SCIENCE

YEAR BY YEAR
SCIENCE
THE ULTIMATE VISUAL GUIDE TO THE DISCOVERIES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

YEAR BY YEAR
 LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE,
MUNICH, AND DELHI

DK LONDON DK INDIA
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Managing Editor
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First published in Great Britain in 2013

by Dorling Kindersley Limited A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL the British Library.
Penguin Group (UK) ISBN: 978 1 4093 1613 8
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Colour reproduction by Alta Images, London
001 184801 Oct/2013 Printed and bound in China by Hung Hing
Copyright 2013 Dorling Kindersley Limited
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without Discover more at
prior written permission of the copyright owner. www.dk.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Jack Challoner
Science writer and communicator with a
background in physics. He contributed to
DKsScienceand has written more than 30
other books on science and technology, for
readers of all ages.
Derek Harvey
Naturalist and science writer for titles including
DKsScienceandThe Natural History Book.
John Farndon
Popular science writer, specializing in Earth
science and the history of ideas.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Professor Robert Winston
Robert Winston is Professor of Science and Society
and Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial
College London and runs a research programme in the
Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology.
He is an author and broadcaster and regularly writes
and hosts popular science programmes, many of which
have been shown around the world. Previous DK books
include the award-winning What Makes Me Me?,
Science Experiments, and Human.
CHIEF EDITORIAL
CONSULTANT
Patricia Fara
Senior Tutor of Clare College, University of Cambridge,
Patricia Fara has published a range of academic and
popular books on the history of science, and is a regular
contributor to radio and TV programmes.
Philip Parker
Historian and writer whose books include
DKsEyewitness Companion Guide: World
History,History Year by Year,andEngineers.
Marcus Weeks
Writer on history, economics, and popular science.
He has contributed to DKsScience,Engineers,
andHelp Your Kids with Maths.
Giles Sparrow
Popular science writer, specializing in astronomy
and space science.
CONSULTANTS
John Gribbin
Science writer, astrophysicist,and Visiting Fellow
in Astronomy at the University of Sussex. He is the
author ofScience: A History,published by Penguin.
Marty Jopson
Science communicator and TV presenter, with a PhD
in plant cell biology.
Jane McIntosh
Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Asian
and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge.
Mary Gribbin
Science writer for young readers and is a Visiting
Fellow at the University of Sussex.
GLOSSARY
Richard Beatty
Edinburgh-based science writer, editor, and
scientic lexicographer.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Smithsonian contributors include historians and
museum specialists from:
National Air and Space Museum
The Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum
maintains the worlds largest collection of historic
aircraft and spacecraft, and its mission is to educate
and inspire by preserving and displaying historically
signicant aeronautical and spaceight artifacts.
National Museum of American History
The Smithsonians National Museum of American
History dedicates its collections and scholarship to
inspiring a broader understanding of the American
nation and its many peoples.
National Museum of Natural History
The Smithsonians National Museum of Natural
History is the most visited natural history museum
in the world and the most visited museum in the
Smithsonian museum complex.
National Museums of Asian Art
The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler
Gallery hold in trust the nations extraordinary
collections of Asian art and of American art of the late
19th century aesthetic movement, and are dedicated
to the acquisition, care, study, and exhibition of works
in their collections.
 1 2 3
2.5 MYA799CE 8001542 15431788

010 BEFORE 044 EUROPEAN 074 THE AGE

SCIENCE BEGAN AND ISLAMIC OF DISCOVERY
RENAISSANCE
Features Features Features
016 Early Metallurgy 054 Understanding Stars 078 The Story of Anatomy
020 The Story of the Wheel 062 The Story of Gears 084 Measuring Instruments
026 The Story of Geometry 090 Medicine
034 Understanding Simple 100 Understanding
Machines Planetary Orbits
108 The Story of
Measuring Time
114 Microscopes
120 Understanding Newtons
Laws of Motion
132 Navigational Tools
146 Meteorological
Instruments

CONTENTS
4 5 6 7
17891894 18951945 19462013

158 THE AGE 230 THE ATOMIC 276 THE 350 REFERENCE
OF REVOLUTIONS AGE INFORMATION AGE

Features Features Features Categories

164 Fossils
170 The Story of the Engine
174 Understanding Compounds
and Reactions
184 The Story of Calculating
Machines
194 Understanding Cells
204 Understanding Evolution
212 Surgery
218 The Story of Sound
Recording
234 Understanding
Electromagnetic
Radiation
240 Flying Machines
244 Understanding Relativity
250 Understanding Atomic
Structure
260 The Story of Plastics
266 Understanding
Radioactivity
284 Understanding DNA 352 Measurements and Units
292 The Story of 355 Physics
Oceanography
358 Chemistry
298 The Story of Space
Exploration 360 Biology
316 Communication 364 Astronomy and Space
366 Earth Science
326 Understanding
Global Warming
334 The Story of Robotics
344 Understanding
Cosmology

368 Whos Who

375 Glossary
382 Index
398 Acknowledgments
Forewor d
Roughly one and a half million years
ago, our ancestors on the African
Savanna made crude handaxes by
chipping stone. Trial and error early
scientic endeavour led to tools
with which hominids could esh meat
from the bones of animals, dig to nd
tubers or water, and eventually, hunt
prey and skin the animals they found
for clothing. And once re had been
harnessed, about 300,000 years ago,
pre-humans improved their diet.
What fascinates me, is that with
these two technologies, pre-humans
inuenced their own evolution; we
are the only species on Earth that
has used tools and modied how
its descendants evolved. It seems
equally extraordinary that the basic
tool from which all inventions are
derived, the stone handaxe, hardly
changed in over 1 million years.
What this book records is how
our inventiveness led to faster
and faster development. Once we
invented farming, perhaps 10,000
12,000 years ago, our forefathers
changed their environment. A few
thousand years later, we had built
cities, invented writing, and
fashioned wheeled vehicles that,
as this book shows, could move
at surprising speeds.
Imagine a line across this page
measuring about 30 cm (11.8 in).
Let us pretend that this line
Extremophile habitat
Vivid colours in the Grand Prismatic Spring in
Yellowstone National Park, USA result from a
lm of pigmented bacteria around the edge of
the hot spring. Different species of microbes
ourish in specic temperatures and contain
pigments suited to their environments.
represents the million and a
half years since stone tools were
invented. Now to the same scale,
imagine a smaller line representing
the last 400 years, just one-tenth of
a millimetre the size of the full
stop at the end of this sentence. In
that short time, Galileo pointed his
telescope at the moons of Jupiter
in 1609, Newcomen produced his
atmospheric pump to remove mine
water in 1712, and Trevithicks steam
locomotive hauled a train in Wales
in 1804. Roughly a hundred years
later, the Wright brothers ew their
biplane for the rst manned ight.
Now we have built sophisticated
computers, landed on the Moon
and, using the building blocks of life,
fashioned synthetic living organisms
in laboratories.
Science, and the technology which
results from it, is moving so fast
that we cannot predict where human
inventiveness will lead. Will we
continue to change our evolution?
Whatever the case, the remarkable
history of science leaves no doubt
that we lead better, healthier, and
more fullled lives than at any
previous time. Our planet may
face major challenges, but there
is every reason to believe that our
inventiveness will be up to the task
of improving ourselves and protecting
the planet on which we live.
ROBERT WINSTON
Editor-in-Chief
1
BEFORE
SCIENCE BEGAN
2.5 MYA799CE
Starting with early experiments to make tools and use
fire, humans gradually learnt how to control, explore, and
understand their surroundings by developing techniques
in astronomy, medicine, and mathematics.
2.5 MYA 8000 BCE

The paintings at El Castillo in Spain, dating from around 41,000 YA , are among the oldest known cave art. Made using natural
pigments, the paintings include depictions of horses and bison, although the very earliest are abstract discs and dots.

THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT
SCIENTIFIC ADVANCE was the
production of stone tools. Around
2.5 million years ago (MYA), early
hominids (either Homo habilis
or Australopithecus) began
to modify cobbles by striking
them with another stone, thus
removing akes of stone and
creating a sharp edge a
method known as hard-hammer
percussion. These early pebble
tools, or choppers, are known as
Oldowan tools. They were used
for dismembering killed animals,
cracking bones for the marrow,
and scraping hides. Oldowan
technology spread throughout
Africa, where it lasted until
around 1.7 MYA.
Early hominids must have seen
and understood the power of re
by observing wildres caused by
lightning strikes. They may have
sharp edge where stone
ake struck off
Oldowan tool
Choppers like this were the earliest
stone tools. They were suitable for
tasks such as cutting animal hide.
Around 1.76 MYA, Upper Paleolithic leaf point
upper and lower
more advanced stone This skillfully crafted tool was
SURFACE 1 blocks rubbed
made by aking small pieces
together tools began to appear.
off a larger core using a
surface of both Unlike Oldowan tools,
SURFACE 2 sharp piece of bone or
blocks heat up
Acheulian tools, antler to apply pressure.
particularly the
GENERATING HEAT FROM FRICTION multipurpose handaxe,
were deliberately core (see panel,
Rubbing two surfaces together causes the kinetic movement shaped. Hard- opposite), and
energy of the rubbing motion to be transferred to the atoms in hammer percussion a wide range of ake
the surfaces. This process, known as friction, causes the atoms to (striking off akes tools such as knives,
heat up. The smoother the surfaces, the more heat is generated; with a hammerstone) spear points, and
in extreme cases this can cause nearby material to catch re. was used to rough out scrapers shaped for
the tools shape. It different purposes.
was then rened by In the late Middle
lit branches from these res decay and extends the range removing smaller and Upper Paleolithic
to use as weapons against of edible resources to include akes using a soft (c.35,00010,000 YA), a
predators or to provide light and plants containing toxins that hammer of bone new technique, indirect
heat. There is possible evidence can be broken down by heat. or antler. percussion, allowed for
for sporadic controlled use The earliest evidence of Mousterian tools are many blades to be struck
of re from around 1 MYA, with cooking comes from sites particularly associated with from a single core. The nal
evidence of regular use from such as Gesher Benot Yaaqov Neanderthals and occurred from stage of tool development
around 400,000 YA. Finds at in Israel (790,000 YA), where c.300,000 YA. They include rst appeared c.70,000 YA and
Gesher Benot Yaaqov in Israel concentrations of burnt seeds sharp-edged Levallois akes became widespread post-
(790,000 YA) show signs of the and wood were found. that were struck off a prepared glacially from about 10,000 YA.
active use of re. It involved microliths tiny
Early humans were able akes and blades for use in
to use devices such as re Making re composite tools.
ploughs or re drills to Early humans probably The earliest weapons were
made re using a re
produce their own re drill or re plough,
rocks or handaxes, but by about
with friction. Fire was which generates 400,000 BCE early people had
important for warmth heat by rubbing adapted sticks for use as
and protection, splitting two pieces of wood spears. At rst, these had
together. The heat
stones, hardening causes wood dust
sharpened wooden ends, but
the points of wooden to ignite and this by around 200,000 BCE stone
tools, and for cooking. can then be points started being attached to
Heating food breaks used to light create more effective weapons.
larger kindling.
down proteins, which The bow was probably rst
makes it easier to digest. ame generated in developed around 64,000 BCE,
It also protects food from kindling such as twigs but the earliest examples found

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Einkorn is the ancestor of modern wheat and still occurs naturally throughout southwest
Asia. It has a higher protein content than its domesticated descendent.

date from around 9000 BCE. Jomon pot

The arrows of this period This style of pottery
was produced in Japan
show evidence of etching for over 10,000 years.
attaching feathers to the shaft The earlier examples
to improve ight and accuracy. generally have pointed
The rst deliberate use of re bottoms. DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE
to harden clay dates from around
24,000 BCE, with the manufacture were red in pit-kilns, or The upland areas of the Fertile Crescent, an area of
of ceramic Venus gurines found bonre kilns, which were relatively fertile land in southwest Asia, were home to
at Dolni Vestonice in the Czech shallow pits dug in the wild cereals, sheep, and goats. Around 10,000 BCE the
Republic. Examples of the rst ground and lined with fuel. climate cooled, leading to a contraction of the range
pottery vessels, from around In western Asia, unbaked clay of wild cereals to areas with higher rainfall. Perhaps due to
18,000 BCE, were found in was initially used for making the greater difculty in gathering the seeds of these plants,
Xianrendong Cave in China, but vessels, bricks. The rst containers were communities began cultivating them next to their villages. Sheep
the earliest ceramic vessels to which were made from gypsum and lime and goats were also domesticated for their meat. More productive
have survived in any quantity are useful for plaster, which was made by sources of food led to increased population densities, while the
Jomon pots from Japan. These storing food and also for cooking. burning chalk. It was not until demand in time and labour needed for agriculture led to
date from about 14,000 BCE and Early pottery was generally around 6900 BCE that ceramic settlements becoming both larger and more sedentary.
were probably used for cooking formed by pinching (shaping the pottery appeared at sites such
food. The growing stability of wet clay by hand) or gradually as ayn in Turkey.
settlements probably played coiling rolls of clay up and into The earliest bone needles gatherers or foragers. The rst barley (Hordeum vulgare)
a role in the spread of pottery the shape of a pot. These pots date from around 30,000 BCE evidence of plant domestication were domesticated. Cultivation
and come from Europe. They (the deliberate selection and of these cereals was widely
stone tortoise core shape is may have been used to join manipulation of plants for distributed in southwest Asia,
core gradually developed skins together, using cultivation) is of wild rye particularly in a fertile crescent
threads of gut or sinew, and seeds that were sown and of land that stretched from
to thread pierced objects, harvested around the the Persian Gulf to the
akes are such as shells or beads. settlement of Abu Hureyra coastlands of the Near East.
detached Ancient clay impressions of in Iraq around 10,500 BCE. By 7000 BCE, barley had also
textiles date the rst woven About a thousand years later, been domesticated on the
akes are detached cloth to around 27,000 BCE. a group of wild cereals Indian subcontinent. In China,
from the face
Cordage the twisting notably einkorn (Triticum however, a different set of plants,
THE LEVALLOIS TECHNIQUE together of bres to increase boeoticum) and emmer notably millet and rice, was
the strength of the threads (Triticum dicoccoides), both domesticated beginning
This technique involves shaping a tortoise core using hard and appeared around 18,000 BCE, varieties of wheat, and wild in the 8th millennium BCE.
soft percussion. Flakes are struck from the edges and one face when three-ply cord was in
to produce the desired shape of the nal ake, which is then use in the Lascaux caves of Bone shuttle
Needles and shuttles of bone
detached from the core. The resulting ake has a sharp edge southern France.
were the rst means of binding
on all sides and can be used without further modication. Until at least 13,000 YA, early materials together, using animal
humans were hunter- gut or vegetable bres such as ax.

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8000 3000 BCE

15
THOUSAND
THE MAXIMUM
NUMBER OF SOAY
SHEEP ALIVE TODAY

The Soay sheep is native to a small island off the west coast of Scotland. It is a primitive breed,
very similar to the rst domesticated sheep in Europe.

Farming hillsides storage. Terrace agriculture,

ONE OF THE FIRST ANIMALS
to be domesticated by humans,
around 30,000 BCE, was the
dog, which was selectively bred
from domesticated wolves and
was used for hunting. Around
8500 BCE, people in southwest
Asia began to domesticate other
animals, beginning with sheep
and goats. Cattle and pigs
were domesticated around
7000 BCE in many places across
the world, and by 3000 BCE a
number of other animals had
been domesticated including,
in the Americas, the guinea
pig (around 5000 BCE) and the
llama (about 4500 BCE).
The rst large-scale
construction of stone buildings
began around 9000 BCE, with the
building of a ritual structure
at Gbekli Tepe in southeast
Anatolia (in modern Turkey).
It consisted of a number of
free-standing T-shaped pillars
within a low circular enclosure
wall. In around 8000 BCE the rst
settlement wall was built at
Jericho in Palestine. Made of
stone, the wall was about 5 m
(16 ft) high with a circumference
of 600 m (1,970 ft). Architectural
techniques became more
sophisticated, with the use of
corbelling (overlapping stone
to create a type of vaulted roof)
in northwest Europe by 4000 BCE,
and buttresses to strengthen
walls in Mesopotamia by around
3400 BCE. From about 5000 BCE,
the practice of building large
structures using massive
stones megaliths spread
throughout western Europe,
resulting in structures such as
the Carnac stones in Brittany,
France (dating from around
4500 BCE), Newgrange Passage
tomb in Ireland (around
3400 BCE), and Stonehenge
in England (from 2500 BCE).
By around 6500 BCE the people
of Mehrgarh (in modern Pakistan)
were making bitumen, a sticky
liquid that seeps from crude oil
deposits, to make reed baskets
waterproof, and around 2600 BCE
the people of the Indus
Civilization were using it to create
a watertight coating for brick-
built basins. In Mesopotamia
from the 4th millennium BCE,
bitumen was mixed with sand to
create a mortar for building and
as a tar for caulking ships.
The use of terraces to allow hilly in which at, cultivable areas are
areas to be farmed began in Yemen
cut into a hillside and irrigated
in about 4000 BCE but was also
widely practised in China and in by water channels, was
mountainous areas of Peru. developed in Yemen in around
4000 BCE. In China, networks
Where there was insufcient of banks and ditches were built
rainfall for agriculture, farmers to ood and drain wet-rice
developed irrigation to transport cultivation elds (paddies).
water to their elds. At Choga Cold-working (beating
Mami, in eastern Iraq, water or hammering) of naturally
channels from the River occurring metals, such as gold
Tigris were constructed from and copper, was practised as
around 6000 BCE, and by the early as 8000 BCE. Smelting
4th millennium BCE, dams and heating metallic ores with a
dykes were used to store water reducing agent to extract the
in reservoirs in parts of western pure metal (see 1800700 BCE)
Asia. In Egypt, the annual appeared as early as 6500 BCE in
ooding of the Nile River atal Hyk in Turkey. The
inundated elds naturally, but technique spread widely: it
from at least as early as 3000 BCE, was being used from southeast
excess water was diverted for Europe to
ALLOYS
The combination of two or more metals
produces an alloy, which may have different
characteristics from the original metals. In the
mid to late 5th millennium BCE, it was discovered
that smelting a small amount of arsenic with
copper produced arsenical bronze, which is
harder and stronger than copper alone. By
around 3200 BCE, true bronze was being produced
in southwest Asia by using tin instead of arsenic
in the smelting process, and objects such as this
early 2nd century bronze gurine were being
made. By the late 3rd millennium BCE, it had
also been discovered that copper could be
alloyed with zinc, forming brass.

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The Carnac stones in Brittany, France, are a series of more than 3,000 upright megaliths.
The oldest stones date from around 4500 BCE.

Spinning threads
Spindle whorls are often the rst evidence
BARLEY IS THRESHED FOR YOU, efcient harnesses for attaching
draft animals to wagons were
WHEAT IS REAPED FOR YOU, YOUR
of spinning spun threads are wrapped
around a spindle shaft. Whorls are usually
light; if heavier than 150 g (5 oz), they tend
to break the thread.
MONTHLY FEASTS ARE MADE WITH
IT, YOUR HALF-MONTHLY FEASTS
developed in Mesopotamia,
allowing greater loads and
distances to be attained.
As commercial transactions
ARE MADE WITH IT. grew more complex, accurate
Ancient Egyptian pyramid text, c.24002300 BCE measurements of goods became
essential. Standardized weight
5000 BCE, the method of coiling Four-wheeled wagons appeared and length measures were
pots was improved by a simple in Poland and the Balkans around introduced in Mesopotamia,
turntable (tournette) beneath the 3500 BCE and soon afterwards in Egypt, and the Indus Valley in
South Asia pot. By 3500 BCE, the tournette Mesopotamia. At rst, wheels the late 4th millennium BCE. The
by 5500 BCE; had been replaced in southern were solid discs connected to the earliest weights were often based
throughout Europe by Mesopotamia by a true potters wagon by a wooden axle, but on grains of wheat or barley,
3000 BCE; and as far as China wheel, consisting of a heavy around 2000 BCE, spoked wheels which have a uniform weight.
and Southeast Asia by 2000 BCE. During the early years of stone wheel that could be turned were developed, which made The standard unit of length, the
Casting metal objects with agriculture, ground for sowing rapidly and continuously. This lighter, more mobile vehicles cubit, was based on the length
a mould developed in the had to be cultivated using allowed the potter to throw the possible. Around 3100 BCE, of a mans forearm.
5th millennium BCE. The rst hand-held digging sticks or pot by placing a lump in the
known cast metal object hoes. The use of cattle as draft centre of the device and shaping handle of pot

comes from Mesopotamia and animals made the eventual use it as the wheel spun around.
dates from about 3200 BCE. of the ard, or scratch plough, For many
Spinning raw bres to make a possible. This primitive wooden millennia, all
thread may have begun as early plough, sometimes with a metal transport on land
as the 7th millennium BCE, which tip, cut shallow furrows. The was by foot. The
is the date of spindle whorls found earliest evidence of its use rst articial aids
at atal Hyk, Turkey. Weaving comes from the 4th millennium were sledges, which
may have arisen from the late BCE, and it spread widely in Egypt, have been found in
Paleolithic skill of making nets West Asia, and Europe. Finland dating from
and baskets. The loom a frame The quality of ceramics was 6800 BCE, and skis, which
or brace to keep one set of improved by the invention, in were in use in Russia around
threads (the warp) tense while around 6000 BCE, of kilns 6300 BCE. The invention of the
another (the weft) is interwoven specially built chambers in wheel revolutionized transport.
with it appeared in the form of which pottery could be red.
warp beams (simple sticks) and Two-chamber, updraught kilns Wagon in clay
backstrap looms (the warp beams (in which the re is in the lower This clay pot in the shape of a wagon
dates from around 3000 BCE and
were held taut by a strap around chamber) appeared in the
shows the typical features of early
the users back) in West Asia and Hassuna culture of Mesopotamia wheeled vehicles from central and wheel in the form of
Egypt by the 4th millennium BCE. in about 6000 BCE. Around southern Europe. a solid disc

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15
 2.5 MYA 7 9 9 CE B E FO R E S C I E N C E B E GA N

curved blade
adapted for
harvesting grain

Reaping hook Metal shears Cast-iron mould

Date unknown
By the Iron Age, metal harvesting sickles
had replaced int-bladed ones as the
metal was readily available and easier
to sharpen and mend than int.
Date unknown
These iron shears from Italy are similar
to those used by later sheep-shearers.
They were found in Riva del Garda, in
the Italian province of Trento.
c.300 BCE
The Chinese had invented high-temperature furnaces
capable of melting iron as early as 500 BCE. This enabled
them to produce cast iron by pouring molten metal into
moulds such as this one, used to make agricultural tools.

sharp tip for piercing

Bronze sword
c.1200 BCE
Sword blades could be
created using bronze, an Iron sword
at pommel
alloy of copper and tin. c.500700
Bronze Age swords, such as The Anglo-Saxons used the pattern-welding technique to blade with
this one from France, were make swords, in which rods of iron were twisted together rounded tip
carried only by the rich. and forged to form the core. An edge was then added.

EARLY METALLURGY
ANCIENT METALLURGISTS PRODUCED A VARIETY OF OBJECTS FROM LETHAL WEAPONRY TO STUNNING JEWELLERY

The development of metallurgy from around 6500 BCE, Chariot decoration

c.100 BCE 100 CE
made possible the production of ornamental objects of Enamelling, or the fusing of molten glass with
metal, was invented around 1200 BCE. The use
great beauty as well as tools and weapons that were of red glass in enamelling became especially
more durable and effective than those made of wood. popular in the late Iron Age, as seen in this
Celtic chariot decoration.

The earliest metalworking was cold-hammering the beating of

naturally occurring metals. After smelting (heating ore to extract metal)
was developed, techniques became more sophisticated. Metal casting began
around 5000 BCE, and alloys were developed in the 5th millennium BCE. By
the end of the ancient period, techniques such as gilding and inlaying had
been developed and metalworking had spread across much of the world.
Bronze Celtic brooch
c.800 BCE
This ornate brooch was created by
Hallstatt craftsmen in Austria. The
spiral pattern was part of the Celtic
artistic repertoire for over 1,500 years.
red enamel

Bronze pin ligree work

c.1200
Pins with attened
heads were a common
decorative item used for
fastening clothes in
Bronze-Age Europe.

granulation
Anglo-Saxon belt buckle
c.620 Gold Minoan pendant
This gold belt buckle features an c.17001550 BCE
intertwined pattern of snakes and beasts, This pendant, depicting bees depositing
birds head writhing snake highlighted in black niello an enamel- honey on a honeycomb, exhibits granulation
in prole pattern like substance formed from an alloy of (minute balls of gold soldered onto the
silver, copper, lead, and sulphur. surface) and ligree (ne threads of metal).

16
 hemispherical
iron cap

Corinthian helmet
c.700 BCE
This helmet is made from a single
piece of bronze, giving it extra strength.
Such helmets were popular in Greece
from the 8th to the 6th centuries BCE.

decorative
rigid face roundel
mask, riveted
to cap red glass inlay

Ceremonial shield cover

c.35050 BCE
Made from a bronze sheet, this shield
cover displays the repouss technique
of hammering the reverse side to
create a raised design on the front.

stamped
design

Silver plaque Lydian coins

c.300200 BCE
This plaque depicts the gures of the
Greek goddess Aphrodite, her son Eros,
and a girl attendant, made by repouss.
Other decorative incisions have been
highlighted with gilding.
c.700 BCE
The earliest coinage was produced
in Lydia (now in Turkey). It was made
from electrum a naturally occurring
alloy of silver and gold, which was once
believed to be a metal in its own right.

neck guard
Anglo-Saxon helmet (reconstruction)
c.620
Found in a ship burial at Sutton Hoo, UK,
the original helmet was made of iron and
covered with tinned bronze sheets. It was
decorated with silver wire and garnets.
turquoise
eye

leg shaped
as dragon

Bronze gure
c.1000 BCE
This statuette of a Canaanite Bronze Age vessel Copper mask
god was made with a technique c.800 BCE c.250
called cire-perdue casting, This animal-shaped ritual vessel, Found in the tomb of a nobleman from
which uses a single-use mould, known as yi, was used in Late the Peruvian Moche culture, this mask
and plated with silver using a Western Zhou China for washing shows mastery of metal sculpture. Both
direct application technique. hands before making a sacrice. eyes were originally inset with turquoise.

17
3000 1800 BCE
,,
,,
CLIMB UPON THE WALL OF URUK, WALK
ALONG IT, I SAY; REGARD THE FOUNDATION
TERRACE AND EXAMINE THE MASONRY
Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, c.2000 BCE

The ruins of Uruk, the worlds oldest city are in present-day Iraq. The site
of Uruk was rst settled around 4800 BCE and became a town around 4000 BCE.

IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES
BECAME MORE COMPLEX during
the 3rd millennium BCE. The
shadoof was developed in
Mesopotamia in around 2400 BCE.
It consisted of an upright frame
with a pole suspended from it; on
one end of the pole was a bucket
for scooping up water, while on
the other was a counterweight.
By 1350 BCE, the shadoof had
spread to Egypt. There, devices
called nilometers had already
been developed to measure
the rise and fall of the river,
which predicted how good
the harvest would be.
In the period 40003000 BCE
farming communities in
Mesopotamia had coalesced
to form the worlds rst cities,
such as Uruk c.3400 BCE. By
3100 BCE, cities had begun to
appear in Egypt, beginning with
Hierakonpolis. By 2600 BCE,
Mohenjo Daro and Harappa,
great cities of the Indus
Civilization, had been built.
As towns and cities developed,
the rst true writing emerged
in Mesopotamia around 3300 BCE,
probably prompted by the need
to keep detailed records.
Originally largely pictographic,
with signs looking like the things
they represented, they were
written using a stylus that
produced wedge-shaped marks.
Cuneiform script developed
as the curved outlines of these
early signs changed into a series
of wedge-shaped lines that
gradually became more stylized
over time. These symbols were
impressed into soft clay, which
then hardened to create durable
documents. At around the same
time, another writing system
developed in Egypt. Known as
hieroglyphic, this system was
EARLY ASTRONOMY
Evidence of interest in
astronomical phenomena
dates from Neolithic times in
Europe, when many megaliths
were laid out in an orientation
that indicated particular lunar
or solar events. Some of the
stones at Stonehenge (rst
erected around 2500 BCE) were
aligned to indicate the times of
year at which the winter and
summer solstices occurred.
Other features may have been
connected with lunar events.
initially primarily pictographic.
The earliest known examples
are clay labels from Abydos,
c.3300 BCE. Writing also
developed in the Indus Valley
around 2600 BCE, in China by
at least 1400 BCE, and in
Mesoamerica around 600 BCE.
Soda-lime glass was rst
developed in Mesopotamia
around 3500 BCE. It was made by
ring silica (sand), soda ash, and
lime in a furnace, but initially
was suitable only for small
objects. In Egypt, faience
became common from around
3000 BCE. Consisting of a mixture
of crushed quartz, calcite lime,
and soda lime, which when
vitried produced a blue-
turquoise glaze, faience was
used by the Egyptians on small
sculptures and beads.
The early 3rd millennium BCE
saw the spread of true bronze,
created by alloying copper with
tin, which became the most
commonly used metal in
Mesopotamia between 3000 and
2500 BCE. Clay crucible furnaces
for smelting appeared there in
around 3000 BCE. Mesopotamian
metallurgists also invented the
technique of gold granulation
around 2500 BCE. This produced
tiny gold balls, which were used
to decorate jewellery.

Egyptian boat of the dead

rack for holding A model of the boat buried near the
oars in place Great Pyramid of Khufu. The boat
shelter
was intended to ferry the dead
pharaohs soul across the heavens.

high, curved
stern

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18
 1
ST CENTURY
THE DATE BY WHICH
CUNEIFORM SCRIPT
HAD BECOME EXTINCT

Cuneiform (wedge-shaped) script developed from the earliest writing, invented in Mesopotamia around 3300 BCE .
It was used for a wide range of ancient Near Eastern languages, including Sumerian and Akkadian.

Boat-building also developed had been developed in
signicantly around the Egypt, and by about
3rd millennium BCE. Early 2500 BCE, pairs of side
humans had probably been using oars and tillers had
some form of boat from as long been introduced.
ago as 50,000 BCE, although the Before 3000 BCE,
earliest surviving water craft is few monumental
a dug-out canoe that dates from structures were
around 7200 BCE. In the Gulf residential. The
region, boats were being made practice of building
of bitumen-coated reeds as some temples on
early as 5000 BCE. platforms began
By around 3000 BCE, more before 4000 BCE, the
sophisticated vessels made of platform rising with
wooden planks that were sewn each rebuilding. After
together were being built in 2900 BCE, temple
Egypt. Early boats were powered platforms in Sumerian
solely by oars. Sailing boats, cities such as Ur and
with square-rigged sails, Kish reached a
appeared in Egypt in around considerable height, leading to
3100 BCE, supplementing muscle the development of ziggurats
power with wind power. By initially three-tiered structures
3000 BCE, large steering oars with a shrine on the top
platform. Largely made of mud
bricks, with a baked-brick facing,
pair of these monumental structures
steering
suggest growing sophistication
oars
in structural engineering.
In Egypt, most
architecture was
Egyptian faience
This Middle Kingdom
(19751640 BCE) statue of
a woman with a tattooed
body shows the deep blue
colour typical of much
Egyptian faience work.
modied by building
six stepped platforms
to create a step
pyramid. By the
reigns of Khufu,
Khafre, and
Menkaure in mid-3rd
millennium BCE, the
creation of smooth-
sided stone pyramids
had been perfected, and
each of these pharaohs
erected a huge pyramid tomb
for himself at Giza. Collectively
known as the Great Pyramids,
each was oriented and built with
great precision, which suggests
that sophisticated surveying
techniques were in use.
An interest in observational
astronomy arose early in
Mesopotamia, culminating
in the Venus tablet of Ammi-
of the sky into constellations
dates from Babylonian
manuscripts c.1595 BCE.
With the growing administrative
demands of cities in the 3rd
millennium BCE, the development
of an accurate calendar became
vital. The rst known version is in
the Umma calendar of Shulgi, a
Sumerian document dating from
about 2100 BCE that contains
12 lunar months of either 29
or 30 days. When this 354-day
year became too out of phase
with the real 365.25-day year, an
extra month was added by royal
decree. The ancient Egyptians
had a similar calendar, but ve
days were added each year to
give a 365-day year.
There have been claims
that some prehistoric carvings
represent topographical maps,
but true cartography and real
maps were not developed until
150
125
HEIGHT IN METRES
the 3rd millennium BCE. The
Akkadian Ga-Sur tablet (dating
from about 2500 BCE) shows
the size and location of a plot
of land between two hills and
was probably part of a land
transaction. Fragments of a
statue of Gudea of Lagash, from
around 2125 BCE, show a plan of
a temple. The rst real street
map discovered to date shows a
scale plan of the Sumerian town
of Nippur (in present-day Iraq)
and dates from about 1500 BCE.
The rst surviving attempt to
map the entire known world
is the Babylonian world map
from about 600 BCE, which shows
the regions surrounding Babylon
(see 700400 BCE).
Monumentally tall
Built around 2560 BCE, the Great
Pyramid of Khufu was 147 m (482 ft)
tall and remained the worlds tallest
building for thousands of years.

100
religious (temples) or Saduqa (dating from around
funerary (tombs). The 1650 BCE). It contained the
75
tombs of the nobility and rising and setting times of
rulers of the Early Dynastic the planet Venus over a period
50
Period (around 2900 BCE) were of 21 years. A carved piece
simple mud-brick rectangular of mammoth tusk found in
25
structures known as mastabas. Germany, dating from about
Between 2630 and 2611 BCE, 32,500 BCE, may possibly
leaf-shaped 0
during the reign of the pharaoh represent the constellation Great St Peters Big Ben Statue of Taj Mahal Notre
blade
Djoser, a huge mastaba was Orion, but systematic division Pyramid Cathedral Liberty Dame

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m 19
 2.5 MYA 7 9 9 CE B E FO R E S C I E N C E B E GA N

Faster armies
Roman
Lightweight war chariots enabled
legionary armies to manoeuvre much
faster than an infantry ever could.
A Bronze Age chariot (c.1200 BCE)
moved over 10 times as fast
Chariot
as the marching pace of a
Roman legionary.
0 10 20 30 40 50
SPEED (KILOMETRES PER HOUR)

Egyptian chariot
Around 1600 BCE, the Egyptians developed leather bindings
lightweight war chariots that had spoked wheels connect shaft to
and a thin wooden semicircular frame. The chariot body
platform could accommodate two people, one
to manoeuvre at high speed, and another
armed with a bow.

footboard made
of sycamore wood
wood bent
into V-shape to
make spokes

,,BUT LET THE

LEFT-HAND HORSE
KEEP SO CLOSE IN THAT
hub or nave

,,
cattle intestines
fasten spokes THE NAVE [HUB] OF THE
WHEEL SHALL ALMOST
to hub

GRAZE THE POST.

Homer, Greek poet, from Iliad Book XXIII, first description of chariot race, c.750 BCE

Neolithic period c.1323 BCE c.750 BCE

Logroller
Neolithic people place loads
on rollers made from logs.
These logs, however, are
not always smooth and the
difculties in keeping them
aligned make this an
inefcient method.
Early logrollers
Spoked wheel
Wheels with spokes are lighter than
disc wheels, and allow a cart or war
chariot to be pulled by a lighter animal,
such as a horse. First developed in the
steppes of central Asia a little after
2000 BCE, these wheels spread to
Egypt by 1600 BCE.
Iron-rimmed wheel
The Celts add iron rims to the
wooden wheels of chariots to
improve their durability on rough
surfaces. They do so rst by nailing
the metal to the rim and later, by
applying strips of hot iron, which
shrink to t as they cool. Celtic chariot

3500 BCE
Potters wheel
In southern Mesopotamia,
potters become the rst to
use wheels to mechanize an
industrial process that of
making pottery. They use a
heavy, rapidly turning stone
wheel to shape clay on.
Egyptian
potter c.2500 BCE Egyptian c.300 BCE
Disc wheel potter Water wheel
The rst true transportation The Greeks invent water wheels as
wheels discs of wood connected a means of harnessing the power of
by axles are developed in the running water. They use water wheels
Balkans and Mesopotamia. either to raise water in buckets to a
The Sumerians higher level for irrigation, or to drive
used these on Disc wheels on around a shaft that operates
battle wagons. the Standard of Ur a milling machine.

20
 T H E S TO R Y O F T H E W H E E L

THE STORY OF
yoke to attach
horses to shaft

THE WHEEL
THIS SIMPLE INNOVATION HAS MOVED ARMIES, CARRIED LOADS, AND POWERED INDUSTRIES

One of the most important inventions in history, the wheel allowed the
transportation of loads over long distances, revolutionized early warfare,
and made the development of the first mechanized processes possible.
It opened up the globe to human exploration and revolutionized industry.

The earliest wheel, the logroller, Spoked wheel construction

box is easier was used by neolithic people to The spokes of a wheel distribute the
movement to move force applied to a vehicle evenly
transport heavy weights, such around its rim. As the wheel rotates,
as large stones used in the each spoke shortens slightly.
construction of megaliths.
outer rim
By 3500 BCE, the logroller of wheel
was adapted to create the
rst true wheels solid spokes radiating
wheels from central hub
turn around discs of wood connected by
friction gives static axles small
outside edges contact area, an axle. These wheels, employed in Greece to harness
of wheels grip so friction however, were very heavy. the power of water, via a turbine, for
on the road is less
Lighter, spoked wheels were use in milling. By the time of Industrial
WHEELS AND FRICTION invented around 1600 BCE. The more Revolution, the wheel appeared in one form or
hard-wearing, iron-rimmed wheels came around the other in almost all industrial machinery. Gears
The force needed to pull a load pressing down 800 years later, making for faster, more durable (toothed wheels) and cogs were used in the
directly on the ground is increased by the friction vehicles suitable for battle and long-distance Antikythera mechanism an astronomical
or rolling resistance between the load and the transportation. Wheels steadily evolved, using calculating machine created in Greece around
ground. The use of wheels resolves this problem. materials such as iron and steel as they were 100 BCE but it is possible they were used earlier
Since only a small part of the wheel is in contact developed. Modern wheels use high-tech alloys in China. Gears and cogs eventually became
with the ground at any one point in time, the rest of titanium or aluminium that are light and allow common components of machines as diverse as
of it can rotate freely, without being impeded by
vehicles to move faster, using much less power. clocks and automobiles. Yet there were some
friction. The little friction that remains allows the
cultures where the wheel did not feature as
wheel to grip the ground without sliding. Wheels
THE WHEEL IN INDUSTRY prominently. Some ancient civilizations of
are mounted on sturdy shafts, called axles, which
facilitate the rolling motion.
Beginning with the potters wheel around Central America and Peru either did not develop
4500 BCE, the wheel was also adapted for use in wheels, or, as in the case of the Aztecs of Mexico,
industrial processes. By 300 BCE, watermills were used them only in childrens toys.

c.100 BCE 1848 1915

Wheelbarrow Mansell wheel Radial tyre
The Chinese create a The quieter and more Patented by Arthur
wheelbarrow with a large resilient Mansell Savage, radial ply
central wheel, which railway wheel had tyres are made of
makes all the weight fall a steel central boss rubber-coated steel
on the axle. Easy to push, (hub), surrounded by or polyester cords. They
each wheelbarrow can a solid disc of 16 are now the standard tyre
carry up to six men. Wooden ox wheelbarrow teak segments. Gazelle steam engine for almost all cars. 1960s Mini

c.1035 1845 1910 2010

Spinning wheel
In China, a hand-crank-
operated driving wheel
is added to a hand-
spindle, automating it
and allowing multiple
spindles to be operated
Chinese spinner simultaneously.
Vulcanized rubber tyre Early automobile Modern wheel types
Robert Thomson uses spoked wheel Ultra-lightweight
vulcanized rubber Earliest automobile racing bicycles use
invented by Charles wheels have wooden composite carbon
Goodyear to make spokes, which are spokes, while car
pneumatic (air-lled) more suitable for wheels are made of
tyres, which are lighter narrow tyres, but tend magnesium, titanium,
and harder to wear out. to warp and crack. Ford Model T or aluminium alloys. High-tech racing bike

21
1800 700 BCE

The ancient Egyptian Rhind Papyrus is based on an original text written before 1795 BCE . It contains a series of mathematical
problems and their solutions, including calculations of the areas and volumes of geometrical gures.

IN THE EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM ,, ANOTHER REMEDY FOR Stick chart

,,
BCE, the composite bow was Made by Marshall Islanders
developed, probably in the SUFFERING IN HALF THE HEAD. THE in Micronesia, this chart
uses sticks to represent
steppes of Central Asia. Unlike SKULL OF A CAT-FISH, FRIED IN OIL. currents and waves, a
self bows made of a single piece
of wood, the composite bow was
ANOINT THE HEAD THEREWITH. technique that may have
been passed down from
ancient Polynesians.
made of laminated strips of horn, Ebers Papyrus 250, Egyptian medical treatise, c.1555 BCE
wood, and sinew, which together
provided greater range and Steppes to China, where they depictions of surgery have been India, where the
penetration, and allowed the bow were used during the Shang found on temple walls, but most earliest evidence
to be smaller and easier to use on (17661126 BCE) and Zhou knowledge of ancient Egyptian of ironworking is
horseback. The bow was further (1126256 BCE) dynasties, and medicine comes from papyri thought to date from
modied to become recurved, west into Egypt and Mesopotamia. written around 1550 BCE. These around 1300 BCE.
with the ends curving forward, There is evidence that doctors show that medicine had moved Until medieval
which added even more strength. existed in Egypt during the Old beyond a belief that disease was times, smelting in
Composite bows spread from the Kingdom (c.27002200 BCE) and a divine punishment. The Edwin the West produced
Smith Papyrus (c.1600 BCE) only bloom that needed to as the Rhind Papyrus. It is
air is blown in lime and crushed contains details of human be hammered to remove based on a text written before
with bellows to clay lining iron ore and anatomy, shows awareness impurities. It was only in China 1795 BCE and consists of a series
help raise the charcoal of the link between the pulse that furnaces capable of melting of problems and solutions. It
temperature
tuyres bowl-shaped and heartbeat, and also gives iron were developed and iron shows the use of unit fractions
furnace instructions for the diagnosis could be cast. Evidence of cast (1n), solutions for linear
and treatment of a range of iron production in China dates equations, and methods for
ailments and injuries. The from the 9th century BCE. calculating the areas of triangles,
Ebers Papyrus (c.1555 BCE), In mathematics, the rectangles, and circles. It also
dating from about the same time, Babylonians had made major shows the volumes of cylinders
includes descriptions of diseases, advances by 1800 BCE, producing and pyramids.
tumours, and even of mental tables of reciprocals, squares, The earliest boats recovered
disorders such as depression. and cubes and using them to date from before 6000 BCE, but
SMELTING The earliest intentional solve algebraic problems, such early navigation was not
production of iron was in as quadratic equations. Several sophisticated. The most
Pure iron melts at 1540C (2800F), higher than early technology Anatolia in Turkey, which was tablets are thought to show an effective navigators of this
could achieve, so instead it was smelted by reducing iron ore exporting small quantities of awareness of Pythagorass period were the Lapita people
with charcoal at around 1200C (2200F). The ore was packed with iron by the 19th century BCE. theorem (see 700400 BCE). The of the Pacic (ancestors of the
charcoal in bowl furnaces, and tuyres (clay nozzles) were used to At rst, iron was smelted only Babylonians also estimated pi Polynesians), who from 1200 BCE
blow air in to raise the temperature. The resulting molten metal on a small scale, but by 700 BCE to be about 3.125, close to the expanded eastwards to Vanuatu,
was cooled to form a bloom, a solid lump containing iron and production was widespread in actual value of about 3.142. New Caledonia, Samoa, and Fiji.
various impurities, which was then hammered repeatedly to Europe. Smelting also developed Most of what is known of ancient Their voyage to Fiji involved a
remove the impurities and extract the iron. independently in a number of Egyptian mathematics comes 850 km (530 miles) journey
places, including Africa and from mathematical texts such across open sea. To accomplish

s
ian l ns CE
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t
pit
a
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22
An Assyrian bronze relief of the mid-9th century BCE shows war chariots carrying
soldiers to assault the city of Khazazu (present-day Azaz, in Syria).

this, the Lapitan sailors must The invention of the spoked 1700 Melting point
crouching 1539
have used knowledge of winds, lion cub wooden wheel around 2000 BCE, of metals
stars, and currents. They may poppy pods along with the domestication 1350 Iron melts at

MELTING POINT (C)

in crown a far higher
also have created stick maps, of the horse, opened up new 1083 1064 temperature
like those later used by possibilities in land transport, 1000 950 than other metals
the Polynesians who permitting lighter vehicles used in early
settled as far as and eventually the use of 700 metallurgy.
China was rst
Easter Island, adaptable riding animals. to master the
328
Hawaii, and Although harnesses 350 232 technology to
(by 1000 were in use from the melt iron.
1200 CE) 3rd millennium 0
Iron Copper Gold Bronze Lead Tin
New BCE, signicant
Zealand. advances began METALS

In Egypt and the to be made from c.1500 BCE. preserving bodies in the desert sophistication around 1000 BCE.
Near East, glass began to be The halter yoke, with at straps sand. These corpses were Bodies were mummied by
clay gure
made in signicant amounts glazed with across the neck and chest of the wrapped in linen bandages removing the internal organs
from about 1600 BCE. In the late quartz and animal, made horses more dipped in resin, which also helped (apart from the heart), washing
2nd millennium BCE, the metal oxides efcient at pulling light chariots. to prevent the bodies from out the body cavity, and packing
technique of bonding glass to Weighing as little as 30 kg (66 lb), decaying. By around 2700 BCE, it with natron for 40 days to dry
ceramics to produce glazes these chariots could carry two the Egyptians had discovered it out. The natron was removed
was discovered. Glass cloisonn warriors and became crucial to that natron (a mixture of salts) and replaced with clean packets
inlays and enamelling (fusing many Near Eastern armies. desiccated esh and could be of natron and linen soaked in
glass to metal surfaces) were The preservation of corpses used to mummify bodies. They resin to restore the bodys shape
developed by the Mycenaeans in had its origins in the natural gradually rened this process before being coated in resin and
Greece around 1200 BCE. Casting process of drying out and until it reached a peak of bandaged in linen.
glass (by pouring molten glass
into a mould) was discovered in EARLY SCRIPTS
Mesopotamia around 800 BCE.
Around 100 years later, the The transition from symbolic scripts to an alphabetic one, where Proto-Sinaitic
symbol for the
Phoenicians had developed each individual sign represents a sound in the language, seems to letter D
clear glass. have rst taken place among miners in the Sinai desert of Egypt
around 1800 BCE. The signs appear to derive from Egyptian hieratic
script (a cursive script that developed alongside the hieroglyphic Proto-Sinaitic
symbol for the
system), but there are few inscriptions in this proto-Sinaitic
Snake goddess letter H
Faience reached its peak in alphabet and it is not certain whether slightly later alphabets in
the Minoan civilization, with the region, such as proto-Canaanite (17th century BCE) and Ugaritic
works such as this goddess (13th century BCE), derived from it or developed separately. By Proto-Sinaitic
statuette (c.1700 BCE), but symbol for the
1050 BCE, proto-Canaanite had evolved into the Phoenician script letter K
with more available glass,
faience was replaced by that is the ancestor of Greek and other European scripts.
glass-glazed ceramics.

n s
e ian Iro ome
nc nic BC
E
ec e st ian
s
ra hoe Ca ced
a
pe P
0
00 ng
b th E h e e nic ss,
Ap ped c.1 elti on in BC du ft o a l
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E
0 BC
v sm mm ast 0 rst 0 BC
BC
E
lea ck c
r
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c.1 fully etic c.9 n is a c.8 velo alph 0 p
c.7 velo ng r
o
Ne iro Chin De eek
of hab de itati
alp in Gr im

ian
pt n s s
gi e
gy atio ir si tin
CE
E
c he las in el urop
0 B mi h t on st g ced ia m E
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c .1 m s r t CE p o Iro cro
e his 0 B rst esop BC
E
d a
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0 M 00 rea
ch of c.7 esp
te eak d
p wi

23
700400 BCE

The School of Athens fresco by the 16th-century Italian artist Raphael contains idealized depictions
of a number of Greek thinkers, including Pythagoras (left, holding a book).

AS EARLY AS 2300 BCE, the
Babylonians had developed
a sexagesimal number system
(based on writing numbers in
multiples of 60) and the principle
of position (where numbers
in different positions represent
different orders of magnitude).
By 700 BCE they sometimes used
a marker to indicate a null
value (zero).
The screw pump (or Archimedes
Screw) is a cylindrical pump with
a central shaft surrounded by
inner blades in the shape of a
spiral and encased in wood. As
the shaft is rotated, water is
pulled up the spiral, transferring
it from a lower to a higher level.
The invention of the pump is
traditionally ascribed to the
ancient Greek mathematician
Archimedes (287212 BCE) in
Archimedes Screw
A hollow cylinder with rotors in the shape
of a spiral inside, the screw pump pulls
water upwards. The original version
would have been turned by foot.
spiral-shaped
rotors move
water up shaft
water collected
from bottom
around 250 BCE, but it was
probably rst invented much
earlier, in the 7th century BCE
under the rule of King
Sennacherib of Assyria to water
his palace gardens at Nineveh.
By the 1st millennium BCE, the
Babylonians had begun to make
maps of larger areas. By around
600 BCE they had produced a
world map, which showed
the city of Babylon in relation
to eight surrounding regions.
The rst known Chinese map,
found on an engraved bronze
plaque in the tomb of King Cuo
of Zhongshan, was a plan of the
kings proposed necropolis.
The ancient Greek cartographic
tradition began in Ionia in the
6th century BCE. Anaximander
(c.611546 BCE) is said to have
drawn the rst world map that
rotation
of shaft
water expelled
from top
showed Earth surrounded cuneiform inscriptions
by a great ocean. Hecataeus
of Miletus (c.550480 BCE) also
drew a map to accompany
his Survey of the World
that showed three great
continents, Libya (Africa),
Asia, and Europe.
The rst evidence of
scientic (as opposed
to supernatural)
thinking about the
nature of the world
came from ancient
Greek philosophers in
the 6th and 5th centuries
BCE. Thales of Miletus
(b. c.620 BCE) believed
that water was the
fundamental material
of the universe, and
that earthquakes
happened when
the surface of Earth
rocked on the watery
surface on which it
oated. In contrast,
Anaximander, who
was also from Miletus,
believed that the prime
material of the universe
was apeiron, a substance Salt Sea
that preceded air, re, and
water. He also put forward an
early evolutionary theory, Ancient map
suggesting that humans had This Babylonian
developed from a type of sh. map from around
600 BCE shows the relationship
The rst atomic theory was
between Babylon and other
also proposed by a Greek, the important places in West Asia,
philosopher Democritus of city of Babylon including Assyria and Urartu.

se t
su ta de
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CE
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a e c ght s 0 BC ar olu 3 0 B s th f th iang eore
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Ba rrou rig Pyt
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BC Th d th s th iver pa th am
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ar r i un Eu nel on S
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Ar use er a
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24
 1.04
KILOMETRES
THE LENGTH OF THE
TUNNEL OF EUPALINOS
AT SAMOS

The Tunnel of Eupalinos, built in the 6th century BCE, may have been excavated
accurately by surveying a series of right-angled triangles above ground.

Abdera (460370 BCE), who PLATO (424348 BCE) scriptures called the Vedas The Maya of Mesoamerica
postulated that matter was completed c.500 BCE contain developed a complex calendrical
made up of an innite number references to using astronomical system based on a series of
of minute, indivisible particles. One of the most inuential of observations for calculating the cycles based on the number 20,
The most famous the ancient Greek philosophers, dates of religious ceremonies which may initially have been
mathematician of the ancient Plato proposed a type of ideal and identies 28 star patterns developed by the Olmecs (the
world was the Greek, Pythagoras society ruled by philosopher- in the night sky to help track rst major civilization in Mexico)
of Samos (c.580500 BCE). kings, and espoused the the movements of the Moon. before the 5th century BCE. The
He established a school that importance of ethics as a guide In the 5th century BCE, Greek Mayan Haab (year) had 18 months
promoted the mystical powers to a just life. In his many works, thinkers moved away from of 20 days plus one of vedays
of numbers and particularly of he set out a theory of ideal simple cosmological theories one of the two elements of the
the tetraktys, the perfect forms, of which the material towards more sophisticated Calendar Round cycle. Mayan
arrangement of 10 as a triangle world is only a reection. Most ideas about the nature of the astronomers also oriented
of four rows. He is best known of his books are cast in the universe. Heraclitus (c.535 monuments to sunset positions
for the theorem bearing his form of dialogues by his 475 BCE) sought to explain at the equinoxes and solstices,
name (see panel, below), but teacher Socrates. phenomena in terms of ux and and were able to predict eclipses.
he also rmly believed in the change. He also believed in the The cities of the Indus Valley
transmigration of souls and unity of opposites, saying the were laid out in a grid pattern
his followers lived by a strict set Zhou Bi Suan Jing (some parts earlier, Chinese mathematicians road is the same both up and around 2600 BCE, but the rst
of rules, including a prohibition of which date to as early as also invented magic squares down. Empedocles of Acragas person to theorize urban
on eating beans. 500 BCE), contain proof of square grids of numbers in (494434 BCE) believed that all planning was Hippodamus of
The oldest major Chinese Pythagorass theorem. At about which the numbers in all rows, matter consisted of varying Miletus (493408 BCE). He is said
mathematical treatise, the the same time, or possibly all columns, and both diagonals proportions of earth, air, re, to have devised an ideal city for
add up to the same total. and water. This theory 10,000 citizens, laid
PYTHAGORASS THEOREM By around 530 BCE, Greek of four elements out on a grid. Using
surveying expertise had advanced remained his Hippodamian
The theorem of Pythagoras a2 + b2 = c2 sufciently to allow the engineer inuential for grid, he also laid out
states that the sum of the 9 + 16 = 25 Eupalinos of Samos to excavate many centuries. Piraeus, the harbour
squares of the two short a water channel 1.04 km town of Athens, and
sides of a right-angled (0.65 miles) through a hillside Thurii in Italy.
triangle are equal to by digging tunnels from each
the square of the end. The two tunnels met almost
hypotenuse (the long perfectly in the middle. Eupalinos Mesoamerican
c b glyph for Zapotec
calendrics
side). Although associated may have used Pythagorass year Four
a This Zapotec stele
with the Greek mathematician theorem to survey right-angled Serpent
from Monte Albn
Pythagoras, the theorem was b2 = 16 triangles above ground to in Mexico dates
known to the Babylonians around determine the path of the channel. from 500400 BCE
and contains some glyph for
1800 BCE and possibly also to the Indian astronomy is thought Zapotec day
of the earliest
Egyptians as early as 1900 BCE. a2 = 9 to have its roots in the Indus calendary glyphs Eight Water
Civilization. Ancient Hindu sacred from Mesoamerica.

ts
en r ise nd
u
us
us m at ced us rit he
e le a jo r e u Hi wn m
cata ces d e se ly e n m cal t prod e nt kno d da id oc es t
n r i te o m s
He odu orl i
Ch ians uare
s a
E E kno ma
w ti re c
An ture ple
s pp gr De opo ry
E
BC s p
r w BC e g a Hi wn CE r o
0 th
e B CE
t i c s q 0 st h
at in B CE
rip o m BC
E
to s 0 B ra p c the
0 tu
c.5 Mile p of 00 ma ic 0 r
c.5 the e m an J 00 sc re c 1 s
45 sign aeu
2 e
c. 4 Abd tom
i
c.5 athe mag c.5 cred as a
of ma m n t of ines i Su a
s V e d d e Pi
r of st a
his inv
e Ch ou B as for r
Zh

s es s
tu nt cle
cli s za onte do ry
e ra se i x n
Da t M ring pe theo ts
H ve u r
BC
E
ni of BC
E
d a ea les Em his en
00 he u ate 4 00 ecte o, b mp in CE
0 B ard r ele
m
. 5
c at t stt 0 er xic xa tes a 5
4 fo ou w
h n 50 elae n Me wn e da eric ts of f
e s t nsta st n i kno itten oam pu
iz
e or a co b
Al rst f w Me
r s
th in o
25
 2.5 MYA 7 9 9 CE B E FO R E S C I E N C E B E GA N

THE STORY OF 4 triangular

faces arranged

GEOMETRY
in same plane

ONE OF THE OLDEST BRANCHES OF MATHEMATICS, GEOMETRY IS EXPANDING INTO NEW AREAS

The term geometry derives from ancient Greek words meaning Earth 6 edges

measurement, but this branch of mathematics encompasses more than

map-making. It is about relationships between size, shape, and dimension
and also about the nature of numbers and mathematics itself.
Geometry rst arose as a series of ad hoc rules
and formulae used in planning, construction, and
mathematical problem-solving across the
ancient world. Greek philosophers such as
Thales, Pythagoras, and Plato were the rst to
recognize geometrys fundamental relationship
to the nature of space, and to establish it as a
eld of mathematics worthy of study in its
own right. Euclid, probably a student of Plato
and a teacher at Alexandria, summed up
early Greek geometry in his great work
The Elements, written around 300 BCE, and
established fundamental mathematical and
scientic principles
through complex
geometrical models
developed from a
handful of simple
rules or axioms.
Axioms of geometry
Euclids approach to
geometry had a huge
and lasting inuence
on later mathematicians.
Tetrahedron
BREAKTHROUGHS IN UNDERSTANDING
Throughout medieval times, philosophers
and mathematicians from various cultures
continued to use geometry in their models of
the Universe, but the next major breakthrough
did not come until the 17th century, with the
work of French mathematician and philosopher
Ren Descartes. His invention of coordinate
systems to describe the positions of points
in two-dimensional and three-dimensional
space gave rise to the eld of analytical
geometry, which used the new tools of
mathematical algebra to describe and
solve geometrical problems.
Descartess work led to more exotic forms of
geometry. Mathematicians had long known that
there were regions, such as the surface of a
sphere, where the axioms of Euclidian geometry Octahedron
did not hold. Investigation of such non-Euclidian
geometries revealed even more fundamental
12 edges
principles linking geometry and number, and in
1899 allowed German mathematician David
Hilbert to produce a new, more generalized,
set of axioms. Throughout the 20th century,
and into the 21st, these have been applied to
a huge variety of mathematical scenarios. 8 triangular faces

c.2500 BCE 360 BCE c.400 CE

Practical geometry
Early geometry is
driven by the need to
solve problems such
as working out the
volume of material
required to build
a pyramid.
Platonic solids Archimedean solids 1619
These ve regular, convex polyhedra Greek mathematician Keplers polyhedra
(solids with several sides) are long Pappus describes German
known, but Plato now links them to 13 convex polyhedra, mathematician
ideas about the structure of matter. comprising regular Johannes Kepler
They comprise ve shapes that can be polygons of two or more discovers a new class
formed by the joining together of types meeting in identical of polyhedra known
Pyramids at Giza identical faces along their edges. vertices or corners. as star polyhedra.

c.500 BCE 4th century BCE 9 th century

Pythagoras Geometric tools Islamic geometry
The Greek philosopher The hugely inuential philosopher Mathematicians and astronomers
lends his name to the Plato argues that the tools of a true of the Islamic world explore
formula for calculating geometrician should be restricted the possibilities of spherical
the hypotenuse (long to the compass and straight geometry; geometric patterns
side) of a right-angled edge, and so helps to establish used in Islamic decoration at this
triangle from the lengths geometry as a science rather Pair of time show similarities to modern
of its other two sides. Theorem of Pythagoras than a practical craft. compasses fractal geometry. Mosaic at Alhambra

26

Platonic solids
There are only ve convex polyhedra
(solids having several sides) that can
be formed by joining identical polygons
(shapes with three or more sides). Known
as the Platonic solids, they are the cube
(hexahedron), tetrahedron, octahedron,
dodecahedron, and icosahedron.
6 square faces
12 edges
Hexahedron (cube)
Dodecahedron
12 pentagonal
faces
20 triangular
faces
30 edges
1637
Analytic geometry
Ren Descartess inuential work
La Gometrie introduces the idea
that points in space can be measured
with coordinate systems, and that
geometrical structures can be
described by equations a eld
Keplers polyhedra known as analytic geometry.
1858
Topology
Mathematicians become
fascinated by topology edges
and surfaces, rather than
specic shapes. The iconic
Mbius strip is an object with
a single surface and a single
Mbius strip continuous edge.
T H E S TO R Y O F G E O M E T R Y
SPHERICAL GEOMETRY
So-called spherical geometry allows the
calculation of angles and areas on spherical
surfaces, such as points on a map or the
positions of stars and planets on the imaginary
celestial sphere used by astronomers. This
system does not follow all Euclidean rules.
In spherical geometry, the three angles in
a triangle sum to more than 180 degrees and
parallel lines eventually intersect.
Icosahedron
,,
,,
LET NO ONE DESTITUTE
OF GEOMETRY COME
UNDER MY ROOF.
30 edges Plato, Greek philosopher and mathematician, c.427347 BCE
Z
20th century
(x,y,z) Fractal geometry
Computing power allows fractals
x z equations in which detailed
Y patterns repeat on varying scales
y to be illustrated in graphical
X form, producing iconic
Cartesian images such as the Mandelbrot
system famous Mandelbrot set. fractal
1882 Present day
Klein discovery Computerized proofs
Investigating geometries Computer power solves
with more than three problems such as the
dimensions, German four-colour theorem
scholar Felix Klein (only four colours are
discovers a construct needed to distinguish
with no surface Modern between regions of
boundaries. Klein bottle even complex maps). Four-colour map
27
400335 BCE

Euclids Elements is one of the most important mathematical texts from the ancient world.
It consists of 13 books and was originally written in Greek.

,, IF YOU CUT OPEN

THE HEAD, YOU WILL
FIND THE BRAIN

,,
HUMID, FULL OF
SWEAT AND HAVING
A BAD SMELL
Hippocrates, from On the Sacred Disease, 400 BCE

Healing hands began the study of dynamics by

ASTRONOMERS IN GREECE
were interested in predicting
the location of celestial bodies.
This led the Greek astronomer
Eudoxus of Cnidus (c.408355 BCE)
to develop a geometrical model
of the heavens, in which the
Sun, Moon, and planets moved
in a series of 27 concentric
spheres. He also made an
accurate estimate of the length
of the year at 365.25 days. At the
time, most Greek astronomers
believed Earth was stationary at
the centre of the Solar System,
but Heraclides of Pontus
(388312 BCE) offered a variation
on this theory. He claimed that
Earth rotated on an axis, which
explained the changing seasons.
Greek medicine moved in a
more scientic direction when
Alcmaeon of Croton began to
teach that health is achieved
by balancing the elements in
the body. Hippocrates of Cos
(460370 BCE), who valued clinical
observation, including taking
a patients pulse, applied this
theory, teaching that imbalances
in the body and impurities in
the air could cause disease.
In the mid-5th century BCE,
Euryphon of Cnidus, who was
A marble frieze
showing
Hippocrates
treating a sick
woman. He
advocated careful
examination to
determine the
underlying
disease.
from a rival school, taught that and water to include a fth
diseases were caused by residues aither which caused the stars
building up in the body and and planets to move in a circular
advised that these be neutralized. motion. Aristotle modied
The Greek polymath, Aristotle, Eudoxuss theory to explain
rened the theory of the four anomalies, adding additional
elements earth, air, re, spheres to a total of 55. He also
MOTION OF THE SPHERES
Greek astronomers explained irregularities in planetary motions
by theorizing that the Sun, Moon, and planets each sat in a series
of concentric spheres. The circular motion (at differing speeds) of
each sphere generated the planets orbits.
In the early 2nd century, the astronomer Ptolemy replaced the
spheres with circles in his model of the Solar System.
theorizing that speed could be
directly proportional to the weight
of the body, the force applied,
and the density of the medium
in which the body moved.
The foundations of geometry
were laid in the mid-4th century
BCE by the Greek mathematician
and father of geometry, Euclid
of Alexandria (325265 BCE)
in his 13-book work called
Elements. In it he puts forward
a set of ve geometrical
postulates and nine common
notions (or axioms). From these
he deduced a set of theorems,
including Pythagorass theorem,
and that the sum of angles in a
triangle is always 180 degrees.
Elements also included
pioneering work on number
theory, including an algorithm
for the greatest common divisor.

tes ces s t
ra
oc alan ato ry de
p Pl theo cli tha s
p
Hi imb BC
E ra es axi
t 0 the e
H ach its
CE
0 B s tha can 35 rd BC
E
te on
0 y 9 0 rwa ms 50 tus tes
c. 4 che bod ase c.3 ts fo l fo
r . 3
c Po rotan
tea the dise pu idea of rth
in use o f Ea
ca

s m e
nd fro s otl
ou ol us at k i ist of
a to f cho ns ox s Bo mar sel Ar ory es
s n es CE e
Pl my the ud s hi f CEB
De lt v
B th her
CE e A E p o 00 22 e p
7 B cad at 3 ng in -bui 3 es th of s
E
BC elo n
8
3 eA 75 ev otio res 0
5 ri er 0
35 en tion
th c.3 us d of m phe c.3 rtsp link r o
id y ls o
Hj rst
c m
Cn or tia
of the les e
e
28 c t h
334300 BCE

14
THOUSAND
THE NUMBER OF SPECTATORS
THAT CAN BE SEATED AT THE
THEATRE IN EPIDAURUS

The acoustic properties of the theatre at Epidaurus in Greece, built by Polycleitus the Younger in
the 4th century BCE , allowed the actors to be heard perfectly up to 60 m (197 ft) from the stage.

GREEK MEDICINE MADE engineering was used in the

SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES hydraulic machinery needed
in the 4th century BCE after to raise fuel to the re that
the dissection of human bodies burned on top by night. During
was pioneered by Diocles of the day, a mirror of polished
Carystus, who wrote the rst metal or glass reected the
book devoted to anatomy. The Sun to create a warning beacon
foundation of the Museum, a for ships.
scientic academy set up by Pythagoras had experimented
Ptolemy I of Egypt (367283 BCE), with acoustics in the 6th century
helped give rise to an Alexandrian BCE. Aristotle advanced his work
school of medicine. One further in the 4th century BCE by
member, Herophilus of Via Appia theorizing that sound consisted
Chalcedon (335280 BCE), The rst major Roman road, the Via In Europe, wooden trackways of contractions and expansions
Appia, originally ran from Rome
identied the brain as the seat to Capua. It was gravelled; paving
had been used to traverse wet in the air. The Greek theatre at
of the nervous system and stones were added in 295 BCE. and marshy ground since Epidaurus used stepped rows of
made a distinction between Neolithic times, but proper seats to lter out low-frequency
arteries and veins. the force that pulls heavy roads needed a strong, background noise, which
Greek understanding of objects down. He argued for centralized political authority allowed actors to be heard
physics also progressed under the existence of a vacuum and to build and maintain them. In perfectly in the back row.
Strato of Lampsacus (c.335 showed that, because air can be 312 BCE, the Romans began to Compiled before 300 BCE,
269 BCE). He rejected the idea compressed, voids must exist construct a vast network of the Chinese text Huang Di Pharos of Alexandria
of a force pushing light objects, between the particles of which roads, that bound their empire Nei Jing explains human The Pharos of Alexandria was one
of the Seven Wonders of the World.
such as air, upwards to counter it is made up. together. The rst road they physiology and pathology in It was destroyed by an earthquake
built, which ran from Rome terms of the balancing forces in the 14th century.
ARISTOTLE (384322 BCE) to Capua, was called Via Appia. of the universe: the opposing,
Roman roads were 38 m but mutually dependent, thought to be caused by an
A founding gure in Western (1026 ft) wide and were laid principles of yin and yang; the imbalance of yin and yang, in
philosophy, Aristotle was a pupil out on solid clay beds or timber ve elements (earth, re, wood, the patients qi, and in the
at Platos Academy in Athens. frameworks, lled with loose water, and metal); and qi, the ve elements that had their
During his career he wrote int or gravel. Sometimes they essence of which everything is counterparts in the organs of
more than 150 treatises on were bound together with lime composed. Ill health was the body and the environment.

5
almost every aspect of Greek mortar and topped with paving
philosophy and science. He stones, or cobbles in cities.
taught an empirical approach, The Pharos of Alexandria THE NUMBER OF
that knowledge is gained from was commissioned c.300 BCE
experience, and that all matter by the ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy I. PLATONIC SOLIDS
consists of a changeable form
and an unchangeable substance.
It was the tallest lighthouse in
the ancient world at 125150 m
(REGULAR POLYHEDRALS)
(410492 ft) high. Innovative IN EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY
d
e
otl m CE y, sis an
a ist eu 0 B es or s
ilu s e ba m a
E f xtr Ar Lyc ns 27 clud The ph ie y I aros E t h a s d e u i
BC
0 us o ds e n
30 n i en t e ro ent at m h BC s s ru ds ar s dr I
Mu an
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4 B th th
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sp eory wh nda ic t of e br nerv co Alex th Gre E le geo h u Fir der- is
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29
300250 BCE

,, EUREKA! I HAVE FOUND IT.

Attributed to Archimedes, Greek inventor and philosopher c.287c.212 BCE
,,
The Roman writer Vitruvius recorded that when Archimedes got into his bath he noticed that his
body displaced a certain amount of water. This gave him the idea for the Archimedes Principle.

MAGNETIC IRON LODESTONES
were described in Chinese
literature of the 3rd century BCE.
By c.83 the Chinese text Lun-
heng (Discourses Weighed in the
Balance) had mentioned
the electrostatic qualities of
amber, which becomes charged
when rubbed.
At around this time, Chinese
diviners may also have discovered
that iron, when rubbed against a
lodestone, becomes magnetized
and will point in a particular
direction. The rst primitive
compasses were iron ladles
set on divining boards that
pointed south.
In Greece, Theophrastus of
Lesbos (c.370287 BCE) a pupil of
Aristotle and also his successor
as head of the Lyceum school in
Athens, extended Aristotles
work, particularly in botany.
He wrote Enquiry into Plants and
On the Causes of Plants, which
classied plants into trees,
shrubs, and herbs. He also
began the study of plant
reproduction and discussed
the best methods of cultivation
for agriculture and companion
planting to combat pests.
In astronomy, Aristarchus of
Samos (c.310230 BCE) rejected forces water through the
the prevailing view among early
Greek astronomers that Earth
was at the centre of the Solar
System. He believed that Earth
rotated in orbit around the Sun;
whether he considered the other
planets also orbited the Sun is
unclear. Aristarchus estimated
the comparative sizes of the
Sun and Earth at a ratio of about
20:1, and calculated
the distance
between Earth and
the Sun to be 499
times the radius
of Earth.
The science
of pneumatics
was founded by
Ctesibius of
Alexandria in the
early 3rd century
BCE. It is said that
one of his rst
inventions was
Chinese compass
A Han-era compass
in the form of a
magnetized ladle
set on a bronze
plate, featuring
a diviners
representation
of the cosmos.
Ctesibian pump
The rocker arm pushes the
piston down on one side,
creating pressure that
closes the inlet valve and
moves pistons
outow tube. Reduced
pressure on the opposite
side opens the valve to let
more water in.
chamber lls
with water
reduced pressure
opens inlet valve
water sucked in
an adjustable-height mirror for
his fathers barber shop that used
air compressed by counterweights
to move up and down. He
developed this idea to produce the
Ctesibian device, a two-chamber
force pump that used pistons
attached to a rocker to create
pressure. With the chambers of
the device immersed in water, the
rocker was moved up and down,
alternately sucking water into
one chamber and forcing it out
of the other.
Another inventor, and
philosopher, Archimedes
(287212 BCE) was also one of
the greatest mathematicians
of ancient Greece. In On the
Measurement of a Circle he
presented a method for
calculating the area and
pivot
water
rocker arm forced up
and out
piston
goes up piston
goes down
pressure
pushes
outlet
valve open
reduced pressure pressure
shuts outlet valve forces inlet
valve shut
circumference of a circle. He
also produced methods for
calculating the volumes of solids,
proving that the volume of a
sphere inside a circumscribed
cylinder is two-thirds that of
the cylinder. Archimedes was the
founder of hydrostatics (the
science of uids at rest). He
showed that objects placed in
water will displace a quantity of
liquid equal to their buoyancy.
He also developed a systematic
theory of statics, showing how
two weights balance each other
at distances proportional to their
relative magnitude. His aptitude
for practical applications led him
to develop the Archimedes screw
(see 700400 BCE) to pump out
the bilges of a huge ship he built
for the ruler of Syracuse. During

es e
us ed g th a
i m n
ch ch ati are
i star ps Ar lcul nd
Ar velo ory a
E a
BC c e
CE e e 60 on enc
5 0 B os d ic th c.2 rks fer
c.2 Sam entr o
w cu cl m e
r
of lioc cir a ci
he of

CEB
00 of
c.3 stus to of
a s
hr art ts us s
e op s st plan s ibi lop
e e p
Th sbo ify Ct dev um
Le lass 0 BC
E
r ia an p
c 5 nd ibi
c.2 lexa tes
A eC
30 th
 249100 BCE

Erasistratus is said to have cured Antiochus, the son of Seleucus I of Syria, who was gravely ill. He identied the disease
as love-sickness for his stepmother Stratonice, one of the rst diagnoses of a psychosomatic illness.

the Roman conquest of Sicily, in ANATOMY ADVANCED as the Sieve of Eratosthenes

214 BCE, he was employed by the
state to build various machines
to defend Syracuse from attack.
This included the Claw of
Archimedes a type of crane
with a huge grappling hook that
could capsize enemy ships.
volume of water displaced
is equal to volume of object
heavy
load
upthrust equal
to weight of
water displaced
ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE
This states that a solid object,
partly or wholly immersed in
a liquid, has a buoyant force
acting on it that is equal to
the weight of the uid it
displaces. The relative density
of the object can be worked
out by dividing the weight of
the object by the weight of the
displaced liquid. The boat
above can support a heavy
load because it displaces
a lot of water, therefore the
buoyant force supporting it
is equally great.
CONSIDERABLY IN GREECE with
the work of Erasistratus of Cos
(c.304250 BCE). He developed a
theory of vascular circulation,
in which he said that blood
passed through the body in veins,
while arteries distributed pneuma
(air) to vital organs. He also gave
an accurate description of the
brain, including the cerebellum,
and distinguished sensory from
motor nerves.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene
(c.275195 BCE) made the rst
map of the world featuring
lines of longitude and latitude
in around 240 BCE. He also
calculated the dimensions of
Earth by comparing the angles
of shadows at noon at Alexandria
and Syene in Egypt, which are
on roughly the same longitude.
He yielded a gure of 250,000
stades about 48,070 km
(29,870 miles) which is within
one per cent of the true gure.
Eratosthenes
also worked out
a simple method
of nding prime
numbers, known
Basilica
Maxentius
This early 4th-
century concrete
Basilica was the
largest building in
Rome at the time.
(see panel, right). circled numbers crossed-out numbers
Greek geometry advanced are primes are non-primes
further in the late 3rd century BCE
with the work of Apollonius of 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Perga (c.262190 BCE), whose
major work was entitled On 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Conics. In it he described
the properties of the three 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
fundamental types of conic
section the ellipse, parabola, 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
and hyperbola. He also developed
the theory of epicycles circular
orbits rotating around a larger
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
circumference to rene the
theory of the motion of the SIEVE OF ERATOSTHENES
spheres (see 400335 BCE).
The Romans found a way This is a simple algorithm for nding prime numbers. Starting at 2,
of bonding small stones to without striking it out, strike out all multiples of 2 to the end of the
produce concrete in the late 2nd series. Return to the next non-struck out number (3) and without
century BCE. By adding pozzolana striking it out strike out every multiple of 3 to the end. Repeat the
stone (ash from prehistoric process; eventually all the non-struck out numbers will be prime.
volcanoes) to lime, they produced
a strong binding mortar. This
meant they could build stronger using concrete was the Porticus Hipparchus also calculated the
and cheaper monumental Aemilia in Rome in 193 BCE. length of the year to be 365.2467
buildings. The rst structure built Observational astronomy was days very close to the true value.
revolutionized by Hipparchus of At this time, the Chinese were
Nicaea (c.190120 BCE), who made busy rening the production of
a new map of the heavens that paper. The process of soaking
catalogued 850 stars. He invented and pulping textile rags then
a new astronomical sighting tool drying them out on a screen to
and surveying instrument called produce a brous mat for writing
the dioptra that was in use until on, probably dates from the late
it was replaced by the armillary 3rd century BCE. Although the
sphere. Using the dioptra, he invention of paper is often
discovered the phenomenon ascribed to Cai Lun (50121),
of precession, by which stars he probably just rened this
appear to move gradually in process and introduced new pulp
relation to the equinoxes. materials, such as tree bark.

p
tu
s es ve
lo
en k of s
tra th s de s
ri d
ya c BC
E
us ibe
sis shes to s e lt s
ve ea ka cti 60 ch cr the
a
Er gui om ra asur ns Ce yre Sil m l T he n Ar c.1 ppar des of
EE E i
CE n
0 B disti um f
r BC m
e sio
n 0 BC
o nt B C E
fro es BC
E
ed a Hi caea sion
5 4 0 ne e 20 e ir 00 ted And 00 lop ric Ni eces xes
c.2 Cos rebr llum c.2 Cyre s dim re c c.2 trac the c.2 deve Ame
of e ce rebe of rth fo pie ex e in is rth pr uino
Be gle eq
th e ce Ea si n or No
th

of f
eo ity
ius the ch ake jor s
o n o
M m ce Ma lyph u ge
oll es ns E
ica pie s CE g r tl
ar
Ap crib ctio BC
00 mer wo- uld 00 eo Pe rs ding is
BC
E
es se 2 5 ca g d in il
30 ga nic
d .
c h A x t mo C E z e e
Th e bu ilia me

c.2 Per f co ut ple ry 0 B Na eat E
m Ro
So com otte 20 the e cr BC ret e
so 3 A n
tie
p of ar 19 conc cus ilt i
p er rti bu
pr
o Po
31
100 BCE49 CE
,, THE LAWS OF MECHANICS ARE

,,
FOUNDED ON THOSE OF NATURE, AND ARE
ILLUSTRATED BY STUDYING THE MASTER-
MOVEMENTS OF THE UNIVERSE ITSELF.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, Roman architect and engineer, from
Ten Books on Architecture, c.15 BCE

A medieval depiction of a Vitruvian undershot waterwheel. Operated with a hand lever, the buckets ll with
water as the wheel rotates and the buckets dip into a water source. The water is deposited at the top.

THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM time cycles, such as the 19-year
IS A COMPLEX DEVICE that shows Metonic cycle the basis for
the earliest understanding of the ancient Greek calendar.
gears. Dating from around By the 1st century BCE the
80 BCE, it was recovered in 1900 Maya calendar had developed
from a shipwreck off the Greek a 5,125-year era known as the
island of Antikythera. Made up Long Count. Twenty tun (years)
of a series of bronze toothed made a katun, 20 katun were
dials and at least 30 gears, it a baktun, and 13 of these
is thought to have been used completed the whole era. The
to predict solar and lunar earliest known date inscribed
eclipses and to track other in the Long Count system is
9 December, 36 BCE; this is found
driven gear rotates on a stele at Chiapa de Corzo
anti-clockwise in Mexico. The Maya also used
a 52-year Calendar Round,
with two elements working in
combination the 260-day Tzolkin
calendar and the 365-day Haab.
Around 90 BCE Posidonius of
Apamea, (c.13550 BCE) used
the relative position of the star
Canopus, seen from Alexandria
and Rhodes, to calculate the
driver gear rotates
clockwise
size of Earth. His calculation
was 240,000 stades, only slightly
GEARS smaller than the estimate of
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (see
Mentioned c.330 BCE by 250100 BCE). Posidonius also
Aristotle, the Romans calculated the size of the Moon
brought gears into common and made a study of tides,
use during this period in
ROMAN VETERINARY SCIENCE
Roman interest in veterinary
science sprang from the needs
of farmers and also of the
army, which had large cavalry
units. In the army, specialists
called mulomedicus cared for
military donkeys and horses.
Around 45 CE the Roman
writer Columella wrote
extensively on the care and
diseases of farm animals.
relating them to the phases
of the Moon.
Around this time, the Greek
physician Asclepiades of Bithynia
(c.12940 BCE) put forward his
idea of the brain being the seat
of sensation. He developed a
theory of disease based on the
ow of atoms in the body, a
doctrine he derived from the
atomic theory of the 5th-century-
BCE philosopher Democritus. His
treatment methods were very
subtle, prescribing baths and
exercises. Perhaps less humane
The Romans also advanced
engineering in this period. The
architect Vitruvius (c.8415 BCE)
was the rst to explain
the use of siphons
to lessen hydraulic
pressure in pumps.
He also described
the Vitruvian turning
wheel. When the wheel was
turned, buckets emptied water
into a channel at the top and
early terracotta lled up from a water source
horse head at the bottom. This type of
undershot waterwheel had
probably been invented earlier,
were the practices of his follower but Vitruvius may have rened
Themison of Laodicea, who was it to make it more effective.
the rst recorded physician to Glassblowing was developed
use leeches to bleed patients. around 50 BCE in Roman-
The Roman writer Celsus controlled Syria. Glassmakers
(c.25 BCE50 CE) produced one obtained a more even ow by
of the most important blowing molten glass through a
texts on medicine, tube (either freely or into
De Medicina, an a mould), rather
encyclopaedic than just pouring
summary of medical it. The higher
knowledge of the quality glassware
time. In it, he gave that resulted led to
accounts of the use the establishment
of opiates for calming of glassworks
patients and laxatives throughout the

3
waterwheels and hoists. to purge them. He Roman Empire.

MILLION
Gears are made up of sets of also detailed many
interlocking toothed wheels. surgical techniques,
They work when a larger including the removal Roman glass
wheel engages with a small THE DIAMETER OF THE SUN of kidney stones The strong colours
of this 1st century CE
wheel and alters the speed of
a driving mechanism.
IN STADES, ACCORDING and how to operate
on cataracts (clouding
vase from Lebanon
are typical of the early
TO POSIDONIUS of the lens in the eye). Imperial period.

e
es ine
g hin st to y br g
of t nin e ct CE
C r b lin
ing es ai at ite l
c.1 e the t sa d bo
t i
CE ion ra rli cont nt d rch se
0 B ruct ythe low e a
E n ou a u ar trac an
8
c. nst tik
b
s th t E
tio C an es
las by van
BC
36 crip ong m ib ex ning
Co e An nism EG d Le s L Ro escr mp m
i
BC ope
E
th cha e in ya C d u
0 l th Ma 5 B us e p
m
e c.5 deve s in c.1 ruvi forc
is rian i
V tht e
Sy of

of ea ius es us
se a
f u hin am e uv s
itr hod d rit g C els cal
o
e in C Ap e siz n es V
et an l a w erin s CE e d i a
n c f
s o th oo iad ps CE
5 B s m ng ts
e l
m co as
v e 50 m icin
ide re niu tes d M lep elo ry c.1 ribe veyi educ olu tise dise 2 5 the Med
Ev nctu do cula h an
c
As dev heo e C c. ces De
E i s c ur qu ea l
5 C a tr ima
u s E u
C CE ia t s de of s g a
0 B up Po cal Eart 5 B hyn ist isea od dia
c.9 ac CE .7
c Bit tom f d in c. 4 an pr ope
0B of o ild c l
c .9 of he a bu cy
t en
32
5074
,,
,,
NATURE WILL NEVER FOLLOW
PEOPLE, BUT PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO
FOLLOW THE LAWS OF NATURE.
Dioscorides, Greek physician and botanist, from De Materia Medica, c.5070

An illustration of the common bilberry, traditionally used for circulatory problems, from
a 6th-century manuscript of Dioscoridess Materia Medica (Regarding Medical Materials).

Moche medicine
This ceramic from
the Moche culture
of Peru shows a
doctor treating
a recumbent
patient.
INDIAN MEDICINE HAD ITS
ROOTS IN THE VEDIC PERIOD
before 1000 BCE, but in the period
100 BCE100 CE, the Caraka
Samhit (Compendium of Caraka)
appeared as one of the earliest
Indian medical texts. The book
highlights the importance of
clinical examination and the
use of careful regimes of drugs or
diets to cure illnesses. Traditional
Indian, or ayurvedic, medicine
came to stress the importance
of balancing humours in the body
and ensuring srotas (channels) in
the body transport uids correctly.
Much of what is known about The Greek geometer and sphere is spun by steam forced through
medicine in ancient South inventor Hero of Alexandria steam power pipe and into sphere
America comes from (c.1070 BCE) described a variety
examination of the ceramics of of cranes including the barulkos,
the Moche people from the late which operated using a toothed
1st century CE onwards. These worm-gear that could not
depict a variety of injured patients, reverse and which prevented
bung blocks
including some with facial loads from slipping. He provided
steam from
paralysis, and also show the the rst description of a lathe exiting the
bent pipe allows
use of crutches, and primitive for the precision cutting of steam to escape, cauldron
prosthetic legs for amputees. screws, and was also the rst which pushes the
The rst pharmacopoeia to describe the use of a wind sphere around
(compilation of medicinal wheel, in which the
plants) was compiled by rotating vanes
Dioscorides in Greece. In it operated pistons
he described over 600 plants, that made the
including their physical pipes of a water
properties and effects on organ sound. Hero is
patients. Hugely inuential, perhaps most well known
it was used by physicians for his studies into the
throughout the Middle Ages. properties of steam. He used
The Huainanzi (Master Huainan) his knowledge to build an
is a compilation of Chinese aeolipile. This is a primitive cauldron
knowledge composed before form of steam engine that uses lled with
122 BCE. It touches on a range of steam to spin a hollow sphere. water
subjects, including philosophy,
metaphysics, natural science, cauldron
Heros aeolipile
and geography. It is notable for stand
The aeolipile is the only known
its analysis of mathematical and ancient machine operated by
steam. It makes the sphere spin by
musical harmonies, including
channelling steam from a cauldron fuel for re
a description of the traditional into a hollow sphere and out of the
12-tone Chinese scale. bent pipes that are attached to it.

600
THE NUMBER OF
PLANTS DESCRIBED
IN DIOSCORIDESS
DE MATERIA MEDICA
he
f et ss
eo uc es s
las gla
On n a od als rid
r
ep u
s co st s g me
BC
E
di a ak es an ibe s
o r s
le ro e
00 t In ar d of escr es Di ur ch pir
r 1 lies ts, C pile C hin ng m o
er a d ran 70 the ia olo poly em
t e r x 0 ili 0 H dri n c 5 0 iles poe C
0 e s an
Af e ea al te com c.5 st sa c.5 exan rive c. mp aco c.7 plac Rom
th dic t, is r Al ar-d co arm re the
e
m mhi ge ph in
Sa

t t
rs en r be
s ith s
s s nv s w ear an s
an glas e i g oa tri to p m
s sh tion ts i
h app Ro cale g
om w e in t i es 5 s
0 R do hin er t
co ca pa
r
es ams e 7 rd gh
in
10 win 5 0 C eath 0 S itri ram h i n r f or elya wei
. f c.5 se v en Be ste for
0 se c lf- 0C
c .5 u e u gth c .5 t
es en
th en inv
str

33
 2 . 5 M YA 7 9 9 C E B E FO R E S C I E N C E B E GA N

UNDERSTANDING
SIMPLE MACHINES
DEVICES THAT CHANGE THE SIZE AND DIRECTION OF FORCES HAVE BEEN USED SINCE ANCIENT TIMES

Mechanical devices are composed of different working parts. Among the
most important are six basic components called simple machines, which
mathematicians and engineers have studied since ancient times: the wheel
and axle, the inclined plane, the lever, the pulley, the wedge, and the screw.
Greek engineer Hero of Alexandria (1st century the pivot at which those forces act. So, to
CE) was the rst person to bring together the gain a very large mechanical advantage
simple machines, in his book Mechanica, (multiplication of force) and move a heavy
although the inclined plane was not included load a very long lever should be used, but
in his account. Hero illustrated and explained the load needs to be close to the pivot point.
various devices for lifting heavy objects. Others What the ancient engineers didnt realize is that
before him had studied why these devices there is always a pay-off between force and the
work most notably, Archimedes of Syracuse distance to gain a large mechanical advantage,
(3rd century BCE), who studied levers. Archimedes the long end of the lever moves through a large
worked out that the ratio between the input force distance, while the load moves only a small way.
(the effort) and the output force (the load) is Similarly, using pulleys to lift a heavy load, the
equal to the ratio between the distances from length of rope you must pull is much greater
than the distance the
HERO
Hero (or Heron) of load moves. The amount
Alexandria was one of work done by the
of the most prolic effort is the same as
engineers of ancient
Greece. He is seen here the amount of work
demonstrating his done by the load
aeolipile, an early (neglecting friction).
example of the use
of steam power.
INCLINED PLANE
People have used simple ramps (inclined planes)
to gain a mechanical advantage since prehistory.
A person raising an object by pushing it up a
ramp pushes with a lesser force than if they were
lifting the object directly; however, they have to
push along the ramps length, while the load
moves, vertically, a much shorter distance.
small effort force
can lift a heavy load
distance travelled
by the effort force
distance travelled
by the load
RAMP
The simplest example of an inclined plane is a ramp.
A heavy load can be pushed up a ramp in a continuous
motion that requires a smaller force than would be
required to lift the load straight up.
axe blade (load)
effort force
wood splits apart

handle on wheel horizontal force

(crank) turns in a
larger circle than
the axle

WEDGE
Two inclined planes back to back make a wedge. An axe
WHEEL AND AXLE blade is a wedge, which forced vertically into a block of wood
produces a strong horizontal force. The force splits the
The wheel was invented in Mesopotamia around wood but the two pieces move only a small distance apart.
3500 BCE. When a wheel is xed to an axle, the two
turn together; ancient engineers used wheels in axle
devices such as the windlass by winding ropes effort
rope lifts weight force
around the axle. The mechanical advantage of a the longer the inclined
plane (and the shallower
windlass is the ratio of the crank wheels radius the thread), the more
to the axles radius if the crank wheel has weight moves turns it takes to drive
the screw home
twice the radius of the axle, the effort force will less distance
effort force than the handle
be doubled. Door handles and bicycle cranks inclined plane
equivalent to the
are modern examples screw thread
of the wheel and axle. TURNING FORCE
Gears are interlocking A rope is pulled by an axle
turned by a wheel. By making
wheels without axles; a wheel much larger than the
the mechanical axle, it is possible to gain a
weight
SCREW
advantage is the ratio large mechanical advantage A screw thread is equivalent to an inclined plane wrapped
but the handle moves around a shaft. Turning a screw inside a material pulls it
of diameters between through a much greater inwards. Screws are also used to move water, grain, and
one gear and the next. distance than the weight. load other bulk materials in screw conveyors.

34
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G S I M P L E M A C H I N E S

PULLEYS LEVERS
A simple pulley a rope passed over a free-moving wheel effort is The mechanical advantage of a lever is the ratio
half the
has no mechanical advantage, because the rope is continuous. load of distances from the fulcrum (pivot) to the effort
But by passing the rope underneath a pulley, the load is shared and the load. The ratio can be equal to one, or
between two sections of the rope, and the effort is reduced by greater than or less than one. There are three
half; in that case, the load moves half as far as the end of the types of lever, distinguished by the positions of
rope is pulled. By combining two or more pulley blocks, the the effort and load relative to the fulcrum.
mechanical advantage can be increased further.
CLASS 1 LEVER
xed pulley block
SINGLE PULLEY A class 1 lever has the fulcrum
A rope passed over one pulley can fulcrum between the effort and the
load
raise a weight attached to the load. A seesaw is a familiar
end of the rope. This set-up has moveable example normally, the pivot
no mechanical advantage, but pulley block is in the centre with the load
pulley wheel
it does change the direction and effort at an equal distance,
around which
of the force and it can effort so there is no mechanical
the rope moves
be more convenient than advantage. However, an adult
simply lifting the weight. sitting close to the pivot can
PLIERS
be lifted by a child sitting
weight rises on the opposite end.
movement

load is raised
half as far as
rope is pulled load effort

end of the rope

moves the HALF THE EFFORT fulcrum
same distance A single pulley block can be used to
as the weight create a mechanical advantage of
two. If the rope is slung under the fulcrum
load is the pulley wheel, the force is shared CLASS 2 LEVER
weight of between the two sections of load In a class 2 lever, the load is
effort is the object rope either side of the pulley.
equal to load
closer to the fulcrum than the
effort is so the mechanical
advantage is greater than one.
This can make it easy to lift heavy
weights, as in a wheelbarrow.
BLOCK AND TACKLE EASY TO LIFT xed pulley
A block and tackle with more block with NUTCRACKER
An arrangement of two pulley
blocks, one xed and one pulley wheels gives an two wheels
moving, is called a block and increased mechanical
advantage. In this example, effort movement
tackle. The mechanical
advantage is still two, the job of lifting the load
because the load is is shared between four
pulled by two ropes sections of rope, so
but pulling the rope the mechanical
downwards is more advantage is four. load
convenient.
rope must be
xed pulled four
pulley times as far as fulcrum effort
block the weight rises

CLASS 3 LEVER
In a class 3 lever, the effort is
closer to the fulcrum than the load,
load so the mechanical advantage is
moveable always less than one. The load
moveable pulley block moves further (and faster) than
pulley block with two wheels
the effort; a golf club benets
effort
from this effect.

effort force is effort force is one

half the load quarter the load movement
fulcrum
TONGS

load

load is the load is the

weight of weight of fulcrum effort
the object the object

35
75249
,, BEARS WHEN FIRST BORN ARE

,,
SHAPELESS MASSES OF WHITE FLESH
A LITTLE LARGER THAN MICE, THEIR
CLAWS ALONE BEING PROMINENT.
Pliny the Elder, from Natural History, Book VIII, 77

Pliny the Elder holds a pair of surveyors dividers in this

medieval frontispiece of his book entitled Natural History.

THE ROMAN HISTORIAN AND
PHILOSOPHER PLINY THE ELDER
(2379) compiled Natural
History, a 37-volume summary
of ancient knowledge, which
he completed in 77. It contains
much of what we know about
Greek and Roman science,
covering mineralogy, astronomy,
mathematics, geography,
and ethnography, as well as
including detailed sections on
botany and zoology. Natural
History is also signicant
because it contains the only
references we have to the
work of earlier scientists.
During this period three Greek
physicians published notable
works on anatomy and diseases.
In the late 1st century, Aretaeus
of Cappadocia wrote The Causes
and Signs of Acute and Chronic
Diseases, describing a vast range
of diseases, their diagnosis,
causes, and treatment. He was
the rst physician to describe
both diabetes and coeliac
disease. Among the other
conditions he dealt with were
pleurisy, pneumonia, asthma,
cholera, and phthisis
(tuberculosis), for which he
prescribed trips to the seaside.
In 100, Greek physician
Rufus of Ephesus wrote On the
Names of the Parts of the Human
Body, summarizing the Roman
knowledge of anatomy. He gave
a detailed description of the eye,
3:10
Infant mortality
rate in Rome
Despite medical
advances, in the 1st and 2nd
centuries, the infant mortality rate in
Rome was still roughly 30 per cent.
and was the rst to identify
the optic chiasma, where the
optic nerves partially cross in
the brain. He was also the rst
to name the pancreas and
made a detailed study of
melancholia (depression).
In the early 2nd century, the
Greek physician Soranus of
Ephesus produced On the
Diseases of Women. This was
the most comprehensive work
on the subject from the ancient
world. In it, he described
the appropriate training
for midwives and
gave instructions
for managing
childbirth, such
as the use of
the obstetric
chair or
birthing
stool, explained the use of the
speculum mirror for internal
examinations and how to
administer intra-uterine
injections, as well as giving a
detailed description of specic
gynaecological conditions.
Soranus of Ephesus also
pioneered the science of
paediatrics. His work contained
advice on the early care of
infants, including the making
of articial teats for feeding, and
accounts of childhood afictions
such as tonsillitis, a variety of
fevers, and heat-stroke.
Zhang Heng (78139) was
a polymath whose work
in China in the early 2nd century direction of one of eight dragons
included calculating a value heads, which opened and
for pi, the identication of 124 released a ball into the mouth
constellations in the sky, and of a bronze frog below, indicating
the construction of an armillary the direction of the earthquake.
sphere with moving parts to In 138, Zhang Heng used the
show the rotation of the planets. seismograph to successfully
He is best known for the detect an earthquake that
construction of the earliest had happened more than
seismograph, which he 640 km (400 miles) from the
completed in 132. It consisted of Chinese court, where he was
demonstrating it.
a bronze urn with a pendulum
inside. When a tremor occurred, In the 3rd century BCE, the
the pendulum swung in the Romans discovered the principle
Zhang Hengs seismograph
Earths vibrations caused a pendulum in
the seismograph to move, which released
a ball from a dragons teeth into a frogs
mouth, indicating the direction
of the earthquake.
crank opens
dragons mouth
ball
ball drops
into frogs
mouth

es s, ian n
en s tu a sic tio d
th do Asi hy sus en ce
os rite ro f p nv a pla ted
em s w He n o es ek he e I
00 lt, t re
or
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0 G s of tre y r 1 au tha supp
c.7 ilali ook log c.1 hys iden 0 te n v lt
Ph extb lmo a p nor, ox c.1 ranu es a olog Af iwa -vau roof
a t htha Mi allp So oduc aec of rrel lier s
op sm pr gyn ba ear mn
on an colu
by

f
s us so he 00
su tae a lau uces , 0 T is r1 s
he se re doci s e
n d 10 om a te set r
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A es fo
or r f
s o tr atom 00 pa ete 00 ria nom of o f te
r lo hin n ia e
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an he s h y
i
Ru rite n an o es d
c an go pr
i
o o
e d d rch crit e pu
om iny t lete stor 0 ex tr g em es Tr ope A 10 th
10 w o rib Al on udin heor ngl
77
R
Pl mp l Hi sc rk incl s t tria ve
l wn ing
co ura de de do sur
wo s l
t lau ica ea
Na e ne pher m
36 M s
One of the most complete, original Roman bridges, the Pons Aelius was built by Emperor Hadrian to provide a processional
route to his mausoleum (now the Castel SantAngelo). In its original form the bridge had eight arches.

Ptolemys map a gladiatorial school, where he through the Arabic world,

of the weight-supporting arch,
and used it in bridge-building.
In around 104, the engineer
Apollodorus of Damascus had
constructed a great bridge
across the Danube to facilitate
the Emperor Trajans invasion
of Dacia (modern Romania).
Trajans bridge was destroyed
by his successor Hadrian c.120.
Hadrian himself had several
great bridges built, including
the Pons Aelius in Rome c.134.
The best-known works of
GreekRoman astronomer
Ptolemy of Alexandria (c.90168)
The coordinates and topographic
lists in Ptolemys Almagest enabled
maps to be composed of his view of
the world. This map dates from 1492.
are on mathematical geography
and astronomy. In Geography, he
gave a description of the known
world, including coordinates for
longitude and latitude (the latter
derived from the length of the
longest day) and gave instructions
for the creation of a world map.
In Mathematical Compendium,
also known as Almagest, Ptolemy
presented a star catalogue with
over 1,000 listed stars and 48
constellations. He rened the
theory of the celestial spheres,
introducing additional epicycles
to explain irregularities in the
motion of the Sun and the Moon
and the apparent retrograde
motion of certain planets, when
they appear to orbit in a contrary
direction to other bodies in the
gained valuable knowledge of
human physiology and surgery.
He championed the theory
that the body had four basic
humours (see panel, below).
The Bakshali manuscript,
found in what is now Pakistan,
dates from around 200 and
contains instructions for the
computation of square roots.
It is probably the earliest
document to use a specic sign
for zero in the decimal system,
making it the rst complete
decimal notation with a single
sign for each number value.
This system spread westwards
THE FOUR HUMOURS
The theory of the four
humours stated that the body
is composed of four substances:
blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and
black bile. In blood, the four
acquiring the popular name
of Arabic numerals.
Chinese mathematics had
made signicant advances by
the time Jiuzhang Suanshu (Nine
Chapters on the Mathematical
Art) was in existence in 179.
It included rules for the
calculation of the area of arcs
of circles, for solid gures such
as cones, and for the treatment
of vulgar fractions (written in the
form x/y). It contained instructions
for the calculation of linear
equations, including the earliest
appearance of equations with
negative numbers.
air
blood

w
CLAUDIUS GALEN (c.130c.210)

ho
Solar System. He was the rst elements of the universe

et
Spring
astronomer to convert (re, air, earth, and
ldhood
Born in the ancient Greek city observational data into a water) are mixed Chi

w
e

at
r

Ma

crepitud
Summer

er
Winter
of Pergamum, Claudius Galen mathematical model to back equally, while yellow

nhood
phlegm
bile
consolidated the works of his up his theories, using spherical in the other

De
predecessors to create a single trigonometry to do so. His model humours, one Old age
scientic framework. His of the Solar System remained element predominates. Autumn
insistence on direct observation the basis of astronomical theory An excess of one humour

ld
dr

co
y

black
of the body cut across his view until the Renaissance. was believed to cause bile
that each of the bodys organs In 169, Claudius Galen became disease. Too much yellow bile
functioned according to a personal physician to the Roman led to jaundice, too much black
divinely ordained scheme. emperor Marcus Aurelius. Galen bile to leprosy, and too much
He wrote 350 medical works. specialized in anatomy and had phlegm to pneumonia. earth
earlier worked as a surgeon to

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37
250 499

This 15th-century painting depicts the seven liberal arts, core subjects such as arithmetic, music, astronomy, rhetoric, and grammar
that the 5th-century writer Martianus Capella established as the basis of early medieval European education.

DIOPHANTUS OF ALEXANDRIA Roman surgical instruments

(c.200c.284) founded the
mathematical discipline of
algebra around 250 by
introducing a systematic notation
to indicate an unknown quantity
and its power; for example,
in the equation x2 3 = 6, x2
represents an unknown number
raised to the power of 2 (or
squared). In his Arithmetica,
Diophantus provided solutions
for linear equations (in which no
variable in the equation is raised
to a power greater than 1 as
in ax + b = 0) and quadratic
equations (in which at least one
of the variables is squared as
in ax2 + bx + c = 0). Diophantus
also made a particular study
of indeterminate equations,
proposing a method of solving
them that is now known as
Diophantine analysis. Fermats
Last Theorem (see 163537)
is probably the most famous
example of such an equation.
Ancient Roman physicians
used a wide variety of surgical
instruments, including spatulas
and hooks (right), specula for
internal examinations, and saws.
In around 320, Pappus
of Alexandria
(c.290c.350)
compiled Collections,
an eight-volume work
that contained the
major results of the great
mathematicians who preceded
him and also introduced novel
concepts. Among these new
ideas were work on the centres
of gravity and the volumes
created by plane gures
revolving. He also proposed what
is now known as Pappuss
hexagon theorem, which states
that the intersections of three
collinear points (points along the
same line) with three similar
points along a similar line will
themselves be collinear.
In the 3rd century, Plotinus
(c.205270) created a modied
form of Platos teachings (see
700400 BCE) known as
Neoplatonism, which remained
inuential into the Middle Ages.
Plotinus taught that there is a
transcendent being (the One),
which cannot be described,
from which emanated a series
of other beings. These included
the Divine Mind and the World
Soul, from which human souls
are derived. Plotinuss follower
Iamblichus of Apamea
(c.245c.325) developed
including divine beings, and that drink, and diets. Oribasius
numbers themselves had a form also described a sling to bind
of concrete existence. a fractured jaw, which he
In line with the general trend attributes to the 1st-century
in the 3rd and 4th centuries for physician Heraklas. Oribasius
gathering together the work of became personal physician to
earlier scientists, Oribasius of the Roman emperor Julian,
Pergamum (c.323400) produced but failed to save his patron
Collections, a set of 70 volumes when he was struck by a spear
that brought together the during a battle in Persia in 363.
works of Galen and other In China, mathematicians
earlier medical writers. Only continued to make advances.
20 of these volumes survive, of Hai Tao Suan Ching, which dates
which four, collectively titled from 263, contains a discussion
Euporista, give advice on food, of right-angled triangles and in

,, I HAVE ATTEMPTED
TO EXPLAIN THE NATURE
these ideas, adding number
symbolism derived from
Pythagoras (see 700400 BCE).
Iamblichus believed that

AND POWER OF NUMBERS

mathematical theorems

,,
applied to the whole universe,

BY STARTING WITH THE

FOUNDATION ON WHICH Raised elds
ALL THINGS ARE BUILT. The Maya cut drainage channels
through swamps, heaping up the
fertile silt to create raised elds,
Diophantus of Alexandria, Greek mathematician, from Arithmetica, c.250 similar to the ones seen here.

s rm Zi un of es
a
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0 M sed ill P lot ied S t a pp rod ne s
5 i 70 od no is
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 ,,
,,
THE SHAPE OF THE EARTH IS NOT
FLAT, AS SOME SUPPOSE WHO IMAGINE
IT TO BE LIKE AN EXPANDED DISC
Martianus Capella, from On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury, 410439

7
THE NUMBER Mathematics progressed only
slowly during the later Roman
OF LIBERAL ARTS empire. In about 450, the

IDENTIFIED BY ROMAN Neoplatonist philosopher

Proclus (c.410485) produced
WRITER CAPELLA his Commentary on Euclid, in
which he preserved the work
around 300, Sun Zi compiled the a gure that was not improved of earlier mathematicians.
Sun Zi Suan Ching, which includes upon until the 16th century. Procluss contemporary,
an analysis of indeterminate Martianus Capella, from Domninus of Larissa (c.410480),
equations. It also contains what Madaura in North Africa, wrote Manual of Introductory
is now known as the Chinese established the basic structure Arithmetic, which included a
remainder theorem, which of early medieval European summary of number theory.
provides a method of nding education. In his On the Marriage By the 5th century, the Maya
solutions to problems in of Philology and Mercury (410439), had devised a sophisticated
modular arithmetic (also called he presented a compendium of calendrical system and a
clock arithmetic, because knowledge, which he divided into notation system for numbers
numbers are arranged in a circle, the trivium (grammar, dialectic, that could express any number
rather than along the number and rhetoric) and the quadrivium using only three symbols:
line). In the 5th century, Zu (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, a dot for 1, a bar for 5, and a
Chongzhi (429500) wrote Zhui and music). In this work, he stated shell for 0. Maya astronomers
Shu (Method of Interpolation), in that Mercury and Venus orbit were particularly concerned
which he calculated pi to be 355/113. around the Sun, a view that with lunar cycles, the Sun,
He rened this to produce a value Copernicus used to support his eclipses, and movements
for pi that was accurate to seven heliocentric view of the solar of the planet Venus.
decimal places (see panel, below), system (see 1543). There is also evidence that the
Maya were practising raised-
THE VALUE OF PI eld agriculture from as early
as the mid-3rd century to utilize
Pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle fertile land that would otherwise
to its diameter, was estimated at 3.125 by have been too waterlogged for
the Babylonians. The Greeks discovered a agricultural use.
method of calculating it by using the sides
of a polygon inside a circle to approximate
the circumference, and Archimedes used
this method to give a gure of 22/7. In
about 475, Zu Chongzhi calculated pi as Astronomical codex
A section from the Dresden Codex,
3.1415926 accurate to seven decimal places. Computers have
a 9th-century Maya astronomical
now calculated this value to trillions of decimal places. work that includes detailed tables
for movements of the planet Venus.

ia r
dr he
an op
lex of s o s zh
i n
f A od ot hil ng eve
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as rite s s 6 s
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39
500540
,,YET IT SEEMS NOT TO REST UPON

,,
SOLID MASONARY, BUT TO COVER
THE SPACE WITH ITS GOLDEN DOME
SUSPENDED FROM HEAVEN.
Procopius, Byzantine scholar, from The Buildings Book, c.50065

The dome of Hagia Sophia was completed in 537 and collapsed in an earthquake in 558. It was rebuilt
by Isidore the Younger, who raised it by about 6 m (20 ft) to make it more stable.

MUCH ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE geometry and Ptolemaic

reached the Middle Ages through
the efforts of Roman nobleman
Boethius (c.480c.524). He acted
as a link in the transmission
of Greek and Roman science
to scholars of his time. He
translated sections of Aristotles
Logic, produced an adaption
of GrecoRoman mathematician
Nicomachuss (c.60c.120)
Arithmetike Eisagoge (Introduction
to Arithmetic), and compiled
manuals of the liberal arts,
including accounts of Euclidean
BUILDING WITH PENDENTIVES
astronomy. Without his work,
much ancient knowledge might
have been lost in western Europe. Pendentives, such as those employed domed top
Flavius Cassiodorus in the church of Hagia Sophia in section of
building
(c.480c.575), who succeeded Constantinople, are curved, concave
Boethius as the leading Roman sections of masonry that are used to supporting
nobleman at the court of the join a square lower section of a building pillars and concave
Ostrogothic kings of Italy, retired to the circular base of a domed top arches pendentive
at corner of
around 540 to a monastery he section. They allow the weight of the
the square
founded at Vivarium in southern dome to be equally distributed onto section of
square lower
Italy. There, he composed square supporting walls or piers, which section of the building
Institutiones Divinarum et allows far larger domes to be built. building
Humanarum Lectionum (An
Introduction to Divine and Human
Readings). This treatises were collected. He stone oysters, or stone swallows; examples of problems involving
handbook on instituted the practice of copying they were said to emerge from arithmetical progressions
monastic life manuscripts, thus ensuring that the rock and y about during (where the difference between
included a important works survived into thunderstorms. By the mid-7th successive terms is constant).
compilation of the later Middle Ages. century, such fossils were being Around 53237, Byzantine
secular knowledge, Before the 6th century, scholars dissolved in vinegar for use as architects Anthemius of Tralles
divided according to had largely accepted Aristotles medicine in China. (c.474c.534) and Isidore of
the seven liberal view that motion was inherent in In early 6th century, Chinese Miletus succeeded in setting a
arts (see 250500). a body or caused by the medium mathematician Zhang Qiujian round dome over a square room
Cassiodorus also through which it travelled (such gave the rst example of the using pendentives. The dome of
established a as air). Greek philosopher John modern method of division Hagia Sophia (in Istanbul, Turkey)
library in which Philoponus (c.480c.570) inversing the divisor and remained the largest in the world
many ancient opposed this view, arguing that multiplying. He also gave for nearly a thousand years.
scientic and the medium actually resisted the
philosophical bodys movement. He proposed
that motion is caused
externally through energy
impressed upon it by the person
or thing moving it. This was the
Great minds
Boethius is shown rst expression of the theory of
here calculating impetus and inertia. Brachiopod
with written numbers Around 500, Li Tao-Yuan fossil
in a competition Resembling
recorded fossil animals in his birds wings,
against Pythagoras,
who is using a Commentary on the Waterways these became known as grooved, shell-like
counting board. Classic. He called these fossils stone swallows in China. birds wing

of
on se or ius t ,
ott rm t u ks f th es irs in rch s a
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40
541609

2
MILLION
THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF
INDIVIDUAL MOSAIC TILES ORIGINALLY
USED TO CREATE THE MADABA MAP

The Madaba map is a mosaic showing Palestine and lower Egypt, with particular focus
on towns and other sites of Biblical importance. This part of the map shows Jerusalem.

