave the US—first for Brazil and
a particle at a specific point on the Emil Palade graduated in medicine later London, where he was a
space-time continuum. In 1933, from the University of Bucharest professor of physics at Birkbeck
Born and his family left Germany in 1940. He emigrated to the US College from 1961.
when the Nazis dismissed Jews at the end of World War II, and did See also: Erwin Schrödinger
from academic posts. He settled his most important work at the 226–33 Hugh Everett III 284–85
■ ■
in Britain, becoming a British Rockefeller Institute in New York. Gabriele Veneziano 308–13
338 DIRECTORY
DNA—a set of 37 genes found on model results. In 1974, American- Stephen Hawking 314
mitochondria that is inherited Austrian theoretical chemist
only from the mother. The Sanger Martin Karplus and his colleague,
Institute, now one of the world’s American-Israeli Arieh Warshel, FRANÇOIS ENGLERT
leading centers of genomic produced a computer model of the 1932–
research, was established in complex molecule retinal, which
his honor near his home in changes shape when exposed to In 2013, Belgian physicist
Cambridgeshire, Britain. light and is crucial to the working François Englert shared the
See also: James Watson of the eye. Karplus and Warshel Nobel Prize in Physics with Peter
and Francis Crick 276–83 ■ used both classical physics and Higgs for independently proposing
Craig Venter 324–25 quantum mechanics to model the what is now known as the Higgs
behavior of electrons in the retinal field, which gives fundamental
molecule. Their model greatly particles their mass. Working
MARVIN MINSKY improved the sophistication and with fellow Belgian Robert Brout,
1927– accuracy of computer modeling for Englert first suggested in 1964
complex chemical systems. Karplus that “empty” space might contain
American mathematician and and Warshel shared the 2013 Nobel a field that confers mass to matter.
cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky Prize in Chemistry with British The Nobel Prize was awarded as
was an early pioneer in artificial chemist Michael Levitt for their a result of the detection in 2012
intelligence, co-founding in achievement in this field. at CERN of the Higgs boson—
1959 the AI laboratory at the See also: Augus Kekulé 160–65 ■ the particle associated with the
Massachusetts Institute of Linus Pauling 254–59 Higgs field—which confirmed
Technology (MIT), where he spent Englert, Brout, and Higgs’
the rest of his career. His work predictions. Brout had died
focused on the generation of ROGER PENROSE in 2011, and so missed out on
neural networks—artificial “brains” 1931– the Nobel Prize, which is not
that can develop and learn from awarded posthumously.
experience. In the 1970s, Minsky In 1969, British mathematician See also: Sheldon Glashow
and his colleague Seymour Papert Roger Penrose collaborated with 292–93 Peter Higgs 298–99
■ ■
developed the “Society of Mind” physicist Stephen Hawking to Murray Gell-Mann 302–07
DIRECTORY 339
Gould coined the term “exaptation” research assistant at Cambridge Georges Lemaître 242–45 ■
to describe the way in which a University, British astronomer Fritz Zwicky 250–51
particular trait may be passed Jocelyn Bell was monitoring
on for one reason, and then later quasars (distant galactic nuclei)
come to be coopted for a very when she discovered a strange TIM BERNERS-LEE
different function. His work series of regular radio pulses 1955–
widened understanding of the coming from space. The team she
mechanisms by which natural was working with jokingly called Few living scientists have had
selection takes place. the pulses LGM (Little Green Men), as much impact on everyday life as
See also: Charles Darwin referring to the remote chance British computer scientist Tim
142–49 Lynn Margulis 300–01
■ ■ that they were an attempt at Berners-Lee, who invented the
Michael Syvanen 318–19 extraterrestrial communication. World Wide Web. In 1989, Berners-
They later determined that the Lee was working at CERN, the
sources of the pulses were rapidly European Organization for Nuclear
RICHARD DAWKINS spinning neutron stars, which Research, when he had the idea
1941– were dubbed pulsars. Two of Bell’s of establishing a network of
senior colleagues were awarded documents that could be shared
British zoologist Richard Dawkins the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics across the world via the Internet.
