THE
SCIENCE
BOOK
From Darwin to Dark Energy,
250 Milestones in the History of Science
Clifford A. Pickover
STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Introduction © 2018 Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Text pages 22, 32, 78, 298, 430, 432, 456, 468, 496, 500, 508 from The Space Book © 2013 Jim Bell
Text pages 158, 194, 212, 216, 248, 254, 260, 284, 294, 316, 366, 372, 394, 418, 446, 452, 454, 458, 474, 490, 492 from The Engineering Book © 2015 Marshall Brain
Text pages 14, 16, 18, 20, 96, 116, 136, 140, 178, 184, 186, 190, 192, 220, 222, 250, 306, 330, 334, 412, 420, 428, 440, 448, 484, 486 from The Biology Book © 2015 Michael C. Gerald
Text pages 38, 66, 72, 196, 198, 240, 246, 314, 350, 360, 380, 402 from The Chemistry Book © 2016 Derek B. Lowe
Text pages 12, 26, 36, 42, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, 68, 70, 74, 80, 88, 98, 102, 106, 108, 112, 130, 132, 134, 142, 152, 162, 166, 168, 182, 206, 218, 226,242, 244, 258, 270, 280, 318, 342, 358, 374, 384, 400, 436, 460, 462, 464, 510 from The Math Book © 2009 Clifford Pickover
Text pages 30, 44, 76, 82, 86, 100, 114, 122, 124, 144, 146, 154, 180, 202, 208, 214, 228, 232, 236, 238, 264, 266, 276, 282, 296, 338, 388, 398, 404, 408, 410, 424, 426, 438, 450, 476, 478, 480, 498, 502, 506 from The Medical Book © 2012 Clifford Pickover
Text pages 28, 34, 40, 52, 56, 60, 62, 64, 84, 90, 92, 104, 110, 118, 120, 126, 128, 138, 148, 150, 156, 160, 164, 170, 172, 174, 176, 188, 200, 204, 210, 224, 230, 234, 244, 252, 256, 268, 272, 274, 278, 288, 290, 292, 300, 302, 304, 308, 310, 312, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, 332, 336, 340, 344, 346, 348, 352, 354, 356, 362, 364, 368, 370, 376, 378, 382, 386, 390, 392, 396, 406, 414, 422, 434, 442, 444, 470, 472, 482, 488, 494, 504 from The Physics Book © 2011 Clifford Pickover
Text pages 262, 286, 416, 466 from The Psychology Book © 2014 Wade E. Pickren
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ISBN 978-1-4549-3300-7
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See page 526 for Photo Credits.
Contents
Introduction
c. 18,000 BCE Ishango Bone Clifford A. Pickover
c. 11,000 BCE Wheat: The Staff of Life Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
c. 10,000 BCE Agriculture Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
c. 10,000 BCE Domestication of Animals Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
c. 7000 BCE Rice Cultivation Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
c. 5000 BCE Birth of Cosmology Jim Bell
c. 3300 BCE Bronze Derek B. Lowe
c. 3000 BCE Dice Clifford A. Pickover
c. 3000 BCE Sundial Clifford A. Pickover
c. 3000 BCE Sutures Clifford A. Pickover
c. 2500 BCE Egyptian Astronomy Jim Bell
c. 1850 BCE Arch Clifford A. Pickover
c. 1650 BCE Rhind Papyrus Clifford A. Pickover
c. 1300 BCE Iron Smelting Derek B. Lowe
c. 1000 BCE Olmec Compass Clifford A. Pickover
c. 600 BCE Pythagorean Theorem and Triangles Clifford A. Pickover
c. 600 BCE Sewage Systems Clifford A. Pickover
c. 350 BCE Aristotle’s Organon Clifford A. Pickover
c. 350 BCE Platonic Solids Clifford A. Pickover
c. 300 BCE Euclid’s Elements Clifford A. Pickover
c. 250 BCE Archimedes’ Principle of Buoyancy Clifford A. Pickover
c. 250 BCE π Clifford A. Pickover
c. 240 BCE Eratosthenes Measures the Earth Clifford A. Pickover
c. 240 BCE Sieve of Eratosthenes Clifford A. Pickover
c. 230 BCE Pulley Clifford A. Pickover
c. 125 BCE Antikythera Mechanism Clifford A. Pickover
c. 50 Gears Clifford A. Pickover
c. 126 Roman Concrete Derek B. Lowe
c. 650 Zero Clifford A. Pickover
830 al-Khwarizmi’s Algebra Clifford A. Pickover
c. 850 Gunpowder Derek B. Lowe
1202 Fibonacci’s Liber Abaci Clifford A. Pickover
1284 Eyeglasses Clifford A. Pickover
c. 1500 Early Calculus Jim Bell
1509 Golden Ratio Clifford A. Pickover
1543 De Humani Corporis Fabrica Clifford A. Pickover
1543 Sun-Centered Universe Clifford A. Pickover