THE FIRST DESCRIPTION of the One of the leading medical

bubonic plague was given by practitioners at the time of the
Roman historian Procopius Byzantine emperor Justinian was
(c.500c.565). He was present Alexander of Tralles (c.525c.605).
in Constantinople (now Istanbul) His Twelve Books on Medicine
when the disease struck the described a range of diseases
Byzantine empire in 542. He including those caused by
described the characteristic intestinal parasites. He was
swellings (or buboes) under the the rst physician to identify
arms and around the groin, and melancholy (depression) as
a type of delirium brought on by a cause of suicidal tendencies.

septicemia (blood poisoning)
that caused sufferers to run
about screaming.
By the 6th century, the
cartographic tradition inspired
by Ptolemy was waning, to be
replaced by a religiously inspired
view of Earth. The Madaba map,
thought to be the oldest surviving
map of Biblical cities, dates
back to this time. In around
550, Cosmas Indicopleustes,
a merchant from Alexandria,
composed the Topographia
7:10
Bubonic plague
death toll
At its peak,
the bubonic plague, which struck the
Byzantine empire in 542, killed 10,000
people a day in Constantinople alone.
Christiana (Christian Topography),
which controversially presented
the world as a at space dividing
the heavens from the underworld,
and in which Jerusalem occupied
a central position. Cosmas
located Paradise just beyond the
ocean that surrounded Earth.
Around 570, Chinese
mathematician Chen Luan
mentioned the abacus for the
rst time in a commentary on an
earlier work of the 2nd century.
He described 14 methods of
arithmetical calculation, one
of which he referred to as ball
arithmetic, in which a series
of wires were suspended on a
wooden frame, with four balls
strung on the lower half of each
wire representing a unit each,
and a ball on the upper half
representing
ve units.
Although the
Chinese had a long
tradition of canal
building, their
Rainbow bridge
This bridge over a side
section of the Grand
Canal at Wuxi, China,
arches in a dramatic
fashion, which gave
this type of construction
the nickname
rainbow bridge.
CHINESE BLOCK PRINTING
Printing using wooden blocks was probably invented in China in the
6th century, although the rst complete surviving printed book dates
to 868. A manuscript was prepared on waxed paper, which was
rubbed against a wooden block to transfer a mirror image of the
characters onto it. The block was then carved and used for printing.
greatest project was the cutting Chinese engineer Li Chun
of the Grand Canal from completed construction of the
Changan to Loyang, under Anji Bridge in Hebei. The arch
the Sui dynasty, which joined up was attened by two smaller
earlier, smaller canals. Its main arches in its spandrels (the
section, the Pien Chu canal, triangular area bounded by
which was 1,000 km (621 miles) the outer curve of an arch and
long. was completed in 605 and adjacent wall), which spread the
was said to have taken ve weight more evenly and meant
million labourers to build. that only one main arch was
By the early 7th century, needed to span the river.
Chinese engineers had worked
out that bridges did not need
semicircular arches. In 605,

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610699

This illustration from a 12th-century manuscript graphically depicts the use of Greek Fire. Flames
are being projected from a hand-held tube onto a eet of invading soldiers.

IN CHINA, in the year 610,

court physician Chao Yuanfang
(550630) compiled the rst
comprehensive Chinese
treatise on diseases. One
,, AS THE SUN ECLIPSES THE
STARS BY ITS BRILLIANCY, SO THE
contemporary knowledge,
entitled Etymologiae, using the
work of earlier encyclopedists
MAN OF KNOWLEDGE WILL ECLIPSE such as Roman author Marcus
THE FAME OF OTHERS IN ASSEMBLIES Terentius Varro (11627 BCE). It

of the diseases he described
was smallpox; he explained
that lesions with purple or black
colouration were far more deadly
than those that contained white
pus. He also recommended
brushing teeth daily and
proposed a routine of rinsing
and gargling then gnashing
the teeth seven times.
OF THE PEOPLE IF HE PROPOSES
ALGEBRAIC PROBLEMS, AND STILL
MORE IF HE SOLVES THEM.
Brahmagupta, Indian mathematician, from Brahmasphutasiddhanta
(The Revised System of Brahma), 628
Before 644, windmills had been
developed in Persia. They used
wind to drive wooden vanes set in
a circle around a windshaft. This
generated rotational energy,
,,
which could be used to grind
wheat. The earliest windmills had
vertical windshafts, unlike the
more familiar horizontal types that
were later developed in Europe.
Spanish bishop Isidore of
Seville was a prolic author who
wrote books on cosmology and
arithmetic. In the 7th century,
he compiled a 20-volume
manuscript of
helped disseminate classical
knowledge in the Middle Ages.
In the eld of surgery, Greek
physician Paul of Aegina
(c.625c.690) compiled The
Epitome of Medicine a digest of
medical treatises by ancient
authorities such as Galen. It
also contained descriptions of
new surgical procedures, such as
tracheotomy (surgery to the wind
pipe) and sterilizing wounds
through cauterization.
Chinese mathematician Wang
Xiaotong (c.580c.640) was the
rst to provide solutions for
cubic equations (of the form
a3+ba2+ca=n). It was a technique
that European mathematicians
did not master until Fibonacci
(see 122049) in the 13th century.
In India, one of the greatest
early mathematicians was
Brahmagupta (598c.668).
His Brahmasphutasiddhanta
(The Revised System of Brahma)
contained rules for using
negative numbers in arithmetic
and also rst stated the rule that
Vertical windmills
As the area around Nishtafun in
Persia (Iran) experienced high
winds, but had little water, windmills
were a very useful adaptation.
ISIDORE OF SEVILLE
(C.560636)
The Bishop of Seville for
more than 30 years, Isidore
wrote several important texts,
including the encyclopedic
Etymologiae, a dictionary of
synonyms, and a manual
of basic physics. He also
established a system of
seminaries to promote
ecclesiastical education.
He was canonized in 1598
by Pope Clement VIII.
two negative numbers multiplied
together yield a positive number.
In the late 7th century, a new
incendiary weapon was developed
in the Byzantine empire. Known
as Greek Fire, it was discharged
by tubes and burnt even in contact
with water. Its exact composition
is still unknown, but it was
probably a compound of naphtha
(a hydrocarbon mixture).

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700799

This image depicts Jabir ibn-Hayyan giving a lecture on alchemy in his home town, Edessa, modern Turkey. The
town played an important role in the transmission of Greek science into the Islamic world.

THE ISLAMIC WORLDS FIRST
MAJOR TREATISES on zoology
were produced by al-Asmai, a
philologist from Basra, Iraq. His
Kitab al-Khail (Book of the
Horse) and Kitab al-Ibil
(Book of the Camel)
described in detail
the physiology of these
animals. He also wrote
books on sheep and wild
animals, as well as a
book on human
anatomy.
pivoted
sighting rule
plate with
star map
13
As knowledge of Greek
astronomy spread to the Islamic
world, Ibrahim al-Fazari
(d. c.796), an astronomer from
Baghdad, wrote the rst
Islamic treatise on the
astrolabe a device that
Astrolabe transferred observations of the
A Greek invention rened by
Arab astronomers, the astrolabe celestial sphere onto at plates
helped perform complex and helped to predict the
astronomical location of celestial bodies.
calculations. In China, around 725, engineer
and astronomer Yi Xing
(683727) invented the rst
escapement for a mechanical
clock. The device was attached
to an armillary sphere (a model
of the celestial sphere) that was
powered by water. It used
a toothed gear to transfer
energy to the moving parts
of the sphere and to
regulate their movement.
Yi Xing also carried out
a major astronomical
survey to help predict
climate plate with solar eclipses more
coordinates to locate
users latitude
accurately and reform
the calendar.
In India, mathematician and
astrologer Lalla (c.720790)
became the rst to describe a
perpetuum mobile, a machine
that once set in motion would
carry on moving forever. His
Sisyadhivrddhidatantra (Treatise
for Increasing the Intelligence
of Students) also gave details of
a major Islamic centre for the
THE NUMBER OF study of science.
TEST SITES SET UP Jabir ibn-Hayyan (c.722804)
BY YI XING FOR HIS was an early Islamic alchemist
who has become known as the
ASTRONOMICAL father of Arab chemistry. He
invented the alembic, an
SURVEY enclosed ask for heating
liquids, established the
planetary movements, classication of substances
conjunctions, and eclipses, into metals and non-metals,
although he rejected the idea and identied the properties
that Earth rotated. of acids and alkalis.
A few years later, in 762, the Jurjish ibn Bakhtishu was
city of Baghdad was founded the rst of a dynasty of Islamic
by the caliph al-Mansur. The physicians who served the
rst planned city in the Islamic Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad.
world, its perfectly round shape He rose to prominence when
was laid out by al-Naubakht, he cured the caliph al-Mansur
a Persian astrologer. His son, of a stomach complaint in 765.
al-Fadl ibn Naubakht, founded His grandson Jibril founded
the House of Wisdom in the rst hospital in Baghdad
Baghdad, which became some time after 805.
AIR EARTH GOLD MERCURY TO PURIFY MAGNET
ALCHEMY
First developed in Hellenistic Egypt (4th1st century BCE) by scholars
such as Zosimos of Panopolis, alchemy was advanced further by
Arab practitioners such as ibn-Hayyan and al-Razi in the 8th9th
centuries. It was concerned mainly with the transmutation of base
metals, such as lead, into noble metals, such as gold, through the
use of the philosophers stone. It led to the development of many
practical chemical processes, such as distillation and fermentation.

se a hu lla
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2
EUROPEAN
AND ISLAMIC
RENAISSANCE
8001542
Classical knowledge was revived and expanded by Islamic
scholars attached to the mosques and the courts. Subsequently
translated into Latin, their Arabic texts circulated through
Western Europe and formed the basis of modern science.
80020 82160
,,FONDNESS FOR SCIENCE HAS

,,
ENCOURAGED ME TO COMPOSE A SHORT
WORK ON WHAT IS EASIEST AND
MOST USEFUL IN ARITHMETIC.
Al-Khwarizmi, Persian mathematician, c.780850

The House of Wisdom in Baghdad was a major centre of Islamic scholarship,

attracting the foremost thinkers from across the Islamic world.

THE ARABIC AND PERSIAN astrolabe an instrument used ONE OF AL-KHWARIZMIS

EMPIRES had a long tradition of
scholarship, and this continued
after the birth of the Islamic
religion. Islam encouraged
scientic and philosophical
pursuits, which were not seen
as incompatible with theology.
Libraries and other centres
of learning were established
in many Islamic cities during
the Islamic Golden Age.
Perhaps the greatest of these
was the House of Wisdom
(Bayt al-Hikma), founded in
Baghdad at the beginning of the
to observe the position of stars.
Although not the rst to produce
a work on the astrolabe,
al-Khwarizmis contribution
was signicant, especially in
the Islamic world, where the
astrolabe could be used to
calculate the time of daily prayers.
The Chinese were pioneers
in the technology of printing,
largely due to their invention of
paper possibly as early as the
2nd century BCE which lent
itself better to printing than the
papyrus and parchment used
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS was a
treatise on mathematics entitled
The Compendious Book on
Calculation by Completion and
Balancing, published around 830.
It contained a description of the
branch of mathematics now
known as algebra. Although he
drew on sources such as Greek
and Indian texts (see 250500),
he is considered to be the
inventor of algebra. In his book,
al-Khwarizmi explained the
process of balancing both sides
of an equation (al-jabr in Arabic,
ax 2 + bx + c = 0
ALGEBRA
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that uses letters to represent
unknown quantities (called variables), and symbols for operations
such as addition and subtraction. These can be combined in an
algebraic statement known as an expression, such as a + 3.
A mathematical statement, such as a + 3 = 7, is known as an
equation. Equations in which the highest power of an unknown
quantity is two are known as quadratic equations (as above), and
those in which the highest power is three are called cubic equations.

400
hence the modern term algebra), balancing an equation by as al-Kindi) who in the mid-9th

THOUSAND and gave a systematic way of

9th century. As well as housing
thousands of books, the House
of Wisdom encouraged
research and the translation
of mathematical, scientic,
and philosophical texts from
ancient Greece.
Persian mathematician and
astronomer Muhammad ibn Musa
al-Khwarizmi (c.780850) was
one of the most important
scholars at the House of Wisdom,
studying both Greek and Indian
scientic treatises. In around
820, he described the use of the
THE NUMBER
OF BOOKS IN
THE HOUSE
OF WISDOM
elsewhere. Developing a form of
woodblock printing on silk that
had appeared around 200, they
applied the technique to paper
and used it for the mass
production of books. By the
9th century, it was being used
to print promissory notes
that were in effect a form of
paper money issued by the
Chinese government.
solving quadratic equations,
which had been described
almost 500 years earlier by Greek
mathematician Diophantus of
Alexandria. Central to his
method was the principle of
AL-KINDI (C.801873)
Born and educated in Kufa, near
Baghdad, Al-Kindi was one of
the rst major scholars of the
newly founded House of
Wisdom. He translated Greek
scientic and philosophical texts
into Arabic, and incorporated
Hellenistic ideas into Islamic
scholarship. He wrote treatises
on many subjects, including
medicine, chemistry, astronomy,
and mathematics.
transposing terms from one side
to the other and cancelling out
terms that appear on both sides.
Another prominent scholar at
the House of Wisdom was the
polymath Abu Yusuf Yaqub
ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (also known
and commentaries on Indian
century wrote a large number of
treatises on various scientic
subjects, ranging from
mathematics, astronomy, and
optics, to medicine and
geography. A scholar of theology
and philosophy, he was also
responsible for the translation
of many classic Greek texts
and their incorporation into
Islamic thinking. It is largely
through al-Kindis translations
texts that Indian numerals
were introduced to the Islamic
world, and subsequently
became the basis for the
modern system of numbers,
although zero was probably
discovered later (see 86199).
Al-Kindi was very sceptical
about alchemy, refuting one
of its central ideas the

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46
 86199

This statue of Al-Khwarizmi stands The Chinese edition of the Buddhist Diamond Sutra, printed using woodblocks
in Khiva, Uzbekistan, his birthplace. on a scroll of paper, is the earliest surviving printed book.

transmutation of metals.
However, alchemy was at the
root of another discovery this
time in China. In the early
9th century, Chinese alchemists
were experimenting with various
mixtures of substances to nd
the elixir of life. One of the
by-products of this quest was
the discovery, in about 855, of
gunpowder the rst man-
made explosive. It consisted of a
mixture of sulphur, carbon (in the
form of charcoal), and saltpetre
(potassium nitrate) all of which
occur naturally as minerals. The
mixtures explosive properties
meant that it was initially used in
the manufacture of reworks,
but gunpowder later came to fuel
rockets, and was eventually used
in the development of rearms.
10% 15%
carbon
sulphur
75%
saltpetre
Composition of gunpowder
Sulphur, carbon, and saltpetre, while
quite innocuous individually, become
highly explosive when mixed in the
correct proportions.
A CHINESE EDITION OF THE
BUDDHIST TEXT, Diamond Sutra,
was discovered in 1907 in
Dunhuang, northwest China.
Although it is probably not the
rst example of a woodblock
printed book, it is the earliest
known one, and bears the
date 11 May 868. The text
and illustrations of Diamond
Sutra exhibit a great deal of
sophistication, suggesting that
the techniques of printing on
paper were well known in China
by this time. An inscription at
the end of the manuscript
indicates that this was one
of a number of copies printed sealed ask cold water outlet
for distribution.
An inscription on a stone cold water
in Gwalior, India, dated 876, inlet
one liquid
contains one of the earliest boils into
known uses of the symbol vapour cooling cooled
for zero 0. Prior to the water jacket vapour
appearance of a specic symbol, around condenses
condenser into droplets
a space was used to indicate mixture of pure liquid
zero, which led to ambiguity and liquids collects
prevented the development of a in ask
heat
place value system of numbers source
(a system in which the position
of the numeral indicates its DISTILLATION
value). The introduction of
a symbol for Distillation is a method of separating the components of a liquid
zero in Indian mixture. The liquid mixture is converted into vapour by heating. As
mathematics the components of the mixture have different boiling points, they
was a vital step in vaporize at different rates. The vapour is then cooled so that it
the development condenses back into a liquid, which can be collected separately.
of the decimal Distillation can be used to extract liquids such as alcohol and
system of notation gasoline, and also to purify liquids, such as salt water.
we use today. This
decimal system
came to Europe replaced the use of cumbersome the Arabic al kuhl, originally
through the Roman numerals. used to describe a powder
inuence of Islamic Towards the end of the century, extracted from a mineral,
mathematicians, Arab alchemists developed but which later came to
and eventually the process of distillation mean the essence or spirit
a method of separating the of a liquid. The apparatus
ingredients of a liquid mixture. developed by al-Razi for
Muhammad ibn Zakariya distillation has remained
Alchemist Jabir
al-Razi (c.854925/35), along fundamentally unchanged
ibn-Hayyan at work
Alchemy in the Islamic with other alchemists, perfected to the present day.
world involved much the technique and was
experimentation, and successful in extracting a form
led to the development
of alcohol ethanol or ethyl
of many processes
that were later used alcohol by distilling wine.
in chemistry. The word alcohol derives from

s
til
dis
a zi ine
-R w
Al om
8 90 ol fr
.
c oh
alc

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i n
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8 T ng m d nd a
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47
900930
,,TRUTH IN MEDICINE IS AN
UNATTAINABLE GOAL, AND THE ART AS

,,
DESCRIBED IN BOOKS IS FAR BENEATH
THE KNOWLEDGE OF AN EXPERIENCED
AND THOUGHTFUL PHYSICIAN.
Al-Razi, Arab physician, 10th century

Arab doctor and chemist al-Razis belief in practical experimentation on

substances led him to propose an early classication of elements.

MUHAMMAD IBN ZAKARIYA
AL-RAZI (Rhazes) was one of
the greatest physicians of the
Arab world. Around 900, he
wrote Al-Shukuk ala Jalinus
(Doubts About Galen), in which he
criticized Galens theory of the
four humours (see 75250). He
rejected the notion that a balance
of these humours was necessary
for the health of the patient, and
dismissed the idea that body melting and extraction. He overlapping plates for mathematics underlying
temperature is automatically described the distillation of making astronomical the instrument. He
raised or lowered when a patient kerosene and petroleum from observations. Although presented formulas in
drinks warm or cold uids. His crude oil and gave recipes for al-Fazari was the rst spherical trigonometry,
clinical practices were advanced preparing hydrochloric and to describe it in the replacing Ptolemys
for this time; he ran a psychiatric sulphuric acids. 8th century, al-Battani geometrical
ward and wrote a treatise Around 920, Arab astronomer worked out the methods.
attacking untrained physicians. and mathematician al-Battani
The Kitab al-Hawi (Comprehensive (c.858929) proffered greater
Book), a collection of his clinical insights into the working of
notes, ran to 23 volumes, and the planispheric astrolabe
contained medical diagnoses, a device with a number of
including the rst description
of hayfever (or rose-cold). He
map of bodies
also wrote a monograph, Kitab
on the celestial
al-Judwar wal Hasba (Treatise on sphere
the Smallpox and Measles), which
was the rst work to detail the star pointer
symptoms of smallpox, although indicates
his explanation that the disease position of
was caused by the impurities specic star

from menstrual blood that stay

AL-RAZI (C.865925)
Born in Rayy, Mesopotamia
(now in Iran), al-Razi was a
physician and philosopher,
as well as an alchemist. He
encouraged experimentation
as a means of discovery and
his clinical notes became a
key medieval medical text. He
headed a hospital in Rayy, and
then two in Baghdad. Among
his innovations was the rst
recorded clinical trial on
patients with meningitis.
in the fetus during pregnancy mater, or
main section
and then bubble up to the skin
into which
in later life betrayed a belief in latitude
sympathetic magic. He was plates slot
particularly concerned with
preventing blindness caused rotating bar
by smallpox pustules, and
advocated regularly bathing ecliptic ring
the eyes in rose-water. shows path of
An alchemist as well as Sun through sky
a physician, al-Razi devised a
classication of elements into Astrolabe
spirits and metals and minerals. The user of an
He divided the latter into stones, astrolabe adjusted its
vitriols, boraces, salts, and other moveable parts to indicate
a specic date or time, and
substances, and gave a detailed the markings on the plates
account of the behaviour of each would then indicate the position
under various processes, such as of the various heavenly bodies.

i
ic
m n ps ra
,
ite
s az ic
-R
I sla ticia velo lgeb a wr 0 Al alen
0 0 a de a s q s 3 G ry
m
c.9 athe mil zmi owe
s r Lu nes 0 es eo es
rit rap
y
ibn umb 90 iticiz r th
m u Ka ari th p ta n cr mou a b i w the
s
w
A Kh g w an 2
b i
Qu on hu ar usic
al- alin r th 12 ise -F
Al on m
de eate c.9 reat 5
2 e
gr at c.9 atis
tre

30 rs
0 zi ve
90 -Ra s co les
Al ribe f dis ncip be ted
i
an ri ola da is
sc s o st abe ic
de tom pox att al p str i e
rl ol
p all A l-B atic he a Ea str sla lus
m
m
sy sm 20 em ng
t
9 27 ng a by I astu
c.9 ath rlyi .
c ivi uil r N t
m de rv b me
un su no
48 tro
as
931999

200
THE APPROXIMATE
NUMBER OF
NEW SURGICAL
INSTRUMENTS
INTRODUCED
BY AL-ZAHRAWI

A 14th-century manuscript shows two innovative surgical instruments introduced

by SpanishArab physician al-Zahrawi (Albucasis).

THE MODERN
NUMERALS for
expressing the
decimal system rst
appeared in Europe
in 976 in a treatise
written by the monk
Vigila in the northern
Spanish convent of
Albelda (although
he included only the
symbols for 1 to 9 and not zero).
This number system, now known
as HinduArabic, had originated
in the numerical notation of the
Brahmi script used in India in
the mid-3rd century BCE, which
then spread westwards after the
Arabs came in contact with India
in the early 8th century CE.
Although mechanical
armillary spheres and
mechanical escapements for
clocks had been devised in
China by Zhang Heng in the
2nd century and Yi Xing in
the 8th century, a superior
version was constructed by
the astronomer Zhang Sixun
in 979. It was powered by a
waterwheel with scoops that
deposited the liquid into a
clepsydra (a device that measures
time by the ow of liquid through
a small hole) as it turned around,
which in turn regulated the
measurement of the hours. In
order to avoid the liquid freezing
up in winter a problem that had
aficted earlier such clocks Yi
Xing had substituted mercury for
water. Zhang Sixuns improved
version made one complete
revolution each day, with each
quarter-hour and hour sounded
Abacus treatises by ancient scholars also known as Albucasis. He was
This is a modern such as Boethius, studied the court surgeon to al-Hakam, the
example of an
work of Islamic mathematicians, Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba. His
abacus, a counting
device that appeared and introduced the abacus to Kitab al-Tasrif (The Method of
in Mesopotamia Europe, giving instructions for its Medicine) containing detailed
around 2700 BCE. use in multiplication and division. descriptions of human anatomy
It was introduced
The greatest Arab surgeon of and the pathology of diseases
to medieval Europe
by Gerbert in medieval times was Abu al- became the main textbook for
around 990 CE. Qasim al-Zahrawi (c.9361013), medieval European physicians.
Ancient Ancient Ancient Ancient Modern
out by mechanical jacks that Babylonian Egyptian Greek Roman Chinese Mayan HinduArabic
emerged to strike bells and
drums, or to display the time on a
tablet. The clock also showed the
position of the Sun, Moon, and
ve planets on a celestial globe,
and was said to be so advanced
that after Sixuns death no-one
could keep it in working order.
In 984, Persian mathematician
Ibn Sahl (c.9401000) wrote
On the Burning Instruments, a
treatise in which he examined the
bending of light by lenses and
curved mirrors. He was the rst
to express a geometric theory of
refraction. He suggested that the

,,HE WHO DEVOTES

amount of light that is deected
when it enters another medium
(such as glass) varies, depending DEVELOPMENT OF NUMBERS

,,
on the refractive index (see

HIMSELF TO SURGERY 162124) of the substance.

Christian monastic scholar
Many early number systems, such as the Egyptian, were additive
the value of the number symbol did not depend on its position; to

MUST BE VERSED IN
Gerbert (c.9431003), who make 20, the symbol for 10 would be written twice. Around 2000 BCE,
became Pope in 999, was one the Babylonians began to use a partly positional system where the

ANATOMY.
of the rst Western European
mathematicians of the Middle
Ages. He sought to recover
Al-Zahrawi (Albucasis), in Kitab al-Tasrif, c.990 mathematical and astronomical
order of magnitude depends on the position in which the symbol
appears. Positional systems using 10 as the base developed in India,
and gradually evolved into the modern HinduArabic numerals.

i n l l
n zin ixu ica ah of
ish be ha g S chan b n S aw
ew and aac s K n I l t
J s e al- r s ha e d 84 he igh er
t
32 ian r I rib bu s fo isk 9 Z a m ere 9 es t of l rb
c.9 ysic ophe esc 0 A able be d 97 ilds ow y 9 s
97 opo tion Ge es o
0
ph ilos on d ever 6 t la bu ck p rcur pr frac
9 c t pe
ph lom ial f 50 es tro clo me c.9 rodu acus uro
c.9 oduc g as re int e ab val E
So lar r
p kin by
m
a a th die
m e
m

r
za
az n
uc
es aly
l-J es o d od ction
(H i,
a
bn ti
s an r le b as al ik ic er
9 I rea ics ers ip e Ab l-M ab om s
ijz tris ang on over lt
7 tes t iatr ord -S al- s A Ar oks r
0
5 ri r s Al the f an bn rite ain tbo t
as isc l ti g
c.9 w ge p di 9
96 k on
o i
w f m tex
e u
Ab as) ian i d xia in
sle r o l
80 Abb one dica rs jand s a eas
wo e h r
c .9 e 4 P hu rt ec
m 99 al-K t Ea is d
a
th
49
10001029
,, NOW IT IS ESTABLISHED
IN THE SCIENCES THAT NO

,,
KNOWLEDGE IS ACQUIRED SAVE
THROUGH THE STUDY OF ITS
CAUSES AND BEGINNINGS.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Arab polymath, from Canon of Medicine, c.1005

A page from Avicennas Canon of Medicine shows the heart and skull as part
of an illustration explaining the theory of the four humours.

AROUND 1005, THE ARAB
MEDICAL SCHOLAR and polymath
Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna
in Europe) wrote the Canon of
Medicine, a major compendium
that sought to provide a
systematic understanding of
medical knowledge of the time.
Avicenna tried to reconcile
theories of four humours
(blood, yellow bile, black bile,
and phlegm; see 100250) with
Aristotles idea of three life
forces (psychic, natural, and
human). Avicennas careful and
The Persian astronomer and
mathematician Abu Sahl al-Quhi
(c.9401000) was head of the
observatory founded by Sharaf
al-Dawla in Baghdad in 988, but
he was particularly noted for his
work in solving equations of
greater than the second degree
(in which the highest power of a
variable is more than two). He
employed a geometrical method
of intersecting curved lines to
achieve this. Around 1000, he
wrote On the Construction of an
Equilateral Pentagon in a Known
HOW LENSES WORK
A convex lens is thicker in the ray of light focal length
middle than at the sides. When
light rays strike the lens they are principal axis
diffracted and converge behind principal
converging focus
the lens at a single point called rays of light
the principal focus. Convex CONVEX (CONVERGING) LENS
lenses are used to treat long-
sightedness as they bring objects
that are closer, into focus. A principal focus focal length
concave lens is thinner in the
middle than at the sides. Light
rays diverge and seem to focus virtual ray

comprehensive account in ve
volumes of physiology, diagnosis,
therapy, the pathology of diseases,
and pharmacology made it an
extremely valuable medical
handbook. It was commented
on by many subsequent Arabic
physicians and was printed as
Latin translations 36 times.
Alhazens eye
Shown here is a
diagrammatic eye from
a 1575 Latin translation of
Alhazens Book of Optics.
Square, in which he demonstrated
the solution by solving an
equation to the fourth degree.
In 1005, the Fatimid caliph
al-Hakim founded the House
of Knowledge (Dar al-ilm)
in Cairo. Equipped with a vast
library covering subjects ranging
in front of the lens. These lenses
address short-sightedness.
from Islamic philosophy and
law to physics and astronomy,
it became a centre for
philosophers and theologians.
At rst, the House of Knowledge
hosted a series of public
lectures, but these
ended in 1015
after fears
that religious
dissidents were
establishing a
presence there.
The Arabic
sage Abu Ali ibn
al-Haytham
(c.9651039), also
known as Alhazen, is
best known for his Kitab
al-Munazir (Book of Optics),
which he wrote between 1011
CONCAVE (DIVERGING) LENS
and 1021. He proposed that the
blinding effect of bright light and
the existence of after-images
proved that vision was caused
by light coming into the eye. He
also developed a new theory of
IBN SINA (9801037)
diverging
rays of light
the eyes physiology, describing
it as being made up of various
humours and separated into
sections by spherical sheaths.
Born near Bukhara, Uzbekistan,
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) was a
medical prodigy. He claimed
to have successfully treated
patients by age 16. He served
the Samanid rulers of Bukhara,
but their overthrow in 999 led
to his exile. He ended up at the
court of Shams al-Dawla of
Hamadan, where he wrote
his great Canon of Medicine.

i
er an ind
uh
i m
no rst a ici ar m
l-Q the kim ro v 15 hys l-M ge e
A s d Ha f t
as es rno
10 ab p jah a the ast ms
00 be f on al- se o m giv upe Ar swi ibes a p d ge ia
10 scri n o bey gree h o l i
s an s
de lutio ons de lip ou air Mu dw f a Ma escr ary oun hol
Ca e H n C pr ctu of gr lanc
so uati cond 04 s th ge i 06 Ri n o
0
1 nd ed 10 i ibn ptio ele de me
eq e se Al scri a
th fou owl m cure
Kn de to

a)
nn f
v ice on o l
A a
a ( Can dic s
Sin he me ium se
I bn es t e, a end po n
ro visio s
05 os in p n p f ic
10 omp edic com ze y o Opt
c M
A lha eor k of
1 t h o
2 his n Bo
11 i
10
50
10301049

The earliest movable type in China was made of clay, and later of wood. Metal movable type such as these blocks
did not become common until the Ming dynasty in the 17th century.

IN THE EARLY 11TH CENTURY, carved for each individual page. weather using an iron sh. The Anatomy of a crossbow
SpanishArab astronomer Abu Around 1040, a commoner needle of this early compass This 16th-century German
crossbow could not be used without ight
Abdallah ibn Muadh al-Jayyani named Pi Sheng developed probably oated on top of a bowl
a crannequin a toothed wheel
(9891079) carried out work a form of movable type by of water and the technique was attached to a crank which was
integrating trigonometry and creating thin strips of clay later adapted for navigation at used to bend the crossbow.
optics. His Book of Unknown each impressed with a single sea. One document referring to
Arcs of a Sphere was the rst character, which he baked in a
comprehensive work on spherical re. He then placed these on an crannequin curved claws
trigonometry. Around 1030, iron tray to compose the page to grip bowstring
al-Jayyani used this work in his be printed. The clay letters could
Book on Twilight to calculate afterwards be rearranged as
the angle of the Sun below the desired to create a new page. toothed
horizon at the end of evening The method fell into disuse after rack
twilight to be 18 degrees. By Pi Shengs death until its revival cord loops
onto tiller pins rotating pin
taking this as the lowest angle in the mid-13th century. By then, released by trigger
at which the Suns rays can far more durable type made of
meet the upper edge
of the atmosphere,
he worked out the
height of Earths
atmosphere as 103 km (64 miles). steel pin to engage composite lathe of
Printing using carved wooden spanning mechanism bone, sinew, and wood
blocks had appeared in China
around the 6th century, but the iron had been invented in Korea, the period around 1086 tells of their power was limited by the
process was cumbersome, where it was rst used in 1234. a south-pointing needle used ability of the user to pull back
requiring a new block to be The Chinese had understood for nding bearings at night. the bow string by hand. By the
the properties of magnetic In 1123, an account of a mid-11th century, a stirrup
12 lodestones in transferring diplomatic mission to South was placed at the end of the stirrup
NUMBER OR ARROWS PER MINUTE

polarity to a needle several
10 centuries earlier (see 300
250 BCE), but no real application
8
was made. In 1044, the rst
mention is made of a south-
6
pointing carriage used to nd
4 directions on land during gloomy
2
The deadliest weapon?
Medieval crossbowmen red at as
0 3rd century BCE. Hand-held
little as a tenth the rate of longbow
Longbow Crossbow
archers, although their bolts had
WEAPON more power.
Korea describes the sailors
use of the compass. It would
be another 67 years, howver,
before such knowledge spread
to Europe.
Crossbows had made an
appearance in China as early
as the 8th century BCE and are
recorded in Greece in the early
crossbows came into use in
France in the 10th century, but
stock, so that the user could
push against this with his legs
while pulling the string back.
Mechanical cranks were also
invented that could be turned bolt
to tighten the string. By the
early 13th century, complex
windlasses (contraptions
wooden tiller
used to move heavy objects) veneered
were devised, which imparted with bone
high tensile strength to the
crossbow bolt.

ian at ts g
rs th nd
Pe er ts u en
0 g es aro i
aw s s i nv intin
.1 03 nom sug tate he N as uclid ribe ng pr
he or
c tro un i o s - c
r
as -Bir may ut sa
y Al s E es ion P i S pe f s
t 30 arize nd d ract 0 t y ck
Al rth n, b ve i 0
c.1 mm nts a r ext 04 le blo
Ea e Su t pro c.1 ovab clay
su me d fo ots m ing
th nno Ele tho e ro
ca e us
m cub
of

n
tla
zo f Bu ihha
ez f no b n s g
Ar ry o tio ss 0 I al- isin
d o d en mpa n, 05 im as ood
ido he an f t m o tio c.1 aqw mph of g ene
Gu w t tion m o irs ic c iga ina sT e ce ygi
0 e
03 s n ota ste rd
s 4 F net nav n Ch ite tise an h
c.1 vise al n s sy acho
4
10 mag for i wr rea ort and
c p t p t
de usi elo hex ed im die
m dev us 51
105069
,,
,,
THEN WAS ALL OVER ENGLAND
SUCH A TOKEN SEEN AS NO MAN
EVER SAW BEFORE
From The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, describing the comet of 1066

22
IN THE 11TH CENTURY, Chinese
mathematician Jia Xian described
a method of calculating square
and cubic roots using numbers
arranged in rows. Each row
contained one more number
than the row above it, to form a
triangle in which each number
is the sum of the two directly
above it. Known as the Jia
Xian triangle, it is also often
referred to in the West as
Pascals triangle, after French
mathematician Blaise Pascal
who described it 600 years later.
In 1054, the massive explosion
of a supernova (which formed
what we now know as the Crab
THE NUMBER
OF MONTHS THAT
THE SUPERNOVA
WAS VISIBLE
FROM 1054 TO 1055
Nebula) was visible from Earth. by European astronomers.
It was observed by Arabic and Astrologers viewed the comet as
Chinese astronomers, who an omen, and found it especially
described it as a guest star, signicant in the year of the
but its signicance was not Norman invasion of England.
realized by observers in Europe.
In 1066, the comet now called The Bayeux tapestry
This embroidered record of the
Comet Halley made one of
events surrounding the Battle
its regular 76-year periodic of Hastings in 1066 shows the
appearances and was described appearance of Halleys Comet.

outward pressure inward pressure neutron

of gas and radiation of gravity balances compressed shock wave star or
supports star outward pressure core implodes blows star apart black hole
fusion
hydrogen creates exhausted neutrinos material
envelope iron core released thrown out
by explosion

heavy
elements
form in
active outer
core CORE IMPLOSION layers
DYING SUPERGIANT COLLAPSES OCCURS DETONATION

FORMATION OF A SUPERNOVA

A supernova is an explosion of a massive supergiant
star at the last stage of its life. Over a long period of
time, a star builds up a core of iron, which eventually
collapses in on itself as the star runs out of fuel for
fusion. This results in an implosion that rapidly
reheats the star and restarts the process of fusion.
Subatomic particles called neutrinos are released
as implosion occurs. Now out of control, the star
explodes with a huge amount of energy billions
of times more than the Sun, which is also a star
shining brighter than other stars and scattering
debris in all directions, over vast distances.

nd
s ea s va
Jia ibe n es mer erno
0 50 escr n C
i
h on up o
c.1 an d Xia ater s
54 str e
Xi e Jia le, l the 10 ab a e th the
th ang as ngle Ar serv rms la
tri own l tria ob at fo ebu
kn sca th ab N
Pa Cr

n
ow
r kn hted
e g
lat si
et y is
com alle
e H
Th et
66 om
10 s C
a

52
107099
,, BY THE HELP OF GOD AND
WITH HIS PRECIOUS ASSISTANCE,
I SAY THAT ALGEBRA IS A
SCIENTIFIC ART.
Omar Khayyam, from Treatise on Demonstration of Problems
of Algebra, 1070
PERSIAN MATHEMATICIAN AND
ASTRONOMER Omar Khayyam
began work on his Treatise on
Demonstration of Problems of
Algebra in 1070, the year that he
moved to Samarkand, Uzbekistan,
and devoted himself to study and
writing. In it, he gave a complete
classication of the types of
cubic equation (an equation
involving a term to the power
of three, such as x+y3=15) and
described for the rst time a
general theory for solving them
using geometry. The method he
used involved the use of conic
sections and curves. He realized
that some equations, such as
quadratic (involving a squared
term) and cubic equations,
had more than one solution.
Khayyam was also
an accomplished
astronomer: from 1073 he
worked at the observatory
in Isfahan, Iran. Much of
his work was concerned
with the
compilation
of astronomical
tables, but he
also helped to
improve the accuracy
of the calendar.
Bamboo
Shens discovery of fossilized bamboo
in a cool and dry area led him to
conclude that the region would have
been warm and humid in the past.
s am
ar in n
m eg e o
7 0 O am b atis of ra
10 ayy Tre tion geb
Kh iting stra of Al
wr mon ms
De oble
Pr
,,
At Isfahan, he also worked on
his poetry, later collected in
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
In 1079, he calculated the length
of a year as 365.24219858156
days a greater degree of
precision than ever before, and
remarkably close to the modern
measurement of 365.242190
days. This led to the introduction
of a new calendar in the Islamic
world, which was more accurate
than the Julian calendar used
in Europe at the time.
Meanwhile, in China, the
polymath Shen Kuo retired from
a successful career as a civil
servant and military leader in
the court of the Song dynasty,
and devoted his time to study.
He wrote an extraordinarily
wide-ranging collection of
essays on subjects as diverse
as politics, divination, music,
and the sciences. The Dream
,, UNDER THE GROUND,
A FOREST OF BAMBOO
SHOOTS WAS REVEALED
THESE WERE SEVERAL
DOZENS OF FEET BELOW
THE PRESENT SURFACE
OF THE GROUND.
Shen Kuo, from Dream Pool Essays, 1088
yy h
ha ngt s
K e
ar e l abl
Om es th d en
7 9 t n
10 lcula ar a efor
ca a ye ar r
of lend
ca
This manuscript is one of the many treatises that Omar Khayyam wrote
on mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, and philosophy.
OMAR KHAYYAM (10481131)
Born in Persia (now Iran), Omar
Khayyam showed a talent for
astronomy and mathematics at
an early age; he wrote many of
his treatises before he was 25
years old. In 1073, he was invited
by Sultan Malik-Shah to set up
an observatory in Isfahan. Here,
he worked on calendar reform
and astronomical tables, before
returning to his home town.
Pool Essays, named after his
garden estate, were nished in
1088, and included an overview
of the sciences of the time, as
well as some innovative ideas.
For example, Shen was the rst
to give a description of the
magnetic compass needle.
He explained how it could be
,,
e
m
used in navigation to determine
the direction of North. He also
contributed to the elds of
palaeontology and geology.
Describing the discovery
of the remains of marine
creatures in the strata of a
cliff hundreds of miles from
the coast, he suggested that
these must have been covered
by silt over a long period
of time which would have
been later eroded and also
proposed that the cliff must
have at some time been a
coastal area. He described
fossilized bamboo unearthed
by a landslide, in an area where
bamboo does not grow, and
came to the conclusion that this
was the remains of an ancient
forest from a time when the
climate of the area had been
signicantly different.
tes
ple ays
m s
co Es
K uo ool
n P
he eam
8 8 S Dr
10
53
 8 0 0 15 4 2 EUROPEAN AND ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE

UNDERSTANDING
STARS
MASSIVE BALLS OF HOT, IONIZED GAS, STARS ARE POWERED BY NUCLEAR REACTIONS

Our galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars and there are hundreds
of billions of galaxies, each containing similar numbers of these huge balls
of plasma (hot, ionized gas). A star glows because it is hot, and most of the
heat is generated by nuclear reactions in the stars core.
HANS BETHE
Around 6,000 stars are visible to the naked eye in LIFE CYCLES OF STARS In the 1930s, German-born physicist
the night sky. Apart from the Sun, they are so far Stars form in huge masses of gas and dust Hans Bethe (19062005) worked out
how nuclear fusion builds elements
away that, despite their enormous size, they called molecular clouds. Gravity causes matter inside stars, for which he was awarded
appear only as tiny points of light, even through in denser regions of these clouds to clump the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics.
powerful telescopes. together to form protostars. This gravitational
collapse produces heat, which causes atoms to nuclear fusion reaction releases energy,
THE SUN IS A STAR lose electrons, becoming ions, so the matter in which heats the protostar further: a star is
The Sun is by far the closest star: the light and the protostar becomes plasma a mixture of born. When the hydrogen runs out, nuclear
other radiation it produces takes eight minutes to ions and electrons. At the protostars centre, the fusion ends, and the star cools and collapses
reach Earth, compared with over four years from high temperature and pressure cause nuclei of under its own gravity. A stars nal destiny
the next nearest star. Like other stars, the Sun is hydrogen atoms to fuse together to form nuclei depends upon its mass; the most massive
composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with of helium and some heavier elements. This stars end up as black holes (see opposite).
small amounts of other elements. Its luminous
surface (photosphere) is white hot, with a
temperature of about 5,500C (10,000F), and its
outer atmosphere, the corona, is much hotter.
The Sun is about 5 billion years old, and is about
halfway through its life cycle.

109
THE NUMBER OF TIMES
GREATER THE SUNS STAR BIRTH
The molecular cloud in the Carina Nebula (part of which
STAR DEATH
As stars of low to intermediate mass near the ends of their
DIAMETER IS COMPARED is shown in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope)
is one of the largest known regions of star birth in our
lives, they eject haloes of hot gas, forming objects known as
planetary nebulae. At the centre of each such nebula is a small
WITH THE EARTHS galaxy, the Milky Way. remnant of the once much larger star, called a white dwarf.

STAR SIZES supergiant Sun

Stars come in a huge variety of sizes.
Supergiants, among the largest stars, large, hydrogen-
burning star white dwarf
can be over 1,500 times bigger than
the Sun. The Sun itself has a neutron
diameter of about 1.4 million km star
(about 870,000 miles) roughly
average for a star in the main part of black hole
its life. The smallest stars, neutron
red giant
stars, are only about 20 km (12.5
miles) across. Large stars Small stars
The main types of large star include supergiants, red Sun Small stars result from the death of larger stars. Stars
giants, and large hydrogen-burning stars.The Sun is like the Sun become white dwarfs, while more massive
an average-sized hydrogen-burning star. stars become tiny neutron stars or even black holes.

54
 solar prominence,
a loop of plasma

corona extends millions

radiative zone of kilometres into space

sunspot, convection
a cooler region of zone
core, at a temperature
the photosphere
outward pressure, of 15 million C
generated by reactions in (27 million F)
the core, counteracts the
inward pull of gravity

photosphere, the
Sun's luminous
visible surface

gravity pulls
plasma
inwards

INSIDE THE SUN chromosphere,

Nuclear reactions in a layer of
the core generate huge atmosphere
amounts of energy, which above the
passes out through a layered photosphere
internal structure and escapes into
space. The outward pressure exerted
by this radiation would blow the star
apart were it not for the force of
gravity acting in opposition.

NEUTRON STARS AND BLACK HOLES
Towards the end of a stars life, nuclear fusion
falters. The star starts to cool and collapse under
its own gravity. Inside a star like the Sun, a force
star, even this force cannot halt collapse and the
star continues to shrink, eventually becoming a
black hole a region of spacetime so dense that
even light cannot escape from it. two-dimensional
representation of BLACK HOLE

160,00 0
called electron degeneracy pressure resists four-dimensional According to the general
further collapse and the star becomes a white spacetime theory of relativity, gravity
dwarf. However, in some more massive stars, is curvature of spacetime
due to mass (see 1916).
gravitational collapse overcomes this force and steep-sided A black hole is a region of
THE NUMBER OF LIGHT
gravitational well
pushes electrons and protons together to form spacetime with a central
neutrons. The result is a neutron star, which is point of innite density
prevented from further collapse by a force called YEARS FROM EARTH TO a singularity that
produces an innitely
neutron degeneracy pressure. In a very massive THE NEAREST BLACK HOLE singularity deep well in spacetime.

55
 110049 115099
16,000
THE NUMBER OF WORKERS
ASSEMBLING SAILING SHIPS
AT THE VENICE ARSENALE
IN THE 17TH CENTURY
A 17th-century painting shows workers at Venices Arsenale. Innovative construction
techniques enabled the Venetians to dominate the seaways for centuries.

AROUND 1104, THE CITY
AUTHORITIES IN VENICE ordered
the construction of the Arsenale,
a state shipyard and armoury,
which would employ 16,000
workers by the 17th century.
The Arsenale pioneered new
production techniques,
,, BECAUSE OF THE FREQUENCY
OF THE EXPERIENCE, THESE
The Chinese had started to Raymond of Toledo
print on silk using stencils Archbishop Raymond is
seen standing before King
before the end of the Han
Alfonso VII at his coronation
Dynasty (220 CE), but they in 1135, a demonstration
began to use multiple of the importance of royal
colours in the wooden block patronage.
printing of pictures c.1107.
By 1340, the technique was
Around 1121, in the
Persian city of Merv,
al-Khazini wrote Book
of the Balance of Wisdom
INDIAN MATHEMATICIAN AND
ASTRONOMER Bhaskara II
(111485) described a perpetual
motion machine, one that would,
once a force was imparted to it,
carry on working indenitely.
Bhaskaras device was a wheel
whose spokes were lled with
mercury. He theorized that
mercury was sufciently heavy
so that as the wheels turned it
would ow to the edge of the

JUDGEMENTS MAY BE REGARDED
AS CERTAIN, EVEN WITHOUT OUR
KNOWING THE REASON.
Abul Barakat al-Baghdadi, Kitab al-Mutabar, early 12th century
producing prefabricated parts
and using a method of frame-
building for ships that made it
possible to construct a vessel
in a single day.
TRANSLATING ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS
The works of many classical
philosophers had been lost in
the Christian West, but they
were preserved through
translations made into Arabic
in the 8th and 9th centuries.
These manuscripts in turn
became available in Europe
from the 12th century, where
they were translated into Latin
by scholars such as Gerard
of Cremona.
,,
applied to an edition of the
Diamond Sutra (see 86199)
where the main text is in black,
and the prayers are in red.
In the 11th century, Avicenna
had theorized that the motion
of a projectile continues because
of the mail (inclination, or motive
power) imparted to it by the
projector, but said that only one
such force could exist in a body at
any time. This was later conrmed
by French priest Jean Buridan
(see 135062). Around 1120,
Baghdad philosopher Abu
lBarakat (c.10801165) proposed
that more than one mail could exist
in a projectile. As it fell, the mail
pushing it forwards weakened, and
another mail took over, causing it
to accelerate downwards. These
mail forces caused acceleration. In
this way, he expressed the idea of
the relationship between force
and acceleration.
in which he put forward a
theory of centres of
spokes and impel the machine
around another part-turn.
gravity. He suggested Bhaskara II was better known
gravity varies according for his astronomical and
to the distance from the mathematical works, which
centre of the world made him one of the most
the farther the objects are, respected Indian mathematicians
the heavier they seem. of the Middle Ages. In Lilavati
English philosopher Adelard (named after his daughter), his
of Bath (10801152) spent seven
years in Salerno and Sicily, where
he learned Arabic. His extensive
knowledge of Arabic culture and
language led him in 1126 to
translate al-Khwarizmis
astronomical work, the Sindhind
Zij, (Astronomical Tables of
Sindhind) into Latin, bringing
his work to a wider audience.
Raymond, Archbishop of Toledo
in Spain from 112652,
encouraged the translation of
books from Arabic into Latin.
The rst translators were
succeeded in 1167 by Italian- In perpetual motion
This 13th century version of a
born Gerard of Cremona
perpetual motion machine is an
(111487) who translated more overbalanced wheel with hinged
than 80 Arabic works. mallets around its rim.

lar
ho th
on sc ses ory Ba II a re
cti
n o
sia op he of ds ic ra t a
tru er i pr of t
d i
lar cl ab s ka s tha squ d
ns e 1 P zin rm de Eu Ar ha ate wo e an
Co nic gins 2 a 6 A ates from
B r t
4 e e 11 Kh ly fo ion 2 50 st s itiv
0 V
11 the ale b al- ear vitat 11 nsl nts 11 mon r ha pos tive
e
of sen an gra tra me tin d mb on ega
e e
e nu ots, er n
Ar of El o La
int ro e oth
th

at sh of
ak
ar he do wi ne e
se
B of t en ole y Je orda , o mal t
eu n l f T man
h s on l a
es rs i g u n
Ab tio twe on o
s
ni va otu f
e sa
i n u et d of from pa Sa work ons Tr wn tise taly
Ch olo ntin 20 no be ati e c on tin
S n i 50 kno rac o, I
07 le c pri 11 ses hip ler se neti n m ns s 45 ia es a t
1 e ay atio ork o La 11 atic duc equ
1
1 rst , p rn
c. ultip lock
1 es ns acce i n g o R l l w int m ians Sale
pr io Ch ma ass ea 1 s
5 tran sica bic e pr ato i c s
m odb ex elat and 25 es p or ath r pe ysic
wo r e 11 us com to K 26 s a ad o
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for ing ge o r E
at ya
56 o vo
 ,, KNOWLEDGE

,,
IS THE CONFORMITY
OF THE OBJECT AND
THE INTELLECT.
Ibn Rushd (Averros), from Commentaries on the Physics, late 12th century

The philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averros) is banished from the court of the Almohads, after their
overthrow of the Almoravids, whom he served as court physician.

Worlds rst striking clock restricted this analysis to celestial
An illustration from al-Saatis treatise on the bodies. Its extension to bodies
water clock shows the two falcons at each end
who would nod forwards every 60 minutes and on Earth would be made only
release a pellet onto a cymbal to sound the hour. in the 13th century by Thomas
Aquinas (c.122474).
In 1154, Arab engineer
al-Kaysarani constructed the
worlds rst striking clock,
near the Umayyad mosque
in Damascus. It was
powered by water and
was described by al-
Kaysaranis son Ridwan al
Saati in his 1203 treatise
On the Construction of
Clocks and their Use.
Islamic water clocks
became so sophisticated
that in 1235 one was
stone, which included grid lines
and an indication of the scale
of the map.
While waterwheels had long
been used in Europe for the
grinding of grain, around 1180
the idea was adapted to the use
of windpower. Unlike earlier
Persian windmills, which were
horizontal, the European
vertical mills used a post
design, with sails mounted on
a vertical tower that itself was
free to rotate as the wind varied.
By the 1190s, windmills had
become so commonplace that
Pope Celestine III imposed a
tax on them.

most comprehensive treatise, he
discussed fractions, algebra and
algorithms, permutations and
combinations, and the geometry
of triangles and quadrilaterals.
He also introduced the idea of
negative quantities in geometry.
In his Bija-Ganita (Seed Counting),
he concluded that the division
of a number by zero would
produce innity. He also
became the rst mathematician
to realize that there are two
square roots of a number, one
positive and one negative. In his
astronomical work of 1150, the
Siddhanta-siromani (Head Jewel of
Accuracy), Bhaskara II performed
calculations on small increments
2
scope than those
developed by Isaac
Newton or Gottfried
Leibniz ve
centuries later.
The Spanish-born philosopher
Ibn Rushd (112698), known as
THE NUMBER Averros in Europe, commented
extensively on Aristotles work
OF SQUARE in the 4th century BCE, seeking
ROOTS OF to integrate his ideas with
Islamic theology. Around 1154,
ANY NUMBER in his work on Aristotles theory
of motion, Averros made a
of motion that came close to distinction for the rst time
an idea of differential calculus, between the motive force of
which studies the rates at which an object (its weight) and the
quantities change. However, his inherent resistance of a body
ideas were of much narrower to motion (its mass), although he
built in Baghdad that
told people the times
of prayer, day and night.
The advanced state of both
cartography and printing in
China are indicated by the
rst printed map, which dates
from around 1155 (at least three
centuries before its rst
European counterpart in 1475).
Contained in the Liu Ching Tu
(Illustrations of Objects
mentioned in the Six Classics), it
depicted parts of western China
with rivers and provincial
names given, and showed the
line of the Great Wall. Vane power
A more grandiose cartographic This German windmill shows the
typical arrangement of four sails
creation of the Chinese Sung
attached to a vertical post, but unlike
dynasty was the Yu Ji Tu, an 1137 earlier post-mills only the cap of the
map of the country carved in mill rotates to face the wind.

s) ch rry al lar s y
s en ie lic ho o te db
s ro
er tics Fr Th rites Bib ith sc ona oled nsla ke ng l
es en Ibn v 5 n n
lia e m T ra tin al in ac adi hoo
bb ing (A ne ea 15 gia s w ling w f
Ita of Cr ad o ol; t o La nt s
is I le sc
8 A of B s on ny 54 s i id c.1 eolo rtre nci ation y izo pear ope
5 11 shd of k the ve 67 e o t r no y V cal
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51 ar tis bo
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R eor ses s ha sts
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0H sa Eu
r
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11 ldeg trea nd th pres ject resi of rks t of sm Ge com tion wor 18 ill ern S H m
c.1 ndm est 91 or of
i s
H ite ine a
ex at ob hat ce wo coun ic co be nsla 90 11 per line
wr dic t ac aton tra arly wi rthw Em dec
e th ss for no
m a
m tive Pl ne to
o
m

d r es
te ola os n
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ni t p part na s l n M ise o s
ra
s
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sic ea
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sa st tal ra hy s tr ntid
ay s r in 55 p, n 0 I isa t into p
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57
120019
,,THE IMPACT OF AL-JAZARIS

,,
INVENTIONS IS STILL FELT IN
MODERN CONTEMPORARY
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
Donald Hill, Studies in Medieval Islamic Technology, 1998

ITALIAN MATHEMATICIAN that were useful for the Pisan

Leonardo Pisano (Fibonacci)
published the Liber Abaci (Book
of Calculations) in 1202, the rst
major western European work
popularizing the use of Hindu
Arabic numerals and place
notation (see 86199). The book
also presented rules for
algebra, which he probably
derived from al-Khwarizmi (see
82160), as well as solutions for
nding square and cube roots.
Fibonacci described techniques
Ingenious devices
This illustration of one of al-Jazaris
mechanical devices shows an
automaton that pours water from
a pot, then returns to a chamber
where it is scooped back up again.
merchants of his day, including a
method for multiplication using
a grid, advice on the barter of
goods, and the use of alloys
to make coins. The Fibonacci
sequence (below) is derived from
a problem that concerned the
growth of a rabbit population.
In 1206, Arab engineer Ibn
Ismail al-Jazari published the
Book of Knowledge of Ingenious
and Mechanical Devices, detailing
50 machines, including the rst
descriptions of crankshafts
and camshafts. The most
spectacular of these was a 2 m-
(6.5 ft-) high water clock in the
form of an elephant with a
phoenix that marked half-hours.

each number in sequence continues

sequence is sum of in same way
two numbers before it indenitely
sequence
starts with 1 1+1 1+2 2+3 3+5

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each

successive number is the sum of the two numbers preceding it.
Any number in the series is known as a Fibonacci number. These
occur surprisingly often in nature, with the number of petals of
many owers being Fibonacci numbers (daisies have 13, 21, or
34), while the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem is also
determined according to a ratio connected to this sequence.

i r
cc be
o na e Li g ian gh ne
F i b t h din bic tal Hu wi
s
02 he un Ara 14 I ian ses ic
12 blis xpo du 12 ysic ca u ept ole
e
pu aci Hin ph Luc ntis ves r ion
Ab e of als of an a ser fect
us mer as d ob in in
nu an pus
of

r
f ola
ko ch ates
B oo ous d
s
sh s l ry
i no tti an ta
is gen ices
ar sy he co ot tr lane atin
az f In ev fts ch of t at S L
l-J ge o cal D sha fts r
hu dy tle y 17 Sc s P to
A 12 ael ruji y in
06 led an an sha
i k A c stu to sit ch -Bit eor
12 now ech s cr am 2 10 the Aris iver i
M al Th
K d M ibe d c 1 s
n of Un
an escr an ba orks aris
58 d w P
122049
A 13th-century illustration shows the ow of blood through the body by
means of veins. The top of the heart can just be seen.
EARLY CHINESE GUNPOWDER
WEAPONRY had been relatively
low powered, in the form of
hand-hurled grenades or
re-arrows, with a small charge
attached to the shaft. In 1231,
faced with a Mongol invasion, the
Chinese defenders of Ho Chung
deployed the Heaven-Shaking
Thunder Crash Bomb, which
contained gunpowder rich
enough in saltpetre to burst
an iron casing. The resulting
explosion could be heard 50 km
(31 miles) away, and the shrapnel
from the explosion was said to
have torn iron armour to pieces.
In 1232, the Chinese also used an
early form of rocket consisting of
a spear with a bamboo container
packed with gunpowder attached
to it. When lit, these re-spears
were propelled forwards by the
,, THE CONSIDERATION
OF LINES, ANGLES AND
FIGURES IS OF THE
GREATEST UTILITY SINCE
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR
,,
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
TO BE KNOWN WITHOUT
THEM.
Robert Grosseteste, English philosopher and theologian, in On Lines,
Angles, and Figures, c.1235
t ba
er
ob te
0 R tes
2 31 st t P
12 osse hes ry
Gr blis enta es y tics
pu mm totl nal
co Aris ior A
on ster
Po
or s t
0 J op lev al
23 evel of virtu nt
. 1
c e d ium of me
or
m ilib ide la
Ne equ the disp
f
o and
Rockets in the making
Shown here is an early
Chinese rocket of the
kind used at the siege
of Kaifeng in 1232. The
soldier is about to light
the fuse on the bamboo
gunpowder container.
explosive charge. Another form of
the weapon was used as an early
form of amethrower, which
could shoot re up to 2 m (6.5 ft)
towards an enemy, causing
appalling injuries.
Robert Grosseteste (c.1168
1253), Bishop of Lincoln, played
de
us y
d an heor s
er
r a ce
31 ey hoo of m Da
2 n
1 o sc in
m st ch
90
THOUSAND MILES
THE LENGTH OF THE ENTIRE
NETWORK OF BLOOD VESSELS
IN THE HUMAN BODY
axiom that equal weights at
equal distances from a fulcrum
are in equilibrium (see pp.3435),
Jordanus introduced the idea
of virtual displacement
(which looks at the effects
of innitesimal changes on
a mechanical system) into the
science of mechanics. His De
Ratione Ponderis (On the Theory
of Weight) also investigated the
problem of downward forces
acting along the trajectory of a FIBONACCI (C.11701250)
moving body. He demonstrated
that the more oblique the objects Leonardo Pisano (Fibonacci)
a key role in reconciling trajectory, the smaller the was born into a wealthy
Aristotelian philosophy and downward forces (later merchant family in Pisa, Italy.
scientic method with Christian understood as positional gravity). His father was in charge of
thinking through his commentary Jordanus also developed proof to the Pisan trading colony in
on Aristotles Posterior Analytics, show the point at which weights Bugia in Tunisia, and there
published from 1220 to 1235. His supported by angled (or bent) Fibonacci came into contact
logical method was rigorous, a levers on a fulcrum will be with Arabic mathematical
process he called resolution and in equilibrium (balanced). ideas. Aged 32, he published
composition, which involved the
testing, by experiment if possible,
of hypotheses, and the rejection of
any conclusions that were not
Syrian polymath and anatomist
Ibn al-Nas (121388) produced
a major medical compendium
the Sharh Tashrish al-Qanun
the Liber Abaci, which
brought him great fame and
he gave a mathematical
demonstration to King
based on observation. His theory (Commentary on Anatomy in Ibn Frederick II of Sicily.
that all changes were caused by Sinas Canon). It contained a host
the action of forces acting
through a medium led him to
of anatomical discoveries, but
al-Nass major breakthrough to the left through pores in the
study optics and to write treatises was his discovery of how blood wall that separated the two
on rainbows and astronomy. circulated between the heart chambers. However, he did not
Around 1230, European and lungs. He showed that blood explain how the blood then
mathematician Jordanus de
Nemore produced a new theory
circulates from the right-hand
side of the heart to the left
returned from the hearts left
ventricle to the right. A full theory
of levers in his Elementa Super
Demonstrationem Ponderum
through the lungs, in contrast to
the traditional view of Galen (see
of bloods circulation would not
be formulated until William
(Elements on the Demonstration 100250), who held that blood Harvey in the 17th century
of Weight). Building on Aristotles seeped in from the right ventricle (see 162830).
n
ian e ple
of of s l sic th
f t y ica hy iles n Sim l
Li ud ari em p
h ic mp k o tia eia
12 the le a 0 C of am co oo en po
on istot sity 4 dia he he
d Isl tar e B u aco
30 ope ew t blis 8 y
24 Ba nsi st i rm
v n
Ar iver 2
c.1 cycl lom n pu c.1 al- ehe mo pha
Un en rtho hma n r
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Ba glis Co ugs val A
En Dr die
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m
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hs
at f
i
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s
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y b l n i p o in
ar shm ly in 6 S pu on
th ist ici
g C r w ic
hw li ive e, 4 ah ion rst me
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ak stab clus icin cus 5 S
- D e s 4 bi at , ic 47 rst nsic
Al for l ex ed ma 12 say rm ians rab 12
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59
125068
,, TO CURE MELANCHOLY,
CUT A CROSS-SHAPED HOLE IN
THE SKULL THE PATIENT
IS TO BE HELD IN CHAINS.
Roger Frugardi, Italian surgeon, from Chirurgia, late 12th century
AROUND 1250, PRIEST AND
PHYSICIAN Gilbert the
Englishman completed the
Compendium Medicinae
(Compendium of Medicine). It
became one of the most widely
used medical works of the
Middle Ages and was translated
from Latin into German, Hebrew,
Catalan, and English. The work
had separate volumes devoted
to the head, heart, respiratory
organs, fevers, and womens
diseases. In the books, Gilbert
also wrote about the diagnosis
of leprosy by its numbing
effect on skin.
In 1266, English friar and scholar
Roger Bacon completed his Opus
Majus (Greater Work). Ostensibly
a plea for church reform, the
work included large sections on
experimental observation and
natural sciences, intended to
ROGER BACON (122092)
Educated at Oxford University,
England, Roger Bacon
travelled to Paris, where he
lectured on Aristotle. In 1247,
he gave up his post to research
privately. He joined the
Franciscan Order in 1257 in
order to continue his studies.
He was commissioned by Pope
Clement IV to produce a work
on church reform, which led to
his Opus Majus in 1267.
m s
iu
nd
he mpe
t
t Co es
er
ilb ns lud sy
0 G hma e inc pro
5
12 glis icin of le
En Med sis
of gno
dia
60
,,
,, EXPERIMENTAL
SCIENCE IS
THE QUEEN OF
SCIENCES AND
,,
THE GOAL
OF ALL
SPECULATION.
Roger Bacon, in Opus Tertium, 1267
convince the Church of the
virtues of new learning. It also
contained the rst description of
gunpowder in western Europe,
and ideas for ying machines
and steam ships. The section on
optics was particularly important.
In it, Bacon agreed with Arab
scholar Alhazens view that vision
is made possible when rays
emanating from the object
viewed enter into the eye
Surgeon Roger Frugardis surgical treatise, Chirurgia (Surgery), was one of Europes earliest
books on surgery. This illustration shows a hernia operation in progress.
(see 100029). He examined the
properties of differently shaped
lenses, and described the use
and mathematics behind
magnifying lenses although he
did not, as commonly supposed,
actually invent spectacles.
Italian surgeons Hugo
(c.11801258) and Teodorico
Borgognoni (120598) came
from a family of doctors who
practised in Bologna, a leading
centre of medicine. By the 1260s,
Teodorico was advocating the
cleansing of wounds with wine
and their rapid closing up. This
practice was in contrast to
most contemporary medical
practitioners who went along
with Greek physician Galens
insistence that pus be allowed
to form in wounds. The
Borgognonis also advocated
using dry bandaging for
wounds discarding the salves
and poultices used at the time.
They also used an early form of
anaesthesia by holding sponges
soaked with narcotics such as
opium or hemlock near the
noses of patients who were
about to undergo surgery.
Opus Majus
This diagram from Roger Bacons
major work shows the structure
of the eye, the curvature of its lens,
and how light rays striking the
lens produce vision.
er be he s
s og scri of t rtie
ico te ith ic 7 R de ure ope es
or voca ds w thet 6
d
eo ad un aes 12 acon uct e pr lens
0 T ni o n s B str th ng
26 gno of w f a tion e d i
c.1 rgo ing se o era th e an nify
o s
B an nd n o u p ey mag
cle ne a ics i of
wi rcot
na
s
nu
M ag oes
s a n by
rtu lc d
l be at vo ause inds
A h c w
60 s t are ean
12 rite n
w r ra
bte
su
126979 128099
,, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DIRECT

,,
YOUR STEPS TO CITIES AND
ISLANDS AND TO ANY PLACE
WHATEVER IN THE WORLD.
Pierre de Maricourt, French scholar, describing the compass in Epistola
de Magnete, 1269

Figures wearing eyeglasses soon found their way into religious art, as is shown here

26
in this 1491 detail from the Betrayal by Judas in Notre Dame, Paris, France.

IN 1280, GUO SHOUJING

IN 1269, FRENCH SCHOLAR
PIERRE DE MARICOURT
wrote Epistola de magnete (Letter
on the Magnet), the rst work
to describe the properties of
magnets. In it, he set out the
laws of magnetic attraction and
repulsion, and explained how to
identify the poles of compasses.
Maricourts work led to the
construction of better magnetic
compasses, which became
invaluable aids in sea navigation.
He also described the operation
of a perpetual motion machine,
which worked using magnetism.
In 1276, the Mongol ruler of
China, Kublai Khan, asked
mathematician and engineer
Guo Shoujing (12311316) to
reform the calendar. To perform
this task, Guo rst had a series
of astronomical instruments
constructed. This included a vast
equatorial armillary sphere
nally completed his calendar.
According to his calculations, a
year had 365.2425 days.
The earliest surviving cannon
is from China and was made
c.1288. Before cannons were
strengthened by the use of cast
iron barrels, the Chinese had
probably used bronze tubes to
eject projectiles using gunpowder
explosives. Manuscripts of 1274
and 1277, however, refer to huo
pao explosive weapons used by
Gaocheng observatory the Mongols to demolish the
Of its two towers, one contained an ramparts of Chinese cities so
armillary sphere. Between them lay
the invention may have occurred
a sky-measuring scale to measure
the shadow of the 12-metre gnomon. a little earlier.
Although the magnifying
calibrated with a ring representing properties of glass lenses had
equatorial coordinates, a system been studied by English bishop
not used in Europe until the time Robert Grosseteste (11751253)
of Tycho Brahe (see 156574) and Roger Bacon earlier in the
three centuries later. He then 13th century, the
established astronomical rst description
observatories at Peking (Beijing) of eyeglasses
and Gaocheng, near Loyang, was given by a
China, between 1279 and 1280. Dominican friar
At the latter, a 12 m- (39 ft-) high Giordano da Pisa
gnomon (shaft on a sundial) sat
on top of a pyramid, casting
shadows, which were measured
at the time of the Suns solstices Camera obscura
This 16th-century
to help determine the length of
illustration of a
the year. Guo used advanced camera obscura
trigonometry to calculate the shows how an image
length of a year. of the Sun is reversed
after light passes
through an aperture
on to a surface in a
darkened room.
(c.12601310), who wrote that he
had seen them in 1286. Early
glasses were convex (curving
out) to correct long-sightedness.
Concave lenses (curving in) for
short-sightedness did not appear
for more than a century.
In 1290, French astronomer
William of St Cloud gave an
account of a solar eclipse
witnessed by him ve years
earlier. Many of those who
had observed the eclipse had
SECONDS
THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN GOUS
CALCULATION
AND ACTUAL
DAYS IN A YEAR
damaged their eyes by viewing
the Sun directly. In order to
prevent this, William used a
camera obscura a type of
pinhole camera in which light
goes into a dark chamber and is
projected through a tiny aperture
onto another surface, such as
a card, opposite it. The technique
had been used by earlier
astronomers, such as Alhazen in
the 11th century, to prove that
intersecting rays do not interfere
with each other. William,
however, was the rst to explain
its use in solar observation.
He also calculated an accurate
value by which the Earth tilts on
its axis, by observing the Suns
position at the solstices. In
addition, he produced an
almanac with detailed positions
of the Sun, Moon, and planets
at various dates between 1292
and 1312.

am k
illi rke ks on s on
m
9 W rbe wor i sh s of end st nn
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12 Moe tes des Po she opti l iam omm nife atio r si n l
8 i i l k ng m a n
fon ca is
of nsla ime 7
0 pub a, o
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h
tra Arc tin 7 7 ho o ref dar 28 ng f
12 itelo ctiv 12 lice sur n ca S
uo rk t len c.1 rvivi hina o n
se stro ds t
o
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in t 76 G wo e ca 9 6 U a rea
P e s
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12 gin ines s fro s
12 ble s p
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th tab

of o of
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o u fm t ac nno a c. Verd mys picyc
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Cl e o ob ect
ric s o irs f ca hin ou obs Pek oche 12 ear
8 li of e St e us a to ndir ipse
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th cur n i ecl
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t ri
du
61
 8 0 0 15 4 2 EUROPEAN AND ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE

coiled springs beneath

chassis store and
programmable gears can release energy tiller alters
be set to steer the car
direction of
in a particular direction
front wheel for
manual steering

like a childs toy

car, spinning the
wheels in reverse
stores energy in
the spring brake mechanism keeps
the car stationary
until released

30
THE NUMBER OF GEAR WHEELS
FOUND IN THE REMAINS OF THE
ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM RECOVERED
FROM A MEDITERRANEAN SHIPWRECK

c.230 BCE South-pointing chariot c.125 BCE 13th century

Early gears Zhang Hengs armillary sphere Mechanical clocks in Europe
The Chinese south-pointing Chinese scholar Zhang Heng builds The rst mechanical clocks
chariot probably uses a an armillary sphere driven by gears using gears to drive the rotation
gear arrangement that and water. His model, showing the of pointers and to control the
ensures the gure at the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars, striking of chimes are invented.
front points to the would go on to inuence not only They are powered by the
south as the Chinese gear technology, but also controlled drop of a weight
wheels turn. later clockmakers (see 700799). Clock at Salisbury Cathedral attached to a drive chain.

c.200 BCE c.7th century 1206

Watermills Persian windmills Book of Ingenious Devices
Greek watermills that use gears to The rst functional Arab polymath al-Jazari
harness hydropower begin to spread windmills, developed writes a treatise describing the
throughout the GraecoRoman world. in Persia, have construction of 100 remarkable
The Chinese develop their own water horizontal sails that machines including
wheel technology about 200 years drive the rotation the crankshaft
later, with gearing mechanisms to of a vertical shaft. many of which rely Al-Jazaris
Chinese watermill drive various motions. Windmill gear on gears. treatise

62
 T H E S TO R Y O F G E A R S

THE STORY OF
GEARS
SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE MECHANISMS FOR TRANSMITTING FORCES OF ROTATION, GEARS HAVE A LONG AND COMPLEX HERITAGE

The ability to alter the direction of a force, transmit it from one

axis of rotation to another, or trade force with movement, is rack and pinion gear
converts linear motion to
a vital aspect of many modern machines. Yet, such mechanical rotary motion or vice versa
functions often rely on gearing techniques that are centuries old. bevel gears,
with their tilted
edge, transmit
A gear is a wheel mounted on a central In ancient Greece, gear technology reached rotation from
rotating axis, with a series of teeth or its apex with devices such as the Antikythera one axis to
another
cogs around its outer edge that can engage mechanism a complex astronomical calculator
with the cogs of another gear. The teeth allow recovered from a Mediterranean shipwreck screw-like
the gear to transmit its angular motion to its around 1900. helical gear
engages with a
neighbour, forming a pairing known as a worm gear spur gears, the
transmission. The ratio of teeth between the two PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS whose teeth simplest form
are arranged of straight-
wheels determines the speed and force with which More immediate practical applications of gears, at an angle toothed gears
the second gear rotates, providing a so-called such as their use in harnessing power from
mechanical advantage; a smaller secondary owing water and wind, gradually spread arrangement of spur
gears causes the gear
gear rotates more rapidly, but with less torque throughout the ancient world. Treadmills powered with fewer teeth to
or rotational force. by animals or even humans became common. rotate more rapidly

The earliest specic devices known to
have used gears were the Chinese south-
pointing chariots direction-nding
devices used in the 3rd century BCE.
Leonardo da Vincis vehicle
This model of self-propelled
automobile was built from
a Leonardo da Vinci sketch.
The force from the
expansion of two wound
springs is transmitted
through ingenious
gearing to drive
the rear wheels.
Gears found various applications in mills our
mills are perhaps the most familiar, but saw
mills also used gears to turn rotating cutting
blades, and hammer mills used gearing to lift
and drop heavy hammers for beating metal
or minting coins.
New advances led to the development of
traditional clockwork in Europe in around
the 13th century, and the Industrial Revolution
saw the development of further ingenious
transmissions to harness the power of steam
engines. The use of gears has continued to the
present day in modern machines ranging from
automobiles to inkjet printers.
bevel and spur
transmissions change
direction of motion
TYPES OF GEARS
Gears can be designed or arranged in a variety
of ways to transmit motion from one direction
to another. Complex transmission assemblies
can take the motive power from a single rotating
drive shaft and apply it to drive a range of linear
movements or to propel further rotating shafts
at any speed required.

1781 1835 1990s

Murdochs gearing
1480 Scottish engineer William
Leonardo da Vincis work on gears Murdochs sun and planet
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci utilizes gear transmission converts
complex gear assemblies in many of his vertical motion, such as
inventions, such as lens-grinding and that of a steam-driven
metal-rolling devices, and shows a deep beam, into the rotational
theoretical understanding of their function. motion of a driveshaft.
Gear hobbing proccess
British engineer Joseph
Whitworth invents
hobbing the rst
process for the
production of high
precision gears, on
Sun and planet gearing an industrial scale.
Nanotechnology
Machines created on a
nano-scale often rely on
the same gearing
principles as larger
devices, except that the
gear wheels are mere
Plastic gear micrometres across.

18th century 19th century Safety 1950s

Industrial Revolution Development of bicycles
The rise of steam power during the Through the 19th century,
Industrial Revolution drives advances bicycles gradually develop from
in gear technology. The linear motion the scooter-like velocipedes
of steam pistons is applied to the that were invented around
rotation of locomotive wheels. 1817 to pedal-powered
machines that use gears
Steam locomotive and a drive chain.
bicycle Plastic gears
Gears made from new
plastics materials are
introduced from the 1950s.
They lack the strength of
properly machined metal
gears, but are far more easily
and cheaply manufactured.

63
130010 131116

The search for an explanation of the colours of the rainbow preoccupied medieval The title page of Mondino de Luzzis Anatomia shows a corpse on the
scholars, including Roger Bacon and Theodoric of Freiberg. dissecting table; it has already been opened up and had organs removed.

0.45
EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE USED
A SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS based
on the Roman pound, which
had 12 unciae (or ounces) and
was mainly used for weighing
pharmaceuticals and coins.
A new set of measures suitable
for bulky goods, such as wool,
was introduced in England
around 1303 (when it was
mentioned in a charter). It
was called avoirdupois, from
the Norman French Habur de
Peyse meaning goods having
weight and was based
on a 16-ounce pound a
measure that would be used
for the next 700 years.
The avoirdupois pound
probably originated in
Florence, where an almost
identical unit was in use for
the weighing of wool. Soon
supplementary weights
Weighty issues
This is one of a set of standard
avoirdupois weights that
were issued by Elizabeth I
of England in 1582. These
weights were to remain
the standard measure
until the 1820s.
KILOGRAMS
THE MODERN
EQUIVALENT OF THE
AVOIRDUPOIS POUND
were added, including the
hundredweight (112 pounds),
which was dened in an
ordinance of 1309.
The properties of the rainbow
had fascinated philosophers
from Aristotle to Roger Bacon,
who thought their colour was
due to the reection of light from
spherical raindrops in a cloud.
Around 1310, the Dominican
friar Theodoric of Freiberg
(c.12501311) carried out
scientic experiments to
determine the origins of
rainbows by using glass balls
lled with water through which
he passed light, which was
then projected onto a screen.
He concluded that the
rainbow was caused by light
striking spherical rain drops,
which was rst refracted, then
reected internally on the
inner surface of the drop,
and then refracted again.
Theodoric also properly
described the colour
spectrum. He discovered that
the light that projected out of
his glass balls produced
the same range of colours
as a rainbow, and in the
same order (red,
yellow, green,
and blue).
EARLY SURGERY AND DISSECTION
Surgery took a long time to become established as a separate
discipline, but written records since 1170 indicate a growing medical
sophistication. By 1200, operations for bladder-stones, hernias, and
fractures were routine. By the 14th century, surgeons were aware of
the need to avoid infection, sometimes cleaning wounds with wine
and closing them up as soon as possible.
THE EARLIEST WRITTEN clocks mechanism. The rst
RECORDS OF WEIGHT-DRIVEN clock faces were probably divided
CLOCKS feature in the Italian up according to the canonical
writer Dante Alighieris book hours (seven regulated times of
Paradiso (Paradise) (c.131321), prayer), which punctuated the
although such clocks probably church day. Clocks showing
rst appeared decades earlier. 12 equal hours were rst
Weight-driven clocks use recorded in 1330.
a weight to act as an energy Among the rst major surgical
storage device so that the clock writers was Henri de Mondeville
can run for a certain period of (c.12601316). A former military
time (such as a day or a week). surgeon who came to teach
Winding such clocks pulls on a medicine at Montpellier, de
cord that lifts the weight, which is Mondeville had, by 1308, begun
affected by gravity and falls; the to use anatomical charts and a
clock uses the potential energy model of a skull as aids to his
as the weight falls to drive the teaching. Around 1312, he

is
po s
rdu ight land on
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13 stem ced ed po re
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Hu av o 1
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13 ded
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ian
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sh des me th ric t wr ieri
gli o do s ou e a n h t-
ru e he rie th i g
En sden inst g te tal Ali gh
7 0 T ar on m 1 I nte wei his
5 0 dde , an actin 131 rg c nts ctru w 2
Da a in se
0 a n r .
c ibe me pe nbo 13 ns ck di
13 of G lica ext e i s i 13 tio clo ar a
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Jo the ex colo an m ri o
d bo
64
 131749
,,
,,
IT IS FUTILE TO DO WITH
MORE THINGS THAT WHICH
CAN BE DONE WITH FEWER.
William of Ockham, Franciscan friar, from Summa Totius Logicae, c.1323

,,GOD HIMSELF WAS A

PRACTISING SURGEON
IN 1323, WILLIAM OF OCKHAM
produced one of the greatest
works of logic of the Middle

,,
Ages Summa Logicae (The Logic
WHEN HE MADE THE FIRST Handbook) in which he radically

MAN FROM MUD AND EVE diverged from traditional

FROM ONE OF HIS RIBS.
Henri de Mondeville, French surgeon, from Cyrurgia, c.1312
produced his Cyrurgia (Surgery),
a manual based in part on his
observations of dissected corpses,
although his denitions were
not always accurate.
The practice of dissection
was revived by Italian medical
professor Mondino de Luzzi
(c.12751326), who taught at
Bologna, and who performed
Dissections featured regularly
in his teaching. In 1316,
Mondino completed Anatomia,
the rst textbook specically
concerned with anatomy
(rather than surgery).
An atlas of the body
This anatomical drawing from Henri
de Mondevilles Cyrurgia shows the
lower part of the torso cut away,
Christian philosophy. Most
notable in Williams ideas is the
idea of economy, that if a cause
or factor is unnecessary to prove
an argument, then it should be
discarded, a principle that came
to be called Ockhams razor. He WILLIAM OF OCKHAM (C.12851349)
promoted the idea that individual
perception is the foundation of Franciscan friar William of Ockham studied at Oxford and by 1315
all knowledge about the world, he was lecturing on the Bible. His theories of logic were seen by
attacking long-held metaphysical many as attacking Christian tenets, and he was summoned to the
explanations for the order of the Papal court at Avignon to answer charges of erroneous teaching.
Universe. He also advocated He ed before the enquiry was concluded and spent the rest of his
the separation of secular and life at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria.
ecclesiastical power.

20
a public dissection in 1315. revealing the internal organs. Windmills had been used to
grind our since the 12th century analysis. Later, in 1377, he
in Europe, but in 1345 windmills proposed the idea in his Livre
are rst recorded as being used du Ciel et du Monde (Treatise of
to operate water-pumps to drain the Sky and the World) that the
land in the Netherlands. The Earth was not immobile at
resulting reclaimed land, or the centre of the Universe, as
polders, ultimately came to
make up a fth of the country,
traditional cosmology held, but
that it rotated on its axis. He PER CENT
which is still protected from met objections from those
the sea by a system of dykes. who said birds would simply
THE
Around 1349, the French y off it, by afrming that the PROPORTION
scholar Nicholas of Oresme oceans were included in OF THE
the rotation.
NETHERLANDS
(c.132082) expounded a
system using graphs to
represent the growth of a THAT IS
function (such as the velocity
of an object), which was a
RECLAIMED
great aid to mathematical LAND
e
zi n sts nc sh d
uz lic t ar
s oh gge bsta ed gli ian ea f
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M ca Euro En Dum pa ated pav lecu 5 W laim aina ds
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t 65
135062
,, A PROJECTILE WOULD BE MOVED
BY AN IMPETUS BY THE THROWER

,,
AND WOULD CONTINUE TO BE MOVED
AS LONG AS THE IMPETUS REMAINED
STRONGER THAN THE RESISTANCE.
Jean Buridan, French priest, in Questions on the Physics of Aristotle, c.1357

A catapult in the fortress of Edessa hurls a ball at a siege tower. According to

Jean Buridans theory, the catapult has imparted impetus to the projectile.

IN THE LATE 1340S, A NEW AND reached Constantinople in 1347 by humidity or rotting corpses. 200
TERRIBLE DISEASE STRUCK and spread by ship throughout Remedies included controlling

Europe, the Middle East, and
North Africa. The Black Death
was an epidemic of bubonic
plague that infected humans via
rat eas. It was discovered later
that the cause was a bacterium
called Yersinia pestis. The plague
Plague victims
This 15th-century Swiss manuscript
shows victims of the plague with the
characteristic swellings, or buboes,
covering large parts of their bodies.
the Mediterranean, arriving in
France and England in 1348. The
disease began with swellings, or
buboes, in the groin and armpit,
followed by the spread of black
spots over the body and high
fever. It caused millions of deaths
across Europe.
Contemporary physicians, who
had no cure for the plague,
believed that it was caused by
putrefaction in the air brought on
the bodys heat by avoiding
putrefying foods, such as meat
and sh, fumigating rooms, and
wearing pomanders infused with
spices close to the nose.
Although doctors had failed to
control the plague, after its end
a renewed energy was given to
medical science. By 1351, Padova
had 12 medical professors (as
against three in 1349). Measures
to promote public health were
HEIGHT (METRES)
150
100
50
0
0 100
also enacted. In 1377, the
Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik)
ordered a quarantine of 30 days
for anyone coming from plague-
infected areas, as did Marseilles
in 1383. By 1450 Milan would
establish a permanent board of
health, and health passports
were introduced in Italy in 1480.
Aristotles explanation of
projectiles in motion had long
puzzled scholars. In 1357, the
French priest Jean Buridan
(c.130058) published Questions
on the Physics of Aristotle. He
pointed out that a thrown stone
continues to move even out of
200 300 400 500 600
DISTANCE (METRES)
Free fall
The impetus provided by throwing an
object to a greater height means it
travels further before downward
forces pulls it back to the ground.
contact with the thrower. He
theorized that the person throwing
an object imparts a force to it,
which he called impetus, and this
causes it to continue to move, so
long as the resistance of the air
does not stop it. He believed the
amount of impetus in an object
depended on the amount of matter
in it, so that feathers would not
move quickly when thrown,
whereas heavier objects would.

50 PER CENT
THE PROBABLE DEATH RATE
IN EUROPE DURING THE PEAK
OF THE BLACK DEATH IN THE
MID-14TH CENTURY

th t.
ea ou led
k D rs kil
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Fre n pu of im
57 ida ry
13 Bur theo
66
136399
,, A SURGEON WHO DOES

,,
NOT KNOW HIS ANATOMY
IS LIKE A BLIND MAN
CARVING A LOG.
Guy de Chauliac, French physician, in Great Surgery, 1363

This illustration from Guy de Chauliacs Chirurgia Magna shows patients with a variety
of injuries, including a broken arm and an eye wound, visiting a surgeon.

FRENCH PHYSICIAN GUY DE In 1364, the Italian

CHAULIAC (c.130068) was clockmaker
personal surgeon to three Giovanni de
Popes. He remained in Avignon Dondi (131889)
during the outbreak of the published his
Black Death in 1348, an Planetarium, a
experience that led him to description of
distinguish for the rst the complex
time between pneumonic astronomical
(affecting the lungs) and clock (astrarium)
bubonic plague. that he had just
His Chirurgia Magna (Great completed after
Surgery, 1363), became one 16 years of work.
of the medieval worlds most This 1m- (3.3ft-) high,
important surgical textbooks. weight-driven clock
In its seven volumes, he gave with an escapement Making gunpowder
advice on the treatment of and balance wheel was the most German legend attributed the
invention of gunpowder to alchemist
fractures, advising extending advanced of its time. Its seven
Barthold Schwartz. This woodcut
broken limbs with pulleys and dials showed the celestial depicts him stirring together the
weights, and noting the loss of movements of the Sun, Moon, ingredients for gunpowder.
cerebrospinal uid in skull and ve calendars, and it acted
fractures. He outlined procedures as a perpetual calendar, unevenly and mostly at the
such as tracheotomies (cutting including showing the date of surface, military technologists
open the windpipe) and the Easter. The clock was regulated had to devise new techniques.
replacement of lost teeth by by a balance that swung 1,800 They left a conical hole in the
ox bone. But his over-reliance times an hour; and the addition centre of the tube, which
on the work of Galen (see or removal of small weights encouraged an even burn (and
100250 BCE) led him to some enabled corrections to be made sufcient thrust), and made the
retrograde steps, such as if the device ran too fast or slow. rocket airtight, except for a
abandoning antiseptic The rst recorded use of small opening at the rear. These
treatment of wounds and rockets in Europe as a military methods were discussed by the
encouraging pus to form as weapon came in 1380 at the German military engineer Konrad
part of the healing process. Battle of Chioggia, fought between Kyeser (1366after 1405) in his
the eets of Venice and Genoa. Bellifortis (War Fortications)
Rockets need an ignition that in 1405. Kyeser also advised
Accurate marking of time provides continued and regular the adding of feathers (like the
This reconstruction of de Dondis thrust as the projectile ies etching of an arrow) or weights
1364 astrarium shows three of
through the air (unlike cannon to the rear of the rocket to make
its seven dials, as well as the
balance wheel and weights that balls). Since gunpowder its trajectory more even and to
regulated its movement. packed into a tube burns enable more accurate aiming.

h de se
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67
140021 142249

Italian artist Masolino da Panicale was an early master of visual perspective. He made good use of the technique The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral, Florence, is 42 m (137.8 ft) in diameter
in St Peter Curing a Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha, painted for the Brancacci Chapel , Florence. and 54 m (177 ft) high and took its architect, Brunelleschi, 16 years to complete.

42
THE PRINCIPLES OF LINEAR Brunelleschi may have been IN 1420, THE MONGOL RULER Zij-i-Sultani, a star catalogue
PERSPECTIVE were known to taught the technique by ULUGH BEG (141149) had showing the position of 1,018
the ancient Greeks, particularly Florentine physician Paola established a scientic institute xed stars.
Euclid who wrote of it in his Toscanelli (13971482), but at Samarkand, Uzbekistan; in Between 1430 and 1440, Ibn

Elements, but knowledge of
these was lost after the fall
of the Roman Empire.
Although Italian artist Giotto
(12661337) had attempted to
use algebraic formula to create
perspective, he had only partially
succeeded. Renewed efforts to
achieve true linear perspective
included works from 1377 to
1397 by Italian mathematician
Biagio Pelacani (c.13471416),
who showed how mirrors could
be used as aids to view objects
at a distance. In 141516, Italian
METRES
THE WIDTH OF
THE DOME
OF FLORENCE
CATHEDRAL
(13771446) demonstrated
in public for the rst time the
use of mirrors, by reecting
an image of the Florence
Baptistery onto a 30 cm-
(12 in-) canvas, which could
he did not publish his theories
until 1460. The rst full account
of the application of linear
perspective to painting,
including the creation of a grid
to organize the placement of
objects in a picture and of the
principles of the vanishing point
and horizon line, was set out by
Leon Battista Alberti (140472),
another of Toscanellis pupils,
in his On Painting in 1436.
As well as being an innovator
in drawing, Brunelleschi devised
advanced machinery for the
1424, he started to build an
observatory there. It had a huge
sextant that had a radius of 40 m
(131 ft). Among the astronomers
recruited was Jamshid al-Kashi
(c.13801429), who produced a
mathematical encyclopedia
with a section on astronomical
calculations, calculated the
value of pi to 17 decimal places,
and helped produce an extremely
accurate set of trigonometric
tables. In 1437, the astronomers
at the observatory published the
Ali al-Qalasadi (141286), a
Spanish Muslim mathematician,
published a work in which he
used a series of short words
and abbreviations to stand for
arithmetical operations in
algebraic equations. He was not
the rst to do so such Arabic
abbreviations had appeared a
century earlier in North Africa,
and Diophantus had devised a
form of algebraic notation but
al-Qalasadis widely diffused
works were responsible for
popularizing the system.

+
architect Filippo Brunelleschi then be drawn in perspective. construction of his many building In 1436, Brunelleschi nally
projects in Florence. Among completed the dome of Florence
hole in artists mirror is moved up and down these was a colla grande (great Cathedral after 16 years work.
canvas sight line so artist can compare his crane), a massive barge-based The dome was the largest
work with original building

original
building
hoist that could lift weights of
more than one ton, had three
different lifting velocities, and
could operate in reverse without
unsupported structure yet
built, and Brunelleschi solved the
problem of its weight by building
a lighter inner shell, on which

artist looks
through small
hole in canvas
artists
canvas is
reected in the mirror
unhitching the load. In 1421,
the authorities in Florence
granted him the rst recorded
monopoly patent. The Venetian
was built a tougher outer dome.
He used a ring and rib pattern
of stone and timber supports
between the two shells, and
BRUNELLESCHIS PERSPECTIVE

Florence architect and artist Filippo Brunelleschi used mirrors to

recreate an accurate depiction of Florences Baptistry on canvas. He
government would go on to
regularize the process of
granting patents, giving inventors
10 years monopoly rights, as
realized that linear perspective could be used to give an accurate long as the invention was
impression of a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional properly registered.
surface. Using a single perspective point (a hole in the canvas) and
a mirror, he produced a painting that was identical to the original.
ARABIC
x
MATHEMATICAL
devised a herringbone pattern for
the bricks, both of which helped
diffuse the weight of the structure.
Nicholas of Cusa (140164),
CHARACTER SYMBOL
a German philosopher, wrote
A new mathematical language a number of treatises such as
The mathematician al-Qalasadi used
De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned
short Arabic words for algebraic
operations, such as wa (and) for Ignorance), which included
addition and ala (over) for division. advanced astronomical and

ild
c bu
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,, WE OUGHT NOT TO SAY THAT

,,
BECAUSE THE EARTH IS SMALLER
THAN THE SUN AND IS INFLUENCED
BY THE SUN, IT IS MORE LOWLY.
Nicholas of Cusa, German philosopher, in De Docta Ignorantia, 1440

An early 16th-century woodcut shows Nicholas of Cusa caught between a group advocating church
reform (as Nicholas did) and conservative Papal supporters.

Printing for the masses

JOHANNES GUTENBERG (C.140068)
Born in Mainz, Johannes
Gutenberg later moved to
Strasbourg where he engaged
in a mysterious venture he
called adventure and art
perhaps his rst experiments
in printing. By 1448, he was
back in Mainz, where, by
This replica of Gutenbergs
press shows the type of
machinery that he employed
in Mainz for the production
of his 42-line Bible, so called
because of its 42-line columns.
lever to tighten
plates together
to impress ink

1450, his printing press was

in operation. The venture did
not prosper and by 1459 plate for laying
Gutenberg was bankrupt. plate for
movable type
in strips
placing paper

cosmological ideas. He held 1450, he had ink transferred

the radical view that Earth
rotates on its own axis and
orbits around the Sun,
preguring Copernicuss
theory 100 years later.
Around 1440, Johannes
Gutenberg began experiments
with printing using movable
type. The blocks could be moved
as required and later reused. By
established to printing block
a printing
press that
produced the earliest
extant printed work in
Europe, an edition of the
Ars Grammatica. Gutenbergs
printing techniques grew more
sophisticated and, in 1454, he
published an edition of the Bible.

,, IT IS A PRESS FROM WHICH

SHALL FLOW IN INEXHAUSTIBLE

,,
STREAMS LIKE A NEW STAR
IT SHALL SCATTER THE
DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE.
Johannes Gutenberg, German printer, c.1450

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 145067 146882

An illuminated page from Gutenbergs 42-line Bible. The 48 surviving copies

are among the most valuable books in the world.

30
IN 1454, GERMAN PRINTER
JOHANNES GUTENBERG
completed his edition of the Bible
printed with 42 lines on each
page. It was the rst substantial
book printed in Europe and its
180 or so copies sold out almost
immediately. The Gutenberg
FLORINS
Bible was soon followed by THE ORIGINAL
hundreds of works by Gutenberg
and other printers, allowing the
COST OF THE
much more rapid dissemination GUTENBERG
of scientic ideas. BIBLE
In 1464, German mathematician
Johannes Mller, also known as
Regiomontanus (143676), was that two triangles that have
completed his De Triangulis sides in similar proportions will
Omnimodis (On Triangles), a also have similar angles. He
systematic textbook for relied on the work of Arabic
trigonometry. One of his mathematicians.
fundamental propositions The rst work on cryptography
had been written in the 13th
century. By the 15th century,
4 A B C
3 cyphers were in widespread
gk l use for diplomatic
ce
D
2

correspondence. Codes relied

E
V X Z 1

n
i h dba

on monoalphabetic
p r

F G I L

substitution, in which each

letter is transformed into
t v z M
f

the same encoded letter.

In 1466, Italian painter and
&
q
T

x y philosopher Leon Battista

s om Alberti (140472) devised
S

N a cypher disc that made

O P Q R
polyalphabetic substitution
possible. Each new rotation of
Cracking the code the disc generated an entirely
Albertis disc operated by rotating
new alphabet for coding.
the inner ring so that an agreed
character (such as g) lined up
with the A of the outer ring.

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 148399
,, ALTHOUGH NATURE
COMMENCES WITH REASON

,,
AND ENDS IN EXPERIENCE
IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO
DO THE OPPOSITE
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, architect, and engineer, in Notebooks

This woodcut shows Columbuss three ships, the Nia, Pinta, and Santa Maria, on their ve-week
crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which ended in the discovery of the Americas.

THE LATE 15TH CENTURY

saw the production of the rst
printed practical mathematical
subtraction, as well as division
and ve different ways of
performing multiplication,
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
MATHEMATICAL NOTATION
progressed rapidly during the late
,, I STEERED FOR THE
CANARY ISLANDS THENCE

textbooks. The Treviso Arithmetic,
printed in 1478, demonstrated
techniques of addition and
LEONARDO DA VINCI
(14521519)
Born in Tuscany, Leonardo
da Vinci was the most creative
mind of the Renaissance.
He became an apprentice
sculptor before moving to
Milan to work for the ruling
Sforza family. A talented
artist, his paintings include
The Last Supper (149598)
and Mona Lisa (c.1503). His
scientic interests were vast
and he produced 13,000
pages of notebooks.
Leonardo da Vincis notebooks
This page from Leonardos notebooks
shows his sketches of ying machines.
He used mirror-writing to make notes,
although it is uncertain why he did so.
including cross-multiplication
and a chessboard technique
similar to modern practice. It
also dealt with the rule of
mixtures (for instance, showing
the proportions of a precious
metal in alloys) and methods of
calculating the Golden Number
(see 172324).
In 1483, it was followed by
a German counterpart, the
Bamberger Rechenbuch
(Bamberger Arithmetic), which as
well as setting out ve procedures
for multiplication, gave rules for
the summing of geometrical
and arithmetical progressions.
The prolic scientic interests
of the Italian painter, architect,
and engineer Leonardo da Vinci
led him to his studies on the
mechanisms of ight. He
considered that the bird is an
instrument operating through
mathematical laws and he
worked on designs for ying
machines using bird-like wings.
In 1481, he also devised a
parachute, with a sealed linen
cloth supported by wooden poles
that made a pyramidal shape,
that would reduce the rate of
acceleration in a fall and cushion
the wearers impact. There
is, however, no evidence that
Leonardo actually built any
of these fantastic machines.
15th century. The Dresden
Manuscript (1461) gave special
symbols for the rst four
powers of x, and, around 1489,
the German mathematician
Johannes Widman (146298)
wrote the rst work to use the
signs + and to represent
the operations of addition and
subtraction. He also used a long
line to represent equals.
Around 1489, Leonardo began
a study of human anatomy,
using dissections of animals and
human corpses (he claimed to
have dissected 10). He recorded
his ndings in notebooks
between 1489 and 1507. In these,
NAVIGATING AND MAPPING THE WORLD
,,
TO TAKE MY DEPARTURE AND
PROCEED TILL I ARRIVED
AT THE INDIES.
Christopher Columbus, from Journal of the First Voyage, 1492
he made the most detailed landed at San Salvador in the
anatomical drawings yet seen. Bahamas, the rst European to
In 1490, Leonardo was the rst reach the Americas since the
person to describe capillary Vikings in the 11th century. His
action, the ability of water in tiny voyage led to an exchange of
spaces to crawl upwards, population, food crops, and
acting contrary to other natural diseases as well as the discovery
forces (such as gravity). of large numbers of hitherto
In October 1492, the Genoese unseen species, such as the
explorer Christopher Columbus llama and armadillo.
The translation of Ptolemys Geography from
Greek to Latin in 1409 and the Portuguese
voyages down the west coast of Africa gave an
impetus to map-making techniques.
Maps of the 15th century, such as this 1540
map (left) by Ventian monk and mapmaker Fra
Mauro, combined a knowledge derived from
Ptolemy with information sourced from
mariners charts, but did not use a projection
that portrayed distances accurately. It wasnt
until 1569 and Flemish geographer and
cartographer Gerardus Mercators world
map that maps really helped sailors
determine routes at sea more easily.

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150016 151735
,,FRACASTORO

,,
DECLARED THAT FOSSIL
SHELLS HAD ALL BELONGED
TO LIVING ANIMALS.
Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist,
Principles of Geology, 183033

Martin Waldseemllers 1507 world map was the rst to name America, although
much of the coastline of North and South America remained unknown.

THE EXPLORATION OF NEW clock-maker Peter Henlein THE MEDIEVAL

LANDS IN THE LATE 15TH
CENTURY, and in particular,
Columbuss discovery of the
Americas in 1492 and Vasco
da Gamas circumnavigation
of Africa en route to India in
149798, provided much new
material for map-makers.
In 1504, a letter written by
Amerigo Vespucci (14541512)
detailing his third voyage to
America came into the hands
of a group based in St-Di in
Lorraine (in modern-day
France). One of them, Martin
Waldseemller (c.14701522),
produced a globe and world
map in 1507 in which he
suggested that the new-found
continent be called America,
the rst occurrence of the term.
In 1508, Waldseemller wrote
a treatise on surveying, in which
he described the theodolite
(which he called polimetrum)
for the rst time. Using a
theodolite, surveyors and
cartographers could now
measure angles of up to
360 degrees.
First pocket-watch
The compact workings
of Peter Henleins portable
clock (c.1512) were driven
by a slowly uncoiling spring.
It was the rst timepiece
small enough to be carried
in the users pocket.
4
YEARS
THE AVERAGE LIFESPAN
OF A SWISS MILITARY
WATCH BATTERY
40 hours The average lifespan of a
16th-century wind-up pocket watch
Batteries versus springs
Henleins rst watch would have
lasted less than two days before
needing rewinding, but this was
a major achievement at the time.
In the late 15th century,
clock-makers learned how to
construct spring-driven clocks
in which the gradual uncoiling
of the spring operates the
mechanism. The Nuremberg
(14851542) applied this system
to portable clocks (watches). In
1512, Henlein was recorded as
having made a watch that went
for 40 hours and could be
carried in a pocket.
In 1513, Polish astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473
1543) wrote his Commentariolus
(Little Commentary), a preliminary
outline of his revolutionary view
that Earth revolved in orbit
around the Sun. Feeling
dissatised with the old planetary
theory of Ptolemy, with its
multiplicity of celestial spheres,
geocentric view, and its
anomalies (such as the apparent
retrograde motion of some
planets), Copernicus explained
how a planets periodicity varied
in proportion to its distance from
the Sun. Fearing the reaction of
the Church, Copernicus kept his
ndings to himself for 30 years.
Around 1500, gunsmiths
devised the wheel-lock
mechanism for rearms.
It used a serrated metal
wheel that rotated
rapidly, striking against
a lump of the mineral
pyrite, and creating
sparks that lit the
gunpowder charge.
13TH-CENTURY
SCHOLAR Albertus
Magnus had described
stones with the gures
of animals, but Arab
and medieval scholars
believed they were
produced by Earth itself
or were the remains of
animals drowned in the
Biblical ood. In a debate
in 1517, Italian physician
Girolamo Fracastoro
(14781553) was the rst
to publicly express the
view that fossils are
organic matter,
originally animals, Portrait of Paracelsus
that has been ossied over time. Paracelsus was both physician
and chemist, and stressed the
In August 1522, the 18
importance of using chemical
survivors of Ferdinand Magellans techniques in the production
expedition arrived in Spain, of medicines.
having completed the rst
circumnavigation of Earth. The polygons and solids and their use
voyage had taken three years, and as an aid for artists in producing
more than 230 crew (including scientically accurate images.
Magellan) perished. However, it German chemist and physician
did denitively prove the size of Theophrastus von Hohenheim
Earths circumference to be (14931541), known as
about 40,000 km (24,800 miles). Paracelsus, devised a new
In 1525, German artist Albrecht classication of chemical
Drer (14711528) published substances, rejecting Aristotle
his Instructions for Measuring and Galens four humours. In his
with Compass and Ruler, one De Mineralibus (On Minerals), he
of the rst works on applied divided them instead using the
mathematics, which contained three principal units of sulphur,
detailed accounts of the mercury, and salt. Paracelsus
properties of curves, spirals, spurned the study of anatomy
and regular and semi-regular and promoted the idea that the

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 153642
,,TO KEEP ALIVE THE MEMORY

,,
OF OLD KINGDOMS AND EVENTS
AND MAKE KNOWN TO COMING
GENERATIONS OUR TIME.
Imperial charter describing Gerardus Mercators terristrial globe, c.1535

Girolamo Fracastoro was one of the rst to believe that fossilized shells, such
as this fossil of the Archimedes species, had once been animals.

body (microcosm) must be in surveyed from an accurately
balance with nature (macrocosm). measured base line. He went on
His interest in distilling chemicals in 1547 to suggest a new way of
led him to use apparently noxious calculating longitude, by using a
substances such as sulphuric portable clock set to the time of
acid (which he employed against the point of departure that could
gout), mercury, and arsenic as be compared with a clock
medicines. Some time before showing the time at the point of
1529 he began to use a pain arrival. The imprecision of clocks,
reliever he called laudanum. however, rendered the technique
In 1533, Flemish cartographer of limited practical value.
Gemma Frisius (150855) gave In 1521 Italian surgeon
the rst full description of the Berengario da Carpi (c.1460
method of triangulation, by 1530), who lectured on anatomy
which a large area could be at the University of Bologna,
wrote about the
importance of the
anatomy of things
that can be observed,
which included the
use of dissection of
human corpses. He
used this as the basis
for his Anatomia Carpi
(The Anatomy of Carpi),
which was the rst
anatomical work to
use printed gures
to illustrate the text.
Attention to detail
Drawings from
Anatomia Carpi show
the veins leading into the
heart. These examples
show how accurately
da Carpi derived his
drawings from his
programme of human
corpse dissection.
GERARDUS MERCATOR
(151294)
Born in Flanders, Gerardus
Mercator embarked on a
career making mathematical
instruments. He began
producing maps in 1537 and
published his rst world map
in 1538. In 1569, he compiled
another map of the world,
this time using a projection
that showed constant lines
of course as straight lines,
which came to bear his name.
AN IMPETUS TO BOTANY IN THE
RENAISSANCE had been provided
by the desire to illustrate plants
found in classical authors texts,
such as those of Roman naturalist
Pliny, and the possibilities
provided by printed illustrations.
Between 1530 and 1536, German
Carthusian monk Otto Brunfels
(c.14881534) published his
Herbarum Vivae Iconis (Living
Pictures of Herbs) with 260 De Historia Stirpium (The History
woodcuts of plants, whose of Plants), in which he described
accurate detail set an exacting around 550 plants (mainly
standard for botanical drawing. medicinal ones), providing their
In 1530, Gemma Frisius had names and therapeutic virtues.
compiled a manual explaining Its drawings were so clear that it
how to construct a globe showing became the rst botanical work
Earths geography (a terrestrial to be widely used by laymen.
globe). In 1541, Flemish
cartographer Gerardus Mercator
produced what would become
the rst surviving
terrestrial globe. He also
included a selection of
stars superimposed on
the globe, as well as
rhumb lines (which showed
the straightest course
between two points on the
same latitude); both were
invaluable aids at sea.
In 1542, German
botanist Leonhard
Fuchs (150166)
published his
Botanical drawing
Accurate and attractive
illustrations, such as this drawing
of a borage, or starower, made
Fuchss De Historia Stirpium
a valued botanical handbook.

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3
THE AGE OF
DISCOVERY
15431788
As international travel increased, greater emphasis was placed
on first-hand observations and accurate instruments. Instead
of relying on written authority, natural philosophers devised
experiments to construct testable theories about the Universe.
1543
Copernicuss idea that all the planets revolve round the Sun, rather than Earth being at the centre of the Universe,
was a departure from conventional astronomy and challenged the authority of the Church.
A CENTURY AFTER GUTENBERG
REVOLUTIONIZED PRINTING
with the invention of movable
type (see 14501467), scientists
were able to publish their work
for a mass readership, giving
new ideas wider inuence. The
year 1543 was a milestone in
scientic publishing, when
several important books rst
appeared. Two books stood
out Nicolaus Copernicuss
De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelestium (On the Revolutions
of Celestial Bodies) and Andreas
Vesaliuss De Humani Corporis
Fabrica (On the Structure of
the Human Body). They are
often seen as marking the
beginning of a new scientic
age, as they called into
question the conventional
authorities on astronomy
and anatomy.
Up to that time, most
astronomers believed
that Earth was at
the centre of the
Universe a view put
forward by Ptolemy
in the 2nd century.
Copernicus, however,
calculated that Earth,
and all the planets,
revolved around the
Sun. He had been
working on this idea
since about 1510, and
by the 1530s had put
together mathematical
76
400
THE FIRST PRINT RUN
OF COPERNICUSS
DE REVOLUTIONIBUS
ORBIUM COELESTIUM
calculations to support his and went against the Church.
argument. However, he was He was eventually persuaded
reluctant to publish his theory to publish De Revolutionibus
as it challenged convention by Georg Rheticus, an Austrian
mathematician who had come
to study with him. It is said that
Copernicus was presented with
its rst edition on his deathbed.
An expensive book, De
Revolutionibus sold only a few
hundred copies and did not have
an immediate impact. However,
Copernicuss mathematical
arguments for a heliocentric
(sun-centred) Universe
were soon accepted by most
astronomers, leading to a rift
between them and the Church.
In contrast, Vesalius
was 28 years old when he
published his comprehensive
seven-volume study of human
anatomy, De Humani Corporis
Fabrica. This was the rst
De Humani Corporis Fabrica
Vesaliuss treatise on human
anatomy was lavishly illustrated
with detailed drawings of
various stages of dissection.
The gures are drawn in poses
similar to the allegorical
paintings of the time.
ts
s ges tre
lau sug cen
i co s e
h s De ica n
y N nicu at t e
Ma per n is ers
o
C e S Unu i v
th the
of
,,
,,
AT REST, HOWEVER, IN THE
MIDDLE OF EVERYTHING
IS THE SUN.
Nicolaus Copernicus, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, 1543
The heliocentric Universe
In De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelestium, Copernicus used
mathematics and astronomical
observations to show how Earth
and the other ve planets move
in circular orbits around the Sun.
book of human anatomy to his translation of Euclids
be fully illustrated, showing Elements into Italian, the rst
in detail what Vesalius had translation of that work into a
discovered in his dissections modern European language.
of human bodies. Unlike Welsh mathematician Robert
Copernicuss work, De Humani Recorde published The Ground
sold well, and Vesalius published of Artes, the rst printed book
a single-volume summary of on mathematics in English.
the book later in 1543. It was to remain a standard
This year also saw ground- textbook for more than a century.
breaking publications in the eld
of mathematics. Italian engineer
and mathematician Niccol
Fontana Tartaglia published
NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (14731543)
Born in Torun, Poland, into
a German family, Nicolaus
Copernicus was brought up
by his uncle after his fathers
death. He studied law in
Bologna and medicine in
Padua. Copernicus lectured in
mathematics in Rome before
returning to Poland to work
as a physician. He developed
the idea of a heliocentric
Universe, but had only just
published his work when
he died in 1543.
us ani
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I E 77
 15 4 3 17 8 8

Anatomy of the shoulder

Leonardo da Vinci brought both
artistic aptitude and scientic
enquiry to his studies of anatomy.
He often worked in collaboration
with an anatomist to ensure the
accuracy of his work.

deltoid
(shoulder muscle)

biceps brachii
(biceps)

trapezius
(neckshoulder muscle)

scapula (shoulder blade)

connects the humerus
with the clavicle

clavicle (collar bone)

humerus (upper arm bone)

pectoralis (pectoral muscle)

ribcage

sternum (breast bone)

1600 BCE
Mummication
In ancient Egypt, bodies
are mummied; the
internal organs are
removed for religious
reasons and to help
preservation and are
stored in canopic jars.
12th century
Islamic physicians refute Galenic wisdom
There is no prohibition of human dissection in the mediaeval
Islamic world, where physicians such as Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar)
perform routine autopsies. Ibn Zuhr corrects some of Galens
Canopic jar human anatomy much of it based on the Barbary ape.
Late 15th century
New observations
With physicians refuting Galen, Leonardo da Vinci
begins his study of human anatomy. Italian
physician Berengario da Carpis Anatomia Carpi
introduces a new age of original observation.