is best known for his popular for the discovery of pulsars, but Bell A year later, he wrote the first
science books, including The missed out because she was only a web client and server, and in
Selfish Gene (1976). His most student at the time. Many leading 1991, CERN built the first website.
significant contribution to his field astronomers, including Fred Hoyle, Today, Berners-Lee campaigns for
is his concept of the “extended objected publicly to her omission. open access to the Internet, free
phenotype.” An organism’s genotype See also: Edwin Hubble 236–41 ■ from government control.
is the sum of the instructions Fred Hoyle 270 See also: Alan Turing 252–53
340
GLOSSARY
Absolute zero The lowest Atom The smallest part of an Cell The smallest unit of an
possible temperature: 0K or element that has the chemical organism that can survive on its
–459.67°F (–273.15°C). properties of that element. An atom own. Organisms such as bacteria
was thought to be the smallest part and protists are single cells.
Acceleration The rate of change of matter, but many subatomic
of velocity. Acceleration is caused particles are now known. Chaotic system A system whose
by a force that results in a change behavior over time changes
in an object’s direction and/or speed. Atomic number The number radically in response to small
of protons in an atom’s nucleus. changes to its initial condition.
Acid A chemical that, when Each element has a different
dissolved in water, liberates atomic number. Chromosome A structure made
hydrogen ions and turns litmus red. of DNA and protein that contains
ATP Adenosine triphosphate. a cell’s genetic information.
Algorithm In mathematics and A chemical that stores and
computer-programming, a logical transports energy across cells. Cladistics A system for classifying
procedure for making a calculation. life that groups species according
Base A chemical that reacts with to their closest common ancestors.
Alkali A base that dissolves an acid to make water and a salt.
in water and neutralizes acids. Classical mechanics Also known
Beta decay A form of radioactive as Newtonian mechanics. A set
Alpha particle A particle made decay in which an atomic nucleus of laws describing the motion of
of two neutrons and two protons, gives off beta particles (electrons bodies under the action of forces.
which is emitted during a form of or positrons). Classical mechanics gives accurate
radioactive decay called alpha results for macroscopic objects
decay. An alpha particle is identical Big Bang The theory that that are not traveling close to
to the nucleus of a helium atom. the universe began from an the speed of light.
explosion of a singularity.
Amino acids Organic chemicals Color charge A property of quarks
with molecules that contain amino Black body A theoretical object by which they are affected by the
groups (NH2) and carboxyl groups that absorbs all radiation that falls strong nuclear force.
(COOH). Proteins are made from on it. A black body radiates energy
amino acids. Each different protein according to its temperature, so Continental drift The slow
contains a specific sequence may not in fact appear black. movement of continents around
of amino acids. the globe over millions of years.
Black hole An object in space that
Angular momentum A measure is so dense that light cannot escape Covalent bond A bond
of the rotation of an object, which its gravitational field. between two atoms in which
takes into account its mass, shape, they share electrons.
and spin speed. Bosons Subatomic particles
that carry forces between Dark energy A poorly understood
Antiparticle A particle that is the other particles. force that acts in the opposite
same as a normal particle except direction to gravity, causing the
that it has an opposite electrical Brane In string theory, an universe to expand. About three
charge. Every particle has an object that has between zero quarters of the mass-energy of
equivalent antiparticle. and nine dimensions. the universe is dark energy.
GLOSSARY 341
Dark matter Invisible matter Electrolysis A chemical change Fermion A subatomic particle,
that can only be detected by its in a substance caused by passing such as an electron or a quark, that
gravitational effect on visible an electric current through it. is associated with mass.
matter. Dark matter holds
galaxies together. Element A substance that Field The distribution of a force
cannot be broken down into other across space-time, in which each
Diffraction The bending of waves substances by chemical reactions. point can be given a value for that
around obstacles and spreading out force. A gravitational field is an
of waves past small openings. Endosymbiosis A relationship example of a field in which the force
between organisms in which one felt at a particular point is inversely
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid. A organism lives inside the body or proportional to the square of the
large molecule in the shape of a cells of another organism to their distance from the source of gravity.
double helix that carries genetic mutual benefit.
information in a chromosome. Force A push or a pull, which moves
Energy The capacity of an object or changes the shape of an object.