1545 Paré’s “Rational Surgery” Clifford A. Pickover
1572 Imaginary Numbers Clifford A. Pickover
1608 Telescope Clifford A. Pickover
1609 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion Clifford A. Pickover
1614 Logarithms Clifford A. Pickover
1620 Scientific Method Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1621 Slide Rule Clifford A. Pickover
1628 Circulatory System Clifford A. Pickover
1637 Descartes’ La Géométrie Clifford A. Pickover
1638 Acceleration of Falling Objects Clifford A. Pickover
1639 Projective Geometry Clifford A. Pickover
1654 Pascal’s Triangle Clifford A. Pickover
1660 Von Guericke’s Electrostatic Generator Clifford A. Pickover
1665 Development of Modern Calculus Clifford A. Pickover
1665 Micrographia Clifford A. Pickover
1668 Refuting Spontaneous Generation Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1672 Measuring the Solar System Clifford A. Pickover
1672 Newton’s Prism Clifford A. Pickover
1678 Discovery of Sperm Clifford A. Pickover
1683 Zoo Within Us Clifford A. Pickover
1687 Newton as Inspiration Clifford A. Pickover
1687 Newton’s Laws of Motion and Gravitation Clifford A. Pickover
1713 Law of Large Numbers Clifford A. Pickover
1727 Euler’s Number, e Clifford A. Pickover
1733 Normal Distribution Curve Clifford A. Pickover
1735 Linnaean Classification of Species Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1738 Bernoulli’s Law of Fluid Dynamics Clifford A. Pickover
1760 Artificial Selection (Selective Breeding) Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1761 Bayes’ Theorem Clifford A. Pickover
1761 Causes of Cancer Clifford A. Pickover
1761 Morgagni’s “Cries of Suffering Organs” Clifford A. Pickover
1783 Black Holes Clifford A. Pickover
1785 Coulomb’s Law of Electrostatics Clifford A. Pickover
1797 Fundamental Theorem of Algebra Clifford A. Pickover
1798 Smallpox Vaccine Clifford A. Pickover
1800 Battery Clifford A. Pickover
1800 High-Pressure Steam Engine Marshall Brain
1801 Wave Nature of Light Clifford A. Pickover
1807 Fourier Series Clifford A. Pickover
1808 Atomic Theory Clifford A. Pickover
1812 Laplace’s Théorie Analytique des Probabilités Clifford A. Pickover
1822 Babbage Mechanical Computer Clifford A. Pickover
1824 Carnot Engine Clifford A. Pickover
1824 Greenhouse Effect Clifford A. Pickover
1825 Ampère’s Law of Electromagnetism Clifford A. Pickover
1827 Brownian Motion Clifford A. Pickover
1828 Germ-Layer Theory of Development Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1829 Blood Transfusion Clifford A. Pickover
1829 Non-Euclidean Geometry Clifford A. Pickover
1831 Cell Nucleus Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1831 Darwin and the Voyages of the Beagle Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1831 Faraday’s Laws of Induction Clifford A. Pickover
1836 Fossil Record and Evolution Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1837 Nitrogen Cycle and Plant Chemistry Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1837 Telegraph System Marshall Brain
1839 Daguerreotype Derek B. Lowe
1839 Rubber Derek B. Lowe
1841 Fiber Optics Clifford A. Pickover
1842 General Anesthesia Clifford A. Pickover
1843 Conservation of Energy Clifford A. Pickover
1844 Transcendental Numbers Clifford A. Pickover
1847 Semmelweis’s Hand Washing Clifford A. Pickover
1850 Second Law of Thermodynamics Clifford A. Pickover
1855 Bessemer Process Marshall Brain
1855 Cell Division Clifford A. Pickover
1856 Plastic Marshall Brain
1858 Möbius Strip Clifford A. Pickover
1859 Darwin’s Theory of Natural Section Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1859 Ecological Interactions Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1859 Kinetic Theory Clifford A. Pickover
1859 Riemann Hypothesis Clifford A. Pickover
1861 Cerebral Localization Clifford A. Pickover
1861 Maxwell’s Equations Clifford A. Pickover
1862 Germ Theory of Disease Clifford A. Pickover