500 BCE 180 BCE 1300s

Early Greek anatomy Galenic circulation Mondino de Liuzzi
The Greek physician Greek-born physician Italian physician Mondino
Hippocrates promotes Galen concludes that blood de Liuzzi performs the rst
animal dissection as a is continually made in the public human dissections
way of learning about body, an idea corrected c.1315, but his catalogue of
the human body. only in the 17th century. anatomy perpetuates many
erroneous ideas of antiquity.
Hippocrates Galens anatomy Liuzzis Anathomia

78
 T H E S TO R Y O F A N ATO M Y

THE STORY OF
ANATOMY
THE SECRETS OF THE LIVING BODY HAVE LONG FASCINATED BOTH SCIENTISTS AND ARTISTS

The exploration of biological structure anatomy is the basis for

understanding how bodies work. Early anatomists had to dissect cadavers
to find answers to even simple questions; later, technologies such as the
microscope helped physicians to chart the body in greater detail.

In the ancient world, anatomists dissected the
bodies of animals but were forbidden to open
human cadavers, which were considered sacred.
As a result, Galen (129200 CE), Romes most
celebrated physician, circulated erroneous ideas
about the human body
that were based on
animal anatomy. When
human dissection was
sanctioned, Galens
ideas were corrected
through direct
Anatomical waxwork
Three-dimensional gures,
such as this 19th-century wax
fetus, were important tools for techniques reveal internal structures in 3D
observation. By the Renaissance, artists such as
Leonardo da Vinci (see 146882) were illustrating
bodies with exquisite realism, and each new
anatomical publication charted and named new
structures. Flemish-born anatomist Andreas
Vesalius (see 1543) dominated the scene with
his illustrated De Humani Corporis Fabrica.
DELVING DEEPER PRESERVING ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS
With the invention of microscopes in the 1600s,
Dead body parts decay quickly. Preservation
anatomists could see that organs were made up
in alcohol prolongs opportunities for study, but
of cellular tissues. By the 1900s, the discovery
also dehydrates specimens, causing distortion.
of X-rays heralded new directions for anatomy.
Formalin is commonly used as a xative to avoid
Today, powerful electron microscopes can probe
this. Some of the most sophisticated modern
the detailed structure of cells, and new imaging
methods preserve bodies in a dry state, for

,,
example, by replacing water and fat with plastic.
teaching medicine. without the need to cut the body open.

,,THE HUMAN FOOT IS A MASTERPIECE

OF ENGINEERING AND A WORK OF ART.
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian polymath, from his notebooks, 150818

Vesalius Microtome MRI scan

illustration 1770
1543 Microtome 1940s1950
Father of anatomy The microtome is invented for MRI scanning
Artists attend the dissections cutting tissue into extremely thin, In 1946, American physicists nd
of Flemish-born Andreas almost transparent sections. a way of detecting signals from
Vesalius to draw accurate This enables samples to be atoms that enable scientists to
illustrations for his De examined under high-power obtain images of the soft internal
Humani Corporis Fabrica. light microscopes. structures of living bodies.

1665 Mid-19th century 1895

Compound microscopes Comparative anatomy
Anatomists such as Marcello Directed by Charles Darwins
Malpighi, Jan Swammerdam, and evolutionary theory of 1859,
Robert Hooke use sophisticated many anatomists seek
microscopes to record the structure evidence of common descent
of cells, capillaries, and tissues. among species.
Chimpanzee
Hookes microscope skeleton
X-rays
German physicist Wilhelm
Rntgen uses his newly
discovered X-rays to reveal the
bones of his wifes hand, and
shows a way of examining
internal bony structures X-ray
without the need to dissect. of hand

79
154445 154650
,, CLOTHES, LINEN, ETC NOT
THEMSELVES CORRUPT, CAN

,,
FOSTER THE ESSENTIAL SEEDS OF
THE CONTAGION AND THUS CAUSE
INFECTION.
Girolamo Fracastoro, Italian physician, poet, and geologist, 1546

The Orto Botanico di Padova (Padua Botanical Garden), the oldest existing botanical garden in Europe,
continues to be a major centre for research in botany and pharmacology even today.

GERMAN CLERGYMAN AND
INSTRUMENT-MAKER GEORG
HARTMANN (14891564), was
the rst to notice and describe,
in 1544, the phenomenon of
magnetic inclination. Also known
as magnetic dip, this is the
phenomenon whereby the needle
of a compass follows the line of
Earths magnetic eld, which
curves around Earths surface.
As a result, the north-pointing
end of a compass needle tends
to point slightly downwards
in the northern hemisphere
and upwards in the southern
hemisphere. Hartmanns
discovery was not widely-known
until centuries later. In 1581,
English instrument-maker Robert
Norman published his own
account of the phenomenon.
MICHAEL SERVETUS (151153)
Spanish scientist Miguel
Servet, also known as
Michael Servetus, wrote
several treatises on medicine
and human anatomy. He was
the rst European to correctly
explain pulmonary circulation
in Christianismi Restitutio (The
Restoration of Christianity).
His theological works were
considered heretical, and he
was burned at the stake in
Geneva for his views.
In 1545, Italian mathematician
Girolamo Cardano (150176)
published Ars Magna (The Great
Art), an important book on
diseases in greater depth in
rst of its kind and a model for
subsequent botanical gardens,
it was established by the Senate
of the Venetian Republic. It was
3.4
PHYSICIAN, GEOLOGIST AND
POET GIROLAMO FRACASTORO
(14781553) published his most
important work, On Contagion
and Contagious Diseases, in Italy
in 1546. Best known at the time
for his poem Syphilis, or the
French Disease in 1530, he BILLION
YEARS
covered his examination of
On Contagion, offering an early
explanation of the mechanism THE AGE OF
by which diseases are spread. THE EARLIEST
FOSSILS, OF
His theory was that each disease
is caused by very small bodies,
or spores, which are carried SINGLE CELLS,
in the body, skin, and clothing
of the person affected. These
DISCOVERED
minute bodies, he believed, IN AUSTRALIA
could multiply rapidly, and be
transmitted from person to clothes, or even the air. Despite
person by physical contact, being initially accepted by the

,, MATHEMATICS
IS ITS OWN
algebra. He presented solutions
to cubic and quartic equations,
involving unknown quantities
to the power of three and four,
EXPLANATION respectively. He drew on his
used for growing and studying
medicinal plants and
comprised a circular plot of
land, symbolizing the world,
through handling unwashed medical establishment, his ideas
had little effect on the treatment
and prevention of disease until
his theory was proved right
surrounded by water. The by Louis Pasteur (see

FOR THE own ideas as well as those of

compatriots such as Niccol
rst custodian of the
gardens was Luigi
185758) and others
centuries later.
RECOGNITION Fontana Tartaglia (14991557), Squalermo (151270), Fracastoro also took
THAT A FACT IS a translator of the works of also known as an interest in the

SO, IS THE CAUSE Euclid and Archimedes. Ars Anguillara. He

,,
Magna made reference for the cultivated around
UPON WHICH rst time to imaginary numbers 1,800 species of
Ammonite fossil
Early scholars believed
WE BASE THE those numbers that are a medicinal herbs, that fossils were the
PROOF. multiple of the square root of -1.
Italy was also becoming a
making a signicant
contribution to the
remains of animals
laid down in the
biblical ood. By the
centre for botanical research, modern scientic studies
Gerolamo Cardano, Italian 16th century, people
mathematician, in De Vita with the opening of the botanical of botany, medicine, and were considering
Propria Liber garden in Padua, in 1545. The pharmacology. other theories.

s
er to dus t
g ov n ter ar tha ic
or disc de let Ger ns aph t
G ne ar a
4 4 an dip alg o
In ue, nti ogr ren
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Fracastoro made major advances in
understanding the spread of disease.
emerging study of geology. After
examining the fossils of marine
creatures found by building
workers while excavating a site
in Verona, he expressed the
controversial idea that they
may be the fossilized remains
of animals that had lived there
many years before.
This, however, was not the view
held by other geologists of the
time. German scholar Georg
Pawer, known as Georgius
Agricola (14941555)
dismissed the idea.
He maintained that
these were organic
shapes created by
the action of heat on fatty
matter within the rocks.
Despite this erroneous opinion,
Agricola was among the rst to
lay a scientic foundation for
the study of geology. In his 1546
publication De Veteribus et Novis
Metallis, better known as De
Natura Fossilium, he attempted
to categorize various minerals
and rocks according to their
characteristics. This, along with
his earlier text De Re Metallica,
provided a comprehensive
overview of mineralogy and
geology, and was a practical
guide to various mining
techniques and machinery used
at the time. It also showed the
inadequacy of contemporary
theories, which had not changed
since the time of the Romans.
o es a um
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50 no he ub
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155154
,, LET THERE BE FOR EVERY
,,
PULSE A THANKSGIVING,
AND FOR EVERY BREATH
A SONG.
Konrad Von Gesner, German naturalist, 1550s
Konrad von Gesner published several volumes of Historia Animalium, illustrated
with dramatic pictures and accurately detailed drawings.
ENGLISH SURVEYOR LEONARD Animalium (The History of readers. Despite its popularity bodies of the same material fell
DIGGES (152059) made Animals). This book attempted in northern Europe, the series at the same speed, no matter
measurement of distance more to present a comprehensive was banned by the Catholic what their weight, contradicting
accurate with the invention, in catalogue of the real and Church because of von Gesners the law proposed by Aristotle.
1551, of the theodolite. mythical creatures of the world Protestant beliefs. In a second edition of the work,
In the same year, German and included illustrations and The anatomical drawings of he modied his theory to account
naturalist Konrad von Gesner engravings. More importantly, it Italian physician Bartolomeo for air resistance (friction), but
(151665) published the rst introduced exotic and recently Eustachi (c.152074) , completed maintained that different sized
of ve volumes of his Historia discovered animals to European in 1552, were not published until bodies would fall at the same
1714 because he feared speed in a vacuum.
elevation scale excommunication from the
Catholic Church. He studied de-oxygenated
human teeth and was the rst to lung blood
describe adrenal glands, but he
telescope is more commonly known for his
research into the workings of the
ear, specically the tube now
known as the Eustachian tube.
Michael Servetus (see panel,
opposite) published his
Christianismi Restitutio
(The Restoration of
oxygenated
Christianity) in 1553, but fell heart blood
foul of both the Catholic and
Protestant authorities PULMONARY
in doing so. In it, he included CIRCULATION
the rst correct description of
pulmonary circulation. The heart pumps de-
Also controversial was oxygenated blood through
the theory proposed by the pulmonary artery to
Giambattista Benedetti small capillaries around the
(153090) concerning bodies lungs, where carbon dioxide
(objects) in free fall. In his book is replaced with oxygen.
lower plate published in 1554, he stated that The pulmonary vein returns
this oxygen-rich blood to the
Theodolite heart. Michael Servetus was
The theodolite is used to measure the rst to describe this
vertical and horizontal angles. This
system in 1553, but it had
levelling modern example is equipped with a
screw telescope, which enables surveying little inuence at the time.
over even longer distances.
es
gg
Di sta
rd lite eo his s tti es
a
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rt is a Gi ti p ies
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81
155557 155859
,,TO AVOID TEDIOUS REPETITION

,,
OF IS EQUAL TO, I WILL
SETTLE ON A PAIR OF
PARALLELS OF ONE LENGTH
Robert Recorde, Welsh physician and mathematician, 1557

Robert Recorde was the author of the rst Smoking became a fashionable habit
books on algebra in English. in 16th-century Europe.

De Re Metallica
Georgius Agricolas It introduced a symbol he invented
lavishly illustrated book
on mining techniques
describes the formation
of ores in the ground,
and how metal can be
extracted from them.
descriptions of the
some German mathematicians.
=, the equals sign. Best known
for popularizing mathematics in
Britain, Recorde had originally
studied medicine and worked as
a physician to the Royal family,
and for a time was controller of
Although platinum had already
been used by the indigenous
people of Central and South
America to make jewellery
and ornaments, it was unknown
in Europe until the 16th century.
The rst written reference to
the metal came in 1557 in the
writings of Julius Caesar
FRENCH DIPLOMAT JEAN NICOT,
(15301600) while ambassador
in Lisbon, Portugal, was
introduced to tobacco, brought
by Spanish explorers from
America. Native Americans
smoked it in religious rituals,
and ingested or made poultices
with its leaves for medicinal

GEORGIUS AGRICOLAS BOOK
De Re Metallica (On the Nature
of Metals) was published
posthumously in 1556. In it, he
described various techniques
for mining minerals, and the
machines, especially water mills,
used for raising them from the
mines. This classic text of
mining engineering included
veins of ores found in
rock, and how metals
could be extracted
from them, as well
as a comprehensive
catalogue of the
minerals known at
that time. Sometimes
referred to as the
father of mineralogy, the Royal Mint supervising the
Agricola made
contributions to the
emerging elds of a debtors prison a year after
geology, metallurgy,
and chemistry.
After his books
The Ground of Artes
(1543) on arithmetic,
and The Pathway to
Knowledge (1551) on
geometry, the Welsh
mathematician Robert Recorde
published a companion volume,
The Whetstone of Witte, in 1557,
probably the rst book on
algebra in English. As well as
presenting the principles of
algebra, this book established
usage of the symbols + (plus) and
(minus), which had previously
been used only occasionally by
1768C
Scaliger (14841558), an Italian purposes. Nicot sent tobacco
scholar. He described how plants and snuff to the royal
Spanish explorers came across court in France, where smoking
an unknown element, with an and snuff-taking soon became
THE MELTING unusually high melting point fashionable. The tobacco plant
POINT OF and resistance to corrosion.
Originally known as white gold,
Nicotiana, and the chemical
nicotine, are named after him.
PLATINUM platinum was later recognized In the same year, Italian
as an element which occurs anatomist and surgeon Realdo
naturally in both pure and alloy Colombo (c.151659) published
manufacture of coins. Despite (combined with another element)
fame and standing, he died in forms in South America, Russia,
and South Africa.
publishing The Whetstone.
Nugget of platinum
A rare metal, platinum
is one of the least
reactive
elements.
Title page of De Re Anatomica
Though Realdo Colombo published
only one book on anatomy, his
discoveries rivalled those of Andreas
Vesalius and Gabriele Falloppio.

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82
 156064

Ambroise Par developed new surgical techniques while working as a battleeld

surgeon, and demonstrated his ideas to his students.

formal title was the Academia known by the Latinized form

GABRIELE FALLOPPIO (152362)
Born in Modena, Italy, Falloppio
studied medicine in Ferrara,
and went on to teach anatomy
and surgery at the Universities
of Ferrara and Padua. He also
served as superintendent of
the botanical garden at Padua.
He is credited with important
discoveries in the anatomy
of the human head and
reproductive systems. He died,
aged only 39, in Padua.
his treatise De Re Anatomica
(On Things Anatomical). Colombos
practical background in surgery
led to a sometimes acrimonious
rivalry with his more academic
contemporary Andreas Vesalius.
However, he is credited with
advances in anatomy, including
work on pulmonary circulation.
ITALIAN POLYMATH
PLAYWRIGHT GIAMBATTISTA
DELLA PORTA (c.15351615),
particularly interested in the
sciences, founded a group of
like-minded thinkers in Naples,
nicknamed the Otiosi, or men of
leisure, who met to uncover the
secrets of nature. Their more
Secretorum Naturae (Academy
of Secrets of Nature), considered
to be the rst scientic society.
Its membership was open to
anyone who could demonstrate
that they had made a new
discovery in one of the natural
sciences, and meetings were
held at della Portas home until,
thanks to his interest in occult
philosophy, Pope Paul V ordered
the Academy to disband in 1578.
Della Porta went on to
encourage the founding of
another society, the Accademia
dei Lincei (Academy of Lynxes)
in 1603.
Gabriele Falloppio, who had
succeeded Realdo Colombo as
chair of anatomy and surgery
at Padua University in 1551,
published his major work,
Observationes Anatomicae
(Anatomical Observations), in
1561 at the height of what
in retrospect was a golden age
of his name, Fallopius, he made
valuable contributions to the
study of the ears, eyes, and
nose, as well as human
reproduction and sexuality.
A nerve canal in the face (the
aquaeductus Fallopii) and the
Fallopian tube connecting the
ovaries with the uterus are
named after him. Falloppio was
a respected physician and skilful
surgeon as well as anatomist.
He wrote a number of treatises
on surgery, medication, and
treatments of various kinds,
although only one, Anatomy,
was published in his lifetime. His
work complemented the writings
of his compatriots Vesalius and
Colombo, and often quietly
corrected their misconceptions. Prosthetic hand by Par
Par designed sophisticated
Meanwhile, Frenchman
prostheses to replace missing
Ambroise Par (151090) limbs, such as the hand shown
wrote one of the rst manuals in this 1585 drawing.
of modern surgery. His
Treatise, written in French rather amputated limbs with balms

,, IT IS GOOD
FOR NOTHING
fallopian tube of anatomical
discovery.
Sometimes
than Latin, was based on his
experience as a surgeon on the
battleeld. As well as describing
and ointments rather than
cauterizing the wounds with
boiling oil, which often harmed
surgical procedures, some of the very tissues the surgeon
BUT TO CHOKE his own invention, Pars book was attempting to mend. Pars
A MAN, AND proposed the idea of surgery innovative scientic approach

,,
as a restorative procedure, based on empirical observation
FILL HIM FULL Fallopian tube which should involve minimum did much to improve the status
OF SMOKE AND Also known as the suffering. It stated that pain of the barber-surgeon
EMBERS.
oviducts or salpinges, relief, healing, and even previously considered inferior
uterus the tubes named after
ovary
Falloppio allow the
compassion were essential to to the medical physician.
Ben Jonson, English playwright, eggs to pass from the successful surgery. This came
in Every Man in His Humour, 1598 ovaries to the uterus. from his experience of treating

t e s
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83
 15 4 3 17 8 8 THE AGE OF DISCOVERY

Roman set square

c.1st century BCE Brass half-circle theodolite
This bronze instrument would have 19th century
complete circle
been important to Roman builders, A theodolite measures horizontal and vertical
scale or brass ring
helping them to set construction angles and is an important tool in surveying. The
blocks exactly square. instruments telescope is focused on a distant
object, the position of which is determined with
respect to horizontal and vertical scales.
straight edges
set in a right
angle eye-piece
rotating base
xed on
tripod

Laser spirit level Circumferentor

21st century 1676
An instrument used Used by surveyors before the
in construction for invention of the theodolite,
measuring vertical the circumferentor measured
angles, this level denes angles and could be used
a level plane along the horizontally and vertically
beam of a laser. to work out distances. vertical
half-circle
graduated
into degrees

MEASURING
INSTRUMENTS
SIMPLE OR SOPHISTICATED, THERE ARE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS FOR ALL PURPOSES

In everyday life, exact measurement is not always important.

A wooden cup can be adequate for delivering a fair share
of grain, but scientists who want to know the dimensions
of microscopic objects need to use precision instruments.

In scientic experiments or studies, measurements must be made

with an appropriate level of care and accuracy to ensure that results
and conclusions are reliable. Scientists require their measuring
instruments to give values within an acceptable margin of error, using
standard units that are recognized universally. Today, nearly all
countries use the Systme Internationale (SI) the modern form
of the metric system which was introduced in the 1960s.

Grain measure Lead weight

Traditional c.250 BCE Jade weight
Fixed quantities of grains, Greek merchants Date unknown
such as wheat or used standard In early Chinese
barley, were once weights usually made civilizations, precious minerals
used as standard from lead, and fashioned such as jade were used for
units of mass. into rectangles. standard weights.

kilogram Standard weights

19th century levelling
plate
Conical glass ask Many countries today
21st century have replaced the pound
This ask is used as a with the kilogram.
holding container for
chemical reactions in
Graduated pipette experiments where Nesting cups
21st century total volume does not 19th century
Glass pipettes, graduated in have to be accurate. Cup-like standard weights used with
fractions of millilitres, can counterbalancing mechanical scales
measure liquid volumes millilitre could be nested together
precisely, drop by drop. graduations
in multiples.
pound

84
 MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

Yardstick
measurement read measuring rod dial around movable screw 18th century
from point where The Imperial yard
screw touches scale (3 ft or 0.9 m) has long
been a popular unit
Brass micrometer of measurement for
Early 19th century construction work.
The rst micrometers Most yardsticks can
opened up the eld of Modern micrometer be used as rules.
precision engineering; 21st century
these adjustable Most modern micrometers work
screw-like devices enable as calipers that move by tiny
telescope for
accurate measurement distances as they close around
viewing
of small distances. an object.

calipers for
measuring internal
dimension
sliding scale

Laser distance meter

Vernier calipers 21st century
20th century This shoots a laser
Spring balance calipers for In 1631, Paul Vernier invented a sliding scale pulse at a distant object
18th century measuring for taking small measurements with great and measures the time
Originating in the 18th century, external accuracy. The principle of the Vernier scale taken for the pulse to
spring balances rely on dimension remained in use for modern instruments. be reected back.
stretching a spring in
proportion to an
Cased balance
applied force the
pointer 18th century
weight. The dial
Beam-balances were used
can be calibrated
in science and medicine, but
in units of mass cross beam is small portable balances were
(for example, horizontal when also used for such purposes
kilograms) or weights are equal as measuring coins.
force (Newtons).

horizontal full
circle graduated
central pivot coin
into degrees with
Vernier scale

suspended weight

Surveyors chain
19th century
Land surveyors began using
chains in the 1600s. This
example is 20 m (about
66 ft) long,and is divided
into 100 links.

Analytical balance
21st century
The most sophisticated modern
digital balances can weigh minute
Weighing scales fractions of a gram, and are
18th century so sensitive that they must be
links at xed- Scales determine an unknown weight by counterbalancing protected from vibrations, dust,
distance intervals it with known weights until equilibrium is achieved. and air movements.

85
156569
The Exeter Ship Canal reconnected the English inland port of Exeter to the sea,
bypassing the section of the River Exe that was no longer navigable.
BEGUN IN 1564, THE EXETER
SHIP CANAL WAS COMPLETED
in 1566 or 1567. A man-made
navigable channel, it re-
established the town of Exeter
in England as a port after
centuries of blockages on the
River Exe by weirs constructed
to power watermills. Probably
the UKs rst articial
waterway, the Exeter Canal
was a forerunner of the prolic
canal-building that came with
the Industrial Revolution in
the 18th century.
al
e
Th Can
/67 hip
66 S ed
15 eter plet
Ex com
is
86
,, HE DOES SMILE HIS FACE INTO
,,
MORE LINES THAN IS IN THE NEW
MAP WITH THE AUGMENTATION
OF THE INDIES.
William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, c.1602
Maps became increasingly
important during the 16th
century, as traders and
explorers made voyages around
the world. While cartographers
could make accurate globes
showing oceans and continents,
these were not
convenient for
navigation. The
problem was how
to represent the
three-dimensional
Earth in two
dimensions. In
1569, Flemish
cartographer
Gerardus Mercator
(151294), already
famous for his
globes and maps of
Europe, devised a
new way to
represent the
Gerardus Mercator
Mercators projection, a
method of showing the
spherical world
as a two-dimensional
map, enabled accurate
nautical navigation and
still remains in use.
or
at
erc hes
s sta d ibes
M li
us pub e ma ld
p tti sc ved
rd
era p let wor
G om the
69 a c of
15
157071
The rst modern world atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, showed the
extent of voyages of discovery in the 16th century.
pinhole
or lens
external
scene
inverted
image
curved surface of the Earth
when designing his paper map CAMERA OBSCURA
of the world. Now known as
Mercators projection, this A camera obscura (Latin for dark chamber) is a simple room or
method shows the lines of box with a small hole in one of its walls. Light from outside passes
longitude as equally spaced, through the hole and falls onto the inside of the opposite wall,
parallel, vertical straight lines, projecting an image of the scene outside. The image, which
and the lines of latitude as appears upside down, is sharper with a smaller pinhole, or
perpendicular to them as if brighter with a larger hole, and can be focused by adding a lens.
they were projected onto a
cylinder enclosing a globe.
Although this projection ENCOURAGED BY HIS FRIEND Italian polymath Giambattista
distorted the shapes and sizes AND COLLEAGUE MERCATOR, della Porta (c.15351615) rst
of large land masses and the Flemish cartographer published his book Magiae
oceans, it was particularly Abraham Ortelius (1527-98) Naturalis (Natural Magic) with
useful for navigation, since published his Theatrum Orbis descriptions and observations
compass courses could be Terrarum (Theatre of the World) of all the sciences in 1558, but
shown as straight lines. in 1570. He had previously it proved so popular that it was
Although the German-Swiss made a large map of the world revised and expanded in a
alchemist and physician on eight sheets, and several
53
Paracelsus (14931541) was separate maps of various parts
a prolic writer and notorious of the world, but this collection
self-publicist, few of his works of 53 maps and accompanying
were published during his text in book form was the rst
lifetime. One of the most modern world atlas a term
inuential, Archidoxa, was suggested by Mercator. After its THE NUMBER
OF MAPS
published posthumously in original publication in Latin, it
Krakw in 1569. This rejected was translated into several
the magical elements of other languages, and in these IN THE
alchemy and was important
in the development of modern
later editions Ortelius added
several more maps and
FIRST WORLD
chemistry and medicine. corrected inaccuracies. ATLAS
s
liu rn
d te de
ss an Or mo rbis
l su emy , is am rst m O
e a y
ac ch ox usl ah
ar al hid o A br the atru
69 P e on Arc thum 70 he Th
s e
15 atis ine, pos 15 blis the
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e l
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el
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r
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Gi Port n im bsc
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15 er
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ca

number of editions, eventually
becoming a 20-volume work.
In one of the later editions of
around 1570, he included a
description of the camera
obscura. The principles of this
device date back to China and
Greece around 2,000 years
before, but della Porta was the
rst to suggest the use of a
convex lens rather than a
pinhole to focus the image on
the screen inside, allowing
more light through the larger
aperture without a subsequent
loss of clarity. He also used this
camera obscura with a lens, an
innovation that was of great
value to Kepler in the following
century in his studies of the
workings of the human eye
(see 15981604).
Although a successful
attorney in Paris, Franois
Vite (15401603), also known
as Franciscus Vieta, was a
talented mathematician who
devoted much of his spare time
to the subject. One of his rst
achievements in the eld was
a set of trigonometric tables
to aid calculation, the
Universalium Inspectionum ad
Canonem Mathematicum Liber
Singularis, which he started to
publish in 1571.
te his
Vi of
ois
i n les
o R
n at
F ra blic c tab
71 p u tri
15 gins ome
be gon
tri
157274
A supernova is a massive exploding star that shines very brightly, giving the impression that a new star
has appeared. Tycho Brahe rst described the phenomenon in 1573.
COMPOSING A BOOK ON
ALGEBRA that was both
comprehensive and intelligible
to the non-mathematician,
Rafael Bombelli (152672)
published his treatise simply
titled Algebra shortly before his
death in 1572. He explained in
everyday language the algebra
known at that time and tackled
a problem barely understood by
his contemporaries, imaginary
numbers: numbers whose
square is less than zero.
These, he explained, cannot
be dealt with in the same way
as other numbers, but are
essential in solving equations
involving powers of two, three,
or four. Bombelli effectively laid
down the rules for using these
imaginary numbers for the rst
time. Despite his pioneering
work, imaginary numbers
were not accepted in
mathematics until almost
200 years later.
Tycho Brahe had
observed what appeared to
be a bright new star in the
constellation of Cassiopeia
in 1572, and the following
year published his account
Astronomical clock
This astronomical clock,
built between 1547 and
1574, stood in Strasbourg
cathedral until the 19th
century. An 1840s replica
now exists in its place.
es
el lish
afa pub
i ica thed
72 ell
15 mb a
Bo ebr
Al
g
,,IT WAS NOT JUST THE
,,
CHURCH THAT RESISTED
THE HELIOCENTRISM OF
COPERNICUS.
Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer, 1587
of it, De Nova Stella (On the New as well as to other stars that
Star). It was in fact a massive brighten abruptly. Brahe
stellar explosion, not a new realized that his star was very
star, but the Latin word nova distant from the Earth, certainly
later came to be applied to what beyond the orbit of the Moon.
is now known as a supernova, Conventional wisdom since the
time of Aristotle had maintained
that anything outside the
immediate vicinity of the Earth
animated
gures was unchanging, including the
stars of the celestial realm,
but Brahes observations
contradicted the idea of the
staircase immutability of the stars.
One of the most elaborate
astronomical clocks of the
period was built in the Cathedral
of Notre-Dame in Strasbourg
to replace the existing 200-year-
old clock, which had stopped
working. The new clock was
designed by mathematician
Christian Herlin in the 1540s,
but only the preliminary building
had been accomplished in 1547
when work was interrupted by
Herlins death. Political
problems further delayed work
until the 1570s, when Herlins
pupil, the mathematician
h
nis
3 Da ycho
7 T es
15 mer lish ll a
o
n p u b t e
tro e aS
as rah Nov
B De
TYCHO BRAHE
(15461601)
Born in Scania, now in
Sweden but then part of
Denmark, Tycho Brahe
became interested in
astronomy while studying
law in Copenhagen. Under
the patronage of King
Frederick II of Denmark he
established an observatory
equipped with the nest
astronomical instruments.
Conrad Dasypodius (1532
1600), took over the project.
The clock was nally built by
Isaac and Josias Habrecht. It
incorporated many of the latest
ideas in mathematics and
astronomy as well as
clockmaking into its design,
which included a celestial globe,
an astrolabe, a calendar dial,
and automata.
k
loc l
l c ra
m
no ca
74 tro urg
15 e as sbo ed
Th Stra plet
in com
is
87
157577
Designed by Taqi al-Din, the observatory at Istanbul was equipped with the latest
technology and attracted the nest astronomers of the Ottoman Empire.
AN INHABITANT OF SICILY,
Greek mathematician and
astronomer Francesco Maurolico
(14941575) published several
treatises on mathematics. In
Arithmeticorum Libri Duo (Two
Books on Arithmetic), published
in 1575, he was the rst
mathematician known to prove
a mathematical statement
explicitly using mathematical
induction. This is a method of
proof using a series of successive
logical steps.
To persuade astronomer
Tycho Brahe (see 157274) to
return to his native Denmark,
King Frederick II offered him
land and funding to establish
an observatory in Hven (an
island now belonging to Sweden).
Work on the building, known
as Uraniborg, began in 1576.
However, the completed structure
was not considered steady enough
for accurate observations. A
second complex, Stjerneborg,
was built close by in 1584 to house
the delicate equipment. Together,
these two complexes formed a
major centre for astronomical
and scientic research.
Italian polymath Gerolamo
Cardano trained in medicine
and was a respected physician.
He wrote several treatises,
including the rst description
of typhoid fever in 1576. He
was the rst to recognize the
diseases distinctive symptoms.
co s
es
nc ake use
a
Fr o m n
75 lic ow al
15 uro st kn atic
a
M e r hem
th mat ion
of uct
ind
76 giv pti r
15 ano scri feve
d e
r d
Ca rst pho
88
There were many advances
in botany in the second half
of the 16th century. Emphasis
moved from the study of plants
for their medicinal properties
to a more comprehensive study
and classication of plant life.
Botanist Charles de lcluse
(15261609), also known as
Carolus Clusius, published the
rst of his studies of the ora
of Spain in 1576. He went on
76 an nib , D
15 ilds Ura ven
bu lled of H
ca and
o ius
lam
e ro s the
G e on
id
ty
of
157881
IN 1579, HIERONYMUS FABRICIUS
(15371619), professor of anatomy
and surgery at the University of
Padua, noticed in his dissections
folds of tissue on the inside of
veins. He described these folds
as valves, but did not propose
any function for them. It was
only later that they were found to
prevent the backow of blood as
it returns to the heart. Fabriciuss
treatise on the subject, De
Venarum Ostiolis (On the Valves of
the Veins), particularly inuenced
one of his later students, William
Harvey (see 162830).
Although trained in medicine,
Venetian physician Prospero
Alpini (1553c.1616) was more
interested in botany. In 1580, he
took up a post as physician to the
Venetian consul in Cairo, Egypt,
where he studied the plant life.
He also worked as the manager
of a date palm plantation in
Egypt. While there, he observed
that the pollination of owers
Stjerneborg observatory was necessary to produce fruit,
to found the botanical garden The complex of buildings that and deduced that there were two
replaced Tycho Brahes Uraniborg
at the University of Leiden in sexes of plants. Alpinis study of
observatory was equipped with the
Holland, where his work helped latest astronomical instruments. plants in Egypt inspired him to
lay the foundation of the Dutch write several books on exotic
tulip industry. in 1577, this was designed to plants, including De Plantis
While Brahe was sponsored be the major observatory of Aegypti Liber (Book of Egyptian
by the King of Denmark, the the Islamic world. However, Plants), published in Venice in
Ottoman Turkish engineer it existed only briey: after a 1592, and De Plantis Exoticis
and astronomer Taqi al-Din mistaken astrological prediction (Of Exotic Plants), published
persuaded Sultan Murad III of Ottoman victories in battle, posthumously in 1629. He is also
to fund an equally prestigious the Sultan had the observatory credited with introducing the
observatory in Istanbul. Built destroyed in 1580. banana and baobab to Europe.
in
l-D
he ry ia
ra ato the Ta
q
o B serv on ark l us s
h 77 an ca ym be
c
Ty ob org enm 15 ilds omi ry in l ron scri
bu tron ato anbu e
Hi de s
as serv , Ist 79 ius ein
ob lata 15 bric in v
Ga Fa lves
isl va
us f
Cl rst o y
s tan
olu
ar the bo
76 C hes on
15 blis ooks
pu s b
hi
 158284
,, THE FORM AND COLOUR OF
EXTERNAL OBJECTS [AND] LIGHT

,,
ENTER THE EYE THROUGH THE
PUPIL AND ARE PROJECTED ON
[THE OPTIC NERVE] BY THE LENS.
Felix Platter, Swiss physician, 1583

While managing date palm plantations in Egypt, Prospero Alpini

observed the difference between the sexes of plants.

,, THE MARVELLOUS
768
BY 1582, THE JULIAN
CALENDAR, which had been
PROPERTY OF THE in use in Europe since Roman
times, had become out of step
PENDULUM IS THAT with the times of the equinoxes

IT MAKES ALL ITS
VIBRATIONS IN
EQUAL TIMES.
Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist
English explorer and navigator
Steven Borough (152584) had
previously organized the English
translation of the standard
textbook on navigation of the
time: Breve Compendio (Brief
Summary) or Arte de Navigar
(Art of Sailing) by Martn Corts
,,
de Albacar. In 1581,
Borough published
his own treatise,
dealing with the
properties of
magnetism and its
effects on a compass
needle. The treatise, reecting
his experience as a seaman,
contributed considerably to the
understanding and practical use
of the magnetic compass in
navigation and cartography.
In 1581, on his fathers
insistence, Galileo Galilei
(see 161113) was studying
medicine at Pisa, Italy. However,
he already had a fascination
for mathematics and physics.
Observing a chandelier swaying
16th-century magnetic sundial
This portable sundial has a
magnetic compass that is
used to align it in different
locations. The gnomon
(diagonal string) must
be set northsouth.
Galileo and the pendulum
Galileo rst discovered the
constancy of a pendulum swing by
observing a swaying chandelier and
timing its motion against his pulse.
in Pisa Cathedral, he noted
that each swing took the same
amount of time, regardless of
how far it travelled. He then
experimented with pendulums
and found that the rate of swing
was constant, no matter how
wide the swing, and that two
pendulums of the same length
would swing in unison even if
their sweeps were different.
Galileo later published his
observations on the constancy
of pendulum swing.
THE NUMBER
by about ten days, so Pope
Gregory XIII issued a decree OF PLANTS IN
introducing a new calendar.
The Julian calendar had
CESALPINOS
approximated the year, the time HERBARIUM
between successive spring
equinoxes, as 365.25 days. settlement of North America.
This led to a discrepancy of In his 1582 publication Divers
about three days in 400 years. Voyages Touching the Discoverie
The reformed calendar, which of America and other later books,
came to be known as the he pointed out the advantages of
Gregorian calendar, worked colonization, citing the possibility
from a more accurate of establishing plantations for
measurement of the foods and tobacco.
time between the spring Italian physician and
equinoxes. It was adopted botanist Andrea Cesalpino
rst by the Catholic (15191603), who had been
countries and director of the botanical
gradually elsewhere. garden connected to
Colonization of the the University of Pisa,
New World gained developed the rst
pace towards the scientic method
end of the 16th of botanical
century. The writer classication in
Richard Hakluyt his De Plantis
(15521616) helped to Libri XVI (The Book
promote the English of Plants XVI),
published in 1583.
Cesalpino classied
Andrea Cesalpino
One of the foremost owering plants
botanists of the according to their
16th century, fruit, seeds, and
Cesalpino
roots, rather than
revolutionized the
classication by their medicinal
of plants. properties.

es heir
c ding pt r ea si t in
es
oli dr clas g to ots
en sh s
th inclu , ado nda
n in ro
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A o
83 in ord d I
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5
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e
Bo isc on o r a
o
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A D r i ati Sp e Gr fru Pl a
Va th De

t
luy
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lile d a f er
sp s Ga y of ar Voy ie o att
III ro ribe t o c ich ers over lish x Pl ests
P R
ad l 0 sc en lile an g in v
82 Di isc En ic
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i
ur nbu 58 de fer ts Ga nst in ral 15 hes he D ing mer 3 F r) s etin ight
M a to c.1 pini dif plan 81 s co sw hed 8
15 late he r by l
an Ist ry l o 5
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ult the ato yed A tw in r C
b
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o P tt d
S
80 rs er str
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15 orde obs de se ob pen Pis To rica tlem u
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e et sti
89
 15 4 3 17 8 8 T H E AG E O F D I S C OV E R Y

Book of herbs
16th century
Early texts called herbals
classied plants according to
their medicinal properties or
supposed magical powers.

steel
needles
Acupuncture needles
19th century
The earliest evidence of
acupuncture dates back mahogany
to 3000 BCE . Practitioners case for
produced maps of the body storing
to show where the needles needles
would be most effective.

Homeopathic pills
19th century
Homeopathic ideas that small amounts of
a substance that cause symptoms in healthy
people can cure similar symptoms caused by

MEDICINE
disease originated in Ancient Greece, but
German physician Samuel Hahnermann
started the formal practice in the 1790s.

MEDICAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS HAVE GRADUALLY BEEN SUPPLANTED BY A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

The history of medicine is as old as humanity itself. For

thousands of years, breakthroughs in understanding
the human body and innovations in technology have
improved the way disease is diagnosed and treated.

Evolving from its origins in herbalism and shamanism,

medicine ourished in the ancient classical world
where the rst physicians assessed patients using
earpiece scientic judgement. The early study of anatomy,
physiology, and diseases, together with its drugs,
vaccines, and new instruments, turned medicine pressure
gauge
into a complex, multifaceted discipline.

Wooden stethoscope
1860s
Invented by French physician
Ren Laennec in 1816, the rst
stethoscope was made from wood.
The heart was heard through a
funnel, like an ear trumpet.
bottle of
ear-trumpet
painkilling
style amplier gelatin capsule tablets

Early binaural
stethoscope
c.1870
In 1850, American
physician George
Camman incorporated Military tablet tin
rubber into his binaural Pills c.1942
(two-earpiece) 20th century An armament of drugs was used on the
stethoscope to make Pills accurately deliver a small battleeld to help deal with injuries and
it easier to use. It was drug dose. They were rst made illness to hasten return to duty. Medical
the rst commercially by encasing the active ingredient ofcers had rst-aid tablet tins that contained
successful stethoscope. in hardened glucose syrup. painkillers, sedatives, and antiseptics.

90
 hypodermic Disposable syringe
needle 21st century
The modern disposable
syringe made from
plastic reduces the
chance of cross-infection.
It was patented by New
Zealand pharmacist
Colin Murdoch in 1956.

glass
barrel
metallic
barrel

funnel for Ophthalmoscope

candle concentrating c.1875
light The rst optical devices for
examining the back of the eye
were made in the 1840s and 1850s.
Early models came with a selection
of interchangeable lenses.

piston-type
plunger

Brass endoscope viewing Mechanical syringe

lens hollow
19th century 18th century
Invented by German physician Phillip Piston-type syringes have been used needle
Bozzini in 1805, the rst rudimentary since antiquity, but metallic non-
endoscope was illuminated using plunger mechanical syringes were
a candle. An endoscope is used to developed in the 1600s and 1700s,
see inside a patient. protective and used for extracting uids.
casing

Clinical glass thermometer

18th century
German physician Hermann
Boerhaave began using glass
thermometers in the 1700s. In
1866, British physician Thomas
Allbutt designed a portable,
15 cm (6 in) clinical model.

reservoir of digital temperature

mercury display

Sphygmomanometer Digital thermometer

1883 21st century
The rst attempts to Invented in the
measure blood pressure 1950s, electronic
were inaccurate, until thermometers measure
Glass syringe
Austrian physician Samuel body temperature with
1940s
Ritter von Basch invented the a far greater degree
The invention of ne
sphygmomanometer in 1876. of accuracy and use
needles in 1853 meant
In early models, pressure an unambiguous
syringes could be used
was measured by a digital display.
to inject drugs. The rst
water-lled bulb applied
precision-bore glass
to the skin, but later
syringes in 1946 made
ones used an
it easier to sterilize
inatable cuff. X-ray equipment en masse
20th century as barrels and plungers
German physicist Wilhem were interchangeable.
Rntgen produced the rst
rubber X-ray photograph of his
metal
tubing wifes hand in 1895. Today, plunger
various scanning techniques
are used to examine the
interior of the body.

91
158589 159093
,,[THE DECIMAL FRACTION] TEACHES

,,
THE EASY PERFORMANCE OF ALL RECKONINGS,
COMPUTATIONS, AND ACCOUNTS, WITHOUT
BROKEN NUMBERS.
Simon Stevin, Flemish mathematician and engineer, from De Thiende (The Tenth), 1585

Simon Stevin wrote in Dutch, which he felt Galileo's thermoscope was an early
was better suited to technical subjects. device for measuring temperature.

FLEMISH MATHEMATICIAN Islamic mathematicians had Knitting machine DUTCH LENS-MAKER ZACHARIAS
AND ENGINEER SIMON STEVIN used decimal fractions centuries English inventor William Lee JANSEN (15801638) is believed
improved on his original knitting
(15481620) published the booklet before, Stevin presented a spring maintains to have invented the microscope,
machine with more needles per
De Thiende (The Tenth) in 1585. comprehensive case for their tension initially using a single magnifying
inch, which enabled production
It promoted the use of decimal use, citing ease of calculation. of ne silk fabrics as well as wool. lens. Around 1590, he combined
fractions and predicted the His notation was awkward and two lenses to form the rst
adoption of a decimal system of different from that used today. compound optical microscope,
weights and measures. While The following year, Stevin which was capable of magnifying
published two works on water images about nine times. Jansen
70 and "statics", in which he showed is also associated with the
60
that because of its weight, the development of the telescope,
DEPTH (IN METRES)

pressure of water increases an invention credited to his rival

50
40
30
20
10
0 material
0 1 2 3 4 5
PRESSURE (IN ATMOSPHERES)
Water pressure
Directly proportional to depth, water
pressure increases by 1 atmosphere
(atm) for every 10 m (33 ft) in depth.
WATER PRESSURE
As an object descends into
water, the weight of the
water above it exerts
pressure on it. As a result,
water pressure increases
with depth. At a depth of
about 10 m (33 ft), water
pressure is double the
atmospheric pressure at the
surface. Water pressure at
ocean oors can be as much
as 1,000 atmospheres (1 atm
being equal to 1 kg/cm2).
with depth. His ideas became
the foundation for a eld of
engineering called hydrostatics.
In 1588, Danish astronomer
Tycho Brahe published further
6 7 works, including the second part
of his Astronomiae Instauratae
Progymnasmata (Introduction to
New Astronomy). He described
the observation of comets and
the instruments he used, and
also included a catalogue
of stars, and described a
geo-heliocentric universe,
in which most of the planets
orbited the Sun, and the Sun
and Moon orbited the Earth.
In 1589, English inventor
William Lee (15631614)
designed the stocking frame
machine, which mimicked
the action of hand-knitters.
Although it had the potential
to revolutionize the textile
industry, fear of upsetting the
hand-knitters kept Lee from
obtaining a patent in England,
and he moved to France.
needles Hans Lippershey in 1608.
With the publication of the
ten-part In Artem Analyticien
Isagoge (Introduction to the
knitted Art of Analysis) in 1591, French
mathematician Franois Vite,
also known as Vieta, laid the
foundations for modern
algebra. One of the key
innovations of his system of
analysis known as new
algebra was the use of letters
of the alphabet for parameters
and unknowns in equations.
Vite thereby created a symbolic
algebra to replace the Classical
and Islamic rhetorical algebra,
which relied on explanation
rather than signs and symbols.
In 1592, Italian mathematician
Galileo Galilei invented the
thermoscope, a tube in which
liquid rises and falls with
changes in temperature. This
was the forerunner of the
liquid thermometer, which
wool or silk was developed later by adding
yarn a scale to the tube.

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92
159495
Designed by Hieronymus Fabricius, the dissection theatre in Padua, Italy,
offered public demonstrations of anatomical dissections.
THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA of Venice. Although some
had been at the forefront of the public dissections had been
golden age of anatomy since performed before, this was
Andreas Vesalius became the rst purpose-built
professor of surgery and permanent structure for
anatomy there in 1537. The such demonstrations. He was
university attracted students succeeded by his students, Julius
from all over Europe, and Casserius, and later Adriaan van
the department was led by der Spiegel, who continued the
a succession of distinguished tradition of public demonstrations
surgeons and anatomists. of anatomical dissections.
Hieronymus Fabricius was In the same year, Simon Stevin
appointed to the post in 1565, wrote his treatise, Arithmetic.
and became well known for This book dealt with, among
demonstrating the dissection other things, the solution of
of both humans and animals, quadratic equations equations
and instituting a new style of involving a squared quantity
investigative anatomy. In order and important concepts in the
to make these demonstrations eld of number theory.
available to a wider audience,
he designed a theatre for
dissections. The theatre was
built in 1594 with funds provided
by the Senate of the Republic
HIERONYMUS FABRICIUS (15371619)
Born in Acquapendente, Italy,
Hieronymus Fabricius studied
at the University of Padua,
where he eventually became
Professor of Anatomy in 1562
and Professor of Surgery in
1565. Famous for his public
demonstrations of anatomical
dissections, he is best known
as a pioneer in the eld of
embryology and for describing
the valves in veins.
he re
s s t eat
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159697
,,I MUCH PREFER THE SHARPEST
CRITICISM OF A SINGLE
,,
INTELLIGENT MAN TO THE
THOUGHTLESS APPROVAL OF
THE MASSES
Johannes Kepler, German astronomer
An illustration of Keplers planetary model
from Mysterium Cosmographicum.
IN 1596, GERMAN ASTRONOMER
JOHANNES KEPLER (15711630)
published his rst important
work on astronomy, Mysterium
Cosmographicum (The
Cosmographic Mystery). As well
as defending the heliocentric
model of the universe proposed
by Copernicus (see 1543), Kepler
explained the orbits of the
known planets around the Sun
in geometric terms in an attempt
to unravel "Gods mysterious
plan of the universe". To do this,
he drew upon the classical notion
of the harmony of the spheres,
which he linked to the ve Platonic Water closet
John Harington's Ajax, the
solids octahedron, icosahedron, Stale Subject: The Metamorphosis
prototype of the modern ush
dodecahedron, tetrahedron, and of Ajax. This text was part political toilet, was invented with the aim
cube. These, when inscribed in satire and part description of of eliminating disease.
spheres and nested inside one his invention, a rudimentary
another in order, corresponded ush toilet called Ajax. The One of the most important
to the orbits of the planets name was a pun on a jakes, textbooks of alchemy, Alchemia,
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, contemporary slang for toilet. was published in 1597 by
Jupiter, and Saturn. The invention was a major step German metallurgist Andreas
In 1596, Flemish cartographer towards modern sanitation. Libavius. Unlike previous books
Abraham Ortelius noted that on alchemy, Alchemia stressed
the coastlines on either side of the the importance of systematic
Atlantic Ocean seemed to t like laboratory procedures. It also
pieces of a puzzle. He was the rst contained a catalogue of various
to suggest that Africa, Europe, and medicaments and metals, and
the Americas may once have been included the rst description
connected. Although he attributed of the properties of zinc.
their separation to a major
cataclysm, his ideas anticipated
the modern theory of continental Zinc
drift (see 191415). Known in China and India
since the 14th century, zinc
Also in 1596, English author
was rst described in Europe
Sir John Harington (15611612) by 16th-century alchemist
published A New Discourse upon a Andreas Libavius.
s
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an he n s
oh blis an gto ion ble
J
96 pu
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co con the ine 15 pub
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93
1598 15991600

1,004
THE NUMBER OF
STARS CATALOGUED
IN TYCHO BRAHES
ASTRONOMIAE
INSTAURATAE
MECHANICA

Giordano Bruno, arrested by the Roman Inquisition on charges of heresy,

was imprisoned from 1562 until his execution in 1600.

IN 1598, DANISH ASTRONOMER
TYCHO BRAHE published
Astronomiae Instauratae
Mechanica (Instruments for the
Restoration of Astronomy) a
star catalogue listing the
positions of more than
a thousand stars he had
observed. Brahe had recently
left his observatories at Hven,
Denmark, after falling out with
his patron, King Christian IV, who
did not share his predecessors
enthusiasm for astronomy.
Before leaving, Brahe wrote
detailed descriptions
with illustrations of
the instruments and
equipment he had used
at his observatories.
He included these in
Astronomiae as well.
In the following year,
Brahe found a new sponsor,
the Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II, and moved to Prague
(now in the Czech Republic).
In September, Dutch sailors
landed on the island of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean, claiming it
for the Netherlands. They were
the rst to describe the dodo,
a ightless bird related to the
pigeon and unique to Mauritius.
Within less than a century, the
bird had been driven to
extinction, hunted by the
settlers and preyed
upon by imported
animals.
mast
rigging
spiked iron
plates
Extinct species
The dodo is one of the rst recorded
examples of a species extinction due
to human intervention. Its last known
sighting was in 1662.
While much ship design was
geared towards voyages of
discovery and trade, in 1598,
Admiral Yi Sun-sin of Korea
turned his attention to the
design of warships. He
improved on the traditional
Korean turtle ship by adding
metal armour. These rst
iron-clad warships were
protected by iron
plates covered
with spikes.
ITALIAN NATURALIST ULISSE
ALDROVANDI (15221605), who
had founded the botanical
garden of Bologna in 1568,
published the rst of three
volumes of Ornithologiae a
treatise on birds in 1599. As
well as designing and
managing the botanical garden,
Aldrovandi organized expeditions
to collect plants for his
herbarium and established a
large collection of ora and
fauna specimens. He also wrote
many books covering all aspects
of natural history, helping to lay
the foundations for the modern
study of botany and zoology.
In 1600, English physician
and scientist William Gilbert
(15441603) published De
Magnete, Magneticisque
Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete
Tellure (On the Magnet, Magnetic
EARTHS MAGNETIC POLES
The Earths core composed magnetic
north pole
of an iron alloy behaves
like a gigantic bar magnet.
Magnetic compass needles
are attracted to the two poles
5055
KM PER YEAR
THE SPEED AT
WHICH THE
MAGNETIC
NORTH POLE
IS MOVING
Bodies, and the Great Magnet
of the Earth). In this treatise, he
described his experiments with
magnets, many of which used
small magnetic spheres called
terrellae, to model Earths
behaviour. He concluded that
Earth behaves as a giant
magnet, making compass
needles point north, and that the
centre of Earth is made of iron.
geographic
north pole
S

of the Earths magnetic core,

Korean ship
also known as the magnetic
Admiral Yi N
Sun-sins redesign poles. These coincide roughly
of the Korean with the geographical north
turtle ship was and south poles. Because the
a precursor of
core is uid, the magnetic geographic magnetic
the iron-clad
steam warships poles continually shift position. south pole south pole
of the 19th century.

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94

De Magnete also claimed that
magnetism and electricity are
two distinct kinds of force. To
show the properties of static
electricity, Gilbert created
a versorium the rst
electroscope, comprising a
freely rotating unmagnetized
needle on a stand. The
versoriums needle was attracted
to static-charged amber, as
if it were a compass needle
moved by magnetism. Gilbert
incorrectly inferred that gravity
was a magnetic force, and that
the Earths magnetism held the
Moon in its orbit.
In the same year, Italian friar
and astronomer Giordano Bruno
(15481600) was burnt at the
stake by the Roman Inquisition
on charges of heresy. It is
possible that he was originally
arrested purely for his
unconventional theological
beliefs, but it is more likely that
his scientic views were the
real reason for the Inquisitions
wrath. Brunos theory of the
cosmos went a step further
than Copernicuss (see 1543),
and was potentially more
threatening to the Churchs
authority: he believed that the
Sun, far from being the centre
of the Universe, was just a star
like any other, and that it was
possible that Earth was not
the only world inhabited by
intelligent life.
no t
da t a
ior burn his
G
00 is for
16 uno ke iews
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th retic
he
es
nn k
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160104
,,THE DISCUSSION OF
NATURAL PROBLEMS
OUGHT TO BEGIN WITH
EXPERIMENTS AND
DEMONSTRATIONS.
Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and
physicist, from The Authority of Scripture
in Philosophical Controversies
ENGLISH ASTRONOMER AND
MATHEMATICIAN THOMAS
HARRIOT (15601621) was
fascinated by the behaviour of
light. In 1602, he studied the
relationship between the
different angles produced as
light is refracted, or bent, when
passing from one medium
to another, such as from air to
water. Now known as the law of
refraction, this phenomenon
had rst been discovered by
Persian mathematician Ibn Sahl
in 984. Unfortunately, Harriot did
not publish his ndings, and the
principle is now known as Snells
Law, after Willebrord Snellius
(see 162124), who rediscovered
the idea around 20 years later.
The following year, naturalist
Federico Cesi (15851630)
founded a scientic society called
JOHANNES KEPLER (15711630)
iot
rr
s e
a th tio
om at c Ga rmu bo
2 Th ves efra
6 0 rr of r
i 16 s to falli
a
,,
Galileo demonstrated his law of falling bodies by rolling a ball down an inclined
plane and measuring its rate of acceleration.
Accademia dei Lincei (Academy
of the Lynx-eyed) in Rome a
successor to the Academia
Secretorum Naturae (Academy of
the Secrets of Nature), which had
been founded in 1560 but forced
to disband. The Accademia dei
Lincei later became the national
academy of Italy.
The story of Galileo Galilei
(see 161113) dropping balls of
different weights from the top of
the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy,
to ascertain the rate of their fall
may or may not have been true;
however, it is known that in 1604
he hypothesized for the rst time
that bodies made of the same
material and falling through the
same medium would fall at
the same speed, regardless of
their mass. This idea contradicted
the prevalent Aristotelian theory
Born in Germany, Johannes
Kepler studied at the
University of Tbingen, where
he encountered the ideas of
Copernicus. He worked as
a teacher in Graz, Austria,
before moving to Prague to
study with Tycho Brahe in 1600.
He remained there as Imperial
Astronomer after Brahes
death, until political and family
problems forced him to leave
12 years later.
ia
em
cad nded
Ac ou
he is f
0 3 T cei
16 i Lin e
de Rom
in
0 4
gin w of
e d
b la
light is focused Human eye
on the retina The eye sees by
allowing light in
light
through a lens near
the front. The lens
projects the light
onto the retina
at the back, and
focuses it to give
a clear though
lens inverted image.
that the heavier the object, pinhole camera. He examined
the faster it would fall. Galileo the optics of the human eye,
published the nal version of his describing how the lens reverses
law of falling bodies in 1638. and inverts the image projected
Best known as an astronomer, onto the retina, and suggested
Johannes Kepler was also a that this is corrected in the brain.
pioneer in the eld of optics, In 1604, Italian surgeon
publishing Astronomiae Pars and anatomist Hieronymus
Optica (The Optical Part of Fabricius (see 159495)
Astronomy) in 1604. In addition published the results of his
to describing astronomical dissections of various animals
instruments, he devoted much fetuses, establishing
of the text to optical theory, embryology as a new eld of
including explanations of study. He showed various stages
parallax (the apparent change in of fetal development, and
position of a heavenly body when combined these studies with his
viewed from different points), work on the circulation of blood
reections in at and curved to produce one of the rst studies
mirrors, and the principle of the of embryonic circulation.
,, DISCOVER THE FORCE
,,
OF THE HEAVENS, O MEN:
ONCE RECOGNIZED,
IT CAN BE PUT TO USE.
Johannes Kepler, German astronomer, from De Fundamentis, 1601
us
ym
ron gins d s
ie be oo ryo
4 H ius f bl emb
0
16 bric dy o in
Fa stu tion
his cula
cir
ei r
lil ple
o Ga his Ke eye
s s e
e
lil la die
t ne th t in
an w igh ca
fo ng J oh s ho es l Opti
04 ib e us rs
16 escr foc e Pa
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mi
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As
95
160508
,,IF A MAN WILL BEGIN WITH CERTAINTIES,
HE SHALL END IN DOUBTS; BUT IF HE WILL BE
CONTENT TO BEGIN WITH DOUBTS, HE SHALL
END IN CERTAINTIES.
Francis Bacon, English philosopher, from The Advancement of Learning, 1605
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 17TH
CENTURY, SCIENCE was still
known as Natural Philosophy.
In 1605, however, English
philosopher Francis Bacon
(15611626) published his rst
work, The Advancement of
Learning, setting out arguments
for using induction a process
of drawing conclusions from data
accumulated by observation as
the basis for scientic knowledge.
Later known as the Baconian
method, or scientic method,
induction became important in
modern experimental science.
German astronomer Johannes
Kepler observed the appearance
of a comet (now known as Comet
is s
nc he
ra lis ent
5 F pub cem
0 ha ords d m now
16 con van g
Ba e Ad nin
Th Lea
r 1 pl ran , la ey
of
96
,,
Halley) in 1607, and noted its
position and path across the
night sky. He realized that it was
travelling well outside the orbit of
the Moon. His observations later
inuenced his laws of planetary
motion (see pp.100101).
The invention of the rst
two-lens telescope is generally
attributed to Dutch inventor Hans
Lippershey (c.15701619) in
1608. Unlike later reecting
telescopes that used mirrors,
Lippersheys refracting telescope
had a lens at each end. Although
Lippershey could not obtain a
patent for it, his invention earned
him money and recognition for
its military and commercial uses.
es the tion
nn o n
o i for pear
J c n k
07 er re ce a ter
6 Th ism t ap
Ke pea met Hall
ap a co et
of Com
as
sh
p er ting
p c
Li fra
ns re pe w ses
a
H s a co
08 ild es o l
16 bu tel tw
TELESCOPIC Astronomia Nova (New
VISION
3x
NORMAL VISION
NORMAL
VISION
Magnication of early telescopes
did so in elliptical, rather than
The telescopes built by Lippershey
and his contemporaries were
capable of magnifying an image out that the speed at which they
to about three times its size.
Another invention that was to
revolutionize military campaigns
was the intlock mechanism for
rearms. Probably the
work of gunsmith and
violin-maker Marin le
Bourgeoys (c.15501634),
the intlock appeared
around 1608 in France.
Quicker and more
efcient than previous
mechanisms, the intlock
was also safer as it could
be locked into position
during reloading. It
remained in use for
more than 200 years.
Lippershey in
his workshop
In creating his refracting
telescope, Hans Lippershey
may have used a combination
of concave and convex
lenses, or two convex lenses.
k G
loc
nt s A
e 9 G stra eles
0 8 n rs
16 cha s
e Ke st tw ary
m earm
r r net
ey
ith
en
160910
Around 1,344 light years away and situated in the constellation of Orion,
the Orion nebula is one of the brightest and closest nebulae to Earth.
4
IN 1609, GERMAN ASTRONOMER
JOHANNES KEPLERS book
Astronomy) was published,
describing his observations of
the motion of the planet Mars.
His detailed measurements
and calculations conrmed the THE NUMBER
theory that the planets revolved
OF MOONS OF
around the Sun, and went
further in suggesting that they JUPITER
circular, orbits. He also pointed
OBSERVED
BY GALILEO
orbited the Sun did not remain
constant but changed according to around 30 times magnication.
to their position on the orbit. English astronomer Thomas
These principles formed the Herriot (15601621) had used
basis of the rst two of the three a telescope to study the Moon in
laws that are now known as 1609, and had produced the rst
Keplers laws of planetary drawings of its surface. The
motion (see pp.100101). The following year, Galileo used his
rst law states that each planet superior telescope and artistic
has an elliptical orbit with the Sun training to produce detailed
as one of the focuses; the second maps of the lunar landscape,
that the speed of a planet is clearly showing the irregularities
inversely proportional to its to be craters and mountains. So
distance from the Sun that accurate were his maps that he
is, a planet moves fastest when was even able to estimate the
it is closest to the Sun. height of the mountains on the
News of the invention of the surface of the Moon.
refracting telescope reached Italy Galileo was also able to
in 1609, and Galileo Galilei set examine other planets, and
about building one for himself. in 1610 turned his attention
Galileos telescope allowed him to Jupiter. He noticed three
to make detailed astronomical
observations. His early
telescopes had a magnication of
about eight times normal vision,
but he later improved the design
a
lei mi
ali e of no
tro es
leo o
n es s
In an hi
n s
ali tes cop
09 Joh tes of
0 16 va, sta ws ion
16 mon ly t No pler o la mot
de ea ice
r
his Ven
in pl
a
tor l
en
i nv ebbe t
ch r ta
ut is D os
0 9 D rnel erm
16 Co a t h
ts
en
inv

previously undetected stars
close to Jupiter. However, their
behaviour indicated that
they were, in fact, not stars
but moons, or satellites,
orbiting the planet a
theory conrmed when
one of them disappeared
behind Jupiter. In further
observations, he
discovered a fourth
satellite following a similar
orbit. These Galilean
satellites, as they were later
called, were the four largest
moons of Jupiter, now known
as Io, Europa, Ganymede,
and Callisto, their names
being associated with
classical myths.
The telescope also
led to new discoveries
elsewhere: French
astronomer Nicolas-
Claude Fabri de Peiresc
(15801637) acquired
one in 1610 and saw the
Galilean satellites for himself.
Later that year, he became the
rst person to observe
the Orion Nebula.
s s
ibe on
cr ters
s
de cra oon
i leo nd e M
l
Ga s a f th
10 ain e o
16 unt rfac
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r
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161113
,, IN QUESTIONS OF SCIENCE, THE
AUTHORITY OF A THOUSAND IS NOT
WORTH THE HUMBLE REASONING OF
A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL.
Galileo Galilei, Italian mathematician and astronomer, 1632
GALILEO CONTINUED HIS
ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES
in 1611, describing temporary
dark areas seen on the surface
of the Sun now called
sunspots. Although he
claimed to be the rst to have
observed these, others may
have done so beforehand. The
importance of their discovery
lay in the fact that the periodic
appearance of sunspots was
yet another challenge to the
Aristotelean notion of the perfect
immutability of the heavens.
In 1611, Kepler published
a treatise on optics, Dioptrice,
in which he explained the
workings of the microscope
and the refracting telescope.
He also explored the effects
of using lenses of different
shapes and focal lengths. He
explained the workings of the
Galilean telescope, with its
convex and concave lenses,
and also suggested a way of
improving Galileos design using
two convex lenses to achieve
greater magnication.
Galileos moon map In the same year, Kepler also
Although not the rst maps wrote an extraordinary thought
of the Moon, Galileos detailed
experiment entitled Somnium
charts were the rst to show the
distinctive craters and mountains (The Dream), which was
on its surface. published posthumously. In it, he
de over
au er ot
- Cl disc o bs nsp
las sc u 1
leo s s
ico eire ula ali ibe
0 N de P neb 1 G scr
1
16 bri ion
1
16 d de
Fa e Or an
th
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sh s
u bli ptic
ple n th pe, ium
e o
K o c
11 ce, es om
16 ptri tel sy S
i o the ta
D of fan
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e
,,
GALILEO GALILEI (15641642)
Born in Pisa, Italy, Galileo
Galilei studied medicine and
mathematics at university. In
1592, he took up professorship
at Padua. His interests
included astronomy and
science of motion.
Galileos scientic views
were seen as heretical by the
Catholic Church, and he was
placed under house arrest
in 1633, where he remained
until his death.
described a form of interplanetary the concept of motion, and put
travel, and attempted to explain forward his principle of inertia,
a model of the universe from a which states that a body moving
perspective that is not geocentric on a level surface will continue in
(Earth-centred). the same direction at constant
Florentine priest and chemist, speed unless disturbed. It
Antonio Neri (15761614) explained that moving objects
devoted much of his time to the retain their velocity unless a force,
study of glassmaking. In 1612, he such as friction, acts upon them,
published a comprehensive book a principle later important for
LArte Vetraria (The Art of Glass) Isaac Newtons First Law of
on the manufacture and uses of Motion (see pp.120121).
glass, which remained a standard
textbook until the 19th century. Galileos telescope
Based only on vague descriptions of
Galileo was interested not only
Lippersheys telescope, Galileo made
in astronomy, but also in many a telescope with a combination of
other elds. In 1613, he studied convex and concave lenses.
s io
ve s ton es k
An lish boo ,
2 b
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16 ri p st te akin
Ne e r ssm aria
th gla Vetr
on r te
LA
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97
 161417 161820

Napiers Bones, a set of rods inscribed with numbers, provided a quick and simple This reconstruction of Drebbels submarine, the rst navigable underwater
way of multiplying, dividing, and nding square and cube roots. craft, is complete with ns, a rudder, and watertight portholes for oars.

IN 1614, SCOTTISH ,,MY METHOD, THOUGH HARD TO

MATHEMATICIAN JOHN
NAPIER (15501617) published
a description of logarithms
(a logarithm is the power to which
a base, such as 10, must be raised
to produce a given number),
showing how they could resolve
the tedium of lengthy
multiplications and divisions,
the nding of ratios, and the
extraction of square and cube
roots. The logarithm of the
product of two numbers
multiplied together is equal to the
sum of each numbers logarithms.
Using tables that Napier included
in his book, it was possible to
nd the product of two numbers
by looking up their logarithms,
adding them, and then looking
up the result in a table of
antilogarithms.
Santorio Santorio (15611636),
also known as Sanctorius,
Professor of Anatomy in Padua,
Italy, described his experiments
in the study of metabolism in
De Statica Medicina (On Medical
CYCLOID CURVE
point on wheel rim
WHEEL ROLLING IN STRAIGHT LINE
Measurement). Over 30 years,
he maintained a record of his
weight, and the weights of
everything he ate and drank, and
of all faeces and urine that he
passed, and discovered a
discrepancy that he attributed
to insensible perspiration.
In 1615, French mathematician
and theologian, Marin Mersenne
(15881648), was the rst to
properly dene the cycloid curve
traced by a point on the rim of
a wheel. He also made an
unsuccessful attempt to
calculate the area under the
curve, and so posed a problem
that several 17th-century
Cycloid
The curve described by a point on
the rim of a circular wheel as it rolls
on a at surface, known as a cycloid,
fascinated mathematicians in the
17th century.
lecture series, he expounded
on his theory, but did not publish
a full account until 1628.
In 1617, Dutch astronomer
and mathematician Willebrord
Snellius (15801626), published
his work Eratosthenes Batavus
(The Dutch Eratosthenes), in which
he described a new method for
measuring Earths radius, by
rst nding, using triangulation,
the distance between two points
separated by just one degree of
latitude. His work is seen as the
,,
PRACTISE, IS EASY TO EXPLAIN I
PROPOSE TO ESTABLISH PROGRESSIVE
STAGES OF CERTAINTY.
Francis Bacon, English philosopher, Novum Organum, 1620
IN 1619, German astronomer he invented the rst navigable
Johannes Kepler (see 160104) submarine, while in the employ
published Harmonices Mundi of the British Royal Navy. It was
(The Harmony of the World). In based on a design suggested by
this book, he explained the British writer William Bourne
structure and proportions of the
universe in terms of geometric
shapes and musical harmonies,
in much the same way as the
ancient philosophers Pythagoras
and Ptolemy had done before
him. Much of Keplers thesis
concerned the harmony of the
spheres the idea that each
planet produces a unique sound
based on its orbit. It also
discussed the relationships of FRANCIS BACON
astrological aspects (the angles (15611626)
between planets) and musical
tones. More inuentially, the Born into an aristocratic
thesis contained in its nal family, Francis Bacon studied
section a statement of Keplers at Trinity College, Cambridge,

6,371
mathematicians tried to solve.
In April 1616, for the rst of
his annual lectures at the Royal
College of Physicians in London,
foundation for modern geodesy third law of planetary motion, UK, from age 12. A lawyer
surveying and measuring Earth. describing the relationship and Member of Parliament,
This year, Napier presented between a planets distance he was knighted by James I,
another aid to calculation in his from the Sun and the time who appointed him Attorney

KILOMETRES England, William Harvey

(15781657) spoke on the
book Rabdologiae (meaning
measuring rods). This was a set
taken to orbit around it, and the
speed of the planet at any time
General (1613) and Lord
Chancellor (1618). In 1621,
THE MEAN circulation of blood. He was the of rods inscribed with gures in that orbit (see pp.10001). Bacon was found guilty of

RADIUS OF rst to explain the way the heart

pumps oxygenated blood around
EARTH the body. During this seven-year
derived from multiplication
tables, which became known
as Napiers Bones.
Dutch inventor Cornelis
Drebbel (15721633) had moved
corruption. He devoted the
rest of his life to writing.
to England around 1604. In 1620,

es er
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of o o
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14 Sa hes asu ripti ism 16 ey f b he ia r de
16 s l 16 arv n o at t ysic pie ng es iae
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98 C o 16 N

(c.153582) in 1578, and
consisted of a wooden frame
covered with leather and
powered by oars. Drebbel
subsequently built two larger
submarines, capable of
carrying a number of
passengers, which were
demonstrated on the River
Thames in England. In tests,
the nal version of Drebbels
submarine managed to stay
submerged for over three hours,
suggesting that it had some
means of providing oxygenated
air for the occupants though
there are no records to explain
how Drebbel could have
achieved this. Despite the
success of the submarine,
the Royal Navy had no interest
in using it.
In 1605, in the book The
Advancement of Learning,
English philosopher Francis
Bacon had advocated inductive
reasoning for scientic
investigation. He wrote on the
subject again in 1620, in a major
treatise on logic called Novum
Organum Scientiarum (New
Instrument of Science). Bacon
also advocated a process
of reduction, which involved
explaining the nature of
things in terms of the
relationships of their parts.
tor ds
en uil
i nv el b
ch b e
ut reb abl
0 D lis D avig
2
16 rne st n
Co e r rine
th bma
su
er
ph
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i n
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g n i e
En co of g in enc
20 Ba od in Sci
16 ncis eth ason t of
a m re en
Fr m
tr u
Ins
162124
,, MELANCHOLY IS A HABIT,
,,
A SERIOUS AILMENT, A
SETTLED HUMOUR, NOT
ERRANT, BUT FIXED
Robert Burton, English scholar, The Anatomy
of Melancholy, 1621
This engraving of the Greek philosopher Democritus is taken from the title
page of Robert Burtons book on mental illness, The Anatomy of Melancholy.
WITH HIS 1621 TREATISE 2.5
ON THE CIRCLE, Cyclometricus, 2.4
angle of 2
Dutchman Willibrord Snellius
REFRACTIVE INDEX
incidence
became the rst European to 1.5 1.5
glass 1.5
publish the law of refraction 1.3
describing the relationship 1.0
between the angles of incidence incoming 1
angle of
Diamond
and refraction of light passing incident ray
Perspex
refraction glass is denser than
Water
enters the glass
Glass
through two different transparent 0.5
air, so ray slows down
Air
substances, such as air and glass. and bends inwards
Although known as Snells Law 0
SUBSTANCE
(see panel, right), this principle exiting refracted light ray
had been mentioned by English returns to its speed in air Refractive indices
The refractive index of a substance
mathematician Thomas Harriot
compares the speed of light when it
about 20 years earlier, and was SNELLS LAW passes through the substance to the
originally described by Persian speed of light in a vacuum.
mathematician Ibn Sahl in 984. The law of refraction, or Snells Law, concerns the relationship
The best known book by between the angle of incidence (the angle at which light approaches slide rule. Oughtred experimented
English scholar Robert Burton the surface of a transparent medium) and the angle of refraction with several designs for his
(15771640), The Anatomy of (the angle the light takes as it changes speed through the slide rule, starting with a circular
Melancholy, appeared in 1621. medium). The relationship is constant for all angles of incidence shape, but eventually settling on
It attempted to describe various and refraction, but varies from substance to substance. the familiar straight ruler with a
forms of mental disorder and sliding middle section, which
their symptoms, and suggested remained in use until the invention
possible medical causes and psychiatry of mental disorders. a pair of compasses or dividers. of the pocket calculator some
remedies. Although the book Following from Napiers In 1622, English mathematician, 300 years later.
was written in the style of a discovery of logarithms, English William Oughtred (15741660),
medical textbook, it was more mathematician Edmund Gunter discovered that multiplication
a literary work than a scientic (15811626) devised logarithmic and division could be done by Modern slide rule
one. Nonetheless, it was a scales that could be engraved sliding two of Gunters scales Complex calculations could be done
rapidly by lining up the different
forerunner of later scientic on a ruler to help seamen make against each other and reading
logarithmic scales inscribed on the
studies of the psychology and calculations for navigation using the result the principle of the rulers of the slide rule and reading
the result using the cursor.
cursor body/stock
movable slide
an s
m lliu of
tch Sne law am
u
D d he illi
21 ror s t
16 lleb over l i sh n W the
i
W disc tion
g
En tic ent
ia s
22 ma nv
re frac 16 the red i
re a
m ght ule
Ou de r
sli
h
lis
ng ert
e E
21 Ro es
b
16 lar lish of
c ho pub omy ly
s on at ho
rt An nc
Bu The Mela
99
 15 4 3 17 8 8 THE AGE OF DISCOVERY

UNDERSTANDING
PLANETARY ORBITS
THE MOVEMENTS OF THE PLANETS CAN BE DESCRIBED WITH THREE LAWS AND EXPLAINED BY GRAVITY

The eight planets of the Solar System, as well as millions of smaller

bodies such as comets and asteroids, travel around the Sun in closed loops Neptune
called orbits. What keeps these objects on their curved trajectories is the
Uranus
same force that makes things fall to the ground on Earth: gravity.
Saturn

For centuries it was generally believed that the JOHANNES KEPLER Jupiter
Earth was the centre of the Universe, with the Kepler was an
assistant to the great Mars
Sun, Moon, planets, and stars rotating around it. Danish astronomer
However, this geocentric model could not Tycho Brahe. He used Earth
satisfactorily account for planetary orbits, and in Brahe's observations
of the planets when Venus
1543 Danish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus formulating his laws
(14731543) proposed his heliocentric (Sun- of motion. Mercury
centred) model, with the planets moving around
0 10 20 30 40 50
the Sun in circular orbits (see 1543).
AVERAGE ORBITAL SPEED (KM/S)
suggested that
KEPLERS LAWS the same force Orbital speeds
The closer a planet is to the Sun, the greater its average
In the early 1600s, German astronomer Johannes that makes orbital speed. The closest, Mercury, moves almost nine
Kepler (15711630) used observations of planetary objects fall to the times faster than Neptune, the furthest.
movements to try to prove Copernicus right. ground on Earth
However, he could make the observations t a gravity might be responsible for keeping the
heliocentric system only if the orbits were not Moon in orbit around our planet. Newton realized the Moon, he was able to work out the Moons
circles but ellipses, with the Sun at one focus (see that the force of gravity is weaker the further you orbital period. This allowed him to formulate his
below left). This fact became the rst of Keplers are from the centre of the Earth, and he proposed universal law of gravitation (see 1687) and to
three laws of planetary motion. His second law that gravity weakened in direct proportion to the realize that gravity must also be responsible for
(see below right) relates to the way a planets square of the distance. When he applied this to keeping the planets in orbit around the Sun.
speed changes during its orbit, and his third law

149 , 597, 871

(see opposite) concerns the relationship between
a planets distance from the Sun and how long it
takes to complete each orbit (its orbital period).

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
Kepler had no idea why orbits should be
elliptical. The answer came after his death from THE AVERAGE DISTANCE IN KILOMETRES
English scientist Isaac Newton (16421727), who BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE EARTH
ELLIPTICAL ORBITS SPEED AND DISTANCE
Keplers rst law states that every planets orbit is an ellipse The second of Keplers laws states that an imaginary line joining
with the Sun at one focus. An ellipse has two focuses; they are a planet to the Sun sweeps across equal areas in equal times.
planet moves
the points from which two lines meeting any point on the This takes into account the fact that a planet moves faster when more slowly when
ellipse always have the same total length. total length it is closer to the Sun and slower when it is further away.
of yellow lines Sun at one it is further away
is equal to focus of the from the Sun
total length of planet moves faster elliptical
planet
blue lines when it is nearer orbit
major to the Sun
axis
both blue regions
have the same area,
with the planet
crossing both in
equal time
Minor axis

planet on direction of
Sun at second focus elliptical orbit planets orbit
one focus of ellipse

100
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G P L A N E TA R Y O R B I T S

BALANCED FORCES
The Sun exerts a gravitational pull on a planet, and the
planet exerts an equal gravitational pull on the Sun. As
a result, both the planet and the Sun orbit around a
point called the centre of mass. Without gravity, the
planet would y off in a straight line out into space; elliptical orbit Sun wobbles
gravity pulls it into an elliptical orbit around the centre of planet slightly
of mass. The centre of mass is located inside the Sun,
so the Sun's orbit is manifested as a small wobble.

gravity pulls the Sun

towards the planet

planet

centre of mass
gravity pulls the planet is inside the Sun
towards the Sun

planets actual direction of

movement constantly changes
due to gravity, resulting in an
elliptical orbit
without gravity planets motion
would be in a straight line

Mercury Earth Mars Saturn Neptune

ORBITAL PERIODS (1 year) (1.9 years) (29.5 years) (164.8 years)
(0.24 years)
Keplers third law gives a mathematical PLANETARY YEARS
relationship between a planets average distance The length of a planets year,
or orbital period, depends on its
from the Sun and its orbital period (the time to average distance from the Sun.
complete each orbit). Specically, it states that The innermost planet, Mercury,
the square of the orbital period is proportional has the shortest year at just 88
Earth days. Neptunes is the
to the cube of the semi-major axis (half the longest: 60,190 Earth days (164.8
diameter of an ellipse at its widest point). This Earth years). The diagram on
makes it possible to quantify the increase in the the right (which is not to scale),
shows the planets orbital
orbital period with increasing distance from the periods in Earth years.
Sun. Although Keplers third law is not as simple
as the second law, it enabled Newton to develop Venus Jupiter Uranus
his universal law of gravitation. Sun (0.6 years) (11.9 years) (84.3 years)

101
 162527 162830
,,THE HEART OF ANIMALS IS THE
FOUNDATION OF THEIR LIFE THE SUN

,,
OF THEIR MICROCOSM, UPON WHICH
ALL GROWTH DEPENDS, FROM WHICH
ALL POWER PROCEEDS.
William Harvey, English physician, from An Anatomical Essay, 1628

Sodium sulphate crystals, known as Glaubers salt up to the late

18th century, are mostly sourced from natural minerals.

IN 1625, YOUNG DUTCHGERMAN theories must be built up from arteries capillaries Harvey doubted this was true. coming from the heart, is
CHEMIST JOHANN GLAUBER empirical evidence acted on an His experiments had shown that distributed around the body
(160470) recovered from a impulse. He wanted to see if he so much blood was pumped by through arteries, while low
20% 10%
stomach bug after drinking from could preserve meat by stufng the heart that continuous pressure blood returns through
a spring. The following year, he a chicken carcass with snow. production was improbable. veins. He also theorized about
succeeded in crystallizing sal Whilst the experiment was a Instead, he deduced that the a specic circulation for
mirabile (miraculous salt) from success, Bacon contracted volume of blood is xed and this the lungs.
the springs water. This became pneumonia and never recovered. is continuously circulated in the In 1629, Italian inventor
known as Glaubers salt and is In 1627, the most accurate body. High-pressure blood, Giovanni Branca published
in fact sodium sulphate, which catalogue of astronomical 70%
has laxative properties. For measurements was published veins
superior vena cava
nearly 300 years physicians since Nicolaus Copernicus had
(main vein) returns HEAD the aorta (main
would use it as a purgative. suggested that the Sun was at Distribution of blood deoxygenated blood AND artery) sends
In 1626, while travelling the centre of the solar system Most blood in the systemic to the heart UPPER oxygenated blood
circulation is carried in the veins. BODY
through icy London, English (see 1543). Much of the data around the body
The blood in these thin-walled
philosopher Francis Bacon had been collected by Danish vessels is at a very low pressure,
champion of the idea that astronomer Tycho Brahe, but he so it effectively pools there. right left
died before he could publish the lung lung
work. It fell to his collaborator, IN 1628, ENGLISH PHYSICIAN
German astronomer WILLIAM HARVEY published capillaries
Johannes Kepler, to his most celebrated work: An exchange
deoxygenated heart
complete the catalogue Anatomical Essay Concerning
blood for liver
named Rudolphine Tables the Movement of the Heart oxygenated
after the Holy Roman and Blood in Animals. Harvey blood capillaries bring
oxygenated blood to
Emperor Rudolph II. This was a great believer in the
the body, where it is
work contains data on the need for science to progress by KEY intestines
replaced with
positions of nearly 1,500 stars, experimentation, and had closely deoxygenated blood
and the planets known at the studied the blood systems of Systemic loop

time. Kepler nanced the animals. In the previous century, LOWER

books printing and dedicated Italian physician Matteo Colombo Pulmonary loop BODY
it to Brahe. had demonstrated that the heart
worked as a pump, and not by CIRCULATION OF BLOOD
suction, as the Ancient Greeks
Frontispiece of
had thought. But the traditional A double blood circulation system facilitates the exchange of
Rudolphine Tables
This depicts an imaginary view persisted originating oxygen and carbon dioxide, and ensures maximum pressure of
monument celebrating the with Ancient Greek surgeon, and blood in the lungs and around the body. Blood that has been
achievement of generations philosopher Galen that blood oxygenated in the lungs (red) is pumped around the body by the
of astronomers, including
was continuously made left side of the heart. Deoxygenated blood from body tissues (blue)
Hipparchus, Ptolemy,
Nicolaus Copernicus, in the liver. After assessing the is pumped back to the lungs by the hearts right side.
and Tycho Brahe. pumping effect of the heart,

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102
 163134

,,
William Harvey demonstrated that one-way valves in veins Galileo Galilei was tried by the Inquisition and forced to retract his heliocentric
stop blood from owing back to the hand. views. He was placed under house arrest, where he remained till he died.

WILLIAM HARVEY (15781657)

Born in England, William
Harvey studied at the
universities of Cambridge and
then Padua, in Italy, before a
career in England devoted to
studying blood and circulation;
later, he also investigated
reproduction and development.
He served as physician to both
King James I and King Charles
I, and tended to victims of the
English Civil War.
a collection of machine designs
that included an early steam
engine. The steam-blasting
vessel blew through a pipe that
was directed at the vanes of a
paddle-wheel, causing the wheel
to revolve. Branca came up with
several uses for his machine:
Paradise became an important
text on the cultivation of plants,
both for their aesthetic and
medicinal qualities. Though
widely acknowledged as the
rst gardening book, it made
limited impact on the scientic
understanding of plants.
,, AND YET IT MOVES.
Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, supposedly after his forced
recantation of the theory that Earth moves around the sun, 1633
IN 1631, FRENCH
MATHEMATICIAN PIERRE
VERNIER (15801637) described
a device that assisted in the
accurate measurement
of length. It was based on
an earlier idea by German
mathematician Christopher
Clavius. The original instrument
had a sliding scale along the
edge of a quadrant, which meant
the user could measure a
fractional part of the smallest
division on the scale. To this day,
the Vernier scale remains one
of the best mechanical devices
for accurate measurement.
In the same year, English
mathematician William
Oughtred inventor of the
World Systems. In
it he defended the
heliocentric model of
Copernicus that Earth orbited
the Sun, against the classical
view of Ptolemy, who said that measuring
Earth was at the centre of the jaw
solar system. As a result of this
heresy, Galileo was tried by the
Inquisition and convicted. He
was forced to recant his views.
In the early 1630s, Italy faced
a deadly, natural threat. Malaria
was spreading northwards into
retainer
swampy, low-lying regions; it Vernier
had already claimed the lives scale
of several popes and countless
Roman citizens. Agostino
Salumbrino (15611642) had
worked as an apothecary in

lifting water, and grinding stone
or gunpowder. In reality, however,
it would have limited practical
use. It was also entirely unrelated
to later, more successful steam
engine designs.
Englishman John Parkinson
(15671650) was a herbalist and
apothecary to the king. He was
800
slide rule published a text that
would have a lasting inuence
on many other mathematicians,
including Isaac Newton.
Oughtreds The Key of the
Mathematicks introduced some
THE fundamental algebraic symbols:
APPROXIMATE the multiplication sign (x), and
NUMBER OF the proportion sign (:). For
Peru, where the bark of the
cinchona tree was used to main
control the disease. He sent the scale
bark to Europe, where demand
for it escalated. Its active
ingredient, quinine, would be
used to treat malaria for more
than 300 years.

also a plantsman caught
between the ancient herbalists
and a new generation of
botanists. His rst major
horticultural book wryly
entitled Park-in-Suns Terrestrial
PLANTS
years it was described as the
most inuential mathematical Vernier scale
ILLUSTRATED publication in England. Two adjoining scales that slide
against one another are used to
Early in 1632, Italian astronomer
IN PARKINSONS Galileo Galilei published
make accurate measurements.
This device helps to subdivide
1629 WORK Dialogue Concerning Two Chief the smallest of divisions.

no e-
sti in s
rs
t go quin e to 32 she
r ale A
om 16 ubli the
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Ve ie er no s rk t br alil ncer Sys
re ern P
31 br
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P ier a V 16 lum ning ria
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22 lileo ue C Wor
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on
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O G atis r E l l ian bl k o
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Ne a t , a 16 n W duc ls I n t
29 hes gue ictim c int m o
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6
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b t m tred ic sy o S r al
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ath gh ra rc
rg
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ten a
103
 163537 163840
,,EACH PROBLEM THAT I

,,
SOLVED BECAME A RULE
WHICH SERVED AFTERWARDS
TO SOLVE OTHER PROBLEMS.
Ren Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician,
from Discourse on Method, 1637

Ren Descartes asserted that knowledge In 1639, Jeremiah Horrocks was the rst person known to record a transit
had to be distinct and precise. of Venus as the planet moved across the surface of the Sun.

IN 1636, THE FRENCH
MATHEMATICIAN MARIN
MERSENNE published a treatise
on the mathematical analysis
of musical sound, in which he
described laws to explain a
stretched strings frequency
of vibration. He stated that the
frequency was lower in longer
strings but increased with more
stretching force.
Following Italian physicist
Galileo Galileis conviction for
heresy in 1633, French
philosopher and mathematician
Ren Descartes delayed the
release of TheWorld a bold
account of his scientic views,
including an agreement with
Galileos theory of Earth revolving
around the Sun. Part of the text
appeared in 1637, in Discourse on
the Method of Properly Conducting
Ones Reason and of Seeking the
CARTESIAN COORDINATE SYSTEM
When Descartes and Fermat
realized how coordinates link
algebra and geometry, it was
a major breakthrough for
science. Coordinates consist of
Truth in the Sciences, which
included essays on astronomy,
geometry, and optics. In the
books appendix, Geometry,
Descartes explained how
algebra and geometry were
connected. Two quantities, x
and y, could be represented on
two intersecting coordinate lines,
the x and y axes, in a graph,
and the relationship between the
two could be represented in
an algebraic equation. Another
French mathematician,
Pierre de Fermat (160165),
had independently devised this
method in 1629, but it was given
Descartes name, and was
called the Cartesian coordinate
system (see panel, below).
Fermat became better known
for his Last Theorem, which
stated that no positive whole
numbers t the equation
coordinates of
Y
B are (4, 2)
4 A
3
B 2
PIERRE DE FERMAT (160165)
Trained as a lawyer, Pierre de
Fermat inuenced several
branches of mathematics.
Whilst he regarded himself as
an amateur, and often
refrained from providing proof
for his discoveries, his work in
geometry anticipated that of
Ren Descartes. In 1654,
Fermat corresponded with
Blaise Pascal and helped to
develop probability theory.
an + bn = cn, where n is greater
than 2. He wrote the theorem
in the margin of an old textbook,
claiming that he had proof for the
theorem but no room to write it.
Independent proof for the theorem
was not found till 1995.
y axis coordinates
of A are (4, 4)
x axis
within a circle. In doing so he
IN 1638, GALILEO GALILEI
published his nal word on
physics: Discourses and
Mathematical Demonstrations
Relating to Two New Sciences,
which dealt with the strength of
materials and kinematics the
study of the motion of bodies
without reference to mass or
force. The Inquisition had banned
publication of any work by Galileo
after his trial in 1633. However,
Discourses was published in
Leiden, Netherlands, where the
Inquisition had little inuence.
apart, and each paired transit
occurs more than 100 years
apart. When the time came,
Horrocks focused the Suns image
onto paper and spotted the
shadow of Venus only 15 minutes
later than his prediction.
Horrocks went on to calculate
Venuss size and distance more
accurately than ever before.
In 1640, sixteen-year-old
French prodigy Blaise Pascal
(162362) published Essay on
Conics, in which he described
the geometric relationship that
occurs when a hexagon is drawn
completed a mathematical
theorem so advanced that
at rst many, including Ren
Descartes, refused to believe
that the young mathematician
had done it.
In 1640, English botanist
John Parkinson (15661650)
published a plant catalogue
called Theatrum Botanicum
(Theatre of Plants). This was the
most comprehensive work of its
kind at the time, and remained
a popular guide for many years.

12,000
two intersecting axis lines x 1 English astronomer Jeremiah
X X
(horizontal) and y (vertical). It is 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Horrocks (161841) had been
possible to dene the position 1 studying Venus and estimated
D
of any point within this that the planet would pass the
KILOMETRES
2
C
two-dimensional space by 3
Sun on 4 December 1639. His
stating the values of x and y, coordinates of
that is, the x and y coordinates. C are (3, 3)
4
Y
coordinates
of D are (2, 2)
prediction was based on the
understanding that transits of
THE DIAMETER
Venus occur in pairs, eight years OF VENUS
n n
5 al ica s es 0 cia e on
63 cip he re e er ou
t
sh cs 64 mati es th hin ) ins
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a
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37 ma cl st G 4
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164142 164344

76
CENTIMETRES
THE STANDARD
HEIGHT OF MERCURY
IN A BAROMETER AT
SEA LEVEL

Although the symptoms of cholera were rst catalogued in the 1600s, the cholera
bacterium, seen here, was not isolated until the 19th century.

THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY,
Italy, Ferdinand II (161070)
invented the sealed glass
thermometer in 1641. Working
with Italian physicist Evangelista
Torricelli, he improved on
Galileos thermoscope (see
159093) by sealing the liquid
column in a glass capillary, and
using wine, which did not freeze
as easily as water.
A year later, Blaise Pascal
invented a mechanical
Pascals calculating machine
This rst Pascaline was primarily
used by accountants, and its dials
were calibrated in accordance with
the French currency.
calculating machine to
help his father with his work
in government taxes. Known
as the Pascaline, this device
worked by a system of wheels
and gears and could perform
routine arithmetic functions of
addition, subtraction, division,
and multiplication.
Dutch physician Jacobus
Bontius (15911631) had
travelled to the tropical East
Indies for the Dutch East India
Company in 1627. In 1642, his
medical treatise De Medicina
Indorum (Indian Medicine) was
display window shows number
input and answers to calculations
published posthumously. This
book contained some of
the earliest descriptions of
tropical diseases, including
beriberi and cholera.
Another Dutchman, explorer
and merchant Abel Tasman
(160359) became the rst
European to reach Van Diemans
Land (now called Tasmania in
his honour). He went on to visit
New Zealand and islands of
the South-West Pacic. On his
voyages, he recorded the earliest
European observations of
Australasian fauna and ora.
dial for
inputting numbers
IN THE EARLY 1640S, Torricellian tube
EVANGELISTA TORRICELLI Evangelista Torricellis
device consisted of an
was investigating the practical
evacuated glass tube
problems associated with containing a mercury
pumping water from deep wells. column the height of
He imitated the action of a which was determined by
atmospheric pressure.
suction pump in a small tube
and used a denser substance,
mercury, instead of water, to mercury up the tube,
study the effects. Torricelli and its height was
discovered that mercury would determined by the value
rise into the sealed tube to a of this pressure (see
xed height of 76 cm (30 in), p.106). Later, it was
and leave a gap at the top, discovered that the
which later became known as pressure value varied
the Torricelli vacuum. He according to altitude
deduced that pressure from the and weather, and small
atmosphere was forcing the changes in atmospheric
pressure signalled
impending changes
in weather. Torricellis
instrument therefore
came to be adopted as
the rst barometer.
In 1644, Ren
Descartes published
Principles of Philosophy,
in which he proposed an
entirely mechanical basis
for the Universe. He proposed
that the Universe was lled with
small, unobservable particles of
matter that were set in motion
by God, and that all aspects of
science could ultimately be
explained in accordance with
this mechanical principle.

I es
dI ian sh
an d bli nd tes of
i n e er sic ps u
p ,a ar
d
er ea
l et al hy s ok ta elo he lli a s sc ples g
sc p bo 43 elis ev f t er ce ric aw
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e i
D nc ibi e
n
4
16 ent ther e e ne u
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ais od hi Ev rrice unn arom
T o e s en Pri scr vers
inv uid Bl wo mac 42 s the di 4 4 Ge lil ui d R s e i
2 16 cobu hes l me To orer ry b 16 er a s Ga to 4 4 he , d un
liq 4 a g
16 kes atin a s a Op plie ion 16 blis ophy cal
a
J bli pic a f rcu pu ilos hani
m lcul pu tro e ap mot
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m
of Ph ec
am

n
ist an 2 cia er
nt s m 64 l ati asel om s
s cie ribe s G er eorg e r 1 Abe e m B fa ron ribe e
ch sc te 42 n G th
e
m
b er the ath the ue o ies t
as esc anc
ut de ara in 16 an rs ct ve plor es see n m e s a l er ian a d ar rst
1 D vius sep bra ch Joh cove ic du o
N e x om to lia os e v r s tal iern ppe he life
4 l
16 Sy hat the
r
a st is at 24 tch bec an d no ia
w Ita oli p ecis be I
44 d c a t ic
us ft t of 2 M omi ng d cre D ma ro e lan an
u n p 4 4 ng pr um 16 nni O copi ye in cop
at 16 Me the ar n
isc cle bes an Wirs p
u an s u e m va cros ys e cros
a
c
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e
io
G mi a mi
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d Pi obl part n
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th c
bo 105
 164548 164951
,, WHILE [THE ATOMS] ARE
MOVING MEETING, INTERWEAVING,

,,
INTERMINGLING, UNROLLING, UNITING
AND BEING FITTED TOGETHER,
MOLECULES ARE CREATED.
Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher, from Syntagma
Philosophiae Epicuri, 1649

Florin Prier, Blaise Pascals brother-in-law, climbed Frances Puy-de-Dme volcano to measure
changes in atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes with a rudimentary barometer.

IN THE 1640S, FRENCH
MATHEMATICIAN BLAISE
PASCAL started to investigate
hydraulics the mechanical
properties of liquids. He found
that unlike gas, liquid cannot be
compressed, so when a force is
applied, it is transmitted through
the liquid. Pascals studies led
to the invention of the hydraulic
press and the syringe. By 1646,
Pascal had conrmed Italian
physicist Evangelista Torricellis
observation that a uid would
rise in a glass column because of
air pressure bearing downwards
(see 164344). Pascal also
predicted that this pressure
would diminish at higher
altitudes. He asked his brother-
in-law Florin Prier, who lived
near a mountain, to test the
MEASURING ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
For centuries, it was believed that
air had no weight. But in fact
it exerts a measurable force
per surface area of the Earth.
Blaise Pascal demonstrated
atmospheric pressure by
inverting a mercury-lled glass
tube over a mercury reservoir.
idea. Receiving proof, Pascal
suggested that air would
thin out into a vacuum at still
greater altitudes.
Polish astronomer Johannes
Heveliuss (161187) greatest
achievement came in 1647, when
he published Selenography
(Description of the Moon). The
rst atlas of the Moons
surface, it became a standard
reference for years to come.
In 1648, a collection of essays
written by Flemish chemist Jan
Baptist van Helmont (15801644)
was posthumously published by
his son. Helmont had articulated
an early version of the law
of conservation of matter
by describing a ve-year
experiment in growing a willow
tree. By weighing both the plant
at low atmospheric
thin-walled
pressure, mercury
glass tube
level rises a short
height
vacuum
and soil, he had deduced that
material for the trees growth had
come from water. More than a
century later, experimenters
found that an even greater
quantity came from air, in
the form of carbon dioxide.
13,594
KG/M
1,000
MERCURY
Comparative densities
Nearly 14 times denser than water,
mercury rises short measurable
distances in capillary tubes, making
it useful in barometers.
a higher
atmospheric
pressure
IN 1644, FRENCH PHILOSOPHER German physicist Otto von
AND MATHMETICIAN REN Guericke (160286) performed
DESCARTES (15961650) had many experiments to prove that
described a mechanical universe the vacuum existed. Around
that was lled with particles of 1650, he invented a piston-
matter, within which a vacuum operated vacuum pump with
(a space devoid of matter) was a valve system that could remove
an impossibility. In 1649, French the air from a container by
priest, experimenter, and
philosopher Pierre Gassendi
(15921655) rejected the notion
that everything could be
explained in purely mechanical
terms, and proposed an
alternative. He suggested that
KG/M the properties of matter were
determined by the shapes of
WATER
the atoms, and that atoms joined
together to make bigger
molecules. Gassendi accepted
the existence of vacuums and
even proposed that most matter
consisted of void. Gassendis
views anticipated later ideas
concerning the bonding of Piston-operated vacuum pump
atomic elements and the idea Using an elaborate piston system,
Otto von Guericke created a vacuum
that an atoms mass is almost
inside two joined hemispheres, called
entirely concentrated at its
the hemispheres of Magdeburg, after
nucleus (see 1911). his hometown in Germany.

mercury
reservoir
higher
atmospheric
pressure
atmospheric
forces more
mercury into
the tube
,, THE AIR FLOWS ALL AROUND
US. JUST AS IT PRESSES FROM
The tubes mercury falls to create pressure
ABOVE ON THE HEAD, IT LIKEWISE

an airless space (a vacuum),
but atmospheric pressure
pushes down on the reservoir to
maintain a column: the bigger the
pressure, the taller the column.
LOW ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
,,
PRESSES ON THE SOLES OF THE
FEET AND ON ALL PARTS OF
THE BODY FROM ALL DIRECTIONS.
HIGH ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Otto von Guericke, German physicist, from Experimenta Nova, 1672

y
h dle e us s an rge bes
lis t Du g th ard f du m di
g
n e hi r n r o c h ran k ph er Geo scri y en e
E b G e n t
u Is b c ra G t r ss ic ick
45 Ro lis g tio d e
6 D ist rbro nog es es 4 8 lis de to a m er ump
16 ilor pub usin jec orl 4 nn sh on 16 tura rave l his G
re ato r
u
sa gins tlas pro wn w 16 atom me mo ha ubli Mo na rcg tur a er nG p
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be st a tors kno an n D es 47 us Ma e na zil 4 9 b e tto vac
r rca ole va blish gue 16 veli s of th Bra 16 scri of m O
50 s a
Me e wh pu pla He atla of de eory 16 vise
th on an th de

8
64
al r 1 rier tis
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b P hat ap ts tes l nis sc
Pa hlet m
te lorin tes t ure B ar ota shes Pa the
e p n o n s sc inea s b 0
s p al Se F tra ss ht Ja lm rk e h li e 5 s ss
lai am nic r s pre eig 4 8 He wo nd D e p dy lis ub , th
p
16 velo pre
5 B s a p cha lato 19 on 16 van ted ry a ed en th bo tre ng e p nica itish
4 m eric ith h 9 R ies the l cen E
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16 ishe me lcu e
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106

Pierre Gassendis atomic theory
was ahead of its time.
pumping, rather than suction.
Von Guericke published
descriptions of his experiments
in 1672 in Experimenta Nova
(New Experiments), which also
contained illustrations of his
vacuum pump design.
While physical investigators
debated the nature of matter,
biologists questioned the
origins of life. Many took the view
that life could arise spontaneously.
In 1651, English physician William
Harvey, who had previously
described the circulation of blood
(see 162830), maintained that
animals could only originate
from eggs. After studying
chickens, he set out to nd the
mammalian egg. As royal
physician, Harvey was granted
access to the kings fallow deer
for his studies. He examined
pregnant animals killed ever
closer to the point of copulation
in the hope of tracing the source
of the egg. Harvey did not know
that embryonic development in
deer is naturally delayed for up to
eight weeks after fertilization so
he wrongly concluded that the egg
arose spontaneously in the womb.
Mammalian eggs were not found
until the 1800s, when ovaries were
examined with microscopes.
at
m th p
llia erts velo
i
W ss de
51 a s
16 rvey mal
Ha ani ggs
all m e
fro
165254
Otto von Guerickes evacuated copper hemispheres were sealed together by nothing more than
a smear of grease, yet two teams of eight horses were unable to pull them apart.
ENGLISH PHYSICIAN NICHOLAS
CULPEPER (161654) combined
interests in medicine and botany
to publish The English Physician
in 1652 a book that integrated
herbal medicine with astrology
followed by Complete Herbal
in 1653, which catalogued the
medicinal uses of plants. Many
of the plants he listed are still
in use in medicine today for
example, foxglove (Digitalis)
for heart conditions. Culpepers
work included descriptions of
many remedies that had been
kept a secret up to that time.
In 1653, Blaise Pascal published
the results of his exhaustive
studies in the physics of liquids
in Treatise on the Equilibrium of
,,THE HERBS OUGHT TO BE
DISTILLED WHEN THEY ARE IN
THEIR GREATEST VIGOR SO
OUGHT THE FLOWERS.
Nicholas Culpeper, English botanist, from The English Physician, 1652
2
65
r 1 ian
be ysic olin bes
ce
m ph rth ri m
a sc e
De nish s B de syst
D oma and atic
a pe al
Th mes ph
na e lym
th
s 3 Pa tise l
ola s
ich she
N li n ca
52 ub cia
16 er p hysi
p
lpe lish
P 16 es s ami cs
Cu Eng
e pu ydr hyd
T h
In 1654, four years after problem. This collaboration
creating a vacuum pump to resulted in the formalization
extract air from two sealed of the principles of probability.
hemispheres, Otto von Guericke After hearing about the Pascal
staged one of the most dramatic Fermat exchange, Dutch scholar
public experiments of all time Christiaan Huygens published
in front of an audience at his the rst book on probability in
hometown Magdeburg, Germany. 1657. Because of the widespread
Guericke sealed two copper enthusiasm for gambling,
hemispheres with grease, probability theory became
Probability
evacuated them using the pump, popular among those who took
As the PascalFermat theory tells a
gambler, the probability of throwing and suspended them between the trouble to understand it.
a double 6 with two dice is 1 in 36. two teams of eight horses. Such
was the strength of the air
Liquids. This publication pressing in on the two copper
contained the idea that later hemispheres, that the horses
came to be known as Pascals could not pull them apart despite
Law: an incompressible liquids their best efforts. This astounded
pressure in a small closed the assembled audience, and
system is equal in all directions. helped Guericke prove the power
of the vacuum.
Meanwhile, the gambling
,,
habits of French nobleman
Antoine Gombaud (160784)
were about to help open a new
eld of mathematics. Gombaud
BLAISE PASCAL
(162362)
questioned the protability of
a certain strategy in a game Born in Clermont-Ferrand
of dice, so he called upon the in France, Blaise Pascal
assistance of mathematician was a child prodigy who was
Blaise Pascal to explore the tutored by his tax-collector
subject. Pascal initiated father. While still in his teens,
correspondence with his he solved a complex
contemporary Pierre de Fermat mathematical problem and
(see 163537) to solve the invented a mechanical
calculating machine. He
Complete Herbal helped form the basis of
This illustration of medicinal plants
probability theory and the
is from an 1850 edition of English
physician Nicholas Culpepers physics of hydraulics.
Complete Herbal.
ke
he
s on y 54 ric e
s iss m 16 Gue s th um
bli Gl ato y
a n te acu
u s
i an
rp nc 8 M to vo stra he v urg
ra the Ot mon of t deb
lpe erb 3 F bes r
C u H 5
16 scri live de wer Mag tion
53 ete a
de the po the str
16 mpl in mon
Co of e
d
al
sc
5 ea a re
16 a tr etic n er
l
es ithm now le
Pi cal
en Pas ry
as es h
s ar r k ng m
3 P tudi cs bli e a ch ise the
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5 pu n an , lat Tri en la
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as ly m pr
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107
 15 4 3 17 8 8 THE AGE OF DISCOVERY

THE STORY OF
MEASURING TIME
THE ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF TIME IS VITAL TO MANY ASPECTS OF THE MODERN WORLD

The modern conception of time of a standardized quantity is shared across

far-flung areas. It combines knowledge of astronomical calendars and
clocks based on the apparent motions of stars and planets with recent
technologies for measuring and recording relatively short intervals of time. zodiac ring shows
the constellations

Humans have probably been aware of the
passage of time from the dawn of consciousness,
but a proper understanding of the seasons and
changing length of days throughout the year
only became important with the beginning of
settled agriculture around 8000 BCE. Prehistoric
monuments from around the world, including
Stonehenge in Britain, show a clear ability to track
seasons from the rising and setting of the Sun.
The need to measure smaller time intervals
arose only with the advanced civilizations of
ancient Mesopotamia around 2000 BCE, probably
driven by religious, ritual, and administrative
requirements. Sundials were used to roughly track
the time of day, while shorter time intervals were
measured by tracking the dripping of water, or main hand
indicates local
later the ow of sand, through a narrow aperture. solar time
CLOCK TIME the Sun moves
through the zodiac
The earliest weight-driven mechanical clocks constellations over
probably originated in Europe early in the 2nd the course of a year
millennium CE. A single clock on a public building
such as a church sufced for an entire community.
Mechanical clocks became portable with the
introduction of the spring drive around 1500, and
their accuracy was greatly improved in the late
17th century. The Industrial Revolution, bringing
with it faster travel and telegraph communication,
eventually forced a standardization of timekeeping
across widespread areas.

,,
,,
TRUE AND MATHEMATICAL
TIME FLOWS UNIFORMLY
AND IS CALLED DURATION.
Astronomical clock, Prague, Old Town
Isaac Newton, from Principia, 1687 Square, Czech Republic

2000 BCE 520 CE

First calendars Time candles 800 CE
Ancient Babylonians develop the The rst reference to Hourglasses
earliest known calendars. The year time candles slow- The rst denitive references to this
is split into 12 months based on the burning wax candles or sand-based equivalent of the water
lunar cycle and an extra month added sticks of incense, which clock date from the 14th century, but
to bring the lunar and solar cycles can roughly reveal the the sandglass was probably invented
back into line. Other civilizations Mayan time even at night is in Europe, or at least introduced
develop similar calendars. calendar made in a Chinese poem. there, in the early 9th century.

1600 BCE 1500 BCE 1088

Water clocks
Although probably developed
in Mesopotamia, water clocks
(clepsydra) become popular in
Greece and Rome. Typically, a
graduated marker is used to track
the level of water in a container
Greek clepsydra with a small hole on the base.
Early sundials Su Songs
Developed in both Babylon clock tower
and Egypt, the rst sundials Chinese scholar Su
track time through the Song builds a water clock that Clock tower
shadow cast by an upright uses a complex series of gears to
rod called a gnomon. keep track of astronomical cycles,
anticipating advances in European
Ancient Egyptian sundial clockmaking technology.