Doppler effect The change in or system to do work. Energy can
frequency of a wave experienced exist in many forms, such as Fractal A geometric pattern in
by an observer in relative motion kinetic energy (movement) and which similar shapes can be seen
to the wave’s source. potential energy (for example, the at different scales.
energy stored in a spring). It can
Ecology The scientific study of change from one form to another, Gamma decay A form of
the relationships between living but never be created or destroyed. radioactive decay in which
organisms and their environment. an atomic nucleus gives off
Entanglement In quantum high-energy, short-wavelength
Electric charge A property of physics, the linking between gamma radiation.
subatomic particles that causes particles such that a change in one
them to attract or repel one another. affects the other no matter how Gene The basic unit of heredity of
far apart in space they may be. living organisms, which contains
Electric current A flow of coded instructions for the formation
electrons or ions. Entropy A measure of the of chemicals such as proteins.
disorder of a system. Entropy
Electromagnetic force One is the number of specific ways a General relativity A theoretical
of the four fundamental forces of particular system may be arranged. description of space-time in which
nature. It involves the transfer Einstein considers accelerating
of photons between particles. Ethology The scientific study of frames of reference. General
animal behavior. relativity provides a description
Electromagnetic radiation A of gravity as the warping of
form of energy that moves through Event horizon A boundary space-time by mass. Many
space. It has both an electrical and surrounding a black hole within of its predictions have been
a magnetic field, which oscillate at which the gravitational pull of the demonstrated empirically.
right-angles to each other. Light is a black hole is so strong that light
form of electromagnetic radiation. cannot escape. No information Geocentrism A model of the
about the black hole can cross its universe with Earth at its center.
Electroweak theory A theory event horizon.
that explains the electromagnetic Gravity A force of attraction
and weak nuclear force as one Evolution The process by which between objects with mass.
“electroweak” force. species change over time. Massless photons are also
affected by gravity, which
Electron A subatomic particle Exoplanet A planet that orbits a general relativity describes
with a negative electric charge. star that is not our Sun. as a warping of space-time.
342 GLOSSARY
INDEX
Numbers in bold indicate main entries. Arndt, Markus 320 Becquerel, Henri 192, 208–09, 210
Arrhenius, Svante 294 Béguyer de Chancourtais, A 177, 179
artificial intelligence 268, 286–91 behavior, innate and learned 201, 249
Aryabhata 330 Beijerinck, Martinus 196–97
structure of 15, 169, 186, 187, 224, 229, 230, 231, 232, 234, 246, 256, Ferrel, William 80, 126