1864 Electromagnetic Spectrum Clifford A. Pickover
1865 Antiseptics Clifford A. Pickover
1865 Mendel’s Genetics Clifford A. Pickover
1869 Periodic Table Derek B. Lowe
1874 Cantor’s Transfinite Numbers Clifford A. Pickover
1875 Boltzmann’s Entropy Equation Clifford A. Pickover
1876 Gibbs Free Energy Derek B. Lowe
1878 Enzymes Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1878 Incandescent Light Bulb Clifford A. Pickover
1878 Power Grid Marshall Brain
1887 Michelson-Morley Experiment Clifford A. Pickover
1888 Tesseract Clifford A. Pickover
1890 Steam Turbine Marshall Brain
1890 The Principles of Psychology Wade E. Pickren
1891 Neuron Doctrine Clifford A. Pickover
1892 Discovery of Viruses Clifford A. Pickover
1895 X-rays Clifford A. Pickover
1896 Proof of the Prime Number Theorem Clifford A. Pickover
1896 Radioactivity Clifford A. Pickover
1897 Electron Clifford A. Pickover
1899 Psychoanalysis Clifford A. Pickover
1900 Blackbody Radiation Law Clifford A. Pickover
1900 Hilbert’s 23 Problems Clifford A. Pickover
1902 Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance Clifford A. Pickover
1903 Wright Brothers’ Airplane Marshall Brain
1903 Classical Conditioning Wade E. Pickren
1905 E = mc2 Clifford A. Pickover
1905 Photoelectric Effect Clifford A. Pickover
1905 Special Theory of Relativity Clifford A. Pickover
1908 Internal Combustion Engine Marshall Brain
1910 Chlorination of Water Clifford A. Pickover
1910 Main Sequence Jim Bell
1911 Atomic Nucleus Clifford A. Pickover
1911 Superconductivity Clifford A. Pickover
1912 Bragg’s Law of Crystal Diffraction Clifford A. Pickover
1912 Continental Drift Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1913 Bohr Atom Clifford A. Pickover
1915 General Theory of Relativity Clifford A. Pickover
1919 String Theory Clifford A. Pickover
1920 Hydrogen Bonding Derek B. Lowe
1920 Radio Station Marshall Brain
1921 Noether’s Idealtheorie Clifford A. Pickover
1921 Einstein as Inspiration Clifford A. Pickover
1924 De Broglie Relation Clifford A. Pickover
1925 Pauli Exclusion Principle Clifford A. Pickover
1926 Schrödinger’s Wave Equation Clifford A. Pickover
1927 Complementarity Principle Clifford A. Pickover
1927 Food Webs Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1927 Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Clifford A. Pickover
1927 Insect Dance Language Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1928 Dirac Equation Clifford A. Pickover
1928 Penicillin Clifford A. Pickover
1929 Hubble’s Law of Cosmic Expansion Clifford A. Pickover
1931 Gödel’s Theorem Clifford A. Pickover
1932 Antimatter Clifford A. Pickover
1932 Neutron Clifford A. Pickover
1933 Dark Matter Clifford A. Pickover
1933 Polyethylene Derek B. Lowe
1933 Neutron Stars Clifford A. Pickover
1935 EPR Paradox Clifford A. Pickover
1935 Schrödinger’s Cat Clifford A. Pickover
1936 Turing Machines Clifford A. Pickover
1937 Cellular Respiration Derek B. Lowe
1937 Superfluids Clifford A. Pickover
1938 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Clifford A. Pickover
1941 Doped Silicon Marshall Brain
1942 Energy from the Nucleus Clifford A. Pickover
1945 Little Boy Atomic Bomb Clifford A. Pickover
1945 Uranium Enrichment Marshall Brain
1946 ENIAC Clifford A. Pickover
1946 Stellar Nucleosynthesis Clifford A. Pickover
1947 Hologram Clifford A. Pickover
1947 Photosynthesis Derek B. Lowe
1947 Transistor Clifford A. Pickover
1948 Information Theory Clifford A. Pickover
1948 Quantum Electrodynamics Clifford A. Pickover
1948 Randomized Controlled Trials Clifford A. Pickover
1949 Time Travel Clifford A. Pickover
1950 Chess Computer Marshall Brain
1950 Fermi Paradox Clifford A. Pickover
1951 HeLa Cells Clifford A. Pickover
1952 Cellular Automata Clifford A. Pickover
1952 Miller-Urey Experiment Derek B. Lowe
1953 DNA Structure Clifford A. Pickover
1955 Atomic Clocks Clifford A. Pickover
1955 Birth-Control Pill Clifford A. Pickover