108

13th century
Weight-driven mechanical clocks
The earliest mechanical clocks,
known from English cathedrals
such as Salisbury and Norwich, use
a falling weight on a chain to power
the rotation of the gears, which is
regulated by an escapement-and-
oscillator mechanism.
1430
Spring-driven clock
Harnessing the force from
an uncoiling spring helps
reduce the size of clocks
and watches. German
clockmaker Peter Henlein
uses this technique to make
the rst pocket watches. Henleins pocket watch
the Moon circles the sky roughly
every 29.5 days; ball rotates to
represent the lunar phase
star, representing local
sidereal (star) time, moves
as the Sun shifts against
the background sky
24-hour dials in
ancient Czech,
Roman, and
Arabic numerals
start and end
of ancient
Czech day
shaded areas
separate day,
night, and
twilight
Astronomical clockface
Installed in Pragues old City
Hall in 1410, this clock combines a
24-hour clockface with mechanisms to
show the directions of the Sun and Moon
among the stars, and the lunar phases.
1656 1927
Huygens pendulum clock Quartz clock
Dutch inventor Christiaan Huygens The rst electronic clock
harnesses the regular oscillations using the natural electricity
of a weighted pendulum to build generated by a rapidly
clocks that keep time accurately vibrating quartz crystal is
to within a built. It measures time with
few seconds Huygens the accuracy of a fraction
each day. pendulum clock of a second per day.
1759 1947
Marine chronometer Atomic clock
English clockmaker John These instruments use rapid
Harrison perfects a spring-driven transitions in the internal
timepiece that can keep time structure of elements such
accurately over long periods as caesium to measure time
at sea, permitting the exact with tremendous accuracy.
calculation of longitude on
board a ship for the rst time. Atomic clock
T H E S TO R Y O F M E A S U R I N G T I M E
TIME ZONES
Until the early 19th century, towns kept their own
local time based on the Suns position at noon. The
advent of rail travel which reduced journey times
from days to hours made the time difference
between locations problematic. Railway companies
drove the move to adopt agreed mean times that
would be applicable across broad regions or even
countries. Near-instantaneous telegraph
communication drove a similar revolution later in
the century, with many territories in the British
Empire adopting time zones that were a set
number of hours behind or ahead of Greenwich
Mean Time, as measured at Londons Royal
Greenwich Observatory. By 1929, this system was
adopted almost universally.
1967
The second dened
A second is redened
as the duration of
9,192,631,770 cycles
of transition between
two energy levels in
Quartz clock a caesium atom.
1970s
Digital timekeeping
The use of liquid
crystals to display
changing digits
in digital devices
revolutionizes
the way time is Casio
represented. watch
109
 165559 166061

Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens was the rst person to see Saturns Gresham College in London, England, was the original home of the Royal
rings, and he suggested they were composed of solid particles. Society; the college was founded by nancier Sir Thomas Gresham.

IN 1655, JOHN WALLIS, AN Johann Rahn would invent the THE ROYAL SOCIETY, one of A year later, Robert Boyle
ENGLISH MATHEMATICIAN, symbol for division: . the oldest learned scientic published The Sceptical Chymist,
helped develop a way of nding Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch societies, was founded in which established his reputation
1%
the tangential lines to a curve a mathematician and instrument- London in November 1660. as the father of chemistry. In
white blood
fundamental aspect of the study maker, invented new kinds of cells and The rst meeting of 12 natural it, he criticized the old alchemy
of innitesimal changes known timepieces and telescopes. Early platelets philosophers took place at and described a new scientic
as calculus. He devised a new in 1655, he discovered Titan Gresham College and included way of studying chemistry that
mathematical symbol to denote Saturns biggest moon using a English architect Christopher advanced by experimentation. He
innity (a quantity larger than telescope he had made with his Wren and Robert Boyle. The replaced old ideas about natures
any number): . Four years brother. By the end of 1656, he society met weekly to discuss elements with the modern
45% 54%
later, Swiss mathematician had noticed that Saturns red blood cells plasma natural knowledge and watch concept of an element as a
crescents cast a shadow experiments; the rst Curator of pure substance that cannot be
on the surface, suggesting Components of blood by volume Experiments was Robert Hooke. degraded into simpler forms.
The scarcity of white blood cells, along
that these rings were
with inadequate microscopy, meant
made of solid material that 17th-century microscopists were tough muscle layer elastic layer endothelium
not directly connected to able to record only red blood cells. brous layer
the planet. In the same
year, Huygens invented an attributed to English inventor
accurate pendulum clock. Robert Hooke, it allowed
Until the early 1600s, pendulum clocks to work with ARTERY tough
elastic layer valve
clocks could lose up to 15 smaller swings and longer brous layer
minutes a day. Huygens pendulums with heavier weights.
clock was a hundred times Later, in 1658, Hooke devised the
more accurate. By 1657, he balance spring for watches as
was back to mathematics, part of an improved escapement.
VEIN muscle endothelium
crutch collaborating with Pierre de In 1657, a new scientic society layer
Fermat and Blaise Pascal was established in Florence, endothelium
to publish the rst major Italy. Accademia del Cimento
textbook of probability (The Academy of Experiment)
toothed CAPILLARY
theory. The mechanism of aimed to further enquiry by single cell
wheel
Huygens pendulum clock experimentation; its prospectus
was further improved by became a popular laboratory TYPES OF BLOOD VESSELS
the invention of the anchor manual in the 1700s.
escapement in 1657. Widely Jan Swammerdam, a Dutch Thick-walled arteries have the most elastic bres to help sustain
biologist, spent much of his career the high pressure of blood from the heart. Thin-walled veins
Pendulum clock studying anatomy and insects transport low-pressure blood and have valves to stop backow
pendulum Huygens clock kept better using a microscope. In 1658 as the blood returns to the heart. Between them are microscopic
bob time because the period of
before his university training he capillaries composed of endothelium (a single-celled layer) only,
the pendulum remained
the same, regardless of was, purportedly, the rst person which facilitates the transfer of food and oxygen into tissues.
the amplitude of its swing. to observe red blood cells.

5 s
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110
 166264

Observed by Robert Hooke in 1664, Jupiters red spot is a giant storm,

large enough to engulf three Earths.

TWENTY YEARS after it was

More than 30 years earlier,
in his great treatise on blood
circulation, English physician
William Harvey had suggested
that the body contained minute
blood vessels that connected
arteries with veins and
therefore completed the circuit.
In 1661, Italian physician and
biologist Marcello Malpighi used
his microscope and discovered
these blood capillaries.
The Sceptical Chymist
Robert Boyles book is a dialogue
between ctitious supporters of
alchemy and the voice of reason
extolling a science based on atoms,
denable elements, and experiments.
Malpighi devoted much of his
career to the microscopic study
of anatomy. He would go on to
make important discoveries
about the kidneys, embryos,
insects, and even plants.
proved that air pressure
decreases with height, English
meteorologist Richard Towneley
noted that a xed amount of
trapped air expanded in volume
at high altitude. Robert Hooke
subsequently conrmed these
observations by experimentation.
Robert Boyle published what he
called Towneleys hypothesis
in 1662, but later it became
known as Boyles law.
In the same year, at a time
when an outbreak of the bubonic
plague in London was imminent,
English shopkeeper John
Graunt published his analysis of
Bills of Mortality. Although not a
scholar, Graunt used these
records to work out population
trends. Impressed with Graunts
efforts, Charles II ordered the
Royal Society to admit him as a
BOYLES LAW
Unlike liquids, gases are
ROBERT BOYLE (162791)
English physicist and inventor,
Robert Boyle was a pioneer of
chemistry as well. He pursued
science through experiment
and reasoning, and he was
inspired by Galileos work (see
161113). Boyle made an air
pump and used it to study the
behaviour of gases. One of the
rst fellows of the Royal Society,
he came up with the modern
concept of chemical elements.
fellow. Today, Graunts life It incorporated mirrors as
tables mark the foundation a way of avoiding the colour
of the statistical study of aberrations that arose when
populations: demography. lenses refracted (bent) different
In 1663, Scottish astronomer wavelengths of light. However,
James Gregory proposed a it was Isaac Newton who was
design for a reecting telescope. able to get the rst reecting
telescope made (see 166768).
Although astronomers had
studied Jupiter earlier, they did
one weight produces
not record its Great Red Spot

,,I NOW MEAN BY

ELEMENTS, CERTAIN
compressible. Physicist Robert
Boyle formalized a law
describing the relationship
between the pressure of a
pressure in the
container
molecules
spread evenly
until the 1660s. This may have
been because of inadequate
telescopes or because, till then,
it was not there at all. The spot,

,,
gas and its volume. As long as DIFFUSION which is a giant storm, probably
PRIMITIVE OR SIMPLE, temperature stays the same,
two weights produce
double the pressure started only around 1600. Robert

OR PERFECTLY the pressure and volume of a in the container Hooke observed it in 1664,
gas are inversely proportional. but Italian astronomer Giovanni
UNMINGLED BODIES
high pressure
In quantitative terms this means Cassini may have seen it as
squeezes
that if pressure is doubled, molecules into half early as 1655.
Robert Boyle, English scientist and inventor, from The Sceptical volume is halved and vice versa. PRESSURE the original volume
Chymist, 1661

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111
 166566 166768

5.5
,,THERE IS A NEW
LITRES

,,
VISIBLE WORLD
DISCOVERED TO THE THE AVERAGE
UNDERSTANDING. VOLUME OF
BLOOD IN THE
Robert Hooke, English inventor, from
Micrographia, 1665
HUMAN BODY

This image of a louse is from Micrographia a record of observations

Robert Hooke made using a microscope.

ENGLISH INVENTOR ROBERT
HOOKE, Curator of Experiments
at the Royal Society, London,
had turned his attention to
microscopy. In 1665, he
published the Societys rst
monograph, Micrographia,
with exquisite illustrations of
miniature life, including the rst
depiction of a microorganism
in this case, a mould. The book
contained the rst published
reference to a biological cell,
which Hooke named after
looking at cork tissue.
In this year, Cambridge
University, England, was closed
as a precaution against the
Ice cap on Mars
Giovanni Cassini observed an ice cap
on Mars, although it was centuries
later that images such as this helped
reveal its makeup.
plague. One of its students,
physicist and mathematician
Isaac Newton (16421727),
used his freedom to make
extraordinary discoveries. Within
two years, he invented calculus,
had his rst insight into gravity,
and used prisms to study the
colours of a rainbow.
In 1666, Italian astronomer
Giovanni Cassini (16251712)
was the rst to observe that the
planet Mars had a polar cap.
He also calculated the planets
rotational period to be about
24 hours, 40 minutes. In the
previous two years, he had
determined the rotational
periods of the planets Jupiter
and Venus as well.
IN 1666, THE FIRST BLOOD
TRANSFUSIONS dog to dog
had been demonstrated before
the Royal Society. In 1667,
animal-to-human therapeutic
blood transfusions were
attempted; animal blood was
regarded as less likely to be
rendered impure by passion or
vice. Independently of one
another, English physician
Richard Lower (163191) and
French physician Jean-Baptiste
Denis (16431704) transfused
small quantities of lambs
blood into their patients. Those
patients lucky enough to survive
doubtless did so because the
allergic reaction was minimal.
horizontal
eyepiece
Though the
book Experiments
on the Generation of
Insects appeared as an
obscure publication in 1668,
its author, Italian physician
Francesco Redi (162697), had
described potentially ground-
breaking experiments in it. Redi
was testing the idea that life
specically maggots could
form spontaneously, as was the
prevailing wisdom. He placed

3
CENTIMETRES
constituent
colours white light

THE DIAMETER OF THE

white light OBJECTIVE MIRROR IN
split screen NEWTONS TELESCOPE
rst prism second
prism
However, the procedure was pieces of meat in jars, sealing
eventually banned in France some with gauze and leaving
following a number of fatalities. others open. Maggots appeared
NEWTONIAN PRISM EXPERIMENT In 1668, Isaac Newton built the only in the open jars evidence
rst reecting telescope. By they could not form on their
Although other scientists had shone white light The rst prism splits white light into seven colours, using mirrors, the design avoided own. However, his
through a prism to produce a rainbow of colours, each made up of light with a different wavelength. the lens aberration associated debunking of
Isaac Newton had the novel idea that the colours Splitting happens because light with the longest with refracting telescopes. spontaneous
were constituents of white light, which were wavelength (red) bends less than light with the Scottish astronomer James generation had
separated by the prism. He proved this by placing shortest wavelength (violet). The second prism Gregory had described such an little impact on
a second prism upside-down in front of the rst. bends them again and so recombines them. instrument ve years earlier, but the progress of
had no means of producing it. biological thought

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112
 166974

Richard Lower was part of a transfusion craze that spread across Europe. A 19th-century engraving depicts Dutch naturalist Jan Swammerdam being plagued
Here, he is seen transfusing blood from a lamb to a man. by a swarm of bees after removing their queen from the hive.

sliding focus Replica of Newtons telescope
composed With its horizontal eyepiece,
of leather Newtons reecting telescope
was easier to use than traditional
instruments. Its 3 cm (1 in) mirror
reduced the optical imperfections
seen in refracting telescopes.
until the work of Louis Pasteur
in the 19th century on the
introduction of organisms from
GERMAN ALCHEMIST HENNIG
BRAND was searching for
the philosophers stone that
supposedly changed base metal
into gold and, in 1669, he thought
he had found it. But the glowing
Joseph Wrights
The Alchymist
This highly dramatic
painting of 1771 is a
fanciful recreation, rather
than a true portrait, of
Hennig Brands accidental
discovery of phosphorus.
mineralized remains
of extinct organisms
found in these strata
could be sorted by age.
The scientic study
of insects arguably had
its foundations in Jan
Swammerdams 1669
book General History
of Insects. In this, the
Dutch microscopist
described the larval and pupal
stages of insect life histories.
In 1670, English chemist
Robert Boyle poured acid onto a
metal and obtained inammable
air. Boyle had isolated hydrogen.
In 1672, Isaac Newton presented
a paper to the Royal Society on
his observations of the rainbow
of colours that make up white
light (see panel, opposite). He
was subsequently elected a
fellow of the Society, but Curator
of Experiments Robert Hooke
criticized Newtons paper,
triggering an ongoing dispute
between the two men.
In 1673, German mathematician
Gottfried Leibniz created a
calculating machine and
presented it to the Royal Society.
In the same year, Dutch
astronomer Christiaan Huygens,
inventor of the pendulum clock,
published the mathematical
analysis of pendulum motion,
showing how length and weight
affect swing.
120

DISTANCE (IN MILLION MILES)

moveable the environment (see 187071).
mount In 1668, English chemist John
Mayow (164079) developed a
combustion theory countering
earlier suggestions of burning
occurring through the liberation
of phlogiston. He saw that
burning antimony a metallic
element caused a gain, rather
substance Brand discovered
was phosphorus.
That year, Danish biologist and
geologist Nicolas Steno (163886)
explained that as sediment
layers accumulated, old rock
strata were overlain by newer
ones. This meant that fossils
,,
Cassinis work on astronomical
dimensions in 1671 included his
computation of the EarthMars 90
distance, which gave the rst
indications of the Solar Systems 60
size. His 1672 calculation of the
EarthSun distance is close to 30
current estimates.
0

,,
Cassinis Actual
than a loss of weight. He
suggested this came from a
IT IS UNWORTHY OF EXCELLENT estimate distance

component of the air he called
spiritus igneo-aereus. This idea
anticipated the discovery
of oxygen a century later.
MEN TO LOSE HOURS LIKE SLAVES EarthSun distance
IN THE LABOUR OF CALCULATION. Cassinis religious faith made him
resist the idea of a Sun-centred
Universe, but his views changed as
Gottfried Leibniz, German philosopher and mathematician, 1685 he computed astronomical distances.

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113
 15 4 3 17 8 8 T H E AG E O F D I S C OV E R Y

Robert Hookes microscope

c.1665
spare
British scientist Robert Hooke devised lens
a compound (two-lensed) microscope specimen lens
in which a water-lled sphere was holder
used to focus light from an oil lamp
onto the specimen. Van Musschenbroeks
microscope
lamp-oil water-lled
c.1670s
reservoir sphere The simple microscope of Dutch
instrument-maker Johan van
pasteboard
barrel Musschenbroek had ball-and-socket
joints to move small specimens, such
as insects, into focus.

ball-and-
focusing
socket joint
screw
objective
lens
lens holder
Leeuwenhoeks microscope
c.1674
Dutch merchant Antony van
Leeuwenhoek made a unique
kind of simple (one-lens) screw moves
microscope; his tiny spherical specimen up
lens helped him see or down
microscopic organisms.

MICROSCOPES
VIEWING THE MICROSCOPIC WORLD BEYOND THE NAKED EYE

By opening up a world in miniature, microscopes have

barrel
helped scientists to understand the building blocks of
the world around us from the cells of living things
down to individual molecules and even atoms.

In the early 1600s, Dutch spectacle-makers made the

rst microscopes by xing two lenses together in a tube
coarse
to create a magnifying power greater than that of a focus
single lens used on its own. As lenses were rened, so
the quality of the magnied image improved. Then, in the mirror to
focus light on stage (holds
20th century, breakthroughs in atomic physics led to the specimen specimen)
invention of the electron microscope, which instead of
light rays used electron beams with shorter
wavelengths to reveal even tinier particles. mirror
Tulley & Sons achromatic
microscope
c.1835
Designed by British scientist Joseph
instruction Lister, this microscope was made
booklet with new achromatic lenses that
focused different colours accurately
interchangeable together, yielding better images.
objective lenses

Compound drum
microscope Culpeper compound
c.1850 microscope
The popular drum c.1740
microscope focused on British instrument-maker
a specimen mounted Edmund Culpeper produced
on a basal stage, using inexpensive tripod-style
a sliding body tube that microscopes; early models
contained the lenses. were made partly of wood.
This design made it However, the xed upright
easy to transport the design and crude focus
microscope and lenses. made them difcult and
uncomfortable to use.

114
 MICROSCOPES
stage holds
specimen
device containing
polarizing prisms binocular eyepiece

light
source
illuminating
mirror
adjustment
knob

camera
mount

Petrological achromatic
compound microscope body
c.1890 containing
Designed by British geologist Allen phase
pivot Phase contrast
Dick, this microscope used polarized plate
microscope
light to study petrological specimens
2000
(rocks and minerals), and could be
Invented in 1932, phase-
pivoted for comfortable use.
contrast techniques reveal
subtle differences that the eye
cannot see so colourless Polarizing light microscope
living cells could be studied c.1980
without staining them. Polarizing lters which line up
light vibrations in one direction
are used in microscopes to study
the optical properties of crystal.

eyepiece lens
electron
gun

interchanging
lenses
USB microscope
2008
A Universal Serial Bus (USB)
microscope is a miniature device
that is connected to a computer
to generate on-screen images of
magnied specimens.

Multi-ocular electromagnet
microscope eyepiece
acts as lens
c.1890s
German instrument-
maker Carl Zeiss was
a leading manufacturer
of microscopes. His
work with German
physicist Ernst Abbe
meant that lens
design could be
radically improved
to produce superior
images.

digital
display

2 m- (61/2 ft-) high

body tube

Metropolitan Vickers adjustment

EM2 electron microscope screw
c.1946 eyepiece
The rst electron
microscope to be
mass produced in Britain, Atomic force microscope
this had the potential to c.2000 Scanning tunnelling microscope
magnify to 50,000 times. Developed from the scanning 1986
An electron microscope tunnelling microscope in Invented in 1981, this was the rst kind of
res a beam of electrons 1986, this scans objects with microscope that allowed scientists to see
at a specimen contained an atom-sized probe and is individual atoms. Objects could be viewed
in a vacuum and uses one of the most powerful to a resolution of a nanometre (one millionth
electromagnetic lenses. microscopes available today. of a millimetre).

115
 1675 167678
4,800
KILOMETRES
THE GAP BETWEEN RINGS A AND
B OF SATURN, KNOWN AS THE
CASSINI DIVISION
Leeuwenhoeks animalcules were really single-celled organisms such as
this Paramecium many of which reproduce rapidly in standing water.

ISAAC NEWTON PUBLISHED
HIS HYPOTHESIS OF LIGHT in
1675, suggesting that light was
made up of particles that he
called corpuscles. Physicists
had long debated the nature
of light: some, like Newton,
favoured particles, others
the theory that light travelled
like waves. The corpuscular
theory prevailed until the 1800s,
when British physicist Thomas
Young proved that light was
wavelike (see 1801).
In March, Charles II appointed
British astronomer John
Flamsteed (16461719) as the
was built to improve ways of
measuring longitude for sea
navigation: it marked what later
became the prime meridian
between east and west. Many
years later, through international
agreement, it would mark an
ofcial starting point of each
day at the stroke of midnight
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Italian microscopist Marcello
Malpihgi (162894) published
his principal work Anatome
Plantarum (Anatomy of Plants)
on the ne structure of plant
tissues, naming the outer layer
of a leaf as the epidermis and its
IN 1676, DUTCH ASTRONOMER
OLE RMER (16441710) used
astronomical measurements to
deduce that light has a xed
speed something that was
not readily accepted until the
mid-1700s.
In 1668, Dutch textile merchant
Antony van Leeuwenhoek
(16321723) had travelled to
London and been impressed
by Englishman Robert Hookes
publication on microscopic life:
Micrographia. On his return
home, Leeuwenhoek designed
his own microscopes with
small spherical lenses fashioned
HOOKES LAW
Hooke originally applied his
law of elasticity to a clock
spring, but it applies to any
elastic material a solid that
can change shape but then
return to its original form.
unstretched
As applied force (F) spring
increases, so does the stretch X
length (X): doubling the force
force (F) of the
stretches the elastic twice as small object
much. The law applies up to stretches the spring
a certain elastic limit, beyond by a distance of X
which the material does not
recover and may snap. F

rst Astronomer Royal for a
new observatory at Greenwich,
London. The Royal Observatory
Royal Greenwich Observatory
Home of the prime meridian
and Greenwich Mean Time, the
Royal Observatory was made
a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO in 1997.
tiny breathing pores as stomata.
Another Italian, astronomer
Giovanni Cassini, noticed that
Saturns distinctive ring was
divided. The dark gap became
known as the Cassini division.
Scientists now know that this
gap comprises small
particles at low density.
by drawing out a thread of glass,
which was rounded off at the tip
(see p.114). The magnications
rivalled those of any microscopes
then in use and he set about
exploring miniature worlds.
When he saw the microscopic
taste buds on an oxs tongue,
he was curious to study taste.
This led him to soak pepper
and spices in water. One of
his pepper infusions ended up
teeming with tiny living beings,
which Leeuwenhoek referred to
as animalcules. Many of these
organisms were likely to have
been the microbes that were
later referred to as protozoans.
In 1676, Leeuwenhoek wrote
the rst of many letters to the
Royal Society describing what
he saw initially provoking
scepticism. The following year,
he became the rst person to
see human spermatozoa and,
as he persisted, Leeuwenhoeks
scientic reputation improved.
In 1677, English astronomer
Edmond Halley suggested it
Antony van Leeuwenhoek
This merchants experience of using
a magnifying glass in the textile
trade led him to make microscopes,
and then microbiological discoveries.
was possible to calculate the
distance between Earth and
the Sun later known as the
astronomical unit by making
geometric measurements during
a transit of Venus, as the planet
passed in front of the Sun. Halley
could not test this theory in his
lifetime, but at the next transit,
in 1761, his technique was used
to produce a value very close to
modern estimates.
In England, Robert Hooke
had been turning his attention
to the physics of elastic clock
springs. He formalized an
everyday observation that the
force applied is proportional to
the amount of stretch into what
became known as Hookes Law,
which he published in 1678.

ek
hn s r ho
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116
167981
,, IF THE SPINE OF A STEVEDORE [DOCKWORKER]
SUPPORTS A LOAD OF 120 POUNDS THE FORCE OF
NATURE EXERTED IN THE DISC AND MUSCLES
OF THE SPINE IS EQUAL TO 25,585 POUNDS.
Giovanni Borelli, Italian physiologist, 1670s
screw safety valve
lever
weight
GERMAN MATHEMATICIAN
Gottfried Leibniz had
investigated a binary number
system in which numbers
are represented by just two
symbols: 0 and 1. In 1679,
he suggested using such
a system as the basis for a
computing machine.
This year, French inventor
Denis Papin (16471712)
collaborated with his Anglo
Irish counterpart Robert Boyle
on a steam digester. This
cooking device using high-
pressure steam made it
possible to extract fat
from bones, and led to the
development of the steam
engine and pressure cooker.
vessel
Italian physiologist and
physicist Giovanni Borelli
(160879) spent much of
Papins steam digester
The safety valve that
Papin invented for his
steam digester was an
important technological
advance for the use of steam
as a motive power.
iz
ibn
Le m
e d e an s t
fri yst tic
ott a s me
9 G bes rith
7 16 relli nics body
16 scri ry a
de bina
of
pin
Pa s a
i s
n te r
De stra ste
679 on dige
1 em m
d ea
st
168284
,,
Dione, one of Saturns moons, was discovered by Italian astronomer
Giovanni Cassini in 1684.
IN 1682, AS ENGLISH Giovanni Cassini had been
ASTRONOMER EDMOND HALLEY studying the planet Saturn, and
plotted the orbit of a comet, he by 1684 discovered four of its
realized that its characteristics moons. He called them Sidera
matched those of comets Lodoicea the Stars of Louis in
recorded in 1531 and 1607. He honour of Louis XIV, patron of the
deduced that they were all the Paris Observatory. Individually,
same comet which today the moons are now named
bears his name. Iapetus, Rhea, Dione, and Tethys.
Also this year, English botanist Robert Hooke and Edmond
Nehemiah Grew (16411712) Halley had been collaborating
published his book The Anatomy on trying to explain observed
of Plants, one of the earliest planetary motions based on
On the Motion of Animals comprehensive texts on plant mathematical laws that had
In this book, Giovanni Borelli applied
biology. Grew often collaborated been described by German
the physical principles of mechanics
to describe how the living body with the Italian Marcello astronomer Johannes Kepler
works and moves. Malpighi on microscopic at the start of the century. When
,,
,,
his career studying the
movements of animals. He ALL NATURE IS AS ONE
GREAT ENGINE, MADE BY,
realized that muscle contraction
relied on chemical processes
and nervous stimulation. His
pioneering work in this new eld
AND HELD IN HIS HAND.
of biomechanics was published Nehemiah Grew, English botanist, in The Anatomy of Plants, 1682
in 1680, a year after his death.
125 anatomy Grew concentrated they were unable to do so, in
BOILING POINT (IN C)
120 on plants, Malpighi on animals. 1684, Halley visited English
115 Previously, Grew had extracted physician and mathematician
110 the green plant pigment called Isaac Newton in Cambridge to
105 chlorophyll today and may gauge his opinion, only to be told
100 have made some of the earliest that Newton had already resolved
95 observations on chloroplasts. the issue. Encouraged by Halley,
0 5 10 15 He also asserted that plants Newton went on to explain the
PRESSURE (IN PSI) reproduce sexually (in other
elliptical orbits of planets,
Boiling points words, have male and female which he eventually incorporated
Water boils at higher temperatures
parts), and found that pollen in Principia (see 168789).
as pressure is raised. As a result,
food cooks at higher temperatures grains had distinctive surface
in boiling water under pressure. sculpturing (see 191617).
r on
rs
e be ewt ry
2
68 ou em c N eta
ni he r 1 he c will c
e a
De sa lan on
iov plain b t at e 10 8 4 I ns p sed
G
of em ots th m
80 ex pt pl et na 16 plai ba ws
Se lley com his ex tion s la
o a Ha the arry o
B ch ing
e m pler
m e liv of er c Ke
th lat
rs
ve
s co ons
i
id m o
iah sin s
em es as turn
eh lish ts
C a
N 84 S
82 pu
b lan 16 r of
16 rew of P fou
G omy
at
An
117
 168586
,, IN A WORD THE CORRUPTION
AND WANT OF [TEETH] IS AS GREAT
A DEFORMITY, AND OF AS MUCH
PREJUDICE TO ONE, AS ANYTHING
WHATSOEVER CAN BE.
Charles Allen, British dental practitioner, from The
Operator for the Teeth, 1685
IN 1685, EARLY DENTAL
PRACTITIONER CHARLES ALLEN
published the rst book written
in English on dental procedures,
The Operator for the Teeth.
Dentistry had been attempted
with varying degrees of success
since the ancient civilizations,
but specic operators for the
teeth emerged only in the 17th
century. These early dentists
gave advice on dental hygiene,
made articial teeth, and also
performed extractions, without
anaesthetic, using a pelican
an instrument so-called
because of its resemblance
to the birds bill.
This latter part of the 17th
century saw important advances
in the classication of lifes
Edmond Halley
Although perhaps best known for his
work on astronomy, Halley was also
a mathematician and geophysicist,
and became professor of geometry
at Oxford University in England.
an r ay rst f
hm ato
lis n er
E n lle Op arly
g
e e
85 s A Th n
16 arle hes th, a try
Ch blis Tee ntis
pu the n de
for rk o
wo
118
,,
diversity. Naturalists
catalogued and classied
animals and plants based
on their structure, often
performing painstaking
dissections of specimens to do
so. Prominent among them was
English naturalist John Ray
(16271705), who published the
rst volume of his treatise The
History of Plants in 1686, a work
relying heavily on his travels in
Europe. Ray created a system
of classication to organize his
catalogue and, signicantly,
formalized the idea of a
species. He emphasized the
importance of reproduction: that
seeds sprouting from the same
parent plant belong to the same
species, even though they may
exhibit accidental variations.
Rays concept was to be adopted
by generations of naturalists.
Another English naturalist,
Francis Willughby (163572),
had studied at Cambridge
University, England, under John
Ray with whom he collaborated
in much of their work on
,,IN ORDER THAT AN INVENTORY
OF PLANTS MAY BE BEGUN
WE MUST DISCOVER CRITERIA
FOR DISTINGUISHING WHAT ARE
CALLED SPECIES.
John Ray, from Historia Plantarum, 1686
6 Fr stor d
8 Hi
16 ys lish sly
g hb pub ou
ll u
Wi hes osth
Fis p
of
168789
Painted by Dutch artist Gerrit von Honthorst, The Tooth Extractor illustrates Newton argued that the Moon is
the crudities of 17th-century dentistry. subject to the force of Earths gravity.
Historia Plantarum IN THE SUMMER OF 1687, THE
John Rays three-volume treatise ROYAL SOCIETY IN LONDON
appeared from 1686 to 1704. He
AUTHORIZED PUBLICATION
classed plants as either herbs or
trees, and distinguished between of Isaac Newtons Philosophiae
spore- or seed-bearing plants. Naturalis Principia Mathematica
(Mathematical Principles of
achievement in natural history Natural Philosophy). In this
but sold poorly, which meant celebrated book (usually referred
that its publisher, the Royal to simply as Principia), regarded
Society, could not afford to by some as the most important
fund Isaac Newtons Principia scientic work ever produced,
a year later.
English mathematician
Edmond Halley, already
known for his astronomical
discoveries, also studied
the terrestrial atmosphere.
In 1686, he suggested that
surface winds occurred
because of a pattern of
classication. Following atmospheric circulation that was
Willughbys premature death in ultimately driven by heat from
1672, Ray published his studies the Sun. Tropical warmth at the ISAAC NEWTON
posthumously. Willughbys equator makes air there rise, (16421727)
treatise Ornithology, had causing more air to rush in to
appeared in 1676, the rst book the region of low pressure. This Arguably the greatest of all
to take a scientic approach to phenomenon provided the basis mathematicians, Newton
the study of birds. The History for Halleys explanation of the founded classical mechanics,
of Fishes, published in 1686, behaviour of trade winds and invented calculus, and made
was another ground-breaking monsoons. At this time he also breakthrough discoveries
revisited observations made by about gravity and light.
other researchers 40 years
earlier: that atmospheric
pressure decreases with
He studied at Cambridge
University, England, where
he became a professor
,,
altitude (see 164554). Halley
searched for the quantitative
of mathematics. After
reforming the coinage of the
relationship between pressure Royal Mint, he was elected
and altitude, and so established president of the Royal Society
routine use of the barometer in in 1703 and knighted in 1705.
practical surveying.
y
lle
Ha eric k ia,
nR o d h n 87 cip
oh the tory the on sp e li 16 ton Prin r
6 J
e s is ing e E dm tmo d th eric ul
y ew his fo s
8 h H a an ph de
16 blis e of tain of th 86 s s u 5 J ac N hes tion anic
pu lum , con tion 16 plain tion tmo altit Isa blis nda ech
v ant ni cies
o s ex cula en a nd pu e fou al m
Pl st de spe
i r
c twe re a
th ssic
r m be essu cla
ter pr
cis
an y
e
i s u m
 ,, THE LAW OF GRAVITATION IS RENDERED PROBABLE,

,,
THAT EVERY PARTICLE ATTRACTS EVERY OTHER PARTICLE
WITH A FORCE WHICH VARIES INVERSELY AS THE SQUARE
OF THE DISTANCE.
Isaac Newton, English mathematician, from Principia, 1687

laws of motion (see pp.12021)

known
weight
Newton described the laws of
motion and universal gravitation
that became the foundation of
physical science. The appearance
of Principia was due in part to
the efforts of Edmond Halley.
At a time when the Royal Society
had already spent its annual
publishing budget, Halley
stepped in to nance its
production. He had even been
responsible for Newton starting
work on it in the rst place.
Three years earlier, three
members of the Royal Society
pulley
known
weight
unknown
weight
First law of motion
According to Newton, these weights
stay still because no net force acts
upon them. Unknown weight can
be calculated if the forces acting to
keep it still are known.
on planetary motion; impressed,
Halley asked Newton to prepare
a more exhaustive text for the
Royal Society. For more than a
year, Newton immersed himself
in a study of physical laws, the
result of which was his three-
part masterpiece. In Principia,
Newton describes his three
gravitational force pulls equal gravitational force pulls
and the universal law of pink ball towards green green ball towards pink
gravitation (see panel, right),
the basis of the branch of
physics dealing with forces
and motion: mechanics. ATTRACTION BETWEEN TWO OBJECTS OF THE SAME MASS
Just before his death, Polish doubling both masses
astronomer Johannes Hevelius quadruples the total force
(161187) completed the most
comprehensive celestial atlas
and star catalogue of the time,
in which he identied several
DOUBLING THE MASS
new constellations, including
Triangulum Minus. His work doubling the distance
was published a few years later. quarters the total force
In 1688, German astronomer
Gottfried Kirch (16391710),
director of the Berlin Observatory, DOUBLING THE DISTANCE
described another new
constellation, named Sceptrum UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITATION
Brandenburgicum in honour
of the royal Prussian province. Newton applied the physics of planetary interactions to create
Today, its stars are considered a Universal Law of Gravitation. Gravity is the force of attraction
part of the constellation Eridanus. between bodies: stronger for more massive objects, weaker for a
Naturalists continued to bigger distance apart. But whereas force and mass have a simple
chart the diversity of the living relationship, that between force and distance follows an inverse-
world. In France, the botanist square rule doubling the distance reduces force by a quarter.
Pierre Magnol (16381715)
had just become curator of
Frances biggest botanical corresponded with English another two centuries. Magnol
garden at Montpellier. Magnol naturalist John Ray, who had published his work in 1689 and,
embarked on his own survey remarkably, many of his plant

9.8
Christopher Wren, Robert of plant groups. Both men families are still recognized.
Hooke, and Halley were
debating mathematical laws
NEWTONS followed the principle of
classifying species according to
One of the earliest books on
paediatric medicine appeared
that govern the orbits of THE GRAVITATIONAL anatomical similarities. Their in 1689, published by English
planets, and Halley asked
Newton for help in resolving
FORCE PULLING work implied underlying afnities physician Walter Harris
(16471732). This treatise on
within plant groups, although the
a technical matter. Newtons ON 1 KG MASS evolutionary implications were the diseases of children became
response was a manuscript ON EARTH not fully recognized for nearly a standard text on the subject.

h
rc s
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119
 15 4 3 17 8 8 THE AGE OF DISCOVERY
UNDERSTANDING
NEWTON'S
LAWS OF MOTION
THREE STRAIGHTFORWARD RULES DESCRIBE AND PREDICT HOW THINGS MOVE
In the late 17th century, English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton
established the science of mechanics the study of forces and motion
with three simple but revolutionary scientific laws that are still used today.
When Newton was a student,
scholarly understanding of forces
and motion was based on the
ideas of ancient Greek philosopher
Aristotle (38422 BCE), who believed
that an object moves only as long
as a force acts on it. For example,
according to Aristotle, projectiles
in free motion are pushed along by
following air currents. Thinkers in
the Middle Ages expanded on this
idea with the "impetus" theory that
50,000
THE SPEED, IN KM PER HOUR, AT WHICH
THE VOYAGER 1 SPACECRAFT IS LEAVING
THE SOLAR SYSTEM. VOYAGER KEEPS
MOVING THROUGH SPACE BECAUSE
NO AIR RESISTANCE ACTS ON IT.
120
rocket remains
stationary until
a force acts on it
tanks contain
fuel and oxygen
that will produce
a force when
ignited
liquid liquid oxygen
fuel
suggests that the force with which ROCKET AT REST
an object is thrown is stored in A rocket stands on a launch pad.
Its enormous weight is the result
the object, and gradually runs out. of gravity pulling it downwards
Italian mathematician and physicist towards Earth. The launch pad
Galileo Galilei (15641642) produces an upwards reaction
force that exactly balances
overturned these ideas, realizing the weight, and the rocket
that an object continues to move does not move.
at the same speed and in the same
direction unless a force such as
rockets weight
gravity or air resistance acts upon is the force
it. Newton adopted this idea as the of gravity
rst of his three laws, which he
expressed in mathematical form
in his book Philosophiae Naturalis reaction force
balances
Principia Mathematica (1687). rockets weight
Newtons laws accurately describe
and predict the motion of objects in
most situations. At very high speeds FIRST LAW
or in strong gravitational elds, they Newtons rst law states that an object remains at rest or continues moving
are not accurate, because of effects in a straight line unless a force acts upon it. Most objects have many
explained by Einsteins theories of different forces acting on them at all times, but often the forces balance.
relativity (see pp.24445). A book lying on a table, for example, is being pulled downwards by gravity
but the table pushes upwards on the book with a force of exactly the
ISAAC NEWTON same magnitude (see third law). Since the forces balance, the book
Newton was the most inuential thinker remains stationary.
and experimentalist of the 17th and 18th
centuries. He made enormous contributions ball's motion boot exerts
to the study of gravity, light, astronomy, is changed force on ball
and mathematics.
ball remains
stationary
MOTION
FORCE
AT REST
A ball remains stationary
IN MOTION
Once the ball is in
FORCE APPLIED
A force, such as a kick from
until a force acts upon it. motion, its velocity or a boot, alters the balls
The ball's weight pulls it
downwards, but the ground
particular combination
of speed and direction
velocity, a change termed
acceleration. The ball either
exerts an upwards reaction
force of the same magnitude,
continues. In reality, friction
between the ball and the
slows down, speeds up, or
changes its direction with or
so the net force is zero. surface would slow it down. without changing its speed.
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G N E W TO N ' S L AW S O F M OT I O N

liquid oxygen released

into combustion chamber

expanding gases
exert force on
chamber walls

walls exert equal

and opposite forces

ROCKET ENGINE NOZZLES

Causing a rocket to accelerate upwards combustion
chamber
requires enormous forces, not least to
overcome the gravity pulling the rocket
downwards. The force is generated inside
the engine by expanding exhaust gases,
which escape through these nozzles.

weight of rocket

until lift-off, launch pad large mass of

exerts a reaction force, expanding gases
supporting weight of rocket forced downwards
at high speed

LIFT OFF
Hot gases expand, exerting forces on the walls
of the combustion chamber to lift the rocket. The
walls of the chamber produce a reaction force
that pushes back on the gases, which escape
at high speed through the bottom of the engine.
SATURN V
The Saturn V rocket, used during NASA's
Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s,
had a weight of 28 million newtons, and
an engine thrust of 34 million newtons.

SECOND LAW THIRD LAW

Newtons second law involves momentum: an objects mass multiplied by
its velocity. The law states that the change in momentum is proportional
to the force exerted. So, a force doubled will accelerate an object twice as
much; but the same force applied to an object with twice the mass will
produce only half the acceleration. The second law is often summarized
with a simple equation: a = F/m, in which a is the acceleration, F is the
force, and m is the mass of the object.
Newtons third law states that forces exist in pairs. When one object exerts
a force on another, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on
the rst. If one of the objects is immobile, then the other object will move;
push against a wall on a ice rink, and the wall pushes back on you which
makes you slide on the ice. If both objects can move, then the object with
less mass will accelerate more than the other; for example, a heavy gun
recoils slightly as the bullet shoots out at high speed.

SMALL MASS, SMALL FORCE small force

An applied force causes an object small mass
to accelerate. The acceleration
change in velocity per second when
depends upon the size of the force, people
but also on the mass of the object. acceleration push
together,
doubled force forces are
SMALL MASS, equal and
DOUBLE FORCE twice the
same mass opposite
Since a = F/m, doubling the acceleration
people move
force but keeping the same apart with the
mass will cause the object to same velocity
accelerate at twice the rate.

DOUBLE MASS, force doubled

DOUBLE FORCE
Doubling the force again
(to four times the original
value) but also doubling the
mass produces the same
acceleration as before.
again double
EQUAL AND OPPOSITE EQUAL MASSES
the mass same acceleration Two people on skateboards pushing against If the two people have the same mass, they
as before one other will move apart. Even if only one will accelerate equally; but if one has much
person does the pushing, the other persons less mass, he or she will move away more
body will produce a reaction force of equal quickly, since the same force will produce
strength in the opposite direction. a greater acceleration.

121
 169091
,,
ONE MAY CONCEIVE LIGHT
TO SPREAD SUCCESSIVELY, BY
SPHERICAL WAVES.
Christiaan Huygens, Dutch physicist, from Treatise on Light, 1690
IN 1690, a decade after making
mandible an early pressure cooker that
(jaw bone)
produced high-pressure steam,
French inventor Denis Papin
modied his original design
by incorporating a piston,
producing the rst
working atmospheric
engine. Boiling water
in a cylinder created
steam, which pushed
the piston up; as the
steam condensed, it
created a vacuum
vertebral in the cylinder and
column
atmospheric pressure
(spine)
plunged the piston
back down. This
invention marked the
beginning of steam
engine development.
Papin received advice
on his designs from
Dutch astronomer
femur
Christiaan Huygens
(162995) who, also
(thigh bone) in 1690, made a
signicant contribution
to other areas of
knowledge with his
Treatise on Light. Based on
the observation that light beams
could cross without bouncing, he
deduced that light is composed
tibia
Permeated bones
The bones of the body are
(shin bone) permeated by tiny organic channels,
named after Clopton Havers, the
physician who discovered them.
pin
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Fr De isto
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122
169293
,,
The location of fossil sh and other marine creatures far inland gave rise
to conicting theories among naturalists and theologians.
of waves supporting a theory John Ray
Philosopher and theologian, John
proposed by French philosopher
Ray is also regarded as the
Ren Descartes in the 1630s and
founding father of English
English inventor Robert Hooke in natural history.
the 1660s. But Isaac Newtons
idea that light was made from
particles (see 167584) was have created the specic
to predominate over the wave layers that could be
theory for more than 100 years. observed in geological
Clopton Havers (16571702), deposits. He suggested
an English physician, was the that in an ancient world
rst to study the detailed covered by sea, land rose
anatomy of bones including by volcanic activity which
marrow and cartilage. He would explain the occurrence
published his results in 1691, of fossilized marine animals on
describing the microscopic pores land. However, Rays theological
and cavities running through IN 1692, SCOTTISH PHYSICIAN leanings meant that he was
a bones structure. Havers JOHN ARBUTHNOT (16671735) reluctant to take the view that
surmised that they carried oil, published Laws of Chance. This divinely created species could
but it is now known that these was a translation of Christiaan become extinct. He proposed
so-called Haversian canals Huygens 1657 classic work on
contain blood and lymphatic
vessels, and provide bone cells
with oxygen and nourishment.
probability theory, and the rst
publication in English devoted
to the subject.
,, NEVER DID
I EXPECT TO
70 ,,
English naturalist John Ray
had written extensively on
PRODUCE A
the diversity of plants since the HISTORY OF
1660s, but by the 1690s he QUADRUPEDS.
was also active in palaeontology
(the study of fossil organisms) John Ray, from Synopsis of
and zoology. His accurate Quadruped Animals, 1693
descriptions of fossils supported
PER CENT
the idea that they were the that organisms so far known only
remains of once-living species. as fossils would one day be found
Ray also tried to explain the living in remote areas.
THE AMOUNT locations of fossils. A popular In 1693, Ray published one of
OF BONE MADE concept was that the Biblical his most important works of
OF NON-LIVING ood had been responsible for
the forming of fossils, but Ray
zoology, Synopsis of Quadruped
Animals and Serpents. Based on
MINERAL saw that a deluge would not anatomical features, it provided
er
ian
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 1694
,,MANY SPECIES OF ANIMALS HAVE

,,
BEEN LOST OUT OF THE WORLD,
WHICH PHILOSOPHERS AND DIVINES
ARE UNWILLING TO ADMIT
John Ray, English naturalist, from Three physico-theological discourses,
concerning the primitive Chaos, and creation of the world, 1713

By the end of the 17th century, the sexual function of owers was recognized.
Clematis marmoria, seen here, has separate male and female plants.

the rst scientic classication
of animals. He identied
mammals as viviparous (giving
birth to live young) quadrupeds,
and placed them into groups
according to structures such
as feet and teeth.
In the same year, Belgian
physician Philip Verheyen
(16481711) published his
illustrated Anatomy of the Human
Body, which would become a
standard textbook on the subject
in European universities. In this
work, Verheyen introduced the
term Achilles tendon for the
structure at the back of the leg,
Ungulata
MAMMALS WITH HOOVES
Solidipeda Bifulca
SOLID-HOOFED CLOVEN-HOOFED
MAMMALS MAMMALS
Ruminantia
RUMINANTS
named for the Greek hero killed person to draw up life annuity
by an arrow wound in his heel. charts based on mortality tables.
Opportunistically, Verheyen had Thirty years earlier, a shopkeeper
been able to dissect his own left called John Graunt had produced
leg, which had been amputated life-tables as part of a scheme
because of illness nearly to monitor the advance of
20 years before. Verheyen had bubonic plague, but Halley had
insisted on preserving the limb the mathematical skills to carry
so he could study it. Based on out a more sophisticated
personal experience, he was one analysis. Using data on births
of the rst physicians to report and deaths from the European
phantom limb phenomenon: city of Breslau, he estimated
the sensation that an amputated the citys population size and the
limb is still attached to the body. probabilities of its citizens
Also in 1693, English surviving to particular ages. The
astronomer and mathematician study became a model for future
Edmond Halley was the rst demographic investigations.
Animalium viviparorum quadrupeda
MAMMALS
Unguiculata
MAMMALS WITH
CLAWS OR NAILS
Ungulata anomala
MULTI-HOOFED
MAMMALS
Rays classication of mammals
John Ray grouped mammals according to
whether they had hooves, claws, or nails. The
Non ruminantia division he called Unguiculata is no longer
NON-RUMINANTS valid, but his hoofed (ungulate) groups are
partly supported by modern biology. He
also recognized ruminants: cud-chewing
herbivores with multi-chambered stomachs.
BY THE END OF THE 17TH
CENTURY THE WORK OF
SEVERAL NATURALISTS had
revealed some of the secrets of
owering plants. In 1694, French
botanist Joseph Pitton de
Tournefort (16561708)
published a classication system
that was based on the structure
of owers and fruits, as well as
leaves and roots. Although
Tourneforts conclusions
were often misguided, his
work had a lasting inuence
because of the clarity of his
species-level accounts. He
was also one of the rst
botanists to use the genus
as a taxonomic category that
included similar species: a
forerunner of the binomial
system of naming formalized
by Linnaeus in the 1700s
(see 173339).
German botanist Rudolf
Camerarius (16651721) went
much further in studying
owers. His 1694 paper on
the reproduction of plants
provided experimental
evidence for the notion that
not only did plants have
Portable barometer
The construction of Daniel
Quares barometer ostensibly
allowed free movement of
the instrument without
letting air in or spilling
its mercury.
sexual organs, but that pollen
was the agent of male
fertilization. Camerarius
observed that female shoots
separated from male shoots
often failed to set seed, and that
when pollen-producing stamens
were removed, no seeds were
produced at all. But he was
frustrated by the fact that he
could not probe deeper into
the minute functions of
owers. It would not be until
better microscopes opened
up the world of cells more
than a century later that the
microscopic basis of plant
reproduction could be
properly explored.
English instrument maker
Daniel Quare (16491724)
is credited with a number of
innovations in horology (the
study of time), including the
invention of repeating watches
and the introduction of the
minute hand. By 1694, he had
also produced the rst
portable barometer, which
he patented the following
year. Until then the system
of tubes associated with a
barometer was not easily
moved, but a portable
instrument could allow
experimentalists to
measure atmospheric
pressure in places
such as mines
or mountains.

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 169597
Dutchman Antony van Leeuwenhoek was one of the rst observers of microscopic
organisms such as these mould spore capsules.
SOME 20 YEARS AFTER HE
MADE HIS FIRST OBSERVATIONS
of miniature life (see 167584),
Dutch microscopist Antony van
Leeuwenhoek published a
compilation of his work, Arcana
Naturae (Secrets of Nature) in
1695. As well as describing and
illustrating a range of biological
curiosities from tadpoles to red
blood cells the book contained
descriptions of the techniques
Leeuwenhoek had used to carry
out his studies. Many of these,
including his microscope, were
his own inventions.
In the same year, English
theologian and mathematician
William Whiston (16671752)
published his New Theory of the
Earth, which was a combination
of religious and scientic
thought. He supported the idea
of divine creation, and his work
JOHANN BERNOULLI (16671748)
Bernoulli was born into a
prominent mathematical family
and had professorships in
Groningen (the Netherlands)
and Basel, Switzerland. His
work included studying the
mathematical trajectories of
curves and investigating the
reection and refraction of
light. Together with his brother
Jacob, he helped Newton and
Leibniz develop calculus.
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124
was praised
by many, including
Isaac Newton.
Whiston suggested
that the global
catastrophe of the
Biblical ood had
been caused by a
comet. He would
succeed Newton as
the third Lucasian
Professor of Mathematics phlogiston, which was given off
at Cambridge University when something burned. Stahl
in England. thought that the amount of
In 1697, many decades before phlogiston varied: there was
the discovery of oxygen, a great deal in coal, which
German chemist Georg Stahl diminished to ashes during
(16601734), proposed a theory combustion, but very little in iron,
to explain combustion. which did little more than rust.
He suggested that metals The phlogiston theory had its
and minerals contained two roots with Stahls mentor,
components one being the German alchemist Johann
calx (ashy residue), and the Becher, who conceived
other being a substance called phlogiston as terra pinguis
(oily matter), one of the classical
elements. Later, the French
chemist Antoine Lavoisier
argued that combustion
happened by oxidation: reaction
of the substance with oxygen in
the air. Stahls idea of the calx
was equivalent to the modern
idea of oxide.
In 1697, Swiss mathematician
Johann Bernoulli, prompted
by a dispute with his brother
(who was often his bitter rival),
solved a trajectory problem.
He described the path followed
by a particle moving under
n a
on an ves m
ist ry oh sol oble
Wh heo
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Ge ose eor
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main screw
body plate
Simple microscope
In his 1695 study Arcana Naturae,
Antony von Leeuwenhoek explained
the use of the microscope he had
designed himself.
gravity. By studying the rates of
movement along this curve,
Bernoullis work had important
implications for the development
of calculus: the mathematics of
innitesimal changes.
Also in 1697, English explorer
William Dampier (16511715)
published an account of his rst
voyage, A New Voyage Around the
World containing descriptions
of the Americas and East Indies.
The British Admiralty granted
him the command for another
trip, and Dampier eventually
circumnavigated the globe three
times. His work on navigation
inuenced explorer James
Cook, while his studies of natural
history would be used by
biologists such as Alexander von
Humboldt and Charles Darwin
(see 1859).
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169899
The rst dissection of a chimpanzee,
in 1698, revealed a human-like brain.
ISAAC NEWTON HAD
ALREADY ESTABLISHED that
sound moves as longitudinal
compression waves, not by
transverse waves (oscillation at
right angles to the direction of
travel), as previously thought. In
1698, he went on to calculate
the speed of sound in air, which
he determined to be 298 m
(979 ft) per second. (The modern
value is 343 m per second.)
Dutch astronomer Christiaan
Huygens died in 1695, but
his nal book, Cosmothereos,
appeared in 1698. He had
delayed publication because
he feared offending religious
sensibilities he had
conjectured upon the possibility
that life existed on other planets
with habitable conditions.
British physician Edward
Tyson (16501708) was governor
of the Bethlem Hospital for
psychiatric patients, in London.
He routinely performed
343
METRES PER
SECOND
THE SPEED
OF SOUND
h
lis n
ng icia
8 E mat ton
9
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 ,,OUR PYGMIE IS NO MAN, NOR YET

,,
THE COMMON APE; BUT A SORT OF
ANIMAL THAT BELONGED BETWEEN
MAN AND THE APES.
Edward Tyson, British physician, in Orang-Outang, sive Homo Sylvestris (Orang-Outang, or
Man of the Woods), 1699

STEAM POWER maker and perfected cold water

thermometers and barometers shower

for measuring temperature and

When water is heated to boiling
point it creates gaseous steam;
if this steam is then trapped in
a sealed container and cooled,
it condenses back into water.
As the quantity of gas drops,
so does its pressure, creating
a partial vacuum. Force is
autopsies in an effort to
understand the causes of mental
illness. But he dissected animals
too, so becoming the father of
comparative anatomy. In 1699,
he published his study of the
chimpanzee (which he called an
orang-outang), concluding that
it had more in common with
humans than it did with monkeys.
That year, an English inventor
Thomas Savery (16501715)
demonstrated his latest creation
to the Royal Society: an engine
to raise water by re. Patented
the year before, it exploited the
recently discovered power of gas
pressure, which could generate
considerable force when gas
rushed in to ll a vacuum.
Saverys steam pump consisted
of a boiler to produce steam that
was directed into a vessel below
a cold-water shower. This
created a vacuum in the vessel
as the steam condensed, which
sucked up water from below. The
then generated when the pressure. He was also the rst
atmosphere is let in to ll the experimenter to discuss the
void. The idea of harnessing idea of an absolute zero
this force in an atmosphere for temperature. In 1699,
engine originated in the 1690s Amontons turned to mechanics,
and would be fully realized describing how friction force
in the steam engines of the depended upon load. Amontons
next century. friction law had a prestigious
history, being based on
experiments rst
sequence was controlled by a performed by
system of taps. Savery claimed Leonardo da Vinci.
his pump could be used to pull
funnel for
water up from mines, but it lling with
had a working height limit of tap water
about 7.5 m (25 ft). It was also
vulnerable to explosion.
Again in 1699, Welsh naturalist
vessel for
Edward Lhyud (16601709) steam
boiler trapping
published a catalogue of fossils. steam
This included one of the earliest
unambiguous specimens a
tooth later identied as that of
a dinosaur. Lhyud had fanciful
notions about his specimens, suction
pipe
suggesting that fossils grew in
rocks from vaporous spawn that
came from the sea.
French physicist Guillaume
Amontons (16631705) was
an accomplished instrument
Saverys steam pump
Having understood the
principles of atmospheric
force, Savery created a
steam generator to pump
water vertically.

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125
 17001701
Edmond Halleys isogenic chart shows lines of magnetic
variation from true magnetic north.
AS THE 18TH CENTURY
DAWNED, British astronomer
Edmond Halley sailed the
Atlantic on his third voyage of
discovery. In January 1700, he
made the rst observation of the
Antarctic convergence, where
icy Antarctic waters come up
against warmer Atlantic waters
in a ring around Antarctica. On
1 February, he made the rst
recorded sighting of tabular
icebergs, which have steep
sides and a at top. Halley also
showed that Earths magnetism
uctuates too much for
compasses to be used to nd
longitude at sea. He conrmed
that magnetic north does not
correspond with true north, a
phenomenon known as magnetic
declination (see15981604).
Also in 1700, French physician
Nicolas Andry (16581742)
suggested that smallpox was
Sowing seeds
Jethro Tulls 1701 seed drill planted
seeds in uniform, equally-spaced
rows. By giving seeds enough space
to grow, it increased yields and
reduced waste during sowing.
ian s
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126 o ccu
JETHRO TULL (16741741)
Born in Berkshire, England,
Jethro Tull intended to enter
politics in London, but ill health
kept him at home, farming.
Noticing that hand-sown seeds
were scattered chaotically, he
developed the mechanical drill
to sow seeds in even rows.
He became a key gure in the
agricultural reforms that swept
through England in the 1700s
and then around the world.
caused by the tiny micro-
organisms or worms he had
seen through a microscope.
In 1701, English agriculturalist
Jethro Tull helped to modernize
farming practices when he
invented the mechanical
seed drill a machine that
00 me
17 ono
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ar st ley lant
nu h a al
Ja glis d H he A
En mon es t ce
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17021703
Isaac Newton, here seen speaking at a meeting of the
Royal Society, was elected its president in 1703.
ISAAC NEWTONS SCIENTIFIC
ACHIEVEMENTS became
increasingly well known in the
18th century. A key moment in
the growth of his fame was the
1702 publication of Astronomiae
Physicae et Geometricae Elementa
(Elements of Astronomy, Physics,
and Geometry) by Scottish
mathematician David Gregory.
One of the rst popular accounts
of Newtons theories, this work
discussed his ideas on gravity
and the movement of the
planets. Newton was elected
president of the Royal Society
500,000
automatically planted seeds
in neat, evenly-spaced rows.
The adoption of Tulls method
increased crop yields by as
much as 900 per cent.
THE NUMBER OF EARTHQUAKES
THAT OCCUR EACH YEAR
in London in 1703, a post he held
until his death in 1727.
In 1703, German chemist Georg
Stahl developed Johann Bechers
1667 idea that an element called
terra pinguis is released from
substances such as wood
when they burn. Stahl called
the element phlogiston, and the
phlogiston theory of combustion
came to dominate 18th-century
chemistry until nally disproved
by Antoine Lavoisier (see 1789)
later in the century.
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By the 18th century, scholars
were starting to consider natural
events, such as earthquakes, as
phenomena to be investigated
scientically rather than as
acts of God. In 1703, French
priest and inventor Abb Jean
de Hautefeuille (16471724)
described a seismometer
for measuring the severity of
earthquakes. De Hautefeuilles
device, a simple balanced
pendulum whose swing
responded to ground movement,
was one of the earliest
seismometers used in Europe.
Botanists, meanwhile, were
beginning to embark on voyages
of exploration to study the rich
variety of unknown plants in
newly discovered parts of the
world. After three plant-hunting
voyages to the West Indies,
French botanist Charles Plumier
published Nova Plantarum
Americanarum Genera, a huge
and groundbreaking work on
plant classication. In it, he
described the plants fuchsia
and magnolia for the rst time.
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17041706
Edmond Halley correctly surmised that comets seen at regular 76-year intervals
had been the same comet. It later became known as Comet Halley.
,, THE CHANGING OF BODIES
INTO LIGHT, AND LIGHT INTO
BODIES, IS VERY CONFORMABLE
TO THE COURSE OF NATURE,
WHICH SEEMS DELIGHTED
WITH TRANSMUTATIONS.
Isaac Newton, from Opticks, 1704
ISAAC NEWTON PUBLISHED HIS
SECOND GREAT SCIENTIFIC
BOOK, entitled Opticks, in 1704.
The experiments he described
in this book proved that the
spectrum of brilliant colours
produced when sunlight shines
through a prism is not an effect
of the glass (see 166566).
Instead, as Newton showed,
the colours are all contained in
white sunlight and are simply
h ak ma
lis nd n
ng er, n, a wto
0
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,, IN 1456 A COMET WAS SEEN
PASSING RETROGRADE BETWEEN
,,
THE EARTH AND THE SUN HENCE
I DARE VENTURE TO FORETELL, THAT
IT WILL RETURN AGAIN IN 1758.
Edmond Halley, from A Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets, 1705
demonstrations at the Royal
Society in London on the
effects of static electricity.
In 1704, Hauksbee thrilled
,,
witnesses with a demonstration
of barometric light the
sparks of light that appear when
mercury in the vacuum at the
top of a mercury barometer
is shaken. Two years later,
Hauksbee built the rst
separated when each colour electrical machine, which he
of light is bent, or refracted, called the inuence machine,
differently as it enters the prism in which a hand-turned spindle
and slows down slightly. He rubbed wool against amber
also suggested that light is a inside a glass vacuum globe
stream of tiny particles, or to generate a glowing static
corpuscles, travelling at huge charge. It was a forerunner
speed. The theory ignited a of electric light.
debate that lasted more than In 1703, Dutch mathematician
200 years about whether light is and astronomer Christiaan
indeed formed of particles or, as Huygens had published details
suggested by Newtons Dutch of the gearing needed to drive
rival Christiaan a clockwork model of the Solar
Huygens, waves. System that would precisely Earth and Moon
That same year, represent how the Sun and In 1705, English astronomer This orrery, made by George Graham
and Thomas Tompion, shows how
English instrument planets move in a year of Edmond Halley explained how
Earth and the Moon move around
maker and 365.242 days. By 1704, English comets are on a great elliptical the Sun. Later orries included the
experimenter clockmakers George Graham journey around the Sun, and movement of all the planets.
Francis Hauksbee, (176451) and Thomas appear periodically when their
(16601713) began Tompion (16391713) had built journey brings them near to the to describe the ratio of the
a series of a clockwork mechanism, Sun and Earth. He argued that circumference of a circle to its
based on Huygens calculation, comets seen in 1456, 1531, 1607, diameter approximately equal
to show how Earth and the Moon and 1682 were a single comet to the number 3.14159. Also this
Splitting light
Isaac Newtons move around the Sun. The pair now known as Comet Halley year, English inventor Thomas
ndings, published were asked to make another and predicted, correctly, that it Newcomen (16631729) built
in Opticks in 1704, mechanism for English nobleman would return in 1758. a prototype for his steam
showed that white
Charles Boyle, 4th Duke of Orrery. In 1706, Welsh mathematician engine that was to kickstart the
sunlight contained
all the colours of Such devices subsequently William Jones (16751749) Industrial Revolution in Europe
the rainbow. became known as orreries. proposed the Greek letter pi () (see 171213).
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127
 170709 171011

1,549
MILLION TONNES
THE AMOUNT OF IRON PRODUCED
EACH YEAR AROUND THE WORLD
It was in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, England, that engineer Abraham Coral reefs may look like plants but
Darby built the rst coke-red blast furnace to cast iron. really they are colonies of animals.

THE HUMAN PULSE WAS Chinese had been making ne IN 1710, GERMAN PAINTER
KNOWN AS AN INDICATOR OF porcelain for centuries, the JACOB CHRISTOPH LE BLON
opposing
HEALTH more than 2,500 years technology had eluded the west (16671741) found he could print
electrical elds
ago. But it was not until English until this time. keep the pictures in a range of colours
physician John Floyer invented In 1709, English experimenter balloons apart with just three different-coloured
his pulse watch in 1707 that Francis Hauksbee published inks. Paint of almost any colour
balloon is
western physicians began to Physico-Mechanical Experiments negatively could be created by mixing three
measure the pulse in terms of on Various Subjects, in which charged primary colours, but Le Blon
heartbeats per minute. Floyers he described his celebrated realized that the colours did not
timepiece was a watch that ran experiments with static nearby part have to be mixed. Instead, they
for exactly a minute while the electricity. Hauksbee discovered of the wall is could be printed one on top of
physician counted pulses. that by rubbing glass, he could positively charged the other in three layers. He
The following year, create static electricity and OPPOSITE CHARGES ATTRACT LIKE CHARGES REPEL started off in 1710 with three
Dutch botanist and produce astounding colours: red, blue, and yellow.
physician Herman electrical effects, STATIC ELECTRICITY Later, he discovered that even
Boerhaave such as electric better results could be achieved
developed a light (the glow Static electricity is the build-up or deciency of electrons (particles with four colours: black (K) and
systematic approach inside a rotating contained in atoms). Surfaces charged with excess electrons are the three primary colours used in
to diagnosis that evacuated glass attracted to surfaces that have lost electrons. Experiments to create printing now known as cyan (C),
involved considering sphere when static electricity were widely practised in the 18th century, often with magenta (M), and yellow (Y),
the patients history, rubbed), electric striking results. Some of the most important investigations were today called the CMYK system.
conducting a wind (the prickling carried out by English experimenter Francis Hauksbee. Also in this year, French
physical examination sensation when entomologist Ren de Raumur
at the bedside, rubbed glass is (16831757) set out to investigate
taking the pulse, and brought near the (16781717) revolutionized markings, and it was similar to whether spiders can make silk
studying excretions. face), and electric ironmaking in 1709 by producing todays devices. The Fahrenheit like silkworms. He showed that

280
Also in 1708, repulsion and cast iron in a coke-fuelled blast temperature scale (see 174042)
German physician, attraction. furnace at Coalbrookdale in was named after him.
mathematician, English engineer England. For the rst time, iron In Lisbon meanwhile,
and experimenter Abraham Darby could be cast in very large Brazilian born priest and
Ehrenfried Walther shapes, paving the way for the naturalist Bartholome de
von Tschirnhaus machines and engineering feats Gusmo (16851724) sent
(16511708) Alcohol thermometer of the Industrial Revolution. a ball to the roof using hot-air
discovered that
Gabriel Fahrenheits
1709 thermometer
In Amsterdam, also in 1709, and designed a hot-air airship. MILLILITRES
he could make was the rst compact PolishDutch physicist Gabriel Although the rst recorded
porcelain with a device of its kind. It Daniel Fahrenheit (16861736) manned ight in a hot-air THE TOTAL
paste mixed from showed temperature
by the expansion of
constructed an alcohol-lled balloon would not happen for CAPACITY OF
clay, alabaster, and
calcium sulphate.
coloured alcohol.
Later, versions using
thermometer. It was the rst
compact, modern-style
another 74 years, de Gusmos
experiment anticipated future
THE HUMAN
Although the mercury were popular. thermometer with graduated developments in aviation. HEART

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 171213

English astronomer John Flamsteeds meticulous observations of the night

sky formed the basis of the rst modern star catalogue.

athough spiders do make silk,
it is much thinner thread, and
he argued that spiders were too
aggressive to use commercially.
Mathematician John Keill
546
THE FIRST FULL-SCALE STEAM Steam power
water
ENGINE, built by English Increased demand
tank
for coal to fuel iron
engineer Thomas Savery in
production meant that
1698, proved too dangerous for mines needed to be
general use because high deeper. The Newcomen
engine was invaluable

(16711721) published a paper
claiming that Gottfried Liebniz,
a German mathematician, stole
the idea of calculus from British
mathematician and physicist
Isaac Newton. It is now thought
that both men independently
developed the basis of calculus.
The following year in Italy,
Bolognese nobleman Luigi
Fernando Marsili asserted that
corals are plants, not animals.
His mistaken view prevailed at
the time, although others had
realized that corals are animals.
Spider web
In 1710, Frenchman Ren de
Raumur showed that spiders
produce silk. Spiders use the thread
to make webs to catch prey or as
cocoons for their young.
pressure in its boiler tended to
cause explosions. But English
ironmonger Thomas Newcomen
(16631729) overcame the
danger in 1712 to create the
worlds rst practical steam
engine. Newcomens solution
was to boil water in an isolated
chamber and send the steam
into a cylinder with a piston at
low pressure. When steam
owed into the cylinder, it pushed
the piston up. A valve closed, cold
water was sprayed in, and the
steam condensed, creating a
vacuum that pulled the piston
down, moving the engines beam.
Newcomens steam engine
was so successful that soon
thousands of them were installed
in mines across Britain and
Europe to pump out oodwater.
In London this year, Isaac
Newton and astronomer
Edmond Halley enraged British
astronomer John Flamsteed by
publishing a catalogue of more
than 3,000 stars based on
Flamsteeds observations made
over 40 years at the Royal
Greenwich Observatory. Newton
and Halley believed the data
should be published, but
Flamsteed felt it was not
thorough enough. He was
LITRES
for pumping out water
that seeped in.
THE AMOUNT
OF WATER
PUMPED EACH
condensing
MINUTE BY cylinder
NEWCOMENS
FIRST ENGINE beam
moves up
so incensed by the publication and down
that he gathered and burned
300 of the 400 printed copies.
Swiss mathematician Jacob
Bernoullis book Ars Conjectandi pump
(The Art of Conjecture) was rod
water
published seven years after
boiler
his death, in 1713. It introduced
the Law of Large Numbers,
which says that the more times
you perform an experiment,
the closer the average result
tends to be to the average of a
large number of experiments.
That year, Bernoullis nephew,
Nicolas Bernoulli, devised the
St Petersburg paradox familiar
to probability theorists today.
It is based on a theoretical
lottery game that seems to
allow an innite win, yet it is
one that nobody with sense
would enter.

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129
 171415 1716

5
BILLION
THE NUMBER OF YEARS
BEFORE OUR SUN BECOMES
A PLANETARY NEBULA

The Horsehead Nebula is a cloud of interstellar gas and dust. Edmond Halley Giovanni Lancisi was rst to realize
was the rst to suggest that indistinct objects in space could be nebulae. that malaria is spread by mosquitos.

right-angled BY THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY, land. A good navigator could

corner
BRITAIN WAS SENDING OUT
thousands of ships over the
oceans to serve its growing
overseas empire. But every
ships captain had the same
problem of not knowing where
the ship was when out of sight of
17th-century quadrant
This quadrant, designed by
mathematician Edward
Gunter in 1605, showed
latitude. But there was
still no way to be
sure of longitude.
scale in
degrees
work out his latitude how far
north or south he was from
the altitude angle of the Sun and
the North Star. The problem was
to calculate longitude how far
east or west. The technique of
dead reckoning, or estimating
how far he had sailed from his
average speed, gave a clue. But
miscalculation meant that many
ships were lost at sea. In 1714,
the British parliament launched
a competition with a prize of
20,000 a huge amount at the
time for the person who found
a way to determine longitude
accurately. Similar competitions
were held in France and Holland.
One reason why longitude
calculation was tricky was that
the clocks of the day were
wildly inaccurate. So, in
1715, English inventor
George Grahams
development of
the deadbeat
escapement
was a great
breakthrough.
This mechanism
eliminated recoil when
a clocks time gear moved
round a notch, enabling clocks
to keep time within a second per
day a huge improvement.
Deadbeat escapement clocks
were preferred for scientic
observation for the next 200
years because of their accuracy.
North Pole
latitude 90N
prime meridian
longitude 0
latitude 30N
longitude 30E
Equator
latitude 0 vertical angle
from plane of
longitude 90W equator gives
longitude 60W
latitude, here 30
latitude 30S horizontal angle
from plane of prime
longitude 30W meridian gives
longitude, here 60
GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES
Solving the problem of how to nd longitude at sea how far east
or west a ship is was a priority in the 1700s. Lines of longitude,
or meridians, run north-south around the world, dividing it like
the segments of an orange. Zero degrees longitude is the Prime
Meridian which passes through Greenwich, London, and a
positions longitude is its angle east or west of this in degrees.
In 1715, English astronomer IN 1716, ITALIAN PHYSICIAN
Edmond Halley suggested that GIOVANNI MARIA LANCISI
the age of Earth could be (16541720) was the rst to
determined by the salinity of the recognize the source of malaria.
oceans, since the salt content This often fatal disease, then
would build up steadily as salt is common in Europe, was known
washed in from the land. But his as ague or marsh fever
theory was impossible to prove, because it tended to occur near
and, in fact, the salinity is too marshes, such as those around
variable to be a measure of Rome. People believed it was
this. Halley was also the rst caused by fumes from the damp
astronomer to argue, correctly, ground malaria is Italian for
that nebulae, which are seen as bad air. But Lancisi realized
pale fuzzy shapes in the night that malaria was caused by
sky, could comprise clouds of bites from swamp-inhabiting
dust and gas. mosquitoes. Few listened to

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130
 171720

The 18th century saw the creation of the rst scientic collections of butteries, like this
collection of British butteries, rst named by English naturalist, James Petiver.

him, but we now know the
disease is caused by a parasite
spread by female Anopheles
mosquitoes (see 189394).
In England, astronomer
Edmond Halley, made the rst
safe and practical diving bell a
bell-shaped diving chamber that
enabled a person to go under
water, breathing the air trapped
inside. The idea of the diving
bell dated back to the age of
Aristotle, and in the 1600s, less
sophisticated bells were used
to recover goods from
shipwrecks. But Halley,
who studied the
problem over two
decades, realized
Halleys diving bell
This engraving of
Edmund Halleys
diving bell illustrates
the weighted
platform at the base
and the separate
barrel that
replenished the
air to the side.
that air is compressed by water
pressure at depth, which is why a
simple air tube to the surface did
not work. Halleys ingenious
solution was to continually
replenish the air in the bell with
air pressurized in weighted
barrels lowered beside the bell.
He also added a weighted tray to
keep the bell upright, and a
glass window to let in light.
bell continually
replenished with
pressurized air
SMALLPOX WAS A DEADLY
DISEASE IN THE 18TH CENTURY.
Millions of people, many of them
children, died from the illness,
and even those who recovered
were left with faces permanently
disgured by the scars. Yet long
ago, the Chinese had noticed
that once people had survived
smallpox, they never caught it
again, no matter how much they
LADY MARY MONTAGU
(16891762)
Mary Montagus campaign
to introduce smallpox
inoculation in Britain helped
to establish the idea that
disease could be prevented
through immunity. She had
had smallpox herself as a
young woman. Besides her
pioneering work on disease,
she was a celebrated writer,
much admired by some of
the leading gures of the day.
were exposed to the disease.
Chinese physicians began
deliberately rubbing infected
material into a scratch on
healthy people. Some died
quickly from the infection this
caused, but most survived,
and seemed to gain immunity
to the disease. The practice
of variolation, as it became
known, spread across Asia to
Turkey, where it was noticed by
Greek physician Giacomo Pylari
(16591718), and then the young
wife of the British ambassador
to Constantinople (Istanbul),
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
(16891762). Montagu was so
impressed that she wrote a
famous series of letters home
advocating its use. She had her
own children inoculated, and
campaigned ardently to introduce
the practice to the British upper
classes. Her pioneering efforts
led Edward Jenner to discover
vaccination (see 1796).
In 1717, London apothecary
James Petiver (16851718)
published Papilionum Brittaniae
Icones (Images of British
Butteries). It was one of the rst
great catalogues of butteries,
based on Petivers collection of
species, now in Londons Natural
History Museum.
In 1718, English inventor James
Puckle (16671724) was working
on the design of a forerunner of
the machine gun. The Puckle
17,500
WORLD
3,700
PERU
56
Britain
Buttery species
James Petiver described 48 species
of British buttery. Now 56 are
known (out of 17, 500 around the
world), but species are vanishing
with habitat loss.
gun was a intlock rie mounted
on a tripod with a revolving
cylinder holding 11 shots that
could be turned by a handle
to re 63 shots in 7 minutes
three times as fast as the
best musketman.
In 1720, English instrument-
maker Jonathan Sisson
(16901747) added a telescopic
sight to the theodolite, paving
the way for the rst accurate
regional surveys and maps. The
rst theodolite had been invented
by Leonard Digges in 1554
(see 155154) but theodolites
equipped with a telescope could
be used to measure angles over
long distances. It meant that the
height and position of every
feature in the landscape could
be surveyed by the method
of triangulation, which uses
simple trigonometry.

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131
 15 4 3 17 8 8 T H E AG E O F D I S C OV E R Y

alidade, for
sighting stars

star pointer
Astrolabe
Portolan map Late 15th century
Date unknown Developed over 2,000 years ago to sight stars and
From the 13th century on, sailors relied on portolan charts maps showing line indicating make astronomical calculations, astrolabes were
compass bearings to guide them between ports. This early chart of the compass bearing later simplied to nd latitude at sea by measuring
Mediterranean depicts the navigational lines between hundreds of ports. the height of the Sun and stars.

NAVIGATION TOOLS
IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENT DESIGN HAVE MADE NAVIGATION INCREASINGLY PRECISE

Ancient navigators relied on the position in the sky of the

Sun and the stars to determine their location and chart
their course. Later, a compass and an accurate timepiece
could be used to work out direction and location.

For much of history, sailors found their latitude with tools such as sextants,
astrolabes, and quadrants that indicated the angle of the Sun and stars
above the horizon. From about a thousand years ago, compasses gave them
a direction to sail in a bearing. And from the 1700s, chronometers nally
enabled them to work out their longitude. For most modern navigators, Navigators compass
c.1860
these instruments have been replaced by satellite systems. From the 13th century onwards,
magnetic navigators used a magnetic compass
mineral with a wire lozenge or metal needle,
mounted to swing freely, to nd north.
Binnacle compass
c.1930
From the mid-18th
century, compasses were
mounted inside cases sliding cover for
viewing window
called binnacles on
gimbals pivots to
keep the needle level
however much the binnacle
ship pitched and rolled.

Lodestone Marine chronometer

c.15501600 c.1893
Chinese sailors used swinging iron sphere High-precision clocks, chronometers
lodestones magnetic stones that turn compensates for provided the accurate timekeeping
magnetism of
to align with Earths magnetic eld to necessary to keep track of longitude
ships iron hull
gauge direction in overcast conditions. (distance east or west) on a long voyage.

132
 N AV I G AT I O N TO O L S

shadow cast
by shadow vane Backstaff
aligned with c.1700s
horizon vane By the 18th century,
navigators determined
latitude by using a
sight vane
backstaff, which
aligned with
horizon vane allowed them to
determine the angle
of the Sun without
having to gaze
directly at it.

horizon
vane aligns
with horizon

Quadrant
Date unknown graduated arc
The quadrant was a simple
way of determining
latitude from the Sextant
c.1940s
height of the Sun sight
Before GPS, the sextant was the ultimate
in the sky at noon.
navigation instrument. Its telescopic sights
However, the plumb
and mirrors for focusing the stars and Sun
line needed to show
allowed for quick calculations of latitude.
vertical stayed steady
only in still weather.

plumb line

enamel plate
with dials

gyroscope
Nautical log oat frame
c.1861
Sailors would throw mechanical screw-driven
gauges, known as logs, overboard to
determine the distance travelled and the
speed of a ship.
Aireld radar dish
1953
Radars locate objects by
bouncing radio waves off
them, which aids navigation
by giving aircraft accurate
altitude readings.

weight keeps
gyroscope
vertical

Gyroscope GPS
18801900 c.2012
Once set spinning, gyroscopes maintain The global positioning
their position however they are rocked system (GPS) of reference
and tilted. This makes them invaluable satellites provides an instant
sighting platforms onboard a rolling ship. and accurate x of position
The handle turns the cogs that on even a hand-held device
set this gyroscope spinning. like this smartphone.

133
 172122
The connection between aurorae and variations in Earths magnetism was
discovered by English clockmaker George Graham in 1722.
WITH SO MANY BUILDINGS
MADE MOSTLY OF WOOD, re
was a major hazard in 18th-
century cities. In the 1600s, the
Dutch had rushed water pumps
mounted on handcarts to res,
but they delivered little more
than a trickle of water. The
breakthrough came when
London buttonmaker Richard
Newsham (d.1743) patented a
pump in North America in 1721.
Newshams re pump cart was
the forerunner of todays re
engines. It had a a 640 litre (169
gallon) watertank, and its pump
operated by long handles and
foot treadles extending either
side could squirt 380 litres (177
gallons) of water per minute.
In 1722, clockmaker George
Graham (16741751) noticed
the link between aurorae
(natural light displays in the sky)
and Earths magnetism. He
observed that magnetic storms
that made a compass needle
uctuate signicantly coincided
with sightings of the aurorae.
Grahams discovery followed a
particularly dramatic display of
the aurora borealis, or northern
lights, in 1716 that had fascinated
people at the time and was seen
as far south as London. Graham
Accurate timekeeping
The mercury pendulum helped
to eliminate inaccuracies in
timekeeping caused by temperature
variations with solid weights.
rd re
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21 ma pa A
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Br orge
2 e nk
2
17 er G e li d
ak s th e an m
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clo m s aur agne
a n
ah ee s m
Gr etw rth
134 b Ea
172324
The Russian Academy of Sciences was
founded in St Petersburg in 1724.
IN PARIS IN 1723, Italian
REN ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE RAUMUR (16831757)
astronomer Giacomo Filippo
Maraldi (16651729) noticed that
Born in La Rochelle, France, there was a bright spot in the
Ren Raumur was a naturalist centre of the shadow of any disc.
who made contributions to This phenomenon, later called
many different elds of science, the Arago spot, is caused by
from the study of insects to interference between waves of
ceramics and metallurgy. light coming around the edge of
Elected to the French Academie the object. Maraldis observation
des Sciences (Academy of later became proof of the theory
Science) aged just 24, his that light travels in waves, not
greatest work was in natural particles, because only waves
history, where he showed that can produce an interference
some crustaceans can pattern (see 1801).
regenerate lost limbs. Also in Paris this year,
naturalist Antoine de Jussieu
(16861758) compared stones
also improved the accuracy of In France, polymath Ren called ceraunia, thought to be
pendulum clocks by replacing Raumur (16831757) was natural, to the stone tools of
the solid lead weight with a ask experimenting with iron and native Americans. The likeness
of liquid mercury. This eliminated steel. He realized that the proved that ceraunia were
the variations in the length and difference between the metals ancient axes and arrowheads.
swing of a solid weight caused by was caused by their differing In 1724, Russian emperor Peter
expansion and contraction due to sulphur and salt contents. the Great (16721725) founded
temperature change. Steel, produced by smelting iron, the St Petersburg
1,000
was more brittle than pure iron Academy of Sciences
because it contained sulphur, and installed Swiss
while cast iron was even more mathematician
brittle because it contained still Daniel Bernoulli
higher levels of sulphur. Raumur
discovered that the brittleness of
KILOMETRES cast iron could be reduced by Prehistoric tool
Originally thought
THE HEIGHT burying it in lime to draw sulphur
to be of natural
out. He believed this method was origin, ceraunia
OF SOME too expensive to be practical but stones like this
NORTHERN it later became widely used. arrow head
came to be
LIGHT understood
as man-made
DISPLAYS devices.
am y o
ah ur m
Gr erc co e
e
rg e m l ian Gia es th
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2 G uces 23 om se
2 17 tron di ob t
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 172526

William Geds stereotype printing process involved making a copy of the typeset page
from a mould, so the copy could be used again and again for reprints.

(170082) as professor. That year,
Bernoulli linked two ancient
concepts: the golden number,
which the Ancient Greeks
believed gave perfect artistic
proportions, and the Fibonacci
sequence (see 120019). The
golden number (approximately
1.618) is the ratio of a rectangle
divided in two so that the ratio of
the larger piece to the smaller
is the same as the ratio of
the whole rectangle
nautilus
shell
Golden
spiral
In a nautilus
shell, the growth
factor by which
each spiral section
increases in size is
the golden number.
to the larger. In the Fibonacci
sequence, each number is the
sum of the previous two numbers.
Bernoulli showed that the golden
number is in fact the ratio of any
Fibonacci number to the previous
number in the sequence.
FROM THE 16TH CENTURY,
Lyon in France had been the
centre of European silkmaking.
It was here in 1725 that
silkmaker Basile Bouchon
invented a system for setting up
the cords on the silk loom.
Normally, this was a long and
laborious job, but by arranging
for threading needles to be
raised or not according to
holes on a moving roll of
paper, Bouchon could
partially automate the
machine. This reduced
mistakes, speeding up
the process. Bouchons
paper roll paved the way
for all programmable
machines, including,
ultimately, todays computers.
Although by 1700 it was widely
accepted that Earth is not xed
in position but moves around
the Sun, it was hard to
actually prove. Then,
in 1725, English
astronomer James
Bradley (16931762)
observed the star
Gamma Draconis
moving in the opposite
direction to the way it
usually did. This was
difcult to explain, but it
is said that while sailing
on the River Thames
Bradley realized the weather
vane on the mast sometimes
changed direction not because
10
THOUSAND
THE NUMBER OF
VOLUMES IN THE
GUJIN TUSHU
JICHENG
the winds direction was consisted of 10,000 volumes,
changing but because the boat 800,000 pages, and 100 million
was changing its course. In the Chinese characters.
same way, Bradley surmized, In 1726, English clergyman
the mysterious change in the Stephen Hales (16771761)
direction of the stars, now known described how he made the
as stellar aberration, must be rst measurements of blood
caused by the changing motion pressure by observing how far
of Earth. In London this year, blood rose up a tube inserted in
Scottish printer William Ged the artery of a horse. He
(16991749) invented the measured the hearts capacity
stereotype a copy of an and output in various animals,
original typeset page made using and the speed and resistance
a mould. This meant that of blood ow in the arteries.
limitless copies could be made
from the stereotype without the
trouble of laboriously resetting
the type.
Meanwhile in China, the Gujin
Tushu Jicheng (Collection of
Pictures and Writings) was
being printed. It was a vast
encyclopaedia overseen by the
Qing Dynasty emperors Kangxi
and Yongzheng. Only 64 copies
were ever printed, but it
Blood pressure measurement
English clergyman Stephen Hales
inserted a 3.5 m- (11.5 ft-) long glass
tube into the neck artery of a horse,
and held it vertically to see how far
the blood rose up the tube.

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Fib t 135
 172728 172930
,, AS THE TUBE COMMUNICATED A

,,
LIGHT TO BODIES MIGHT [IT] NOT
AT THE SAME TIME COMMUNICATE
ELECTRICITY TO THEM
Stephen Gray, English experimenter, in A Letter to Cromwell Mortimer
Containing Several Experiments Concerning Electricity, 1731

The Cyclopaedia summarized human knowledge, reecting the growing belief

that people could learn about the world by studying it scientically.

IN 18TH CENTURY INDIA there
was no better symbol of power
and enlightenment than
knowledge of the heavens, which
may be why the Maharajah of
Amber Jai Singh II had ve
massive observatories built
across his kingdom. The greatest
of them was the Jantar Mantar
at Jaipur, begun in 1727, which
still stands today. Jantar Mantar
means calculation
instrument and this site
contains the worlds largest
sundial, the Samrat Yantra,
which is accurate to within two
seconds. Its signicance is as
much astrological and religious
as it is scientic.
In the same year, English
clergyman and naturalist
Stephen Hales wrote about his
experiments on plant physiology
in Vegetable Staticks. He noticed
how plants drew water up
through their stems due to root
pressure and transpiration (the
evaporation of water through the
leaves). He also suggested that
plants absorb food from air using
energy from sunlight an idea
eventually leading to our
understanding of photosynthesis
(see 178788).
In 1728, English physicist
James Bradley looked at the
stars to make one of the rst
accurate measurements of
the speed of light. He used
stellar aberration, the apparent
movement of stars caused by
Earths motion, which he had
discovered in 1722. Bradley
measured the stellar aberration
of starlight from a star in the
constellation of Draco and
Jaipurs Jantar Mantar
The Samrat Yantra in the Jantar
Mantar is the worlds biggest
sundial, at over 27 m (88 ft), and the
suns shadow can be seen visibly
moving over 1 cm every 10 seconds.
calculated the speed of light
to be 301,000,000 m/s (987,532,
800 ft/s), a value remarkably
close to todays estimate of
299,792,458 m/s (983,571,056 ft/s).
In Paris, French physician
Pierre Fauchard launched
modern dentistry in his book Le
Chirurgien Dentiste (The Surgeon
Dentist). He introduced llings
and advocated cutting down on
FOR MUCH OF HIS LIFE,
ENGLISHMAN STEPHEN GRAY
worked in the family trade as a
dyer, and appears to have been
largely self-educated. When he
retired in the 1720s he began
experimenting with electrical
effects. It was the simplicity
of Grays experiments that
introduced many people to the
phenomenon of electricity. Most
signicantly, he demonstrated
how an electric charge could be
transmitted over distances by
showing that it could be
conducted through a damp silk
thread for hundreds of metres.
In France, the prodigious
mathematician and astronomer
Pierre Bouguer was making
key discoveries about the
transmission of light. Appointed a
professor and lecturer in physics
metal (copper) ion
held in place
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION
and mathematics when he was
just 15 years of age, Bouguer
began to study how light is
absorbed by transparent
substances such as the
atmosphere. He found that light
does not decrease in intensity
arithmetically (uniformly ) as
it passes through the air but
geometrically (at an ever-
increasing rate).
It is not just the atmosphere
that distorts starlight. Telescopes
of the day suffered from
chromatic aberration the
blurring and colour fringing
caused by the fact that a simple,
conventional lens cannot focus
all the different wavelengths of
light at the same point. British
inventor Chester Moor Hall
solved this problem by producing
the rst achromatic lenses.
electrons ow
along wire

27
sugar to avoid tooth decay. In

METRES London, English writer Ephraim

Chambers published The
Electrical conduction is the movement of electrical charge. It is
essentially a relay race of electrons (discovered later, in 1897).
THE HEIGHT OF THE Cyclopaedia or A Universal Electrons are normally attached to atoms, but can sometimes
SAMRAT YANTRA Dictionary of Arts and Sciences,
one of the rst great
break free. The more easily electrons can break free, the better
a substance can conduct electricity, which is why metals such as
SUNDIAL NEEDLE encyclopaedias of knowledge copper are good conductors.
AT JANTAR MANTAR written in English.

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136
 173132

Stephen Gray transmitted electricity French engineer Henri Pitot devised the pitot tube to measure the speed of ow
along damp silken thread. beneath the bridges crossing the River Seine in Paris.

Catesbys account of
ora and fauna
One bird described by Catesby was
the Ivory-billed woodpecker: one
of the worlds largest woodpeckers
and now critically endangered.
These were fused lenses designed
to bring different wavelengths of
light to focus together.
In the same year, Joseph
Foljambe developed a fast, light
SEVERAL INVENTIONS IN 1731
highlighted the growing scientic
interest in measuring the natural
world. Italian inventor Nicholas
Cirillo created the rst modern
seismograph for measuring
the intensity of earthquakes.
It consisted of a sensitively
balanced pendulum that drew
lines on paper as it swung
with each tremor, so that the
size of the swings recorded
their intensity.
Englishman John Hadley
and American Thomas Godfrey
independently invented the
octant to measure the angle
of the stars and Sun at sea by
lining up their image in a mirror
with the horizon. The addition
of a telescope in 1759 was
important and the octant was
widely used for navigation.
In that same year, agricultural
changes gained impetus with
Jethro Tulls book on horse-
hoeing husbandry, which showed
that crops could be sown every into the ow so that the height
year without a fallow period. of the water in the upright of the
Dutch scientist and physician tube indicated the speed of ow.
Herman Boerhaave put 18th Pitot tubes are now widely used to
century chemistry on a rm measure airspeed on aircrafts.
footing in his book Elementa
Chemiae (Elements of
Chemistry), published in 1732. reector
He emphasized meticulous pivoting
measurement and helped sight
to turn chemistry into a science LAURA BASSI (171178)
based on principles. Boerhaave
also founded the science Born to a wealthy Bolognese
of biochemistry with his family, Laura Bassi was
brilliant demonstrations on patronized in her scientic
the chemistry of natural work by Cardinal Lambertini,
substances such as urine the future Pope Benedict XIV.
and milk. She was appointed professor
In 1732, French of anatomy at the University
hydraulic engineer of Bologna in 1731 and
Henri Pitot created professor of philosophy in
the Pitot tube for 1732. Her work introduced
measuring how fast Newtonian physics to Italy
a river owed. This and broke the ground for
rightangled tube many women in science.
could be immersed
in a river, pointing
Octant used in navigation

1.5M/S
plough that came to be the The octant enabled the angle
of the Sun and stars to be
standard for the next 180 years.
45 frame measured easily at sea by
It was called the Rotherham lining up their reection in
covering an
swing plough and could be eighth of a mirror with the horizon.
driven by just one man and two a circle
horses. The design became so THE FLOW
VELOCITY
popular it was the rst plough
ever to be made in a factory.
In North America, British OF THE SEINE degree scale

naturalist Mark Catesby began

to publish the rst account of the
THROUGH
continents ora and fauna. PARIS

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137
 173334
John Kays ying shuttle was the rst of many devices that transformed
textile making and led to the Industrial Revolution.
THE MACHINE AGE HAD ITS
TRUE BEGINNINGS IN 1733,
when English inventor John
Kay (1704c.1779) designed
a machine to weave cotton, a
material soon cheap enough for
the mass market. Kays semi-
automatic loom swiftly wove
an important new cloth called
broadloom. The machine was
christened the ying shuttle
because of its operating speed.
In Paris that year, wealthy
experimenter Charles Franois
de Cisternay du Fay (16891739)
was researching electricity
by conducting a series of
experiments. He observed the
difference between substances
that conduct electricity or heat
and those that insulate. He also
proposed that there are two
kinds of electricity one created
by rubbing glass (which he called
vitreous electricity) and the
other by rubbing resin (resinous
electricity). These terms were
replaced 15 years later with
positive and negative. Du Fay
also found that like-charged
objects repel and unlike-charged
objects attract.
925,000
THE NUMBER OF INSECT
SPECIES KNOWN TODAY
ay
uF l ds
e s d rica kin
a
l
r ect wo
Ch el of t
33 ers e
17 cov s ar
dis arge
ch
s an ses
ate
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ay hu t 17 rg p oth
nK s
J oh ying
33
17 the
138
173536
,,GOD CREATED, LINNAEUS
ORGANIZED.
Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist
,,
At around the same time, another IN 1735, THE GREAT SCIENTIFIC rotation. French astronomer points of the same longitude)
French aristocrat, Ren Antoine QUESTION was determining the Jacques Cassini insisted it was near the equator and the North
Ferchault de Raumur (1683 dimensions of Earth. Isaac fatter from pole to pole. With Pole. The polar expedition, led
1757), was beginning his great Newton held that Earth isnt national pride at stake, King by mathematician and biologist
study of insects, Mmoires pour quite spherical: it is fatter around Louis XV of France sent off two Pierre Maupertuis (16981759),
servir lhistoire des insectes the equator than around the expeditions to measure an arc set off to Lapland while the
(Memoirs Serving as a Natural poles, because of Earths (the distance between two equatorial team, led by naturalist
History of Insects). This work
contained accurate descriptions
of the life and habitats of nearly
all insects then known, and laid
the groundwork for the science
of entomology.
Philosophers across Europe
were questioning established
theories. In 1734, English
philosopher Bishop George
Berkeley (16851753) criticized
calculus for the way it never
solved the problem of pinning
down movement at a single
instance preferring to fudge it
instead by calculating it over an
innitely small distance, between
what are known as limits.
Swedish philosopher Emanuel
Swedenborg proposed the idea
that the Solar System formed
from a cloud of gas and dust
that collapsed due to gravity,
and then began spinning to
conserve angular momentum.
h
ns dis rl es
ge io we t Ca lish
or est S
5 lis ub ae
Ge y qu 3 ge alt
3 4 le 17 tura us p atur an or b
17 rke us na nae a N r m t Ge s co
Be lcul Lin stem Ge gis ver
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17 ner t dis
i
m and
Br
5
l 73
ue a y 1 dley
M H a he
m
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34 ro es o l a in
Ge exp e w
o yp d
b
en r h tra
w ed ula
S neb
e
th

The botanical wallpaper in Carl Linnaeuss former home, now a museum, in Uppsala, Sweden,
is a modern replication of the original 18th-century wall covering.
and explorer Charles Marie de 1735, as the French exploratory
La Condamine (170174), went teams set sail, English
to Peru and Ecuador. When the meteorologist George Hadley
teams reported their ndings, (16851768) had a key insight
they proved that Newton, not into the trade winds that drive
Cassini, was right Earth is ships across the Atlantic: these
fatter at the equator. Also in winds blow east-west, not
straight towards the equator
because they are deected by
Earths rotation.
This year, too, English
clockmaker John Harrison
(16931776) completed the
rst version of his marine
chronometer, a clock that could
keep time accurately enough
at sea to allow longitude to
be calculated. By 1759, Harrison
Linnaeuss animal kingdom
In this table from Systema Naturae,
Carl Linnaeus sets out his six
subdivisions of the animal kingdom:
mammals, birds, amphibians, sh,
insects, and worms.
HADLEY CELL
It is now known that there are
three great bands of vertical
air circulation, or cells, either
side of the equator, including
the tropical cell named after
the meteorologist George
Hadley. The east-west
deection of these cells caused
by Earths rotation creates
a corkscrew pattern that
accounts for prevailing winds
at different latitudes.
is r
sh hn s h te
gli r Jo lete ome
n 7 J th s
E
35 ak om ro
e p n
17 ckm on c e ch
lo
c rr ar i s in
Ha st m
r Be cult
de
rie ne
s Ma ami er
rle nd bb
ha Co s ru
6 C la ver
17
3
co
dis
had produced a fourth, pocket-
sized version known as H4
that was of even greater
accuracy (see 175964).
Three years before Maupertius
and his team went to Lapland,
Swedish naturalist Carl
Linnaeus had travelled there to
collect plant and bird specimens.
It was this trip that planted the
seeds for his great scheme for
classifying life, the Systema
Naturae (System of Nature),
rst published in 1735. Linnaeus
divided the natural world into
three kingdoms animal, plant,
and mineral and subdivided
each into class, order, genus,
and species. He introduced the
now internationally recognized
Latin binomial (two-part name)
classication system which
indicates rst the genus and
then the species.
direction of Earths
rotation
Hadley cell
173739
,,THOSE, WHO PRETEND TO
DISCOVER ANYTHING NEW
,,
INSINUATE PRAISES OF THEIR
OWN SYSTEMS, BY DECRYING ALL
THOSE ADVANCED BEFORE THEM.
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, from A Treatise
on Human Nature, 1739
LATE IN THE EVENING OF
28 MAY 1737, English physician
and astronomer John Bevis
(16951771) witnessed a
rare event through a telescope
at the Royal Greenwich
Observatory in London: a
planetary occultation in
which one celestial body
passes in front of another,
temporarily hiding it from view.
What Bevis watched was Venus
passing in front of Mercury, CARL LINNAEUS
the only planetary occultation (170778)
ever recorded.
In Switzerland, mathematician Born in Rashult, Sweden,
Daniel Bernoulli (170082) Carl Linneaus was one of
published Hydrodynamics, a the greatest naturalists
study of the ow of water, based of his time. A practising
on his work in St Petersburg, physician, he spent most
Russia. Bernoulli noted that as of his time classifying plants.
the speed of moving uid His students travelled the
increases, the pressure within it world, sending back samples
decreases a phenomenon now to Uppsala and spreading
known as Bernoullis principle. Linnean theories. He became
Also in St Petersburg, French Professor of Botany at the
astronomer Joseph-Nicolas University of Uppsala in 1741.
Delisle (16881768) established
a method for tracking sunspots
as they moved across the Sun. what is now recognized as
In 1739, French explorer infrared radiation. In Anjou,
Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet France, young Scottish
de Lozier (170586) found the philosopher David Hume
worlds remotest island, now completed his A Treatise on
called Bouvet Island, in the Human Nature in which he
South Atlantic Ocean. In France, tried to create a complete
physicist milie du Chtelet psychological prole of man.
(170649) published her 1739
paper on combustion, in which
she predicted the existence of
et 9
tel f 73
n h ce o y 1 te s
oh e C r
ua tis er
du sten
73 ves enu ilie xi an ap cov
1 m he e tion 1 J an-B t dis ater im
y er f V
Ma obs n o 39 ts
t dia Je uve nd l er h
28 vis atio 17 edic d ra Bo isla aft
pr rare an med
oc inf na
us
e ae r a
m inn ene s
Hu se rl
L
pe
v id eati or G
Ca hes (Ty ts)
Da Tr rr 39 blis rum Pl an
39 s A n E 7
1 pu ta of
17 lete uma an
p
m on H Pl
co
139
 174042
,, THE ANIMAL NEVER COMES OUT
ON SHORE ITS SKIN IS BLACK

,,
AND THICK ITS HEAD IS SMALL,
IT HAS NO TEETH, BUT ONLY
TWO FLAT WHITE BONES.
Georg Steller, German zoologist, 1740

Stellers sea cow was a large sea mammal that fed on kelp. Discovered in 1740
by German naturalist Georg Steller, it was extinct by 1767.

TOUGH AND RESISTANT TO
CORROSION, STEEL is a practical
metal for construction and
machinery. But for thousands
of years it was so hard to make
reliably in any quantity that it was
only used for blades. Then in
1740, English clockmaker
Benjamin Huntsman (170476)
perfected his crucible method
of making steel in Shefeld,
England. It involved heating steel
to 1600C (2912 F) in a coke-
red furnace in clay pots or
crucibles to make ingots of
tough steel large and pure
enough to cast into many
shapes. Huntsmans crucible
revolutionized steelmaking and
over the next century, Shefelds
steel production rose from 200 to
80,000 tonnes per year. This was
almost half of Europes steel.
On 4 June 1740, Danish
explorer Vitus Bering (1681
1741) launched an expedition
to map the remote Arctic coast
of Siberia. He sailed from
Kamchatka in eastern Russia
aboard the St Peter, while fellow
explorer Aleksey Chirikov
(170348) sailed aboard the
St Paul. The ships became
separated and Bering discovered
the Alaskan Peninsula while
Chirikov found some of the
Aleutian Islands. After Bering
fell ill with scurvy, his ship was
wrecked on the Aleutians and he
died there. Some of his crew built
ANDERS CELSIUS
(170141)
Born in Uppsala in Sweden,
Anders Celsius succeeded
his father as professor of
astronomy at Uppsala
University in 1730. He is most
famous for devising the
temperature scale that now
bears his name, but he also
helped discover the link
between magnetic storms
in the Sun and the aurora
phenomenon on Earth.
a small boat and returned to
Russia with news of fur-trading
possibilities that would make
Russia rich. Among the survivors
was German naturalist Georg
Steller (170946) who had
collected specimens of hitherto
unknown species of wildlife
during the expedition. Stellers
sea cow, Stellers jay, Stellers sea
eagle, and Stellers eider all bear
6
his name. Within 27 years of its
discovery, Stellers sea cow had
THE NUMBER
been hunted to extinction. OF SPECIES GEORG
Developed in the early 17th
century by innovators such as STELLER DISCOVERED
the physician Robert Fludd and DURING THE 1740 VOYAGE
astronomer Galileo Galilei, the
thermometer displayed
temperature by showing the level In 1742, French mathematician forces simpler by reducing them
of liquid in a glass tube as it Jean Le Rond DAlembert to static calculations. Also this
expanded or contracted. But a (171783) found another way to year, American inventor and
century on, it had still not been consider Newtons Second Law of statesman Benjamin Franklin
agreed how to calibrate it. Motion, by introducing a ctitious designed a cast-iron stove
Amongst other suggestions, balancing or equilibrium force. that could be set in the middle
English physicist and Known as DAlemberts of a room to maximize its
mathematician Isaac Newton principle, this made calculations heating effect. Cast-iron stoves
proposed a scale with the about dynamic or changing soon became immensely popular.
melting point of snow at one end
and the boiling point of water at TEMPERATURE SCALES
the other, with points divided by
33 degrees in between. In the In the 1700s, many KELVIN CELSIUS FAHRENHEIT
end, the winner turned out to be temperature scales
the temperature scale invented were used, including 373K 100C 212F
by Swedish astronomer Anders Raumurs. Now just
Celsius (170144) in 1742, which three are common: the
developed into the modern Kelvin (K, introduced in
300K 27C 81F
Celsius scale (known until 1948 1848), Celsius (C) and
as Centigrade). In Celsiuss scale, Fahrenheit (F) scales. 273K 0C 32F
the two end points were set 100 Each just shows 255K 18C 0F
degrees apart, with 100 degrees degrees between xed
signifying the freezing point of points. The Kelvin 200K 73C 99F
water, while 0 degrees signied scale starts at absolute
boiling point at standard zero. One Kelvin is
atmospheric pressure. Two years equal to one degree
later, Swedish naturalist Carl Celsius, so 273.15 K is
100K 173C 279F
Linnaeus adopted Celsiuss 0C, the melting point
scale for his greenhouse of water, and 373.15 K
thermometers, but reversed is 100C, the boiling Absolute
zero 0K 273C 460F
the scale so that 100 degrees point of water.
was the boiling point of water.

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140
174344 174546
,,
,,
THE SPECIES TODAY ARE
SMALLEST PART OF WHAT BLIND
DESTINY HAS PRODUCED
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, Essai de cosmologie, 1750

In March 1744, six unusual tails were seen shooting above the horizon from French philosopher Pierre Maupertuiss ideas
the amazingly bright Great Comet of 1744. hinted at later evolutionary theory.