268, 271, 276–83, 324, 326 259, 292, 304, 307, 317 fertilization 73, 104, 148, 169, 171, 224,
Döbereiner, Johann 176 electropositivity 256, 259 283, 326
Dobzhansky, Theodosius 144 electroweak theory 268, 269, 272, 273, Feynman, Richard 182, 246, 268, 269,
Donné, Alfred 137 292, 293, 299 272–73, 310
Doppler, Christian 108, 127, 241 elements fields, force 298, 299
Doppler effect 108, 241, 327 atomic theory of 15, 105, 112–13, 162 fire 18, 21, 84
Dossie, Robert 105 classification of 176–79 fission, nuclear 194, 262, 263, 264, 265
double helix 224, 271, 278, 279, 281, combination of 72, 105, 162–63 FitzRoy, Robert 150–55
282–83, 326 new 15, 114, 178, 268, 270 Fizeau, Hippolyte 58, 108, 127, 137
Elsasser, Walter Maurice 44 Flemming, Walther 170, 278
Elton, Charles 134–5 fluids 24–25, 72, 333
Empedocles 13, 18, 21 Folger, Timothy 81
gases 14, 49, 274, 275 Hubble, Edwin 127, 200, 201, 236–41,
isolation of 72, 76, 78–79, 82–3
kinetic theory of 46, 49, 72, 139
Gassendi, Pierre 52
gauge bosons 272, 292, 295, 306,
H 242, 243, 250
Huffman, Don 320
Huggins, William 127, 270
human genome 15, 268–69, 271, 278,
307 Haber, Fritz 336 283, 324, 325
Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis 162 Hadley, George 72, 73, 80, 126 Humason, Milton 241
Geiger, Hans 211 hadrons 304, 306, 307, 310 Humboldt, Alexander von 108, 109,
Gell-Mann, Murray 269, 293, 302–07 Haeckel, Ernst 74, 132, 315 130–35, 315
gene therapy 15, 283, 322–3 Hahn, Otto 208, 262–63 hurricanes 153
general relativity 220–21, 242–3, 247, Haldane, J. B. S. 274, 275 Hutton, James 55, 73, 96–101, 146
269, 313 Hales, Stephen 72, 333 Huxley, T. H. 109, 149, 159, 172–73
genes 170, 171, 224, 225, 249, 271, half-life, radioactive 194 Huygens, Christiaan 32, 50–51, 110, 136
278–83, 318–19 Halley, Edmond 12, 67, 68, 80, 102, 103 Hyatt, John 140, 141
horizontal transfer 268, 269, 318–19 Han, Moo-Young 272 hydrocarbons 141, 163–65, 256–58
genetic engineering 283, 319 Harrison, John 59 hydrogen 72, 76, 78–79, 82, 162–63,
genetic recombination 268, 271 Harvey, William 14, 53, 157, 331 213, 228, 230, 234, 270, 292, 304
genetics 60, 109, 118, 149, 168–71, Hawking, Stephen 88, 89, 269, 314
224–25, 249, 268, 271, 278–83, 301, Hawkins, B. Waterhouse 116, 117
318–19, 326 heat 15, 76–77, 79, 122–23, 138
genome sequences 15, 271, 278, 283,
319, 324, 325
geocentrism 13, 14, 32, 36, 40, 41
geography 22
heat death 245, 338
Heaviside, Oliver 185
Heisenberg, Werner 15, 200, 201, 228,
230, 232, 234–35, 246, 272, 284, 285
IJ
geology 15, 33, 44, 55, 73, 96–101, 115, heliocentrism 14, 18, 32, 38–39, 40, 41, Ibn Khaldun 23
188–89, 223 43, 52, 64 Ibn Sahl 28
germs 157, 159, 196 helium 79, 270, 292 Ibn Sina 42, 116, 331
Gibson, Reginald 140 Helmholtz, Hermann von 138, 270 ice ages 108, 109, 129
Gilbert, William 14, 32, 44, 120 Helmont, Jan Baptista von 85, 156–57 imprinting 249
glaciation 128–29 Hennig, Willi 74, 75 India, ancient 19
Glashow, Sheldon 268, 272, 292–93 Henry, Joseph 120, 121, 152 infection 157, 158, 159, 196–97, 323