1955 Placebo Effect Clifford A. Pickover
1955 Ribosomes Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1956 Parallel Universes Clifford A. Pickover
1957 Antidepressant Medications Wade E. Pickren
1957 Space Satellite Marshall Brain
1958 Central Dogma of Molecular Biology Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1958 Integrated Circuit Clifford A. Pickover
1959 Structure of Antibodies Clifford A. Pickover
1960 Laser Clifford A. Pickover
1961 Cracking the Genetic Code for Protein Biosynthesis Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1961 First Humans in Space Jim Bell
1961 Green Revolution Marshall Brain
1961 Standard Model Clifford A. Pickover
1963 Chaos and the Butterfly Effect Clifford A. Pickover
1963 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Clifford A. Pickover
1964 Brain Lateralization Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1964 Quarks Clifford A. Pickover
1965 Cosmic Microwave Background Clifford A. Pickover
1966 Dynamic RAM Marshall Brain
1967 Endosymbiont Theory Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1967 Heart Transplant Clifford A. Pickover
1967 Saturn V Rocket Marshall Brain
1969 ARPANET Marshall Brain
1969 First on the Moon Jim Bell
1972 Genetic Engineering Marshall Brain
1975 Feigenbaum Constant Clifford A. Pickover
1975 Fractals Clifford A. Pickover
1977 Public-Key Cryptography Clifford A. Pickover
1978 Theory of Mind Wade E. Pickren
1979 Gravitational Lensing Jim Bell
1980 Cosmic Inflation Clifford A. Pickover
1981 Quantum Computers Clifford A. Pickover
1982 Artificial Heart Marshall Brain
1983 Epigenetics Clifford A. Pickover
1983 Polymerase Chain Reaction Clifford A. Pickover
1984 Telomerase Clifford A. Pickover
1984 Theory of Everything Clifford A. Pickover
1987 Mitochondrial Eve Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1990 Domains of Life Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
1990 Hubble Telescope Clifford A. Pickover
1990 World Wide Web Marshall Brain
1994 Global Positioning System (GPS) Marshall Brain
1998 Dark Energy Clifford A. Pickover
1998 International Space Station Jim Bell
2003 Human Genome Project Clifford A. Pickover
2004 Spirit and Opportunity on Mars Jim Bell
2008 Human Cloning Clifford A. Pickover
2009 Large Hadron Collider Clifford A. Pickover
2016 Gene Therapy Clifford A. Pickover
2016 Gravitational Waves Jim Bell
2017 Proof of the Kepler Conjecture Clifford A. Pickover
Notes and Further Reading
About the Contributors
Photo Credits
Introduction
“It is the most persistent and greatest adventure in human history, this search to understand the universe, how it works and where it came from. It is difficult to imagine that a handful of residents of a small planet circling an insignificant star in a small galaxy have as their aim a complete understanding of the entire universe, a small speck of creation truly believing it is capable of comprehending the whole.”
—Murray Gell-Mann, in John Boslough’s Stephen Hawking’s Universe, 1989
The Scope of Science and Mathematics
Today scientists and mathematicians roam far and wide, studying an awesome variety of topics and fundamental laws in order to understand the behavior of nature, the universe, and the very fabric of reality. Physicists ponder multiple dimensions, parallel universes, and the possibilities of wormholes connecting different regions of space and time. Biologists, physicians, and ethicists consider organ transplants, gene therapy, and cloning, while the studies of DNA and the human genome yield secrets about fundamental aspects of life itself. The usefulness of mathematics allows us to build spaceships and investigate the geometry of our universe. Interestingly, a significant number of discoveries in basic physics have also led to a range of medical tools and have helped to reduce human suffering and save lives (for example, X-rays, ultrasonagraphy, magnetic resonance imaging, and more.)