IN SPRING 1744, NIGHT IN 1745, SWISS NATURALIST ,, I HAVE FOUND OUT SO MUCH

,,
SKIES around the world CHARLES BONNET (172093)
were illuminated by one wrote a key study on insects, ABOUT ELECTRICITY THAT I
of the brightest ever Trait dInsectologie (Treatise on UNDERSTAND NOTHING AND CAN
comets. It was spotted Insectology). In it he noted that EXPLAIN NOTHING.
through a telescope late caterpillars breathe through
in 1743 by German pores, and that aphids Pieter van Musschenbroek, Dutch physicist, 1746
astronomers Jan de reproduce by parthogenesis
Munck and Dirk (without the need for mating). another kind of map, showing all electrodes on the inside and
Klinkenberg, and In France this year, the the countrys surface minerals. It outside of a glass jar. It was
Swiss astronomer mathematician and philosopher was perhaps the rst ever major not a battery, because it did not
Jean-Philippe de Pierre Louis Maupertuis geological map. produce a charge itself instead
Chseaux it later (16981759) was writing Vnus In the city of Leyden in it stored a static charge built up
became known as the Cassinis map of France Physique, in which he hinted Holland, German cleric Ewald by friction generators. However,
Comet de Klinkenberg-Chseaux. In making the rst detailed, accurate at ideas that emerged later Georg von Kleist (170048) it was a compact way of storing
map of France, Cassini set out: To
By the next spring, this rare in evolutionary theory. He and Dutch physicist Pieter van electricity and provided a useful
measure distances by triangulation
Great Comet was so bright and thus establish the exact position suggested that only those Musschenbroek (16921761) and ready source of charge.
that it outshone Venus at night of the settlements. animals made in a way that best quite independently of one
electrode
and, for a few weeks in March met their needs would survive, another developed the rst
1744, it could even be seen by day. triangulation a technique that while those lacking appropriate device for storing electricity.
Thanks to new surveying establishes positions through characteristics would not. The Leyden jar stored a static
equipment, it became possible measuring angles. In 1744, Maupertius also suggested electric charge between two non-
conductive
to make accurate maps using French mapmaker Csar- that all life descends from
top
Franois Cassini de Thury a common ancestor.
(171484), also known as Cassini Also this year, French
III, began a huge project to make mathematician, Csar-Franois
1 the rst accurate map of all Cassini de Thury developed the
TRILLION France at the scale of 1:84,600. Cassini map projection. All map electrode
ESTIMATED NUMBER The project was a landmark in projections are accurate but
OF COMETS chain
map-making. they distort in various ways. The or wire
During this year, Swiss Cassini projection was accurate at
mathematician Leonhard Euler right angles to a central meridian,
80 (170783) was working in Berlin so was good for local grid-based
4185 great
on optics. The clarity of his maps. For this reason, the Cassini metal
known comets comets coating
papers helped to ensure that projection was used for the
Comets Huygens theory that light well-known Ordnance Survey Leyden jar
Great comets comets that are travels in waves prevailed maps of the UK. The Leyden jar provided
exceptionally bright are seen less a way to store and build
over Isaac Newtons theory In 1746, French mineralogist
frequently than other comets. There up a charge of static
are millions of comets that remain of light corpuscles or particles Jean-tienne Guettard electricity, ready to
undiscovered to this day. (see 1675). (171586) was pioneering be released.

ist
rk lis
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141
 174748
Bernhard Siegfried Albinuss Tabulae Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani
contained anatomical drawings of unprecedented accuracy.
AFTER ENGLISH PHYSICIST
ISAAC NEWTONS DISCOVERY
of the law of gravitation (see
168789) many others became
interested in the gravitational
effect of the Moon. In 1747,
French mathematician Jean le
Rond dAlembert argued that
winds are caused by tides in the
atmosphere that are driven by
the Moon, just like tides in the
sea. He was mistaken winds
are really driven by variations in
the way the air is warmed by the
sun, as warm air rises and cold
air rushes in to take its place.
However, his work did introduce
partial differential equations
(PDEs), complex equations
involving several variables. Later
developed by Swiss mathematician
Leonhard Euler, PDEs are now
used for calculating how fast
one variable changes when
others are held constant, and
nd s
Ro op
le evel al
n ti
a
Je rt en
d lis ill
47 be fer
17 lem l dif
dA rtia ons
pa uati
eq
d
Lin us
es
m t citr rvy
a
J a
47 th sc
u h
17 ests res
g g c u
su fruit
142
174950
English astronomer Thomas Wright described
the Milky Way as being shaped like a disc.
they are central to calculations 400 IN 1749, FRENCH NATURALIST attention to the stability of ships
about the movement of sound, GEORGES BUFFON (170788) in his book Scientia Navalis
heat, electricity, and uids. 270350 began the publication of his (Naval Science). He analysed their
NUMBER OF BONES
300
Countless sailors were dying study Histoire Naturelle (Natural three-dimensional motion at
from scurvy on long voyages. 206 History), a 44-volume study of sea with such mathematical
Nobody knew at the time that the 200 animals and minerals. He was precision that he had to add a
illness was caused by a vitamin one of the rst to recognize that third axis to graphs to show
C deciency, but some people the world is very ancient and
100
suspected it might be prevented that many species have come Buffons Natural History
by eating lemons and limes. and gone since it was formed. This turkey is one of the many
0 accurately observed drawings
In 1747, British naval surgeon This laid the groundwork for
Newborn Adult in Georges Buffons important
James Lind (171694) carried Darwins theory of evolution a study, Histoire Naturelle, a work
out an experiment to test the Human bones century later (see pp.204205). translated into several languages.
Babies have more bones than adults,
effect of different dietary Also this year, Swiss
and some adult bones result from
supplements on six pairs of the fusion of bones that are separate mathematician Leonhard
sailors suffering from scurvy. in newborns. Euler turned his
Only the pair fed limes recovered,
and we now know that eating et Musculorum Corporis Humani
citrus fruit prevents scurvy (Drawings of the Skeleton and
because it contains vitamin C. Muscles of the Human Body). The
In 1748, Dutch anatomist drawings were plotted on grids
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus to ensure their accuracy.
(16971770) published an Also in 1748, English physicist
important study of human James Bradley explained an
anatomy, entitled Tabulae Sceleti astronomical effect he had been
studying for 20 years. This was
nutation the way Earths axis
nods slightly with a period
of 18.6 years. The Moons orbit
does not lie exactly in the plane
of the ecliptic (Earths orbit
around the Sun), so its changing
unsymmetrical gravitational pull
unbalances Earths rotation.
Treating scurvy
James Linds 1747 study proved that
citrus fruits prevented scurvy, but
it was many years before his ideas
were put into practice.
an ar
d s es gs
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E ng erg Sie blis an
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 175152
,, THE GOAL OF ENCYCLOPDIE
IS TO ASSEMBLE ALL THE

,,
KNOWLEDGE... OF THE EARTH... SO
THAT THE WORK OF CENTURIES
PAST IS NOT USELESS.
Denis Diderot, French philosopher, in Encyclopdie, 1751

This illustration of a state-of-the-art scientic laboratory of the mid-18th

century is from Denis Diderots and Jean dAlemberts Encyclopdie.

variations in depth as well
as length and breadth. The
positions or coordinates on
these three axes, known as x,
y, and z, are now central to
trigonometry (see 163537).
Also this year, Euler proved
French mathematician Pierre de
Fermats theorem that certain
prime numbers numbers that
are divisible only by themselves
and the number one can be
expressed as the sum of two
square numbers.
Meanwhile, French
hydrographer Pierre Bouguer
(16981758) was embroiled in a
dispute concerning the shape of
Earth. The French expedition to
South America led by Bouguer
and Charles de la Condamine
in the 1730s (see 173339) had
helped to prove that Earths
circumference is attened
at the poles but the pair
disagreed bitterly on the exact
results. Bouguer published his
claim in La gure de la terre
(The Shape of the Earth), in 1749.
De la Condamine published his
counterclaim two years later.
In 1750, English astronomer
FRENCH MATHEMATICIAN
PIERRE LOUIS MAUPERTUIS
(1698-1759) wrote in Systeme de
la Nature (The System of Nature)
in 1751. In it he discussed how
characteristics are passed on
from animals to their offspring,
later the basis of the science
of genetics. His ideas also
foreshadowed naturalist Charles
Darwins once discredited ideas
Lightning charge
In Philadelphia in June
1752, experimenter and
statesman Benjamin
Franklin risked death as
he proved lightning is
electricity by ying a kite
into a thundercloud to
draw down the charge.
to summarize all
knowledge of the time,
Encyclopdie. It was
the rst encyclopedia
to include work from
a variety of named
contributors, and it
aimed to collate the
worlds knowledge
in one place.
In Edinburgh in 1751,
Scottish physician Robert Whytt
(1714-1766) discovered how the
pupil of the eye automatically
opens or closes in response to
levels of light. His pupil reex
was the rst discovery of a bodily
reex, an automatic response
to a stimulus.
,, HE SNATCHED THE
Future American statesman Also this year, physicist Thomas
Benjamin Franklin (170690) Melvill (1726-53) discovered
was intrigued by the similarity that when he set different
between lightning and the sparks substances aame, the ame
in his home demonstrations of gave differently coloured
electrical phenomena. Franklin spectra when shone through
became convinced that lightning a prism. Salt gave a spectra
is natural electricity and in dominated by bright yellow, for
Experiments and Observations in instance. This was the beginning
Electricity, published in London of spectroscopy, by which
in 1751, he described an substances are identied by
experiment to prove his theory. the colour of light they emit.
This involved drawing lightning
down to a spike on a sentry box.
In May 1752, Frenchman
Jean-Francois dAlibard
(1703-99) tried Franklins
experiment in France and found
that it worked. The following
month, Franklin, not yet aware of
dAlibards success, went out in
a summer storm in Philadelphia
to y a kite under the clouds to
draw electrical charge down the
line to a key, insulated from BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
the experimenter by a silk ribbon. (170690)
As sparks streamed off the key,
Franklin, like dAlibard, could see Born in Boston, USA,
that the cloud was electried. Franklin lived most of his life
in Philadelphia, where he ran
a printing business. He was
one of the founding fathers

Thomas Wright (171186) began
to think about the shape of the
Milky Way, not then recognized
as galaxy. Wright speculated
correctly that although we
cannot see it because we are in
the middle of it, the Milky Way
is shaped like a at disc.
on pangenesis, an early theory
of heredity now receiving
renewed attention.
Also in this year, French
philosophers Denis Diderot
(17131784) and Jean
dAlembert started work
on their book that attempted
,,
of American independence
LIGHTNING FROM THE SKY and became famous for his
AND THE SCEPTRE investigations into the nature
of electricity. He also invented
FROM TYRANTS. the lightning rod and a type of
cast-iron stove, and he made
Anne-Robert Jacques Turgot, French economist and statesman, studies of the Gulf Stream.
on Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Samuel P. du Pont, 1778

as s t
m ibe tt ro t
ho scr y as c hy de er
T e a dis Di mb r in
50 t d rt
W i s e i
17 righ lky W e a be he en Al the jam es ic
W e Mi d lik R o t 1 D an d k on B en prov ectr
5 l
th ape 51 ers x 17 d Je wor die 52 lin s e
17 cov ee an gin op 17 ank ng i
sh i s
d pil r r
F htn i
be cycl
pu En lig

is ist
rtu y m
u pe eor s c he eers
h i h n y
Ma e t es lis pio cop
re th en ng ille ros
P ier ests ang E
52 elv ec
t
p
51 gg of 17 s M sp
17 su a
om
Th

143
 175354 175556
,, SYSTEMS OF MANY STARS,
WHOSE DISTANCE PRESENTS THEM

,,
IN SUCH A NARROW SPACE THAT
THE LIGHT REACHES US, IN A
UNIFORM PALE GLIMMER
Immanuel Kant, German philosopher in Universal Natural
History and Theory of the Heavens, 1755

Carl Linnaeuss classication of plants focused on their sexual organs, the pistils and stamens,
as illustrated here by botanical artist Georg Ehret, who worked with Linnaeus in the 1730s.

AMERICAN INVENTOR AND Lightning conductor life as known on Earth. But AROUND MID MORNING ON
POLYMATH BENJAMIN Franklins lightning rod Bokovis almost-correct theory 1 NOVEMBER 1755, the city
initially met with worried
FRANKLIN (170590) had was a key step in the process of of Lisbon in Portugal was 15% of
opposition, but soon many
proved in 1751 that lightning is buildings were sprouting these understanding other worlds devastated by an earthquake buildings still
natural electricity. Some two property protectors. beside our own. now estimated at magnitude 8.5 standing
years later, he demonstrated Scottish chemist Joseph on the Richter scale (see 1935).
85% of buildings
with his new invention, the Swiss mathematician Black (172899) also found After studying the after-effects, destroyed
lightning rod, how buildings Leonhard Euler (170783) out something about Earths British geologist John Michell
could be protected against addressed the question of how atmosphere with his discovery (172493) correctly suggested
this hazard. The simple three heavenly bodies, of carbon dioxide, which he that earthquakes travel as
Great quake
device, still used today, such as the Sun, Moon, called xed air. Black learned seismic waves, which alternately
Many major buildings and around
comprised a metal rod and Earth, interact. He that this gas is heavier than compress and stretch the 12,000 dwellings were destroyed
placed on top of a building approached what is air, does not allow ames to ground. Michell worked out by Lisbons earthquake of 1755.
to draw down lightning known as the three- burn, can cause asphyxiation, that the quakes epicentre
and conduct it harmlessly body problem in his and is exhaled by animals the point where the waves that use of hydraulic lime, a cement
to the ground through a book Theoria Motus in breath. shook Lisbon originated was in that sets under water and is
metal wire, saving the Lunae (A Theory of During this period, Swedish the eastern Atlantic between the resilient to deterioration when
building from damage. Lunar Motion), and naturalist Carl Linnaeus, (see Azores and Gibraltar. wet. Smeaton used hydraulic
Although many argued eventually found a 173739), produced his work British engineer John Smeaton lime to build the third Eddystone
that drawing lightning solution in 1760. Euler on classifying plants, Species (172492) improved the stability lighthouse off the coast of
only increased the also pioneered studies Plantarum (The Species of of buildings with his pioneering southwest England.
likelihood of a strike, into how the gravitational Plants), which covered some
the idea caught on pull between the Moon 6000 plants and gave each one
quickly. But Czech and Earth drives tides on a binomial (two-part) Latin name
inventor Prokop Earth. Understanding of indicating genus and species.
Divi (16981765) such forces was still in This system provides the basis
independently invented its infancy in 1754, when for plant nomenclature used
a similar device around Dutch dike supervisor by botanists today.
the same time, and it was Albert Brahms (16921758)

30,000
Divis design that became began the rst scientic
more widely used. recordings of tide levels.
British naval surgeon James Ruer Josip Bokovi
Lind published in 1753 the rst (171187) of Dubrovnik, who
edition of A Treatise of the made signicant contributions ESTIMATED
Scurvy, the result of six years to at least half a dozen scientic
research into the benets of elds, claimed that the Moon NUMBER OF
citrus fruit as a preventive of the has no atmosphere. In fact, we AMPS CARRIED
dread shipboard disease. It was
several decades before anyone
now know that the Moon does
have a sparse atmosphere,
IN A BOLT OF
acted fully on Linds theory. although not enough to support LIGHTNING
el
lin d
S, ank ro al ath eers l nu r
av d m a an ma ula
n U Fr ning rl s oly pion ysic ity rm Im eb
I in ht Ca he h n Lin ise p t l Ge er s n tion
53 it i s s t iss nne e ph ona
17 njam s lig 53 blis ant Br me rea w o h s 55 soph elop ma
Be ent
7
1 p u pl 53 Ja A T 5 4 S s B at t per 7
1 ilo ev for
ay us of 17 cer hes vy 17 arle a th y to ph nt d for stem
inv 1 M nae tem ion of blis Scur Ch e ide s ke Ka eory r Sy
Lin sys cat pu the th nd i th Sola
his ssi of m
i
of
cla

ss e
dik s An
wi n 5 s
5 3 S ticia r u tch ahm g 175 tate n
17 ma ule e er D r in ist r s h
be deva s Jo ory
e E h om s 54 rt B rd ls em s
ath rd n t on laim o 17 lbe reco leve ch over e em ke pt the es
m onha s o lem st r c n r A c e h
is isc id
v
o u a o m p v
Le wor pro
k b n a vi as re ee nti f tid ott d iox 1 N rthq d pr velo c wa
y tia ko n h he gin cie o Sc lack on d ea n, an o de ism
i
d roa Bo oo osp en ts s 4 B b
bo C r M r 5
17 eph car bo ll t f se
e- 53 e the atm sta Lis iche o
re 17 Ru s
th Jo
144 M
 175758
,,A PARTICLE OF POINTS QUITE
HOMOGENEOUS, SUBJECT TO A LAW

,,
OF FORCES MAY EITHER ATTRACT,
REPEL, OR HAVE NO EFFECT ON
ANOTHER PARTICLE
Ruder Bokovic, in Theory of Natural Philosophy, 1758

Immanuel Kant believed, as do many scientists today, that the Solar System
originated as a cloud of dust between the stars.

In Russia, polymath Mikhail
Lomonosov proved the law of
conservation of matter by
showing that when lead plates
are heated inside a jar the
collective weight of jar and
contents stays the same,
although the materials have
altered. His ndings predated by
nearly 30 years the similar law
formulated by French chemist
Antoine Lavoisier (see 178182).
German philosopher
Immanuel Kant (17241804)
developed the idea of the nebular
hypothesis, rst suggested by
Swedish thinker and visionary
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688
1772) in the 1730s. This theory
postulates that the Solar System
originated in a rotating gas cloud
MIKHAIL LOMONOSOV (171165)
Little known in the West,
Lomonosov was born a
peasant and went on to
become a pioneer in physics,
chemistry, and astronomy, a
poet, and a key thinker in the
Russian Enlightenment. His
achievements include the
discovery of planet Venuss
atmosphere, and devising
theories for light waves and
iceberg formation.
that collapsed inwards
under its own gravity, the
matter forming into
the Sun and planets.
is built from point-like particles
Destruction of a city
Over 30,000 people were killed by
the massive earthquake that rocked
the Portuguese city of Lisbon in
November 1755.
THE IDEA THAT THINGS Mayer (172362) and used
ARE MADE FROM ATOMS to calculate longitude at sea.
had been important since the Also working on longitude
early 17th century. But Ruer calculations at about this
Bokovi, living in Venice at time was English clockmaker
the time, went further and John Harrison (16931776),
developed his own atomic whose H3 chronometer proved
theory, which he explained in precise enough to be used
his book Theoria Philosophiae for longitude calculations
(Theory of Natural Philosophy). under all conditions.
Bokovi suggested that matter In Switzerland, the three
engineering Grubenmann
interacting in pairs. brothers Jakob (16941758),
In France, astronomer Alexis Johannes (170771), and Hans
Claude Clairaut (171365), (170983) erected the worlds
who had earlier made a name longest road bridges, including
for himself with his theory on a 67 m- (220 ft-) long bridge at
why Earth must be attened at Reichenau over a tributary of
the poles, developed a theory the Rhine.
about comets. He suggested
that Halleys comet, due
to reappear in 1759, might
be subject to unknown
gravitational forces, such
as another comet. Clairaut
also compiled lunar
tables, but they were
not as important or
as accurate as those
made in Gttingen,
in Germany, by
astronomer Tobias

Moon map
German astronomer
Tobias Mayers close
study of the Moon resulted
in the rst maps to show
accurately the positions
of the craters on the
lunar surface.

ath h n an r
lis oh es ati s
m
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To nts 5 ine ann
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17 nee velo g 17 mer rese the m l
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145
 15 4 3 17 8 8 T H E AG E O F D I S C OV E R Y

Barograph
20th century
As the barometer reacts to air pressure,
by either expanding or contracting, the
movement causes the marker pen attached to
the lid of the barometer to move
graph over the graph paper
paper on on the revolving drum.
rotating
drum

pen attached to lid

of barometer

aneroid
barometer

vane veers to show

wind direction

rotors turn vane

into the wind

METEOROLOGICAL
INSTRUMENTS
ACCURATE METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS PAVED THE WAY FOR WEATHER FORECASTING

People have always sought ways to understand and

predict the changes to the weather around them, and reective surface
of glass ball
this led to the development of devices to investigate the focuses Suns rays
properties of air, such as its temperature and pressure.
focused rays
scorched onto
The rst meteorological instruments were made in 17th-century Italy. strip of card
At rst, tools were created simply to learn about the atmosphere. held here

Thermometers measured changes in temperature; barometers revealed

variations in air pressure; anemometers registered
wind strength; and hygrometers showed humidity. drum held paper on
Gradually, it was realized that these measurements which wind speed
Parheliometer was recorded
could be used to help predict the weather, and
1881
now countless readings from weather stations all Hours of sunshine
around the world are fed into powerful computers can be recorded on
to build up weather forecasts. a parheliometer, in
which a glass ball
Aneroid barometer focuses the Suns
mercury 20th century rays onto card so
thermometer that the Suns
Air pressure changes,
shown on the dial of passage leaves
an aneroid barometer, a scorch trace.
are a good indicator
of weather to come.
Falling pressure Spinning-cup anemograph
suggests stormy 20th century
weather, and steady The spinning-cup anemometer was invented in
high pressure heralds 1846 by Irish astronomer Dr John Robinson to
clear weather. measure wind speed. This anemograph records
wind speed continuously on a cylindrical chart.
air pressure in millibars

Aneroid barometer/thermometer
20th century
In the 19th century, before broadcast weather reports,
a combined thermometer and aneroid barometer,
typically housed in a case shaped like a banjo, helped
householders make their own weather predictions.

146
 M E T E O R O LO G I CA L I N S T R U M E N T S

wind speed Weather calculator

indicated by how 1920s
fast cup spins British meteorologist Lewis
Soil thermometers Richardson helped to develop
1990s numeric weather prediction by
Right-angled thermometers are used creating special calculators.
to measure soil temperature at varying
depths. This is done to see how deeply
frost has penetrated the ground.

Glass thermometer
1700s
This beautiful
thermometer was
made by Italian glass
blowers. It is lled
with alcohol that
expands and climbs
the spiral when the Thermometer
temperature rises. 1990s Cotton-reel thermometer
Maximum and c.185577
minimum temperatures This desk-top combination
reached each day are instrument features a
recorded on either arm mercury thermometer
collection funnel of a double-ended and a compass.
thermometer.

water runs down antenna propeller

funnel and collects
wind vane
in cylinder
measures
speed and
Rain gauge Sea thermometer direction
1980s c.1870 of wind
Rainfall can be This thermometer for
recorded simply by measuring sea temperature
the depth of water was used on the HMS
funnelled down inside Challenger oceanographic
a rain gauge, typically expedition of 187276.
mounted 20 cm (8 in)
above the ground to
avoid splashes. sensor
wet cloth keeps measures air
dry bulb bulb moist temperature

Ocean weather
station
1980s
Since the 1970s,
scale shows
humidity
oating weather
buoys have been
used to monitor
Hair hygrometer weather conditions
c.1830 vane to at sea. They move
This simple way of orient buoy freely with ocean
measuring humidity into the wind currents and beam
depended on the ability back continual
of a human hair to measurements
stretch in moist air via satellite links.
and shrink in dry
air in a regular and
predictable way. sensor measures
temperature of
seas surface

strands of
human hair

Hygrometer
1836
Evaporation causes cooling, so the
temperature difference between two bulbs
of a thermometer, one kept wet, one dry,
can be compared to calculate humidity.

147
 175960
30,000
THE NUMBER OF PLANT SPECIES
IN THE LIVING COLLECTIONS
AT KEW GARDENS
In 1760, the botanic gardens at Kew in London were enlarged to accommodate the many
exotic plants brought back from distant lands. This is Kews great Palm House of 1848.
H4 chronometer
The rst practical device for
calculating longitude at sea,
Harrisons H4 chronometer was like
THE PROBLEM OF CALCULATING
LONGITUDE AT SEA WAS nally
solved in 1759 with a highly
accurate clock, or chronometer.
a large pocket watch, 13 cm (5 in)
across and weighing 1.45 kg (3.2 lb). Most people had assumed that
such a clock would be large and
complex. Between 1730 and
1759, English clockmaker John
Harrison had built three
chronometers, all very accurate
but not accurate enough. Then
Harrison realized the clock did
not have to be big. In 1760, he
built a chronometer the size
of a pocket watch. Called H4,
it worked astonishingly well,
losing just 5.1 seconds in a
two-month journey across
the Atlantic in 1761.
As mariners sailed further,
they brought exotic plants
to Europe from across the
globe. These were planted
in newly created botanical
gardens, such as Kew
Gardens in London, which
was greatly enlarged in 1760
by Augusta of Saxe-Coburg,
dowager Princess of Wales.
Mariners sailing through the
Southern Ocean brought back
tales of giant icebergs. Russian
polymath Mikhail Lomonosov
suggested that they must have
formed on dry land, on a
continent as yet undiscovered,
which later proved to be
Antarctica. He also suggested
that some rocks were much older
than others and that the history
ni
an
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148
,, THE THEATRE
OF THE MIND COULD
,,
BE GENERATED BY
THE MACHINERY OF
THE BRAIN.
Charles Bonnet, from Essai Analytique sur les Facults de Lme
(Analytical Essay on the Powers of the Soul), 1760
of Earths landscapes must be In 1760, Charles Bonnet
long and complex, not simply the described what came to be
result of a few brief catastrophes. known as Charles Bonnet
One year previously, Italian syndrome, a condition in which
geologist Giovanni Arduino people with poor eyesight are
(171495) suggested that the aficted with hallucinations. He
geological history of Earth observed the symptoms in his
could be divided into four periods: grandfather and suggested that
Primitive, Secondary, Tertiary, and the visualizations that the mind
Volcanic or Quaternary. sees are generated by the
CHARLES BONNET (172093)
Born near Geneva, Charles
Bonnet lived all his life in his
hometown. His studies included
research on parthenogenesis
in insects (reproduction
without sex) and the discovery
that caterpillars breathe
through pores. A naturalist
as well as a philosopher, he
also pioneered the idea that
the mind is the product of the
physical brain.
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176162
,, THE HEAT WHICH
DISAPPEARS IN THE
,,
CONVERSION OF
WATER INTO VAPOUR,
IS NOT LOST.
Joseph Black, Scottish chemist, from his
Lectures on Elements of Chemistry, 1960
ONE OF THE MILESTONES on the
road to the Industrial Revolution
was the establishment in 1761
of the Soho Manufactory in
Birmingham, England. The
brainchild of entrepreneur
Matthew Boulton, the Soho
factory pioneered the assembly
line, with mass-production of
cheap items, such as buttons,
buckles, and boxes for the
general public. It was here that
British engineer James Watts
steam engines (see 176566)
were built a few years later.
An early patron of James Watt,
Scottish chemist Joseph Black
(172899) discovered one of the
properties of heat. He found that
much more heat is needed to
melt ice than to warm ice-cold
water, just as it takes extra heat
to evaporate water. The discovery
100+
STARBURST
GALAXY
1 Agriculture), discussed the
An ordinary galaxy
Stars made by galaxies per year
The Milky Way, the only known galaxy
in the 1760s, makes one new star a
year, compared to hundreds in the
starburst galaxies now recognized.
lk
ha
t t sc
Go ers istry
an ne
oh pio chem
J
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6
17 ller ltur
6 ans ly o
Wa ricu
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17 ver
co
dis
176364
Joseph Black became famous for his ground-breaking lectures Edward Stones discovery of the medicinal properties of willow bark
on the study of heat at Glasgow University, Scotland. was a great breakthrough in palliative medicine.
IN 1763, BRITISH CLERGYMAN worker. The spinning jenny
LATENT HEAT
EDWARD STONE (170268) was hand-driven and required
discovered the medicinal some skill to operate, but it was
Substances absorb or release properties of willow bark. a key step towards automatic,
heat when their physical state Stone found, after careful testing, powered machines that could
undergoes change. For a solid that willow bark dramatically turn out cloth in vast quantities.
to melt to a liquid, it must boiling point reduced ague, a fever with In 1764, Italian-born French
TEMPERATURE
absorb heat energy; and when gas symptoms similar to malaria. It mathematician Joseph Louis
a liquid freezes to a solid, it was later found that the active Lagrange (17361813) showed
loses heat. This energy is called liquid ingredient in willow bark is why the Moon oscillates, or
latent heat. Much more heat salicylic acid, which forms the librates, continually. He also
energy is needed to change solid
basis of aspirin (see 1897). explained why the same lunar
solids to liquids and liquids to melting One of the most inuential face is always turned towards
point
gases than to simply raise the inventions of 1764 was English Earth. This explanation later
temperature of a substance. ENERGY INPUT carpenter and weaver James became the basis of his equations
Hargreaves (172178) spinning of motion, which provide a simple
jenny, which could spin cotton way of calculating the movement
of this latent heat, highlighting condenser a device to eight times faster than a manual within a system.
the difference between heat and generate static electricity.
temperature, was fundamental In Switzerland, mathematician multiple
spindles
to the modern understanding Johann Heinrich Lambert
of energy. It also helped Watt to (172877) published a treatise in
turn the steam engine from an which he put forward his version
inefcient contraption to the of the nebular hypothesis,
powerhouse of the Industrial Age. the theory that the Solar System
In Sweden, chemist Johan developed from a cloud of
Gottschalk Wallerius (170985) interstellar dust. English
showed how science could be astronomer Thomas Wright
applied to farming as well as and German philosopher
to industry. His pioneering work Immanuel Kant independently
on agricultural chemistry, proposed a similar theory.
Agriculturae Fundamenta Lambert also suggested rightly
Chemica (The Natural and that the Sun and nearby stars
Chemical Elements of travel together as a group
through the Milky Way.
chemical components most
conducive to plant growth. Spinning jenny
Hargreaves spinning jenny horizontal wheel
Meanwhile, another Swede, to control spindles
could power multiple spindles,
Johan Carl Wilcke (173296) which enabled spinners to
designed a dissectible produce cotton much faster.
ts
61 us es en
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 176566

2.02
THE PROPORTION BY
WHICH GANYMEDES
MASS IS GREATER
THAN THAT OF
EARTHS MOON

Mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange calculated the motions of the four moons of
Jupiter known to 18th-century science: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

IN 1765, SECLUDED IN HIS
WORKSHOP IN THE UNIVERSITY
OF GLASGOW, young Scottish
engineer James Watt (1736
1819) was working on improving
Thomas Newcomens steam
engine, which was still only in
beam
piston
cylinder
small-scale use. In Newcomens
engine, steam was let into the
cylinder to push the piston up,
then cold water was sprayed
in and the steam condensed,
creating a vacuum that pulled
the piston down. The cold water
wasted a great deal of heat,
so Watt added a separate
component to condense steam
outside the cylinder and avoid
continuous chilling. When Watt
teamed up in the 1770s with
Birmingham industrialist
Matthew Boulton (17281809)
to put his improvements
into practice,
Watts invention
transformed the
steam engine from
a pump of limited
use to the source of
power that drove the
Industrial Revolution.
ywheel
Boulton established the
Lunar Society of Birmingham,
a small group of pioneering
thinkers that included Erasmus
Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood, and
Joseph Priestley (17331804).
Later Watt, too, joined them.
Priestley and chemists Joseph
Black and Henry Cavendish
(17311810) became known as
the pneumatic chemists for
their work on air and gases. In
1765, Cavendish discovered that
hydrogen, which he called
inammable air, is an element,
and can be made by dissolving
metals in acid.
In 1766, Swiss mathematician
Leonhard Euler accepted a new
post at the Academy of Sciences
in St Petersburg, where he had
spent much of his earlier
career. During this year he
developed key equations
for the movement of rigid
bodies that is, any
objects that keep their
shape, such as a planet.
Italian-born French
mathematician Joseph
Industrial power
James Watts revolutionary
engine, incorporating a
double-acting cylinder that
allowed steam to escape to
a separate condenser, was a
key development for industry.
JAMES WATT
(17361819)
Born in Greenock, Scotland,
on 19 January 1736, engineer
James Watt was one of the
greatest-ever inventors. His
improvements to the steam
engine transformed it from
erratic mine pump to factory
powerhouse. His many other
inventions included a
machine for duplicating
sculptures and the worlds
rst copying machine.
Louis Lagrange (1736-1813)
took over Eulers position at the
Prussian Academy of Sciences
in Berlin, writing a paper on the
motion of Jupiters moons, only
four of which were then known.
It was a century later that they
were given the names Io, Europa,
Ganymede, and Callisto.
In Kurume, Japan, Arima
Yoriyuki (171483) calculated
pi to 29 decimal places.

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176768 176970
,, THE ELECTRIC SUBSTANCE WHICH
SEPARATES THE TWO CONDUCTORS,

,,
POSSESSING THE TWO OPPOSITE
KINDS OF ELECTRICITY, IS SAID
TO BE CHARGED.
Joseph Priestley, English clergyman and scientist, from
The History and Present State of Electricity, 1767

French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built his steam carriage to haul guns, but it was
far too heavy to be practical, and may have crashed into a wall as this old print shows.

WHILE A CLERGYMAN IN LEEDS,
FROM 16671773, JOSEPH
PRIESTLEY experimented with
chemistry and electricity, and
published a highly successful
book, The History and Present
State of Electricity, in 1767.
Priestley noticed that carbon
dioxide, or xed air as it was
then called, was a by-product of
the fermenting beer vats of the
local brewery. Experimenting
with making xed air himself,
Priestley discovered that water
impregnated with bubbles of
carbon dioxide was pleasantly
tangy. He passed on his discovery
in the false hope that carbonated
water could be used medicinally
to prevent scurvy among sailors.
In 1783, Swiss watchmaker
Johann Jacob Schweppe
(17401821) used the idea to
launch the worlds carbonated
drinks industry.
Italian naturalist Lazzaro
Spallanzani (172999), the rst
to suggest that food might be
preserved in airtight containers,
discovered in 1767 that microbes
are ever-present in the air and
multiply naturally, instead of
bursting into life spontaneously as
was commonly believed. Most of
Nooths apparatus
This apparatus was built by Dr John
Mervyn Nooth (17371828) in 1774
to make carbonated water for
medicinal purposes in the way
suggested by Priestley.
30,000
the credit for this discovery would
go to Louis Pasteur (see 185758),
who demonstrated the same thing
a century later.
On a more theoretical level, THE NUMBER
Leonhard Euler made the OF PLANT
insightful suggestion that the
colour of light is determined
SPECIMENS
by its wavelength. JOSEPH BANKS
DISCOVERED IN
BOTANY BAY
water
forced into
upper THE YEAR 1769 SAW THE
vessel CREATION OF MACHINES that
would lead to the development of
two key technologies. One could
be called the forerunner of the
automobile: the steam-carriage
carbon built by French military
dioxide engineer Nicolas-Joseph
passes
Cugnot (17251804). The second,
into water
in middle full-scale version of Cugnots
vessel carriage, built in 1770, had three
wheels and a large copper boiler
hanging over the front wheel.
This machine could run for only
20 minutes and was so heavy and
so impossible to steer or stop
that it is said to have run out of
base holds control and demolished a wall.
diluted acid, The other revolutionary
which gives
breakthrough was the powered
off carbon
dioxide factory machine, developed by
Richard Arkwright (173292).
It is often said that Arkwrights
spinning machine, which he
commissioned clockmaker
John Kay to build in 1769, was
his greatest invention. This could
Botany Bay
This 18th-century map
of Botany Bay was
engraved from charts
made by James Cook
during his exploration
of Australias east coast.
harbour later called
Botany Bay. On 3 June
1769, Cook and his
crew observed the
transit of Venus the
passage of the planet
automatically spin strong cotton in front of the Sun from Tahiti.
yarn from frail English thread. The event was also witnessed by
Arguably Arkwrights most astronomers all over the world.
inspired idea was to install That year, French astronomer
scores of these machines in a Charles Messier (17301817)
purpose-built factory, where they made the rst record of the vast
were driven not by manpower cosmic cloud known as the
but by water wheels hence they Orion Nebula, a region in the
were known as water frames. constellation of Orion where new
Arkwrights revolutionary stars are formed.
water-frame mill opened at
Cromford on the River Derwent
in Derbyshire, England, in 1771.
Across the other side of the
world, British naval ofcer
Captain James Cook (172879) 1,377,648 km
was commanding HMS DIAMETER OF
SUN
Endeavour on the rst of his
great voyages of discovery. He
and his crew became the rst
Europeans to encounter the
12,104 km
eastern coastline of Australia. diameter of Venus
On board was botanist Joseph
Banks, who found 30,000 Comparative sizes
Venus is tiny compared with the Sun,
specimens of plant life, 1,600
so when observed in transit the
of them unknown to European planet appears as just a small dark
science, when they landed in a dot crossing the face of the Sun.

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151
 177172
,,
I HAVE... DISCOVERED AN
AIR FIVE OR SIX TIMES AS
GOOD AS COMMON AIR.
Joseph Priestley, English chemist, on his discovery of nitrous oxide,
in Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air, 1775
IN 1771, GERMAN NATURALIST
PETER SIMON PALLAS (1741
1811) started sending reports
back from his six-year expedition
to eastern Russia and Siberia,
then almost as unknown to
Europeans as South America.
Pallas identied many new
species of plant and animal,
including what is now known
as Pallass cat.
In 1772, Swiss physicist and
mathematician Leonhard Euler
showed that the number
2,147,483,647 is a Mersenne
prime number a number that
is one less than twice any prime
number. It is named after Marin
Mersenne, a French monk who
had studied prime numbers in
the 17th century. It was the
largest prime number that
LEONHARD EULER (170783)
Born in Basel in Switzerland,
Leonhard Euler spent most
of his life in St Petersburg
and Berlin. He is credited
with laying the basis of modern
mathematical notation and
made great advances in
calculus and graph theory.
His output in all areas of
science was prodigious.
Although in later life he was
totally blind, he continued
to perform calculations
mentally.
an er ts
m or
G er Pet rep fe
t i
71 lis la ldls
17 tura Pal n wi
na on eria
Sim Sib
on
152
,,
had been discovered for over
a century. The proof involved
372 separate hand-calculated
divisions.
Eulers fame across Europe
was conrmed with the 1772
publication of his Letters to a
German Princess. Apparently
written at a rate of two per week
between April 1760 and May
1763, the letters were lessons in
elementary science for the
young Prussian Princess Louise
Henriette Wilhelmine of Anhalt
Dessau. This 800-page work
covered a wide range of scientic
topics including light, colour,
gravity, astronomy, magnetism,
optics, and more.
Also this year, Leonhard
Eulers successor at the Berlin
Academy, Italian-born French
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Joseph Priestleys laboratory housed the experimental apparatus he used
for the investigation of gases.
mathematician
Joseph Louis
Lagrange, began
an important work
on mechanics, entitled
Mcanique analytique
(Analytical Mechanics). From
1766 onwards, Lagrange also
produced a series of works
on how astronomical
movements could be
calculated using mathematics.
In particular, he looked at the
three-body problem how
three bodies moving in space,
such as the Sun, Earth, and
Moon, affect each other
gravitationally. This was a
problem that had fascinated
mathematicians for 90 years.
Lagrange discovered that there
are ve places where a small
body (such as the Moon) can
remain in equilibrium with
respct to two larger bodies (such
as the Sun and Earth). These are
now known as Lagrangian points.
In England this year, chemist
Joseph Priestley discovered
nitrous oxide, which he called
phlogisticated nitrous air. It
,, ...NOTHING AT ALL TAKES PLACE
IN THE UNIVERSE IN WHICH SOME
RULE OF MAXIMUM OR MINIMUM
DOES NOT APPEAR.
Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician, from Methodus Inveniendi
Lineas Curvas (Method for Finding Curved Lines), 1744
ph s
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177374
Swiss physicist Georges-Louis LeSage using
his pioneering electric telegraph.
SCIENCE HISTORY IS BESET
WITH DISPUTES over who
discovered things rst, and one
of these disputes involves the
discovery of oxygen. Because of
the part it played in combustion,
and in particular the widely
held phlogiston theory of
combustion (see 170203),
many chemists were
investigating it in the 1770s. The
rst to announce its discovery
Wild cat was Joseph Priestley, who in
Pallass cat is a small, now- 1775 described an experiment
endangered wild cat that lives in the
he conducted on 1 August 1774
mountains of central Asia. It was one
of the species rst identied by in which he created oxygen gas
German naturalist Peter Pallas. (which he called dephlogisticated
air) by focusing sunlight on
was later used as a sedative, and mercuric oxide inside a glass
became known as laughing gas tube. But in 1777, Swedish
because of the euphoric effects pharmacist Carl Wilhelm
of inhaling it. The same year, Scheele (174286)described
Scottish physician Daniel how he had already produced
Rutherford (17491819) isolated oxygen gas by heating mercuric
nitrogen gas in air for the rst
time. He called it noxious air DISCOVERY OF OXYGEN
because he found that mice
could not survive when conned Oxygen is, with nitrogen,
to a space lled with the gas. He one of two main parts of air,
also discovered that the gas did vital for human life and for
not support combustion. combustion. Priestley showed
that without oxygen candles
will not burn and mice cannot
,,
breathe. Later, in 1777,
French chemist Antoine
Lavoisier went on to prove
that it was oxygen involved in
combustion, not phlogiston
as then widely thought.
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 177576

26
THE NUMBER
OF INSULATED
WIRES IN LESAGES
TELEGRAPH

Scottish chemist James Keir realized that the strange columns of Northern
Irelands Giants Causeway are made from molten lava.

40,000
oxide and various nitrates in vertical propeller BY 1775, ELECTRICITY was
for submerging
1772. The French chemist the subject of numerous
Antoine Lavoisier (174394) ventilation experiments and this
later claimed to have rst pipe year Italian physicist
discovered oxygen and gave it its Alessandro Volta (17451827) THE NUMBER
name but both Priestley and
hatch
developed the electrophorus. OF BASALT
Scheele had already told him
about their discoveries.
It consisted of a metal disc with
an insulating handle that could
COLUMNS
American inventor David be given a static charge by THAT MAKE UP
Bushnell (17421824) built an
underwater explosive device
holding it against a disc of resin
that had already been given a
THE GIANTS
in 1773 to help the American charge by being rubbed with CAUSEWAY
Revolutionary war effort. fur or wool.
In 1775, he held trials of It was a simple and effective way called Neptunism. Plutonists,
the vessel intended to of magnifying and accumulating however, believed that rocks were
deliver this device, the an electric charge. formed by volcanic processes.
worlds rst working Also this year, Swedish Plutonist James Keir (1735
submarine. Known as naturalist Peter 1820), a Scottish chemist,
the Turtle, but shaped Forsskls (173263) realized that the interlocking
like a lemon, it had an studies of Middle Eastern basalt columns of formations like
airtight hatch at the top for fauna were published the Giants Causeway in Northern
the submariner and was posthumously; Forsskl Ireland were formed by the
manoeuvred by hand- had died of malaria while crystallization of molten lava.
cranked propellers specimen hunting in Yemen.
and rudder. In France, future engineer
The following year, Pierre-Simon Girard (1765 insulating
Carl Wilhelm Scheele 1836), just ten years old, invented handle
discovered a gas for which he is a water turbine. He went on
credited chlorine. He called to complete important work
his discovery dephlogisticated on uid mechanics. Electrophorus
muriatic acid air, because it Another key area of research Alessandro Voltas
device was a simple
came from muriatic acid, now was investigating how Earths
and convenient way to
known as hydrochloric acid. rocks and landscapes were magnify and accumulate
First submarine
In Geneva, Switzerland, in 1774, formed. In 1776, German electric charge.
Bushnells Turtle
physicist Georges-Louis LeSage submarine geologist Abraham Werner
(17241803) created an early (shown here as (17501817) insisted, metal disc
a model) was wax or
form of electric telegraph. It had incorrectly, that all resin dish
trialled in 1775. It
a separate wire for each of the 26 rocks settled out of
successfully laid
letters of the alphabet and could explosives in the an ocean that once
send messages between rooms. Hudson River. covered Earth a theory

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153
 177778 177980
,,MY SIGHT BECOMES
DISORDERED LIKE A PERSON

,,
WHO HAS LOOKED AT THE SUN THE
PAIN IN MY HEAD COMMENCES
WITH GREAT SEVERITY
Samuel-Auguste Tissot, Swiss physician, record of a patients symptoms
from Treatise on the Nerves and Nervous Disorders, 1783

Designed by Thomas Pritchard and built by Abraham Derby III, the bridge at Ironbridge, which crosses
the River Severn in Shropshire, England, was fabricated entirely from precast pieces of iron.

MATHEMATICIANS HAD Swiss physician Samuel-Auguste WITH A SIMPLE EXPERIMENT

LONG BEEN BAFFLED BY THE
PROBLEM OF nding the roots of
negative numbers, calling them
imaginary numbers. Then in
1777, Swiss mathematician
Leonhard Euler introduced the
imaginary unit, the symbol i,
which gives -1 when squared.
Eulers insight meant the square
root of any negative number
could be included in equations
as i times the square root of
the number.
In 1777, London clockmaker
John Arnold (173699) created
a watch of unprecedented
accuracy for calculating
longitude at sea, improving
on Harrisons H4 of 1759.
Arnold named such
timepieces chronometers.
Tissot (172897) described
migraine. Although Tissot
wrongly thought migraines
began in the stomach, he
described the symptoms very
accurately the severity of
the pain, its recurrence, the
suddenness an attack begins,
the effect on vision and vomiting.
Scottish surgeon John Hunter
(17281793) wrote an important
study of teeth. He also advocated
transplanting good teeth from
donors to replace rotten ones but
transplanted teeth were rejected
by the recipients immune system.
Tooth transplant
This cartoon satirizes John Hunters
practice of buying healthy teeth from
the poor to implant in place of lost
teeth in the mouths of the rich.
IN 1779, the Dutchborn physician
Jan Ingenhousz (173099)
discovered the essence
of photosynthesis, the
chemical reaction by
which plants make
food from sunlight
(see 178388). When
Ingenhousz set plants
under water in a glass
container, he saw gas
bubbles form on the
undersides of leaves, which
he showed was oxygen. But
the bubbles formed only in
sunlight, not in darkness.
Ingenhousz found that
plants need sunlight for
respiration when they take
in gases from the air to make
glucose for energy and oxygen
is released as a waste product.
Factory production of cotton
was accelerated in 1779 when
English inventor Samuel
Crompton (17531827) created
an ingenious hybrid, or mule,
combining a spinning machine
with a weaving machine to
produce nished cloth from raw
thread. Also in 1779, large-scale
construction using iron began
with the bridge at Ironbridge in
England, designed by Thomas
Pritchard (c.172377) and built
by Abraham Derby III (175091).
In 1780, in the memoir On
Combustion in General, French
chemist Antoine Lavoisier nally
outlet for
meltwater
LavoisierLaplace calorimeter
Heat produced by a mouse placed in
the inner chamber was measured by
the volume of water produced by
melted ice in the outer chambers.
mouse
placed
in inner
chamber
ice placed
in outer
chambers
demolished the theory
that burning materials
lose a substance called
phlogiston. By meticulous
weighing before and after
burning, Lavoisier showed
that substances can gain
weight when they burn
by combining with oxygen
in the air not lose it.
Together with Pierre-
Simon Laplace
(17491827), a French
mathematician, Lavoisier
invented the ice calorimeter
for measuring the heat
produced by chemical changes.
This was the beginning of the
science of thermochemistry. With
his ice calorimeter, Lavoisier
demonstrated that animals
produce heat without losing
weight, so disproving the

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 178182
379
TONS
THE AMOUNT
OF IRON USED
TO MAKE
THE BRIDGE
Macabre by todays standards, Galvanis experiments in generating movement in the
leg muscles of dead frogs were a key step in the understanding of electricity.

THE SCIENTIFIC SENSATION carrying out experiments showing In 1782, Lavoisier formulated
OF 1781 WAS THE DISCOVERY that static electricity could cause what is perhaps now regarded
OF A SIXTH PLANET by German- the muscles of dissected frogs as the most important law
born British astronomer William
Herschel (17381822). When
2,877 legs to twitch. In April, he
connected the nerves of a dead
in chemistry that of the
conservation of matter. This
MILLION KM
Herschel rst saw the object frog to a metal wire pointed law shows that in any chemical
through the telescope in his skywards in a thunderstorm. In reaction no matter not even
garden in Bath in England on 149.6 this experiment, which inspired the smallest part is ever lost;
13 March, he assumed it was MILLION KM Mary Shelleys novel Frankenstein, it is simply rearranged in
Uranus
a comet. But its brightness the frogs legs jumped with each different combinations.
JAN INGENHOUSZ and elliptical orbit soon left ash of lightning. In September,

(173099)
Born in Breda in the
Netherlands, Ingenhousz
was a physician who had
wide-ranging interests in
other scientic elds,
including the study of
electricity. He was one of
the pioneers of vaccination
against smallpox and
successfully inoculated the
Austrian Empress Maria
Theresa and her family.
previously held theory that body
heat comes from phlogiston.
In fact, animals make heat by
combustion using oxygen.
Swiss physicist Alm Argand
(17501803) revolutionized home
lighting with the Argand oil
lamp, 10 times brighter than a
candle. The lamp had a circular
wick and a tall glass chimney
to improve the airow.
103
astronomers in no doubt. Earth the legs twitched when just hung
Herschel named the new planet Distance from the Sun on a brass hook over a metal rail.
Uranus orbits the Sun at a distance
Georges Star in honour of British A erce argument sprang up
of 2,877 million km, almost 20 times
King George III, but astronomers the distance of Earth from the Sun. between Galvani and fellow
eventually decided on Uranus, Each orbit takes 84 Earth years. Italian experimenter Alessandro
after Ouranos, the Greek god Volta over whether the electrical
of the sky. of stars, later known as binaries, effect was intrinsic to muscles
French astronomer Charles
Messier (17301817) published
that John Michell had argued in
1767 revolve together and which
and life (animal electricity), as THE NUMBER OF
Galvani claimed, or whether it
the nal version of his Catalogue were observed by astronomers was a chemical reaction, as Volta ASTRONOMICAL
des Nbuleuses et des Amas
dtoiles (Catalogue of Nebulae
such as Herschel.
The same year, Italian physician
believed. Animal and chemical
electricity were later shown to
OBJECTS IN
and Star Clusters) in 1781. This Luigi Galvani (173798) began be the same. MESSIERS LIST
list, which Messier had been
compiling since the 1770s,
recorded 103 vague, distant
objects in the night sky, all still
known to modern astronomers
by the numbers Messier gave
them. Also in 1781, another
astronomer, the Czech Christian
Mayer (171983), published
a catalogue listing 80 pairs
Messiers objects
Many of the objects in Messiers list
have been revealed to be distant
galaxies far from our own Milky Way,
which in Messiers time was thought
to comprise the entire Universe.

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155
 178386
,,
,,
IF YOU CAN BRING A MOVEABLE THRESHING
MACHINE IT WILL BE AMONG THE MOST VALUABLE
INSTITUTIONS IN THIS COUNTRY.
George Washington, first US president, from a letter to Thomas Jefferson demonstrating
the importance of the threshing machine, 1786

THE SENSATION OF 1783 WAS
THE FIRST MANNED FLIGHT, in a
hot-air balloon on 21 November,
in Paris. Piloted by Piltre de
Rozier (175485) and the Marquis
dArlandes, the balloon was the
invention of French papermakers
a balloon lled with hydrogen
gas. They achieved much longer,
more controlled ights than with
hot air (which quickly cooled).
Also in 1783, Spanish brothers
Jos (175496) and Fausto
Elhuyar (17551833) isolated
star of sufcient mass would
have such a strong gravitational
eld that light could not escape.
In London, inventor Joseph
Bramah (17481814) patented
his unpickable security lock,
which opened only when the key

the Montgoler brothers,
Joseph-Michel (17401810) and
tienne (174599). The
Montgolers had previously
discovered that when hot air is
trapped inside a bag it causes the
bag to oat upwards, since hot
air is less dense than cold air.
Ten days later, French physicist
Jacques Charles (17461823)
and craftsman Nol Robert
(17601820) ew over Paris in
expansion
chamber for
gases
brass
casing
Henry Cavendishs eudiometer
This eudiometer is a replica of one
used by Cavendish to measure the
volume of gases, such as oxygen,
in air, produced in a reaction.
900
moved a unique combination of
sliders into grooves.
The biggest question for
geologists in the 1780s was how
marine fossils ended up in rocks
METRES high in mountains. German
geologist Abraham Werner
THE HEIGHT (17491817) believed that a
single catastrophe, such as an
REACHED BY almighty ood, had reshaped
MONTGOLFIER the world dramatically (see
BALLOON 177576). But Scottish geologist
James Hutton (172697) did not
IN 1783 agree. In his groundbreaking
Theory of the Earth, published
a new metal element by reacting in 1785, he suggested that
charcoal with tungstic acid. It landscapes are shaped slowly
was later named tungsten, one and continually over long periods
of the toughest of all metals. by repeating cycles of erosion,
In 1784, English chemist Henry sedimentation, and uplift. Huttons
Cavendish (17311810) showed theory (now proved correct) meant
that water is composed of two that Earth must be millions of
gases, hydrogen and oxygen. years old not just thousands,
Astronomer John Michell as was thought at the time
predicted the existence In France, physicist Charles
of black holes when de Coulomb (17361806)
he observed that a established an important law
First balloon ascent
inlet for In this early 19th-century print,
gas Piltre de Rozier and the Marquis
dArlandes acknowledge spectators
as they ascend in their Montgoler
hot-air balloon in November 1783.

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156
 178788

Andrew Meikles threshing machine brought to an end the age-old practice The Swiss naturalist Jean Senebier was one of the rst to realize that plants respire. Gases move in
of separating grain from stalks and husks with a hand ail. and out of leaves through tiny surface pores (stomata), seen here under an electron microscope.

about electrical charges,

showing that the force of
,, LITTLE
CAUSES ARE
GERMAN-BORN BRITISH
ASTRONOMER WILLIAM
PHOTOSYNTHESIS

attraction or repulsion between HERSCHEL was the greatest

two charges varies in inverse CONSIDERED AS astronomer of his age. He Plants take carbon dioxide
sunlight oxygen

proportion to the square of the
distance between them. The
SI unit of charge, the coulomb,
is named after him.
Also in France in 1785, aviator
Jean Blanchard (17531809)
invented the rst folded silk
parachute. Previous parachute
designs usually had a heavy
wooden frame and failed to
work. Blanchard used his
parachute successfully to drop
a dog in a basket from a balloon
high in the air. With American
John Jeffries (17441819),
Blanchard made the rst
airborne crossing of the English
Channel, in a gas balloon. In
danger of descending too early,
the pair shed all of their ballast
JAMES HUTTON (172697)
,,
BRINGING ABOUT
THE GREATEST
CHANGES.
James Hutton, Scottish geologist,
from Theory of the Earth, 1795
and most of their clothes to
keep the balloon in the air.
In the same year, Scottish
engineer Andrew Meikle
(17191811) invented a threshing
machine, and English inventor
Edmund Cartwright (17431823)
developed a steam-powered
loom. Both machines dramatically
reduced the need for manual
labour, causing protests from
redundant workers.
After inheriting his fathers
farm in Berwickshire, Scotland,
in 1753, Edinburgh-born
James Hutton became
fascinated by geology. He
conducted many deep-sky
surveys of objects in space with
the powerful telescopes he
designed himself, and made
many thousands of discoveries.
On 11 January 1787, he observed
that Uranus, the planet he had
discovered just six years earlier
(see 178182), had two moons,
which were named Oberon and
Titania, after the fairy king and
queen in Shakespeares A
Midsummer Nights Dream.
Swiss naturalist Jean
Senebier (17421809) built
on the discoveries made
about photosynthesis by Jan
Ingenhousz in 1779. Senebier
showed that when plants are
exposed to light, they take up
carbon dioxide from the air and
release oxygen (see panel, right).
Silicon is the second most
abundant element in Earths
crust after oxygen, but it was
not identied until 1787. In that
year, French chemist Antoine
Lavoisier understood that
from the air in the process
called photosynthesis.
Sunlight, which is absorbed
by chlorophyll, the green
pigment in leaves, fuels the
reaction between carbon
dioxide and water in the leaves
to make glucose, the plants
energy food. Oxygen, a waste
byproduct, is exuded through
pores (stomata) on the
underside of leaves. sent from roots to cells
(174398) launched the
Perseverance, a boat rowed by
steam-driven oars, on the
Delaware River; Scottish
engineer William Symington
(17641831) built a paddle
steamer, which had its rst trial
on Dalswinton Loch in Scotland;
in West Virginia, on the Potomac
River, another American engineer
James Rumsey (174392)
experimented with a boat that
was propelled by a jet of water
forced out by a steam pump.
activates released
chlorophyll though
stomata
carbon
dioxide
water and minerals from air
enters leaf
In 1788, French mathematician
Joseph Louis Lagrange
(17361813) published his
Mcanique Analytique (Analytic
Mechanics), perhaps the greatest
work about mechanics (the
science of forces and movement)
since Isaac Newtons Principia
(see 168589). In this book,
Lagrange used his own new
method of calculus to reduce
mechanics to a few basic
formulas from which everything
else could be calculated.

8
studied rock formations sand is an oxide (a chemical

KM/H
and noticed breaks in the combination with oxygen) of
sequence, which suggested a hitherto unknown element,
to him, correctly, that the which he named silicon.
landscape is shaped in Also in this year, various THE SPEED OF
repeated cycles over an
immensely long time.
inventors were trying to harness
steam power to propel boats.
SYMINGTONS PADDLE
American inventor John Fitch STEAMER
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157
4
THE AGE OF
REVOLUTIONS
17891894
While the drive for greater efficiency and power stimulated
technological invention and industrial growth, the search
to uncover natures secrets overturned older beliefs about
Earth and its inhabitants. Scientists came to understand
that life emerged after an extremely long process of
evolutionary development.
 1789
,,
,,
WE MUST ADMIT, AS ELEMENTS, ALL THE
SUBSTANCES INTO WHICH WE ARE CAPABLE, BY
ANY MEANS, TO REDUCE BODIES BY DECOMPOSITION.
Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist, from Trait lmentaire de chimie (Elements of Chemistry), 1789

AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,
a scientic revolution was
underway in 1789. French
chemist Antoine Lavoisier
completed his Elements of
Chemistry, a book that laid
the foundations of chemistry
as a science. Lavoisier created
the rst table of elements,
which also included heat and
light. He introduced international
chemical symbols and introduced
modern names, such as oxygen
and hydrogen for gases and
sulphates for compounds.
On 28 August, German-born
British astronomer William
Herschel looked through his
largest telescope for the
rst time. He had already
built several telescopes, but
this 12 m (40 ft) reecting
telescope was the biggest. That
night, Herschel discovered a new
moon of Saturn, Enceladus, and
three weeks later he spotted
another, Mimas.
French botanist Antoine
Laurent de Jussieu published a
system for classifying owering
plants. It used Linnaeuss two-
part Latin naming system (see
1754) and divided owering plants
Herschels telescope
Astronomer William Herschel
took four years to build this giant
telescope in his garden in Slough,
England. It was paid for by King
George III, and dismantled in 1839.
ANTOINE LAVOISIER
(174394)
Born in Paris, France,
Antoine Lavoisier is
sometimes said to be the
father of chemistry he
proved the role of oxygen
in combustion, which laid
the foundation for modern
chemistry. Lavoisier
established that matter
is neither created nor
destroyed during chemical
changes. A target for
revolutionaries, he was
guillotined on 8 May 1794.
into classes according to the
number of stamens and pistils.
This system is still used today.
In Canada, British explorer
Alexander Mackenzie (1764
1820) set out in his canoe,
following the uncharted 1,770 km
(1,100 mile) river now known
as Mackenzie River to the
Arctic Ocean.

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179091 1792

The Armagh Observatory, the oldest scientic institution in Northern Ireland, was built A cartoon from 1807 shows the initial mixed reaction in London to the new
in 1790 and was one of the largest and most advanced observatory of its day. gas streetlighting, which would soon transform cities at night.

IN PHILADELPHIA, AMERICAN
INVENTOR OLIVER EVANS
(17551819) developed an idea
that would make powered
transport a reality. The low-
pressure Watt steam engines of
the day (see 176566) were too
big and heavy for land vehicles.
But Evans realized that if the
steam is much hotter, the piston
can be driven by steam pressure
alone so the condensing
process needed to create a
vacuum in low-pressure engines
could be dispensed with. This
revelation led to Evans invention
of high-pressure steam
engines, which could give the
same power as Watt engines that
were 10 times larger.
In Warwickshire, England,
inventor John Barber (1734
1801) was developing an even
more revolutionary engine the
gas turbine. His idea was to
compress gas made from wood
or coal, then burn it explosively
to turn the vanes of a paddle
wheel. Barber never built a
prototype, but his ideas re-
emerged centuries later when
the jet engine was developed.
Another discovery, which is now
vital for modern aircraft, was
titanium. The metal was isolated
from the mineral ilmenite in
Cornwall, England, by British
geologist Reverend William
Gregor (17611817). It was
independently discovered a few
system is actually made from THIS YEAR SAW A DISCOVERY
masses of nerve bres, or THAT WOULD ONE DAY HELP pulley for swivelling
ganglia. British surgeon James technology to transform cities telegraph arm
Parkinson (17551824), who across the world Alessandro
moveable
lent his name to a devastating Voltas discovery of chemical signalling
disease of the nervous system, electricity. Previously, static panels
gave the rst medical description electricity had been generated
of injuries to people struck through friction. Volta found pivot
by lightning. that by bringing metals into
Stargazing continued to contact, he could create chemical
attract funding from wealthy reactions that generated current
9:1
Lightning injuries
Nine of every ten patrons, not just because of electricity. He went on to produce
people struck by peoples fascination with it the rst battery (see 1800).
lightning survive. James Parkinson
but also because of its potential Another notable development
proposed that survivors suffer
from a form of muscle paralysis value to shipping. Archbishop of in the eld of communication was
and skin burns. Armagh, Richard Robinson, French inventor Claude Chappes receiving weight for
platform balancing
built an expensive observatory telegraph a line of towers that
signals
months later by German chemist in Armagh, Northern Ireland, could relay messages visually by
Martin Klaproth (17431817), which continues to be one of showing panels at different
who named it titanium. the leading scientic research angles. It could send a message
There were several establishments today. across 220 km (137 miles)
developments in the eld of pure from Lille to Paris in an hour.
science too. Swiss physicist Scottish engineer William
Pierre Prvost (17511839) titanium Murdoch (17541839) invented
proved that all bodies no gas lighting; his home in
matter how hot or cold radiate Cornwall, England, was the rst
heat. German physiologist gas-lit house. Soon many houses,
Franz Joseph Gall factories, and city streets
(17581828) showed would be lit by gas.
that the nervous The rst iron-cased
rockets forerunners Chappe telegraph
This telegraph tower shows
of modern missiles
Chappes semaphore system, with
were used in India by its mechanism for changing the
Tipu Sultan, ruler of panels angle to pass on messages.
Titanium
The metal titanium has Mysore, against the British.
several ores, including One discovery that was little glow the same colour when
ilmenite and rutile, and appreciated at the time was heated to the same temperature.
it also occurs in trace
British scientist Thomas For example, we know the Suns
amounts in rocks, water
bodies, soils, and all Wedgwoods (17711805) surface is 5,800 K (5,527C)
living things. observation that all materials because of its colour.

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161
 1793 179495
,, THE OBJECT OF THIS WORK IS TO EXPLAIN THE

,,
CHANGES OF STRUCTURE ARISING FROM MORBID
ACTIONS IN SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS
OF THE HUMAN BODY.
Matthew Baillie, British physician, Preface to The Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts
of the Human Body, 1793

The limestone rocks of the Jura Mountains on the French Swiss border
formed the basis of the identication of the Jurassic Age.

IN REVOLUTIONARY
PARIS, the rst natural
history museum in
France, the Musum
national dHistoire
naturelle (National
Museum of Natural
History), was founded on
10 June. It was built in
the former Jardin Royal
des Plantes Mdicinales
(Royal Garden of
Medicinal Plants),
created by King Louis
XIII in 1635. It became the Jardin
des Plantes a botanical garden
and home to one of the worlds
rst public zoos, founded in 1795.
On 22 July, British explorer
Alexander Mackenzie (1764
1820) became the rst known
man to cross the continent of
North America north of Mexico,
when his Peace River Expedition
nally reached the end of its
journey just west of Bella Coola
them and in 1793 British chemist
Thomas Charles Hope (1766
1844) named them strontites
after the village in the Scottish
highlands where the mine was
located. In 1808, British chemist
Humphry Davy isolated a new
element from these ores, a
soft metal called strontium.
John Dalton (17661844), the
British scientist who proposed an
Musum national
dHistoire naturelle
The worlds rst great natural
American south, leading to a
history museum opened in Paris just
a few months after Louis XVI of
France was guillotined nearby.
atomic theory in 1803, published
Meteorological Observations
and Essays, in 1793. In it,
Dalton wrote on everything
from barometers to cloud
formation, explaining how
moisture in the air turns to
199
IN 1794, AMERICAN INVENTOR
ELI WHITNEY (17651825)
devised a machine for separating
the seeds from cotton to obtain
clean bres for spinning into
cloth. His gin, and others like it,
was soon in use throughout the
blindness. Dalton was blind to
huge increase in the production
of raw cotton after 1800.
MILLION
YEARS
THE AGE OF
THE JURA
MOUNTAINS
The increase in cotton production
was a massive boost to the
growing factory towns of
northwest England including
Manchester, where in 1794
John Dalton presented his
pioneering studies on colour
green, and he believed it was
blue uid in his

360
in British Columbia, Canada. rain when air cools.
A lead mine near the British British physician Matthew
village Strontian became the Baillie (17611823) published
site of the discovery of a new The Morbid Anatomy of Some
element, strontium. In 1790, of the Most Important Parts of
Irish chemist Adair Crawford the Human Body. This was the

METRES
(174895) and his British rst modern scientic study
colleague, chemist William of disease, and showed how
Cruikshank (d. c.1810) noticed diseases could be better
that some local lead ores had THE DISTANCE understood by studying their
an unusual make-up. Various COVERED BY effect on organs after death.
scientists, such as German
chemist Martin Klaproth
AGUILERAS
(17431817), began investigating GLIDER
ist s ish de
r
ist s an t
m
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162
 1796

An image from the Spitzer space telescope reveals a distant star and planets forming from a
spinning gas cloud, in the same way that our Solar System was created billions of years ago.

eyes that was robbing him of
the ability to see green or red.
He requested that his eyes be
examined after his death to prove
this thesis, but the uid was
normal and clear. A DNA test on
his preserved eyes in the 1990s
showed he had a common
genetic deciency that reduced
his sensitivity to green, proving
he was correct about his
colour blindness.
Up to this point in time,
meteorites were thought to
come from volcanoes, but in
1794, German physicist Ernst
Chladni (17561827) made the
suggestion that they came from
space. The following year a large
meteorite fell to earth at Wold
Newton in Yorkshire, England,
which was far from any volcano
and backed up Chladnis theory.
In 1795, the French government
was championing a new decimal
system of measures. They
decreed that a gram was the
absolute weight of a volume
of water equal to the cube of
the hundredth part of the
metre, at the temperature
of melting ice.
Daltons colour
blindness test
Dalton used this book of
coloured threads to test
his own colour blindness. He
suffered from inherited red-green
colour blindness.
CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS (17771855)
Also in France, the naturalist
George Cuvier (17691832)
introduced the idea that Earths
past held many species of
animal now extinct. This was
shocking for some, since many
people in Europe still believed
all animals were created at the
time of the Creation.
Fossil hunters found more
fossils in the Jurakalk rock
formation in the French Jura
Mountains. Prussian geographer
Alexander von Humboldt (1769
1859) identied the age of these
limestone formations, thus
setting a basis for geologists
to identify the Jurassic age
the age of dinosaurs.
Born in the German Duchy
of Brunswick, Gauss was a
mathematical genius who
astonished people with his
brilliance at an early age.
He grew up to be one of the
greatest mathematicians,
making important contributions
to the theory of numbers,
non-Euclidean geometry,
planetary astronomy, probability,
and the theory of functions.
FRENCH MATHEMATICIAN
PIERRE-SIMON LAPLACE
(17491827) published his
Exposition du Systme du
Monde (The System of the
World), which included
his theories on orbits
and tides, and the rst
fully scientic
exposition of the nebular
hypothesis, rst suggested
by Immanuel Kant in
1755, which proposes
Edward Jenner
vaccinating his son
Many people remained
unconvinced about
vaccination, even after
it had been successfully
performed in 1796. In
1797, Jenner vaccinated
his 11-month-old son to
prove that it was safe.
that the Solar System began as a
giant gas cloud (nebula) spinning
around the sun. It cooled and
contracted to form planets.
For 19-year-old German
mathematician, Carl Gauss, 1796
was a year of breakthroughs. On
30 March, he proved that it was
possible to construct certain
regular polygons, including the
17-sided heptadecagon, with just
a compass and a ruler a
problem that had eluded
mathematicians since the time
of Pythagoras. On 8 April he
made key contributions to
solving quadratic equations,
on 31 May he created prime
number theorem to show how
prime numbers are spread, and
on 10 July he discovered
that every positive
integer is representable
as a sum of, at most, three
triangular number.
Since the 1720s, many had
been protected against the deadly
disease smallpox by inoculation,
which involved deliberate infection
with smallpox germs. But the
inoculation had risks and could
kill. In 1796, British country
doctor Edward Jenner (1748
1823) noticed that dairymaids
often failed to contract smallpox
and began to wonder if they
gained their immunity through
exposure to a similar, milder
disease known as cowpox.
He thought it possible that
vaccination with cowpox
would be safer than inoculation
with smallpox and deliberately
infected his gardeners son with
cowpox. Vaccination originally
meant inoculation with cowpox,
but the term is now used for any
inoculation by weak or killed
germs. A few weeks later he
attempted to infect the
boy with smallpox
but he proved to
be immune and
remained so all his
life. Vaccination using a
harmless form of a dangerous
disease is now one of the
most effective methods of
disease prevention.

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163
 17 8 9 18 94 T H E AG E O F R E VO LU T I O N S

Clavilithes shell
Cyanobacteria
PLIOCENE: 5.31.8 MYA
PRECAMBRIAN: 4,000542 MYA
Clavilithes is related to
Cyanobacteria are among
the modern whelk.
the oldest and simplest
Shell fossils may be
organisms alive today.
found far from the
Sediment has built up in
sea, leading
round clusters around a
Greeks to deduce
cyanobacteria nucleus.
that land was
once covered
by water.

Calymene trilobite
Stromatolites SILURIAN: 444416 MYA
PRECAMBRIAN: 4,000542 MYA Early scholars called
Stromatolites are layers of sediment trilobite fossils petried
that were deposited by microorganisms insects. They were
in the coastal shallows of ancient seas. identied as arthropods in
Living stromatolites still exist today. the eighteenth century.
Harpoceras ammonite
LOWER JURASSIC: 199.6175.6 MYA
The Roman naturalist Pliny named
the ammonite fossil after the ram
horns of the Egyptian god Ammon.
Pentacrinites crinoid
PALAEOGENE: 6523 MYA
Delicate animals such as crinoids could be
beautifully preserved when the soft mud in
which they lived turned into rock.

FOSSILS
SINCE THE EARLIEST TIMES, FOSSILS HAVE HELPED US TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH

Fossils have been known to man since

prehistory, but early Christian scholars
believed they were the remains of creatures that
died in the Biblical flood. We now know they are
evidence of evolution on a changing planet.
The scientic study of fossils has its roots in the Age of
the Enlightenment, when naturalists began to describe Halysites tabulate coral
SILURIAN: 444416 MYA
and classify their nds. By the 1800s, geologists Honeycomb-like tabulate
recognized not only that rock layers built up over corals were fossilized in
time, but also that each layer had a distinctive set of Silurian rock layers. Tabulate
corals existed in colonies
fossil types. Supporting evidence was recovered from and were an important
this fossil record to support Charles Darwins theory component of Silurian
of evolution. Today, palaeontology shallow-water fauna.

routinely uses technology that

can determine the age of Hydrophilus
fossils and even study water beetle
PALAEOGENE:
their DNA. 6523 MYA
Wet mud is good for
preserving animals.
Temnocidaris sea urchin shell The rst fossilized beetle
CRETACEOUS: 14565 MYA specimens hard wing
Animals with hard parts cases were found in the
such as spines or shells spine 19th century. Later, entire
can leave abundant fossils. insects were found too.
By 1850, geologists could
assign rock layers to periods
of time, according to the
fossils they contained.
Dolomedes spider
PALAEOGENE: 6523 MYA
Today, Dolomedes spiders inhabit wetlands,
but fossils in amber show they once lived
solidied on trees and were trapped in drops of resin
amber that hardened over time.

164
 FO S S I L S

leaets joined
feather
at central vein
impression

Ichthyosaur
JURASSIC: 200145 MYA
In 1811, fossil hunter
Diplomystus dentatus
Mary Anning collected PALAEOGENE: 6523 MYA
the rst complete Fossils of an early form of toothed
skeleton of an modern-day herring, from beak
ichthyosaur, a predatory Wyoming, USA, were rst bony tail
marine reptile. Ten described in 1877 by Edward
years later, she found Drinker Cope, a pioneer of
the rst plesiosaur. American palaeontology.
Archaeopteryx
JURASSIC: 200145 MYA
fossilized bark
Dinosaur footprints When Archaeopteryx was
JURASSIC: 200145 MYA rst discovered in 1861,
Pectopteris fern Fossilized wood Trace fossils, such as footprints, scientists were amazed to
CARBONIFEROUS: TRIASSIC: 251 can reveal aspects of animal see impressions of feathers
359299 MYA 200 MYA behaviour. Here, prints next to sharp teeth and a bony
Before the evolution of Dead matter, such of the predatory tail. It was a missing link
owering plants, as wood, fossilizes Allosaurus record between reptiles and birds.
Allosaurus
forests abounded with when it is changed into its pursuit prints
spore-bearing species, mineral. The 20th centurys of prey.
including ferns like radiometric dating allowed scientists to
Pectopteris. determine the age of fossil-bearing rock.
skull with
duck-like bill

thick skin

Edmontosaurus
CRETACEOUS: 14565 MYA Young mammoth in permafrost
In the 1800s, dinosaur PLIOCENEHOLOCENE: 5.3 MYA 4,500 YA
fossils attracted highly Many mammoths lived comparatively
competitive dinosaur- recently in cold Siberian landscapes, so
hunters, especially in their bodies were sometimes mummied
North America. Othniel by permafrost. Modern biologists can
Charles Marsh extract DNA from such specimens.
strong hindlimbs discovered dozens of
for walking on new kinds, including
two legs Edmontosaurus, a plant- heavy brow
eating duck-billed ridge
dinosaur. Today this
animal is known from Neanderthal skull
PLEISTOCENE: 2.5 MYA
numerous specimens.
12,000 YA
Although rst unearthed
in 1829, this kind of skull
was not seen as evidence
for another human
short toe bones species until others were
found in the Neander
Valley, Germany, in 1856.

165
 1797 179899

760
KILOGRAMS
THE WEIGHT OF
ROSETTA STONE
A wood engraving of a magpie from the rst volume The Rosetta Stone is a decree passed on behalf of Egyptian King
of Thomas Bewicks History of British Birds. Ptolemy V in 196 BCE . It carries the same text in three scripts.

CARBON EXISTS IN THREE
FORMS as graphite, diamond,
and charcoal. It was only in the
late 18th century, however, that
it was established that they are
all the same substance. In
1772, French chemist Antoine
Lavoisier had burned graphite in
oxygen and proved that the only
product was carbon dioxide. In
1797, British chemist Smithson
Tennant (17611851) repeated
the experiment, using diamond
instead of graphite. The product
was carbon dioxide once again,
proving that diamond is an
allotrope (form) of carbon.
In this year, amidst the turmoil
of post-revolutionary France,
ItalianFrench mathematician
Joseph Louis Lagrange
(17361813) published Thorie
des Fonctions Analytiques (Theory
of Analytic Functions) setting
CRYSTALLINE CARBON
A crystalline form of carbon,
diamonds are formed at high
pressure within the Earth and
brought to the surface by
tectonic activity. They are found
in up to 3-billion-year-old rock
strata. Carbon atoms are
arranged in a crystal structure
called a diamond lattice (a
face-centred cube). This rigid
structure is why diamonds are
hard and also transparent.
out a new approach to calculus.
Although not widely appreciated
at the time, his ideas proved
invaluable in 20th-century
science, especially in the
study of quantum mechanics.
Thomas Jefferson (17431826),
vice-president of USA at the
time, presented a paper to
the American Philosophical
Society, Philadelphia, in which
he described the fossil remains
of a creature he named Megalonyx
(giant claw). The fossil was that
of the extinct ground sloth, now
known as Megalonyx jeffersonii.
British artist and ornithologist
Thomas Bewick (17531828)
published the rst volume of
his History of British Birds. He
illustrated these volumes using
the wood-engraving technique
an advancement in the printing
of illustrated books.
carbon atom
UNCUT DIAMOND IN ROCK
FRENCH PHARMACIST AND
CHEMIST LOUIS VAUQUELIN
(17631829) discovered
beryllium, a metal that melts
at 1,287C, in 1798. He used a
process of chemical extraction to
obtain beryllium from a variety
of emerald known as beryl.
British economist and
demographer Thomas Robert
Malthus (17661834), then an
Anglican priest in Surrey, England,
anonymously published the rst
edition of An Essay on the Principle
of Population. The book argued
that population growth would
ultimately outstrip the carrying
capacity of Earth. It had a
profound inuence on Charles
Darwin in his development of the
idea of a struggle for survival
(see pp.204205).
One of the most important
experiments in the history of
ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF DIAMOND
Cavendish torsion balance
This model of Cavendishs torsion
balance experiment shows the
arrangement of small and large lead
spheres attached to a wooden rod.
science was completed in 1798 by
reclusive British physicist Henry
Cavendish (17311810). He used
a torsion balance apparatus,
designed by his friend, British
geologist and astronomer John
Michell (172493), to measure
the mass of Earth. This apparatus
consisted of a wooden rod
suspended from a wire, with a
lead sphere attached to each end,
and two smaller lead spheres.
He measured the force or
gravitational attraction between
the large and small lead spheres,
and calculated the gravitational
force of Earth on the small ball by
weighing it. The ratio of these two
forces allowed him to calculate
metal wire
wooden torsion rod,
2 m (6 ft) long
small lead sphere,
5 cm (2 in) wide
telescope
large lead sphere
weighing 159 kg
(350 lb)
the mass and density of Earth.
He found the density to be
5.48 times that of water the
modern estimate is 5.52 times.
Cavendishs careful calculation
of possible errors and the
painstaking detail of his work
arguably make this the rst
modern physics experiment.
Meticulous experimentation
was also a feature of the work of
American-born British physicist
Benjamin Thompson (1753
1814). While working in Bavaria,
Germany, he investigated the way
heat was produced by friction
when cannons were being bored,
and disproved the idea that heat
was a kind of uid, called caloric.
Thompson published these
ndings in a paper in 1798.
A year later, a specially made
platinum cylinder with a mass

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166 E hi
 1800

The duck-billed, egg-laying, web-footed platypus, rst described by British zoologist

George Shaw, is amphibious capable of living both on land and in water.

equal to 1.000025 litres of water,
was legally declared the ofcial
prototype of the kilogram. The
modern kilogram is derived from
this prototype.
In July 1799, Pierre Bouchard
(17721832), an ofcer in
Napoleons French army, found
a black granite stone at Rosetta,
Egypt. The stone carried the
same text in three scripts
hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic
script, and ancient Greek. This
provided the key to translating
hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone,
was among the items captured
by the British in 1801.
In the same year, French
astronomer Pierre-Simon
Laplace (17491827) published
the rst part of his ve-volume
Trait de Mcanique Cleste
(Treatise on Celestial Mechanics).
Described as an encyclopaedia
of calculations about the six
known planets and their
satellites, their shapes, and
tides in Earths oceans, it
proved that the Solar System
is stable on timescales that
are relevant to humankind.
In 1799, physician Thomas
Beddoes (17601808),
established the Pneumatic
Institution in Bristol, UK,
to research the medical
implications of newly discovered
gases. It was here that British
chemist Humphry Davy served
his apprenticeship.
THIS YEAR, ITALIAN SCIENTIST
ALESSANDRO VOLTA (1745
1827) wrote to the Royal Society,
London, to report the battery
he had made, which became
known as a voltaic pile. His
invention was actually a wet
cell battery. In 1799, Volta had
found that stacking discs of zinc,
copper, and cardboard soaked
in brine in multiple layers could
generate an electric current.
Adding more discs increased the
amount of electricity generated.
The year also produced a
puzzle for scientists, when
British zoologist George Shaw
(17511813) published the
rst scientic description of
a platypus (Ornithorhynchus
anatinus Shaw), based on
preserved samples and
sketches sent from Australia.
He considered the creature so
HOW BATTERIES WORK
Batteries contain one or more
electrochemical cells. Chemical
reactions encourage electrons
to move to the cathode end of
the battery, building up negative
charge there. Positive charge
collects at the anode. When the
cathode and anode are connected
by an external wire, the electrons
ow along the wire to produce
an electric current. This is a
simple wet cell battery.
bizzare that, at rst, he thought
it might be a hoax perpetrated
by an accomplished taxidermist.
Another surprise came when
BritishGerman astronomer
William Herschel studied
the heat associated with the
different colours of sunlight,
as split into a spectrum by
a prism. Herschel placed
thermometers in different parts
of the spectrum and found that
the temperatures of the colours
increased from the violet part
of the spectrum to the red. He
then placed a thermometer just
beyond the red and observed
that this had the highest
temperature of all. This invisible
radiation is now called infrared
(see pp.23435).
In industry, an important step
towards the era of precision
engineering came when British
cathode
silver plate
zinc plate
blotting paper
individual
element
anode
engineer and inventor
Henry Maudslay (17711831)
developed the rst practical
screw-cutting lathe a
machine for accurately cutting
screw threads.
In 1800, the Royal Institution
of Great Britain based
in London was granted its
charter. Its aim was to provide
a more popular forum for
science than the established
Royal Society. Henry Cavendish
and Benjamin Thompson were
instrumental in founding this
institution, and Humphry Davy
soon became its director. It
became a major research
centre and a centre for the
popularizing of science
throughout the 19th century
and into the 20th century.
porous cardboard
soaked in electrolyte
zinc disc
copper disc
Voltas battery
This wet cell battery, invented by
Italian scientist Alessandro Volta,
was made of alternating layers of
zinc and copper separated by
cardboard discs soaked in
salt water.

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167
 1801
,,
,,
THE SUPERIORITY OF THE HIGH-PRESSURE
ENGINE WILL SERVE TO HONOUR THROUGH
ALL TIMES THE NAME OF TREVITHICK.
Michael Williams, Member of Parliament for West Cornwall, 1853

Richard Trevithicks Pufng Devil the worlds rst passenger-carrying

steam road locomotive ran on the road, not on rails.

THOMAS YOUNG (17731829)
A practicing physician and
polymath, Thomas Young
contributed to understanding
vision, light, mechanics, and
energy, as well as language,
music, and Egyptology. He
helped in deciphering the
Rosetta stone. Elected fellow
of the Royal Society in London
at age 21, he became Professor
of Natural Philosophy at the
Royal Institution in 1801.
AT THE START OF THE YEAR, pressures the pressure each
Italian astronomer Giuseppe component gas would exert if it
Piazzi (17461826) discovered occupied the same space alone.
Ceres, a celestial body made of So, in a mixture of nitrogen and
rock and ice that orbits the Sun oxygen, the total pressure is
every 1,679.819 days. Thought at equal to the partial pressure of
the time to be a planet, it is now oxygen plus the partial pressure
known to be the archetype of a of nitrogen.
class of smaller objects known as Since the time of English
dwarf planets. Ceres is sometimes physicist and mathematician
wrongly referred to as an asteroid Isaac Newton (see 168789), it
because its orbit between Mars had been widely believed that
and Jupiter roughly coincides light was a stream of particles.
with that of a band of rocky rubble In May 1801, British polymath
known as the asteroid belt. Thomas Young (17731829)
The 19th century witnessed a performed the double slit
growing understanding of atoms experiment (see right),
and molecules. In 1801, British which demonstrated the
chemist John Dalton developed wavelike properties of light.
his law of partial pressures, It is now known that light
which stated that the pressure of sometimes behaves like
a gas mixture is the sum of its waves and at other times
individual components partial like particles. The same
950
year, German mathematician British scientist William Hyde
Johann Georg von Soldner Wollaston (17661828) showed
(17761833) predicted how that electricity produced by
light travelling as a stream of friction (static electricity) and
particles would be deected by galvanic electricity produced
gravity if it passed near the Sun. by what is now referred to as a
According to his calculation, a battery, are exactly the same. KILOMETRES
light ray would bend by 0.84 French biologist Jean-Baptiste
seconds of arc (a unit of angular Lamarck (17441829) published THE DIAMETER
measurement). More than 100 his book Systme des Animaux OF CERES,
years later, German-American
physicist Albert Einstein
Sans Vertbres (System of
Invertebrate Animals), in which
THE FIRST
(18791955) would make a he coined the term invertebrate KNOWN DWARF
different prediction using his
general theory of relativity
and developed a system of
classication for this group
PLANET
(see pp.244245). of animals.
The eld of engineering was
different parts light diffracts screen with pattern developing rapidly. Designed by
of light again, and waves of light and dark IrishAmerican engineer James
wavefront interfere with bands caused by
travel through each other interference
Finley (17561828), the rst
parallel slits suspension bridge hung from
light passes
wrought-iron chains was
through rst slit completed at Jacobs Creek,
and diffracts Pennsylvania, USA. It cost $600.
French inventor Joseph-Marie
Jacquard (17521834) developed
a system of controlling textile
looms using punched cards. This
was the beginning of the era of
programmable machines.
On Christmas Eve, English
engineer Richard Trevithick
double
(17711833) successfully tested
slit panel
the rst successful steam road
Double slit locomotive. It carried several
experiment men up a hill in Camborne in
British scientist Cornwall, UK, and travelled at
single
Thomas Young showed
slit panel approximately 6.4 kmph (4 mph).
light that light can exhibit wavelike
properties of interference and
source
diffraction, like ripples in a pond.

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168
1802

800
THE NUMBER
OF BINARY
STAR SYSTEMS
DISCOVERED
BY WILLIAM
HERSCHEL

This artists impression shows an unusual binary star system known as J0806, 1,600 light years
away from Earth. In this rare example, two dense white dwarf stars orbit one another.

ON 28 MARCH, GERMAN While carrying out experiments demonstrated by citing the

ASTRONOMER WILHELM
OLBERS (17581840) discovered
the asteroid Pallas in an orbit
similar to that of Ceres (see
1801). He incorrectly thought
that Pallas, Ceres, and other
asteroids discovered later were
remnants of an exploded planet.
JEAN-BAPTISTE
LAMARCK (17441829)
Originally a bank worker and
army ofcer, Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck became interested
in botany and published the
popular book French Flora
in 1773. He also wrote a
history and classication of
invertebrates and became a
highly regarded taxonomist.
Lamarck is best known for
his theory that acquired
traits can be inherited
by future generations.
with glass prisms, William
Hyde Wollaston noticed dark
lines in the spectrum of the
Sun. Although it was not known
at the time, these lines indicate
the absence of particular
colours in sunlight. They are
usually called Fraunhofer lines,
after German physicist Joseph
von Fraunhofer (17871826),
who independently rediscovered
the lines and studied them
in more detail in 1814. In the
1860s, German scientists
Gustave Robert Kirchhoff
(182487) and Robert Bunsen
(181199) showed how such
lines functioned as ngerprints
of different elements.
The study of evolution
continued at a steady pace.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
became one of the rst to use
the word biology in its modern
sense. German naturalist and
botanist Gottfried Reinhold
Treviranus (17761837) also
used this term, independently
of Lamarck, in Biologie oder
Philosophie der Natur Lebenden
(Biology or Philosophy of Natural
Living). Both Lamarck and
Treviranus came up with the
idea that evolution occurs
through the inheritance of
acquired characteristics
a concept that came to be
known as Lamarckism.
This concept was often
example of the giraffe: a giraffe
that stretches its neck to reach
high branches in the search
for food will bear offspring
that have a longer neck as
a consequence (see 1809).
Though incorrect, this concept
was a step towards
understanding evolution.
British inventor Thomas
Wedgwood (17711805) was
responsible for an important
development in the eld of
photography. Using silver nitrate,
he made the rst permanent
images photographs in the form
recognized today. British chemist
Humphry Davy (17781829)
described Wedgwoods work
in the Journal of the Royal
Institution in 1802.
The term binary stars was
coined by German-born British
astronomer William Herschel
(17381822) in this year. A binary
astronomy gathered pace,
two weights produce
double the pressure
one weight
in the beaker
produces
pressure
hot molecules move
in the beaker
faster, increasing
cool particles the pressure while
move slowly maintaining
heat the volume
THIRD GAS LAW
Described by French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac, this law
states that for a particular mass of gas at a constant volume,
the pressure and temperature are proportional to each other.
In the example shown here, when the pressure on the gas in
the beaker is doubled, the temperature reached by the gas as
it holds up the weights increases proportionately.
is a system where two stars According to this law, the
referred to as binary stars pressure of a xed amount of
orbit around each other. These gas at a xed volume is directly
types of stars are distinct from proportional to its temperature
double stars that, despite being (on the scale that is now known
very far apart, lie almost along as the Kelvin scale). At rst, this
the same line of sight. law was named Gay-Lussacs
As investigations into Law, but because it follows
directly from earlier work by
French chemist Joseph French chemist Jacques Charles
Gay-Lussac (17781850) and AngloIrish chemist Robert
described a law that Boyle, it is now called the Third
concerned the Gas Law (see panel, above).
behaviour of gases. Today, there is another, quite
separate, law known as Gay-
Devils toenail Lussacs Law.
French biologist Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck named numerous
species in his lifetime. One
of these was the Mesozoic
fossil oyster Gryphaea arcuata,
commonly known as Devils Toenail.

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to ar 169
 17 8 9 18 94 T H E A G E O F R E V O LU T I O N S

THE STORY OF
THE ENGINE
THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND INDUSTRY, ENGINES POWER AN ARRAY OF MACHINES RANGING FROM CARS TO ROCKETS

Engines burn fuel to create hot gases, which expand powerfully to create
the mechanical force needed to make things move. As they have developed
through the centuries, engines have taken on different forms, from steam
lever from
engines to rotary engines and gas turbines. crosshead piston rod

Greek thinkers noticed 2,400 years ago that heat
could make things move. In the 1st century CE, they
created the aeolipile, in which steam jetted out
from a metal sphere to make it spin on a pivot. It
was another 1,600 years before the rst practical
steam engine was built. The breakthrough came
in the 1670s, with the discovery of the power of
vacuums. French inventor Denis Papin realized
that if steam is trapped in a cylinder, it will
shrink dramatically as it condenses to create
a partial vacuum powerful enough to move
things. In 1698, English inventor Thomas
Savery built the rst full-scale steam engine
using this principle.

FROM CARS TO MARS

HYBRID VEHICLES
Heat engines burn a lot of fuel and produce waste
gases. Fuel shortage and environmental concerns
have led to the development of hybrid vehicles that
combine different power sources, such as internal
combustion engine and an electric motor, to provide
a greener, more cost-effective compromise.
For 150 years, engines all depended on steam.
They drove the Industrial Revolution, providing
crosshead links
power for everything from machines to ships piston and ywheel
and locomotives. In the mid-19th century,
engineers began to develop internal combustion connecting rod
joins crosshead
engines based on the rapid expansion of gases and crank
burning inside a cylinder. More compact, these
engines used petrol a more concentrated
source of fuel, which could be drawn in
automatically, unlike coal, which had to be
manually added. Internal combustion engines
were key to the development of automobiles,
which transformed mobility in the 20th century.
The development of jet and rocket engines
helped ying machines achieve previously
unimaginable speeds, and eventually, propelled
spacecraft to the Moon and beyond.

1st century CE 1712 1791 1804

Aeolipile Newcomen engine Barber gas turbine Trevithick engine
Alexandrian scholar British inventor Thomas Newcomen English inventor John Barber Low-pressure vacuum-
Hero designs a device in builds a steam engine that avoids patents a gas turbine, intended based engines are big and
which a sphere is spun by the danger of explosion by boiling to propel a horseless heavy. English engineer
steam jets. A scientic water separately, and sending carriage. In this device, fuel Richard Trevithicks
curiosity, it has no steam at low pressure is mixed with air and ignited develops a compact and
apparent practical into a cylinder with Newcomen to produce hot gases, which powerful high-pressure
purpose. Aeolipile a piston. engine expand and spin a turbine. steam engine.

1679 1698 Savery 1774 Watt

Papins steam digester Savery engine engine Watt engine engine
French inventor Denis Papin Thomas Savery builds the Scottish engineer James Watt
invents the steam digester, rst steam engine, to pump produces an improved steam
which traps steam inside water out of mines. It is, engine, which has a separate
a cylinder. This creates a however, prone to exploding. condensation chamber, and is
powerful vacuum as the more efcient.
Steam steam cools, condenses,
digester and shrinks.

170
 T H E S TO R Y O F T H E E N G I N E

smokestack releases
exhaust gases

ywheel
,, JAMES WATT [SAID]
I DESERVED HANGING

,,
regulates speed
FOR BRINGING INTO USE
THE HIGH-PRESSURE
ENGINE.
Richard Trevithick, English
engineer, on Watts perception
of the high-pressure engine
large cylindrical as potentially explosive, 1833
gearwheel boiler

crank

gearwheel
connects driving
wheel and axle

First steam locomotive

Richard Trevithicks
Penydarren locomotive
exhibited the effectiveness
of his high-pressure steam
engine when it made its rst
journey on 21 February 1804
in Wales. The locomotives
engine could also be used
as a stationary engine.

driving wheel track

1860 1897 1937

Gas engine
Invented by Belgian
engineer tienne Lenoir,
the rst successful internal
combustion engine the
gas engine generates
power by burning gas and
air inside a cylinder.
Diesel engine
The rst diesel engine is built by
FrenchGerman engineer Rudolf
Diesel. Despite being heavier,
his invention is more efcient
than petrol engines, and uses
tienne Lenoirs the heat of compression, rather
gas engine than a spark, to ignite fuel.
Diesel Turbojet engine
engine English engineer Frank Whittle
and German engineer Hans
von Ohain independently develop
and test engines that burn
fuel and use a fan to re out
a continuous jet of hot air W2/700
to thrust a plane forward. Turbojet engine

1816 1876 1926 1956

Closed-cycle steam engine Four-stroke engine
Scottish engineer Robert Stirling German engineer Nikolaus
invents a steam engine in which Ottos powerful, four-stroke
gases remain within the system, cycle engine res four
so there is no exhaust and little cylinders in turn, so fuel
noise from explosions. ignited in each pushes
down the piston on every
fourth stroke.
Liquid fuel rocket Rotary engine
American engineer Robert German engineer
Goddards invents the rocket Felix Wankel creates
engine. Thrust is achieved for a rotary engine that
ight by burning liquid fuel. has a triangular rotor
inside an oblong
Four-stroke cylinder instead
Daimler motorcycle of pistons. Wankels rotary engine

171
 180304
,,CONVEX OR CONICAL

,,
HEAPS, INCREASING
UPWARD FROM A
HORIZONTAL BASE.
Luke Howard, British meteorologist, describing
cumulus clouds in Essay on the Modifications, 1803

British pharmacist and meteorologist Luke Howard derived the term cumulus from the Latin word for heap.
As seen in this image, cumulus clouds appear cotton-like and tend to have at bases.

ON 28 MARCH 1803, THE
CHARLOTTE DUNDAS, designed
by British engineer William
Symington (17641831), became
the rst practical steamboat
when it towed two laden barges
through the Forth and Clyde
Canal in Scotland.
The following year, another
British engineer, Thomas
Telford (17571834), began
that were the largest in the three simple categories cirrus, Surgical breakthrough
world at the time. cumulus, and stratus that are Hanaoka Seish carried
out the rst successful
In October 1803, British still used.
surgery using general
chemist John Dalton presented On 21 February 1804, 25 years anaesthesia ona60-year-
his atomic theory to an audience before Stephensons Rocket old woman who suffered
in Manchester, UK. He suggested (see 1829), a steam locomotive from breast cancer.
that: all matter is composed designed by British engineer
of atoms, atoms cannot be Richard Trevithick (17711833) mineral composition
made or destroyed, all atoms of hauled 70 passengers, 10 tonnes differed from that of
the same element are identical, (11.2 tons) of iron, and ve soil, indicating that
and different elements have wagons from the ironworks at plants absorbed

12
work on the Caledonian Canal different types of atom. Dalton nutrients selectively.
in Scotland. When completed in also stated that chemical German pharmacist
1822, this canal was 100 km reactions occur when atoms are Friedrich Sertrner
(60 miles) long and 30.5 m (101 ft) rearranged, and that compounds (17831841) became
wide, with 28 locks stretches are formed from atoms of the rst person to
of water enclosed by gates the constituent elements. isolate the active
Also in 1803, British ingredient of a

PER CENT
scientist William medicinal plant. In experiments Japanese surgeon Hanaoka
Hyde Wollaston starting in 1803 and published Seish (17601835) performed
added to the number in 1805, he isolated morphine the rst successful surgery using
of known elements by THE AMOUNT from opium. This substance general anaesthesia in October.
discovering palladium OF MORPHINE would later become invaluable The anaesthetic was an orally
and rhodium.
British pharmacist
THAT OPIUM in surgery. administered herbal concoction.

and meteorologist CAN CONTAIN JOHN DALTON (17661844)

Luke Howard (1772
1864) published a
description of clouds.
He used Latin names
to classify them into
Daltons table
of elements
John Dalton was the
rst to use symbols
for elements, and to
calculate their atomic
weights. This table shows
his symbols and atomic
weights for 20 elements.
Penydarren to the Merthyr-
Cardiff Canal in Wales, a distance
of 14 km (9 miles). It reached a
speed of nearly 8 kmph (5 mph).
Swiss chemist Nicolas-
Thodore de Saussure (1767
1845) outlined the process of
photosynthesis (see 178788)
and proved that both water and
carbon dioxide are absorbed by
plants as they grow. Saussure
later analysed the ashes of
plants and showed that their
A Quaker schoolteacher, John
Dalton was secretary of the
Manchester Literary and
Philosophical Society, UK, from
1800. Best remembered for his
theory of atoms, Dalton also
contributed to meteorology and
studied colour blindness, from
which he suffered. He made
meteorological observations
and published scientic papers
well into his seventies.

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e n
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s 13 ish ssfu ral
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180506 180708
,,IT WOULD BE USELESS TO

,,
ATTEMPT TO SPECULATE ON
THE REMOTE CAUSE OF THE
ELECTRICAL ENERGY
Humphry Davy, British chemist, from On Some Chemical
Agencies of Electricity, 1806

A 1920 illustration of the American This engraving shows British chemist Humphry Davy conducting
Lewis and Clark Expedition. experiments with metals, such as magnesium and barium.

FRENCH CHEMISTS NICOLAS-
LOUIS VAUQUELIN (17631829)
and Pierre-Jean Robiquet
(17801840) isolated asparagine
from asparagus in 1805. This was
the rst amino acid (the building
block of protein) to be identied.
The next year, British inventor
Ralph Wedgwood (17661837)
was granted a patent for a type of
carbon paper. He had originally
intended it to help visually
impaired people to write, but he
later realized it could be used to
make duplicates of letters.
In September, the Lewis and
Clark Expedition, commanded
by Captain Meriwether Lewis
(17741809) and Lieutenant
William Clark (17701838) of the
US military, reached the Pacic
Coast of North America. It had
been commissioned by US
President Thomas Jefferson to
explore the Missouri river after
the Louisiana Purchase the US
purchase of 2,100,000 sq km
(828,000 sq miles) of French
territory in 1803. The expedition
discovered several new species of
plant and animal.
In November, British chemist
Humphry Davy presented his
work on the electrolysis of
water breaking down water into
hydrogen and oxygen by passing
an electric current through it
(see 1834) at the Royal Society
in London, UK.
IN 1807, THE NORTH RIVER First steamboat in the US paddle
STEAMBOAT, later renamed Robert Fultons paddle steamer, wheel
later named Clermont, was 41 m
Clermont, carried passengers
(133 ft) long and 4 m (12 ft) wide. piston chimney from
from New York City to Albany on It had two paddle wheels, each cylinder coal furnace of
the Hudson river in USA, making 5 m (15 ft) in diameter. engine
it the rst commercially
successful steamboat. Designed onto a drawing surface,
by American engineer Robert allowing the artist
Fulton (17651815), the boat to trace it.
completed the 240 km (150 mile) Another patent
journey in just over 30 hours. was granted in
In Britain, chemist Humphry the same year to
Davy used electrolysis to isolate French inventors and
pure forms of many metals, brothers Nicphore
including magnesium, sodium, (17651833) and Claude Nipce Swiss engineer Franois Isaac Unaware of earlier work in
barium, and calcium. The rst (17631828) for their invention of de Rivaz (17521828) was also the eld in Europe, Irish-born
metal separated in this way an internal combustion engine working on an engine design and American mathematician Robert
was potassium, in 1807. called the pyrolophore (from received the patent for a Adrain (17751843) published
William Hyde Wollaston the Greek words for re, wind, hydrogen-powered internal his version of the method of
patented the camera lucida and bearer). A boat powered by combustion engine in 1807. This least squares in 1808. This
(light room), a drawing aid for the engine, which burned ne early engine used only two statistical technique minimizes
artists, in 1807. This device uses powders such as crushed coal strokes. The four-stroke engine the sum of the squares of errors
a four-sided prism to project an dust, was tested on the river (see panel, below) was not made in a data set, and is used
image of the scene to be drawn Seine in France. developed until 1876. to t curves (graphs) to data.
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
Power is generated in an internal spark plug ignites
inlet valve inlet valve
combustion engine by burning opens; air, shuts mixture, pushing
fuel within a cylinder. Four-stroke fuel enter piston down
airfuel motion of
engines operate on a four-stroke cylinder exhaust valve crankshaft
mixture
cycle. First, a valve lets fuel and compressed opens, pushing makes
crankshaft wheels
waste out
air into the cylinder. A piston then moves crankshaft spin
moves upwards in the cylinder, clockwise crankshaft
rotates to
turns
compressing the airfuel mixture. move piston
up-and-down
A spark plug ignites the mixture, movement of
making it explode and pushing piston into
the piston down. The piston then rotary motion
pushes the exhaust gases out. INTAKE STROKE COMPRESSION STROKE IGNITION STROKE EXHAUST STROKE

am n 7 s y n
illi asto 80 tor ers for ar es
, 06 y 1 en th nt n r u ica ll g m
ine cid, 18 od 7 W oll e ul inv bro ate stio eb mer e Fe rnin eco n his od
ag er gwo 0
18 de W s th cida
J p
20 ench pce d a mbu n
F s b
11 08 A Jes n bu ich rica rt es
ar ino a o b d n be lish eth
p
As m c t We rbo Hy tent a lu Fr e Ni ante l co ns o 18 dge ds i , wh Ame on R o b m
05 st a 7 O lph s ca pa mer a u e e i 08 pu the es
18 e r ted a
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t e g rn t ru
h J cce cit th e lut 18 rain n of uar
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t em ewi em phr ph ra Riva - r l t Jo ssa
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Se he Clar s H u in al 07 de en T m -Lu ro
T d e 20 6 H port ysis 07 eg ver 18 ac drog rnal 07 ce e he ay bo
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173
 17 8 9 18 94 T H E A G E O F R E V O LU T I O N S

UNDERSTANDING
COMPOUNDS
AND REACTIONS
SUBSTANCES CAN CHANGE THEIR FORM IN CHEMICAL REACTIONS

A chemical compound is a substance composed of two or more types of

atom held together by chemical bonds. Water, for example, is made of POTASSIUM IN WATER
hydrogen atoms bonded to oxygen atoms. Chemical reactions involve the When potassium reacts with water,
hydrogen gas is released. The reaction also
breaking or forming of chemical bonds, resulting in new substances. produces heat, which ignites the hydrogen.

Most solids, liquids, and gases are mixtures COMPOUNDS MOLECULES

of compounds or elements (an element is a
substance made of only one kind of atom). Air,
for example, is a mixture composed mainly of
the elements nitrogen and oxygen, with most of
the rest consisting of the element argon and the
compounds water, carbon dioxide, and methane.
In some compounds, the atoms bond by sharing
electrons to form molecules (see right). This
kind of bond is called a covalent bond. In other
types of compound, the atoms have lost or gained
electrons and are in the form of electrically
charged ions. These ions are held together by
the electrical forces between them: ionic bonds.
Any sample of a particular compound always
has the same ratio of the elements of which
it is composed. For example, if the compound
methane was broken down into its constituent
atoms and the atoms were counted, the carbon
(C) and hydrogen (H) atoms would always be in
the ratio of 1:4. As a result, every compound has
a chemical formula methane's is CH4.
hydrogen oxygen hydrogen
H O H covalent bond between
The atoms that make up a molecule are joined
together by one or more covalent bonds, rather
than the ionic bonds that hold atoms together
in non-molecular compounds such as sodium
chloride (common salt). The smallest molecules
are composed of just two atoms, but some are
much larger; proteins, for example, may consist
of tens of thousands of atoms. Some elements
can also exist as molecules. For instance, pure
hydrogen and oxygen are typically composed of
two-atom (diatomic) molecules H2 and O2.
N

1,000
nitrogen atom and
hydrogen atom

chemical
reaction
WATER
H H AMMONIA MOLECULE
When hydrogen and H Each molecule of the

MILLION MILLION MILLION oxygen atoms react compound ammonia

together to make the is made of one atom
water
of nitrogen bound to
ROUGHLY THE NUMBER compound water, the

OF MOLECULES IN ONE
elements always formula is made up NH3 each of three atoms of

DROP OF WATER
H2O combine in the ratio 2:1,
so the chemical symbol
for water is is H2O.
of the symbols and
ratios of the
constituent atoms
hydrogen by a covalent
bond, so the formula
of ammonia is NH3.

REACTIONS
The elements or compounds that take part in a
reaction are called reactants. During a reaction,
the bonds of the reactants break and new bonds bonds are
broken and
may form, producing one or more different new ones are energy
substances known as the products. For formed released
example, in the reaction shown on the right, the
atoms of two reactants combine to form a single
compound as the product. The atoms involved
in a reaction do not go out of or come into
existence they are
ENERGETIC REACTION
just rearranged, so Two reactants may react
the total mass of the spontaneously when mixed,
products is the same forming a new compound. In
some reactions, energy may
as the total mass of be released, as when water
the reactants. and potassium react. REACTANT 1 REACTANT 2 REACTION PRODUCT

174
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G C O M P O U N D S A N D R E A CT I O N S

carbon dioxide
gas given off
TYPES OF REACTION
calcium ion
O
There are many different types of reaction, calcium carbonate
decomposes into
including, for example, electrolysis (in which calcium oxide
an electric current splits a compound into its Ca Ca C carbon
atom
constituent parts) and acidbase reactions
(in which an acid and base, or alkali, react
together). In general, however, reactions C O O
can be categorized into three main types
O O
according to what happens to the substances covalent
involved: decomposition, synthesis, and oxygen ion double
displacement (or replacement) reactions. O bond

In a decomposition reaction, a compound

breaks up into smaller parts. Synthesis is the DECOMPOSITION REACTION
opposite: two or more compounds combine Heating the mineral limestone (calcium carbonate) causes
to form a single product. In a displacement
reaction, part of one compound breaks away
it to decompose into calcium, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.
The calcium and oxygen are in the form of ions (charged
CaCO3 CaO CO2
particles); they form the ionic solid calcium oxide. The carbon
and becomes part of another. dioxide is a gas composed of covalently bonded molecules. calcium carbonate calcium oxide carbon dioxide

,, THE WORLD
OF CHEMICAL Ca O O Ca O
REACTIONS IS LIKE
A STAGE, ON WHICH O H H H H
SCENE AFTER SCENE
IS CEASELESSLY CaO H2O Ca(OH)2
,,
PLAYED. THE heat generated
may make
water boil
ACTORS ON IT ARE
calcium oxide water calcium hydroxide brackets
show that
there are two
THE ELEMENTS. solution of calcium SYNTHESIS REACTION
hydroxides
(OH) for every
hydroxide in water Adding calcium oxide to water produces calcium atom
calcium hydroxide, which dissolves in the
Clemens Alexander Winkler, remaining water. This is a synthesis
German chemist, 1887 calcium reaction because the product is composed
oxide
of all the atoms of the two ingredients.

O Ca

O Ca O C C O
O O
H H O O H H
carbon dioxide
added by bubbling
it through the water

Ca(OH)2 CO2 CaCO3 H2O DISPLACEMENT REACTION

When carbon dioxide gas is
introduced into a solution of
calcium hydroxide, the carbon
calcium hydroxide carbon dioxide calcium carbonate water dioxide displaces the hydroxide
in the calcium hydroxide,
producing calcium carbonate
water
and water. The calcium
carbonate forms solid particles
in the solution.
solid calcium
carbonate

175
 1809
Later commentators often depicted Lamarckian evolution with the idea that
giraffes acquired long necks by stretching to reach high branches.
IN 1809, FRENCH BIOLOGIST
JEAN-BAPTISTE LAMARCK
(see 1802) came up with one
of the rst systematic theories
about the evolution of life.
Lamarck argued that life evolved
gradually, from the simplest
to the most complex. He
suggested that a change in
the environment can provoke
a change in an organism, and
that these changes can also
be inherited. According to him,
useful characteristics develop
further over the generations,
and those that are not useful
fall into disuse and may
disappear. Unlike Charles
Darwin (see 1859), Lamarck had
no mechanism to explain how
these changes occur. One of his
ideas was that an organism
changes during its life to adapt
to its environment, and these
changes are then passed on to
its offspring. This idea, called
Lamarckian inheritance, was
largely ridiculed by followers
of Darwin, but there has been
renewed interest with recent
discoveries that the environment
can alter genes and their
0.01720209895
THE UNIVERSAL CONSTANT
FOR GRAVITY, ACCORDING
TO CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS
e hes que
ist
i
pt blis og hy ) e
Ba pu zool sop itanc ics
- a
a n rck ie l o
Je ma oph l Phi inhe ter
La ilos gica the arac
Ph olo sing d ch
(Zo pou uire
es acq
of
176
expression the study of this
is know as epigenetics.
In Germany, mathematician
Carl Friedrich Gauss (see
1796) laid the foundations of
astronomical mathematics
with his gravitational constant.
Newton had shown that there
is a single universal gure,
or constant, for the power
of gravitational attraction.
Gausss insight was to
devise a simple set of three
measurements for calculating
gravity's effects in which
masses are measured
in solar masses (the mass
of the Sun), distance is
measured in terms of the
longest diameter of Earths
orbit, and time is measured in
days. From these measurements
he found a constant for gravity
of 0.01720209895. This number
was fed into calculations to
work out planetary orbits.
We now know that the
measurements Gauss used
were not as invariable as
originally thought, but despite
this his work has been of great
value to astronomers.
s ish ph
us
r ist hG nt
ric is ta
d ns
r ie es h
co
F
rl ish al
Ca tabl ation
es avit
gr
an
ici
h ys ibes
p c r ia
ch es en
en el d phr
r
F in izo
e P sch
ipp
il
Ph
181011
Mary Annings discovery of a fossil, later called ichthyosaur, conrmed that the oceans
too once held strange creatures that are no longer alive today.
BRITISH CHEMIST HUMPHRY
DAVY (17781829) amazed
audiences at his London science
demonstrations with the glow
from the rst electric lamp, the
arc lamp, in which high voltage
was shot across the gap between
two carbon electrodes. Although
bright, the arc lamp was not
practical to use for everyday
lighting. Everyday electric light
arrived only when American
inventor Thomas Edison
(18471931) and British physicist
Joseph Swan (18281914)
developed the incandescent lamp
(see 187879). Davy also proved
that chlorine is an element, and
that muriatic acid is a compound
of hydrogen and chlorine (now
known as hydrochloric acid),
disproving French chemist
Antoine-Laurent Lavoisiers theory
that every acid contained oxygen.
MARY ANNING (17991847)
ry s
rit um trate
B H ns c
10 st
18 emi emo ectr amp
i 10 ho
ch vy d st el rc l
Da e r he a
th ht: t
lig
an
rm is
Ge anc a
0 r de
1 F
18 ist he i ain
t r
to m s of b ular
na er c n
roa ione ation arti brai
u p
ne all caliz s in the
p J intr m
G lo on
in
of cti ces
n
fu pla
,, THE CEREBRUM
,,
I CONSIDER AS THE GRAND
ORGAN BY WHICH THE MIND
IS UNITED TO THE BODY.
Charles Bell, British anatomist, in Idea of a New Anatomy of the Brain, 1811
In 1811, Italian chemist Amedeo together. From this, Avogadro
Avogadro (17761856) reconciled deduced his hypothesis that
John Daltons atomic theory of an equal volume of any gas
elements (see 180304) with at the same temperature and
Gay-Lussacs law of 1808, which pressure always contains the
said that when two gases react, same number of molecules.
the volumes of the reactants Another milestone in chemistry
and products are in simple was the system of chemical
whole number ratios. Avogadro symbols and formulae proposed
realized the difference between by Swedish chemist Jns Jacob
atoms and molecules. So, simple Berzelius (17791848) in 1811
gases such as hydrogen and that is still used today. He
oxygen are made of molecules suggested that every element
of two or more atoms joined be identied simply by its initial
letter as a capital. Where two
elements begin with the same
letter, he added a second letter
The daughter of a poor cabinet or consonant of the name. To
maker in the British coastal show the number of atoms of
town of Lyme Regis, Mary an element in a compound, he
Anning became the greatest added a gure to the symbol.
fossil hunter of the age. Among So the formula for water is
her key nds were the almost H2O, indicating there are two
complete skeletons of marine atoms of hydrogen for each
reptiles such as the ichthyosaur one of oxygen.
and the plesiosaur. At the time, Meanwhile, on the south coast
Anning was one of the foremost of England, 11-year-old Mary
experts on the anatomy of
these fossil creatures.
Anning made the rst of her
many key fossil nds. It was of an
ichthyosaur a marine reptile
ry
ry nt ish Ma
ph at me rit ter an l
um s th ele
B
un ds ssi
n 11
H w n ish oh ia 18 sil h n r fo
a rit st J ibes hren s
18 vy s e is B i r fo ning osau
a i n 10 ac sc zop
An thy
D lor 18 arm de chi
ch ph slam oid s ich
Ha ran
pa
ist
m
che elius
n
ish rz er ist
ed b Be mod ical em o
w
S c o s m ls ch gadr s
11 Ja ce he bo n
lia vo ro
18 ns odu of c ym Ita o A gad sis
s
11 ede Avo othe
ste 8
1 Am es yp
sy
os h
op
pr
 1812
A coal train is hauled by steam locomotive Salamanca at the Middleton
Colliery Railway, UK, in 1814.
THE FRENCH
atomic atomic
REVOLUTIONS
number weight
introduction of the metric
system in the 1790s
26 55.845
created chaos, as many
Fe people insisted on
continuing to use the
local units of measure
IRON that existed in different
towns. So, in 1812, French
name chemical emperor Napolon
symbol Bonaparte introduced
the mesures usuelles
CHEMICAL SYMBOLS (standard measures),
which combined basic
The system of symbols
devised by Berzelius is used
by chemists even today. Each
metric units such as the metre
and kilogram and old familiar
measures. This system was
element is indicated by the
intitial letter or two of its
nally replaced in 1840 with
the full metric system.
Latin name the symbol In this year, German geologist
for iron, Fe, comes from its
Latin name, ferrum. The box
Friedrich Mohs (17731839)
devised a system to identify
in the periodic table for each minerals. It was based on the
element shows its atomic
number, its atomic weight,
physical properties, such as
hardness, colour, and shape.
and the number of protons Mohs noticed that hard minerals
in the nucleus of each atom. could scratch softer ones. He
developed a scratch test to
shaped like a dolphin that lived
at the time of the dinosaurs.
determine the hardness of
each mineral and a scale of
10 standard minerals now
Also in Britain, anatomist
Charles Bell published Idea
known as the Mohs scale on
which to place each mineral.
of a New Anatomy of the Brain, French palaeontologist Georges
which distinguished between
the sensory and motor nerves
Cuvier (17691832) published the
Discours Prliminaire (Preliminary
of the brain. Discourse), an introduction to
his essays on fossil quadrupeds
(animals with four legs), in which
gis
t gis r
ish ist n s
rit om ee rve e olo s
1 B anat ell betw r ne g h ra
1 an Mo ne
18 uro s B es oto r m ich s mi e
ne arle uish d m Ge iedr s hi scal
Ch ting y an Fr ate ess
dis nsor e
cr rdn
se ha
n ve
ist leo
em is a po the
ch urto e N e s es
h
c Co din r y uc ell
en ua trod usu
Fr ard s io r
b in s 12 am t Midd ine K
8 11 ern over Fe te ure
1 B isc 12 par es
d a m on Coll Yor
Bo
n es
,, RAGE FOR RAILROADS
,,
IS SO GREAT THAT MANY
WILL BE LAID IN PARTS
WHERE THEY WILL NOT PAY.
George Stephenson, British civil engineer, in a letter to Joseph Sandars,
December 1824
trains successfully for
MOHS SCALE
the rst time, on an
adapted track initially
built in the 1750s to The scale rates mineral
enable horses to pull hardness from 1 to 10 in
wagons full of coal from
the Middleton mine.
In the 1790s,
terms of standard minerals.
Geologists use scratch tests
to identify a mineral for
Frenchman Nicholas example, one that scratches
Appert had developed apatite but is scratched by
sealed glass jars to quartz is a 6 on the scale.
preserve food, but the
glass was breakable.
New metric system
Then in 1810, British
merchant Peter Durand
1 TALC
This engraving satirizes the
confusion French people had in
adopting the metric system, which
patented the tin can, which
was made of iron coated with
tin to prevent rusting. In 1812,
2 GYPSUM
is why Napoleon introduced the
compromise mesures usuelles. American engraver Thomas
Kensett (17861829) established 3 CALCITE
he argued that many more the rst food preservation
species lived on Earth in the
past and that every rock bed
factory in New York, USA, for
preserving oysters, meat, fruit,
4 FLUORITE
contains fossils from a different and vegetables in glass jars. In
time in Earths past. In line with
geologists who believed that
1825, Kensett set up the rst
US canning factory.
5 APATITE
the landscapes of the world James Barry (c.17921865)
were shaped by a series of
catastrophes, Cuvier argued that
born and raised as Margaret Ann
Bulkley chose to live as a man
6 ORTHOCLASE
the world had been overcome by
past catastrophes or revolutions,
which had swept away a large
so she could be accepted into
university. In 1812, she became
the rst woman to qualify as
7 QUARTZ
number of species.
Meanwhile, the rst
a medical doctor, graduating
from the University of Edinburgh, 8 TOPAZ
steamboat service in Europe Scotland. She went on to become
opened with the paddlesteamer
PS Comet plying on the River
a distinguished surgeon.
9 CORUNDUM
Clyde in Scotland. In Middleton,
West Yorkshire, UK, steam
locomotives were used to haul
10 DIAMOND
s
t at nn me
t t A Ja
ch ntolo vie cies t in s us bo n re as mes to
l e n u e u e ug eam ns o a
rg y co n
Fr laeo es C t sp ed o oph A t e
15 st s op lyde Ma lkle be oma ctor
pa org tha wip astr Fir rvice er C Bu rry st w a do
s
Ge gue een ca t
s e R tland
e i v Ba e r as
ar ve b st by th Sco th alify ain
ha e pa in qu Brit
th in
r
ra p
st ng ts u d
Fir s n e
se o
st run n ica tt t fo y
g u n o er nse rs ctor
Au rai let in
Am Ke Ss n fa
l as U tio
ste the iery ks,
U om the rva
Th e
st pr
We
177
 181314 1815

Fraunhofer lines are dark lines in a light spectrum created by the absorption Mount Tambora on Sumbara Island in Indonesia was the site the largest volcanic events in recorded history.
of certain wavelengths by gases. The pattern reveals the identity of the gas. The eruption took 1,400 m (4,593 ft) in height off the cone of the volcano.