global warming 135, 294–95 heredity see inheritance infrared 87, 88, 89, 108, 203, 251
gluons 299, 306, 307 Herman, Robert 245 Ingenhousz, Jan 72, 73, 85
Goldstein, Eugen 187 Hero 18 inheritance 168–71, 200, 224–25, 249,
Gondwanaland 223 Herodotus 20, 132 271, 278, 279, 322, 324
Gosling, Raymond 281 Herschel, William 68, 86–87, 108 inorganic chemicals 108, 124, 125
Gould, John 146 Hertz, Heinrich 184–85, 216 insects 33, 53, 73, 104
Gould, Stephen Jay 144, 339 Hertzsprung, Ejnar 240 interference 111
gravitational lensing 220, 221 Hess, Harry 222 ionic bonding 119, 258–59
gravity 14, 24, 33, 41, 43, 62–69, 73, Hewish, Anthony 248 ions 119, 258, 259
88–89, 102, 103, 183, 200, 214–21, Higgs, Peter 269, 293, 298–99 isomers 125, 164
248, 269, 270, 273, 292, 293, 306, Higgs boson 13, 269, 298–99, 304, 305, isotopes 193–95, 263, 264, 275
310, 311, 313, 314 306, 307 Ivanovsky, Dmitri 196, 197
Greeks, ancient 12, 13, 18, 20–22, Hilbert, David 252 Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Geber) 112, 331
24–25, 60, 132, 292 Hipparchus 19, 20, 26 Jablonka, Eva 118
Greenberg, Oscar 272 Hiroshima 265 Janssen, Hans and Zacharius 54
Greenblatt, Richard 288 histones 279 Jeans, Sir James 204, 205
greenhouse effect/gases 294–95, 315 Hittorf, Johann 186–87 Jeffreys, Harold 188, 189
Gregorian calendar reform 39 Holmes, Arthur 101, 222 Jones, David 320
Gregory, James 52 Hooke, Robert 14, 33, 45, 48, 50, 54, 56, Jönsson, Claus 110, 111
Griffith, Frederick 318–19 57, 67–68, 69 Jordan, Pascual 230, 234, 246
Grosseteste, Robert 28 Hooker, Joseph 144, 274 Joule, James 76, 138
Guericke, Otto von 46, 47–48 horizontal gene transfer (HGT) 318–19 Julia, Gaston 316
Gulf Stream 72, 73, 81 Horrocks, Jeremiah 32, 40, 52 Jupiter 32, 36, 39, 43, 58–59, 127, 136
Guth, Alan 242 Hoyle, Fred 244, 268, 270 Jurassic period 116–17, 172
348 INDEX
life 159, 268, 274–75, 315 matter waves 229–30, 234, 235
N orbits 86, 87
atomic 212, 231, 256–58
elliptical 32, 40–41, 52, 64, 67
Oresme, Nicole, Bishop of Lisieux 37–38
photons 50, 88, 110, 182, 217, 228, 229,
231, 245, 247, 272–73, 292, 293,
299, 304, 307, 317
photosynthesis 72, 73, 83, 85, 300, 301
Nagasaki 265 Organ, Charles 172 phylogenetics 74
Nägeli, Carl von 168 organelles 300, 301 pi bonds 257, 258
Nambu, Yoichiro 272 organic chemistry 162–65, 256–59 Pictet, Raoul 82
nanotubes 141, 321 Oró, Joan 274 Planck, Max 50, 182, 200, 202–05, 212,
Natta, Giulio 140 Ørsted, Hans Christian 15, 108, 120, 216, 217, 228, 229, 230, 232, 235, 304
natural selection 60, 109, 118, 133, 121, 182, 292 planets 68, 86–87, 275, 315
142–49, 168, 172, 249 Ostrom, John 172 extrasolar 15, 127, 327
nebulae 238–41, 250 Owen, Richard 109, 116, 117 motion of 13, 20, 26–27, 32, 34–41,
Needham, John 156, 158, 159 oxygen 14, 72, 73, 76, 78, 79, 82, 83, 84, 52, 58–59, 64, 67–69, 296
Neptune 68, 86, 87 85, 105, 163, 301, 315 plasmids 318, 319, 322
Neumann, John von 233, 252 ozone 294 plastics 125, 140–41
neutrinos 194, 306, 307 plate tectonics 188, 223
neutron degeneracy pressure 248 Plato 18, 23, 36, 45, 60