ON 13 MARCH 1813, BRITISH colours. When sunlight passed MOUNT TAMBORA ON THE became the basis for all
ENGINEER William Hedley through the glass, Fraunhofer INDONESIAN ISLAND of geological maps.
(17791843) patented a design noticed dark lines (Fraunhofer Sumbawa erupted on 5 April. It The canals Smith helped
for a steam locomotive known Lines) where colour in the was the most powerful volcanic to build were essential to
as Pufng Billy. It began hauling light spectrum was missing. eruption in recorded history the accelerating Industrial
coal trucks in Northumberland, Fraunhofer was not the rst to the explosions could be heard as Revolution in Britain, as were the
England, in 1814 and is the notice these lines, but in 1814 he far away as 2,600 km (1,616 miles). mines that provided coal for res
worlds oldest surviving steam was the rst to start an extensive The role of fossils in studying and steam engines. Mining was
locomotive. The greatest pioneer study of them, and in doing so Earths history was revealed dangerous work, however, and
of steam railways, George provided a basis for the science by British geologist William miners lived in constant fear of
Stephenson (17811848), also of spectroscopy (see 188485). Smith (17691839). hitting pockets of methane or

,, HE [WELLS] DISTINCTLY
RECOGNIZES THE PRINCIPLE
Working as
a surveyor,
overseeing the
digging of canals,
other ammable gases, known
as redamp, which could
explode if they reached the
naked ame of their
Smith noticed that candles. British scientist
OF NATURAL SELECTION widely separated Humphry Davy invented William Smiths geological map

,,
outcrops of the same the miners safety lamp. This pioneering map of Britain
THIS IS THE FIRST rock strata could be The lamps ame was
showed the geological make-up of
the country and set a precedent for
RECOGNITION BUT HE identied by the
fossils they contain.
wrapped in wire mesh
that reduced the chance
geological maps in the future.

APPLIES IT ONLY TO MAN. He used this to create

the rst geological
of it igniting gases.
In chemistry, the atomic
Ernest Rutherford (18711937)
named the proton partly in
Charles Darwin, British naturalist, The origin of species by means of map in 1799, and in theory of elements was honour of Prout.
natural selection, 4th edition, 1866 1815 he published gaining supporters. In France, scientist Jean-
a geological map of British scientist William Baptiste Biot (17741862) was
built his rst steam locomotive in Elsewhere in 1814, news was Britain. His map Prout (17851850) experimenting with polarized
the north of England; it rst delivered with the help of concluded from studying light light vibrating in just
ran on 25 July 1814. steam-powered presses at tables of atomic weights a single plane (see panel,
In London, in 1813, American The Times newspaper in London. wire mesh (see 180304) that every opposite). On 23 October, he
prevents ame
physician William Wells (1757 In Connecticut, USA, inventor weight is a multiple of shone a beam of polarized light
from igniting
1817) read a paper to the Royal Eli Terry (17721852) developed mine gasses the weight of a hydrogen through a tube of turpentine
Society in which he explained a ground-breaking design for a atom, and that the and noticed how the plane of
racial differences on the basis mass-produced clock that could hydrogen atom is the polarization was rotated. Other
of a process of evolution be made by machines instead Davy lamp only fundamental organic liquids, such as lemon
involving natural selection. of being hand-assembled by This miners safety particle from which juice, produced the same effect.
In Bavaria, German optician skilled clockmakers. This lamp consisted of a all other elements This rotation is at the heart of
cylinder of wire
Joseph von Fraunhofer was made clocks more affordable. are made up. He the Liquid Crystal Displays
gauze containing
making ne optical glass for a wick attached to was not right, but a (LCD) now widely used in
separating light into different an oil reservoir. century later, in 1920, display screens.

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16
KILOMETRES
PER HOUR
THE AVERAGE SPEED OF
DRAISS LAUFMASCHINE

Karl von Draiss Laufmaschine (running machine) was a forerunner of the bicycle
and the rst two-wheeled form of personal transport.

each ring polarized light do not create

refracts light AUGUSTIN-JEAN FRESNEL (17881827)
at a different
angle
Fresnel worked as an engineer
during the Napoleonic Wars of
1803 to 1815. Afterwards, he
began to research light and
optics, making key contributions
to understanding the nature of
light waves, diffraction, and
polarization. He is best known
for his invention of the stepped
glass Fresnel lens, which is
commonly used in lighthouses.
THE THEORY THAT LIGHT
TRAVELS IN WAVES (see 1801)
was backed up in 1816 by a series
of precise experiments with
diffraction the way light spills
around objects into shadows
by French engineer Augustin-
Jean Fresnel. When Fresnel
shone a light through slits, he
detected tiny fringes of light that
could only be produced by
interference between waves.
Fresnel backed this up with
detailed calculations of how a
light wave might move
and produce diffraction.
Working with French physicist
Franois Arago (17861853), in
stepped lens
focuses the
beam Fresnel lighthouse lens
Fresnels experiments in light and optics
led him to create a special lens for use in
lighthouses; it was also sometimes used in
theatre lights. It focuses the light using multiply
stepped glass, rather than a single thick lens.
1817 Fresnel began to explore
polarization, which was then
thought irreconcilable with wave
theory. Polarized light is
reected in just one plane;
Fresnel found that beams of
POLARIZATION
Augustin-Jean Fresnel worked
out that light moves forward in
waves that vibrate transversely
perpendicularly to the direction
in which they are travelling.
beam of ordinary
light vibrating on
numerous planes
polarizing lter
interference fringes if they are
polarized in different planes.
In 1816, British physicist David
Brewster (17811868) calculated
Brewsters Angle the angle at
which light must strike an object
at for maximum polarization.
In 1817, three new elements
were discovered: cadmium by
German chemist Friedrich
Stromeyer (17761835); lithium
by Swedish chemist Johann
Arfwedson (17921841); and
selenium by Swedish chemist
Jns Berzelius (17791848).
In Germany, Baron Karl von
Drais (17851851) invented an
early bicycle known as the
Laufmaschine propelled by feet
rather than pedals. His rst public
ride took place on 12 June 1817.
Ordinary light vibrates at every
angle or plane, but when it is
polarized by passing through a
polarizing lter the vibrations
are reduced to a single plane.
polarizing light second lter blocks
vibrating in one plane polarized light

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 1818 1819

118
MILLILITRES
THE AMOUNT OF
BLOOD BLUNDELL
EXTRACTED

To perform the rst successful blood transfusion, James Blundell took William Parrys ships HMS Hecla and
blood from the arm of his assistant and injected it into the patient. HMS Griper, trapped in the Arctic ice.

THE BRITISH PHYSICIST commercial, but they showed the Robert Stirling invented a heat Cuvier studied fossils in hole placed on
MICHAEL FARADAY (17911867) value of a scientic approach. engine which was intended as an the possession of the British patients body
later famous for his work on The demands of industry alternative. His engine worked by clergyman William Buckland,
Stethoscope
electromagnetism, spent the accelerated progress in continually compressing and found near Stoneseld in Leaennecs
initial years of his career technology, and the increased expanding air or another gas England a few years earlier. stethoscope allowed
concerned with chemistry. status of engineers was reected in a closed space. The Stirling Cuvier conrmed these doctors to hear
Together with the cutlery maker in the founding of the Institute of engine didnt catch on at the time fossils belonged to a gigantic murmurs inside
a patients chest.
James Stodart, Faraday began to Civil Engineers in London. Steam although recently it has excited extinct lizard.
experiment with different steel locomotives were becoming more interest as a simple and low This period also saw the
alloys to incorporate rare metals than curiosities, but they were maintenance power source for growing professionalism of
earpiece
such as platinum. These new still expensive to run and liable everything from use in the Third surgeons and doctors. London
alloys were too expensive to be to explode. British engineer World to space exploration. doctor James Blundell saved a
At the same time the natural mother from bleeding to death
Stirling hot air engine world continued to hold after giving birth with the rst
The Stirling engine fascination for many people. successful blood transfusion.
could alternately French naturalist Georges He used a syringe to extract
compress and expand
blood from the arm of a donor
hot air, making it a
gas is heated in the hot cylinder, and he injected it into the arm
far more quiet and
building pressure to move the piston of the patient. This was before ANOTHER MEDICAL ADVANCE
efcient machine.
doctors realized what caused was the simple stethoscope,
cool cylinder where the hot gas
is cooled, lowering its pressure blood to clot or knew about blood invented by Parisian physician
groups (see 1901). Ren Laennec (17811826) in
conducting pipe 1816 to listen to the heartbeart
carries heat to the
and breathing patterns. It was
hot cylinder
wheel is driven rst described in his 1819 book on
by piston diagnosis, De lAuscultation
cooling pipes
Mediate (On Mediate Auscultation).
draw heat from
gas in the cool His stethoscope allowed
power meter
cylinder physicians to diagnose diseases
earlier and far more accurately.
piston rod driven by Also in Paris, French physicists
pressure changes in the Alexis Petit (17911820) and
hot and cool cylinders Pierre Dulong (17851838)
found a way to verify the atomic
weights of elements. In 1803,
British chemist John Dalton had
put forward an atomic theory,
stating that each element is
made of atoms of a particular
weight, but establishing the

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180
 1820
,,THE EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION BY WHICH

,,
AMPRE ESTABLISHED THE LAW OF THE MECHANICAL
ACTION BETWEEN ELECTRIC CURRENTS IS ONE OF THE
MOST BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN SCIENCE.
James Clerk Maxwell, British theoretical physicist, from A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, 1873

11251W
THE LONGITUDE IN THE NORTHWEST
PASSAGE REACHED BY HMS HECLA
AND HMS GRIPER
weights proved to be a difcult
task. Petit and Dulong found that
an elements specic heat (see
176162) the amount of heat
required to raise the temperature
by one degree Celsius is
inversely proportional to its
atomic weight. By measuring the
specic heat of an element, Petit
and Dulong were able to make an
estimate of its atomic weight.
During this period, nding
a sailing route to the Pacic
20% of the journey was
steam powered
80% of the
journey was
sail powered
Voyage of the SS Savannah
While the SS Savannah was the rst
ship to cross the Atlantic using
steam power, the ship used its
steam engines for only 41 hours
during the 207-hour voyage.
through the Arctic was an
attractive proposition for
commercial interests in Europe,
as the routes to the south were
long and stormy. British naval
ofcer William Parry led an
expedition to nd the Northwest
Passage in 1819 and succeeded.
He reached Melville Island in the
Arctic and won the prize offered
by Parliament for crossing a
longitude of 110 West. Parrys
ships, HMS Hecla and HMS Griper,
were trapped by frozen sea until
the spring of 1820 when the ice
nally melted.
Another ship, the SS Savannah,
became the rst ship to cross the
Atlantic using steam engines,
sailing from Savannah in the
USA on 22 May and arriving in
Liverpool in England 18 days
later. This feat was not repeated
for over 20 years. Despite being
equipped with luxury cabins,
however, no passengers could
be persuaded to join the voyage
because of the ships
revolutionary design: a sailing
ship that also contained a steam
engine operated by paddle wheels.
DANISH PHYSICIST HANS
CHRISTIAN RSTED (17771851)
revealed the link between
electricity and magnetism. At
a public lecture in Copenhagen,
he astonished the audience by
showing a compass needle
move as he brought it near a wire
conducting electricity. Inuenced
by rsteds discovery, French
physicist Andr-Marie
Ampre created a theory of
electromagnetism. This showed
that electric currents owing in
opposite directions create
magnetic elds that cause the
wires to be attracted, while
currents owing the same way
lead to the wires being repelled.
British physicist John
Herapath (17901868) explained
how temperature and pressure
in gas are created by moving
molecules, an early version of
the kinetic theory of gases.
ELECTROMAGNETS
An electric current creates its own
magnetic eld, and this is the basis of
an electromagnet. These are powerful
magnets that can be switched on and
off with an electric current. A solenoid
(coil of wire) is a common form of
electromagnet. The more coils of
wire, the stronger the magnetic eld.
Electromagnets are vital to the
operation of everything from the
speaker in a phone to electric motors.
ANDR-MARIE AMPRE (17751836)
Born near Lyon in France,
Andr-Marie Ampre was a
talented mathematician and
teacher. He laid the foundations
of electromagnetic theory and
discovered that the magnetic
interaction of two electrical
wires is proportional to their
length and the strength of the
current owing through them.
This is known as Ampres Law.
In Paris, French naturalist Also in Paris, chemists Pierre-
Georges Cuvier ridiculed Joseph Pelletier (17881842)
the ideas of fellow naturalist and Joseph Bienaim Caventou
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, (17951877) worked on isolating
who argued that species medically active ingredients
have transformed, or evolved, from plants. In 1820, they
through time. This idea is now isolated quinine from cinchona
an accepted part of the theory bark, which later became
of evolution. important in treating malaria.
strong magnetic eld created
current ows
around the wire by the current
through the
coiled wire
iron core
electric current
provided by the
battery

.
is ip n H the g
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20 Sav st st e At pta ve e u le
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s c i y H ed p ing eas m be by A l Pa
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181
 182122
,,I FOUND A PORTION OF THE LUNG AS

,,
LARGE AS A TURKEYS EGG, PROTRUDING
THROUGH THE EXTERNAL WOUND,
LACERATED AND BURNT.
William Beaumont, US army surgeon, from Experiments and Observations
on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion, 1833

US army surgeon William Beaumont inserted a tube into the stomach of his
colleague Alexis St Martin, who had been injured by a gunshot.

BUILDING ON DANISH PHYSICIST
HANS CHRISTIAN RSTEDS
discovery in 1820 that an electric
current makes a magnet move,
British scientist Michael
Faraday (see 1837) showed
that a wire carrying an electric
current moved in a circle around
a xed magnet, and that a
suspended magnet moved in
a circle around a xed wire
carrying a current. He had
discovered electromagnetic
rotation the principle of the
electric motor.
German-Estonian scientist
Thomas Seebeck (17701831)
observed that a compass needle
wavers when it is close to a loop
of two different metals that are
cooled in one place and heated
in another. This is because the
slightly different movement
of heat through each of the
two metals disturbs atoms to
generate an electric current, a
phenomenom called the Seebeck
or thermoelectric effect.
In the eld of geology,
Swiss geologist Ignatz Venetz
(17881859) suggested that
in the past, during an ice age,
the world was colder and
Europe was covered in
glaciers that shaped
much of its landscape.
On the English coast,
near Lyme Regis in Dorset,
fossil collector Mary Anning
(see 181011) found the rst
fossil plesiosaur a huge marine
reptile that lived 65195 million
years ago. The following year,
another fossil hunter, Gideon
Faradays experiment
A replica of the apparatus Michael
freely pivoting Faraday used to demonstrate the
wire principle of electromagnetic rotation,
which is the basis of electric motors.
magnet
water completes
discovered ancient remains
the circuit of a hyenas den, with bones of
rhinoceroses, elephants, and
lions, showing that wildlife in
the British Isles was once
very different.
Geologists were starting
to identify the different ages
in Earths past from fossils
found in rocks. In 1822, British
Mantell (17901852) found geologists William Phillips
teeth of a huge reptile he called (17751828) and William
an iguanadon, which was later Conybeare (17871857) made
identied as a dinosaur. In the rst identication of a
Yorkshire, British naturalist geological period. They named
William Buckland (17841856) it the Carboniferous period after
the carboniferous (coal-bearing)
strata of northern England.
The same year, British computer
pioneer Charles Babbage
(17911871) proposed his
ingenious idea for a Difference
Engine: a calculating machine
built from cogs and rods that
would work automatically and
eliminate human error.
American army surgeon
William Beaumont (17851853)
was the rst person to observe
human digestion in the stomach.
He performed experiments on a
soldier who had been shot in the
abdomen, and pioneered gastric
endoscopy inserting a tube to
look inside the stomach.

GEOGLOGICAL PERIODS

Layers of rock form one on top

of the other, with the oldest at
the bottom, unless they have
been disturbed. The sequence
forms the geological column
and is the basis for dividing
Earths history into geological
periods, identied originally
by the fossils found in each
rock layer. The oldest, deepest
layer is the Cambrian Period
542488 million years ago
542 mya 488 mya 433 mya 416 mya 359 mya 299 mya 251 mya 199 mya 145 mya 65 mya 1.6 mya
the rst era when life left Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Tertiary Quaternary
enough fossils to date it. period period period period period period period period period period period

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182
182324
,,BRAILLE IS

,,
A B C D E F G H I J KNOWLEDGE;
KNOWLEDGE IS
POWER.
K L M N O P Q R S T Louis Braille, French inventor of Braille writing

A simple invention by a blind French boy to help him read, Braille has become a window
into the world of books for millions of visually impaired people.

DURING 182324, SCIENTISTS description of a dinosaur Megalosaurus bones

WERE STUDYING THE NIGHT
sky as well as the history of
Earth. Bavarian astronomer
Franz von Gruithuisen
(17741852) realized craters on
the Moon were formed by past
meteorite impacts. Another
German astronomer, Heinrich
Olbers (17581840), asked why
the night sky is dark. Surely, if
there is an innite number of
stars, then it should be possible
to see a star in every direction
and, as a result, the night sky
should be bright. Olbers was
not the rst scientist to ask this
question, but it has become
known as Olbers Paradox.
Nowadays this paradox is
known to be the result of space
expanding, which diminishes the
apparent brightness of distant
stars in many directions, causing
the sky to appear dark.
British naturalist William
Buckland made two momentous
contributions to the eld of
geology. The rst was his
discovery, in a cave on the
coast of Wales, UK, of the rst
fossilized human remains
(although the term was not
coined until 1842) he identied
some fossils as a giant extinct
lizard called megalosaurus.
French mathematician Joseph
Fourier, calculated that Earth
is too far from the Sun to be
warmed to the temperature it
is by solar radiation alone. He
JOSEPH FOURIER
(17681830)
Joseph Fourier was a brilliant
mathematician who went with
Napoleon to Egypt in 1798
to decode hieroglyphs. He
studied heat transfer and
Drawings of megalosaurus
bones from William
Bucklands 1824 paper,
which contained the rst
scientic description
of a dinosaur.
suggested that heat
is trapped by Earths
atmosphere. This was
the rst identication
of what later became
known as the
greenhouse effect.
Hungarian
mathematician Jnos
Bolyai (180260)
pioneered a new form
of geometry non-
Euclidean geometry.
It breaks away from
Euclids denition of
parallel lines on a at,
two-dimensional surface published Reections on the they lose heat every time hot
(see 400335 BCE), and frees Motive Power of Fire and on gases are released before the
mathematicians to contemplate Machines Fitted to Develop that next cycle. The Carnot cycle
abstract multi-dimensional Power. This book contained the shows the maximum theoretical
ideas, such as the curved nature rst successful theory of heat efciency for all engines. Carnot
of space, time, and the engines, which is now known laid the foundations for the
Universe, and parallel lines as the Carnot cycle. All heat science of thermodynamics
that can actually cross. engines are inefcient because (see 184748).
A blind 15-year-old French boy

ever found. Buckland wrongly
identied them as being those of
a Roman woman. Carbon-dating
(see 1955) has since conrmed
they are, in fact, of a 33,000-year-
old man. Bucklands second
contribution, in 1824, was when
he gave the rst scientic
identied the greenhouse
effect. His studies of waves
led to Fourier analysis, the
mathematical analysis of wave
forms, now used in everything
from touch screens to
understanding brain function.
Nicolas Sadi Carnot (17961832)
700
called Louis Braille (180952)
invented the six-dot code later
known as Braille. This writing
THE NUMBER
system enables blind or partially OF DINOSAUR
sighted people to read and is now SPECIES THAT
used in virtually every country.
Also in France, engineer HAS NOW BEEN
IDENTIFIED

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183
 17 8 9 18 94 T H E A G E O F R E V O LU T I O N S

Abacus
c.2700 BCE
First abacus
The abacus is invented in
Sumer (present-day Iraq)
and is soon widespread.
1642
Pascaline
Blaise Pascal invents one of
1617
the rst mechanical calculators Arithmometer
Napiers Bones
capable of simple arithmetic.
Invented by John Napier, 1820
this set of inscribed rods Arithmometer
or bones provides a Thomas de Colmar builds the
quick way of multiplying rst commercially successful
or dividing large numbers. Napiers Bones Pascaline mechanical calculating machine.

c.100 BCE 1630 1801

Antikythera Slide rule Mechanical loom
mechanism Invented by English mathematician William Joseph Marie Jacquards
This early Greek Oughtred, the slide rule is used to multiply, loom is controlled by
device uses bronze divide, and calculate roots and logarithms. cards with punched holes,
gears to calculate a system later adopted by
astronomical Slide rule early computers.
positions.
Antikythera mechanism Jacquard loom

THE STORY OF
CALCULATING MACHINES
CALCULATING HAS BEEN IMPORTANT FOR SCIENCE, INDUSTRY, AND COMMERCE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY

The word calculate is derived from the Latin calculus, or little stone,
referring to the ancient practice of using stones to perform calculations.
Since then, increasingly sophisticated devices have been invented to
perform the complex calculations demanded by advances in the sciences.

The rst calculating device, the abacus, evolved
when counting stones were arranged on a frame,
and remained the most widely used means of
calculating until the 17th century. A breakthrough
came with Scottish mathematician John Napiers
discovery of logarithms (see 161417), and his
invention of the calculating device known as
Napiers Bones. The rst mechanical calculators
also appeared in the 17th century, prompted by
the need for accurate astronomical tables.
PROGRAMMABLE MACHINES
During the Industrial Revolution, a French
weaver, Joseph Marie Jacquard, used punched
cards to control the working of his looms. The
idea of a calculating machine capable of carrying
out different programmable functions was
originated by British mathematician Ada
Lovelace. The same idea was taken up by British
inventor Charles Babbage in his concept of an
Analytical Engine.
The rst electrical computers began to appear
in the 1930s, and with the introduction of integrated
circuits, or chips, smaller and more powerful
computers and calculators eventually became
viable. By the mid-1970s, entire processing units
on silicon chips microprocessors enabled the
production of personal computers.
BINARY NUMBERS
Unlike the decimal system, which uses the numbers
0 to 9, the binary numeral system uses only two
symbols, 0 and 1. In this system, 1 is represented
by 1, 2 by 10, 3 by 11, 4 by 100, and so on. Because
there are only two symbols, the binary system is
ideal for use in digital electronic computers, where
the two possible states of an electronic circuit, off
or on, correspond to the digits 0 and 1.

,,
,,
ALL WHICH IS BEAUTIFUL
AND NOBLE IS THE RESULT OF
REASON AND CALCULATION.
Charles Baudelaire, French poet (182167)

184
 T H E S TO R Y O F CA LC U L AT I N G M AC H I N E S

1889
Hollerith tabulator
The electrical tabulating
machine invented by Herman
Hollerith in the USA is the rst
device to use punched cards
to store data rather than
Hollerith tabulator control a process.
1960s
Electronic calculator
Electronic desktop
calculators emerge in the
1960s with the invention
of the transistor. Pocket
calculators soon follow.
1970s
Microprocessor chips
Integrated circuits
containing thousands
of transistors become
commercially available
Pocket calculator for use in computers. Microchip

1822 1939 1980spresent

Babbages Difference Engine
Charles Babbage begins work on the design of
a machine capable of complex calculations.
The Bombe Personal computers
Based on a Polish design, this electromechanical device The so-called microcomputer
is built in Britain during World War II to decipher codes. revolution takes off in the
1980s as personal computers
become smaller, more
powerful, and more affordable.

Early Apple computer

interconnected
gear wheels

dial on nal
column shows
result of
calculation

gures
engraved
on wheels

brass
framework

Babbages Difference Engine

Charles Babbage designed the
rst of his calculating machines
in the 1820s to overcome human
error in compiling numerical
tables. He improved on the design
with a second Difference Engine
in 184749. This demonstration
model of Babbages rst design
was built by his son Henry.

185
 1825 182627

500
THE NUMBER OF BIRD
SPECIES PAINTED BY
JOHN JAMES AUDUBON

Marc Seguins bridge across the Rhne between Tournon-sur-Rhne and

Tain-lHermitage used a pioneering wire cable suspension system.

THE OPENING OF THE STOCKTON
AND DARLINGTON railway on
27 September in the north of
England marked the beginning
of the railway age. Smaller
steam railways had existed
before, but this project involved
massive bridges and viaducts.
The railway was engineered by
George Stephenson, who also
designed its rst locomotive,
Locomotion No.1.
One early passenger was
French engineer Marc Seguin
(17861875), whose experience
inspired him to create his own
steam railways in France. In
August, Seguin also opened
Europes rst large wire cable
suspension bridge between
Tournon-sur-Rhne and Tain-
lHermitage, which spanned
almost 91 m (298 ft).
Another technological rst
was an electromagnet that
was capable of supporting
8
PER CENT
THE AMOUNT
OF ALUMINIUM
PRESENT IN
EARTHS CRUST
more than its own weight.
Made by British electrical
engineer William Sturgeon
(17831850), the 200 g (7 oz)
magnet could lift 4 kg (9 lb).
The Danish physicist who
discovered electromagnetism
in 1820, Hans rsted, created
aluminium in a chemical
reaction in 1825.
British scientist Michael Faraday,
who was another pioneer of
electromagnetism, discovered
benzene in the oil residue that
was created from making coal
gas for gaslights. Benzene is a
key ingredient of petroleum and
is used to make plastic.
Meanwhile, French naturalist
Georges Cuvier published his
idea (rst proposed in 1812) that
large groups of animals had been
wiped out by past catastrophes,
in the book Discourse on the BROWNIAN MOTION
Revolutions of the Surface of
the Globe. German geologist In 1827, when Robert Brown observed pollen grains in water
Christian von Buch (17741853) through a microscope, he noticed they moved about at random,
argued that natural variations but could offer no explanation for it. In 1905 Albert Einstein
between animals led to (18791955) showed that the pollen grains were being knocked
separate species. about by water molecules, which caused them to move. This map
of Brownian motion shows the random path of individual grains.
Stockton and Darlington railway
The opening of George Stephensons
Stockton and Darlington Railway
IN THE NATURAL WORLD, February 1826, which involves
was a major event, attracting
over 40,000 spectators and Russian naturalist Karl von Baer imaginary surfaces and lines.
worldwide attention. (17921876) discovered in 1826 Two important developments
that mammals start life as eggs in engineering also occurred in
or ova, and Scottish biologist 1826. American inventor Samuel
Robert Grant (17931874), Morey (17621843) patented an
German naturalist August early version of the internal
Schweigger (17821821), and combustion engine.
German anatomist Friedrich In the summer of 1826, French
Tiedemann (17811861) all inventor Joseph Nicphore
argued that both plants and Nipce (17651833) used
animals have a common origin. a camera obscura to take
Another Russian, the worlds oldest-known
mathematician Nikolai photograph on a light-sensitive
Lobachevsky (17921856), bitumen-coated pewter plate.
presented his system of In nearby Montpellier, French
hyperbolic geometry in chemist Antoine Balard

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 1828

An illustration from Audubons book Originally set up as a place for scientic study, the Gardens of the London Zoological
The Birds of America. Society (London Zoo) was eventually opened to the public in 1847.

(180276) discovered bromine AS THE WESTERN WORLD made by living things, as mineral discovered by the Nottingham, England, self-
in seawater. And in Tours, BECAME INCREASINGLY Whlers former tutor Swedish Norweigian geologist Morten taught mathematician George
French doctor Pierre URBANIZED, interest turned chemist Jn Jakob Berzelius Esmark (180182). Green (17931841) published an
Bretonneau (17781862) towards the natural world and (17791848) had insisted. The worlds rst electric essay in which he outlined the
identied diphtheria. botanic gardens and zoos were Berzelius also made a discovery motor was made in Budapest rst mathematical theory of
In 1827, English chemist opened to display exotic plants in 1828 when he isolated the by Hungarian inventor and electricity and magnetism. This
William Prout (17851850) and animals. The rst zoo for radioactive element thorium, Benedictine monk nyos was later built on by James Clerk
classied food into the three scientic study was London a dense metal found in a black Jedlik (180095), and in Maxwell (see 186164).
main divisions known today: Zoo in England, which opened
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. on 27 April 1828. wire coil turns
Scottish naturalist Robert The foundations of wire
magnetic clockwise as
coil
Brown (17731858) observed embryology (the science of eld permanent magnet
the phenomenon now known embryo development) were laid repels wire coil
south pole
as Brownian motion (see panel, by Estonian naturalist Karl Ernst direction
opposite), and FrenchAmerican von Baer (17921876), who north of current
commutator
pole
naturalist, John James Audubon showed that different animal (rotating commutator
(17851851), published the species could appear similar electrical rotates with
brush
switch) wire coil
rst part of his book The Birds at early stages of development.
of America. English fossil collector Mary STAGE 1 STAGE 2
Anning (see 181011) had made
a number of important prehistoric
discoveries on the English coast, commutator reverses

,, THE OBJECTS
APPEAR WITH
but in 1828 she found the fossil
of a pterosaur, a huge ying
reptile. It was only the third such
connections, switching
the direction of the electric
current to the wire coil
wire coil
continues
to rotate

fossil to be found and the rst to

ASTONISHING be identied. Annings pterosaur
brushes form
circuit connection
SHARPNESS was named Dimorphodon by with the

DOWN TO THE palaeontologist Richard Owen commutator

(180492) in 1859.
SMALLEST
STAGE 3 STAGE 4
In Berlin, German chemist
DETAILS... Friedrich Whler (180082) ELECTRIC MOTORS

,,
THE EFFECT pioneered organic chemistry
the chemistry of living things Hungarian inventor nyos Jedlik showed how an drive the motor. The coil is therefore connected to
IS DOWNRIGHT with his discovery of what is electric motor could be driven by the repulsion the circuit by contacts called commutators that
MAGICAL. now called Whler synthesis. between the poles of a permanent magnet and allow the circuit to swap direction as each half of
This is a chemical reaction that an electromagnetic coil. A half turn moves the the coil spins past. This swaps the coils polarity
Joseph Nicphore Nipce, French produces the organic chemical like poles of the coil away from each other, which too, so it continually presents like (repelling) poles
inventor, describing an earlier
photographic experiment to his urea. Its discovery showed that effectively means there would be no repulsion to to the permanent magnet.
brother, 16 September 1824 organic chemicals were not only

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187
 1829 1830

46
KILOMETERS PER HOUR
THE MAXIMUM SPEED REACHED BY THE
ROCKET DURING THE LOCOMOTIVE
TRIALS AT RAINHILL, LANCASHIRE

Civil engineer Robert Stephenson designed the Rocket Metamorphic rocks, such as these,
steam locomotive, which gained worldwide fame. were rst identied by Charles Lyell.

IN NEW YORK, AMERICAN
SCIENTIST JOSEPH HENRY
(17971878) was exploring the
power of electromagnetism
(see 1820). He found that by
carefully insulating the wires
and winding them closely and
in several layers, he could make
very strong electromagnets.
In December 1830, Henry
nally demonstrated the rst
powerful electromagnet, able to
hold up 340 kg (750 lb) of iron.
In October, the directors of
the pioneering Liverpool and
Manchester Railway (L&MR) held
locomotive trials at Rainhill in
Lancashire, UK. The public was
yet to be convinced of the merits
of steam locomotives, so the
competition was held to generate
publicity as well as to choose
which experimental locomotive
would pull L&MRs trains. The
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION
This demonstration of
electromagnetic induction
involves moving a bar magnet
in and out of a coil of wire to
produce an electric current.
The magnets eld pulls the
electrons in the wire and
produces a voltage. If the coil is
connected to a circuit, an
electric current will ow. If the
magnet is moved in the other
direction, the ow is reversed.
trials were a huge success.
Although only one of the ve
competing locomotives
completed the event Robert
Stephensons Rocket the
steam age had arrived.
As steam engines developed,
engineers became interested in
extracting maximum efciency
from them, and theoretical
scientists began to explore
the concept of energy. French
scientist Gustave-Gaspard
Coriolis (17921843)
published Calcul de lEffet
des Machines (Calculation of
the Effect of Machines), in which
he looked at the relationship
between energy and work
(the effect of energy), and
introduced the concept of
kinetic energy energy that
is produced when an object is
in motion (see 184748).
coil of magnetic
conducting lines of force
wire
magnet
moves into
MAGNET MOVES IN the wire
smoke Stephensons Rocket
stack The Rocket was the rst locomotive to
have a multitube boiler, with 25 tubes
to carry hot exhaust gas from the
rebox where fuel was burned. This
multi-tube helped generate more steam power.
boiler
driving
wheel
The identication of (180087) coined the term
geological periods gathered Quaternary to describe the
pace. While studying sediments most recent geological period,
in the Seine valley in France, when loose material (gravel,
geologist Jules Desnoyers sand, and clay deposits) was laid
down on top of solid rocks.
In a cave in Engis, Belgium,
DutchBelgian prehistorian
ow is magnet moves Philippe-Charles Schmerling
reversed out of the wire (17911836) found a fragment
of a small childs skull. This
was only the second discovery
of a human fossil; British
geologist William Buckland had
discovered the rst in 1823.
Schmerlings nd later proved
to be 30,000 to 70,000 years
old the rst Neanderthal
remains ever discovered.
MAGNET MOVES OUT
IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY,
GEOLOGISTS WERE DIVIDED into
two groups. The catastrophists
claimed that the surface of Earth
was shaped by a few huge and
brief catastrophes, such as
oods and earthquakes (see
1812). The uniformitarians,
meanwhile, believed that Earths
landscapes were shaped and
reshaped gradually over very
long periods of time by steady
processes, such as river erosion.
More evidence was being
found conrming the
uniformitarian school of
thought. British geologist
Charles Lyell (17971875)
summarized these ndings,
insisting that change was
continuous and gradual, in his
monumental book Principles of
Geology, which was published in
three parts between 1830 and
1833. Lyells text was so
authoritative and convincing that
after its publication, few doubted
that the Earth had gone
through many geological ages
over millions of years. It was this
picture of Earths vast geological
history that paved the way for
Charles Darwins theory of
evolution (see 1859), which was
partly inuenced by Lyells work.
The same year, German
astronomer Johann von Mdler
(17941874) began to make
drawings of the surface
of Mars. These were later

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 183132

British botanist Robert Brown was the rst to observe and appreciate the signicance of a plant cells
nucleus, orange in this modern coloured scanning electron microscope image.

anther
lament
ovary
sepal
PLANT REPRODUCTION
Flowering plants reproduce
sexually, and have both male
(a stamen, made up of an
anther and lament) and
female parts (a pistil, made up
of a stigma, style, and ovary).
Fertilization begins when
pollen from an anther lands
on the stigma. A tube grows
down the style to the ovary to
deliver the male sex cells
to the ovule (female sex cell).
THE STUDY OF ELECTRICITY AND
stigma
MAGNETISM was proceeding at
such a speed in the early 1830s
style that there were often disputes
over who had made a particular
discovery rst. In 1831, British
scientist Michael Faraday and
his American counterpart Joseph
Henry independently found that
moving a magnetic eld near a
petal
wire induced an electric current,
thereby discovering the principle
of electromagnetic induction. In
time, this led to the development
of machines that could generate
large quantities of electricity,
Faraday disc
Also known as the homopolar
generator, the Faraday disc was
developed by Michael Faraday
in 1831. As the disc spins within
the magnets eld, a weak
current ows.
enabling advances such as
electric lighting.
Less controversially, German
mineralogist Franz Ernst
Neumann (17981895) extended
Pierre Dulong and Alexis Petits
discovery of the inverse
relationship of specic heat
to the atomic weight of
elements (see 1819) to include
molecules. Building up the picture
of the relationship between atoms
and molecules and the energy
they carry, Neumann showed that
the molecular heat of a compound
is equal to the sum of the atomic
copper disc
heat of its constituents. This came
to be known as Neumanns Law.
Swedish chemist Jns Jacob
Berzelius had already published
a list of atomic weights of 43
elements in 1825. In 1831, he
introduced the term isomer
for different compounds with
the same chemical composition.
In the same year, British
botanist Robert Brown used the
word nucleus for the rst time
in biology, to describe the
central globule he saw through a
microscope when he was
observing the cells of orchids.
belt
Other scientists had seen the
nucleus before, but Brown linked
it to reproduction. In Germany,
astronomer Heinrich Schwabe
(17891875) made the rst
detailed drawing of Jupiters
Great Red Spot (see 166264).
In 1832, French instrument
maker Hippolyte Pixii (180835)
invented a magnet-electric
machine, which was the rst
direct current generator,
and British physician Thomas
Hodgkin (17981866) described
Hodgkins Lymphoma for the
rst time.
driving wheel

regarded as the rst true maps disc drives

of the planet. horseshoe belt
Italian microscopist and magnet
astronomer Giovanni Battista
Amici (17861863) also studied contact
owers. He rst noticed the touching
rim of
pollen tube a single cell tube
copper disc
that transports male sex cells
to the plants ovule in 1824. In
1830, Amici used a microscope
to observe the process whereby
the pollen tube is formed.

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189
 1833 1834

Louis Agassizs work on fossils gave One of the plan drawings for Charles Babbages Analytical Engine, which might have
impetus to the study of extinct life. been a mechanical forerunner of the computer if it had been completed.

BIOCHEMISTRY, THE STUDY
OF THE CHEMISTRY OF LIVING
THINGS, can be said to have
begun in 1833 with the discovery
and isolation of the enzyme
diastase by French chemist
Anselme Payen (17951871).
Enzymes are produced by living
organisms and act as a catalyst
to bring about biochemical
reactions (see 189394). Diastase
is the enzyme in beer mash that
helps the starch in barley seed
change into soluble sugars.
The term scientist was also
coined this year by the polymath
William Whewell (17941866).
Until this time the only terms in
use were natural philosopher
and man of science.
British physician and
physiologist Marshall Hall
(17901857) discovered the
reex arc the primitive part
of the bodys nervous system. It
takes time for the brain to receive
sense signals, then process and
act on them. Reex arcs provide
a rapid automatic response by
short-circuiting the brain. When
the hand, for example, touches
something hot, the sense signal
only goes as far as the spinal
cord before a message is sent
back to move the hand.
German mathematician Carl
Friedrich Gauss and physicist
Wilhelm Weber (180491)
developed the rst practical
electromagnetic telegraph.
BRITISH SCIENTIST MICHAEL began to formulate a third key energy available to make things law of thermodynamics
FARADAY had conducted scientic law. Clapeyron took the happen (potential energy) must (see 184951).
some brilliant work in 1833 work of fellow French physicist always gradually run down Also in 1834, after producing
on electrolysis the chemical Nicolas Lonard Sadi Carnot unless more energy is put in. his mechanical calculator, or
reactions that occur when an (see 182324) on heat engines Burning fuel is an irreversible Difference Engine (see 1822),
electric current passes through and presented it in graphic form. process, which is why a car British inventor Charles Babbage
a liquid (see panel, opposite). It claried Carnots observation needs continual refuelling. This (17911871) began to work on
In 1834, he published his two that in energy exchanges, the became the basis of the second plans for an Analytical Engine.
laws relating to it. Faradays
rst law of electrolysis states
that the amount of chemical memory racks
change varies in proportion
to the current. The second
law states that the amount
of material deposited on the
electrodes by the reaction
is proportional to the mass
of the material involved
in the reactions.
Another law relating to
electricity was developed by
Russian physicist Heinrich
Lenz (180465). Lenzs law metal frame
stated that an electric current,
induced by an electromagnetic
eld for example, always
creates a magnetic force
counter (opposite) to the
force inducing it.
French engineer mile
Clapeyron (17991864)
calculating
wheels
Charles Babbages
Analytical Engine
Charles Babbage simplied
the design of his Analytical
Engine and managed to have
a small part of it built before
he died in 1871.

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 183536
,,WE FOUND THE VERY SUPERIOR SPECIES
OF THE VESPERTILIO-HOMO THEY

,,
APPEARED IN OUR EYES SCARCELY LESS
LOVELY THAN THE REPRESENTATIONS
OF ANGELS BY PAINTERS.
A description of the inhabitants of the moon in the New York Sun, 1835

The Great Moon Hoax in the New York Sun caused a sensation
and fooled many with illustrations of people on the Moon.

If it had been completed it would
have been a genuine forerunner
to the computer (see pp.184-85),
because it would have been
programmable, had a memory,
and could have been programmed
to perform many tasks besides
simple calculation.
twice as much hydrogen
gas as oxygen is produced
trapped bubbles of gas
oxygen battery
gas
test tubes
collect gas
ELECTROLYSIS OF WATER
Electrolysis splits water into
its component elements
(hydrogen and oxygen) by
passing an electric current
through it. Hydrogen gas
gathers in the test tube
above the negatively charged
electrode and oxygen gas
gathers in the test tube
above the positively charged
electrode. Twice as much
hydrogen is released.
A POPULAR SCIENTIFIC STORY
OF 1835 TURNED OUT TO BE
A HOAX. The Great Moon
Hoax was a series
of stories in the New
York Sun newspaper
that covered the
discoveries
of the famous
British astronomer
John Herschel
(17921871). The
illustrated articles
claimed there was life,
and even civilizations, on
the Moon. It was several
weeks before the joke
was revealed.
In 1835, French engineer
Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis
(17921843) identied what
is now known as the Coriolis
effect the effect of Earths
rotation on both wind and water
moving across Earths surface.
Winds do not follow a straight
path, but veer to the east in
the northern hemisphere and
to the west in the southern
hemisphere, sometimes
curling right around in loops
in clockwise and anticlockwise
circulations. The same is true
of ocean currents.
Knowledge of the history of
Earth took a step forward when
two geological periods were
identied (see 182122). English
geologist Adam Sedgwick
(17851873) proposed the
rotation of Earth
from west to east
air moving air moving
towards the away from the
equator is equator is
deected from deected from
east to west west to east
Coriolis effect
Earths rotation is the cause of the
Coriolis effect. One of the main
impacts of it is the deection of
winds and currents in the ocean.
Cambrian period, naming it
after Cambria, the Latin name for
Wales, where Britains Cambrian
rocks are best exposed. Scottish
geologist, Roderick Murchison
(17921871), proposed the
Silurian period in the same year,
naming it after an ancient Celtic
tribe, the Silures, and the two
Talbot exposes photo negatives
Fox Talbots calotype process
recorded a negative image, from
which a large number of positive
prints could be made.
Darwins notebook
Darwin recorded his observations on
the Beagle voyage (183136) in
notebooks. His records of this trip
helped him to develop his theory of
evolution over the next 20 years.
presented their ndings the
same year in a joint paper.
On 16 September, 1835,
Charles Darwin (180982)
landed on the Galapagos
Islands for the rst time.
His visit to the islands had a
signicant impact on his theory
of evolution (see 185758).
In England, inventor Henry Fox
Talbot (180077) produced the
worlds rst photographic
negative (dark and light reversed). from which many positive prints
Although French physicist Louis could be made.
Daguerre (17871851) went On the other side of the Atlantic,
public with his process known as in 1836, American inventor
daguerreotype rst (see 1837), Samuel Morse (17911872)
this process produced a one-off developed a code (later called
positive photograph. Talbots Morse code) for sending
process, called the calotype, messages by telegraph, with
produced a negative photograph each letter of the alphabet
represented by a unique
combination of short pulses
(dots) and long pulses (dashes).
Another American, Samuel
Colt (181462), was granted a
US patent for the revolver. This
gun could re six shots in quick
succession by using a revolving
cylinder that automatically
moved a new bullet into the
ring position after each shot.

ax r
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191
 1837
,,WHAT WAS THE USE OF THIS GREAT ENGINE

,,
SET AT WORK AGES AGO TO FURROW AND
KNEAD OVER THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH?
THE GLACIER WAS GODS GREAT PLOUGH.
Louis Agassiz, Swiss geologist, in Geological Sketches, 1866

The Marjerie Glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska, USA, ows out from the
mountains to the sea and extends a distance of 34 km (21 miles).

THIS WAS THE YEAR that Daguerreotyope camera

telecommunication really began.
Three men had already been
working on the idea of an electric
telegraph Samuel Morse in the
USA and William Cooke (1806
79) and Charles Wheatstone
(180275) in England. In 1837, it
became a reality. Cooke and
Wheatstone were the rst to
succeed with their 2 km-
(1.2 mile-) long telegraph from
Euston to Camden in London.
In the end, the simplicity of the
Morse telegraphs single wire
system and dotdash code meant
it was adopted as the standard
telegraph and the Wheatstone-
Cooke model was discarded.
An equally momentous
breakthrough was the
development of the rst
MICHAEL FARADAY (17911867)
The son of a poor London
blacksmith, Michael
Faraday was taken
on as an assistant to
chemist Humphry
Davy at Londons
Royal Institution in
1813. His discoveries in
electromagnetism gave us
both the electric motor and the
generator. He was a visionary
theorist who saw the unity of
natural forces and showed that
light is electromagnetic.
successful photographic
process by French painter
Louis-Jacques-Mand
Daguerre (17871851). Daguerre
had long hunted for a means to
x the eeting images he saw in
his artists camera obscura. He
nally succeeded with his
invention of the process known
as daguerreotyping, which
involved capturing a one-off
photograph in chemicals coated
on a silver-plated copper sheet.
Dating from the 1840s, this is one of
cirque
the rst cameras made for taking
photographs. The plate for each ice-fall, where glacier
photo is slotted into the back. ows over steep gradient
crevasse
His rst daguerreotype,
taken in 1837, was blurry, but
within a few years daguerreotypes
terminus
were recording photographs of GLACIER
(snout)
astonishing clarity.
cirque
The most extraordinary glacial lake
scientic insight of this year was
understood by no-one at the time hanging valley
but its creator, British scientist
U-shaped valley
Michael Faraday. This was the
idea of elds of force regions river
around magnets and electric moraine-
currents in which their effects dammed lake
are felt. Faraday argued that in tarn (small lake
in scooped-out GLACIAL-ERODED
these elds, electric charges are base of cirque) LANDSCAPE
pushed by the movement of
invisible lines of force, which GLACIATION
can be revealed by the pattern
iron lings make around a Glaciers accumulate such a weight of ice over the years that they
magnet. This is why compasses possess an immense power to shape the landscape. They can
swivel in magnetic elds and carve out vast U-shaped valleys, cut-off hillsides, and leave behind
magnets move charged particles piles of rock debris. This process of modifying the landscape is
to create electric currents. known as glaciation and the landscapes left behind by the glaciers
French mathematician Simon of the Ice Age are unmistakable to geologists today.
Denis Poisson (17811840)
developed the valuable statistical
idea of Poisson distribution: 1817, French physiologist Henri (180773) published tudes sur
the probability of a given number Dutrochet (17761847) argued les Glaciers (Studies of Glaciers),
of events occurring in a that chlorophyll is the key to arguing that the Earth was once
particular time if they occur at photosynthesis, by which plants subject to an ice age and that
an average rate. x oxygen from the air using traces of ice erosion and
In Paris, following the discovery sunlight (see 178788). deposition by vast glaciers
of the green pigment Meanwhile, in Switzerland, and ice sheets are still evident
chlorophyll in plant leaves in geologist Louis Agassiz in the landscape today.

ins
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192
183840
,, THE INVENTOR MADE SOME EXPERIMENTS

,,
TO ASCERTAIN THE EFFECT OF HEAT THE
SPECIMEN, BEING BROUGHT INTO CONTACT
WITH A HOT STOVE, CHARRED LIKE LEATHER.
Charles Goodyear, American inventor, in The Applications and Uses of Vulcanized Gum-Elastic, 1853

American inventor Charles Goodyears experiments demonstrated that heating rubber by the
right amount and adding sulphur could toughen or vulcanize it.

EARLY MICROSCOPES had been
plagued by colour blurring, or
chromatic aberration. By 1838,
achromatic microscopes solving
this problem gave scientists a
clearer view of living cells. As
German physiologist Theodor
Schwann (181082) studied plant
and animal cells through his
microscope, he realized that all
living things are made of cells
and cell products, and the cell
is the basic unit of life.
Dutch chemist Gerardus
Mulder (180280) came to an
equally important conclusion
about the basic material that
cells are made of. After
plate electrodes of
zinc and platinum
experimenting with heating made the rst accurate
albuminous substances, such as measurements of the solar WHITE PHOSPHORUS
P P
egg white, blood, milk solids, and constant (the amount of MOLECULE P
plant gluten with lye (a strong solar heat received at Earth).
P P
alkali solution), he always ended German astronomer Friedrich P
up with the same material. Bessel (17841846) made the P P P
Mulder believed this material rst accurate estimate of the P
P P P
was composed of a single large distance to a star using the
molecule common to all living parallax method, which RED PHOSPHORUS P
P P
things. It was the Swedish depends on slight shifts in the MOLECULE
chemist Jns Jacob Berzelius stars apparent position due to
(17791848) who suggested the the movement of the Earth. ALLOTROPY
name protein for this substance. GermanSwiss chemist
It is now known there are Christian Friedrich Schnbein Some elements come in a number of different physical forms,
numerous proteins and they (17991868) developed the idea called allotropes. Each form is made from the same type of atom,
are the basic chemicals of life. of a fuel cell that converts but the atoms link up in different ways. Carbon has eight allotropes,
The same year, French physicist chemical energy from a fuel, including diamond, graphite, and fullerenes. Phosphorus has at
Claude Pouillet (17911868) such as hydrogen, into electricity. least twelve, the most common of which are white and red solids.
In 1839, British physicist William
Grove (181196) made the rst
fuel cell. He knew electricity invented that same year, known different chemical and physical
could split water into as a Grove cell. properties. Also in 1840,
hydrogen and oxygen; American inventor Charles Christian Friedrich Schnbein
his fuel cell reversed this Goodyear (180060) developed discovered an allotrope of
process and made a technique for vulcanizing oxygen, which he gave the
electricity by rubber, a process that toughened name ozone.
combining the two it to make it suitable for use such
gases to produce as in tyres. 2000

SOLAR CONSTANT (IN CAL / MIN / CM2)

water. At the time, In 1840, Jacob Berzelius 1952
1750
though, Grove was suggested the word allotrope 1760
much better known to describe different forms of 1500
for the battery he the same element. Allotropes 1250
differ from each other as the
1000
result of different bonding
between atoms results in 750

500
Grove cell Solar constant
In this battery invented Claude Pouillets 1839 estimate of 250
by William Grove, the charge is solar heat radiation, made using 0
cells lled generated on zinc and platinum a device called a pyrheliometer, Pouillets modern
with acid electrodes immersed in acid. was very close to todays value. estimate value

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 17 8 9 18 94 T H E A G E O F R E V O LU T I O N S

Golgi apparatus

UNDERSTANDING used for sorting and

packaging substances,
including those for export

CELLS
A CELL HAS COMPLEXITY ON A MINISCULE SCALE AND IS THE SMALLEST THING ALIVE

A plant or animal body contains more cells than people who THEODOR SCHWANN
German scientist Schwann,
have ever lived hundreds could fit on a pinhead. Within its a founding father of Cell
Theory, insisted that cells
outer structure, a cell has chemistry of unrivalled intricacy could be understood in
to manage its growth, reproduction, and nourishment. chemical terms with no
mysterious "life force".

The rst cells were seen in 1663 when English
scientist Robert Hooke found cork cells with his
microscope. But it wasnt until the nineteenth
century that their signicance was better
appreciated and German biologists developed a
Cell Theory. They suggested that cells were the
units of all organisms and could arise only from
other cells. In other words, cellular life could not
form spontaneously. By 1900, scientists began to
see how this reproductive ability was linked to
the cells nucleus and its chromosomes. This
work would culminate with the discovery that
a self-copying chemical inside the nucleus
called DNA lay at the heart of the process.
While some cells, such as those of rough endoplasmic
bacteria, are structurally simple, those of mitochondrion reticulum
animals and plants contain even smaller
centrosome
compartments for specic roles. These
so-called organelles enclose the particular
mixture of chemicals needed
for a specic job. smooth
endoplasmic
reticulum
ANIMAL CELL
Most animal cells are smaller than
plant cells as they lack a rigid
supporting cell wall. This also makes
animal cells less angular in shape.
Many organelles found in plant cells
(right) are also found in animal cells.

60
TRILLION
THE POSSIBLE NUMBER lysosome
OF CELLS THAT MAKE cell membrane nucleus

UP THE HUMAN BODY Golgi apparatus nucleolus ribosome

CELL DIVISION IMMUNOFLUORESCENT MICROGRAPH

Today, scientists can reveal aspects of the
By the late 1800s, microscopes were good
cell that are invisible with conventional
enough to scrutinize dividing cells. Scientists microscopy by using uorescently dyed
saw thread-like chromosomes moving around antibodies that stick to specic structures.
Here, the antibodies illuminate the spindle
in precise ways chromosomes are bundles of
bres (green) that pull chromosomes (blue)
the DNA that carry the information for producing around during cell division.
new cells. Just before cell division, the cells DNA
doubles up by self-copying so when body cells spindle bres shorten to cell splits in
divide during growth (mitosis), each daughter cell pull apart chromosomes two, each with
a full set of
ends up with a copied set of each chromosome, chromosomes
cell membrane
or DNA bundle. During sexual reproduction, forms across
a special kind of division (meiosis) halves the the cell
chromatids
chromosome number to make sperm and eggs; are copies spindle bres
the normal number is restored when the egg chromosomes of the same grow out from
(four shown chromosome poles to attach
and sperm cells combine during fertilization. nucleus as examples) joined together to chromosomes

MITOSIS
During growth, this multi-stage division nucleus forms
around the
keeps all cells genetically identical. A system
chromosomes
of protein cables called the spindle pulls in each cell
chromosomes in such a way that daughter
cells end up with the same chromosome
number as the parental cell. EARLY PROPHASE LATE PROPHASE METAPHASE ANAPHASE TELOPHASE CYTOKINESIS

194
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G C E L L S

chloroplast the site

of food-producing
MOVEMENT ACROSS CELL MEMBRANES
reactions of Cells and their organelles are bound by oily
photosynthesis
membranes that separate watery mixtures of
chemicals on either side. Small molecules, or
cytoplasm uid
between the substances that can blend with oil, can penetrate
nucleus and the the membrane and tend to move from areas
cell membrane
of high to low concentration by diffusion. Other
particles can only get across by special molecular
cell membrane pumps in a process called active transport. The
controls what
enters and
cell has to use up energy to do this. The energy
leaves the cell comes from chemical processes of respiration
(see below). Cells take up oxygen and excrete
cell wall a rigid
layer of cellulose
carbon dioxide by diffusion, but need active
bres that supports transport for moving salts and big molecules.
the cell
energy is needed to pump
molecules into cell molecules too
big to cross
membrane
high concentration
of molecules
outside cell

cell membrane

molecules inside
cell, present in
low concentration

DIFFUSION ACTIVE TRANSPORT

This moves substances from
high to low concentration.
The bigger the difference
(concentration gradient),
vacuole contains the more they move.
stored substances,
pigment, or poisons
Here, substances move from
low to high concentration,
giving a cell the means to
accumulate a substance in the
cytoplasm or in an organelle.

RELEASING ENERGY
vesicle a Cells are driven by energy, which comes from
uid-lled sac
that stores cellular food. Plants make their food by photosynthesis
substances during which carbon dioxide and water react
with light and chlorophyll. Almost all cells obtain
energy in the same way: by breaking down a
sugar called glucose. The process begins in the
mitochondrion
generates energy
cells cytoplasm and nishes in organelles called
for the cell mitochondria. These powerhouses use oxygen
to extract energy in a particularly efcient way,
generating a great deal of an energy-rich
ribosome site
where proteins
compound called ATP, which powers cellular
are made activities involved in building or movement.

MITOCHONDRION
rough endoplasmic nucleus Chemical reactions that
reticulum (RER) stores genetic release most of the
has ribosomes material cells energy happen
for making and PLANT CELL on a mitochondrions
transporting proteins The cell membrane of a plant cell is overlain internal membranes;
nucleolus used for
producing ribosomes by a porous cell wall. Inside the cell are the most active of
smooth endoplasmic reticulum membrane-bound organelles that package cells have the most
(SER) used for making and the chemicals needed for biological processes, membrane-packed
transporting lipids such as mitochondria for respiration. mitochondria.

195
 1841 18421843

Swiss physiologist Albert von Klliker showed that, like every other living British engineer James Nasmyths steam hammer was able to forge large pieces of wrought iron and
cell, each sperm is a single cell with its own nucleus. was developed in response to the increased demands of 19th-century engineering.

1-3
MILLIMETRES THE DOPPLER EFFECT
PER MINUTE low-frequency fewer high-frequency more
THE SPEED A The sound of a police siren
approaching rises in pitch as
waves per second waves per second

SPERMATOZOAN the sound waves are squashed

CAN TRAVEL
IN 1841, GERMAN PHYSICIAN
JULIUS VON MAYER (181478)
rst proposed that energy could
never be created or destroyed.
This is now known as the rst
law of thermodynamics (see
184748). Von Mayer also
proposed that work and heat
are equivalent a certain amount
of work will always produce
a certain amount of heat
as English physicist James
Joule (181889) discovered
independently two years later.
However, it was some time
before either von Mayer or
Joules work was acknowledged.
In contrast, improvements made
by Swiss physiologist Albert von
Klliker (18171905) to
microscope techniques,
such as the staining of
samples, were soon
acknowledged and
adopted. Von Klliker
also conrmed that
each sperm and
egg is a cell with a
nucleus, adding to the
emerging science
of histology the
science of living cells.
In the UK, engineer Joseph
Whitworth (180387) identied
and solved a basic problem
with assembling precision
machines the variation in
screws. Whitworth devised a
system of standardization for
screw threads and pitches.
When several railway companies
decided to adopt it, other
organisations quickly followed
suit. This system is now known
as the BSW (British Standard
Whitworth) system.
In Antarctica, British explorer
James Clark Ross (180062)
discovered and named the
Victoria Barrier, later known
as the Ross Ice Shelf.
of the rst people to wrongly pour
Screw threads
Joseph Whitworth set
a standard for screw
threads with a xed angle
of 55 for the thread.
crest
pitch
James Nasmyth
thread root
in front of the moving car. As
the car moves past and away
from the listener, the pitch
listener behind
drops as sound waves stretch
out in its wake. This occurs
because, as the police car
approaches, each successive
sound wave begins closer
emanating from
to the car. As the police car
the police cars
moves away, each successive
sound wave starts further
away from the car.
IN 1842, 25 YEARS AFTER THE
FIRST RECOGNIZED FOSSIL was
found, British biologist Richard
Owen (180492) rst used the
word dinosauria to describe
these terrible reptiles.
Ironically, Owen had been one
scorn on British geologist Gideon
Mantells (17901852) idea that
the Iguanadon fossils he had
found belonged to an extinct
giant reptile.
Meanwhile, a revolution in
manufacturing was taking place
with the help of the steam
hammer, patented in June 1842
by British engineer
(180890).
LOW-FREQUENCY
driver of the car
car hears hears a medium-
a low-pitched pitched sound
sound
sound waves
siren
Previously, iron foundries
had shaped iron weakly and
inaccurately with a pivoting
tilt-hammer that was lifted
mechanically then allowed to
drop. In contrast, Nasmyths
vertical steam hammer was
forced down with great power,
but could still stop short with
enough precision to crack an
egg in a wine glass. The power
and precision of Nasmyths
Skeleton of an iguanodon
This species of dinosaur was discovered
by British geologist Gideon Mantell in
1822, although the term dinosaur was
coined only in 1842.
HIGH-FREQUENCY
listener ahead
of car hears a
high-pitched
sound
steam hammer meant that
such things as railway wheels
and the rst steel hulls for
ships could be pounded out
of solid steel for the rst
time, thus revolutionizing
the manufacturing process.
British inventors John
Stringfellow (17991883)
and William Henson
(181288) worked
together on ideas

42 al
o 18 dic . t 2 yth
an th d r y me am E rs er 8 4 sm am
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 1844

25
TONNES
THE MAXIMUM WEIGHT
OF NASMYTHS STEAM
HAMMER

The star Sirius A and its almost invisible companion, the white dwarf star
Sirius B, whose existence was deduced in 1844 by Bessel.

for powered ight and, in 1842,
they designed a large, steam-
Christian Doppler (180353)
suggested how the frequency of
powered, passenger plane. sound and light waves vary as
They received a patent for it in objects approach and move away
1843 and launched the Aerial from an observer (see panel,
Steam Transit Company, which opposite). This is known as the
they advertised as ying Doppler effect. It is these
to exotic locations such so-called Doppler
as the pyramids, but shifts that later
the idea was helped to reveal
eventually that the Universe
abandoned. is expanding (see
In 1842, 19291930).
Austrian The worlds rst computer
scientist program was written in 1843
by British mathematician Ada
Lovelace, daughter of the poet
Lord Byron. Lovelace worked
with British inventor Charles
Babbage (17911871) on his
Analytical Engine (see 1834),
which would have been the
worlds rst computer had it ever
been built. Between 1842 and
1843 she worked on translating
an article about the Analytical
Engine by Italian mathematician
Luigi Menabrea (180996). As
ribs she worked through the article
she added a note that included an
encoded algorithm, designed to
femur
(thigh bone)
ADA LOVELACE (181552)
The daughter of poet Lord and Procyon. Isaac Newtons
Byron, Ada Lovelace was a
brilliant mathematician. In
1843, she began to publicize
British inventor Charles
Babbages ideas for his
Analytical Engine, and wrote
what is called the worlds
rst computer program for it.
She foresaw that Babbages
machine would have uses far
beyond mere calculation.
be processed by a machine. If the
machine had been built, this
algorithm would have been the
rst computer program.
20
ASTRONOMICAL
UNITS
THE APPROXIMATE
DISTANCE BETWEEN
SIRIUS A AND SIRIUS B
IN 1844, GERMAN ASTRONOMER 10 years later, this cycle was
FRIEDRICH BESSEL (17841846) shown in fact to be 11 years.
spotted a wobble in the Meanwhile, on 24 May,
movement of the stars Sirius American inventor Samuel
Morse sent the USs rst
laws of gravity (see pp.120121) long-distance telegraph
allow astronomers to calculate message down a new line
the motions of distant stars with from Washington to Baltimore.
such precision that discrepancies It was a Biblical message written
can be revealed. Bessel deduced in his own Morse code, What
that these stars have dark Hath God wrought? instant
companion stars, now known communication had arrived.
as Sirius B and Procyon B.
Another German astronomer,
Heinrich Schwabe (17891875),
observed how sunspots vary
key
cyclically over a period of
contact
Morse transmitter
This transmitter pivot
sends messages
using the dot-dash
communication of
Morse code.

,, CREATURES FAR SURPASSING IN

,,
SIZE THE LARGEST OF EXISTING
REPTILES I WOULD PROPOSE THE
NAME OF DINOSAURIA.
Richard Owen, British Biologist, in Report on British Fossil Reptiles, 1842

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Isa de
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 1845 1846

John Franklins doomed expedition to nd the elusive Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean. The planet Neptune rising over its moon Triton in an image constructed from
His two ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus vanished after entering Bafn Bay. pictures taken by the Voyager space probes. Both were discovered in 1846.

340
ONE OF THE KEY SEARCHES IN that the galaxy M51 now GENERAL ANAESTHESIA
SCIENCE TODAY is to discover known as the Whirlpool Galaxy
the underlying unity of forces and had a spiral structure. This was
matter. In 1845, British physicist the rst galaxy observed to The introduction of general

Michael Faraday made an early
contribution to this with a series
of experiments in which he
showed that a magnetic eld
could alter the polarization of
light as it travelled through heavy
lead glass. This nding revealed
a previously unsuspected link
between light, magnetism, and
electricity, paving the way for
the discovery of the complete
spectrum of electromagnetic
radiation (see pp.23435).
At the same time, astronomers
were continuing to scrutinize
the night sky. An English
astronomer, the 3rd Earl of
TONNES
be spiral.
Other astronomers questioned
THE WEIGHT why Uranus kept appearing in
places that it should not appear
OF THE THREE according to Keplers laws
(pp.100101) and Newtons
STOREY HIGH laws (pp.12021). British
STEAM ENGINE mathematician John Couch
THE SS GREAT Adams (18191892) suggested
that there was another planet
BRITAIN beyond Uranus disturbing its
orbit. French astronomer Urbain
Rosse, constructed a huge Le Verrier (181177) observed
reecting telescope in Ireland disturbances in Uranuss orbit to
dubbed the Leviathan of predict where this planet might be.
Parsonstown. Through its 1.8 m Another mystery was the
(6 ft) aperture, Rosse observed disappearance of British
explorer John Franklin and
his ships HMS Erebus and HMS
Terror, in Bafn Bay during an
expedition to nd the Northwest
Passage in the Arctic.
The SS Great Britain successfully
sailed from Liverpool to New York,
becoming the rst iron steamship
driven by a screw-propeller rather
than paddle wheels to make this
journey across the Atlantic.
anaesthetics (substances used
to render a person unconscious)
transformed surgery. It allowed
surgeons to perform all kinds
of operations painlessly. The
term anaesthesia means loss
of sensation: anaesthetics
work by blocking signals that
pass along nerves to the brain.
The earliest anaesthetics were
ether, laughing gas (nitrous
oxide), and chloroform.
ON 23 SEPTEMBER 1846, John Couch Adams, who had
German astronomer Johann also predicted its existence the
Gottfried Galle (18121910) previous year. Most authorities
received a letter from French credit Le Verrier since he was
astronomer Urbain Le Verrier. the one who calculated its
It contained instructions telling position accurately enough for
him where to look to nd the Galle to nd it immediately.
solar systems eighth planet, Within 17 days, English
soon to be called Neptune. A astronomer William Lassell
long dispute followed over who (17991880) found that Neptune
deserved the credit for Neptunes had a moon. It was named Triton
discovery Urbain Le Verrier or a century later.
,,THIS SIGNIFIES INSENSIBILITY
TO OBJECTS OF TOUCH. THE

Lord Rosses reecting telescope
The Leviathan of Parsonstown,
constructed in County Offaly, Ireland
in 1845, was the biggest telescope
in the world for more than 70 years.
,,
ADJECTIVE WILL BE ANAESTHETIC.
THUS WE MIGHT SAY, THE STATE
OF ANAESTHESIA.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, US physician, in a letter to Dr William Morton, 1846

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 184748
,, THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN

,,
HIS INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES AND
ANIMAL PROPENSITIES [HAS]
BEEN DESTROYED.
John Martyn Harlow, American physician, in Recovery
from the Passage of an Iron Bar through the Head, 1868

Following an iron bar penetrating Phineas Gages skull and brain, studies on how his
personality changed after this accident revealed much about brain function.

Advances in anaesthesia were
made by surgeons on both sides
of the Atlantic. On 16 October, at
the Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston, American
surgeon William Morton
(181968) anaesthetized his
patient, Gilbert Young, sending
him to sleep with fumes from
ether while Morton cut out a
tumour from his neck. Half an
hour later Young woke up,
unaware the operation had been
done. Others had used
anaesthetics before, such as
American surgeon Crawford
Long (see 184243) and
American dentist Horace Wells,
but it was Mortons demonstration
that made an impact. Two
months later, Scottish surgeon
Robert Liston (17941847)
performed a leg amputation
under anaesthetic in London.
Another important discovery
was the production of kerosene,
or parafn, from coal or oil, by
Canadian geologist Abraham
Pineo Gesnar (17971864). In
1846, Gesnar began experimenting
with methods for distilling
coal and oil. By 1853, he had
perfected a process to produce
a new fuel he named kerosene
that was used in lamps. Up until
this time most lamps were
fuelled by whale oil, but kerosene
was much cheaper, so people
could afford to burn lights
brighter and longer.
IN 1847 Hungarian or destroyed (now known as the astronomer William Bond
physician Ignaz rst law of thermodynamics). (17891859) discovered Saturns
Semmelweis. The following year, Scottish eighth moon, Hyperion.
made an physicist William Thomson (Lord English inventors John
important Kelvin) formulated the third law Stringfellow (17991883) and
discovery for outlet pipe to of thermodynamics with his idea William Henson (181288)
medicine. He patients face of absolute zero. He realized ew a model of their steam-
mask
realized that if there must be a temperature at powered aircraft, the Aerial
doctors washed their hands which all molecular movement Steam Carriage, for 10 m (33 ft).
this could reduce infection ceases and calculated it to be It was the rst ever powered
by puerperal fever: a disease 273.15C (459.67F). Thomson ight, but attempts to y a larger
responsible for the deaths used this as the starting point for model were unsuccessful.
of many woman during a new temperature scale the Vermont railroad worker
childbirth. His procedures Kelvin scale (see 174042). Phineas Gage survived a 1 m
were not adapted until By 1848, increasingly powerful (3.3 ft) iron rod being driven
many years later. telescopes were revealing more through his head, resulting
Scottish surgeon James about the solar system. in intellectual and personality
Simpson realized that Astronomers discovered planets changes. This was the rst record
neither ether nor laughing often had more than one moon. of how damage to the frontal lobe
gas could keep a patient William Lassell and American of the brain affected function.
unconscious long enough
for a big operation, and as it rolls down, the balls potential energy
introduced chloroform is not lost but converted to kinetic energy,
the energy of movement
as an anaesthetic.
German physicist Hermann at the top of a
hill, a ball has
von Helmholtz outlined the
gravitational
law of the conservation of potential energy
energy, which was rst put
forward by Julius von Mayer
(see 1841). This stated that POTENTIAL ENERGY KINETIC ENERGY
energy cannot be created
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
chloroform holder The law of the conservation of energy states that the total amount
of energy in the universe is constant. Energy cannot be created
Chloroform inhaler nor destroyed, it can only change form. When any work occurs,
The chloroform inhaler was energy is converted from one form to another or transferred from
developed in 1848. It enabled
one object to another. For example, potential energy (in a static
surgeons to quickly anaesthetize
patients with fumes of object) can be converted to kinetic energy (motion energy).
vapourized chloroform.

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 184951

In 1986, the Voyager 2 space probe took these close-ups of Uranuss ve largest moons, including Ariel and Umbriel,
discovered in 1851, and the smallest, called Miranda, which was discovered in 1948.

IN 1849, FRENCH ASTRONOMER
EDOUARD ROCHE (182083)
explained why Saturn has rings
as well as moons. If planets and
moons get too close to Saturn
they are ripped apart by tidal
forces the changing pull of
gravity created as they all rotate.
There is a limit to how close
planets and moons can get
without being pulled apart; this
became known as the Roche
limit. If the planets and moons
have identical densities, the
Roche limit is 2.446 times the
radius of the planet. If our Moon
ever strayed closer to Earth than
about 18,470 km (11,476 miles), it
too would be shredded into rings.
mirror
returning beam
wheel rotates as beam
travels out and returns
Fizeaus apparatus
Fizeau measured the speed of
light by reecting a beam of light
through the slots in a toothed
wheel, onto a mirror 35 km
(22 miles) away, and back.
Two other French scientists,
physicists Hippolyte Fizeau
(181996) and Jean Foucault
(181968), measured the speed
of light in 1849 by bouncing a
beam of light off a mirror,
through slots on a rapidly
rotating wheel, and onto another
mirror approximately 35 km
(22 miles) away. The beam was
reected through the wheel and
onto the rst mirror. By the time
the beam reached the rotating
wheel again, the wheel had
moved on to another slot.
By measuring how fast the
wheel was rotating, the spacing
between the slots, and the
distance from the more distant
light
source
outward beam
toothed
wheel
half-silver beam to observer
mirror to the wheel, the two
scientists could calculate the
speed of light.
It was difcult to get
an accurate gure for
the speed of light using
this method, so in 1850
Foucault replaced the
spinning wheel with a
rotating mirror. As the
mirror swivelled, it
reected the returning
beam to a slightly
different position. This
difference revealed
the speed clearly.
Foucault got
a very close lens
calculation for
the speed of light at
298,000 km per second
(185,168 miles per second).
Further advances in science
include the publication in bellows for camera front
Germany of physicist Rudolf adjusting focus
Clausiuss (182288) 1850 paper
on the movement of heat. He laid oil lamps. Scots-born American Wet plate camera
Working in a portable darkroom, the
foundations for the science of inventor John Gorrie (180355)
photographer had under 10 minutes
thermodynamics with two basic also introduced refrigeration, to take a picture and process it
laws. The rst is conservation when he created a machine for before the plate dried.
of energy energy is never lost, making ice using circulating liquid
but simply redistributed. The to draw out heat (see 187273). a photographic plate with a
second is that heat can never In 1851, British astronomer sticky liquid called collodion in
move from a cold place to a William Lassell (17991880) darkness before each photo was
hot one, only the reverse. discovered two more moons of taken. It had the ne detail of
In 1850, British chemist James Uranus, Ariel and Umbriel, and daguerreotypes (see 1837) and
Young (181183) patented a British sculptor Frederick Scott the repeatability of Fox Talbots
method of distilling parafn Archer (181357) introduced calotype (see 1835).
from coal, which gradually the wet plate photographic
replaced whale oil in domestic process. This involved coating

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185253 1854

A replica of George Cayleys glider, which made the worlds rst xed-wing This false coloured micrograph shows the cholera bacterium, now known
ight in 1853 in Yorkshire, England. to be responsible for cholera.

,,I AM WELL CONVINCED THAT the pilot, while others say it was FOLLOWING A SUGGESTION distance between two points is

AERIAL NAVIGATION WILL FORM A
MOST PROMINENT FEATURE IN THE
PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION.
George Cayley, British aeronautical engineer, 1804
GREAT AUKS HAD BEEN EASY
TARGETS FOR HUNTERS in areas
around the North Atlantic for
,,
In 1853 there was another aviation
rst, the rst ight in a full-sized
aircraft a glider built by the
his footman. Nonetheless, it was a
historic achievement.
1853 was also an important
year for medicine and physiology.
French physiologist Claude
Bernard (181378) discovered
that glucose sugar, the bodys
energy food, is stored
temporarily in the liver in the
form of a starch-like substance
BY BRITISH PHYSICIST William
Thomson, German physicist
Hermann von Helmholtz
(182194) and British engineer
William Rankine (182072)
developed Rudolf Clausiuss
theory that heat never ows from
a cold to a hot place. This implies
that heat will ultimately spread
evenly through the Universe
a straight line, in Riemannian
geometry angles in a triangle
add up to more than two right
angles and there is no such
thing as a straight line along
a surface.
The new algebra of British
mathematician George Boole
(181564) was intended to
make logic mathematical, not

many years, and by the 1840s
they were practically extinct.
The last bird was spotted off
the coast of Newfoundland in
Canada in 1852.
British physicists James Joule
British engineer George Cayley
(17731857), who had pioneered
understanding of the theory of
ight. Details of the ight, across
Brompton Dale in Yorkshire,
England, are not clear; some
called glycogen, ready to be
released into the blood as
glucose when energy is needed.
French physician Antoine
Desormeaux (181582)
developed the endoscope for
5.52
and once this happens energy
will not be able to move and the
Universe will come to a stop
in what is called heat death
of the Universe.
British astronomer George Airy

(181889) and William Thomson
(18241907) discovered the
JouleThomson effect in 1852.
This explains the way that
gases and liquids cool and
expand after owing through
a restriction or throttle. The
JouleThompson effect is central
to the way refrigerators and air
conditioning systems work.
The age of aviation began
on 24 September 1852 when
French engineer Henri Giffard
(182582) made the rst
powered and controlled ght,
ying 27 km (17 miles) from
Paris to Trappes in France. The
ight was made in a powered
airship, which consisted of a
cigar-shaped, hydrogen-lled
balloon that provided the lift,
and a steam-driven propeller
that moved it through the air.
reports say Cayleys butler was surgical operations. This was a
long metal tube that could be
Great Auk inserted into the body to
The last Great Auk, make examinations,
one of the largest
birds of the North
using light from a
Atlantic at 80 cm parafn-fuelled lamp
(31.5 inches) tall, reected in a mirror.
was last seen Another Frenchman, surgeon
in 1853.
Charles Pravaz (17911853),
and British physician Alexander
Wood (181784) independently
invented a practical
hypodermic syringe with a
hollow metal needle that could
be inserted into the body to
deliver drugs directly into veins
for much faster effect than
taking the drugs by mouth.
(180192) calculated the density
of Earth by measuring the swing
of a pendulum, both on Earths
surface and 383 m (1,257 ft) down
a coal mine. Differences in the
measurements revealed slight
variations in the effects of gravity,
from which he obtained the gure
6.566 g/cm3 todays accepted
gure is 5.52 g/cm3.
Two new types of mathematics
were introduced in 1854. One
was the non-Euclidean geometry
of German mathematician
Bernhard Riemann (182666).
Euclidean geometry applies only
to at surfaces; Riemannian
geometry is the geometry
of curved surfaces, which is
important as the surface of Earth
is curved. In Euclidean geometry,
the angles in a triangle add up to
two right angles and the shortest
G/CM3
THE AVERAGE
DENSITY OF
EARTH
philosophical. Boole argued
that any proposition could be
reduced to just and, or, and
not, and worked through to
a conclusion. Today, Boolean
logic combines with the binary
system of numbers to shape
all computer programs.
In August, there was an
outbreak of cholera in Londons
Soho. British physician John
Snow (181358) traced the
source to a single water pump,
thus validating his theory that
cholera is water-borne.

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in lyco
An eau e g u S e o in L Bo ic a
t
ea wf C S i d 53 es 5 3 m th u
A h rc kn e
g log
Gr Ne 24 ri G rs olle 18 aliz red s g 18 esor tes pe 31 Jo sou rea or
n e
He s th cont
r re sto a D rea sco tb Ge lean
is c do ou o
ak
e
en Bo
m
201
 1855 1856

The Bessemer process revolutionized engineering by making Montgomerie surveyed the Karakoram range as part of the Great Trigonometric
steel production cheaper and more efcient. Survey of India. It includes K2, the second highest mountain in the world.

AT THE FOREFRONT Geissler tube hydrogen, hydrogen chloride, THE SCIENCE OF GENETICS passed on from generation to
OF SCIENCE in 1855 These gas-lled water, or ammonia molecules. BEGAN WITH THE WORK of the generation through what he
tubes came in an
was the search for In 1855, English chemist William Austrian monk Gregor Mendel called factors, which later
assortment of
the relationship elaborate shapes Odling (18291921) added a fth (182284), but his work was not became known as genes, that
between atoms, and glowed in a type, based on methane. This led fully appreciated until years later. are inherited from both parents.
light, and variety of colours. German chemist Friedrich Kekul Mendel began to experiment Another discovery that was not
electromagnetism. (182996) and Scottish chemist with pea plants in his monastery fully appreciated until much
British spiral electric Archibald Couper (18311892) garden in 1856. He laid the later, was the discovery of the
mathematician discharge tube to begin developing a structural foundations of genetics as he rst recognized fossil of a
James Clerk theory of molecules. showed how characteristics are human ancestor. In August
Maxwell (183179)
began working on a
theory to unify
electricity, light, and
German physicist
Julius Plcker
(180179)
,, ATOMS
WERE
yellow pea with
two dominant
alleles (YY)
green pea with two
recessive alleles (yy)

PARENT PEA

,,
magnetism, while investigated spectra PLANTS
other scientists
conducted practical
by studying the glow
(undistorted by air)
GAMBOLLING the dominant allele
(Y) is expressed

experiments to nd from electric BEFORE MY the recessive

EYES
out how atoms sparks. To do this allele (y) is hidden
emitted light. They he commissioned
had already worked instrument maker FIRST
Frederich Kekul, German GENERATION
out that each kind Heinrich Geissler chemist, describing a daydream
of atom emits and (181479) to create that led to his structural theory, 1855
absorbs a particular a sealed glass tube, one in four peas
range of colours, or with a near-perfect The technological breakthrough inherit recessive
alleles from both
spectrum, with dark vacuum and electric of the year was the development
parents
lines (gaps) at some terminals at either of a special furnace, developed
wavelengths and end. When by the British engineer Henry SECOND
bright lines (peaks) switched on, the Bessemer (181398), which GENERATION
at others. Swedish electric charge allowed steel to be made
physicist Anders travelled through cheaply and in quantity from DOMINANT AND RECESSIVE GENES
ngstrm (181474) the tube, between pig iron (a crude form of iron).
and American scientist the terminals, creating In Germany, an unusual fossil Mendels work on peas showed that inherited characteristics,
David Alter (180781) a bright glow. was found at Riedenburg. It was such as colour, are determined by particles, later called genes.
independently described French chemist Charles thought to be a ying reptile until Genes come in different forms, called alleles, that combine in
the spectrum of hydrogen Gerhardt (181656) had 1970 when it was nally shown different ways in offspring. A dominant Y allele determines yellow
gas, which would prove suggested in 1853 that to have feathers, identifying it pea colour and a single one of these being present is sufcient to
crucial in the understanding four basic types of organic as the rst Archeopteryx ever make a yellow pea. A recessive y allele determines green pea
of the link between light chemicals are created discovered. It is evidence that colour and two of these must come together to make a green pea.
and atoms. by carbon linking with birds evolved from the dinosaurs.

k t
s es ist on el gis an
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Sw ysic m of h d the rm rich deve eory s
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an vi e be s i n m rrel n u
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ec Am ient esc hyd s sta uct c m 17 nry s th ste Am lliam ircu u
F sil er b t h
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Al ectr her or pa oces wi Ne
sp d ot lig gne pr
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rit n di auve m
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ur eri n
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rc er ye m en yx ere h om a
Ma am P e d Ma ist ts t r m er ter ov urg itis tg lay s
10 em ven urne tru eil ic op disc enb ny Br Mon ima eak 2
li li nilin h
c n in n b s
in G tr e a as e H in d K
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ak crea disc
202 m
 18578

17
THE NUMBER
OF HOURS TAKEN
TO TRANSMIT THE
FIRST MESSAGE
ON THE 1858 CABLE

Workers inpecting the transatlantic telegraph cable. The rst message sent
was Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will toward men.

1856, quarry workers found
some bones in a cave and local
teacher Johan Fuhlrott (180377)
identied them as humanlike.
Named after the Neander Valley
in Germany where the bones
were found, this human ancestor
is now known as Neanderthal
man (Homo Neandethalis).
Neanderthal man is thought to
have lived in Europe between
300,000 and 30,000 years ago,
but it was some time before
many would accept that any
other human-like creatures
had ever lived.
In America, meteorologist
William Ferrel (181791)
explained how rising warm air
and Earths rotation creates
spiralling circulations of air in
the mid-latitudes, called Ferrel
cells. These cells drive the
stormy, westerly winds that are
characteristic of these latitudes.
In India, British surveyor
Thomas Montgomerie (183078)
began his survey of the
Karakoram Range as part of
the Great Trigonometric Survey
of India that had started in 1802.
British inventor Alexander
IN FRANCE, IN 1857, CHEMIST
AND MICROBIOLOGIST LOUIS
PASTEUR (182295) published
his seminal results on
fermentation and yeast
multiplication in 1857. He found
that when beer and wine ferment
it is not chemicals that are
responsible, but tiny microbes
known as yeast. Pasteur later
ALFRED WALLACE
(18231913)
Alfred Wallace is best known
for independently conceiving
a theory of evolution by
natural selection. He also
pioneered biogeography,
developed a process known Grays Anatomy
as pasteurization that The anatomy book now known
as Grays Anatomy was rst
involved killing the
published by British surgeon
yeast microbes with Henry Gray in 1858. There
heat in order to have been over 40 editions.
prolong the life
of certain foods. argued that all species
On 13 February, on Earth had evolved
1858, British gradually due to a
explorers Richard process of change
Francis Burton known as natural
(182190) and selection members
John Hanning Speke of the species less
(182764) became the well suited to the
rst Europeans to see environment either
Lake Tanganyika in Africa, fail to reproduce or
the second largest freshwater die early, thus failing to
lake in the world. Speke pass on their inferior traits.
continued alone to discover Wallace had written to Darwin
Lake Victoria. Newfoundland in Canada, went from Indonesia in June 1858 with
In the cities, fast-rising into service in August 1858. an outline of his idea, but,
populations were putting new On 1 July, 1858, a scientic unbeknown to him, Darwin had
demands on engineers and paper was delivered to the already spent two decades
builders. In New York, Elisha Linnaean society in London. developing the theory.
Otis (181161), inventor of a It combined the ideas of the The most widely used book in
special safety device that British naturalists Charles medical history was published
prevented lifts from falling if the Darwin and Alfred Russel in 1858. British surgeon Henry
cables failed, installed his rst Wallace in a new theory the Grays (182761) Anatomy:
lift at 488 Broadway on 23 theory of evolution by natural Descriptive and Surgical has
March, 1857. In Germany, selection. The idea that species been in publication ever since
Friedrich Hoffmann played his evolved through time was not and is now known simply as
part in speeding up urbanization new, but Darwin and Wallace Grays Anatomy.

Parkes (183090) patented the
rst plastic, Parkesine, which
was made from cellulose treated
with acid and a solvent.
the study of species in a
geographical area. His work
in Indonesia between 1854
and 1862 led to the Wallace
Line, which divides Asian
and Australian species
(see pp.204205).
673
by patenting the Hoffmann kiln
in 1858, which was capable of
ring bricks non-stop. Cities
KILOMETRES
also began to communicate THE LENGTH
across oceans. The rst
undersea transatlantic
OF LAKE
telegraph cable, laid between TANGANYIKA
western Ireland and IN AFRICA

y o sia ph
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5 7 F st L ows tion b
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be ra y o sele Sp Vic
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Z n th 203
 17 8 9 18 94 T H E A G E O F R E V O LU T I O N S

UNDERSTANDING
EVOLUTION
THE SOURCE OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, EVOLUTION ALSO PROVIDES A LINK TO OUR PREHISTORIC ANCESTORS

Fossils reveal how prehistoric life forms were different from those of today, and studies
of different species suggest that all life originated from a single, simple ancestor
that lived billions of years ago. Today, scientists understand the biological and genetic
processes behind the evolutionary changes that gave rise to the diversity of life.

In the early 1800s, the French naturalist Jean- ADAPTIVE RADIATION

Baptiste Lamarck suggested, erroneously, that When descendents of a common ancestor adapt For example, on newly formed islands there may
features acquired during an organism's lifetime to different circumstances and diversify, this is be few competitors and new food sources, so
could be passed on to its offspring. Later, Charles known as adaptive radiation. It tends to happen over many generations a pioneering population
Darwin (see 1859) proposed that individuals are most rapidly in habitats where there are many of one species can diverge to produce many new
born with variations that make some of them opportunities for exploiting new ways of life. species, each adapted to a slightly different role.
tter more likely to survive and pass on their
ancestor may have
characteristics. This is called evolution by natural eaten seeds or insects hooked bill for
selection. It is now known that characteristics slicing into soft
fruits and buds
are determined by genes and that random gene
mutations cause variation (see pp.28485). But only
natural selection can explain how some variations probing bill for
are better adaptations to the environment and pulling soft seeds
from cactus owers
come to predominate in organisms. overbite is useful
for digging up grubs

CONVERGENT EVOLUTION
Physical resemblance can indicate common
GALAPAGOS FINCHES
ancestry but sometimes completely unrelated On the Galapagos Islands,
species evolve independently to become alike. ancestral nches underwent
pointed bill for
Known as convergent evolution, this often adaptive radiation most
pecking insects
from leaves woodpecker nch digs obviously in the shape of
happens when species have comparable roles out prey from under their bills to exploit new
in the same environment, so natural selection bark using a stick food sources.
works on them in similar ways.
dorsal n whale is a mammal
dark upper body prevents so breathes air SEXUAL SELECTION
camouages rolling through a blowhole
Not all adaptations increase
when seen
from above an individual's ability to
survive. Sometimes, the
selective advantage that
1ST GENERATION Male birds with a variety of tail lengths
drives evolution comes from Female selects male
being better able to attract a with the longest tail
KILLER WHALE
mate. For instance, showy
plumage can make male birds
dark upper body camouages more vulnerable to predators
dorsal n when seen from above
prevents but it also makes them more
rolling successful at courting. As
a result, they father more 2ND GENERATION Male birds with a variety of tail lengths, on average
offspring and the genes for Female selects male longer than those of the previous generation
with the longest tail
shark is showy plumage are passed on.
a sh so
breathes
GREAT WHITE SHARK
water
through gills PHEASANT'S TAIL
Male pheasants with longer tails
KILLER WHALES AND WHITE SHARKS are more attractive to females, so
These marine predators have both evolved a streamlined the genes for a long tail get passed 3RD GENERATION
shape for greater speed when chasing prey and have a darker on and male tail length increases Female selects male Male birds with a variety of tail lengths, on average
upper body and lighter lower body to provide camouage. with successive generations. with the longest tail even longer than those of the previous generation

204
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G E VO LU T I O N

ASIA
OKINAWA

TAIWAN

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE

A British naturalist and
explorer, Wallace travelled
extensively in Asia and
PHILIPPINES Australasia, noting patterns
of animal distribution. He
came up with the idea of
evolution by natural selection
MAINLAND independently of Darwin, and
SOUTHEAST ASIA Edge of Sunda shelf the two co-authored a paper
This marks the eastern
on the subject in 1858.
limit of many Asian
animals, such as apes
and rhinoceroses

THE WALLACE LINE

Sunda shelf As a result of his observations, Wallace drew a line on a
ANDAMAN This was all dry land
ISLANDS map to show where he thought there was a boundary
during the ice ages, between Asian and Australasian regions of evolution.
when sea levels
were lower
The line roughly corresponds with edge of a continental
shelf the Sunda shelf which marks the easternmost
limit of many Asian animal species. Another shelf the
Sahul shelf denes the Australasian region. The deep
water between the two shelves formed a barrier to
migration, even when sea levels were lower.
THA NSULA
PEN

Edge of Sahul shelf

I-MA
I

This marks the western

limit of many Australasian
LAY

animals, such as wallabies

Sahul shelf
This was all dry land
SU

BORNEO during the ice ages, when

MA

sea levels were lower

TR
A

SULAWESI NEW GUINEA

CO-EVOLUTION
Two species may evolve in JAVA
tandem, each adapting to
changes in the other. For instance, a
predator may evolve greater speed and its prey
TIMOR
may, in turn, get faster to avoid being caught. Such
co-evolutionary relationships may be highly specialized, Wallacea
such as those between some plants and pollinating insects. This region between the Sunda
and Sahul shelves contains
many islands that have
bee is attracted bee falls into never been linked by
to owers fragrance water inside plant land, so animals
have island-
hopped to get
there

uid in small exit

bucket orchid

FRAGRANT ATTRACTION FRUITFUL ESCAPE

A male bee uses the orchid's
fragrant oils to attract a mate
but in collecting them he
falls into a water-lled bucket.
To escape, the bee must pass
sticky pollen, so he leaves
AUSTRALIA
with oil and with pollen to
pollinate the next ower.
 1859

Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands in 1835; the animals and plants he observed there are said to have contributed to his becoming
an evolutionist, but it wasnt until 1859 that Darwin consolidated his observations into a book The Origin of Species.

ON 24 NOVEMBER 1859, specic habitats. If habitats In April, two British CHARLES DARWIN (180982)
CHARLES DARWIN PUBLISHED change, however, these special archaeologists, John Evans
his epoch-making book On advantages may become (18231908) and Joseph
the Origin of Species. In it he weaknesses and as a result the Prestwich (181296), made a Darwin trained as a doctor
explained in detail his theory of species could die out. startling discovery that pushed before embarking, as a
evolution, rst introduced in What made Darwins theory human origins further back naturalist, on a round-the-world
1858. Darwins theory was that such a turning point was that the into prehistory. In St Acheul voyage in 183136 aboard HMS
species change and develop mechanism he proposed worked in northern France, they found Beagle. The voyage sowed the
automatically through a process for all of life, and asserted that a stone axe in layers that also seeds for his theory of evolution
of natural selection; this idea every organism is descended contained fossils of extinct by natural selection, which he
was neatly summed up by the from a common ancestor. creatures, including mammoths. nally revealed in 1858. He also
philosopher Herbert Spencer Although many people accepted If mammoths and humans had applied his theory to humans
(18201903) as survival of the the force of Darwins arguments, existed together, then human in The Descent of Man,
ttest. In his book, Darwin some were bitterly critical and life must date back tens of published in 1871.
explained how, occasionally, a debate ared up. thousands of years.

eyepiece for viewing telescope

spectrum

telescope with
eyepiece replaced
chance mutation at birth may by collimator
equip some organisms with a 9
trait that gives them a better 8
chance of survival, which means Earlier chemists had in the special gas burner
they are more likely to pass 7 already realized that devised by Bunsen in 1855.
diffraction grating to
the trait onto their offspring. 6 split light into the range of colours They found that every element
Different mutations will suit (or spectrum (spectrum) in the glow has its own unique spectrum,
MILLIONS

not suit) particular conditions, 5 of light from heated and realized that spectra can be
so species gradually diversify chemicals could help to used to show the presence of
4 spectroscope mount
and become adapted to suit identify them. In autumn even tiny traces of chemicals.
3 1859, German scientists By passing sunlight through a
Spectroscope Robert Bunsen (181199) sodium ame, Kirchhoff also
2 The rst instrument for and Gustav Robert found that the ame absorbed
Number of species on Earth analysing spectra was built
1 Kirchhoff (182487) spectral lines in sunlight in a
Naturalists have identied 1.25 from old telescopes. This
purpose-built spectroscope began to study spectra mirror image to those emitted
million living species on Earth 0
today, and estimate there may Estimated Identied dates from slightly later. systematically, by sodium showing that the
be over 8.7 million in total. species species heating chemicals Sun contains sodium.

rt ff
be ho , hn st
Ro irch pe h Jo r
t s co itis ists ph he hip,
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B og se r r T
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206
1860
,,SEVERAL MINUTES
BEFORE TOTALITY, I...
FOUND THAT THE SUNS

,,
IMAGE MAY BE VIEWED
WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST
INCONVENIENCE.
Warren de la Rue, British Astronomer

Warren de la Rue developed a special camera that allowed him to photograph a total
eclipse of the sun as seen from Spain on 18 July 1860.

114
THE STIR CAUSED BY THE deck HMS Warrior
PUBLICATION OF DARWINS With its armour-plated, iron hull,
HMS Warrior was the rst modern
Origin of Species came to a head
battleship. It was armed with 26
in erce public debate in June at muzzle-loading cannons that were
the Oxford House Museum in able to re 31 kg (68 lb) shot over
Oxford, UK. Opposing Darwin 2,700 m (8,858 ft).
from a religious perspective was

Bishop Samuel Wilberforce
(180573); supporting Darwin
and science was the British
biologist Thomas Huxley
(182595). The debate focused
on whether humans are
descended from apes, even
though Darwin had not actually
suggested they were. Huxley is
generally considered to
have won the debate.
Following their
breakthrough in 1859,
Bunsen and Kirchhoff
made further progress in
the eld of spectroscopy. Bunsen
discovered two new elements
from the spectra of light
absorbed by drops of mineral
carbon-coated,
rotating cylinder
steam engine
water. Each was named after the
brightest colours in their spectra:
caesium, from the Latin for
sky blue, and rubidium, eclipse by British astronomer
meaning dark red. Kirchhoff Warren de la Rue (181589)
learned more about the suns
composition from the spectrum
horn for
collecting sound
Phonautograph
The phonautograph
used a horn attached
to a diaphragm that
vibrated a stiff
bristle to inscribe
an image on a
lamp-black
(carbon) coated,
hand-cranked
cylinder.
recently been converted to sound
iron armour
plating
of sunlight, discovering more
than 16 different elements in it.
Photographs taken of a solar
patented it in 1878 (see 187879).
proved that the ames, now
known as prominences, that
sometimes appear around the
Moon during an eclipse come
from the Suns surface.
The oldest known recording
of a human voice was made in
April 1860 using a phonautograph
made by French bookseller
douard-Lon Scott de
Martinville (181779) that used
sound vibrations to draw on a
carbon-coated cylinder. The
phonautograph was not designed
to play back sound, it was just
used for turning sound into a
MILLIMETRES
graphic. The recording has only
using computer technology. THE WIDTH OF HMS
British scientist Joseph Wilson
Swan (18281914) demonstrated
WARRIORS BELT
the rst working incandescent OF WROUGHT IRON
light bulb. The light was created
by passing an electric current The launch of HMS Warrior on
through a thin carbon lament 29 December on the Thames in
inside a vacuum-lled glass London was a landmark in naval
bulb, which heated the lament technology. Warrior was only the
until it glowed. With only a partial second armour-plated,
vacuum in the bulb, however, the iron-hulled warship to be built,
lament quickly burned out. after the French ship La Gloire
He made improvements and of 1859, and it was on a vastly
different scale from anything that
had gone before, at over 127 m
(417 ft) long and weighing almost
10,000 tonnes.
More peacefully, British
botanist Joseph Hooker
400,000THE APPROXIMATE
(18171911) concluded his
account of the many previously
unknown plants he had
NUMBER OF KNOWN
PLANT SPECIES IN discovered on his voyages to
THE WORLD Antarctica, between 1839 and
1843 aboard the naval ships
Erebus and Terror.
1,500 Number of plant species
The number of plant species New species of plants are being
collected on the Antarctic identied all the time; 400,000 are
voyages of Joseph Hooker now known. Joseph Hooker added
aboard Erebus and Terror 1,500 on his Antarctic voyages.

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207
 186164

The Yosemite Grant, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on 30 June, 1864, preserved Red blood cells get their red colour from the protein haemoglobin. Felix
the natural grandeur of the Yosemite region of California, USA, for the public. Hoppe-Seyler discovered its vital role in oxygen transport in 1864.

BRITISH PHYSICIST JAMES
CLERK MAXWELL REVEALED
the pivotal advances he had made
in the science of electricity and
magnetism in two books: On
the Lines of Physical Force (1861)
and A Dynamical Theory of the
Electromagnetic Field (1864).
He began by explaining how an
electromagnetic eld is created
by waves that radiate outwards.
He proved that these waves
radiate at exactly the same speed
as light, which showed that light
is also an electromagnetic wave.
Finally, he summed his ndings
up in four equations, now known
as Maxwells equations, which
underpin all calculations relating
to electricity and magnetism, in
the same way that Isaac Newtons
equations underpin all studies
of motion.
In 1861, Maxwell also took the
rst colour photograph.
He had already proved
that we see colours
as varying intensities
of three colours (see
panel, right), but to
demonstrate this he
asked photographer
Thomas Sutton (181975)
to take three black and
white photographs of a
tartan ribbon, each one
through a different colour
lter red, green, and
THREE-COLOUR SYSTEM
Mixing three colours of light
red, green, and blue in varying
proportions makes every colour
in the rainbow. Images can be
RED GREEN
reproduced in full colour by
registering and then displaying
how much light there is of each
of these three colours in each
part of the picture. Colour was
BLUE
created this way in everything
from the rst colour photograph
to modern phone displays.
,, LIGHT CONSISTS
IN THE TRANSVERSE
UNDULATIONS OF THE SAME

blue. He then projected
all three images
together, through lters
of the same colours.
The three colour images
mixed to recreate the
picture in full colour.
The colours found in the
spectrum of sunlight by
the Swedish physicist
Anders ngstrm
The Berlin Archaeopteryx
The Berlin fossil of
Archaeopteryx, found in
1874, is the most complete.
It plainly shows the toothed,
dinosaur-like beak and
feathered, bird-like wings.
MEDIUM WHICH IS THE
CAUSE OF ELECTRIC AND
MAGNETIC PHENOMENA.
James Clerk Maxwell, British physicist, January 1862
(181474) in 1861, showed that
the Sun contains hydrogen gas.
In the same year, French
physician Paul Broca (182480)
discovered a key area of the
brain for speech in a man who
had suffered a brain injury that
rendered him unable to talk but
able to understand. When the
man died Broca performed an
,,
autopsy that revealed damage to
a region of the brain now known
as Brocas area.
After fossils of the Glossopteris
fern were found in Africa, India,
and South America, Austrian
geologist Edward Suess
(18311914) theorized in 1861 that
these three continents were once
joined by land bridges to create

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 1865

15
GRAMS
THE AMOUNT OF
HAEMOGLOBIN PER
LITRE OF HEALTHY
HUMAN BLOOD

Joseph Listers introduction of antiseptic surgery with carbolic acid made

operations far safer because the acid killed the germs that spread infection.

one giant continent, which he

named Gondwanaland, before
the seas rose and they were
IN 1865, GERMAN PHYSICIST
RUDOLF CLAUSIUS made an
assertion about heat that was
,,THE ENERGY OF THE
UNIVERSE IS CONSTANT.

separated. He was right about
the giant continent, but we now
know that they separated through
continental drift (see 1915) and
not because the seas rose.
At Langenaltheim in Germany,
the rst almost complete fossil
of Archaeopteryx was found.
This winged, feathered creature
with reptilian teeth, which lived
150 million years ago, shows the
transition between dinosaurs and
birds. The discovery was a major
piece of evidence supporting
Darwins theory that one species
evolves gradually into another. But
Darwins theory received a major
setback in 1862 when British
physicist William Thomson
calculated the age of Earth from
how fast it probably cooled since
the time it was formed. The gure
he came up with was no more
than 400 million years, and
possibly as short as 20 million
years ago. Even 400 million years
was not long enough for Darwins
gradual evolution to happen.
Earth is now known to be closer
to 4.5 billion years old.
In 1862, French chemist Louis
Pasteur (182295) came closer
to establishing that microbes
are responsible for many
infectious diseases with his
studies of puerperal fever, an
infection often caught by women
JAMES CLERK MAXWELL
(183179)
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland,
British physicist James Clerk
Maxwell laid the cornerstones
of electromagnetic theory.
With his brilliant maths,
he showed that electricity,
magnetism, and light are
all forms of electromagnetic
elds. His four equations
are the basis of all classical
electromagnetic science.
during childbirth. Medicine was
also advanced in 1864 when
German physiologist Felix
Hoppe-Seyler (182595)
identied the role of the iron-
containing protein haemoglobin
in binding oxygen to red blood
cells for transport through the
blood. This was also the year that
US president Abraham Lincoln
signed the Yosemite Grant, which
was the rst step in creating
Californias now famous National
Park in 1890.
more signicant than most
people appreciated at the time.
Starting from the second law of
thermodynamics (heat ows only
from hot places to cold), he came
up with the concept of entropy.
Entropy is a mathematical
measure of the disorder in any
system. To create order, heat
needs to be concentrated, and
this requires energy. So in any
system, whether it is the human
body or the entire Universe,
entropy and disorder will
increase unless there is a
continuous input of energy
from outside to maintain the
concentration of heat. For
example, life on Earth depends
axon terminal
signal is
carried to the
next neuron
myelin insulates
axon, making the
signal travel faster
The structure of a nerve cell
Nerve cells have a main body
(soma), from which sprout two sets
of bres (an axon and dendrites) that
transmit and receive nerve signals
through contact with other cells.
,,
THE ENTROPY OF THE
UNIVERSE TENDS TO
A MAXIMUM.
Rudolf Clausius, German physicist, from On Various Forms of the
Laws of Thermodynamics that are Convenient for Applications, 1865
on the input of energy from the series of branching treelike
Sun; once the Suns fuel has run bres (dendrites).
out, this input will cease. In medicine, British surgeon
Another German, Otto Friedrich Joseph Lister (18271912)
Karl Deiters (183463), observed pioneered the use of carbolic
the basic features of nerve acid as an antiseptic during
cells for the rst time under a surgery, to clean instruments
microscope. He noted that each and wounds in order to
nerve cell has a main cell body, reduce the chance
a long tail bre (axon), and a of infection.
axon terminal from
another neuron
nucleus
of neuron
cell body
Schwann
cell
dendrite

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 186667 186869

Ernst Haeckel identied one-celled protists as completely separate organisms, The Suez Canal was nally opened on 17 November 1869, after 10 years
although the exact denition is still being debated. of labour involving tens of thousands of men.

THE INITIAL RELIGIOUS DEBATE
OVER DARWINS THEORY OF
EVOLUTION died down (see 1860),
but scientic doubts persisted.
One doubt was the question of
how traits persist. In 1867, British
engineering professor Fleeming
Jenkin (183385) argued that
adaptations would eventually
blend in with the general
population, getting lost over the
generations through what he
called a swamping effect.
Unknown to both Darwin and
Fleeming, Austrian monk Gregor
Mendel (182284) answered this
question with his work on peas
(see 1856), which he completed
in 1866. Mendel showed that
inherited characteristics
small steam
engine
persist as they are passed on
through factors, now known as
genes. It was not until the early
20th century that scientists fully
appreciated the importance of
this in relation to evolution.
Another commentator on
evolution was German naturalist
Ernst Haeckel (18341919),
who argued, wrongly, in 1866
that stages in embryonic
development retell evolutionary
history. He made drawings to
show similarities between sh
and human embryos. Haeckel
also proposed in 1866 that the
single-celled organisms called
protists should have a kingdom
of their own, separate from
plants and animals.
iron bicycle
frame
Also in 1866, German WHILE HE WAS Homo Sapiens skull
microscopist Max Schultze PREPARING This European Early
Modern Human
(1825-1974) undertook the most A TEXTBOOK
skull is from Cro-
important early study on the on chemistry in Magnon cave
structure of the retina the 1868, Russian in France. Its
light-sensitive tissue on the chemist Dmitri discovery provided
evidence that
inside of the eye. He identied Mendeleyev
humans evolved.
the layers of the retina and drew (18341907)
detailed illustrations of its began to wonder
cellular makeup, including the if chemical Mendeleyev could
individual structure of rods elements could be use it to predict the
and cones the two types of arranged in a table existence of three,
light-receiving cells inside the that linked their as yet undiscovered,
back of the eye that react to light atomic weights and elements to ll gaps
and colours (see 1935). properties. Laying out the in the table. Over the following
In technology, British engineer 60 elements known at the time 16 years, all three missing
Robert Whitehead (182344) in weight order, he saw that elements gallium, scandium,
developed the rst self- certain properties were repeated and germanium were found,
propelled torpedo in 1866, periodically and realized he and since then more than 50
a device that later proved could organize the elements further elements have been
devastatingly effective in both into eight groups or periods identied and discovered.
World Wars. A year later, of elements. Tellingly, the Another new element was
Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel elements that appear in discovered in 1868 using the
(183396), invented the particular positions in each knowledge that every substance
explosive dynamite. period have similar properties. glows with its own particular
In 1867 Parisian blacksmith Mendeleyev presented his spectrum, or light signature
Pierre Michaux (181383) idea, now known as the Periodic (see 188485). While studying the
developed one of the rst Table, to a meeting of the spectra of light from the edge of
practical bicycles, or Russian Chemical Society on the Sun during a total eclipse,
velocipedes, with pedals and 6 March 1869, and it has been a British astronomer Norman
a chain. He also invented one key reference ever since. What Lockyer (18361920) and French
of the earliest motorcycles, made it so powerful was that astronomer Jules Janssen

27
powered by a tiny steam engine.

Early motorcycle
KILOMETRES
Dating from between 1867 and THE DISTANCE
1871, Pierre Michauxs bicycle
was powered by a small steam GIFFARDS AIRSHIP
engine. It is thought to be the
worlds rst motorcycle. TRAVELLED

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 164
KILOMETRES
THE LENGTH OF THE
SUEZ CANAL WHEN IT
WAS FIRST BUILT

(18241907) both noticed a of light from the Sun,

bright yellow line at a wavelength
that did not match any known
substance. Lockyer and Janssen
suggested that this indicated an
unknown element in the Sun,
which Lockyer called helium,
after the Greek helios for
Sun. That year, Swedish physicist
Anders ngstrm (181474) also
mapped the complete spectrum
DMITRI MENDELEEV
(183407)
Born in 1834 in Tobolsk,
Siberia, Dmitri Mendeleyev
hiked to St Petersburg to
enrol in the university.
Despite suffering from
tuberculosis, he became
Russias leading chemist and
developed the Periodic Table,
which earned him worldwide
acclaim and enabled him to
predict the discovery of the
elements gallium, scandium,
and germanium.
identifying a thousand
spectral lines in units
that became known as
angstroms in his honour.
The debate about
evolution continued.
Darwin described how
traits might be passed
on from generation
to generation through
a process called
pangenesis. He
proposed that in the
body there are countless
particles, or gemmules,
which are like seeds
that can reproduce
the whole organism.
Some claim this has
similarities with DNA,
the genetic material
found in every body cell,
which was coincidentally
identied in cell nuclei
the following year by
Swiss biology student
Friedrich Miescher Table of elements
(184495). It is now known that Eyzies in France where the Technological change gathered This Russian periodic table is based
only DNA in the sex, or germ, remains were found. They are pace as British inventor John on Mendeleyevs original table. It
includes his predicted elements
cells (eggs and sperm) is ever now more generally known as Peake Knight (182886) invented gallium, scandium, and germanium.
used to make a new organism. European Early Modern Humans. trafc lights, and in the USA
In France, geologist Louis More controversially, in 1869 American engineer George
Lartet (184099) added weight Darwins half-cousin Francis Westinghouse (18461914) Mediterranean. When it rst
to the idea that humans also Galton (18221911) used invented air brakes. Another opened the canal was 164 km
evolved, with his discovery Darwins theories to suggest American, inventor John Hyatt (102 miles) long. It took 10 years
of the rst identied skeletons a hereditary basis for human (18371920), developed celluloid. of construction work to complete.
of what came to be known as intelligence, an idea that was The Suez Canal opened to
Cro-Magnon man. They were to lead him to develop the shipping in November 1869,
named after the cave near Les science of eugenics. linking the Red Sea to the

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211
17 8 9 18 94 T H E AG E O F R E VO LU T I O N S

Bronze knife
c.600200 BCE
Surgical knives were used in
Ancient Egypt an early centre
of medical excellence. These
knives might also have been
used to remove organs prior
to mummication. curved blade

supporting brace
Bone saw
16th century
In Europe, early amputation saws for cutting cutting
through bone were used without anaesthetic. edge
Patients were given only alcohol to alleviate
pain. Many saws had ornate handles, which
served only to harbour more germs.

serrated cutting blade

Amputation knife
18th century
Before sawing through the bone, surgeons used

SURGERY
FROM ANCIENT TIMES, SURGERY HAS BEEN USED TO INVESTIGATE AND TREAT DISEASE OR INJURY
the inner edge of a curved knife blade to make
a round cut through the skin and muscle.

As the most invasive kind of medical procedure, Blood bag

1950s
surgery is often literally a matter of life or death. In the early 1900s, it was discovered that a
substance called citrate could stop blood
But operations that would have been considered from coagulating. This made possible
risky 100 years ago are today a matter of routine. the storing of blood and blood products
for routine surgery and emergencies.

Surgery is fraught with three risks: pain, blood loss, and infection. The
history of surgery is largely the story of how science has been able to label with
blade to be positioned blood type
mitigate these risks. In the 20th century, improved anaesthetics and around head of baby information
storage and transfusion of compatible blood types meant
more people survived operations. Germ theory and
effective antiseptics led to a drop in infection rates.

Obstetric forceps
screw for c.1820
tightening Scottish physician William Smellie designed
a type of forceps to help during breech birth,
in which the baby enters the birth canal
buttocks or feet rst.

retractable
lance

Petit tourniquet
18th century
In 1718, French surgeon
Louis Petit developed a
screw-type device known as
a tourniquet to tighten a limb
strap and stop blood ow.
Tonsil guillotine
1850s button to
move blades
Removing tonsils was a popular way of treating
ongoing throat infections until the 1950s. It fell out
heated cutting blade of favour as knowledge of infection changed.
bulb used
to cauterize Military cautery and hook
skin surface 18th century
Cauteries used to staunch blood
ow and seal damaged skin by
searing it were widely used,
treating from bubonic plague
victims to wounded soldiers.
 SURGERY

Carbolic steam spray

1860s
nozzle British surgeon Joseph Lister
developed a device to spray
carbolic acid in the operating Surgical sterilizing
equipment
theatre. The pungent chemical 1860s
acted as an antiseptic, On battleelds, a hot ame
reducing the chance of from a portable alcohol
wounds becoming scraping burner was used to sterilize
water infected. blade surgical instruments
chamber
supported on a brass stand.
reservoir of
carbolic acid

Barber-Surgeon
instruments
Late 1860s
The scraper and tongue
depressor shown here once
belonged to a member of
the Barber-Surgeons
Company (a guild created
by Henry VIII in 1540).
plate for tongue
depression
dropping tube

sharp blade for

Esmarch cutting muscle
chloroform-ether dropper American Civil War surgical equipment
c.1890 1860s
English surgeon James blade for making incisions During the American Civil War, two soldiers died
Simpson used chloroform as from disease and infection for every one killed in
an alternative anaesthetic to battle. Surgical instruments were used by medical
ether in 1847. Although attendees with limited training.
glass dropping bottles
delivered more cranial saw
precise doses,
the danger
of overdosing locking
persisted until catch
safer anaesthetics
were developed in
the 1950s. Surgical suture
18th century
scalpel with
Catgut actually made from the
interchangeable
intestines of hoofed animals has blade
been used for surgical suturing for
thousands of years. When used
internally, it is absorbed into the
system after the tissue is healed.

curved
suture needle

graduations on surgical forceps

side of bottle

Stainless-steel instruments
20th century
retractor
Stainless steel surgical instruments became with blunt
available in 1930. They were corrosion-free hook
and easily sterilized surgical instruments
could be made. Additional modications
have helped make surgical stainless steel
especially smooth and scratch-resistant.

213
 187071
,,THE LIGHT WHICH WE RECEIVE FROM

,,
THE CLEAR SKY IS DUE TO SMALL
SUSPENDED PARTICLES WHICH DIVERT
THE LIGHT FROM ITS REGULAR COURSE.
Lord Rayleigh, English scientist, from On the Light from the Sky,
its Polarization and Colour, 1871

The sky appears blue because of Rayleigh scattering the scattering of sunlight
by molecules in the air.

AROUND 1870, ITALIAN
PHYSICIAN CAMILLO GOLGI
(18431926) developed a
technique to stain brain and
other tissue to be able to observe
them under the microscope.
He used this method to identify
neurons (nerve cells) which
process and transmit information
between the brain and other
,,WITH SAVAGES, THE WEAK IN BODY OR MIND
parts of the body. For his work
in this eld, Golgi was awarded
the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 1906.
In a related discovery, German
scientists Gustav Theodor
Fritsch (18381927) and Eduard
Hitzig (18391907) demonstrated
the link between electricity and
brain function. They showed
that an electric stimulus applied
to different parts of a dogs
brain would cause distinct
muscular contractions.
The same year, English
mathematician William Kingdon
Clifford (184579) suggested that
energy and matter are caused by
the curvature of space. Clifford
died young, and was unable to
develop the theory further; his
ideas resurfaced in German-born
physicist Albert Einsteins general
theory of relativity (see 191415).
British astronomer Joseph
Norman Lockyer (18361920)
and his French colleague Pierre
Jules Csar Janssen (18241907)
independently suggested that
certain lines in the Suns
spectrum were produced by a
previously unknown element
(see 186869). In 1870, Lockyer

,,
ARE SOON ELIMINATED WE CIVILISED MEN, ON named this element helium,
after the Greek Sun god Helios.
THE OTHER HAND, DO OUR UTMOST TO CHECK THE Also in 1870, French
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION. microbiologist Louis Pasteur
(182295) published a book
Charles Darwin, British naturalist, from The Descent of Man, 1871 documenting the mysterious
disease killing silkworms, tracing
it back to microbes. This, together
with the discovery of the anthrax
bacterium (see 187677) led to
the development of germ theory.
In 1871, English scientist Lord
Rayleigh (18421919) discovered
that when light bounces off small
particles, it scatters now called
Rayleigh scattering. He stated
that for visible light to scatter, the
particles must be smaller than
400 to 700 nanometres, that is,
smaller than the wavelength of
the light being scattered.
Ape and man
This illustration from an 1863 book
by English biologist Thomas Henry
Huxley an advocate of Charles
Darwins theories shows similarities
between humans and living apes.
LOUIS PASTEUR
(182295)
While working at Lille
University, France, Louis
Pasteur investigated the
problem of beer and wine (and
later milk) going sour. He
found that this was caused by
bacteria, which could be killed
by boiling (pasteurization).
These studies helped Pasteur
develop the germ theory of
disease, and the prevention
of disease by vaccination.
This year, English naturalist
Charles Darwin published a
book on human evolution The
Descent of Man, and Selection in
Relation to Sex. He had been wary
of publishing on the topic before,
expecting the sort of furore that
had accompanied the publication
of On the Origin of Species in 1859.

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187273
,, I THINK LEPROSY TO BE

,,
INOCULABLE; I, MOREOVER, THINK
THAT LEPROSY IN MOST CASES IS
TRANSFERRED BY INOCULATION.
Gerhard Hansen, Norwegian physician, from a letter to British
social reformer William Tebb, c.1889

This micrographic image shows rod-shaped cells of the leprosy bacterium Mycobacterium leprae
the rst bacterium to be identied as a cause of disease in humans.

IN 1872, AUSTRIAN PHYSICIST Pacic, where it took samples When the vanes are
LUDWIG EDUARD BOLTZMANN from the Challenger Deep a exposed to light, the
(18441906) developed an point near the deepest recorded light mill rotates,
equation that described the point on Earth. The expedition with the white side
behaviour of a uid (gas or also catalogued approximately leading the way.
liquid) by applying probability 4,700 previously unknown This occurs because
distributions (see 165254) to the species of animals and plants. the dark side of the
interactions of large numbers The following year, Dutch paddle absorbs more
of atoms or molecules. This physicist Johannes Diderik van radiant energy and
equation gave a mathematical der Waals (18371923) derived gets hotter than the
foundation to the second law an equation of state, which white side; some
of thermodynamics, which described how the liquid and gas of the energy is
states that systems tend towards states of a substance merge into transferred to the
a state of equilibrium. each other. He assumed that molecules hitting the
In December 1872, a Royal molecules exist, are of nite size, surface, giving the
Society expedition set out on and attract each other by a weak paddle a kick. The HMS Challenger
board HMS Challenger from force now called a van der same thing happens on the white description of mitosis the Launched on 13 February 1858,
HMS Challenger was primarily
Portsmouth, UK. Over the next Waals force. Together, these side, but to a lesser degree. process whereby a dividing cell
a sailing ship, but was also tted
four years, it discovered many ideas helped provide a better The understanding of disease provides identical copies of its with an auxiliary steam engine.
large features of the planet, understanding of atoms. took a step forward in 1873, when chromosomes (then known as
including the mid-Atlantic ridge In 1873, Scottish physicist Norwegian physician Gerhard nuclear laments) to each of the The rst modern refrigeration
in the Atlantic Ocean and the James Clerk Maxwell published Hansen (18411912) discovered daughter cells (see pp.19495). system was designed by German
Marianas Trench in the western A Treatise on Electricity and the leprosy bacterium engineer Carl von Linde
Magnetism, in which he described Mycobacterium leprae. It was (18421934) and built by
his theory of electromagnetism previously thought that leprosy the mechanical engineering
12 compressor evaporator
11 (see pp.23435). The theory was either inherited or spread by company Maschinenfabrik
DEPTH (IN KILOMETRES)

predicted the existence of
9 8.2
radio waves (see 1886), and
was a major inuence on
6
20th-century science.
William Crookes invented his
3
radiometer while investigating
the nature of light as a form of
0
lowest point lowest electromagnetic radiation. This
recordedby recorded device is a partially evacuated,
Challenger point on Earth
airtight glass bulb that contains
Challenger Deep a set of vanes mounted on a
HMS Challenger estimated the depth
spindle, like a horizontal windmill.
of Earths lowest point Challenger
Deep at 8.2 km (5.1 miles). Recent One side of each vane is painted
estimates suggest 11 km (6.8 miles). white, while the other is black.
bad air known as miasmas. Augsburg for a brewery in
Meanwhile, the mechanism Munich, Germany. Three years
of heredity was starting to be later, Linde designed a more
understood, partly through reliable system the rst
the work of German zoologist practical compressed-
Anton Schneider (183190). ammonia refrigerator. The
He gave the rst accurate huge commercial success of
this invention enabled von Linde
to focus on research, becoming
First practical refrigerator the rst person to liquify air,
Von Linde improved on his and separate oxygen and
1873 design by using glycerine
nitrogen from it.
to seal the compressor
and using ammonia
as a refrigerant.

n an
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215
 187475
,, NATURE IS ALL THAT A MAN
BRINGS WITH HIMSELF INTO THE
WORLD; NURTURE IS EVERY
INFLUENCE WITHOUT THAT AFFECTS
HIM AFTER HIS BIRTH.
Francis Galton, from English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture, 1874
GERMAN MATHEMATICIAN
GEORG CANTOR (18451918)
published On a Characteristic
Property of all Real Algebraic
Numbers in 1874. This paper laid
the foundations of set theory,
and introduced the idea of
different kinds of innity.
The same year, Russian
mathematician Soa Vasilyevna
Kovalevskaya (185091) became
the rst woman to be awarded
a doctorate in mathematics,
which she received from the
University of Gttingen, Germany.
In 1889, she became the rst
woman to be appointed
professor of mathematics, at
Stockholm University, Sweden.
Meanwhile, British economist
William Stanley Jevons (1835
82) published The Principles of
BIOSPHERE
The term biosphere is used to
refer to the sum of all
ecosystems. A closed,
self-regulating system,
the biosphere shows
that living things do not
exist in isolation from
the non-living world.
Devised by Eduard
Suess in 1875, the idea
was developed by James
Lovelock (b.1919) and
Lynn Margulis (19382011)
as Gaia theory (see 1979).
tor
an rk
rg C wo
o is
Ge s h
74 he ory 74 vs om to
18 blis the 18 vale st w doc s
pu set Ko e r ed a atic
on th ard hem
ley
an e
St Th
am es : A
illi lish ence nd
4 W pub f Sci gic a od
7
18 vons s o n Lo eth
e
Je cipl se o ic
in ati ient
r e
P Tr Sc
216
,,
British scientist Francis Galtons contributions to
science include studies of twins and meteorology.
Science: A Treatise on Logic and Silvery white metal
Scientic Method, which criticized Gallium is one of the few metals
that occur in liquid form at
the method of induction as a
near-room temperatures.
source of new scientic ideas Like water, this metal
and instead recommended expands on solidifying.
random hypotheses.
Austrian chemist Othmar Zeidler
(18491911) synthesized DDT the end of the year he
(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) had synthesized
as a doctoral student at the pure gallium by
University of Strasbourg, France, the electrolysis
in 1874. The importance of the of a solution of
substance, a powerful gallium hydroxide in
insecticide, was not realized potassium hydroxide.
until the late 1930s. Austrian geologist Eduard
French chemist Paul-mile Suess (18311914) coined
Lecoq de Boisbaudran the term biosphere (see panel,
(18381912) plugged a gap left) in 1875, dening it as the
in Mendeleyevs periodic table place on Earths surface where
of elements (see 186869) by life dwells. The concept
identifying the metal gallium was intended to complement
spectroscopically in 1875. Before the three geological zones the
lithosphere (the rocky outer layer
of the planet), the hydrosphere
(the layer of water at Earths
surface), and the atmosphere
(the gas envelope surrounding
ATMOSPHERE Earth). However, the theory made
little impact on the scientic
community until it was developed
by Russian geochemist Vladimir
ECOSPHERE Vernadsky (18631945) in his
1926 book, La Biosphere.
The scientic study of twins
began in 1875, when British
HYDROSPHERE LITHOSPHERE scientist Francis Galton
(18221911) published his
BIOSPHERE landmark paper The History
of Twins, as a Criterion of the
Relative Powers of Nature and
a es
So om rm d
5 Ge duar escr n
sian bec to be er 7
18 lish st E r d isio
s a e idl
Ru kay an rat Ze Po tani urg l div
ar DT bo rasb c ce
hm D
Ot es St toti ts
74 esiz i an
8
1 nth
m pl
aw mat in
sy
in
ist
log e
eo s th e
ile
g n er
an oi
m an tri s c ph
ul- udr m us ues bios
a
P ba iu
A
75 d S rm
75 is all 18 uar te
18 e Bo rs g
M Ed
q d ove 1 ub
co sc
Le di
187677
BRITISH NATURALIST Alfred
Russel Wallace (see 185558)
published The Geographical
Distribution of Animals in 1876.
Co-founder of natural selection
theory with Charles Darwin (see
185960), Wallace also made
contributions to biogeography,
including the concept of warning
colouration in animals and the
way barriers to hybridization,
such as mountains, contribute
to the evolution of new species.
Nurture. While he paved the way American inventors Elisha Gray
for further scientic enquiry into (18351901) and Alexander
this subject, Galton was unaware Graham Bell (see panel, opposite)
of the distinction between independently came up with the
monozygotic (identical) twins, design of a working telephone.
born from one fertilized egg, and However, Bell won the race to
dizygotic twins born from two. patent the device on 7 March
These studies would only be 1876. Three days later, he spoke
carried out in the 20th century. the famous sentence: Mr Watson,
come here, I want to see you.
0.4
into the machine, summoning his
assistant from the next room.
Just about two months later,
German inventor Nikolaus Otto
(183291) completed building the
rst practical four-stroke piston
internal combustion engine
(see 180709).
PER CENT In this year, German
neurologist Karl Wernicke
THE (18481905) found that damage
to a specic part of the brain
PROPORTION OF now called Wernickes area
BABIES BORN resulted in language disorders.
AS IDENTICAL
This area of the brain is
connected to Brocas area (see
TWINS 186164) by a nerve bre bundle
l
an s ist se
ibe m
he lliam
us s
c d R ishe
ish W
i a e
lfr bl cal als
e rit ist ops 6 A e pu aphi Anim
5 B ysic evel 7
l 7 18 llac ogr n of
18 d ph s d r Wa e Ge utio
an ooke ete
Th strib
Cr diom Di
ra
76
18 ll
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on
r
a am ten
alt rk 7 M rah pa one
i s G wo s G d a ph
c
an his di
e de
r te le
Fr es stu an ran te
75 lish win ex is g the
8 Al r
p on
t fo
English photographer Eadweard Muybridges pictures showed the exact position of a trotting horses legs for the
rst time. The original pictures shot in 1877 did not survive. The ones seen here are from 1878.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (18471922)
Alexander Graham Bell was
born in 1847 in Edinburgh,
Scotland. In 1870, he rst
moved to Ontario, Canada, and
then Boston, USA, where he
began his career as an inventor.
Both Bells mother and wife
suffered hearing impairments,
inspiring his interest in speech
and hearing. This interest led
him to invent the microphone
and the telephone.
called the arcuate fasciculus. German physiologist Wilhelm
Damage to these bres can Khne (18371900) discovered
leave people able to understand and named the pancreatic
language, but with speech that enzyme trypsin in 1876. He also
makes no sense. coined the term enzyme, which
horseshoe magnet
terminal for external
connection
wire
refers to large biological
molecules that act as catalysts
and control the rate of chemical
reactions in the cells of living
things (see 189394).
In 1877, German bacteriologist
Robert Koch (18431910) grew
Bacillus anthracis the organism
that causes the infectious disease
anthrax in the laboratory and
injected it into animals to induce
the disease. This was the rst
bacterium shown to be the cause
of a disease.
In the world of psychology,
Charles Darwin published
Biographical Sketch of an Infant,
a 10-page book based on his
observations of his newborn son,
from 37 years earlier. Darwin
speculated that his son went
through the same stages of
diaphragm
274
learning that his ancestors had
for centuries, and that each
individual somehow retains
rudiments of the long
evolutionary past.
In 1877, English photographer
THE NUMBER
Eadweard Muybridge (1830 OF AMINO
1904) made a camera with a
shutter speed of only one-
ACIDS IN
thousandth of a second. With TRYPSIN
this and an ultra-sensitive
photographic plate he was American astronomer Asaph
able to freeze the motion Hall (18291907) discovered the
of a trotting horse in a picture. two moons of Mars in 1877. He
The picture caused a sensation, spotted Deimos, the smaller
proving that all four of the horses moon, on 12 August, and Phobos
legs left the ground at once. on 18 August. Hall also worked
out the mass of Mars, the orbits
of moons, and measured the
rotation of Saturn.
Italian astronomer Giovanni
trumpet-like Schiaparelli (18351910)
mouthpiece was also studying Mars
in 1877. He reported
seeing canali on the
planet. This word,
simply meaning
channels, was
mistranslated to
coil of
canals, giving rise to
copper wire a frenzy of speculation
that Mars was inhabited by
intelligent beings. It was later
discovered that these markings
were optical illusions.

Bells electric telephone

Used as both transmitter and
receiver, this early telephone
converted sound vibrations into
electrical signals (and vice versa).

e
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217
 17 8 9 18 94 T H E A G E O F R E V O LU T I O N S

1815 1888 Gramophone

Multi-cylinder music box Gramophone player
First produced in Switzerland Invented by Emile Berliner,
in 1815, these contain a rotating the gramophone uses discs
cylinder covered in spikes that of shellac. They can
pluck the teeth of a steel comb. be copied numerous
In 1862, a system that allows times from a brass
cylinders to be changed to play master without any
different melodies is invented. Multi-cylinder music box loss of quality.

1857 1876 1877

Phonautograph Player piano Edisons phonograph
douard-Lon The automatic-playing Thomas Edisons phonograph
Scott invents piano becomes popular is the rst device able to play
the rst device when it is shown at an sounds back as well as record
able to record exhibition. It operates them. The vibrations of sound
sound but it is by an electromagnet are funnelled through a horn
unable to play and contains a paper and recorded on a cylinder
the sound back. music roll. Player piano covered in tin foil.

THE STORY OF
SOUND
RECORDING
horn concentrates
sound for recording and
amplies it for playback

RECORDING SOUND WAS AN ANCIENT DREAM OF MANKIND BUT IT ONLY BECAME A REALITY DURING THE 19TH CENTURY

Little more than a century ago, the only music most people heard was
performed live. The advent of technology to record sound and play it back
has not only transformed the way we listen to music but has also had other
applications, including broadcasting, film-making, and sound archiving.

Frenchman douard-Lon Scotts phonautograph
of 1857 was the rst device capable of recording
sound, using a moving needle to trace a line on
a carbon-coated surface. In 1877, American
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph the
rst device that could record sound and play it
back. Early sound recording machines worked
mechanically they captured sound by playing
into a horn to make the sound vibrations move
a needle to engrave scratches on a disc or cylinder.
In the 1920s, sound recording entered the
electrical era with the invention of microphones.
Sound was soon being reproduced electrically
using electromagnet-
Edison and his phonograph driven loudspeakers
The phonograph was invented
by Thomas Edison in 1877. with improved sound
It recorded sounds in grooves quality and volume.
embossed in tin foil wrapped After 1945, sound
around a cylinder. Later
recording of music
records that played back at 33 or 45 revolutions
per minute (rpm) (early records played back at
78 rpm). Magnetic devices that recorded sound
as varying magnetic patterns on tape rather than
physical grooves on a disc were also developed.
DIGITAL
The next big breakthrough was digital recording
(see panel, right), which made for much more
robust, practical systems. These include the rst
compact discs, as well as digital audio formats
such as MP3, which have made it possible to
store vast amounts of music on small devices,

,,
cylinders were made from
wax-coated cardboard. took off with vinyl and download limitless music from the internet.

,,I CAN TRANSPORT YOU

TO THE REALMS OF MUSIC.
The first promotional message recorded on the Edison phonograph, 1877

218
 T H E S TO R Y O F S O U N D R E C O R D I N G

1925 1931 1978 Sony

Microphone
The horn is replaced by
electric microphones, in
which vibrations move
electromagnets to create
a varying electrical signal
that moves the needle
Microphone to make the grooves.
Reel-to-reel tape recorder Personal stereo Walkman
German Fritz Peumer invents the GermanBrazilian Andreas
reel-to-reel tape recorder, in which Pavels Stereobelt of 1972
the uctuations in the electrical signal plays cassette tapes through
are recorded in the magnetic coating ear phones on a tiny, portable,
of moving tape. The AEG company battery-driven player. In 1978,
develops it into the Sony launches a portable music
Magnetophone. Magnetophone player the Sony Walkman.

1898 1948 1982 1999

Telegraphone Record player Compact discs MP3 players
Danish engineer Valdemar Long-playing vinyl records, playing CDs digitally store These use digital
Poulsens telegraphone is the at 33 and 45 revolutions per minute large amounts of recordings stored Ipod nano
rst device to record and play (rpm) instead of 78 rpm, are sound data that can as computer data,
back sound magnetically, using a introduced. They give be read by a laser. enabling music to be
wire wrapped around a cylinder to much longer playing 1950s They quickly replace downloaded, or swapped
record the varying magnetic elds times and the sound record large, easily scratched from computer to
created by sound vibrations. Telegraphone quality is better. player vinyl records. personal player instantly.

original sound analogue sound wave digital sound

wave rises and follows original wave samples
falls continuously sound wave the original
apparatus support
wave

original sound wave analogue sound wave digital sound wave

SOUND WAVES

Sound is created by vibrations in the air
that create a rise and fall of air pressure.
recording It can be plotted as a simple wave.
stylus, or
needle
An analogue sound wave follows this
original sound wave form exactly, with
the intensity of the signal going up and
down continuously with the wave. Digital
sound waves are made by repeatedly
taking samples of the original wave at
a very high rate and converting them
into a series of numbers. They are not
continuous and have a staircase shape.

diaphragm turns sound

wax cylinder with
waves into physical
grooves for recording cylinder shaft
vibrations (and vice versa)

sound
recording box

cylinder
shaft crank

Edison Fireside
phonograph, 1909
By 1909, Edison phonographs
such as this one were a
feature of many homes, and crank handle
there was a wide range of
professional wax-cylinder
recordings that could be
inserted in the machine and
played by turning the handle.
Unfortunately, wax-cylinders
could only be played a few
times before the playback
quality started to deteriorate.

219
 187879

13
KILOMETRES
PER HOUR
THE SPEED OF THE
SIEMENS LOCOMOTIVE

This photograph shows people travelling on carriages pulled by the WernerSiemens locomotive, which was
demonstrated at the Berlin Trade Fair in 1879. This locomotive was the rst to be powered by electricity.

BRITISH INVENTOR JOSEPH Crookes tube

high-resistance In this Crookes tube,
WILSON SWAN received a
carbon lament electrons stream past
patent for his electric light
a cross-shaped object
carbonized bulb in 1878, which he had to cast a shadow on
bre lament demonstrated in 1860. This the uorescent
early version of the modern glass beyond.
light bulb consisted of a cathode
object
carbonized lament running
through an evacuated anode
glass tube. Passing an Now known as the Hall effect,
electric current through this phenomenon is important
the lament made it glow in semiconductor technology
white-hot. The keys to its and magnetic sensors.
long-life was an improved Austrian physicist Josef
vacuum in the glass tube and the Stefan (18351893) formulated
connecting
wire carbon lament. In November the equation now known as the
1879, American inventor StefanBoltzmann law, which
Thomas Alva Edison applied concerned the calculation of
for a patent for a light bulb that accidentally discovered a natural radiation emitted from black
evacuated
glass tube used similar technology. sweetener, later called saccharin, bodies surfaces that absorb all
In 1878, British chemist while working with coal tar in the electromagnetic radiation
evacuated and physicist William Crookes the USA. Saccharin is about that strikes them. In 1884,
glass tube invented the Crookes tube, a 200 times sweeter than sugar. Stefans colleague Ludwig
device that helped show that German engineer Karl Benz Boltzmann (18441906) explained
connecting electrons travel in straight lines. (18441929) developed a the law using thermodynamics.
wire
It later on became the basis of one-cylinder two-stroke gas American scientist Albert
television and other displays. engine, demonstrated for the Abraham Michelson (18521931)
In 1878, German chemist rst time on 31 December 1879. measured the speed of light
Constantin Fahlberg (18501910) In his 1879 book, Cartography
of Russian Soils, Russian
geologist Vasily Dokuchaev
(18461905) introduced the
,, WE WILL MAKE
ELECTRICITY
SO CHEAP THAT
Early light bulbs concept of pedology, the

The lamps developed
by Swan and Edison
were almost identical.
After a legal battle
over rights, the two
inventors formed
the EdisonSwan
company to jointly
SWANS LAMP EDISONS LAMP market the bulbs.
,,
scientic study of soil.
American physicist Edwin Hall ONLY THE RICH
(18551938) discovered that a WILL BURN
CANDLES.
magnetic eld created at a right
angle to the ow of electric
current would create a voltage Thomas Edison, American
difference across the conductor. inventor, 1879

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 188081
,,THE ANTHRAX VACCINE

,,
THAT FIRST SPREAD THROUGH
THE PUBLIC MIND FAITH IN THE
SCIENCE OF MICROBES.
Emile Duclaux, French chemist and microbiologist, from
Pasteur: The History of a Mind, 1896

This engraving depicts French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur vaccinating sheep against
anthrax at Pouilly-le-Fort, France, in 1881.

in air to be approximately
299,864 kmps (186,327 mps). This
estimate matched the prediction
of British physicist James Clerk
Maxwell (see 187273).
German engineer Werner von
Siemens (181692) demonstrated
the rst electric locomotive
using an external power source
at the 1879 Berlin trade fair.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON
(18471931)
American inventor Thomas
Edison is credited with many
inventions, particularly in the
eld of telecommunications.
He led more than a thousand
patents in the USA, and others
around the world. Edison
applied the idea of mass
production and teamwork
to science and developed
the worlds rst industrial
research laboratory his
greatest invention.
IN 1880, BRITISH LOGICIAN
AND PHILOSOPHER John Venn
(18341923) developed the
concept of the Venn diagram,
which represents sets of things
as circles, with overlapping
circles indicating the subsets
they have in common. Venn
wrote about this concept in
Symbolic Logic, which was
published in 1881.
In February 1880, Thomas
Alva Edison rediscovered a
phenomenon that had previously
been observed by others. He
noticed that electricity would
ow from a hot lament to a cool
metal plate in an evacuated bulb.
Edison patented this concept,
which came to be known as
the Edison effect. The
electricity could ow only one
way, so the setup acted like
a valve to control the ow of
current in the same way that
a valve in a pipeline controls
the ow of water. This concept
became the basis of the valves
used to amplify electrical signals
in television and radio before the
invention of the transistor.
The understanding of
electricity was also aided by the
discovery of the piezoelectric
effect by French scientists
Pierre Curie (18591906) and
Paul-Jacques Curie (18561941).
They discovered that voltage
can be produced by applying
pressure to a suitable material.
metal wire
bears pendulum
metal coil roll of paper
Conversely, applying an electric
potential to crystals can make
them vibrate at a very precise
frequency. This effect has many
applications, including driving
the vibrating crystals in quartz
clocks and watches.
Known as the father of modern
seismology, British geologist
John Milne (18501913),
was teaching science and
engineering in Japan when
he became interested in
earthquakes. In 1880 he was
instrumental in inventing the
Seismograph
This seismograph designed in
conjunction with John Milne
was made by James White in
1885. It records earthquake
vibrations on a roll of paper.
seismograph an instrument
used to measure earthquakes.
The instrument, developed
in collaboration with British
engineer Thomas Gray
(18501908) and properly
known as the Milne-Gray
instrument, was based on a
horizontal pendulum design.
The year 1881 saw two
key advances in the
application of electricity.
In May, the rst
electric
tramway
was opened
in a suburb in Berlin,
Germany. Later, Godalming, UK,
became the rst town to have
its streets lit by electricity.
In September 1881, German
gynaecologist Ferdinand Adolf
Kehrer (18371914) carried out
the rst modern Caesarian
section operation. Both mother
and baby survived.
French microbiologist Louis
Pasteur made a vaccine for
anthrax by using the oxidizing
agent potassium dichromate to
weaken its bacteria. He began
using British surgeon Edward
Jenners term vaccine to refer
to all such articially weakened
disease organisms. Jenner had
coined the term in reference to
smallpox (see 1796).
German scientist Paul Ehrlich
(18541915) whose cousin,
pathologist Karl Weigert,
(18451904) had been the rst
person to stain bacteria with
dyes in the 1870s found a more
effective dye, methylene blue.
This made it easier to identify
and investigate bacteria, and
was used by German physician
Heinrich Koch to discover
the bacteria that causes
tuberculosis (see 188283).
First electric
tramway
Developer of the
rst electric train,
Werner von
Siemens also
worked on the rst
electric tram the
Gross-Lichterfelde
in Germany.

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 188283

487
METRES
THE SPAN
OF THE
BROOKLYN
BRIDGE

The Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River between Brooklyn and the island of Manhattan in New York City,
USA. It was the longest bridge in the world when it was built.

BUILDING ON the work of British
surgeon Joseph Lister and French
microbiologist Louis Pasteur
(see 187071), German physician
Robert Koch (18431910)
isolated the organism that
causes tuberculosis (TB) in
1882. He discovered that TB was
transmitted in water droplets
and could quickly spread in
overcrowded slums.
,,I CONCLUDE THAT THESE
TUBERCLE BACILLI OCCUR IN ALL
Another medical landmark was
achieved when Russian biologist
lie Metchnikoff (18451916)
discovered phagocytosis the
process used by the immune
system to remove bacterial
invaders. In phagocytosis, one
cell engulfs another and, in
effect, eats it. This discovery led
to an improved understanding
of the immune system.
German botanist Eduard
Strasburger (18441912) also
contributed to the understanding
of how cells work. He coined the
terms cytoplasm for the jelly-like
outer region of a cell, and
nucleoplasm for the compact
material of the cell nucleus.
In 1882, Italian volcanologist
Quagga
and meteorologist Luigi A close relative
Palmieri (180796) made of the zebra,
the rst observation of the the quagga
element helium on Earth by
conducting spectral analysis
(see panel, opposite) of lava
had distinctive
stripes only
on the front
of its body.

,,
TUBERCULOUS DISORDERS, AND THAT during an eruption at Mount
Vesuvius, Italy. Previously, the breeding, and was later misused studied uids. In 1883, he came
THEY ARE DISTINGUISHABLE FROM element had only been identied by the Nazis as an excuse for up with what is now known as
ALL OTHER MICROORGANISMS. by analysis of light from the Sun. their attempted extermination of the Reynolds number, which
The following year, English the Jews. The scientic basis for characterizes the way uids
Robert Koch, German physician, from The Etiology of Tuberculosis, 1882 polymath Francis Galton came eugenics drew in part on the ow. Today, Reynolds work is
up with the germ line theory developed by important in the designing of
controversial August Weismann (18341914), pipes to carry different uids,
concept of which stated that characteristics and in shipbuilding, where the
eugenics. His were only passed on by egg and behaviour of full-size vessels
theory aimed sperm cells, and were not must be estimated from models
to improve the affected by other cells of the tested in water tanks.
human race body (somatic cells). So, for On 24 May 1883, the longest
by selective example, a bodybuilder who bridge of its time, the Brooklyn
develops muscles through Bridge, was opened in New York
exercise will not pass on the City, USA. It was the worlds rst
muscles to his children. This steel suspension bridge.
marked the end of Lamarckism, A female quagga, the last
Phagocytosis
according to which acquired surviving member of its species,
In this false-
coloured characteristics could be passed died in a zoo in Amsterdam in
micrograph, a on to children (see 1809). 1883. This southern African
lymphocyte (white A more practical contribution species had been extinct in the
blood cell) engulfs
to human society was made by wild since the late 1870s.
a yeast cell in the
process known Osborne Reynolds (18421912),
as phagocytosis. an Irish-born engineer who

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222
188485
,,
,,
NEW CELL NUCLEI CAN
ONLY ARISE FROM THE DIVISION
OF OTHER NUCLEI.
Eduard Strasburger, PolishGerman botanist, from ber Zellbildung und
Zelltheilung (On Cell Formation and Cell Division), 1880

A human sperm fertilizes an egg by delivering a package of its own genetic

material (germ line DNA) to combine with the genes of the egg.

FRENCH CHEMIST HILAIRE DE
CHARDONNET (18391924)
received a patent for articial
silk in 1884. He discovered the
substance accidentally in 1878,
when he knocked over a bottle
of nitrocellulose a highly
ammable compound. When he
started to clean it up, strands
of nitrocellulose stuck to his
cleaning cloth in thin, silk-like
bres. It was not until the 20th
century that this substance was
developed in the form of the
material known as rayon.
The 19th-century understanding
of disease developed further in
EMISSION SPECTRUM OF CARBON
EMISSION SPECTRUM OF HYDROGEN
1884, when German physicist
Friedrich Lfer (18521915),
Robert Kochs colleague, isolated
the diptheria-causing bacterium
Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
Koch and Lfer also
formulated Kochs postulates in
1884, which set out the criteria
for establishing whether an
organism is responsible for a
disease. Koch published their
ndings in 1890, and in doing
so he dramatically rened the
science of microbiology.
Starting in 1884, Eduard
Strasburger, German zoologist
Wilhelm Hertwig (18491922),
and Swiss anatomist Rudolf Rabies vaccine
von Klliker (18171905) each This 1885 engraving
shows Louis Pasteur
separately identied the cell
watching as his assistant
nucleus as the origin of heredity. inoculates Joseph
Hertwig stated that, from the Meister, a shepherd boy
biological point of view, sex who had been bitten by
a rabid dog.
is merely a union of two cells
(strictly speaking, two nuclei).
Austrian opthalmologist Carl the positions of lines
Koller (18571944) ushered in the in the spectrum
era of local anaesthesia when of hydrogen the
he used cocaine as a surface Balmer series.
anaesthetic in an eye operation Using his formula,
in 1884 (see 1846). While looking Balmer predicted
into whether cocaine could the wavelengths
be used to wean patients off of lines that were
morphine at the request of his discovered later.
colleague at Vienna General In the eld of
Hospital, Sigmund Freud Koller Milky Way, and that Hartwigs psychology, German psychologist
discovered the tissue-numbing star is a supernova, much Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850
properties of cocaine. brighter than a nova. 1909) pioneered the experimental
On 6 July 1885, French chemist In a key discovery in the elds study of memory and developed
Louis Pasteur used the rabies of astronomy and atomic physics, the concept of the Forgetting
vaccine for the rst time on a Swiss mathematician Johann Curve. He published Memory:
9-year-old boy who had been Balmer (182598), developed a A Contribution to Experimental
bitten by a rabid dog. The success mathematical formula to describe Psychology in 1885.
of the treatment paved the way for
the widespread use of vaccines. 100
On 20 August 1885, German 90
PERCENTAGE REMEMBERED

EMISSION SPECTRUM OF MERCURY astronomer Ernst Hartwig 80

(18511923) observed a bright 70
SPECTROSCOPY new star in the Andromeda 60 20 minutes Forgetting Curve
nebula. A belief that this object Ebbinghaus gave
50
people a list of
When hot, each chemical element produces a distinctive set of was similar to the novas seen in 40 60 minutes
nonsense 3-letter
bright spectral lines, like a barcode, that can identify the element. the Milky Way encouraged the 30 words and
Cold gases absorb light in exactly the same wavelengths, idea that the nebula, too, was 20 measured how
producing dark spectral lines. Analysing spectra makes it part of the Milky Way. In the long they could
10
remember them.
possible to determine the composition of substances in the 20th century, it was discovered 0 This gave him
laboratory and also to measure the composition of stars. that the Andromeda nebula is a 4 8 12 16 20
the data for his
galaxy (see 1924), far beyond the TIME (HOURS) Forgetting Curve.

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 1886 1887 88
,,MAESTRO MAXWELL WAS
RIGHT THESE MYSTERIOUS

,,
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES THAT
WE CANNOT SEE WITH THE NAKED
EYE. BUT THEY ARE THERE.
Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, 1887

Lick Observatory, on Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, in California, USA, was the rst
permanently occupied mountain-top observatory in the world.

IN 1886, AMERICAN CHEMIST
CHARLES MARTIN HALL
(18631914) and French scientist
Paul-Louis-Toussaint Hroult
(18631914) independently
developed a technique for
converting alumina the powdery
white oxide of aluminium into
aluminium using electrolysis.
The same year, German-born
American inventor Ottmar
Mergenthaler (185499)
revolutionized the world of
publishing when he developed the
linotype line casting machine.
This device could set an entire
line of type at a time, reducing the
costs and production time of
printed material. He was dubbed
the second Gutenberg (see
1450) for his invention.
The linotype and other machines
would soon run on alternating
current or AC electricty (see
ALTERNATING CURRENT
When a loop of wire is rotated
between the poles of a magnet,
alternating electrical current is
generated. The current owing
in the wire reverses repeatedly
(alternates) as it turns. Mains,
or three-phase electricity, is
generated using three coils
oriented at 120 degrees to each
other. Domestic power supplies
most commonly alternate 50
or 60 times a second.
panel, below), thanks to American
physicist William Stanley Jr
(18581916). He demonstrated the
rst full AC power generating
system on 20 March, using
it to light the town of Great
Barrington, Massachusetts, USA.
Meanwhile, German physicist
Heinrich Hertz conrmed the
existence of long-wave
electromagnetic radiation (see
pp.23435) a kind of invisible
light now referred to as radio
waves that had been predicted
by Scottish physicist James Clerk
Maxwell in 1867.
American physicist Henry
Augustus Rowland (18481901)
analysed sunlight using
diffraction gratings glass
plates or mirrors with a number
of parallel lines etched onto the
surface to diffract light that he
had made himself.
magnetic
eld lines wire coil
north pole of
magnet
light
south pole
slip rings
crank turns shaft
holding coil
brushes
THE STUDY OF LIGHT continued
in 1887 as American scientists
Albert Abraham Michelson
(18521931) and Edward Morley
(18381923) carried out an
experiment that showed that the
speed of light is not affected by
the motion of Earth through
space. As predicted by James
Clerk Maxwells equations (see
1867), the measured speed of
light relative to an object always
remains the same, irrespective
of whether the object moves
head-on into a light beam, is
overtaken by it, or is at any other
angle from it. The Michelson
Morley experiment would later
be taken as conrmation of
Germanborn American physicist
Albert Einsteins special theory
of relativity (see 191415). At the
time, it was seen by Michelson
and Morley as a failure: they had
unsuccessfully attempted to
conrm the motion through the
aether (the substance presumed
to ll all of space, enabling
light to travel through a vacuum).
Heinrich Hertzs work with radio
waves led him to discover the
photoelectric effect. He
observed that a transmitters
radio waves generated sparks
between two small metal spheres
that were almost touching.
We now know that this occurs
because electromagnetic
radiation knocks electrons out of a
metal surface. Hertz published his
HEINRICH HERTZ (185794)
observations of the phenomenon
in the journal Annalen der Physik
(Annals of Physics) in 1887.
The same year, American
inventor Herman Hollerith
(18601929) received a patent
for his punched card tabulating
machine, which helped tabulate
census statistics. This machine
movable mirror
light incoming
light
beam
splitter
detector
German physicist Heinrich Hertz
is best known for the series
of experiments he carried out
to test James Clerk Maxwells
theories of electromagnetism.
These experiments included
the transmission and detection
of radio waves and proving that
light is a form of electromagnetic
vibration. The unit of frequency
cycles per second is called
the hertz (Hz) in his honour.
was a forerunner of the
electronic computer.
On the last day of the year,
a refracting telescope with a
91 cm (36 in) diameter lens was
completed at Lick Observatory in
California, USA. It was rst used
on 3 January 1888. At the time,
it was the biggest in the world.
xed
mirror
light
beam
MichelsonMorley
interferometer
Michelson and Morley built
a device consisting of a light
source, two mirrors, and a
detector. They used it to
study interference between
beams of light moving with
Earth and at right angles
to Earths motion.

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 1889

91
CENTIMETRES
THE SIZE OF THE LICK TELESCOPE
LENS, THE LARGEST REFRACTOR
AT THE TIME

The Eiffel Tower, Paris, was the tallest man-made structure in the world

23
until the Chrysler Building was erected in New York in 1930.

Applications of alternating current

electricity were being developed
by the Westinghouse Electric
Company and used to develop
The patent was later declared
invalid because the priniciple had
KILOMETRES
by SerbianAmerican inventor motors, which were widely used been patented earlier by another THE LENGTH OF
Nikola Tesla (18561943). In in industry and household Scotsman, Robert Thomson THE FIRST LONG-
1888, he patented the induction
motor. This is a two-phase
appliances around the world.
Scottish inventor John Boyd
(182273), in France in 1846 and
the US in 1847. However, Dunlops
DISTANCE POWER
machine that uses two alternating Dunlop (18401921) developed were the rst practical TRANSMISSION
currents to produce the rotating a pneumatic bicycle tyre (a tyre pneumatic tyres. LINE IN THE USA
magnetic eld that makes the lled with air) in 1887 and
rotor turn. The patent was bought patented it in England in1888.
GERMAN PHYSIOLOGIST Oskar line was completed. It was
xed coil (stator)
Minkowski (18581931) and installed in Oregon, between a
Teslas induction motor
In this motor, alternating current German physician Joseph von string of lights in Portland and
supplied to a xed coil creates Mering (18491908) showed that a generator at Willamette Falls.
a rotating magnetic eld, the pancreas produces a Russian physiologist Ivan
making another coil substance (later identied as Petrovich Pavlov (18491936)
rotate to turn an
attached shaft. insulin) that regulates sugar began studying conditioning in
glucose in the body, and that dogs in 1889. He had noticed that
diabetes occurs when this dogs would begin salivating when
organ malfunctions. they saw the lab technician who
English chemist Frederick Abel fed them. Pavlov began to signal
(18271902) and Scottish chemist their feeding with the sound of a
James Dewar (18421923) metronome; soon, the dogs began
patented cordite an explosive to salivate each time they heard
designed to burn vigorously and the metronome (see 1907).
produce high-pressure gases that Irish physicist George
could propel bullets and shells. FitzGerald (18511901) published
Designed by French engineer a paper suggesting that if all
Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel moving objects shrank in the
Tower in Paris, direction of their motion, the
France, was results of the MichelsonMorley
opened on 31 experiment could be explained.
March. At 300 m This speculation was based on the
shaft (984 ft), the tower idea that electromagnetic forces
attached was the tallest would squeeze the moving objects.
to rotor
building in the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz
world at the time. (18531928) came up with a
On 3 June, USAs similar idea as well; this shrinking
rst long-distance emerges naturally from special
power transmission theory of relativity (see 1905).

i ng
ist sk eri e
rs e ow n M f th
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in vo e o s el st er nd
T s d a n e r M ph rol ete iff r ald r a
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18 loci asu sin rm ld m hn
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 1890
49
ON 1 OCTOBER, THE US
CONGRESS PASSED AN ACT that
founded the Yosemite National
Park in California. This brought
the park, which had existed since
1872, under federal control.
The process of meiosis a
stage in cell division responsible
for the production of gametes
had rst been described by
German biologist Oscar Hertwig
(18491922) during his study of
sea urchin eggs in 1876. The
full signicance of meiosis in
reproduction and inheritance
was appreciated only with
the work of German biologist
August Weismann (18341914)
in 1890. He realized that two
cell divisions are necessary to
transform one diploid cell (with
two sets of chromosomes) into
four haploid cells (with one set of
chromosomes each) to maintain
MEIOSIS
Meiosis, the division of cells for
sexual reproduction, produces
gametes, such as sperm and
egg cells. Chromosomes
from two parents undergo
recombination, which
shufes the genes to produce
a different genetic combination
in each gamete. Meiosis
produces four genetically
unique cells, each with a
single set of chromosomes.
ism iosi
W e
st s m
gu be
Au scri
de
sa
ita elop
K v
nd de ue
g a ur hniq
i n
hr ab ec
Be ibas n t
von Sh zatio
il i t h he
Em un
im
m lis es om ea
226
METRES
THE DISTANCE
TRAVELLED BY
THE ADER OLE
Clment Aders ying machine was the rst piloted, heavier-than-air machine
to take off, literally under its own steam, on 9 October, 1890.
Robert Koch (18421910), was published in this feat 13 years before
This lithograph copied from an 1890. Comprising two volumes the Wrights. His machine the
1890s photograph shows the
and 1,200 pages, the book took Ader ole had a bat-like design
German bacteriologist working
on the Rinderpest virus in his James 12 years to write and and a wingspan of 14 m (46 ft).
laboratory. covered everything in the eld It was powered by a lightweight,
known at the time. four-cylinder steam engine with
tetanus, into an animal caused
its blood to produce antibodies
that gave immunity against the
,, AN AIRPLANE-CARRYING
,,
VESSEL IS INDISPENSABLE
disease. This provided a practical
counterpoint to German physician
Robert Kochs (18431910)
theories about the relationship
IT WILL LOOK LIKE A
between microbes and disease,
which were published in the
LANDING FIELD.
the number of chromosomes same year. German bacteriologist Clment Ader, French inventor, fromLAviation Militaire, 1909
(see panel, below). Friedrich Lfer (18521915) had
German bacteriologist Emil worked with Koch to develop Contrary to popular belief, the 20 horsepower that weighed
von Behring (18541917) and his these ideas. Wright brothers did not make only 51 kg (112 pounds).
Japanese counterpart Kitasato Arguably, the most important the rst manned ight of On 9 October, the aircraft took
Shibasabur (18531931) book in the history of psychology, a heavier-than-air ying off with Ader on board and
discovered that injecting dead The Principles of Psychology, machine. This accolade goes reached a height of 20 cm (8 in).
or weakened disease-causing by American philosopher and to the French inventor Clment It ew uncontrolled for roughly
bacteria, such as diptheria or psychologist William James Ader (18411926), who achieved 50 m (165 m).
each of the two daughter
set of chromosomes chromosomes duplicate, microtubules form microtubules pull
(new) cells has a unique
from mother (blue) forming chromatid at the cells poles and chromosome pairs to
genetic make-up, different
and father (red); four pairs, and some of their attach to the pairs either end of the cell
from each other and the
shown for example genes are mixed up
parent cells
nucleus
pairs line up in middle cell membrane further divisions known
of cell, after nuclear forms across the cell as meiosis II result in four
membrane dissolves separate daughter cells MEIOSIS II
es es d
sh ov e er s
n
an s bli pr are ch ian nd of llia
m o
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hp
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189192

86
BILLION
THE AVERAGE NUMBER
OF NEURONS IN THE
HUMAN BRAIN

This articial-coloured scanning electron micrograph shows a roughly triangular neuron cell body
from the human cerebral cortex the outer grey matter of the brain.

IN 1891, SOME KITCHEN SINK
DISCOVERIES were reported in
the journal Nature. In Germany,
Agnes Pockels (18621935),
who had not been able to go to
university because she was a
woman, had been investigating
the effect of different substances
on water surface tension a
result of observations she had
made while washing up. Pockels
sent a letter to the British
physicist Lord Rayleigh (1842
1919) describing her discoveries
and he had her letter translated
and published in Nature. Pockels
went on to publish another 15
scientic papers.
Around this time, the Dutch
paleoanthropologist Eugene
Dubois (18581940) made
a profound discovery in East
Java, Indonesia. He found
fragments of what he called
a species in between humans
and apes, and gave it the name
Pithecanthropus erectus,
meaning upright ape-man. It is
now known as Homo erectus.
His interpretation of the nds
was controversial, but is now
recognized as a step towards
understanding human evolution.
In the same year, German
anatomist Heinrich Wilhelm
Gottfried von Waldeyer-Hartz
(18361921) introduced the term
neuron to describe cells that
transmit nerve impulses.
In France, the brothers Andr
(18591940) and douard Michelin
Water walker
This insect does not sink in water
because its low weight is supported
by surface tension a phenomenon
studied by Agnes Pockels.
Panhard car
The 1891 Panhard car ushered in
the era of the modern automobile.
Panhard cars went on to win several
races and established many records.
(18591940) patented the
removable pneumatic tyre.
Their tyres were used the same
year to win the worlds rst
long-distance cycle race, from
Paris to Brest and back.
The rst front-engine,
rear-wheel-drive car was
produced by Panhard et
Levassor, a French car
manufacturing company. This
car design, known as Systme
Panhard, became the standard
layout for cars for decades.
French inventor Amdee Bolle of atoms, and that atoms are
(18441917) had, however, used not indivisible.
the same layout for steam- British scientist James
powered cars in 1878. Dewar (18421921) invented the
In 1892, FrenchGerman vacuum ask, or Dewar ask;
engineer Rudolf Diesel and French engineer Franois
(18581913) received a patent Hennebique (18421921)
for a forerunner of the engine patented the reinforced concrete
named after him. The actual technique, which transformed
diesel engine itself was building technology.
patented two years later.
Science was also using new
technology in 1891. For the rst
time, German astronomer Max
Wolf (18631932) used a
photographic machine the
Bruce double-astrograph, a
device for comparing two star
elds to see if objects have
moved to nd an asteroid. He
named the asteroid 323 Brucia,
after American philanthropist
Catherine Bruce, who paid for
the astrograph. HENRI POINCAR
In 1892, French mathematician (18441912)
Henri Poincar (18541912)
published the rst volume of Known for not always
New Methods of Celestial following through with his
Mechanics, which introduced many bright ideas, Henri
the many techniques used in Poincar did complete
calculating orbits. the three-volume epic New
Dutch physicist Hendrik Methods of Celestial
Lorentz (18531928) applied new Mechanics. In this work,
ideas on electromagnetism to he elaborated on celestial
a theory of the electron as a mechanics a branch of
charged particle. The name astronomy that deals with
electron had been proposed by orbits and other motions,
Irish physicist George Johnstone especially under the
Stoney (18261911). Lorentz inuence of gravity.
implied that electrons are part

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 189394
,, I WILL FORCE UPON POLITICIANS

,,
THE RECOGNITION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
IF I HAVE TO DO IT WITH THE STAKE
AND THUMBSCREW.
Mary Kingsley, British anthropologist, in a letter to anthropologist E.B. Teylor

Mary Kingsley shown here travelling on the River Ogowe in Africa wrote
extensively about the African continent and its people.

DECADES AFTER ESPOUSING THE
IDEA that there had once been a
great continent in the southern
hemisphere, which he dubbed
Gondwana (see 186164), Austrian
geologist Eduard Suess came
up with a new theory. In 1893,
he suggested that this southern
continent had been separated
from its northern counterpart,
Laurasia, by an inland sea he
named Tethys, after the Greek
goddess of the sea. A modern
approach based on plate tectonics
suggests the existence of a
larger version of this, the Tethys
Ocean, in the Mesozoic era,
25165.5 million years ago.
On 1 February 1893, American
inventor Thomas Edison and his
First motion picture studio
The Black Maria, as Thomas
Edisons rst motion picture studio
was called, operated in West Orange,
New Jersey, from December
1893 to 1901.
team completed the rst studio
for the production of movies.
Ofcially called the Kinetographic
Theater, it was also known as
The Black Maria a slang term
for police wagons because both
were small, cramped, and dark.
The rst Ferris wheel,
designed by American engineer
George Washington Gale
Ferris, Jr (185996) opened
in Chicago, USA, on 1 June 1893,
and it operated until 6 November,
the same year.
In July this year in Japan,
inventor Kokichi Mikimoto
(18581954) produced the rst
perfect pearl at his farm. Although
Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus
had cultivated freshwater pearls
in Europe in the 18th century,
Mikimoto was the rst person to
cultivate pearls commercially.
On 17 August 1893, pioneering
English anthropologist Mary
Kingsley (18621900) arrived
in Sierra Leone on her rst
mosquito bites infected person,
trip to Africa. She drew on
taking in gametocytes
her experience of living with
the indigenous people to give
lectures and write books that
helped debunk the stereotype
of Africans being savages, and mosquito bites
uninfected person and
raised questions on the benets
injects sporozoites into
of colonialism. the blood stream
In 1891, German neurologist
merozoites mature to
Arnold Pick (18511924) had form gametocytes
introduced the term dementia
praecox (premature dementia) merozoites burst
to refer to a psychotic disorder out, infecting more
blood cells
beginning in the late teens. In
1893, German psychiatrist Emil sporozoites
invade liver cells
Kraepelin (18561926) gave a
from the blood
detailed textbook description of
this condition, later reinterpreted
and renamed schizophrenia. merozoites
This was also the year in invade red
blood cells and sporozoites multiply
which Austrian psychoanalyst
multiply further to form merozoites
Sigmund Freud (18561939)
and Austrian physician Josef
Breuer (18421925) published MALARIA LIFE CYCLE
their paper ber Den Psychischen
Mechanismus Hysterischer A malaria-carrying female Anopheles mosquito feeds on a
Phnomene (On the Psychical human and injects parasites in the form of sporozoites into
Mechanism of Hysterical the bloodstream. These multiply in the liver cells and produce
Phenomena), which marked the merozoites, which reproduce in the red blood cells. Some of the
beginning of psychoanalysis. infected cells produce gametocytes that are ingested by other
The paper was based on Breuers feeding mosquitoes, which then become carriers of the disease.
work with the patient, Anna O.
Freud and Breuer also elaborated
their ideas in a book, Studien ber manufacture the industrial carborundum in the list of
Hysterie (Studies on Hysteria), abrasive carborundum, essential 22 patents most responsible
rst published in 1895. in the manufacture of precision- for the industrial age.
American inventor Edward ground, interchangeable metal In 1893, using the technique of
Goodrich Acheson (18561931) parts, in 1893. In 1926, the US interferometry, Albert Abraham
patented a process to Patent Ofce would include Michelson, an American scientist,

3
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 This lamp containing argon rst isolated in 1894 produces a violet discharge when placed in an electric
eld produced from a high voltage transformer to produce neon lighting.

RAMN Y CAJAL (18521934)
Spanish pathologist and
histologist, Ramn y Cajal, was
responsible for identifying a
type of cell that controls the
slow waves of contraction that
move food along the intestine.
He was also a neuroscientist
and an expert in hypnotism,
which he used to help his wife
during labour. In 1906, he was
awarded the Nobel Prize in
recognition of his work on
the nervous system.
and J.R. Benot, Director of the
International Bureau of Weights
and Measures, decided to use
wavelengths of light to redene
a standard of distance. They
measured the metre a
prototype platinumiridium
bar of which was kept in Paris,
France in terms of the
wavelength of the red light
emitted by heated cadmium.
Edward Maunder (18511928),
a British astronomer working at
the Royal Greenwich Observatory
in London, was investigating the
historical records of sunspots in
1893 when he discovered that
very few spots had been observed
between 1645 and 1715. This
interval, now known as the
Maunder Minimum, coincided
with the coldest part of the Little
Ice Age (c.15001800), a time
when Earth cooled considerably.
In 1894, British parasitologist
Patrick Manson (18441922)
developed the idea that malaria
is spread by mosquitoes. In
November, Manson mentioned
the hypothesis to British doctor
Ronald Ross (18571932),
who received the Nobel Prize
in 1902 for working out the
details of the process.
In 1784, British physicist Henry
Cavendish had discovered that
air contains a small proportion
of a substance less reactive than
nitrogen, but he was unable to
isolate it. In August 1894, following
a suggestion by British scientist
Lord Rayleigh, British chemist
William Ramsay (18521916)
reported that he had isolated this
gas, which he named argon. It
was the rst of the so-called
noble gases to be isolated.
French engineer douard
Branly (18441940) had
developed an early radio signal
detector at the beginning of the
1890s. In 1894, in lectures at the
HOW ENZYMES WORK
Enzymes are proteins that act
as catalysts to increase the rate
of specic chemical reactions.
They fold into complex shapes
that allow smaller molecules
0.93
as the father of modern
neuroscience, theorized that
memories do not involve growing
new neurons (nerve cells),
but making new connections
THE between existing neurons. The
PERCENTAGE connections between neurons
OF ARGON came to be known as synapses.
British physiologist Edward
IN THE Sharpey-Schafer (18501935)
ATMOSPHERE and English physician George
Oliver (18411915) in 1894 found
that an extract from the adrenal
Royal Institution, London, British gland caused a rise in blood
physicist Oliver Lodge (1851 pressure. This led them to
1940) dubbed this the coherer. identify the hormone adrenaline.
Lodge used this invention in German chemist Emil Fischer
his work, which became an (18521919) in 1894 came
important part of Italian physicist up with the lock and key theory
Guglielmo Marconis system that explains how enzymes
of wireless telegraphy. target specic molecules
In 1894, Spanish histologist and function so efciently.
(histology is the study of tissues
and cells) Ramn y Cajal, known
bonds in products
substrate are leave the
weakened active site

,, THE BRAIN IS A WORLD

to t into them. The active site
where these molecules t may
substrate
or reactant

,,
[WITH] A NUMBER OF UNEXPLORED either encourage molecules
to join together or split apart.
CONTINENTS AND STRETCHES However, the enzyme remains
OF UNKNOWN TERRITORY. unchanged and can repeat active site on enzyme
the process indenitely. ACTIVE SITE CATALYZED REACTION PRODUCTS PRODUCED
Ramn y Cajal, Spanish pathologist and histologist, 1906

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229
5
THE
ATOMIC AGE
18951945
The unanticipated discovery of radioactivity revealed that
massive amounts of energy are hidden inside atoms, available
to be unleashed. New and surprising theories of relativity and
quantum mechanics described a Universe of four-dimensional
space-time containing interchangeable waves and particles
that, at the sub-atomic level, can never be pinned down with
absolute certainty.
 189596 1897
,,
,,
EVERY DAY SEES HUMANITY
MORE VICTORIOUS IN THE
STRUGGLE WITH SPACE AND TIME.
Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor

20th-century botanists classied plant formations, such as vegetation on

crumbling sand dunes (shown here), by their ecological characteristics.

THE SCIENCE OF PLANT ECOLOGY
reached a milestone when Dutch
botanist Eugenius Warming
(18411924) and German botanist
Andreas Schimper (18561901)
published their books on the
subject at the end of the century.
Together, they showed how
vegetation could be classied
into different formations based
on climate and soil conditions.
In Britain, physicists Lord
Rayleigh (18421919) and William
Ramsay (18521916) discovered
the gas argon. Rayleigh realized
that air must contain an unknown
chemical component, as the
density of atmospheric nitrogen
was different from that of pure
nitrogen made in a laboratory. He
found that atmospheric nitrogen
contained traces of argonand
other unreactive elements later
dubbed noble gases.
In November, German physicist
Wilhelm Rntgen (18451923)
discovered that electrically
charged vacuum tubes emitted
rays that made a uorescent
screen glow; he called them
X-rays. He found that they went
through human skin and exposed
photographic plates. This led to
the development of medical
IN APRIL, BRITISH PHYSICIST
antibodies leave antibody
J.J. THOMSON (18561940) was
white blood cell antigen cluster
studying cathode rays. These and bind to antigen engulfed by
rays are produced by the negative macrophage
electrode (cathode) of an antibodies for
different antigens
electrically charged vacuum tube,
and are attracted to the positive
electrode (anode). They cause the
glass at the far end of the tube to
glow. Thomson demonstrated that
the rays were composed of
particles much lighter than the white activated white blood
smallest atoms. He concluded antigen blood cell cell makes more blue macrophage
that these corpuscles, as he antibodies
MOBILIZING ATTACKING
called them, were negatively
charged components present in all ANTIGENANTIBODY INTERACTION
atoms; Thomson had discovered

,,
radiography. By 1896, scientists
,,I HAVE SEEN
MY DEATH.
knew that X-rays could ionize
(charge up) air. Some physicians
even tried ring X-rays at
tumours radiotherapy
Anna Rntgen, wife of Wilhelm, to try to cure cancer.
on seeing her hand X-ray, 1895 Inspired by Rntgen, French
physicist Henri Becquerel
(18521908) studied whether
phosphorescent substances,
such as uranium salts, produced
X-rays. He expected radiation to
be emitted only after exposure
to sunlight, but found that the
salts could fog a photographic
plate even in darkness. He
had discovered a new
phenomenon: radioactivity.
the rst subatomic particles.
They were later called electrons.
In May of the same year, the
rst radio communication over
water was made across Britains
Bristol Channel. Italian inventor
Guglielmo Marconi (18741937)
had been experimenting with
wireless technology, and in
1897, his team of scientists
succeeded in sending a Morse
code signal from Flat Holm
Island to a receiver on the Welsh
coast. Later, German physicist
Karl Braun (18501918) improved
the technology to increase
Paul Ehrlich explained how the immune system could be mobilized
to destroy infection. White blood cells carry side-chain antibodies,
which bind themselves to foreign particles called antigens. As they
are bound together, the white cells are prompted to produce more
antibodies. These then cluster around the antigens and enable
macrophages, other immune system cells, to destroy them.
broadcasting range. Marconi and images. Brauns tube was the
Braun went on to share the Nobel rst oscilloscope a device that
Prize 12 years later for their work made graphical presentations of
on wireless radio. electrical signals. It paved the
In 1897, Braun was also working way for the invention of the
on vacuum tubes. He modied television and the development
cathode ray tubes so that the rays that reach
rays struck a surface to produce here are deected
anode attracts by electromagnets
the rays

X-ray of Anna Rntgens hand

Rntgens X-ray of his wifes hand
shows that the rays penetrated her
skin and muscle, but were impeded cathode produces
by denser bones and her ring. cathode rays

s
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232
 1898

Marconi formed his Wireless Malaria oocysts (blue) in the mosquito stomach lining, rst observed by Ronald Ross,
Telegraph and Signal company in 1897. burst into cells that infect the insects salivary glands and so its bite.

of medical technology, such as
the electrocardiogram used for
monitoring heartbeat.
In August, German chemist
Felix Hoffmann (18681946),
working at the Bayer
pharmaceutical laboratories,
produced a painkilling substance
called acetylsalicylic acid. It was
modelled on a related ingredient
derived from certain medicinal
plants, such as willow and
meadowsweet, which had been
known since Ancient Greece.
The new painkiller was later
marketed as aspirin (see 1899).
Another medical breakthrough
was made by German physician
Paul Ehrlich. He developed the
side-chain theory, which
explained how the immune
system could attack specic
infections. It remains the basis of
immunological theory to this day.
Cathode ray tube
Glass vacuum tubes proved useful to
scientists in the discovery of X-rays
and electrons. Rays pass along the
tube and the pattern formed at the
end shows they are negatively
charged particles (electrons).
AFTER HENRI BECQUEREL
DISCOVERED RADIOACTIVITY,
PolishFrench physicist Marie
Curie and her husband French
physicist Pierre Curie (1859
1906) embarked on a lifelong
career studying radioactivity
at the Becquerel Laboratory.
Becquerel had found that pure
uranium emissions could cause
air to conduct electricity. The
Curies discovered that a uranium
ore called pitchblende was
300 times stronger in this
respect, and deduced that a new
element present in the ore must
be responsible. They named the
element polonium, after Maries
native country Poland, and coined
the term radioactive at the same
time. Later that year, the Curies
discovered another radioactive
element, radium, and managed
to purify quantities of both for
further study.
By the 1890s, scientists had
discovered two unreactive
noble gases, helium and argon,
but William Ramsay suggested
1,000 nm
BACTERIUM
Virus 2040 nm
Size differential between virus
and bacterium
Viruses are measured in nanometres
(nm). They lack the cellular structure
of bacteria, being just particles of
protein and genetic material.
on key discoveries about a deadly
disease malaria. British
physician Ronald Ross (1857
1932), working in India, had
proved that mosquitoes spread
the malaria parasite through
their bite. The previous year
after painstakingly dissecting
mosquito guts he had found
malaria parasites lodged in the
stomach walls of these insects.
His work demonstrated that the particles). Wien invented a way of
life cycles of the malaria parasite separating the different kinds
(see 189394) and certain kinds of ions in electromagnetic elds
of mosquitoes were linked. according to their mass and
Meanwhile, Dutch biologist charge. The accuracy of mass
Martinus Beijerinck (18511931) spectrometry has resulted in
made another breakthrough. He it being used in elds as diverse
found that a plant disease called as the medical testing of
tobacco mosaic could be spread blood and urine to analysing
even when infected plant extract atmospheric samples in
was passed through a lter that space exploration.
held back bacteria. He deduced
that the contagious particles
were smaller than bacteria, and
called them viruses. Beijerinks
tobacco mosaic virus would not
be isolated until the 1930s.
In Germany, physicist Wilhelm
Wien (18641928), experimenting
with the positively charged
rays produced in certain types
of vacuum tubes, laid the
foundations of a new area
of analytical science, mass
spectrometry. This was a
technique used to determine MARIE CURIE (18671934)
the make-up of molecules by
vaporizing them into ions (charged Born in Poland, Marie married
Pierre Curie in France in 1895.

rays cause
that gaps in the periodic table
and laboratory analysis of air
pointed to the existence of other
elements. In 1898, working with
,, NOTHING IN LIFE IS TO BE
FEARED, IT IS ONLY TO BE
The couple shared the Nobel
Prize in 1903 with Henri
Becquerel for their work on
radioactivity. Marie received a

deection pattern
British chemist Morris Travers
(18721961), he discovered
three more noble gases:
krypton, xenon, and neon.
In July, the Annual
Meeting of the British
Medical Association reported
,,
UNDERSTOOD. NOW IS THE
second Nobel Prize in 1911 for
the discovery of polonium and
TIME TO UNDERSTAND MORE, radium. She donated all her
medals to the World War II
SO WE FEAR LESS. effort. She died of leukaemia
caused by radiation exposure.
Marie Curie, PolishFrench physicist

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A m d e n p
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ma 233
 18 9 5 194 5 T H E ATO M I C AG E

UNDERSTANDING
ELECTROMAGNETIC
RADIATION
DISCOVERIES IN THE 19TH CENTURY LED TO A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF RADIATION

Light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, gamma rays, microwaves, JAMES CLERK
MAXWELL
and radio waves all propagate through space at extremely high speed. As well as theorizing
the existence of
They are all different forms of electromagnetic radiation, which can be electromagnetic
understood as waves, but also as particles called photons. waves, James Clerk
Maxwell played a key
role in interpreting
By the 19th century, evidence suggested that oscillating the emerging science
electric eld of thermodynamics,
light travels as waves and that wavelength direction of and took the rst
determines the light waves colour. Two invisible movement colour photograph
forms of light longer-wavelength infrared (see 1861).
radiation (IR) and shorter-wavelength ultraviolet
radiation (UV) had also been discovered. oscillating
magnetic eld
ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS
In the 1860s, British physicist James Clerk ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE

Maxwell formulated a set of equations that
describes how electric elds produce magnetic
elds and how magnetic elds produce electric
elds. Maxwell realized that his formula was a
wave equation, describing wave motion. The
speed of the waves described by the equation
exactly matched the speed of light. Maxwell
concluded that light is an electromagnetic wave,
3,300 km
In these self-propagating waves, oscillating
electric and magnetic elds travel in the same
direction but in perpendicular planes.
and went on to predict the existence of other as THE DISTANCE COVERED
yet unknown forms of radiation. Within 20 years, BY GUGLIEMO MARCONIS
German physicist Heinrich Hertz had produced
radio waves electromagnetic waves with much FIRST TRANSATLANTIC
longer wavelengths than light (see 1887). RADIO SIGNAL IN 1901

RADIO WAVES MICROWAVES INFRARED

electromagnetic
wave

WAVELENGTH

1km 100m 10m 1m 10cm 1cm 1mm 100m 10m

Electromagnetic spectrum Radio telescope Microwave oven Remote controller

Visible light represents a tiny part of Large dish Produced by Most remote
the whole spectrum of electromagnetic telescopes that magnetrons, controllers use
radiation. Every part of the spectrum detect radio waves short-wavelength coded infrared
features in some way in the modern provide essential radio waves called radiation to send
world; a few representative examples information about microwaves are instructions to
are shown here. distant space. used to heat food. electrical devices.

234
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G E L E CT R O M AG N E T I C R A D I AT I O N

WAVES AND PARTICLES

Scientists had long debated whether light travels
through space as streams of particles or as
waves. The wave theory was in favour in the 19th
century, even before Maxwells discovery. However,
there were phenomena the wave theory could
not explain, including the photoelectric effect.
,, X-RAYS WILL PROVE
TO BE A HOAX. ,,
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), British physicist, 1899

electromagnetic USING ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION

radiation source
opaque
barrier
waves
refract
particles travel
in straight lines
WAVE-PARTICLE PARADOX
All waves diffract or spread out as they pass the edges
of stationary objects. Water waves do this as they enter
harbours, for example. The diffraction of light is hard to
explain if light is understood to be a stream of particles.
In 1887, Hertz attached two electrodes to a
battery and set them a small distance apart
in a vacuum tube. When he shone light onto them,
an electric current red between them, but
above a certain wavelength it stopped, however
intense the light. Albert Einstein explained this
effect by proving that electromagnetic radiation
exists as particles (photons), and that different
colours of light, and different forms of radiation,
differ in the amount of energy their photons carry.
In addition to ultraviolet, infrared, and radio
waves, scientists discovered two new forms of
electromagnetic radiation in the 1890s, both
with very short wavelengths (or high-energy
photons): X-rays and gamma rays.
Devices that can produce or detect the various
forms of electromagnetic radiation have many,
and varied, applications. For example, different
types of radio waves are used to carry television,
radio, and telephone signals. In medicine,
INFARED RADIATION
penetrating X-rays are used to produce images
Cameras sensitive to infrared radiation can produce colour-
of the inside of the body, while gamma rays coded images that reveal temperature differences allowing
are used in radiotherapy. engineers to detect heat loss from houses, for example.
RADIO MAP OF THE SKY
Non-visible electromagnetic
radiation provides new
windows through which to
study the Universe. Normally
invisible interstellar dust
emits radio waves, so it
shows up in this radio map
of the sky.
plane of the Milky
Way

VISIBLE ULTRAVIOLET X-RAYS GAMMA RAYS

1m 100nm 10nm 1nm 0.1nm 0.01nm 0.001nm 0.0001nm 0.00001nm

Human eye Sunglasses Dental X-ray Power plant

Humans only see Most sunglasses X-rays penetrate Nuclear power
radiation light have lenses that soft tissue, but are stations have thick
within a certain block ultraviolet blocked by bones shielding to block
range. Some radiation, which and teeth, making gamma radiation,
animals can see can damage the them useful for which can be
outside this range. eyes' retinas. medical imaging. harmful to health.

235
 1899 1900

128
METRES
THE LENGTH
OF THE
FIRST
ZEPPELIN

This car from the 1920s advertises Bayers drug bearing a Dutch slogan, Zeppelin LZ1 had its maiden ight
which translates as Overcomes all sufferings. over southern Germany in 1900.

40,000
NEW ZEALAND-BORN PHYSICIST plastic (or sheet
ERNEST RUTHERFORD (1871 paper stops metal) stops thick lead stops
alpha particle alpha particle beta particle gamma ray
1937) was studying the radiation

TONNES
given off by uranium salts rst
discovered by Henri Becquerel
(see 1896). Rutherford was
interested in the way radioactivity THE QUANTITY beta particle

caused gases to be able to OF ASPIRIN

conduct electricity. This happens
because the gas becomes
ionized: radiation knocks out one
or more electrons (negative
particles), leaving positive
charges behind. Rutherford also
discovered that uranium emitted
two types of radiation, which
he named alpha and beta. His
alpha rays were later identied
as particles that are the nuclei of
helium atoms, while beta rays
were found to be streams of
electrons. Both were the
by-products of radioactive decay.
In March, the Imperial Patent
Ofce in Berlin trademarked a
ionizing radiations
radiation energy excites
strikes an electron
atom
ATOM
CONSUMED
GLOBALLY
EACH YEAR
new drug for Bayer, a German
pharmaceutical company. The
drug was aspirin, a pain-killer
that had been developed by
Bayers scientists two years
earlier. Aspirin would become
the worlds best-selling drug.
Effect of ionization
Ionizing radiation (alpha and beta
particles, gamma rays, and X-rays)
carries enough energy to create ions
(charged particles) from atoms.
there are now electron is ejected from
more positive the atom, carying its
protons than negative charge
negative
electrons
POSITIVE ION
gamma ray
THE FRENCH CHEMIST PAUL
VILLARD (18601934) announced
that he had found a third type of
radiation only a year after the
discovery of alpha and beta-
radiation. Villards rays, emitted
by radium salts, were far more
penetrating: they were similar to
X-rays but had shorter
wavelengths and high energy.
Rutherford later called them
gamma rays.
MAX PLANCK (18581947)
Physicist Max Planck studied
in Munich and Berlin, and
became a professor at Kiel,
then Berlin. He helped
organize the rst Solvay
Conference for Physics in
1911, when scientists met to
discuss quantum theory. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize
in 1918. Unlike many scientists,
Planck remained in Germany
throughout Nazi occupation.
July saw the rst ight of the
rigid airship named after the
German Count Ferdinand von
Zeppelin (18381917). Its
light-alloy framework buoyed
by an internal system of
hydrogen balloons proved
difcult to control. It hailed the
start of a period of commercial
airship success. The programme
was scrapped after the fatal
Hindenburg crash of 1937.
Penetration of radiation
Alpha particles cannot penetrate
paper, unlike smaller beta particles.
Gamma radiation is not made up of
particles and its high-energy rays
are stopped only by lead.
In October, German physicist Max
Planck had a theory that
proposed a new way of looking
at physics. He was interested in
the science behind an everyday
phenomenon darker objects
are warmed more by light than
paler ones. The theoretically
darkest object, a so-called black
body, absorbs all electromagnetic
radiation, including visible light
and then is a perfect emitter of
this radiation. Planck reasoned
that there were discrete
vibrations of atoms in a body,
equivalent to packages of
energy which when added
together give the total amount of
energy emitted. The idea that
radiation, such as light, comes in
packages of energy later called
quanta, was the foundation of
quantum physics.

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236
 1901
,, RADIOACTIVITY IS

,,
ACCOMPANIED BY CHEMICAL
CHANGES IN WHICH NEW TYPES
OF MATTER ARE PRODUCED.
Ernest Rutherford, Philosphical Magazine, 1902

Radium salt left on photographic plate shows strong radioactivity

after development the yellow tracks are emitting alpha particles.

This year also saw the origins of
a revolution in biology: several
biologists rediscovered the laws
of inheritance that had been
established by Gregor Mendel
(see 1866). Dutch botanist Hugo
de Vries (18481935) found that
the inheritance of characteristics
in plants followed rules dictated
by particles he called pangenes
(later changed to genes).
Austrian biologist Karl
Landsteiner (18681943)
proposed a theory about blood
group compatibility in a
footnote of a scientic paper. He
had found that if the serum (the
liquid part of blood) from one
person, was mixed with anothers
entire blood, it could cause
clumping of the red blood cells.
This explained why some blood
transfusions were fatal.
De Vries in his garden
Hugo de Vries experimented with
breeding plants as Gregor Mendel
had done years before. Although he
retired in 1918, he continued his
research until his death.
100%
50%
25%
Thorium-232 Thorium-232
after 14 after 28
billion years billion years
IN FEBRUARY AND AUGUST,
BRITISH ENGINEER Hubert Cecil
Booth (18711955) led patents
for a device that sucked air
through a lter system. His
invention was the rst powered
vacuum cleaner. In November,
American electrical engineer
Miller Reese Hutchinson,
(18761944), inspired by a friend
rendered deaf by scarlet fever,
patented the rst electrical
hearing aid. In a modication of
Alexander Bells telephone
technology, Reese Hutchinsons
device transmitted sound from
a microphone to the ear via a
set of headphones.
Ernest Rutherford and British
physicist Frederick Soddy
(18771956) found that
radioactive elements changed
into other forms when they
emitted radioactivity. This
transmutation, as they later
called it (see 1916), always
Radioactive decay
The half-life of a radioactive element
is the time taken for a particular
element to decay into another form.
Thorium-232 has a half-life of 14
billion years.
happened in the same way: for
instance, thorium changes into
radium. Rutherford identied
the time it takes for half the
radioactive material to decay
into another form, which he
later named its half-life. Soddy
went on to demonstrate that
some elements had variants,
known as isotopes, which may or
may not be radioactive. Half-lives
of elements and their isotopes
vary: for some isotopes of
beryllium it is a fraction of a
second, but for the element
bismuth-209, it is a billion times
BLOOD GROUPS
Red blood cells from some
people carry surface
components called antigens.
Karl Landsteiner identied two
types A and B which can
trigger the fatal clumping
(agglutination) if blood is given
to someone with appropriately
sensitive antibodies. Blood
group O has no antigens so can
be donated to anyone. However,
blood from group AB has both
antigens so can only be given
to a person with AB blood.
longer than the estimated age
of the Universe.
In biology, Karl Landsteiner
elaborated on his theory of
blood compatibility. On 14
November, he announced that he
had identied three different
blood groups, A, B, and O, on
the basis of compatibility
patterns. Another rarer blood
group, AB, was discovered later.
A meeting of the Zoological
Society of London reported on
the discovery of a spectacular
new large mammal from the
forests of Africa. The okapi had
been discovered by explorer
Harry Johnston (18581927) and
was described on the basis of
examination of its skin and skull.
In November, a German
psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer
A antigen
Anti-B
antibody does
not react
B antigen
BLOOD GROUP A
B antigen
A antigen
BLOOD GROUP AB
(18641915), examined a woman
exhibiting signs of a severe form
of dementia and described
symptoms of the disease that
eventually carried his name.
Following her death in 1906,
Alzeimer examined her brain
and observed the abnormal
plaques that are characteristic
of Alzheimers disease.
On 12 December, Italian
inventor Guglielmo Marconi was
reported to have sent the rst
radio signal across the Atlantic
Ocean from Porthcurno, the
most southwesterly tip of
England, to Newfoundland, in
North America. Although some
people suggested that it was
nothing more than interference,
others described it as a
deliberate Morse code signal.
anti-A
antibody
does not
react
BLOOD GROUP B
anti-B antibody
does not react
anti-A
antibody does
not react
BLOOD GROUP O

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237
 1902 1903

Close to Earths surface is the orange-red glow of the troposphere, which contains breathable air and our weather The Wright brothers 1903 Flyer rst
systems. The brownish layer, the tropopause, marks the transition to the grey-blue stratosphere beyond. ew in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

Micrograph showing cell division
As a cell divides, chromosomes are
pulled apart, and the genes they
carry are passed on to the two
new cells formed.
ON 1 JANUARY, Nathan
Stubbleeld (18601928), a
Kentucky farmer and inventor,
showed off an electrical device
that could send voice and music
wirelessly over a distance of half
a mile. Although it provoked
scientic discussion, this
wireless technology did not
survive because it relied on
disturbances generated by
electromagnetic induction,
rather than radio signals, and
was vulnerable to interference.
American and German
biologists Walter Sutton
(18771916) and Theodor Boveri
(18621915) independently
identied chromosomes as the
carriers of genetic material.
Nearly 40 years earlier, Gregor
Mendel had shown that inherited
characteristics were the result of
particles (see 1866). Sutton
looked at sperm-forming cells
of grasshoppers and saw that
moving chromosomes mirrored
Mendels particles of inheritance.
Boveri saw that sea urchin
embryos needed an intact
chromosome set to
develop properly.
of the atmosphere. Over a
UP TO period of 10 years he had sent up
1,000
KM:
more than 200 specially equipped
hydrogen balloons. He found that
THERMOSPHERE weather systems occurred in a
layer that extended at least 9 km
(6 miles) above Earths surface.
up to 85 km:
mesosphere Beyond this layer the air was
up to 50 km: thinner and conditions calmer.
stratosphere
up to 16 km: Later, de Bort called the lower
troposphere layer the troposphere, and the
sea level
upper one, the stratosphere.
Layers of Earths atmosphere
On the 17 February, the Stanley
The atmosphere is made up of four
layers. The gases are concentrated Motor Carriage Company was
in the thin troposphere. founded in the US for the
production of a steam-driven
In April, meteorologist Lon car rst built in 1897; the factory
Teisserenc de Bort (18551913) closed in 1924.
reported to the French Academy
of Sciences on his investigation The Stanley Steamer
Early Stanley cars had boilers under
the seats that generated steam.
Known as Stanley Steamers, they
were fuelled by a gasoline burner
and started by a crank.
THE FIRST DESCRIPTION
OF A PROCEDURE that would
eventually become known as
chromatography was presented
at the Proceedings of the
Warsaw Society of Naturalists in
1903. Russian botanist Mikhail
Tsvet (18721919) had managed
to separate the chemical
components of plant pigments.
He rst let the mixture dissolve
in petroleum ether and then ran
it through a column of nely
ground calcium carbonate.
The orange, yellow, and green
pigments separated into
different bands: the ones that
dissolved better in the solvent
travelled faster and further.
Tsvets technique would later
be adopted as an important
analytical tool for separating
mixtures of substances.
Humankinds attempts at
powered ight reached an
important breakthrough on
17 December, when American
inventor brothers Orville
(18711948) and Wilbur Wright

,,INDIVIDUAL
CHROMOSOMES
(18671912) achieved the rst
controlled man-carrying
ight powered by an

,,
engine. For many
POSSESS years pioneers

DIFFERENT of aviation had

tried hot-air
QUALITIES. balloons and
gliders with
Theodor Boveri, in On Multipolar
Mitosis as a Means of the Cell varying degrees
Analysis, 17 February 1902 of success. The

ld
e ry i ct d
for ddy at an rd
y ble new ua ver ta n gis
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a n
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17 nley mpa ed 28 isse scr ere ian ste cr B b e t be Anta es a t 1
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Me in b
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238
 1904
,,I NOW FELT CERTAIN THAT
THE DAY WOULD COME WHEN

,,
MANKIND WOULD BE ABLE TO
SEND MESSAGES WITHOUT WIRES
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, from Messages without Wires, 1901

The equipment at the Marconi wireless station in Massachusetts,

USA, which transmitted across the Atlantic to Cornwall, England.

Wright brothers experimented
with glider design to maximize
lift and added a lightweight
aluminium gasoline engine to
provide the power. Orville made
the rst 12-second ight in
their aircraft, the 1903 Flyer, and
ew 37 m (40 yd). The same day,
Orville and Wilbur Wright
The Wright brothers ran a bicycle
shop, but were inspired by early
attempts at aviation. By 1908, they
had managed an hour-long ight,
and carried a passenger.
Wilbur managed 260 m (284 yd)
AFTER THREE YEARS of sending
transatlantic radio signals
including coherent messages
Italian inventor Guglielmo
Marconi (18741937) set up the
rst commercial transatlantic
radio service. By 1907 it had
become a regular service.
The March issue of the science
journal the Philosophical
Magazine contained a piece
written by British physicist J.J.
Thomson (18561940) in which
he described a new way of
looking at the atom that
accommodated the newly
discovered electron, known
as the plum pudding model.
Thomson thought of an atom as
a pudding of positive charge, in
which the negatively charged
electron plums were
embedded. Later in the year,
the Japanese physicist Hantaro
Nagaoka (18651950) rejected
the idea that positive and
negative charges could
intermingle in this way, and
suggested his Saturnian model.
static electron, cloud-like body
or plum the pudding
The plum pudding model
Thomsons model for atomic
structure was an early attempt at
suggesting how charged particles
could co-exist in a neutral atom.
His model had a large positive
core, which was orbited by
negative electrons, rather like
the rings around planet Saturn.
Within a few years, experiments
in the UK would show that atoms
have a dense positive nucleus
with encircling electrons more
like Nagaokas model.
In July, Piero Conti (18651939), American astronomer Charles
an Italian businessman from the Dillon Perrine (18671951)
volcanic region of Larderello, discovered a moon of Jupiter
Tuscany, demonstrated a steam that was later named Himalia
engine that ran on geothermal after a mythical Greek nymph. It
power. Conti succeeded in is the sixth largest of Jupiters
producing enough electricity moons and is thought to have
from a dynamo to illuminate been formed from an asteroid
ve light bulbs. Contis legacy captured in the planets orbit.
is that the Larderello region now
produces 10 per cent of the positive plate
worlds geothermal electricity. (anode)
In November, British physicist
John Ambrose Fleming
(18491945) led a patent
for the rst vacuum
diode designed by
adding a positive
electrode (anode) to an
Edison light bulb.
Electrons from the hot
lament bulb owed
through the bulbs vacuum
to the cold anode converting
alternating current (AC) signals
to direct current (DC). This
marked the start of an era of
electronics, and for decades
improved versions of Flemings
diodes were used in many

11,480,000
in 59 seconds. devices from radios to the
The Wright brothers rst rst computers.
aircraft was designed to In early December at the Lick
minimize load and maximize Observatory in California,
exibility. It had a spruce ash
wooden frame covered in muslin.
The engine gave it enough speed
KILOMETRES Flemings vacuum diode
The design features a metal plate

for the wings to generate more
lift than the weight of the
machine: the principle of ight.
THE DISTANCE OF
that acts as an anode (positively
charged electrode) to attract
electrons from the bulb lament,
HIMALIA FROM JUPITER thereby creating direct current.

r
be n ist g
ty nt in i
m
te arwi th is tivi s cie Kon fung n n
so lum ti tor s
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p
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tch liu ha siti o
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rc om a p l of on era al ov
S i o C gen erm sc pite
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24 org sts E rad Du rne sts t po ter t Ma . Th bes ode re r
ie st th
r d i
be ne f J u
Ge gge by Co gge eco ma m t J.J scri g m uctu y P r eo em ri o
u
s ate d su lp d nic s de ddin str ul he y g ec Per oon
4 J ts t ed b D n
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Oc rep ne ies rit war patt ibut r s m des od ture
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ec ka n m ruc
t n E i Ge ied bes dria lls r n Jo g
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Br ping y tse Ju rib t d Fr cri hon t ce ce mio for min 5 D agao rnia c st
sc po
Of ther alve Fle N atu omi
e b de uns s
de itoc plan
sle ead s m
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r
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239
 18 9 5 194 5 T H E ATO M I C AG E

Ornithopter
15th century
Although Italian polymath Leonardo da
netting support for Vincis ornithopter an aircraft with apping
covering of feathers
wings could never have own, it may be
pedal provides strong
hand lever provides the rst design for a ying machine.
downstroke of wings
weak upstroke of wings

Aerial carriage
waxed 1848
paper wing British inventors John
Stringfellow and William
Henson achieved the rst
powered ight with this
model aircraft, driven
by a tiny steam engine.
Wright Flyer
1903 exible wing helps control
Orville and Wilbur Wright, American inventors, achieved the height and direction
rst manned, powered, controlled take-off and ight with
their Flyer in North Carolina, USA, on 17 December 1903.

FLYING MACHINES
THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWERED FLYING MACHINES LED TO A MILITARY AND TRANSPORT REVOLUTION

The dream of flight dates back to the Ancient Greek myth of tailn 19.3 m
(63 ft) high
Daedalus, who flew with wings of feather and wax. It was not
until the 18th century that flight became a reality,
paving the way for a range of flying machines.

Humans rst took to the air in 1783, in a hot-air balloon

developed by the Montgoler brothers in France. For a
century, aircraft used gas for lift rst in the form of
balloons and then steerable airships. Winged aircraft
took off under their own power for the rst time with
the Wright brothers historic ight in 1903.

envelope lled
with helium main rotor blades
provide power and lift

Hot-air balloon
Date unknown
Balloons gain lift because
they contain a gas such as
helium or heated air that
is less dense than the air
surrounding the balloon.
Skyship 500 HL
1984
Airships were the luxury gondola carries
crew and
liners of the 1920s, despite
passengers
their slow speed and the
inammability of their
lifting gas hydrogen.
Today, smaller airships
serve as airborne
platforms for cameras
covering major events.
tail rotor allows Schweizer 300C helicopter
steering and 1970
stability Small helicopters such as this one can hover, take
off and land vertically, and turn on the spot making
them perfect for urban ying.

240
 F LY I N G M A C H I N E S

Vought F4U Corsair

1943
Fast and highly manoeuvrable,
single-engine ghterbomber
planes such as the Corsair
were in great demand
Supermarine Walrus
during World War II.
1935
Used for survey missions during World War II,
the Walrus could be catapulted into the air
from the deck of a ship. It could also land
on water and be lifted back aboard.
foldable wings

fully retractable
landing gear
light aluminium body

metal body
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk
1982
Stealth aircraft such as the Nighthawk
are designed to avoid detection by
enemy radar. They are shaped and
coloured to diffract and reect radar
waves indistinctly.

wing oat

faceted
body shape Concorde
1976
A BritishFrench engineering collaboration
and powered by turbojet engines, the Concorde
was one of two supersonic airliners to enter
narrow, streamlined fuselage commercial service. It could y from New York,
USA, to London, UK, in under three hours.

drooping nose cone

allows runway visibility
Boeing 747
1970
triangular wings, roundly
tapered at the ends Until it was surpassed by the A380 in 2007, the
Boeing 747 was the worlds biggest airliner, with
wide body the capacity to carry up to 680 passengers.

high-power, tailn provides

low-fuel-consumption directional stability
turbofan engine US Space Shuttle
1982
hold can be Although it had to be launched by rockets,
Schleicher ASK13 opened in space the US Space Shuttle was the rst spacecraft
1966 to release to land on a runway and to be used for
payload further ights like a conventional aircraft.
long, thin wing Made using strong,
reduces drag ultralight modern
materials, gliders can y
far and high, using rising
air currents for lift.

main engine

241
 1905 1906
,, BODIES OF MICROSCOPICALLY
VISIBLE SIZE SUSPENDED IN A LIQUID

,,
WILL PERFORM MOVEMENTS OF SUCH
A MAGNITUDE THAT THEY CAN BE
OBSERVED IN A MICROSCOPE.
Albert Einstein, on Brownian motion, 18 July 1905

Albert Calmette (centre) studied animal toxins and developed some of the rst
antivenoms. Later he collaborated with Camille Gurin to make BCG vaccine.

300
ALBERT EINSTEIN PUBLISHED
FOUR REVOLUTIONARY PAPERS
in what became known as his
Annus Mirabilis (Miracle Year).
His rst expanded Max Plancks
idea from 1900 that energy
existed in minute packets of
energy. Einstein proposed that
MILLION
packets of light energy could THE SPEED
help explain the photoelectric
effect, in which wavelength (not
OF LIGHT IN
intensity) of light provides the METRES PER
energy needed to eject electrons SECOND
from a metal surface later
proven experimentally (see 1921).
Einsteins second theory he reconciled the constancy
explained how the random of the speed of light with the
movement of tiny particles in principle of relativity: the idea
gas or water was caused by the that mechanical processes
motion of molecules bombarding happened in the same way
the particles Brownian motion. whether at rest or moving. Light
In September, Einstein had previously been regarded as
published his theory of special an exception to this principle
relativity (see pp.24445). In it but Einstein used an analysis of
ALBERT EINSTEIN (18791955)
Born in Germany, Einstein took
Swiss citizenship before nding
work at the Bern patent ofce
in 1903. Here he wrote his
ground-breaking papers and
was awarded a doctorate by
the University of Zurich. He
completed his general theory
of relativity in 1915 and was
awarded the Nobel Prize in
1922. In later years, Einstein
became a US citizen.
time and space to show that it
was compatible. Finally in
November, he published a
conclusion that arose from his
work on relativity. He suggested
that when an object emitted
energy, it lost mass too, so
energy and mass were
interchangeable. This
relationship was expressed in
a simple equation: E = mc2 .
British biologist William
Bateson (18611926) was among
a number of scientists interested
in the study of inheritance. In a
letter of April this year he called
it genetics.
Growing populations needed
more food, so the demand for
crop fertilizer increased. German
chemists devised a way to make
ammonia, the compound that
provided nitrogen for plant
growth. Ammonia is formed from
hydrogen and nitrogen. Fritz
Haber (18681934) described a
key reaction between
atmospheric nitrogen and
hydrogen. During WWI, when
natural sources of nitrate came
under Allied control, Carl Bosch
(18741940) used Habers
principle to produce industrial
quantities of ammonia.
German chemist Alfred Einhorn
(18561917) succeeded in
making the local anaesthetic
procaine, later traded as
Novocaine. The drug would
become a standard painkiller.
BRITISH GEOLOGIST RICHARD
OLDHAM (18581936) studied
the seismic shocks that went
through Earth following
earthquakes. At the end of the
previous century Oldham had
identied two kinds of waves:
fast-moving, longitudinal,
primary P-waves and slower,
transverse, secondary S-waves.
He found that below a certain
depth within Earth, seismic
TUBERCULOSIS (TB)
German physician Robert
Koch (18431910) identied
the bacteria that caused TB,
and was awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1905. Formerly
called consumption, TB was
often fatal. It infects the
lungs causing lesions, or
tubercles and is spread
through droplets dispersed
by coughs and sneezes. The
BCG vaccine was the rst
protection against TB.
waves travel much more
slowly and S-waves stop
altogether. In February, Oldham
suggested this phenomenon
could be explained by the
presence of a core inside Earth
that was composed of a different
kind of material. Later studies
would show that Earth has a core
located at a depth of 2,900 km
(1,802 miles), and conrmed
that the outer core is uid.
On Christmas Eve, a Canadian
inventor, working at the US
Weather Bureau, broadcast
the rst radio programme.
Reginald Fessenden (18661932)
a rival of Guglielmo Marconi
transmitted his programme from
Brant Rock, Massachusetts,
USA. It included a voice message
and music and was directed to
ships in the Atlantic Ocean more
used to receiving messages in
Morse code.
At the Institut Pasteur, France,
work began on a programme
that led to the development of a
new vaccine that would protect
millions of peoples from a
deadly disease: tuberculosis
(TB). French scientists Albert
Calmette (18631933) and
Camille Gurin (18721961) had
been inspired by the historical
uses of the harmless cowpox
as a way to vaccinate humans
against dangerous smallpox
(see 1796). They thought that a
similar process could be tried

in
te ip ur t
in th s er
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ill lis s o , ins y of E o
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be la ar n b tu S
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te his ity No s t as
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th neti i t J h Se hes ativ a s drift F r
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e tw 2 e 13 ce heti orn Ma e r 588
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242 ph
 1907

By 1907, Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov, shown here with his staff and one of the dogs, had
received much acclaim for his experiments with reex responses in animals.

site of
earthquake
extent of earth core inferred
by path of P-waves
AMERICAN INVENTOR LEE DE
FOREST PATENTED THE TRIODE,
,, THE later taken up by British geologist
Arthur Holmes (see 1913).

,,
P-waves

MATERIAL
shadow which could be used to amplify The German chemist Emil
zone electrical signals and act as a Fischer (18521919) succeeded

P-waves
An earthquake
produces fast-moving
waves that slow down and bend
as they pass through Earths core,
creating a shadow zone where a
seismograph cannot detect them.
out for TB. Calmette and Guerin
wanted to use a bovine (cattle-
borne) form of TB to develop a
vaccine against the human form
of TB. They set up cultures of
bovine TB on potato slices that
some P-waves are
refracted by the core
had been soaked with ox gall
(obtained from cows liver) and
set out to continue the culture
line until it was safe to use. It
was 10 years before their BCG
(Bacille Calmette Gurin)
vaccine was ready for use on
animals it was not tried on
humans until 1921.
switch. Until the invention of the
transistor years later (see 1947),
diode and triode valves were
used in circuits in radios,
televisions, and computers.
The Belgian-born chemist
Leo Baekeland (18631944)
produced the rst plastic
made from synthetic
materials. Baekelands new
product, later named Bakelite,
was heat-resistant and non-
conductive. It was used for
electrical insulation as well as
to make domestic utensils and
childrens toys.
French lmmakers Auguste
(18621954) and Louis Lumire
(18641948) began marketing
the rst commercial colour
photographic method. This
autochrome (self-colouring)
process involved using a negative
plate that was coated with
transparent grains of dye-
coloured starch, which ltered
light before it hit a layer of
photographic emulsion.
Following J.J. Thomsons
OF 1,000
in linking together the building
blocks of proteins. These
units called amino acids
USES. came in a variety of types.
Fischer identied many of them
Leo Baekeland, on Bakelite and showed how they bonded in
protein chains. His work was the
foundation of protein chemistry.
oil was always a multiple of a tiny Russian physiologist Ivan
value: the charge on a single Pavlov (18491936) converted
electron. Millikan published his his laboratory so that he could
rst results in 1910. concentrate on his study of
Following the discovery that animal behaviour. Using dogs,
radioactive materials decay at Pavlov had shown that animals
xed rates (see 1901), American could be taught to salivate when
scientist Bertram Boltwood they heard a ringing bell, known
(18491936) used this to calculate as the conditioned, or learned,
the age of rocks. He found reex (see 1889).
that ores of uranium
(uraninite) contained a
proportion of lead, and
the older the rock, the
more lead it contained.
Lead was a product of a
known rate of uranium
decay, so accumulated
over time. The study of
radiometric dating was

5,500C
demonstration that electrons
were particles (see 1896), Early colour photoraph
American physicist Robert This autochrome image
Millikan (18681953) began shows Doug, niece of the
Lumire brothers, out in
THE TEMPERATURE OF experiments to calculate their
electrical charge. He found that
her pram with her nurse.
It was taken between
EARTHS INNER CORE the charge on falling droplets of 1906 and 1912.

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243
 18 9 5 194 5 T H E ATO M I C AG E

UNDERSTANDING
RELATIVITY
EINSTEIN'S GROUND-BREAKING THEORIES REVEALED THAT SPACE AND TIME ARE INTIMATELY LINKED

In the early 20th century, German-born physicist Albert Einstein published

two theories that revolutionized our understanding of space, time, energy,
and gravity. The first, known as the special theory of relativity, only applies
in certain circumstances; the second is the general theory of relativity.

In the 19th century, physicists supposed that
empty space was actually lled with a
substance, which they called aether, and that
light travels through the aether at a xed speed.
Since our planet is moving, they predicted that
the measured speed of light would differ from its
actual speed just as a passing car appears to
move faster or slower than its actual speed if
you are also moving. To test this idea and in
an attempt to determine Earth's actual, or
absolute speed through space they measured
both measuring the distance between the same
two points in space, or the time between the
same two events, would come up with different
answers. Einsteins relativity also did away with
the stationary aether and showed that there ALBERT EINSTEIN
When Einstein published his theory of special
is no absolute reference point in space or time. relativity, he was working as a clerk at the
patent ofce in Bern, Switzerland.
OBSERVER WITHIN OBSERVER OUTSIDE
REFERENCE FRAME REFERENCE FRAME
light beam
mirror

the speed of light in different directions and at

different times of the year. But in every case, the
speed of light was always exactly the same.
mirror

SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY astronaut light beam light takes longer to

bounce between mirrors
The fact that the speed of light is constant was
TIME DILATION
perplexing, and it challenged commonsense A beam of light bounces between mirrors inside a spacecraft observer
assumptions about the nature of time and space. that is moving past Earth. An astronaut inside the craft on Earth

In his theory of special relativity Einstein showed perceives only vertical movement in the light. Viewed from
Earth, it appears that the light travels further between the
that time and space are indeed relative mirrors, and takes longer to make the same journey.
quantities: that two observers in relative motion

,,
So, time runs slowly in the moving frame of reference.

,,IT FOLLOWED FROM THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY THAT

MASS AND ENERGY ARE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SAME THING.
Albert Einstein, in the film Atomic Physics, 1948

MASS AND ENERGY

2
In working through the mathematical equations
in his theory of relativity, Einstein encountered a
surprising result: the mass of an object increases
as it gets faster, and at the speed of light an
object would have innite mass. Einstein realized
e=mc energy mass speed of light
that the speed of light must therefore be the
Universes ultimate speed limit. His equations
suggested that mass and energy are equivalent
to each other, and he dened a new quantity: PARTICLE ACCELERATOR
mass-energy. The equivalence of mass and Physicists working with particle accelerators
energy is expressed in Einsteins most famous routinely use Einsteins theory to predict the
increase in mass of high-speed particles, and to
equation, E = mc, in which E stands for energy, work out how much longer it takes for them to
m for mass, and c for the speed of light squared. decay as a result of time dilation (see above).

244
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G R E L AT I V I T Y

BENDING SPACE TIME

The Sun is massive enough to bend
apparent position
of star
the surrounding spacetime to such an
extent that starlight passing close by
is deected enough to make the star
appear in a position slightly different
from its actual position. British
physicist Arthur Eddington conrmed
this prediction of the general theory of
actual position
relativity in 1919, during a solar eclipse.
of star

light from a distant star is

effectively bent by warped
spacetime as it passes
close to the Sun

two-dimensional rubber
sheet represents four-
dimensional spacetime; dents
in the sheet represent
distortion of spacetime by the
presence of massive objects

GENERAL THEORY
Einsteins special theory only applies
to objects moving in a straight line at
unchanging speeds and does not take into
account gravity. In trying to incorporate gravity
and acceleration, Einstein made use of a concept
devised by German mathematician Hermann
Minkowski. In 1907, Minkowski suggested considering
time as a fourth dimension and dened the four
intertwined dimensions as spacetime. In the 1910s, spacetime around the
Einstein worked out a set of equations that describe gravity as Sun is distorted, creating
a gravitational well
the curvature of spacetime. The equations were the basis of his
new general theory of relativity, published in 1916. The general
Earth
theory accurately predicts how gravity affects time and bends light.

THE EQUIVALENCE OF GRAVITY

AND ACCELERATION

spaceship spaceship spaceship

accelerating oating falling freely
in space in space towards Earth
ball drops ball ball
to ground does not does not
move move
ball
drops to
the foor
gravity of Earth FALLING TO EARTH
cancelled out by Inside a spaceship in
thrust acceleration freefall, an object will
ON EARTH accelerate downwards
A key part of the general theory is the ACCELERATING IN SPACE FLOATING IN SPACE at the same rate as
equivalence principle: that there is no Inside an accelerating spaceship, a If the spaceship is moving at a constant the spaceship. There
difference between accelerated motion dropped object would behave in exactly speed, then a dropped object will not is no difference
and gravity. To us, gravity is a force that the same way as an object dropped in fall, but instead will remain stationary between accelerated
makes things accelerate downwards. Earths gravitational eld. relative to the hand that releases it. motion and gravity.

245
 1908 1909

According to some, the inspiration for cellophane came after its inventor, Jacques Brandenberger, saw wine A remarkable repository of some of the oldest animal fossils, Canadas
spilt on a tablecloth. But the lm proved more useful in waterproof packaging than for stain protection. Burgess Shale is a record of Cambrian ocean life half a billion years ago.