neutron stars 248, 251, 292 Playfair, John 99
neutrons 192, 193, 194, 212, 213, 231,
262–63, 304, 306
Newlands, John 176–77, 178
Newton, Isaac 13, 14, 24, 29, 32, 33, 40,
P plutonium 194, 265
Podolsky, Boris 317
Poincaré, Henri 296, 297
Poisson, Siméon 44
41, 42, 43, 45, 50–51, 59, 62–69, 72, Pace, John K. 318 Polchinski, Joseph 89, 314
86, 87, 88, 98, 102, 110, 119, 126, Palade George Emil 337 pollination 73, 104
136, 137, 138, 183, 216, 296 paleontology 15, 116–17, 118, 172–73 polonium 109, 193, 213
Nicholson, William 92, 95 Pangaea 223 polymers 140–41
Niepce, Nicéphore 333 Papin, Denis 332 Popper, Karl 13, 45
Nishijima, Kazuhiko 307 parallax method 59, 238, 240 positrons 246, 247, 292, 304
nitrogen 79 Paré, Ambroise 331 Power, Henry 49
nitrous oxide 78 Parkes, Alexander 140, 141 Priestley, Joseph 72, 73, 76, 78, 79,
noble gasses 178, 179 Parkesine 141 82–83, 84, 85, 92
nuclear forces 292, 293, 299, 306, 307, particle accelerators 13, 268, 269, 292, primeval atom 201, 243, 244
310–12 293, 298, 299, 304–05, 306, 307, 311 prokaryotic cells 300
nuclear power 194, 2606–5 particle physics 228, 269, 299, 302–13 proteins 279, 280, 282, 283
nuclear radiation 208, 210, 292 particles protists 33, 57
nucleic acids 279, 280, 282 decay of 292 protons 193, 194, 212, 213, 231, 263,
nucleotides 325 force-carrying 298–99, 307 292, 299, 304, 306, 307
nucleus wavelike properties 226–33, 234, Proust, Joseph 72, 105, 112
atomic 201, 208, 210–13, 229, 230, 246, 272 Ptolemy of Alexandria 14, 19, 26, 29,
231, 256, 260–65, 292, 304, 306, 310 Pascal, Blaise 46, 47, 49 36, 37, 38, 40
cell 170, 224, 283, 300, 301 Pasteur, Louis 109, 156–59, 197 pulsars 248, 327
Patterson, Clair 98, 101 Pythagoras 13, 18, 22, 330
Pauli, Wolfgang 230–31, 234, 248
Pauling, Linus 162, 164, 201, 254–59,
quantum entanglement 314, 317 Rovelli, Carlo 310, 313 special relativity 20, 200, 217–19, 221, 246
quantum field theories 234, 247, 272, 313 Rubin, Vera 251 species 33, 60–61, 72, 74–75, 116
quantum mechanics 123, 162, 164, 202, Rutherford, Ernest 12, 13, 98, 100, 192, evolution of 23, 60, 75, 118, 142–49,
205, 212, 226–35, 247, 256, 262, 193, 194, 201, 206–13, 264, 304 172–73
269, 272, 273, 284–85, 292, 299, gene transfer between 268, 269,
314, 317 318–19
quantum theory 86, 185, 202, 203, 212, spectroscopy 238
216, 218, 228, 246–47, 284, 285, 317
quantum tunneling 232, 234, 235
quantum wave function 213, 232
quarks 292, 293, 302–07, 311
S spin 231, 246, 284, 310, 311, 317
spiral nebulae/galaxies 238–41, 242
spontaneous generation 53, 109, 156,
157, 159
qubits 269, 317 Salam, Abdus 293, 298 spontaneous symmetry breaking 299
Queloz, Didier 327 salinity 315 Sprengel, Christian 73, 104
salts 108, 119, 124, 258–59, 274 Stahl, Georg 84
Samuel, Arthur 288 standard model 269, 304, 306, 307
Sanger, Frederick 278, 338 Stanley, Wendell 196
R Saros cycle 20
satellites 67, 155, 327
Saturn 36, 51, 87
Scheele, Carl-Wilhelm 78, 82, 83, 84
stars 15, 18, 26, 27, 36, 39, 40, 89, 127, 221,
238–41, 247, 248, 250–51, 270, 327
steam engines 18, 77
Steinhardt, Paul 313
radiation 109, 190–95, 202–05, 208–09, Schrödinger, Erwin 200–01, 202, stellar nucleosynthesis 244
216–17, 229, 233, 242, 244, 245, 226–33, 234, 246, 247, 256, 284, 285 Steno, Nicolas 32, 55, 115
251, 269, 270, 292, 314 Schuckert, Sigmund 121 Stevin, Simon 42
radio telescopes 244, 245 Schwarzschild, Karl 88, 89 Stewart, F. C. 326
radio waves 182, 185, 251 Schwinger, Julian 246, 272, 273 storms 153, 154, 155
radioactive decay 194, 231, 233, 247, 292 scientific method 12–13, 32, 45 Strassmann, Fritz 208, 262–63
radioactivity 201, 210 Scott, Dave 42, 66 stratigraphy 33, 55, 96–101, 115, 116, 118
radiometric dating 98, 100–01, 194–95 sedimentary rocks 99, 100 string theory 269, 293, 310, 311, 312, 313
radium 109, 193, 195, 209, 211 seismic waves (seismology) 188–89 strong nuclear force 269, 292, 293, 299,
Ramsay, William 179 Sénébier, Jean 85 306, 307, 310–12
Rankine, William 138 sex cells 171, 283 Sturtevant, Alfred 224
Ray, John 33, 60–61, 74 sex chromosomes 224, 225 subatomic particles 111, 112, 193, 208,
Rayleigh, Lord 204, 205 sexual reproduction 73, 168, 170, 271 228, 229, 230, 234, 269, 284, 292,
Reclus, Élisée 222 Shapley, Harlow 240 304, 305, 307, 310, 314, 317
Redi, Francesco 53, 156, 157–58 shellac 140, 141 Suess, Eduard 222, 223
redshift 127, 240, 241, 242, 327 Shen Kuo 26, 27 al-Sufi, Abd al-Rahman 19
reflection 51, 110, 137 shipping forecasts 155 Sun 26–27, 64, 66, 68–69, 220
refraction 28, 29, 50, 51, 86, 110, 136, 189 Shor, Peter 317 as black body object 203, 204
Rehn, Karl 140 sigma bonds 257, 258 distance from Earth 22, 52, 103
relativity 15, 69, 88–9, 185, 200, 216, Simon, Eduard 140 eclipses 18, 20, 221
217–21, 242–3, 246, 247, 269, 313 Slipher, Vesto 240, 241, 242 fusion reaction 194, 270, 292
reproduction 53, 60–61, 73, 74–75, 104, Smalley, Richard 320, 321 planetary motion 14, 32, 34–41, 43, 52
118, 144, 156–59, 283, 318 Smith, Adam 101 superforce 293
and inheritance 168–71, 224, 225, 271 Smith, William 55, 115, 118 supernovae 13, 19, 40–41, 248, 251,
respiration 83, 85, 315 Smolin, Lee 310, 313 270, 304
Rheticus, Georg Joachim 38 Snider-Pellegrini, Antonio 222 superpositions 233, 284, 285, 317
Richardson, Lewis Fry 316 Soddy, Frederick 210 superstring theory 310, 312
Ritter, Johann Wilhelm 120 sodium chloride 258–59 Sutton, Walter 225, 271, 279, 324
rockets 65, 220 Solander, Daniel 75 Sverdrup, Harald 81
rocks 33, 55, 98–101, 103, 115, 128–29, 189 Sommerfeld, Arnold 256 Swammerdam, Jan 33, 53
Roijen, Willebrord van 29 sound waves 127 symbiosis 300–01, 315
Rømer, Ole 32–33, 58–59, 127, 136 space-time 15, 64, 88–89, 200, 201, synthesis/synthetics 124, 125, 140–41,
Röntgen, Wilhelm 108, 109, 186–87, 192 214, 220, 221, 313 269, 324–25
Rosen, Nathan 317 Spalding, Douglas 249 Syvanen, Michael 268, 269, 318–19
Rosenblatt, Frank 288 Spallanzani, Lazzaro 156, 158, 159 Szilárd, Leó 54, 262, 264
INDEX 351
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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