SWISS CHEMIST JACQUES E. ,,IT WAS QUITE THE MOST

THE GERMAN DRUG COMPANY the pH scale. This scale rated

BRANDENBERGER (18721954)
invented a way of producing
sheets of thin waterproof lm
made from wood cellulose.
The lm came to be called
cellophane (for cellulose
and diaphane, French for
transparent). Brandenbergers
original idea was to spray
liqueed cellulose on to fabric as
a stain-repellent, but he found
that he could pull away a dry lm
that was far more useful.
New Zealand-born physicist
Ernest Rutherfords half-life
theory of radioactivity still
commanded attention. He and
German physicist Hans Geiger
(18821945) had devised a way of
gold
foil
zinc sulphide
screen
slit in lead
alpha sheet to ensure
beam narrow beam
Marsdens gold leaf experiment
A beam of alpha particles was red
at a piece of gold foil. When some
particles bounced back from the foil,
physicists saw this as evidence that
atoms had very dense nuclei.
,,
INCREDIBLE EVENT THAT
HAS EVER HAPPENED TO
ME IN MY LIFE.
Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-born physicist, from his lecture
The Development of the Theory
measuring radioactivity by foils on a stream of alpha
scintillation counting the particles. Marsdens work using
ashes of light when the rays gold foil threw up unexpected
struck a zinc sulphide screen. results. According to the atomic
They carried out experiments structure theory of the time (the
ring radiation through barriers, plum pudding model, see 1904)
enlisting the help of a student alpha particles should have
called Ernest Marsden (1889 passed straight through the gold,
1970). Geiger and Marsden but instead a few bounced back.
studied the effects of metallic Rutherford later said it was, as
though you red a bullet at tissue
paper and it bounced back. His
most alpha particles
pass straight analysis of Marsdens results
through the foil suggested that the deected
particles were striking a very
dense nucleus at the core of
a few particles each atom.
hit gold nucleus In August, ve years after their
and rebound
historic maiden ights, the
Wright brothers were in the air
again, but this time they had an
audience. In an atmosphere of
scepticism, Wilbur had travelled
gold to France to show off their
atom manned, powered aircraft. Over
nucleus several days he demonstrated
his mastery of ying and the
most particles pass
assembled crowds grew daily:
straight through
the Wright brothers became
DETAIL OF GOLD FOIL aviation celebrities.
Bayer pioneer of aspirin was
granted a patent on a sulphur-
based drug. The drug was a
derivative of sulphonamides, a
class of bacterial agents that
would rise to prominence in 1932
and dominate the pre-antibiotic
period. Sulphonamides marked a
signicant step in chemotherapy
the scientic development of
drugs that cured disease using
sound pharmaceutical principles
but Bayer was unaware of their
importance. At the same time,
German physician Paul Ehrlich
and Japanese biologist
Sahachiro Hata (18731978)
were working on their own
custom-made drug to treat the
sexually transmitted bacterial
disease syphilis.
Sren Srenson (18791963),
a Danish chemist, was studying
protein a substance that is
sensitive to the
effects of acid and
alkali. Srenson
worked on a way of
quantifying acidity
and alkalinity, and
as a result, devised
Measuring pH value
Indicator paper
contains a chemical
that reacts with acid 1 2 3 4
or alkali to produce a
colour to match a
scale according to the
subjects strength. strong acid
substances according to whether
they were acid (16), alkaline
(814), or neutral (7).
The previous year, Louis
Blriot (18721936), a French
engineer, had witnessed the
public manned ights of Wilbur
Wright. Inspired into action, he
set his sights on the English
Channel. French inventor Jean
Piere Blanchard had crossed it in
a balloon (see 1785) but in July,
Bleriot became the rst person
to cross the English Channel in
a manned, powered plane. The
Blriot XI left Calais at sunrise on
25 July and landed in Dover
36 minutes later. As well as
receiving international acclaim,
Blriot won a 1,000 prize from
Londons Daily Mail newspaper.
In America, palaeontologist
Charles Walcott (18501927)
made an important discovery.
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
neutral strong alkali

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246 m
 1910

65
THOUSAND
THE NUMBER OF SPECIMENS
UNEARTHED BY WALCOTT
AT BURGESS SHALE

The distinctive cork-screw shaped bacteria that cause syphilis were nally
conquered by an arsenic-based drug initially known as 606.

ON 20 MAY, HALLEYS COMET American physicist Robert W.

motor cortex controls somatosensory cortex receives came closer to Earth than Wood (18681955) an expert in
coordinated muscle and analyses nerve impulses
movements from touch receptors
at any time since 1835. The New optics was the rst to use
York Times had warned of an infrared (IR) and ultraviolet
premotor cortex creates sensory cortex processes imminent apocalypse as (UV) radiation to produce
the intention to move sensory information
astronomers had described the photographs, and published the
prefrontal cortex is visual cortex integrates comets poisonous cyanide- rst examples. Wood pioneered
involved in determining visual data with memories containing tail. However, the this type of photography and the
personality and thought. and other senses event passed without disaster. technology would lead to the
Brocas area is associated primary visual cortex The Danish and American modern-day black lights that
with the production of language receives and analyses nerve astronomers, Ejnar Hertzsprung emit UV radiation and minimal
auditory cortex impulses from the eyes (18731967) and Henry Russell visible light.
primary auditory cortex integrates auditory
(18771957), published the
receives and analyzes nerve data with memories the Wernickes area is
impulses from the ears and other senses associated with language HertzsprungRussell, or H-R,
diagram they devised to
BRAIN FUNCTIONS classify star types. The H-R
diagram is a scatter graph that
This map of the most complex part of the brain Sensory areas receive signals from the rest of plots the relationship between
came out of the painstaking work of Korbinian the body and motor areas control the dispatch of temperature, luminosity, and
Brodmann. The surface of the cerebral signals to muscles. Association areas are those size of stars and distinguishes
hemispheres called the cerebral cortex is involved in complicated, higher processing, such types of stars as clusters within
divided into sensory, motor, and association areas. as decision-making and language. the chart white dwarfs, main
sequence, super-giants, and red
giants. It remains a standard
Coming to the end of eld work oldest and best preserved the ne structure of the part of astronomical tool today. PAUL ERLICH (18541915)
at Burgesss Shale in the fossil sites, with specimens that the brain called the cerebral In April, Paul Ehrlich
Canadian Rocky Mountains, dated back 500 million years. cortex, which controls higher announced the completion of Starting his career in the
Walcott found a large deposit of Walcott attempted to classify the functions for example, his arsenic-based drug, 606, to medical study of blood, Paul
fossils. Subsequent investigation animals into known groups, but decision-making and emotion. treat syphilis. By November, the Ehrlich developed stains for
revealed it to be one of the scientists have since discovered Using microscopic studies, German drug company Hoeschst revealing cells including
that many of them belonged to Brodmann managed to identify AG had begun marketing it as bacteria. From these studies,
ancient evolutionary dead ends. the different functional Salvarsan. Demand for this new he pursued the magic
A German neuroscientist regions of this part of the drug grew quickly as the bullet a drug that could
Korbinian Brodmann brain that could be linked to treatment was more effective target a specic infectious
(18681918) had been working on processes demonstrated than any previous medication. organism initiating the
1,000,000
HYDROGEN IONS IN
experimentally by other However, the toxic dangers of its concept of chemotherapy. He
1 Comparing pH value scientists. Brodmanns cerebral arsenic component remained a also worked on immunization
HYDROCHLORIC ACID Acidity is determined by hydrogen
hydrogen map formed the basis for concern and, 30 years later, and proposed a theory that
ion in ions. The concentration of hydrogen
ions in hydrochloric acid is million modern understanding of Salvarsan would be replaced by explained immune response.
water
times greater than that of water. higher brain function. antibiotics (see 1940).

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247
 1911
The delegate list of the rst Solvay Conference included many important scientists including
Ernest Rutherford, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Marie Curie.
NEW ZEALAND-BORN PHYSICIST
Ernest Rutherford was gathering
evidence for a new theory of
atomic structure. Experiments
had indicated that atoms had a
dense core, so the plum pudding
model was wrong (see 1904).
Rutherford proposed that atoms
ERNEST RUTHERFORD
(18711937)
Born in New Zealand, Ernest
Rutherford, worked at McGill
University Canada, moving to
the University of Manchester,
England, in 1907. In 1919,
he was appointed director
of Cambridges Cavendish
Laboratory. Rutherford
established the eld of
nuclear physics with his
model of the atom,
explaining that radioactivity
was caused by atoms
decaying into different forms.
r
r y lte
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Ja can an twe
20 eri rd C be he n
Am adfo link of t nali
Br kes vels dre
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m h le ne a
hig rmo ress
ho d st
an
n st
ica
er s F.
m e
A l
r y har rat r
ua r C nst rte s
r
b ee o ta e
Fe gin em ic s bil
27 en ng d ctr omo
i e t de den e n
r e
tte st or a
l u
Ke r f u
248
,,WE WOULD LIKE TO HOPE THAT
OUR CONFERENCE WILL EXERT
,,
AN IMPORTANT INFLUENCE
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF
PHYSICS.
Walther Nernst, Principal instigator of the Solvay Conference, 1911
contained a central dense mass electrons Rutherfords rookery of Emperor Penguins
circle round atomic model
with a positive charge that was in mid-winter. But in December,
the central Rutherford
surrounded by electrons. In nucleus proposed that an
a Norwegian expedition, led by
1912, he called this central area atom had a dense Roald Amundsen (18721928),
dense nucleus
the nucleus, and noted that the with a positive
nucleus and that reached the South Pole rst.
value of its charge was related charge
the electrons The British Polar party all died
orbited the space
to its atomic mass. Dutch around it.
on their return journey.
physicist Antonius Van den German chemist Philip
Broek (18701926) suggested were on the chromosomes Monnartz described a way
that the charge value was equal that determined sex. of producing steel to improve
to an elements atomic number, In Antarctica, Robert Scotts its corrosion resistance. The
or position in the periodic table. (18661912) British Terra Nova result stainless steel would
Henry Moseley (see 1913) later expedition set out for the South be patented in 1912 and in 1913,
proved Van den Broek right. obvious characteristics, such as Pole. In what was later British engineer Harry Brearley
In 1908, Danish physicist Heike eye colour, to help him trace described as the worst journey (18711948) would cast the rst
Kamerlingh Onnes (18531926) patterns of inheritance. In 1911, in the world they succeeded in commercial stainless steel in
had liqueed helium and was Morgan discovered that the genes part of their mission and found a Shefeld, England.
now using it as a coolant to study
the electrical properties of MORGANS FRUIT FLY EXPERIMENT
frozen mercury. Onnes found
that at 269C (452F) Thomas Hunt Morgans FEMALE MALE
mercurys electrical resistance breeding experiments revealed WITH RED white-eye WITH RED
EYES allele EYES
dropped to zero he had that the inheritance of a
discovered superconductivity. characteristic is linked to
red-eye red-eye non-carrier
In October, physicists gender because its gene allele allele allele
gathered at the rst Solvay occurs on one of the sex
Conference, founded by Belgian chromosomes usually the X.
industrialist Ernest Solvay. This can be seen in the eye
This was the rst opportunity colour of fruit ies as the
to debate the new eld of red-eye variant (allele), is
quantum physics. dominant. As a result, in the
At Columbia University, rst generation, a red-eyed
American biologist Thomas female and a white-eyed male
Hunt Morgan (18661945) was would produce only red-eyed
experimenting with heredity offspring, but some will carry
in fruit ies. Following on from the white-eye allele. In the
the work of Gregor Mendel (see next generation, if a red-eyed
1866) and Hugo de Vries (see female has a white-eye trait
1900), Morgan studied mutations it will show up in her sons. FEMALE FEMALE MALE MALE
in the insects that caused
s
of ius ow of
h ity on h be
r
sc gn ke ale tiv nt ek s rge its able
Bo desi ma l sc s A
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a em unt ests
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Ju n B ar c n iod
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a
C e
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d s t r e
H O o No s H gg ide
ch th tho du ril gh erc 20 n de cle t de per 10 oma n su res es
ar bes me n in A p lin sup Va at nu men the Th rga nes som
5 M scri ber on a 28 mer ers
th ele n in Mo at ge mo
de e Ha nia Ka cov an sitio th chro
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am
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 1912 1913
,,IT IS PERHAPS INDELICATE TO ASK
MOTHER EARTH HER AGE, BUT SCIENCE

,,
ACKNOWLEDGES NO SHAME AND HAS
ATTEMPTED TO WREST FROM HER A SECRET
WHICH IS PROVERBIALLY WELL GUARDED.
Arthur Holmes, British Geologist, from The Age of the Earth, 1913

The archaeologist Charles Dawson (left) convinced palaeontologist Arthur

Smith-Woodward (centre) that he had found the apehuman missing link.

ON 14 FEBRUARY, British
archaeologist Charles Dawson
(18641916) uncovered primate
skull fragments and a jaw at
the Piltdown gravel pit, England.
They were reported to be the
missing link between humans
and apes and attracted much
interest from experts at the
British Museum of Natural
History. More than 40 years later,
proteins, and fats, a healthy diet
needed accessory food factors.
Polish-born biochemist Casimir
Funk (18841967) proposed a
name for them vitamines,
from vital and amine. He
thought that they belonged to
a class of chemicals called
amines, but when it was shown
that this was not the case, the
name was changed to vitamin.
BRITISH PHYSICIST FREDERICK
SODDY had worked with Ernest
Rutherford on the nature of
radioactivity and identication
of decay products. He found that
these products had different
atomic masses, but held
positions in the periodic table
that appeared to be occupied
by known elements. Soddy
concluded that they must be
Bosch had modied a chemical
process rst described by Fritz electron proton
Haber (see 1905) now known
as the HaberBosch process.
The factory would reach full
production capacity in 1914.
In December, British physicist
Henry Moseley (18871915) neutron
found that elements emit HELIUM ATOM
characteristic X-rays of
wavelengths determined by ATOMIC NUMBER

300
in 1953, Piltdown Man was varieties of the elements, and the numbered position in the
shown to be a hoax it was in in 1913 he called them isotopes. periodic table. His discovery Henry Moseley proved that
fact fragments of a modern Danish physicist Niels Bohr supported Van den Broeks idea the vaguely dened concept
human and an orang-utan. (18851962) modied that the position had physical of atomic number related
This year also saw the dawn of Rutherfords nuclear model meaning in the form of the to a measureable physical
a new way of analyzing chemical of the atom to take into account number of positive charges property of the atomic
structures. German physicists new ideas from quantum in an elements atomic nucleus, later found to be
Walter Friedrich (18741958)
and Paul Knipping (18831935)
KM/S physics. Bohr proposed that
electrons orbiting the atoms
wwnucleus its atomic number.
British geologist Arthur
the number of protons for
a neutral atom this equals
showed that when X-rays were THE SPEED THE nucleus occupied various shells Holmes (18901965) had the number of encircling
scattered through a crystal, the
resulting diffraction pattern
ANDROMEDA or enery levels called orbitals.
two xed orbitals, called shells.
electrons. The nucleus is
made up of protons and
GALAXY
electron
recorded on a photographic plate The electrons in the outer shell neutrons (neutral particles).
nucleus rst shell
could be used to identify the determined the way elements
positions of the crystals atoms.
MOVES AWAY reacted chemically.
Later, German physicist Max von FROM THE SUN At the BASF (Badische adopted a radiometric technique
Laue (18791960) explained the Anilinund Soda-Fabrik) for calculating the age of rocks
theory for this scattering American astronomer Vesto chemical plant in Germany, pioneered by Bertram
behaviour and used it to show Slipher (18751969), using a chemist Carl Bosch Boltwood (see 1907). Holmes
that X-rays were not particles, technique of light analysis oversaw the rst published his results in The
but waves with very short called spectroscopy (see 1860), industrial production Age of the Earth, but at
wavelengths. X-ray diffraction observed a shift towards red of ammonia for use in 1.6 million years his
would be developed as a wavelengths for light coming agricultural fertilizers. calculation was still more
mainstay of analytical chemistry. from the Andromeda galaxy. than 4,000 times shorter
British biochemist Frederick This redshift indicated that the Bohrs atomic model than modern results.
Hopkins (18611947) was galaxy was moving away. Bohrs model suggested
electron shells around the
experimenting with the diets of Sliphers studies provided early
nucleus. As electrons move
animals and announced that, evidence for the idea that the between the shells, the atom emits second,
along with carbohydrates, Universe was expanding. or absorbs electromagnetic radiation. outer shell

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249
 18 9 5 194 5 T H E ATO M I C AG E

UNDERSTANDING
ATOMIC STRUCTURE
PARTICLES AND FORCES COMBINE TO MAKE UP ATOMS, THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MATTER

Solids, liquids, and gases the three main types of matter are made up
of particles called atoms, each so small that several million would fit side
by side on the full stop at the end of this sentence. All atoms are composed
of just three types of particle protons, neutrons, and electrons.

In the 19th century scientists became certain of the
existence of atoms. The assumption was that atoms
were the smallest parts of matter the word atom
means indivisible. However, in 1897 the discovery of
the electron suggested that atoms have inner
structure. Electrons carry negative electric charge,
but atoms are neutral overall so a positive charge
also had to exist. Scientists used alpha particles,
which are produced by radioactive substances, to
probe the atom more deeply. In 1911, Ernest
Rutherford found that some of the positively
charged alpha particles he red at a thin metal foil
bounced back, and proved that this could happen
only if each atom has a positive charge concentrated
at its centre he had discovered the atomic nucleus.
by an attractive force called the strong nuclear
force. Different elements have different numbers
of protons in the nucleus (see below). Negatively
charged electrons orbit the nucleus and are
prevented from escaping by electric attraction to
protons. There are equal numbers of protons and ERNEST RUTHERFORD
New Zealand-born physicist Ernest
electrons, so atoms have no overall charge. Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus
in 1911 and the proton in 1920.
one orbiting electron
one proton seven neutrons
in nucleus in nucleus

ATOMS AND ELEMENTS

Except in hydrogen (see right), an atoms nucleus seven seven
orbiting protons in
consists of protons, which are positively charged, electrons nucleus
and neutrons, which have no charge, held together HYDROGEN ATOM NITROGEN ATOM

orbital is a region
ATOMIC SIZES distances from the nucleus, and only certain where there is a
The nucleus accounts for nearly all the mass numbers of electrons can occupy each orbit. high probability of
nding electrons
of an atom but only a tiny proportion of its As a result, atoms with more electrons have
volume it is an atoms electrons that dene
this. Electrons occupy orbits at specic
radius 25
picometres
(trillionths of
a metre)
more orbits, at increasing distances from the
nucleus, producing a larger atomic radius.

One atom of
hydrogen-1 has
,, PROTONS
GIVE AN ATOM
ITS IDENTITY,
One atom of

,,
298 picometres one proton and
uranium-238
has 92 no neutrons

238 ELECTRONS
protons and
146 neutrons
HYDROGEN
55 ATOMS
GIVE IT ITS
Hydrogen ELECTRONS

PERSONALITY.
atom (1
electron)

Caesium atom
ATOMIC RADIUS
Hydrogen, the lightest element, has only one electron
orbiting its nucleus, so it has the smallest atoms.
A caesium atom has 55 electrons orbiting its nucleus
and is about 12 times wider than a hydrogen atom.
Bill Bryson, American author, in A Short History
ATOMIC MASS of Nearly Everything, 2003
Protons and neutrons have identical mass; electrons have
negligible mass. So the atomic mass is simply the total
number of protons and neutrons. Different versions
(isotopes) of an element vary in the number of neutrons.

250
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G ATO M I C S T R U CT U R E

one end of dumbell- ELECTRON ORBITALS

shaped p-orbital Quantum physics has revealed
some key facts about the orbits
of electrons around the nucleus.
First, electrons can only occupy
outer s-orbital
certain "allowed" orbits, and
contains two electrons nowhere in between. Second,
an electrons exact position
cannot be determined, only
its probability of existing in a
particular place. As a result,
electrons actually exist in
"orbitals", which can be thought
of as three-dimensional clouds of
probability. There are four main
types of orbital: s-orbitals, which
are spherical; p-orbitals, which
are dumbbell-shaped; and d- and
f-orbitals, which have more
complex shapes. Each orbital
can hold up to two electrons.

inner s-orbital
contains two
electrons

electron

FLUORINE ATOM
An atom of the element uorine has
nine protons in its nucleus and nine
orbiting electrons arranged in two
s-orbitals and three p-orbitals. The
most common version of uorine has
10 neutrons, so it has an atomic mass
nucleus containing
protons and neutrons of 19 nine protons plus 10 neutrons.

INCANDESCENCE AND LUMINESCENCE particle carrying

1 COLLISION
There are two ways in which matter emits light: Luminescence energy
nucleus
incandescence and luminescence. Incandescence is triggered by a
is the production of light from hot matter things particle carrying
orbiting electron
energy colliding
glow red hot or white hot, for example. In with the atom. lower-energy
contrast, luminescence does not require heat. orbit
Fluorescence, glowing when illuminated by
ultraviolet radiation, and phosphorescence, 3 ENERGY RELEASE
The electron falls back down to a
glowing in the dark after being illuminated, lower orbit and releases its extra
are two familiar examples. Light produced by 2 ELECTRON JUMPS energy as a photon of light. The
luminescence is the result of energy lost by An orbiting electron is lights colour depends on the
given a boost of energy amount of energy released: for
electrons "falling" to a lower energy level, and moves into a example, a blue photon has more
closer to an atoms nucleus. higher-energy orbit. photon energy than a red one.

251
 191415
,, THE LUMINESCENT
PROPERTIES OF NEON

,,
CONSTITUTE SOURCES
OF LIGHT OF GREAT
BRILLIANCY.
George Claude, Vacuum discharge-tube for
lighting purposes, US Patent Office, 1915

A gas-discharge light tube works by applying voltage across the low-pressure gas to create ions
(charged particles), which causes a coloured, neon, light to be emitted.

IN 1914, BELGIAN PHYSICIAN Blood transfusion kit

ALFRED WEGENER (18801930)
ALBERT HUSTIN (18821967) The rst anticoagulant-treated blood bank
kits used on the frontline during World War I
found he could stop blood
relied on the knowledge that blood group O
clotting by adding a reagent Born in Germany, Alfred could be used as a universal donor.
called sodium citrate. Previously, Wegener began his career
the danger of coagulation meant as a meteorologist, and he glass blood
that transfusions had to be participated in several Arctic storage jar
performed directly from donor expeditions to investigate
to recipient. In March, Hustin climate. He is best known for equivalent to gravity and
performed the rst safe his theory of continental drift. an outcome was that the
non-direct transfusion using Wegener collected geological effect of gravity was to
citrate-treated blood from storage. evidence but could not explain bend light. Furthermore,
In 1915, two German scientists how the movement occurred; he argued that strong
would change the way we viewed during his lifetime the theory gravitational elds
our world. Geologist Alfred was not taken seriously. should distort time and
Wegener expanded on a theory appearance; in other tubing for
of continental drift that he rst words, they would warp carrying blood
proposed in 1912 (see below). distances and time change for making the measurements were a spacetime continuum.
Physicist Albert Einsteins different frames of reference, moving at different xed speeds. Physicists consider space and In the same year, French
theory of general relativity was even though the speed of light Einsteins new theory of general time to be related: space makes engineer George Claude
more radical still. His special stays constant everywhere. The relativity accommodated up the three (everyday) received his patent for a new
relativity theory (see 1905) had frames of reference referred to acceleration and deceleration dimensions, and time is the type of lighting: the neon
asserted that measurements of situations where the observers effects too. Acceleration is fourth dimension. discharge tube.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Alfred Wegener collected Pathalassic Pangaea North America India breaks Antartica and South America Australia drifts into
evidence for his theory that Ocean landmass breaks from away Australia are the separates from Africa the Pacic Ocean
Eurasia same continent
modern landmasses originated
from a prehistoric super-
continent that fragmented
millions of years ago. He saw
not only that transatlantic
coastlines seemed to match, Tethys
Sea
but also that geological
formations (including fossils) 200 million years ago 130 million years ago 70 million years ago Present day
A single supercontinent called Pangaea By this era, there were several For millions of years, South India collided with Asia, creating
were similar on either side.
was formed when ancient landmasses separated continents, including America was isolated as the the Himalayas. South America was
This suggested that the came together. As tectonic plates India (drifting northwards) and Atlantic Ocean opened up to joined to North America across a
coastlines were once joined. continued to move, it began to fragment. an Australia-Antarctic landmass. separate it from Africa. narrow Central American land bridge.

91
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252
191617

300
THOUSAND
LIGHT YEARS
SHAPLEYS ESTIMATE
OF THE DIAMETER OF
THE MILKY WAY

American astronomer Harlow Shapleys rst measurement of the Milky Way galaxy was an
overestimate. It is 100,000 light years across and contains more than 100 billion stars.

In 1917, at the Mount Wilson atoms into a form of oxygen, by the war. Treating blood with
alpha particle (2 protons nitrogen atom nitrogen nucleus absorbs Observatory in California, the ring them with alpha particles. anticoagulant made blood
and 2 neutrons) red with 7 protons a proton and 2 neutrons
into nitrogen atom and 7 neutrons to produce heavy oxygen assembly of the Hooker When the US entered transfusions faster and
reecting telescope the World War I in April 1917, safer. British physician Arthur
largest in the world at thetime British-born medical ofcer Cushny (18661926) published
was nished. To this day, its Oswald Robertson (18861966) the rst major study of kidney
254-cm (100-in) mirror is the introduced a blood bank system physiology. He correctly deduced
extra largest solid-glass mirror ever to the frontline. The Royal Army that the organ ltered blood and
proton is made. The telescope was used to Medical Corps called it the most reabsorbed nutrients to produced
released
make the rst measurements of important medical advance of waste urine.
THE FIRST TRANSMUTATION stars other than the sun.
500-tonne dome
In November, New-Zealand made of thin-sheet
British physicist Ernest Rutherford was the rst person to cause born British physicist Ernest steel with a 30m
one element to change into another a phenomenon called Rutherford achieved a (100-ft) diameter
transmutation. He showed that it was possible to change the size signicant breakthrough in
of an atoms nucleus by bombarding it with other particles. Later atomic physics: the rst
scientists exploited this process to release huge amounts of energy. ever man-made
transmutation of
elements. He
IN 1916, AMERICAN CHEMIST the historic vegetation of peat succeeded in
telescope
GILBERT LEWIS (18751946) beds. The study of pollen turning within rigid
suggested that when atoms (palynology) is still an important nitrogen steel cradle
bonded together to make bigger analytical study used for example
molecules, they shared their in forensics.
outer electrons. In 1919, his American astronomer Harlow
colleague Irving Langmuir Shapley (18851972) started a
(18811957) would expand the photographic survey of star
idea and call them covalent bonds. clusters. His systematic
Swedish geologist Lennart von measurements would show
Post (18841951) explained a that clusters surround our
new way of studying galaxy like a halo,
geological deposits. and are not centred
Different plant on Earth. Hooker
telescope
species produce
This telescope
distinctly shaped Pollen grain was used to
pollen grains, The distinctive make the rst
and von Post was sculpturing of measurements of
pollen grains makes star sizes, and to
able to identify
it possible to identify develop the theory
pollen to make the source plant of an expanding
conclusions about species by microscopy. universe.

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th 253
 191819

30
MILLION
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE
WHO DIED OF SPANISH FLU
IN SIX MONTHS OF 1918

There were so many victims of the Spanish u epidemic that several makeshift hospitals
such as this gymnasium in the US had to be established.

Enigma cipher
CONFIRMING THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
machine
These machines
were used during
In his theory of general relativity, Einstein had predicted that the strong World War II for
gravitational eld of the Sun would warp space-time. This distortion decoding and
would deect light coming from the stars, causing their apparent encrypting
condential
position to differ from their real position. Independent observations
messages.
by Arthur Eddington and Andrew Crommelin conrmed this theory.
During a solar eclipse, they accurately measured the positions of stars
close to the Sun. They compared their results with the stars apparent
positions and noticed a slight difference between the two.

IN THE WAKE OF WORLD WAR I,
a natural global disaster killed
more people than the great plague
of the 1300s. Spanish u spread
to all the continents, and medical
science seemed powerless to
stop it. Modern research suggests
that it originated as a mutated
virus and many people lacked
seven seven
protons electrons
most nitrogen atoms
have seven neutrons too
Balanced charge
The number of protons in a non-
ionized atom equals the number of
electrons; this means that an atom,
overall, has no charge. Neutrons are
particles that have no charge.
metal
the immunity (resistance to nitrogen atoms yielded small cover to
disease) to counter it. elementary particles. He realized t over
cylinders
In February 1918, French that these were equivalent to
physicist Paul Langevin (1872 positive hydrogen ions and later
motor
1946) demonstrated a system to called them protons. It would be
cylinders
detect the sound of underwater shown that they are responsible
submarines a technology that for the positive charge in the
would have important implications nucleus of atoms.
in wartime. Called the ASDICS During a solar eclipse in 1919,
device (Aided Sonar Detection British astronomer Arthur
Integration and Classication Eddington (18821944) and
System) it was the forerunner French astronomer Andrew
to sonar (see pp.29293). Crommelin (18651939)
In Germany, electrical engineer observed that rays of
Albert Scherbius (18781929) starlight were bent
invented a cipher machine, as they passed close
which he called Enigma. It to the Sun. This
worked by a series of rotating proved Einsteins
wheels. In 1918, Scherbius general theory of
offered it to the German Navy. relativity (see
They began using it in February pp.24445).
keys to type
1926, and the German Army messages
followed shortly afterwards.
In 1917, New Zealand-born
physicist Ernest Rutherford had plugboard setting
found that ring alpha particles altered regularly to
change cipher
from radioactive elements at

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254
 192021

1
MILLION
THE NUMBER OF ISLETS OF
LANGERHANS IN THE PANCREAS
OF AN AVERAGE ADULT

These clusters of cells, called Islets of Langerhans, are the source of the hormone
insulin in the pancreas.

AMERICAN PHYSICIST ROBERT
GODDARD (18821945) had
recently published a treatise
promoting the idea of rocket
space travel. On 13 January 1920,
the New York Times ridiculed
Goddards views. A few years
later he successfully launched a
liquid-fuelled rocket (see 1926).
In 1920, British physician
Edward Mellanby (18841955)
showed that a plain porridge
diet caused a bone-softening
deformity called rickets. He
also found that the effects were
eliminated by supplementing
the diet with cod-liver oil. He
deduced that cod liver must
contain a factor that was needed
for essential growth. In 1922, this
factor was identied as Vitamin D.
Later research revealed that
BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION
The pancreas releases insulin
when blood sugar concentration
rises, such as after a meal. This
prompts the liver to convert
sugar to stored carbohydrate,
causing the blood sugar to drop.
When this happens, another
hormone, glucagon, is released,
prompting the liver to break
down stored carbohydrate
and release more sugar. The
combined effect of the two
hormones regulates the level
of sugar in the blood.
BCG vaccine during cell division) to coin a new
Consisting of a red light photon is low
scientic term genome. He
harmless strain of energy, however bright it is
used it in his book on biological
bovine TB bacteria blue light
(orange), the BCG reproduction to refer to a single
photons have
vaccine stimulates set of genetic material. more energy
the bodys immune In July 1921, the BCG (Bacille
system.
CalmetteGurin) vaccine
against tuberculosis (TB) was
exposure to ready for its rst human trial 15
the Suns rays years after Albert Calmette and
as blue light hits the metal
stimulates the Camille Gurin started developing surface, electrons are released
formation of it (see 1906). French physicians
Vitamin D in the Benjamin Weill-Hall (18751958) PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
body naturally. and Raymond Turpin (18951988)
In the same year, Arthur who showed that these elements administered the vaccine orally to The emission of electrons
Eddington suggested that a predominated in a star. a newborn infant whose mother from a metallic surface when
stars energy comes from the In Germany, botanist Hans had died of TB. It was the start of a light shines on it is called the
conversion of hydrogen to helium Winkler (18771945) combined successful vaccination programme photoelectric effect. Albert
by nuclear fusion. This was later the terms gene (the particle of that would extend worldwide. Einstein explained it in terms
supported by the ndings of inheritance) and chromosome In August, Canadian biologists of light particles with distinct
British astronomer Cecilia (solidied thread of genetic Frederick Banting (18911941) quantities of energy called
Payne-Gaposchkin (190079), material that becomes visible and Charles Best (18991978) photons. He said that photons
isolated insulin. It was known of red light (long wavelength)
that the pancreas produced a do not have enough energy to
secretion that regulated sugar allow electrons to be emitted,
high blood sugar
blood sugar levels in the body; the active but photons of blue light
raised ingredient had been called (short wavelength) do.
GLUCAGON insuline. However, the
promotes
adds sugar insulin release pancreas also produced digestive
to the blood
enzymes, and the destructive received the Nobel Prize for
inuence of these had always 1921, nearly two decades after
LIVER PANCREAS interfered with the extraction of his miracle year, 1905, when he
insulin. Banting developed a way had published several ground-
of tying off the digestive ducts so breaking theories. Einstein was
INSULIN
removes sugar promotes that insulin could be retrieved. awarded the prize for his services
from the blood glucagon release In 1921, the Nobel Committee to Theoretical Physics and
BLOOD CELLS for Physics decided that none of especially for his discovery of the
blood sugar low blood sugar the nominations satised the prize law of the photoelectric effect.
lowered criteria, and carried it over to the
next year. In 1922, Albert Einstein

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255
 1922 1923 1924
,, WE CAN
CONSIDER THAT
,, THE HISTORY

,,
FIRST PIECE OF OF ASTRONOMY IS A

,, HISTORY OF RECEDING
ORGANIC SLIME...
AS BEING THE FIRST
ORGANISM.
HORIZONS.
Edwin Hubble, American astronomer, from The Realm
A. Oparin, from Origin of Life, 1924 of the Nebulae, 1936

Edwin Hubble observes the stars through the

enormous Hooker Telescope in California.

RUSSIAN BIOCHEMIST Alexander
Oparin (18941980) proposed a
theory regarding the origins of
life. He claimed that the rst
living things had evolved from
non-living matter. He also
suggested that Earths earliest
atmosphere was highly reduced
that is, gases had an abundance of
bonded hydrogen atoms, just like
molecules in organisms. The
diversity of these gases provided
the other elements needed as
building blocks for these
molecules: methane as a source
of carbon, ammonia for nitrogen,
and water vapour for oxygen.
Oparin suggested that the gases
reacted to form a soup of
organic molecules, from which
the rst living cells evolved. In
1953, American chemist Stanley
Miller (19302007) would show
that organic molecules could be
made from non-organic ones.
Russian physicist Alexander
Friedmann (18881925) was
studying the curvature of space.
One of his models suggested
that the radius of the universe
was constantly increasing with
time. The idea of an expanding
universe would be independently
proposed by Belgian astronomer
Georges Lematre (see 1927);
and a few years later, the
American astronomer Edwin
Hubble would collect evidence
to suggest that galaxies were
indeed receding (see 192930).
IN OCTOBER, Edwin Hubble Lewis (18751946) and Merle amounts of chemical energy THE YEAR BEGAN with another
suggested that certain stars Randall (18881950) published associated with them depending important development in the
of the Andromeda nebula Thermodynamics and the Free on their chemical composition; eld of astronomy. In 1920,
were much further away than Energy of Chemical Substances, this affects their tendency to react. British astronomer Arthur
previously supposed even which explained chemical When a chemical reaction occurs, Eddington had proposed that a
beyond the Milky Way. His ndings reactions in terms of energy. substances change from one form stars energy came from the
were revolutionary, because at the In the 19th century, American to another and so does their nuclear fusion of hydrogen to
time scientists thought that physicist Willard Gibbs (1839 chemical energy. According to form helium, a theory later
the Milky Way was the extent 1903) had shown how the energy the laws of thermodynamics, supported by fellow British
of the entire universe. associated with chemical the total energy stays the same.
At about the same time, reactions could be quantied. So if products have less chemical
American chemists Gilbert Different substances have varied energy than reactants, then
some energy, such as heat, must
be released. In their book, Lewis
HYDROCHLORIC ACID SODIUM HYDROXIDE
and Merle introduced free
chlorine oxygen sodium energy values for different
atom atom atom substances, which would enable
Cl O
scientists to calculate energy
hydrogen hydrogen H Na
H changes associated with reactions.
atom atom
Chemists also redened acids
and bases. In 1884, 19th-century
hydrogen Swedish chemist Svante
ion hydroxyl ion
O Arrhenius had shown that acids
Cl H Na
+ and bases could be recognized
+ H
by a prevalence of hydrogen
(H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions
O respectively. Now, Danish
hydrogen ion from the hydroxyl ion
from sodium chemist Johannes Brnsted
hydrochloric acid H H
acts as an electron hydroxide acts as (18791947) and British chemist
accepter WATER MOLECULE an electron donor Martin Lowry (18741936)
independently dened them in
ACIDBASE THEORY terms of hydrogen ions alone:
an acid donates hydrogen ions
This theory denes acids and bases in terms of electrons. Acids are and a base accepts them. Gilbert
electron acceptors: that is, they release positively charged hydrogen Lewis took this one step further
ions (protons), which readily combine with negative electrons. Bases and explained them in terms
are electron donors they provide the electron that the hydrogen of electrons the negative
ions accept. Many bases called alkalis release electron-rich subatomic particles that
hydroxyl ions, which then react with hydrogen ions to form water. determine the chemical
properties of all substances.

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256
 2.5
MILLION
THE NUMBER OF LIGHT
YEARS ANDROMEDA
IS FROM EARTH

Andromeda lies far beyond our own Milky Way. It has long arms
spiralling out from a bulging centre.

astronomer Cecilia Payne, later,
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
(190079). In March, Eddington
published his analysis of the
relationship between a stars
mass and its luminosity
(brightness). Although a stars
brightness increases with its
mass, the link between the two is
not a simple one, because bigger
stars have disproportionately
greater luminosities. However,
with Eddingtons mathematical
equation, it became possible to
calculate a stars mass from its
measured luminosity. This had
important implications for
understanding the life cycle of
stars, as the more massive stars
have shorter lifespans.
In November, French physicist
Louis de Broglie (18921987)
published an idea that would
revolutionize scientists
perception of atoms. He
suggested that matter like
light could have both particle-
and wave-like properties. He
devised a way to calculate the
theoretical wavelength of a
particle, such as an electron.
He found that the wavelength
values diminished to almost
negligible levels for particles
above the size of an atom, but
for subatomic particles they
were more signicant. A few
years later, experimental
evidence would suggest that
de Broglies idea was right:
electrons diffracted in wavelike
ways, just like light.
At the end of 1924, more than
a year after he had observed that
certain stars were farther away
than the other stars in the Milky
Way, Edwin Hubble announced
that Andromeda was not a
spiral nebula, as was previously
thought, but an entire galaxy,
Luminous star
As a star slowly expodes, nuclear
reactions at its core release energy
as light. Eddingtons equation made
it possible to determine a stars
mass based on its luminosity in
general, the brighter a star burns,
the greater its mass.
WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY
Electrons red through a thin sheet concentric rings on
luminescent screen
of graphite onto a luminescent
screen form a pattern of rings.
These kinds of rings ordinarily arise
when diffracted (scattered) waves,
such as those of light, interfere with
one another. This indicates that
electrons, conventionally regarded
as subatomic particles, must have
wave-like properties too.
equivalent to Milky Way. Heber Curtis (18721942). Shapley
Andromeda stars can be more had argued that the Milky Way
than 20 times the distance of the dened the extent of the universe,
farthest stars of the Milky Way. but Eddingtons results supported
The revelation settled the Great Curtiss view that a multi-galactic
Debate of 1920 held at the universe was much bigger.
Smithsonian Museum of Natural
History, USA, between American
astronomers Harlow Shapley and
ARTHUR EDDINGTON (18821944)
Born into a Quaker family,
Arthur Eddington studied at
Cambridge University, UK,
before pursuing a career in
astronomy. He tested Albert
Einsteins general theory of
relativity during a solar eclipse
in West Africa, and formulated
theories concerning the life
of stars. He was awarded a
knighthood in 1930, followed
by the Order of Merit in 1938.

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 1925 1926
,, THE BEST THAT MOST OF US CAN

,,
HOPE TO ACHIEVE IN PHYSICS IS
SIMPLY TO MISUNDERSTAND AT
A DEEPER LEVEL.
Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian physicist, in a letter to Jagdish Mehra in
Berkeley, California, 1958

Two ventriloquists dolls became the rst TV personalities when John Logie Baird demonstrated
his television system to scientists of the Royal Institution and members of the press.

SCOTTISH ENGINEER JOHN In May, John Scopes (190070),
LOGIE BAIRD (18881946) had of Tennessee, USA, was arrested
been experimenting with for teaching Darwins theory of
transmitting moving images and evolution, which was prohibited
now, using a semi-mechanical in the states schools. He was
device, he achieved it. In March, tried, found guilty, and ned $100.
television was demonstrated in Quantum physics had shown
a London department store. At how the electrons of an atom
rst images were silhouettes, but existed in xed energy levels, but
by October, he was transmitting Austrian physicist Wolfgang
pictures with greyscale made Pauli (190058) went further
up of 30 vertical lines running at with his Exclusion Principle
ve pictures per second. saying that no two particles could
occupy the same
quantum state at the
same time. Later, two
categories of particles
would be distinguished
matter-associated
particles (fermions) that
obeyed Paulis principle,
and force-associated
particles (bosons) that
did not (see 1974).
The German Atlantic
Meteor Expedition began
to survey the oceans oor
and discovered an
unbroken ridge running
from north to south.
IN JANUARY, JOHN LOGIE BAIRD
was back showing off his
improved television. This time it
was to members of the Royal
Institution in London, UK. He now
achieved clearer images with
tonal gradation of greys.
Although the images were still
blurred, Baird had increased the
picture frequency, so the
movements were smoother.
Austrian physicist Erwin
Schrodinger (18871961)
examined earlier suggestions
that matter was both particle-
like and wave-like in nature.
Schrodinger calculated a
particles distribution of energy
in space its wave function and
urged that the wave idea alone
was critical to understanding
reality. His work would be the
basis for quantum mechanics.
Six years after the New York
Times had ridiculed his
suggestion that a rocket was a James Sumner (18871955)
possibility, American physicist made a breakthrough in
Robert Goddard (18821945)
launched one. Using his specially
QUANTUM THEORY
developed liquid fuel, Goddards
rocket reached a height of 12 m
(40 ft) in less than three seconds.
In August, American chemist
came to be used to describe a
particle of light energy.
biochemistry. By grinding up jack
beans, he had isolated crystals
The rst rocket
Robert Goddard launched
the rst liquid-fuel rocket
on his aunts farm in
Massachusetts, USA. Three
people witnessed the event:
his wife, his machinist, and
a fellow physicist.
of the enzyme urease.
Enzymes are substances
found in living tissues
that speed up the
chemical reactions of
metabolism. When
Sumner analysed his
crystals, he found that
they were protein.
In this way, he had
demonstrated that
biological enzymes
were proteins.
In December, another American
chemist, Gilbert Lewis (1875
1946), coined the term photon
for a unit of radiant energy. It
PVC, polyvinyl chloride (often
called vinyl), made its rst

Atlantic Ridge
Mid-Atlantic ridge
The complementary shapes
of Atlantic coastlines
suggest that they were once
joined together. This ridge
shows where new seaoor
has pushed them part.
The introduction of quantum theory was a pivotal
point in early 20th century physics that began with
Max Plancks explanation of black body radiation
(see 1900). The theory is based on the idea that
energy exists in discrete parcels, or quanta (from
the Latin quantus, meaning how much). These
parcels equate to the xed quantities of energy
absorbed or emitted by atoms. This is realized as
specic wavelengths of radiation, each associated
with particular quanta of energy: red light
wavelength is transmitted by low-energy parcels
and blue light by high energy ones. Danish physicist
Niels Bohr explained this in terms of the atoms
electrons moving between energy levels, or orbits.

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258
 1927
,,I WAS ABLE TO TRANSMIT
THE LIVING IMAGE, AND IT WAS

,,
THE FIRST TIME IT HAD BEEN DONE.
BUT HOW TO CONVINCE THE
SCEPTICAL SCIENTIFIC WORLD?
John Logie Baird, Scottish engineer, in The Times, 28 January 1926

A computer-generated simulated image of a particle collision shows matter

thought to have been produced microseconds after the Big Bang.

THE YEAR STARTED WITH A the more accurately a particles When Lematre presented his
green plants take carbon dioxide in MILESTONE in communication position is measured, the less conclusions to the British
in carbon dioxide the atmosphere
with photosynthesis,
technology. On January 7th, accurately it is possible to Association in 1931, he
and release it with a collaboration between the determine its movement, and elaborated upon his theory,
respiration American Telephone and vice versa. Later, the Copenhagen suggesting the Universe had
animals take in carbon
with food, and release
Telegraph Company and Britains Interpretation stated that it is originated from a primeval atom.
bacteria, worms General Post Ofce opened the impossible to experimentally His exploding cosmic egg model
it in breathing and
and fungi give out
carbon dioxide
their dung rst transatlantic telephone measure wave-like and particle- anticipated the work of American
as they feed service. On its rst day 31 calls like properties at the same time. astronomer Edwin Hubble (see
and respire were made between London While Baird worked in London 1929) and was the forerunner of
and New York. on his television, the American the Big Bang theory.
fossil fuels
(coal, oil, and
A further development came Bell Telephone Company was
bodies of dead
gas) store carbon plants and
in the eld of quantum physics. also developing the technology.
until burned animals add Erwin Schrodinger had laid the In April, Bell had a breakthrough
carbon to the soil foundations of quantum when the company sent the rst
mechanics with his description long-distance TV transmission
THE CARBON CYCLE of the wave-like characteristics using the semi-mechanical
of particles. Now, German television from Washington to
At the heart of Vladimir Vernadskys book The Biosphere are physicist Werner Heisenberg New York. Five months later,
his ideas about natures constant recycling of matter. Elemental (190176) reasoned that the wave American inventor Philo
atoms react and recombine in different ways. Carbon atoms in function of a particle could not Farnsworth (190671)
complex organic materials of living things animals, plants, and be localized to a specic point introduced a way of scanning
soil bacteria are respired into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, in space and have a denable and transmitting electronically.
before reacting to make plant sugars in photosynthesis. wavelength. Heisenberg Russian-American inventor
developed this as his Vladimir Zworykin (18881982) WERNER HEISENBERG
Uncertainty Principle. Its was working on similar technology (190176)
appearance in its modern form. Biosphere. In it he described consequences are extraordinary: at the same time, but it was
Chemists had been making this some of the main ideas behind a Farnsworth who made it a reality. Heisenberg studied physics
chemical polymer since the concept today referred to as the In April, Belgian astronomer at the universities of Munich
1800s, but American chemist ecosystem: a system where Georges Lematre (18941966) and Gttingen, where he met
Waldo Semon (18981999) found living things interact with published a scientic paper Niels Bohr in 1922. In 1925,
a way of making it malleable and non-living matter. Verdansky containing a revolutionary theory: he developed a mathematical
less brittle. It would become one recognized that all life on Earth that the Universe is expanding. way of understanding
of the most widely used plastics. relies upon solar energy, and quantum physics called
Russian geochemist Vladimir that particles of matter undergo Electron clouds matrix mechanics. He
Vernadsky (18631945) had a process of recycling. Modern quantum physics has derived his Uncertainty
been working on theories that revised the idea that atoms such Principle before working on
as this helium atom have electrons
unied geology and biology, the German nuclear energy
in xed orbits. A more realistic
Earth and life. He published his interpretation sees electrons project in World War II.
thoughts in a book called The existing as clouds of probability.

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 18 9 5 194 5 T H E ATO M I C AG E

hard moulded
single loudspeaker bakelite shell
Bakelite radio
Bakelite is a good insulator, which is why
it is used for electrical appliances such
as this 1950s Tesla Talisman radio. It is
also tough and shiny, and can be dyed
and moulded into domestic appliances,
including telephones and kitchenware.

1862
Parkesine
Alexander Parkes
develops the rst
plastic parkesine.
It is used to make the
rst cheap buttons.
1887
Celluloid
American John Hyatt and Englishman
Daniel Spill both develop a material
called celluloid that is similar to
parkesine. It is used to make exible
lm for photographs to replace
Parkesine glass plates. This is a crucial step
buttons for movie making.
1909
Bakelite
American chemist Leo Baekeland
rst develops bakelite by treating
phenol resin made from coal tar with
formaldehyde. It is the rst entirely
synthetic plastic. Not only can it
be moulded, like earlier plastics, but
Celluloid lm once it sets it is hard and heatproof.

1872 1894 1912

PVC Viscose rayon Cellophane
This extemely tough Two English chemists Cellophane, a thin,
plastic is rst produce a synthetic material transparent sheet made
developed in 1872 called viscose (rayon) by of processed cellulose,
by German chemist reconstituting wood bres is rst developed.
Eugen Baumann. in sodium hydroxide It provides an airtight
It is thought to be Viscose and spinning them wrapping and is useful
Golf ball useless until the 1920s. bres into thread. Sweet wrappers for packaging food.

260
 T H E S TO R Y O F P L A S T I C S

THE STORY OF
PLASTICS
BY THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY THE AGE OF PLASTICS HAD ARRIVED, TRANSFORMING MANY INDUSTRIES AND THE HOME

Plastic is one of the most remarkable of all manmade materials, used in

everything from spaceships and computers to bottles and artificial body
parts. What gives plastic its special quality is the shape of its molecules.
Most plastics are made from long organic molecules known as polymers.

In the mid-19th century, people knew that 32

cellulose (the woody substance in plants) 28 KEY
Production
could be made into a brittle substance called
24 Recycling
cellulose nitrate. In 1862, British chemist
MILLION TONS

20
Alexander Parkes added camphor to it,
producing a tough but mouldable plastic 16

called parkesine. In 1869, American 12

inventor John Hyatt created a similar 8
substance called celluloid, which was used
4
to make photographic lm by Kodak in
0
1889. Today there are thousands of synthetic 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
plastics, each with their own properties and YEAR
uses. Many are still based on hydrocarbons Production and recycling of plastics
(oil or natural gas), but in recent decades In recent years, there have been concerted attempts to RECYCLING
carbon bres and other materials have been recycle plastics, made easier by the establishment of
recycling centres and collection services. However, the
added to create superlight, superstrong slight rise in recycled plastic lags far behind the soaring Plastics are widely used because they are durable
plastics such as Kevlar and CNRP. production of new plastics, as this graph clearly shows. and tough, but they are not biodegradable. Once
disposed of, they linger in the environment for
a very long time. The vast amount of waste plastic
,,
,,
now in the oceans maybe hundreds of millions
I THOUGHT I SHOULD MAKE SOMETHING of tonnes is damaging marine wildlife. It is

REALLY SOFT INSTEAD THAT COULD BE important to reduce plastic use and recycle as
much as possible. Not all plastics can be recycled
MOLDED INTO DIFFERENT SHAPES. easily, and it takes energy to heat the plastic
to reform it, so recycling rates are low.
Leo Baekeland, Belgian chemist, on inventing bakelite

1926 1935 1937 1966

Vinyl
American chemist Waldo
Semon exposes PVC
to heat and a range of
chemicals to produce
vinyl. It is used to make
objects ranging from
shoes to shampoo bottles.
Nylon Teon Kevlar
American chemist Wallace PTFE, or Teon, is invented American chemist
Carothers invents nylon, the rst by American chemist Stephanie Kwolek spins
thermoplastic it is liquid when Roy Plunket. It is not heat-resistant bres
hot and sets hard when it cools. made from hydrocarbons from liquid hydrocarbons.
Best known for its use in but from uorine joined These bres can be
stockings, it has Nylon to carbon, and is often used woven together to make
many other uses. toothbrush in frying pans. Teon frying pan materials such as Kevlar. Bulletproof Kevlar

1933 1936 1954 1991

Polythene Polystyrene Polypropylene CNRP
British chemists Eric Fawcett and Styrol is the oily This rugged plastic Japanese physicist
Reginald Gibson create practical substance in the resin resists many solvents Sumio Iijima rolls
polythene in 1933, although it was of Turkish sweetgum and acids. It has carbon molecules
rst made in 1898. It is tough, soft, trees. In 1936 German uses ranging from into nanotubes.
and exible, and is chemical company wrapping to bottles These can reinforce
now the most widely Polythene I G Farben use it to for medical Polyproylene plastic to make Carbon nanotube
used of all plastics. crop tunnel produce polystyrene. chemicals. rope strong, light CNRP. molecule

261
 1928
,, MY PART IN THE STORY WAS
THAT I SAW SOMETHING UNUSUAL

,,
AND APPRECIATED SOMETHING OF
ITS IMPORTANCE SO I SET TO
WORK ON IT.
Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, address to the
University of Edinburgh, 1952

The Penicillium mould is a common fungus, spread by spores from the capsules
seen here; some species produce the penicillin seen by Fleming.

THE YEAR BEGAN WITH
EXPERIMENTAL CONFIRMATION
that characteristics and
inheritance were determined by
a chemical substance. British
physician Frederick Grifth
(18791941) studied strains of
pneumonia bacteria, some of
which could cause disease, while
others were harmless. Grifths
work indicated that a
transforming factor could move
from the harmful bacteria to
others and make them harmful
too (see panel, below). This
factor would later be identied
as DNA (see 194344).
Another advance came in
physics. Austrian physicist Erwin
Schrdinger had described the
wave function of a particle (see
BACTERIAL TRANSFORMATION
Pneumococcus bacteria exist
in harmless (rough) and
harmful (smooth) forms.
Frederick Grifth found that
bacteria can exchange a
chemical that changes these
characteristics. Heat-killed
harmful bacteria fail to cause
an infection on their own, but
if mixed with living harmless
bacteria, a substance moves
from dead bacteria to living
ones, changing them into
harmful forms that kill the
mouse and appear in its blood.
1926). Now British physicist Paul
Dirac described a new form of
Schrdingers wave equation for
electrons. As a result, he
predicted a new class of matter
called anti-electrons, which had
positive, instead of negative,
charges. Diracs work was the
rst modern theory of
antimatter. The anti-electrons
would later be discovered and
renamed positrons (see 1932
33). It would also become evident
that corresponding antimatter
particles existed for most
subatomic particles.
In September the previous year,
Britains John Logie Baird had
sent his technical assistant to
New York to prepare for the
biggest test of his television
rough harmless smooth deadly
bacteria bacteria
(strain S)
(strain R)
MOUSE HEALTHY MOUSE DIES
live strain S bacteria in blood
sample from dead mouse
system so far: a transatlantic
transmission. After several false
starts, success came at
midnight, London time, on
8 February 1928. Baird himself
briey appeared as a fuzzy image
on screen in America.
In the wake of World War I,
Scottish biologist Alexander
Fleming (18811955) was
developing ways of ghting
infections that went beyond the
routine use of antiseptics, which
,,
IF YOU ARE RECEPTIVE
AND HUMBLE, MATHEMATICS
WILL LEAD YOU
Paul Dirac, British physicist, 27 November 1975
heat-killed heat-killed
smooth deadly smooth deadly
(strain S) (strain S
rough
harmless
(strain R)
MOUSE HEALTHY MOUSE DIES
were often ineffective for serious
wounds. As part of his research,
Fleming had been growing
cultures of infectious bacteria.
On 3 September, in his laboratory
at St Marys Hospital, London,
Fleming noticed that one of his
cultures had become
contaminated: a mould had
spread on the culture dish.
But signicantly, just around the
spreading mould there was a
region that was clear of bacteria.
,,
PAUL DIRAC (190284)
British physicist Paul Dirac
held the Lucasian Chair of
Mathematics at Cambridge
University, UK, from 1932 to
1969. He advanced quantum
physics by applying it to
Clearly, the mould was producing Einsteins theory of relativity
something that had killed the (see pp.24445). His work on
bacteria. Fleming took samples the quantum wave equations
of the mould, cultivated it, and predicted the existence of
identied it as Penicillium. The antimatter. In 1993 he shared
following year he called the the Nobel Prize for Physics
active ingredient of his anti- with Erwin Schrdinger.
bacterial mould juice penicillin.
Despite his efforts, Fleming was
A medical breakthrough of a
unable to isolate penicillin in its
raw chemical form, but he did different kind came in Sydney,
preserve his culture of mould. In Australia. In 1926, physicians
the following decades penicillin Mark Lidwell (18781969) and
would not only be puried then Edgar Booth (18931963) had
manufactured, but also lauded devised a portable plug-in
as one of the rst effective articial heart pacemaker.
antibiotic cures of bacterial In 1928 they used it to revive
infection (see 194041). a stillborn infant.

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262
192930

46
BILLION
THE SIZE OF THE
UNIVERSE VISIBLE FROM
EARTH IN LIGHT YEARS

This image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reveals some of the most distant galaxies
in the Universe. They are billions of light years beyond the foreground stars.

BY 1920 ASTRONOMERS HAD expanding. In 1929, US

REALIZED that the Universe was
not centred on our Milky Way, but
rather that the Milky Way was a
single galaxy amongst many
others. As the decade passed,
another still more extraordinary
revelation came to light. It
appeared that the Universe
did not have a xed nite size.
Astronomers had discovered
that the light spectrum of stars
carried wavelengths that were
stretching out towards the red
end of the spectrum which they
called redshift (see panel,
right). This redshift indicated that
these stars were moving away. In
other words, the Universe is
First colour television
demonstration
Open doors reveal the televisions
working parts. Light is directed at
the operator through a scanning disc
(centre) onto photoelectric cells (left).
astronomer Edwin Hubble
(18891953) explained this
relationship and noted that the
most distant galaxies were
receding at the fastest rate.
This later became known as
Hubbles Law.
Television technology took
another step forward in June
1929 when the Bell Laboratory
in the USA demonstrated the
rst colour image transmission.
The subjects they used were
chosen for maximum impact:
a woman with owers and
the US ag.
In April 1930, US chemist
Elmer Bolton (18861968) made
one of the rst synthetic rubbers.
A derivative of acetylene, it was
later called neoprene. More
corrosion-resistant than natural
rubber, neoprene was suitable
for use in extreme conditions,
REDSHIFT AND BLUESHIFT
The movement of a light-
emitting object, such as a
galaxy, affects its visible light
spectrum. If an object is
moving away, its wavelengths
appear stretched out. As
longer wavelengths belong to
red light, this is described as a
redshift. Movement towards
the observer squashes up the
wavelengths, giving a blueshift.
Galaxies exhibit a redshift, so
they are moving away.
such as for hoses and re-
resistant coatings.
Photographs taken at the
Lowell Observatory in Arizona
in March 1917 had recorded the
faint image of a body that
became known as X. In
February 1930, American
astronomer Clyde Tombaugh
(190697) conrmed that X was a
planet, and in May, it was given
its name: Pluto.
Two years after Alexander
Fleming made his accidental
discovery of penicillin, this new
antibiotic had its rst curative
use. British physician Cecil
George Paine (190594), a
former student of Fleming, had
taken samples of the mould to
his workplace in Shefeld, UK. In
August 1930, he successfully
object recedes wavelength
is stretched
object appears redder
light leaves the object REDSHIFT
wavelength
object approaches is squashed
object appears bluer
light leaves the object BLUESHIFT
used its ltrate to treat
eye infections.
Paul Dirac (see panel,
opposite) used quantum
physics theory to
correctly predict the
existence of antimatter.
In 1930, he published
Principles of Quantum
Mechanics, which for
decades would be the
standard textbook.
Existence of Pluto
These two photographs of
the sky taken in 1930 on
different nights show a
body (arrowed) that has
changed position, which
indicates that it is closer
than surrounding stars.
The body was a planet and
was given the name Pluto.

29 n- Carl e y r
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ev 263
 1931 193233
,, IT IS A MIRACLE THAT DIFFICULTIES

,,
HAVE BEEN SOLVED TO AN EXTENT THAT
SO MANY SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES
CAN REAP ITS BENEFITS.
Ernst Ruska, Nobel lecture on electron microscopy, 8 December 1986

Ernst Ruska worked with the German company Siemens and Halske Between these bright galaxies lies
to produce the rst commercial electron microscope in 1939. invisible dark matter.

THE 1930S WITNESSED THE
BIRTH OF TECHNOLOGIES that
would help to reveal the secrets
of the microscopic world.
Physicists had devised ways of
ring charged particles at very
high speeds so that they could
study resulting collision
products. They did this with
accelerators that shot particle
beams through evacuated tubes
and used electric elds to keep
them going. In 1931, American
physicist Ernest Lawrence
(190158) invented a new kind of
particle accelerator with a
spiral centre called a cyclotron,
designed to shoot hydrogen ions.
His rst model had a diameter of
12.5 cm (5 in) and energized ions
with 80,000 electron volts
(energy acquired by an electron
as it accelerates through the
potential of one volt). Lawrences
team went on to make ever more
powerful cyclotrons. By 1946, his
laboratory at Berkeley, California,
had built a 440-cm (173-in)
,,
hollow semi- protons The rst working cyclotron
circular electrode nish path Protons enter the cyclotron
here and, as voltage
lament
switches between
creates protons electrodes, they are
from hydrogen drawn from one to the
other, speeding up each
time they cross over.
hydrogen
gas intake
hollow semi-
circular electrode
smaller wavelength than
that of visible light beams
protons enter at
of electrons. He used powerful
centre and spiral electromagnetic elds instead
outwards of glass lenses to bend the
radiation the stronger
tube connected the eld, the greater the
to power source magnication that could be
acheived. Ruskas electron
microscope allowed for
device powered by 100 million extremely large magnications,
electron volts. and scientists could examine tiny
The particles targeted by molecules, possibly even atoms.
physicists are billions of times
smaller than the smallest DEUTERIUM, OR HEAVY HYDROGEN
objects that can be seen with
light microscopes. Until 1930, all Heavy hydrogen (deuterium)
microscopes magnied images accounts for fewer than one
Meanwhile, chemistry was
making advances. German
chemist Eric Hckel (18961980)
was using quantum physics (the
physics of ultra-small particles)
to build more realistic ideas
about the nature of chemical
bonds and proposed a theory
that described them in terms
of the behaviour of electrons
within molecules.
In November, American
chemist Harold Clayton Urey
(18931981) made a discovery
about hydrogen atoms the
smallest and lightest of all
elements. He found a heavier
variety (isotope) of hydrogen.
A hydrogen nucleus contains a
single proton, but this heavier
isotope (later called deuterium)
had a nucleus with an extra new
subatomic particle that would
not be identied until 1932.
single
electron
ERNEST RUTHERFORD HAD
PREDICTED the existence of a
second proton-sized subatomic
particle (see 1919). In 1932,
British physicist James
Chadwick (18911974) examined
a type of radiation that could
knock protons from atoms and
found Rutherfords missing
particle: the neutron. Atomic
capabilities advanced in April,
when British and Irish physicists
John Cockcroft (18971967) and
Ernest Walton (190395) split
lithium atoms into helium
atoms (see panel, opposite).
British physicist Paul Dirac
had predicted the existence of
anti-particles of electrons (see
1928). Conrmation came in
August 1932 when American
physicist Carl Anderson
(190591) studied trails of
charged particles in a detector
called a cloud chamber and
found that some electron-like
particles were positive instead
of negatively charged.

600,000
using conventional optics that in 6,000 of Earths hydrogen
IT MAY refract (bend) light rays using atoms. All hydrogen atoms
BRING TO LIGHT... lenses. However, the wavelength have a single proton (positively single

A DEEPER of light, which is measured in 10 charged particle), so have an HYDROGEN proton

,,
KNOWLEDGE OF
thousandths of a millimetre, atomic number of 1 (see panel, single
electron
THE NUMBER
1913). Normal hydrogen has
OF VOLTS
restricts the amount of detail
THE STRUCTURE that can be seen in objects that only one particle in its nucleus.
OF MATTER. approach this size. German Deuterium has an additional proton and NEEDED TO
Physicist Ernst Ruska (190688)
found a radical way to solve this
particle a neutron (particle
with no charge) in its nucleus.
neutron
DEUTERIUM
SPLIT THE
ATOM
Ernest Lawrence, Nobel Prize
speech, 29 November 1940 problem using radiation with a

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Co hat e p
264 t
22.5
PER CENT
THE PROPORTION
OF THE UNIVERSE
MADE OF DARK
MATTER

lithium helium atom with

nucleus 2 protons and
(3 protons, 2 neutrons
proton 4 neutrons)

proton fuses with

proton lithium and the helium atom
collides with reaction splits it into with 2 protons
lithium atom helium atoms and 2 neutrons

SPLITTING THE ATOM

Transmutation of elements was rst achieved by changing

nitrogen to oxygen (see 1917). In 1932, John Cockcroft and Ernest
Walton used a similar technique to split lithium. Lithium atoms
are the lightest of any metal and contain just three protons. When
an extra proton collides with an atom, a nuclear reaction occurs:
the four-neutron, four-proton total splits into two helium atoms.

In 1932, Hans Krebs (190081), suggested. This indicated the

a German-born biochemist,
was looking at how the body
processes waste nitrogen.
Excess amino acids (the building
blocks of protein) are recycled
into carbohydrate. Krebs
discovered the cycle of chemical
reactions used by liver cells to
process the nitrogen content
into a compound called urea,
which is excreted by the body.
Dutch and Swiss astronomers
Jan Oort (190081) and Fritz
Zwicky (18981974) discovered
an anomaly in galaxies: they
were much larger than the
quantity of star material
existence of a type of matter not
previously detected. It became
known as dark matter because
it neither emits nor absorbs light.
In July 1933, Polish-born
chemist Tadeus Reichstein
(18971996) became the rst
person to make a vitamin by
articial means when he made
ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
Positronelectron tracks
Charged particles appear to shoot
upwards and shower down, forming
tracks. In a magnetic eld, negative
electrons coil one way and positive
particles (positrons) the other.

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265
 18 9 5 194 5 T H E ATO M I C AG E

UNDERSTANDING
RADIOACTIVITY
THE DISCOVERY THAT SOME ELEMENTS ARE RADIOACTIVE TRIGGERED A REVOLUTION IN PHYSICS

In 1896, French physicist Henri Becquerel found that compounds containing

uranium produce invisible radiation. Within months, Polish scientist Marie
Curie showed that the rays emanate from the uranium atoms themselves,
and in 1898 she coined a term to describe the phenomenon: radioactivity.

beta particle
(electron)
atom of
uranium-238 atomic mass (total number alpha particle
of protons and neutrons) (two protons and
unchanged after beta decay two neutrons)

atomic mass
drops by four PIERRE AND MARIE CURIE
after alpha Husband and wife team Pierre and Marie Curie carried
decay out pioneering work in radioactivity, and discovered two
previously unknown elements: radium and polonium.

Uranium
-
238
The most
Thorium
-

U-238 is
co
isotope o mmon
f uranium
rad
,
234 Protactin
ium-
and unde ioactive, The result
alpha dec
Half-life:
rgoes
ay.
in
nuclide is g
a
radioactive lso
,
234 Uranium
-
4.5 billion undergoe and Beta deca
years.
decay. Ha
24 days.
s beta
lf-life: to 91. The
y
the proto changes
n numbe
re
r
234 Thorium
-
nuclide u sulting The proto
nd
beta deca ergoes
y.
7 hours. Half-life:
n
is back to number
9
uranium-2 2, and
3
230 Radium-
undergoe 4 Thorium-2
s
decay. Ha alpha
lf-l
250,000 ye ife:
ars.
is unstab 0
3
le,
decays by and
a
226 Radon-
decay, los lpha The result
in
protons a g two
nd
neutrons two
thorium-2 f
decay is a
o
30s alpha
no
222 Polonium
Marie Curie showed that the rays produced by .H
75,000 ye alf-life: radionuc ther Accumula -
uranium could cause air to become electrically
ars. lid
radium-2 e,
26
life: 1,600 . Half-
ti
radon ga ons of
s re
from radio leased
a
218
charged (ionized). With her husband Pierre, she years. rocks can ctive Radon-22
create 2s
found that this ionizing radiation was also a health h daughter
a nucleus
produced by other elements. The source of the Half-life: zard. is the sho
4 days. rt
(highly ra -lived
dio
rays is the atomic nucleus. radionuc active)
lid
proton large separation creates polonium e
-2
THE ATOMIC NUCLEUS small repulsive force Half-life: 18.
3 minute
s.
The nucleus is composed of two types of nucleon
large repulsive force
particles: protons and neutrons. Protons carry created by close proximity
positive charge, so they repel each other, but proton

the strong nuclear force binds the nucleons

together. The number of protons in the nucleus
indicates the element to which an atom belongs. BALANCE OF FORCES
strong nuclear The repulsive (electrostatic) force between
There are different versions (isotopes) of each force binds protons is stronger the closer the protons
neutron
element, which differ in their number of together protons are to each other. The strong nuclear force
and neutrons binds protons and neutrons tightly together,
neutrons. A particular combination of protons
strong nuclear but it only acts over an incredibly short
and neutrons is called a nuclide or, if unstable, force is stronger range. This is the main reason why larger
proton
a radionuclide. than repulsion nuclei tend to be unstable.

266
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G R A D I OACT I V I T Y

100
RADIOACTIVE DECAY EFFECTS OF RADIOACTIVITY

PERCENTAGE OF SAMPLE REMAINING

90
At some point, an unstable nucleus will Radioactivity generates heat, and this is
80
disintegrate, or decay. The two most common 70
after eight days, 50 per harnessed by the radioisotope thermal
types of decay are called alpha decay and beta cent of the sample is left generators that power unmanned space
60
decay (see below). In each case, the nucleus 50 after 16 days, 25 per cent satellites and probes. Radioactive substances
always has excess energy to lose, and that energy 40 of the sample remains pose a threat to health, because their ionizing
is carried away by very short-wavelength, high- 30 effect can damage chemical bonds in compounds
energy gamma radiation. The probability that a 20 essential to life. This can cause a general
particular atom will decay is xed, but there is 10 malaise, called radiation sickness. Damage to
no way of telling when it will happen. However, DNA inside cells can cause mutations that can
8 16 24 32 40
in a sample containing a large number of atoms result in cancers. Ironically perhaps, radioactive
TIME (DAYS)
of the same radioactive element, it always substances are also used in medicine
takes exactly the same amount of time for half HALF-LIFE particularly in radiotherapy to treat cancer.
This graph shows the decay curve of a sample of a
the atoms to decay; that period is known as the radionuclide with an eight-day half-life. Every eight days,
element's half-life. the number of atoms of that radionuclide halves.

nucleus (protons neutron has become

and neutrons) a proton

electron electron

alpha particle
(two protons
and two
beta particle
neutrons)
(electron)

ALPHA DECAY BETA DECAY RADIOTHERAPY

An unstable nucleus jettisons a particle made up of two Inside some unstable nuclei, a neutron may spontaneously During radiotherapy, radiation is used to kill cancer cells.
protons and two neutrons: an alpha particle. This makes the become a proton, emitting an electron at the same time. The radiation must be carefully controlled, because it
nucleus smaller, which sometimes results in greater stability. In this case, the electron is known as a beta particle. can damage healthy cells as well as cancerous ones.

160
RADIOACTIVE DECAY CHAIN
Elements are dened by the number of protons in the
nuclei of their atoms. Decay changes the proton number, so
the daughter nucleus is of a different element. Often the
daughter nucleus is also radioactive, and sometimes the
process continues in a decay chain like the one shown here.
GRAMS OF POTASSIUM ARE
CONTAINED IN THE HUMAN
BODY AND AROUND 4,400
ATOMS DECAY PER SECOND

Lead-

214
Polonium
Bismuth
- stable nuclide

its daugh
-2
an alpha 18 emits
particle, a
te
nd
214 Polonium
-
lead-214 r nucleus, The result
is also
radioactive
.
27 minute Half-life:
lead-214s f
m
o
b
decay, bis eta
214 Lead-
s. also unde uth-214, Polonium

20 minute
rg
decay.Ha oes beta
lf-life: unstable,
-2
is extrem 14
ely
so
210 Bismuth
-
s. very short has a The radio
h
Half-life: alf-life.
0.0
seconds. 002 by alpha d
nu
lead-210 clide
formed
e
210 Polonium
polonium cay of Bismuth-2 -
-2
itself uns 14 is
ta
Half-life: ble.
undergoe 0
s
1
decay to p beta
ro
210 Lead-
22 years. polonium duce This subs
Half-life:
-210.
5 days.
ta
been use nce has
d as a
radioactive
206
in assass poison The end o
f th
in
Half-life: ations. decay cha e long
in
138 days. a stable n is
uc
lead-206. lide,
267
 1934 1935

The husband-and-wife team Irne and Frdric Joliot-Curie continued the In the rainforest's ecosystem, the living organisms vegetation and animals interact with the non-living air
work of Marie Curie Irnes mother after she died in 1934. and soil through the release and absorption of carbon dioxide and the exchange of nutrients.

FRENCH CHEMISTS Irne
(18971956) and Frdric
Joliot-Curie (190058)
demonstrated that it was
possible to induce articial
radioactivity. They created
nuclear reactions by making
high-energy particles collide with
the nuclei of atoms. In February,
they published their ndings on
making radioactive isotopes
(variants) of phosphorus and
nitrogen by ring alpha particles
at non-radioactive targets.
Meanwhile, Italian physicist
Enrico Fermi (190154) decided to
use recently discovered subatomic
particles called neutrons (see
193233), instead of alpha
particles, in nuclear reactions. He
worked his way up the periodic
table to see how different
Pistol shrimp
The snapping sound of this shrimp's
enlarged pincer produces enough
energy in a fraction of a second to
release heat and light as well as
stun its prey.
elements captured the neutrons.
At the time nobody thought that
neutrons would have enough
energy to split a heavier atom.
But then, in January 1934, Fermi
succeeded in splitting uranium
by bombarding it with neutrons.
Fermi thought he had made
the rst transuranium element
(an elements with an atomic
number above 92, uranium), but
he had in fact achieved atomic
ssion (see 1938).
German astronomer Walter
Baade (18931960) and his
Swiss counterpart Fritz Zwicky
suggested that the smallest,
densest stars that could be
detected were made of neutrons.
It was later conrmed that a
neutron star is the remnant of
a star that has exploded and is
towards the end of its life.
While experimenting with
ultrasound, German scientists
H. Frenzel and H. Schultes
noticed that high-frequency
sound affected photographic
plates indicating light
production. Known as
sonoluminescence, this
occurs when sound
creates underwater
bubbles that focus its
energy a trillion times,
creating ashes of light
and heat. In the natural
world, pistol shrimps
use this process to stun
their prey.
480 MEGATONS
INSTRUMENTS TO MEASURE
EARTHQUAKES date back to
antiquity, but by the early 1900s
seismometers were being used
to detect movements in Earth's
crust. A sophisticated system THE ENERGY RELEASED IN
of levers generated a paper
trace showing the magnitude
AN EARTHQUAKE MEASURING
of an earthquake. Working in 9 ON THE RICHTER SCALE
earthquake-prone California,
USA, American physicist Charles scale that would make it easier DuPont chemical laboratories
Richter (190085) developed a to compare the amount of energy in the development of new
released by different earthquakes. polymers long molecules made
10 Initially devised just for local use, by bonding smaller molecular
the Richter scale was soon building blocks into chains. The
causes devastation
9
applied throughout the world. team had already manufactured
over several hundred
kilometres/miles In February, German an articial silk called polyester,
bacteriologist Gerhard Domagk but was now working with a
8
causes severe damage (18951964), described a different kind of building block.
over larger areas chemical dye with powerful The resulting polymer, called
7
causes severe damage antibacterial properties. He polyamide 6-6, could be drawn
up to a range of 100 km reported on clinical trials out into tough laments. It was
6 (62.5 miles)
suggesting that the dye later later called nylon (see 1937).
causes slight damage
sold under the name Prontosil In July, a scientic paper in
5 could be used as a drug to cure the journal Ecology introduced the
felt by many, but
causes little or common, dangerous infections. concept of an ecosystem. Its
4 no damage Later in the year, Italian author, British botanist Arthur
pharmacologist Daniel Bovet Tansley (18711955), combined
3
(190792) discovered the two key themes: American
chemical basis for Prontosils botanist Frederic Clementss
effectiveness. He found its active 1916 concept of vegetation as a
2 recordable, but not
ingredient to be a sulphur-based community of different species
generally felt
compound called sulphonamide. that changes over time, and
1
Sulphonamides were the most Russian scientist Vladimir
important antibacterial drugs Vernadskys treatise on cycles
0 until the introduction of penicillin of matter (see 1926). Tansleys
Richter scale (see 194041). ecosystem was an ecological
By linking measurable earthquake
During 1935, American chemist structure in which living
movements to environmental
effects, Richter created a scale that Wallace Carothers (18961937) organisms interacted with
could be understood by everybody. led a team of scientists at each other as well as with the

o
ric ly ion a ce
En ting ss at e a l les
r
te for lla am
y
r wi t ic s th n rd f r y ich Wa is te -6, ley pt
a m It i ted e ar rma rs i a ua s R cale of r y h 6 ns ce
nu un to y s a o a ar la s o in n ua nd ide Ta con
Ja rmi es a Ma gge nov of n n st ng Sz an ha mb Ja arle s a s tude br rs a am n r
Fe hiev su per ion utro Hu Le me ar c r bo Ch ent gni es F e e ly lo
u
th the em
y
ul ist the cle lea 28 roth e po d ny Ar s t
ac su nsit o ne 4 J ysic for a nu nuc inv e ma uak ly duce sys
tra rs t th rthq Ca oduc alle u
J ro eco
ph tent ing the pr er c int the
sta pa oduc n ea
lat of
pr actio
re

rd
ha er
r er ibes f
ry ive t d G r im c
a
r u of n d lis an r y sc t o he topi e
ica tura ive el be ua de en st e n
F eb tion on r nz scri ce br agk opm e r g ho iso lyz
p
10 cri uct ity
i e a
Am d n be 3 m
d e
Fr e n e
F m el th ru Sc of ana ism
s d v st an Bee d 92 g a H. tes d esce 15 Do dev il ial d d olf use s to bol
De al in acti hed u n r in e ul min e s r Ru he el eta
ci dio blis
g o s
Au art rle eco ) us er h th nto acte st s t lab m
t i a 15 is B Cha o a r 8 ft ysph Sc lu o
Pr ntib gu ribe
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16 de
(3 ba
268

,, THOUGH ORGANISMS CLAIM
OUR PRIMARY INTEREST WE CANNOT
SEPARATE THEM FROM THEIR SPECIAL
ENVIRONMENTS, WITH WHICH THEY
FORM ONE PHYSICAL SYSTEM.
Arthur Tansley, from Ecology Journal, 1935
non-living environment that
surrounded them.
Rudolf Schoenheimer (1898
1941) was a German biochemist
studying metabolism the
complex pattern of chemical
reactions in the body. In order
to understand these patterns,
he found a way of tagging, or
marking, substances in the
body with detectable isotopes
(variants) of elements. By tracing
the pathways of the isotopes,
he was able to work out the
sequences of chemical reactions
taking place. Isotopic labelling
would become the standard
7 MILLION
CONES IN THE HUMAN EYE
130 MILLION
RODS IN THE HUMAN EYE
d
an s
ll
de the s,
en y is viru ctiou
n
ica t
W le a fe
er mis tan lize ll in
Am che ith S stal sti
o
bi red cry t it i s o it
Me st to tha
r ows
sh
es
e nz
gu niz
u itis
t
or M rst
o Br ters
r P as
be st Eg s the tom
em ogi rm obo
v l l D
No ro rfo
12 neu pe
,,
Retina rods and cones
Cells on the retina contain
pigments for light-absorption;
rods (sepia) have one kind,
but cones (green) collectively
have three kinds of pigment
for detecting different colours.
method for studying
the biochemistry
of metabolism.
Danish ophthalmologist
Gustav sterberg
published a study on the
cellular makeup of the
retina at the back of the
eye. In the 19th century,
German anatomist Max Schultze
had identied the layers of the
retina and drawn detailed
ilustrations of structures later
called rods and cones (see 1866).
sterberg recorded the rst
accurate count of the rods and
cones. It was later shown that
cones have high sensitivity in low
light intensity, but cannot detect
colour. Colour-sensitive cones
only work in high light intensity
and are concentrated in an area
of the retina called the fovea,
which collects light from a point
of focus at the centre of the eld
of vision to form an image.
r e e
be
em vet t e ar ives pat lty
v
No Bo tha is
th
23 niel ers ide ent
Da cov nam pon
dis lpho com il
su tive tos
n his incl
ac Pro
of
h re
y r
be egis hain r
em e r c fo
ec fc lear ion rd
O uc ct la
2 t
1 en n rea Sz
Pa
t
Le
1936
At the impressionable stage immediately after hatching, a brood of goslings assumed
Konrad Lorenz to be their surrogate mother and followed him everywhere.
IN 1936, DUTCH BIOLOGIST
NIKOLAAS TINBERGEN (1907
,, IT IS A GOOD MORNING
EXERCISE FOR A RESEARCH
,,
88) met Austrian biologist
Konrad Lorenz (190389) at a SCIENTIST TO DISCARD A PET
symposium, and the two men HYPOTHESIS EVERY DAY BEFORE
spent many months discussing
aspects of animal behaviour. BREAKFAST. IT KEEPS HIM YOUNG.
Their collaboration marked the
Konrad Lorenz, from On Aggression, 1966
foundation of ethology
the modern science of animal
behaviour. They distinguished a steady state by processes of extreme weather conditions when
between innate behaviour that internal regulation. By the early a keeper inadvertently left it out
was inherited and learned 1900s it was understood how of its shelter one night. Commonly
behaviour that became modied aspects of the nervous system known as the Tasmanian wolf or
through experience. Lorenz could make the body respond to tiger, the thylacine was the
famously demonstrated how changes in circumstances for largest carnivorous marsupial.
goslings can become attached example, initiating the ght or Relentless hunting had driven
(imprinted) to humans just after ight response to danger. Selye the wild population to extinction
hatching; Tinbergen studied the further explained how hormonal some years earlier.
innate courtship behaviour of changes were associated with
the stickleback sh. stress, and that these changes
The worlds rst practical could affect the function of the The last thylacine
helicopter the Focke-Wulf bodys immune system. Named Benjamin, this was the last
thylacine in existence. A predator
Fw61 took its maiden ight In September, the last surviving
of kangaroos and wallabies, the
in June. Built by German aviator thylacine died in Hobart Zoo in species earned an exaggerated
Heinrich Focke (18901979), Tasmania, after being exposed to reputation for attacking livestock.
it ew using twin rotary blades
extending to the left and right
of the fuselage. Its rst ight
lasted just 28 seconds but it
was far easier to control than
previous versions.
In July, Hungarian biologist
Hans Selye (190782) was the
rst person to describe
the scientic basis for
physiological stress. In the
19th century, French physiologist
Claude Bernard had proposed
that the living body maintained
n sts arl or
t ica er lm g ici s r
be e
y L th en er om bble Rea visin n ys nd C ce f uon
Am tron Hu The , re atio s
h n em , th ,
b r u g b ira c e a n p er a vide d m t
ep in ine y
Fe lard bo dm
m s e
a win hes ul a si axi er
i c ey r e all e
7 S njam ylac tivit
Sz mic ish A Ed blis Neb clas gal m erm ove s c Be t th cap
pu the axy disk e A edd disc ticle
t
a Br n
Ju th N son par las s in
to of gal ude die
Se der mic
An bato
to
su
ar
m a h
Lo rgen alo rni itis
d
ra be on lye P o e Br tion
on Tin ing al Se ss he alif th r
be por ula
a r
ns tre al r T C ing pe
h K aas orat nim ur a s be ry in erat esco em Cor reg tion
c
r ol b a o y H s dic em to
v
o g st ni ce
Ma Nik olla y of havi ul ize me tion p
pt va s o t te
l
2 N stin s r de ervi
4 J cogn s a ndi
d c ud e Se bser egin mid ca che gh- n s
an egin e st b re a co b c h d i
O oa n h sio
b th S Br lau lev
i
te
269
 1937 1938

German-born, Professor Hans Krebs emigrated to England in 1933. He is shown at work in the laboratory The coelacanth lives in the deep ocean waters and although it was known
at Shefeld University where he was based from 1935 to 1954 and carried out much of his research. to local shermen, palaeontologists knew it only as a fossil.

,,
,,
IN JANUARY, Italian physicists
Carlo Perrier (18661948) and
A SPECIES IS A STAGE AMERICAN ZOOLOGIST DONALD
GRIFFIN (19152003) was
experimenting with chemical
transmutation how one
Emilio Sgre (190589) reported
on a new articial element
IN PROGRESS, NOT A studying the migratory behaviour element could change into

formed by atomic reaction.
They had made technetium in a
radioactive-contaminated part of
a cyclotron (see 1931).
In February, American chemist
Wallace Carothers patented his
new chemical polymer
polyamide 6-6. By 1938, the Du
Pont Company had called it
nylon and was using it
STATIC UNIT.
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Genetics and the Origin of Species, 1937
commercially to make
toothbrush bristles.
In 1927, FrenchAmerican
engineer Eugene Houdry
(18921937) had invented a way
of cracking petroleum from
crude oil using a silica-alumina
based catalyst. Sun Oil started up
the rst petroleum cracking unit
using the invention in March 1937.
In September, American
electrical engineer Grote Reber
(19112002) built the rst
purpose-made radio telescope.
German-born biochemist Hans
Krebs found that citric acid
could keep cells alive and
showed it was a key intermediary
in a process that provided cells
with energy. The process became
known as the citric acid, or
Krebs, cycle.
Ukrainian biologist Theodosius
Dobzhansky (190075) published
Genetics and the Origin of Species.
In it he showed how Darwins
natural selection (see 1859) could
be explained in terms of the
genetic makeup of populations
of bats, but could not understand another through a nuclear
how they managed to navigate in reaction. Transmutation had
the dark. In the 18th century, been rst demonstrated 20 years
Italian biologist Lazzaro earlier by New Zealand-born
Spallanzani (17291799) had physicist Ernest Rutherford
demonstrated that bats could y (see 191617). But scientists
around objects when deprived of believed that there were limits to
sight but not if their ears were what could be achieved, and that
blocked. Working with the smashing the heaviest atoms,
American neurologist Robert such as those of uranium, could
Galambos (19142010), Grifn not make much lighter atoms.
used a special ultrasound However, towards the end of the
microphone to discover that bats year, Hahn reported that he had
emit high-pitched sounds that achieved just that he split
are beyond the range of human uranium to produce barium,
hearing. Grifns theory was that a process known as nuclear
the animals were using a form ssion. The Italian physicist
of sonar, listening for echoes of Enrico Fermi had achieved a
their sounds as they bounced off similar process although he
obstacles or prey. At rst, his thought he had synthesized a
theory was derided, but by 1944 new element (see 1934). Later,
the accepted phenomenon was Fermi would oversee the rst
called echolocation. ssion chain reaction (see 1942).
The German chemist Otto In December, Marjorie
Hahn (18791968) was Courtenay-Latimer
20
DISTANCE (IN METRES)

and helped lay the foundations of 17 m

15
modern evolutionary biology.
Echolocation
10 in bats
10 m Bats hunt for food by
5 listening for echoes of
The rst radio telescope their high-pitched calls
American Grote Reber built his radio 4m bouncing off their prey.
telescope in his back yard. He used it 0 The larger the prey, the
to conrm that radio signals could mealworm small moth big moth greater is the maximum
be detected from space. PREY detection distance.

s
rie
r ist
er ake nt, ns tha
t nt oot st
cie owf ) and ibe y ici ylo
n
P m e Ha ws ps s ar hys
rlo re m h o e h Cr kin scr u a A n sh is
Ca Seg l ele rc sh ke itis y g e an n p its y l
y
ar lio ci a Ma ebs cid ve Br roth Hod al d f 8 J ssia Kap ar ru ia
Kr ric a s ali D ter, ern re o -ra
o y
Ru otr bes f r u thb erc
nu mi ti eb too mm ade
Ja d E st ar cit sue (la hn B uctu ng X y Py scri ery o ity F
a e r tium
n 24 istle st co be m
tis Jo e str usi raph de cov uid br e r t to yarn
th chne th rols llog dis per
te th oduc ylon
ste ysta su pr th n
cr wi

ry an
ua e rm ip te
br fc s Ge irsh s ro s iam e n
e
F t O er a y a me r G lete ill if
16 ten gist -6 6 M burg o a ship t b e p h e t W s th n d Gr egin
em om f t is c e l s
Pa re de 6 ce t r
in d ai men e tio na s bat
b
e n pt r c n o op log odu rac A, Do mbo on rate
U S i
m alla at nd ts i Se ebe ctio lesc bio y pr diff f DN s a
lya r W ers nt Hi urs rig elop R tru te h 3 8 la ts st n
o b ing ev
ns io
s
iti bu ra
r y n o ha re 19 t Ga en on atio
p fo th
ro DuP
o
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d d
co rad Br Ast t X- atter ng it ctu a r ly ber erim dem oloc
Ca s p wi tru E Ro xp ld ch
st r s
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sh ular d t e ou e
g an rs at w
re e h
270 th t
 1939

Made by German company Heinkel in 1939, the rst jet aircraft the He178 was the prototype
for later models built for combat at the end of World War II.

IN APRIL, GROTE REBER the atomic bomb. Einstein had described the behaviour of
uranium-235 nucleus smaller product
nucleus (barium) DISCOVERED a new kind of prompted what would become electrons in forming ionic bonds
astronomical object with his the Manhattan Project: the (different atoms bonding by
radio telescope a radio galaxy Allied programme of research gaining and losing electrons) and
called Cygnus A. This object and development that would covalent bonds (atoms bonding
neutron remains one of the strongest eventually unleash the only by sharing electrons). In
sources of radio signals that has nuclear weapons so far used particular, Pauling developed the
nucleus splits into
two fragments ever been detected. in wartime combat. idea that shared electrons are
(ssion) Six years after Hungarian-born Although many scientists left not in a xed position, but orbit
physicist Lo Szilrd (18981964) Germany in the months leading around both nuclei associated
burst of energy from conceived the idea of releasing up to World War II, others stayed with the bond.
ssion releases more uranium-235
smaller product
nucleus and neutrons
shower of
excess neutrons

NUCLEAR FISSION CHAIN REACTION

undergo ssion in
chain reaction ,,SCIENCE IS THE SEARCH
FOR TRUTH IT IS NOT A

,,
Nuclear ssion releases atomic energy which is maximized
GAME IN WHICH ONE TRIES TO BEAT
when the process is done in a way that initiates a chain reaction. HIS OPPONENT OR DO HARM
Uranium-235 is favoured as it is the most abundant ssionable TO OTHERS.
isotope and has plenty of critical neutrons. When the uranium
nucleus (ssionable nucleus) is bombarded with an external Linus Pauling, American chemist, from Liberation, 1958
source of neutrons, the uranium nuclei split into smaller
fragments. More neutrons are emitted as by-products, which energy in a nuclear chain behind to continue their
in turn split other uranium nuclei in the chain reaction. reaction, there was growing work in advancing science and
concern among scientists that technology. The rst jet engine LINUS PAULING
Nazi Germany would develop an was designed and patented by (190194)
(19072004), curator at a with the dinosaurs. The atomic bomb. Italian physicist German physicist Hans von
museum in East London, South coelacanth belongs to an ancient Enrico Fermi and German Ohain (191198). On 27 August, American chemist and peace
Africa, was asked to collect a group of lobe-nned shes chemist Otto Hahn had already the rst aircraft to y under activist, Linus Pauling is the
specimen from the local shing related to the ancestors of the demonstrated that controlled turbojet power the Heinkel only person to have received
docks. There she found an rst vertebrates that evolved to nuclear ssion by a chain He178 had its maiden ight. two unshared Nobel Prizes.
unusual sh that she could not live on land. Initially, the modern reaction was possible. In August, After the war, von Ohain was one His work spanned quantum
identify and, in the absence of coelacanth was known only in German-born physicist Albert of many German scientists mechanics in chemistry and
any technical support, reluctantly deep waters of the western Einstein, by now in exile in recruited to help advance the structures of complex
had it stuffed. South African Indian Ocean, but a second America and working at scientic research in America biological molecules, such
zoologist James Smith (1897 species was found in Indonesian Princeton University, wrote to as part of Operation Paperclip. as proteins. After World
1968) later identied it as a waters in 1997. President Roosevelt expressing American chemist Linus War II he campaigned
coelacanth a sh until then the scientists concerns. He later Pauling published his most against the further use
known only from fossils and urged the US president to enter celebrated book: The Nature of nuclear weapons.
thought to have become extinct the race to be the rst to make of the Chemical Bond. In it he

r n r s es
be st r hn y ma ne ist m
m ici ke Ha ar Ger eit lain e r og Ja ay e
te hys sc rgy- ions u
br nd e M be biol and w d min
p
e n p eiz ne act tto t xp th r
be ax
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S e r O ou Fe h a Lis h e of ed Re gal ce can er n h ete
15 rma on W the n re ar be ing 11 edis ists risc asis ort te dio De eri amn plai th d
Ge rl v bes usio a st em arry n Sw ysic to F c b p o Am rl H r ex eng ant s
c re Gr ra
a i
C sc ing n in
r f De s c sio ph d Ot ienti sion ril ers Ka nne ght l in pl m)
de leas ppe 17 port r s an e sc r s hn Ap cov s A Bo d ni ing iodis
re at ha r clea
e th clea Ha dis gnu an wer per
th nu nu Otto Cy o oto
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Fe anad Opp ge V upp of
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be Pre t usi an
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a
27 mpa poly lled e f f A l i n o 93 at D act nsec
liv nd o outh C ert eor ibe ss r t A to u r r E oo to c b 1
e s th ont ill i
Co that e ca d r
an Rob d G esc f m n st
a a us ites abo m fo omb be ent R USA omi t
L a ver a c o k
b fou of S g
u wr elt niu c b t o t
uld an d it o tro 2A ev a i Oc sid the he a co as t
wo lim neu os ur atom 11 Pre ing t dis sed
Ro ur
g u
271
 194041

1
KILOGRAM
THE AMOUNT OF PLUTONIUM NEEDED FOR
AN EXPLOSION EQUAL TO THAT PRODUCED
BY 20,000 TONNES OF CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVE

The production method of the glowing radioactive element plutonium was initially
kept secret as it was key to the manufacture of early atomic bombs.

IN THE FIRST PART OF THE
20TH CENTURY, geologists used
data from studying seismic
waves to conclude that Earth
had a distinct core (see 1906).
By studying the way waves were
transmitted during earthquakes,
they deduced that the core was
made up of different materials
from the rest of the planet. In
1940, Canadian geologist
Reginald Aldworth Daly
(18711957) published Strength
and Structure of the Earth,
in which he identied a multi-
layered arrangement around
Layers of outer Earth
Earths iron core is surrounded by
a thick mantle covered in crust. The
hard rock of the uppermost mantle
and crust forms the moveable plates
that account for drifting continents.
solid inner
core
liquid outer
core
Earths core. He stated that a
rigid but brittle envelope overlaid
a much thicker semi-solid layer,
which was hotter towards the
core. Today, it is now known that
Earths layers differ chemically
and physically, with a silicon-
rich rocky surround and a core
that is roughly 80 per cent iron
(see below). The rigid surround
includes a low-density surface
crust, with a mantle layer made
up of higher-density rock
beneath it.
In 1940, at Berkeley, University
of California, USA, scientists
successfully made the rst
transuranium elements those
with an atomic number higher
than that of uranium (92). By
using a particle accelerator,
scientists successfully made
elements 93 and 94. These
new elements were named
neptunium and plutonium,
breakthrough in understanding
normal cell wall the way living cells process their
bacterium swells
bacterium weakens
and bursts as cell energy. In 1941, he reported that
wall breaks down a phosphate-rich substance
called adenosine triphosphate
(ATP) was the chemical key to
the process. While ATP had been
discovered more than 10 years
earlier, biologists were only now
able to recognize its function. By
penicillin penicillin enters bacterium burning caloric nutrients, such
molecule and inhibits enzyme that
as carbohydrates and fats, living
builds cell wall
cells harness their energy in the
HOW PENICILLIN WORKS phosphate bonds of a pool of
ATP molecules. When energy
Penicillin is an antibiotic a member of a group of chemicals is required such as for growth
that either prevent the growth of bacteria or kill them altogether. or movement ATP is broken
These chemicals attack targets that are present only in bacterial down, unlocking the energy of its
cells and not in infected tissue. Penicillin inhibits the process that phosphate bonds to do the work
many bacteria use to build their cell walls. As a result, the cell (see panel, opposite).
walls weaken, making the bacteria absorb water and burst. While working at the Dow
Chemical Company, American
engineer Ray McIntire (191896)
respectively, after Neptune and Heatley (19112004) not only had been asked to develop an
Pluto the two outer planets of demonstrated that its antibiotic insulating material as part
the Solar System. Publication secretion, penicillin, could be

continental crust
lithosphere is rigid
surface rock composed
of the discovery of these
elements was delayed until after
World War II as it was found that
plutonium had the potential to be
used as fuel for an atomic bomb.
used to cure infection (see
panel, above), but that it could be
produced and isolated in useful
amounts as well. Medical trials
,, I WAS A
28-YEAR-OLD
KID AND I
began in January 1941, and

,,
More than 30 years after techniques for the mass
DIDNT STOP
of low-density crust
oating on a surface Scottish bacteriologist Alexander production of the antibiotic
layer of high-density Fleming had identied the would be developed by the time
mantle anti-bacterial properties of the World War II was at its height. TO RUMINATE
ABOUT IT.
rigid lower Penicillium mould (see 1928), At the same time, German-
mantle called semi-uid upper Australian biologist Howard born American biochemist Fritz
the mesosphere mantle called the
asthenosphere on
Walter Florey (18981968) and Albert Lipmann (18991986)
Glenn Theodore Seaborg, American
oceanic which the lithospheres British biochemists Ernst Boris had been studying the chemistry scientist, on being part of the team
crust rigid plates move Chain (190679) and Norman of metabolism and made a that discovered plutonium, 1947

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272
 1942

1.8
BILLION KG
THE AMOUNT OF DDT
USED THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD SINCE 1940

In the 1940s, aircraft were used to spray DDT over the widest
possible areas. Its polluting effects lasted for many years.

of the war effort. He used a
material called polystyrene
a type of plastic originally made
from tree resin and chemically
treated it to produce countless
bubbles in the manufacturing
process. The resulting foam
polystyrene, trademarked as
styrofoam, was inexpensive
and lightweight.
THE ROLE OF ATP
IN METABOLISM
Plant and animal cells contain
powerhouses called
mitochondria (sepia). They are
packed with membrane folds
that carry the molecular
machinery needed to make a
IN 1939, SWISS CHEMIST PAUL
HERMANN MLLER (18991965)
had discovered that a chlorine-
containing chemical called DDT
(dichlorodiphenyltrichloethane)
was lethal when it came in
contact with insects, and could
possibly be used to control insect
pests. In September, the USA
received the rst stocks of DDT
to begin using it on a wide
scale. During World War II,
DDT was used widely to control
lice-born typhus as well as
malaria-carrying mosquitos.
In the post-war years, DDT
application increased further as
agriculturalists began using it to
kill crop-eating pests. However,
by the 1960s, the world had
realized that DDT poisoned the
environment by accumulating in
food chains (see 1962), and the
chemical that had earlier earned
Mller a Noble Prize was
banned from most countries.
Two American biologists,
German-born Max Delbrck
(190681) and Italian-born
Salvador Luria (191291),
embarked on a collaborative study
of bacteriophages (also known as
phages) viruses that infect and
8% 1% Chicago pile-1 built beneath a Manhattan Project the US
uranium oxide uranium football stand at the University of government-led Allied research
Chicago, USA. The reactor and development initiative that
bombarded a sample of uranium produced the rst atomic bombs
with neutrons to trigger a chain during World War II.
reaction, which was controlled
with neutron-absorbing cadmium Enrico Fermi
rods. It ran successfully for four In 1938, Enrico Fermi moved to the
USA with his Jewish wife to escape
and a half minutes before Fermi
Italys anti-Semitic policies. He
stopped the process. This event
91%GRAPHITE
marked a critical step in the
received the Nobel Prize for Physics
the same year.
Enrico Fermis nuclear reactor
Neutron-releasing uranium pellets
were at the heart of the nuclear chain
reaction in Fermis reactor. Graphite
blocks slowed the neutrons.
kill bacteria. They investigated the
process whereby some bacteria
mutate to become genetically
resistant to infection, and in 1943,
explained that this happened
spontaneously, and was not
induced by the environment.
Scientists had already
demonstrated the practical
possibility of a self-sustained
nuclear reaction in a controlled
setting (see 1938). In December,
ItalianAmerican physicist Enrico
Fermi oversaw the operation of
the worlds rst nuclear reactor

,,
chemical called adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) from
high-energy foods. Energy
from ATP is released to order
,,THE ITALIAN NAVIGATOR HAS
LANDED IN THE NEW WORLD.
to drive cellular activity, such
as building DNA and protein. Arthur Compton, Director of the Metallurgical Laboratory, University of
Chicago, in a coded message referring to Enrico Fermis success, 1942

r st tic es
be n tu
m y
ar cis y
t
ici ne se d
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v em rica rge rd Ta uce b r u hysi y He es o be phys n m
ag e
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h p n le av c t sh fv tro em rm su ct tor
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d o
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a Ha scri in l En e r r ch cle
Be ow t ffec enz de m t de ves th clea st nu
sh eir e lar fro wa nu e r
th rticu th
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an or
ad t
rm n alv tha s
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eiv r e r he alte nd rat ion
rec T fo l ob rn k a st tat sly
SA DD tro c t We d W form l r c mon mu eou ria
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pt sa en b st un k
Se rst cale yphu r n r a oc ar
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de t te
wi
273
 194344 1945

These are the control panels of the rst electronic programmable computer
Colossus which was used to decode German messages during World War II.

that if proteins and their enzymes

proteins and carbohydrates are harmless bacterium
passed to harmless bacterium bacterium unchanged were removed from bacteria,
another chemical present
harmful DNA could still cause
bacterium is
transformation. This showed that
broken down,
and its DNA genes are made of DNA, not
separated from protein, as was previously thought.
proteins and bacterium Quinine, a naturally ocurring
carbohydrates DNA is passed to harmless becomes
harmless bacterium bacterium harmful
substance found in the the bark
of the South American cinchona
DISCOVERING THE NATURE OF DNA tree, had long been valued for its
anti-malarial properties. Supply
Oswald Avery sought to identify the chemical substance that could had become difcult during
transform harmless bacteria into harmful bacteria. Avery killed World War II, but in May 1944,
harmful bacteria and broke them down into their various chemical American chemists Robert
components (protein and carbohydrates and DNA). He added each Woodward (191779) and
component in turn to harmless bacteria, and he found that only William Doering (19172011)
the bacterias DNA could cause a change. announced that they had
successfully manufactured it.
Austrian physician Hans
DURING WORLD WAR II, the and inheritance was made in Asperger (190680) had been
pioneering code-breaking work 1944. Canadian-born physician studying mental disorders in
of British mathematician Alan Oswald Avery (187779) wanted children and formalized the
Turing (191254) triggered an to identify the transforming diagnosis of autism. He
outburst of computer technology. principle rst identied by examined a group of autistic
One of the earliest electronic
digital computers was built in
Britain in 1943: Colossus.
,, WHY DIDN'T AVERY GET THE

French engineer mile Gagnan
(190079) modied a gas-
regulator valve for a new use.
Working with French biologist
Jacques Cousteau (191097),
he adapted the device so that it
could be used to control the air
supply in an aqualung. This
invention would revolutionize
underwater exploration.
A major step forward in
unlocking the science of genes
,,
NOBEL PRIZE? BECAUSE MOST
PEOPLE DIDN'T TAKE HIM
SERIOUSLY.
James Watson, American geneticist, from Nature, April 1983
Frederick Grifth (see 1928). children who, because of the
Avery performed similar nature of their way of learning,
experiments to Grifth, but he he called little professors. Their
analysed the genetic factor in condition later became known as
more detail. He demonstrated Aspergers syndrome.

y s
ts er n l ist d
43 of ter es r y Av oli y kin tra m an
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274 p
 This polarized light micrograph shows crystals of the vitamin folic acid (folacin), which is needed
during pregnancy for normal development of the baby in the womb.

AS WORLD WAR II ENTERED ,, WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT

,,
ITS SIXTH YEAR, so did the
Manhattan Project the Allies IS TECHNICALLY SWEET, YOU GO
atomic bomb research project AHEAD AND DO IT. THAT IS THE WAY
(see 1939). The idea of an IT WAS WITH THE ATOMIC BOMB.
articial nuclear chain reaction
had been developed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist, testifying in court, 1954
Hungarian-born physicist Lo
Szilrd (18981964), but it did them). Both release energy, but the neutrons emitted by the
not become a reality until 1942. only ssion could be achieved radioactivity trigger instantaneous
Nuclear reactions are processes articially. Fission happens decay and release massive
that change the nuclei of atoms, naturally when radioactive amounts of energy. On 16 July, DOROTHY HODGKIN
either through ssion (splitting elements decay, but it can be the US Army exploded the (191094)
them) or fusion (combining induced by bombarding Manhatten Projects rst
elements with neutrons (see atomic bomb in the New Mexico Born in Egypt, Dorothy
The worlds rst atomic bomb 1938). If elements capable of desert the Trinity Test. The Hodgkin studied chemistry
The rst bomb was exploded by the sustaining a nuclear ssion chain explosion was witnessed by at Oxford University, UK, and
US Army in the early hours of 16 July
reaction (ssile material), such fewer than 300 people. Three gained a Phd in the study of
1945 at Alamogordo, in the New
Mexico desert. It had the energy as uranium or plutonium, are weeks later two atomic bomb biological substances called
equivalence of 16,000 tonnes of TNT. condensed to a critical mass, attacks on Japan (on Hiroshima, sterols. She studied the
then Nagasaki), helped bring three-dimensional structure
high-explosive lens conventional World War II to an end, but of complex molecules such
chemical explosive many lives were lost. as cholesterol, penicillin, and
sub-critical pieces Scientists had already insulin. She was awarded the
of uranium-235
developed X-ray crystallography, 1964 Nobel Prize for her
pushed together
plutonium a technique that could be used to research into vitamin B12.
core work out positions of a crystals
compressed
atoms (see 1912), and it proved
especially useful for studying British writer Arthur C. Clarke
structures of complex biological (19172008), was looking to the
IMPLOSION ASSEMBLY GUN-TYPE ASSEMBLY
molecules. By July, British future. Among his many
BUILDING ATOMIC BOMBS chemist Dorothy Hodgkin had predictions was the idea that
helped to resolve the complex geostationary satellites,
Two methods have been used. In the implosion method (used for structures of both penicillin (satellites that would sit at a
the Trinity Test and the Nagasaki bomb), explosives compress a and cholesterol. xed point in space relative to
central core of ssile material. In the gun-type assembly (used on In August, chemical company Earths position and rotation
Hiroshima) elements were pushed together. The naturally emitted American Cyanamid announced period) could be used for
neutrons strike neighbouring atoms, causing a chain reaction of that it had made folic acid telecommunications. This
ssion events (see 1938), which releases huge amounts of energy. the vitamin needed for healthy became a reality less than
growth in the developing fetus. 20 years later.

S 29
ity A U B- e id r ts and e
rin co, cia
l
st ing th an
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t ana it ha d be is
u s m hem ham e th
h e T exi rti ug Boe ess ops ly ed gu C at y i
e
pt
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ly
T
w
M ta
s n 6 A AF fortr dr emb enam a Au ican s th pur cid Se can ni iso
Ju Ne r sio AA per Gay ass cod shim
1
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16 st in s the plo an ic
Su ola ion b ( iro Am nou ted f fol Am rris Wer mer
e i
T A, r e x m an trac ls o Bu uis nt a
En plos bo on H
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in oth 9 C.
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r A escr of a
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se car m d
or str in w ma be a s
D s ill al k n
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Ma nrm enic sion Ho s des stru rm l g us Boc e as ena ) on c
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fo ero
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re ch ic co
th
om
at 275
6
THE
INFORMATION
AGE
19462013
As electronic devices repeatedly shrank in size and cost,
digital power expanded exponentially, ushering in a new
era of information technology, global communication, and
exploration into the remotest parts of the Universe.
 1946 1947

383,000 KM
THE DISTANCE FROM
EARTH TO THE MOON, AS
SHOWN BY PROJECT DIANA
The distance between Earth and the Moon was The Bell X-1 manned airplane was launched from the bomb bay of a Boeing
measured by bouncing a radar signal off the Moon. B-29 to reach a record-breaking altitude and break the sound barrier.

THE VERY FIRST CONTACT the Moon, it demonstrated that within the sample resonate at
WITH A SPACE BODY was made signals made on Earth could be characteristic frequencies. This beam splitter mirror
on 10 January, when the US used to communicate in space. technique was subsequently
Army Signal Corps successfully The same month saw the used to study the structures
detected the echo of radar publication of studies of a of molecules, and was later laser subject
reected from the Moon just phenomenon that would modied to produce images of beam
2.5 seconds after it was sent. revolutionize medical imaging: bigger internal structures, such
photographic
Project Diana was initially nuclear magnetic resonance as those of the living body in MRI
plate
established to examine whether (NMR). Swiss physicists Felix (magnetic resonance imaging).
long-range radar could detect Bloch (190583) and American American biologists Edward
incoming missiles, but it marked physicist Edward Purcell Tatum (190975) and Joshua
the start of the US space (191297) showed that when a Lederberg (19252008) found mirror
programme as well. In addition sample is exposed to an intense that bacteria had a sexual
to determining the distance to magnetic eld, certain nuclei process similar to that of more
complex organisms. When they HOLOGRAMS
tube containing control console combined different strains, a few
magnet sample measures bacteria developed new abilities Hologram technology involves directing a laser beam onto a
creates resonance that the original strains were photographic plate using mirrors. The beam is split so that part of
magnetic incapable of doing individually. it bounces off the subject before hitting the plate, while the other
eld
They discovered that bacterial part hits the plate directly. This produces an interference pattern,
cells were binding together and which is photographed. A 3-D image is made by shining a laser
exchanging genetic material in onto the negative at the same angle as the original beam.
a process known as conjugation,
so sharing chemical capabilities.
This process has important IN 1947, AMERICAN PHYSICIST Marinsky (19182005) announced
implications, such as the spread LUIS ALVAREZ (see 1980) the discovery of radioactive
of antibiotic resistance. oversaw the construction of the element number 61, named
In July, the US undertook the rst proton linear accelerator promethium after the Greek god
radio frequency
signal in rst post-war nuclear test in Berkley, USA. In the same Prometheus. Promethium is a
trace recorder using the same sort of bomb year, American physicist William rare earth element, which closed
as dropped on Nagasaki Hansen (190949) produced the the gap in the periodic table.
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE in 1945. Called Test Able, it was rst electron linear accelerator In October, US Air Force pilot
conducted on the Bikini Atoll at Stanford University, USA. Charles Chuck Yeager (b.1923)
The magnetic resonance of atomic nuclei can be used to detect the in the Pacic Ocean, and was Particle acceleration is used became the rst person to break
chemical components of a substance. The atomic nuclei in a test designed to see the effects on to study the building blocks the sound barrier. He ew Bell
sample that has been placed in a strong magnetic eld absorb 78 experimental ships anchored of matter, and has practical X-1 and achieved a speed of Mach
and emit electromagnetic radiation at characteristic frequencies. in the lagoon some carrying applications, such as in the 1.07 or 1,311 kmph (815 mph).
Scientists can use this to establish the kinds of atoms present in living test animals. More than treatment of cancer. HungarianBritish physicist
the sample and determine its chemical structure. 60 nuclear tests would later be In September at the American Dennis Gabor (190079) led
carried out in the Bikini Atoll. Chemical Society, Jacob a patent in December for a

r
da is n ion
r y a ra ks C tic or ce ica y lat st
a
nu ia n a r IA ced ne ton erat ren er insk iso e la
Ja t D t m US EN du Ge in ed o
pr ce
l aw l m r s h
10 ojec men f the me r y ntro nce r st ac t L na r A Ma nce in t
a
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F tri th
a

278
 1948

5.1
METRES
THE DIAMETER
OF THE PRIMARY
MIRROR OF THE
HALE TELESCOPE

For 45 years, the Hale telescope was the worlds biggest effective telescope.
It is still in use today, collecting data on around 290 nights every year.

IN MARCH, American physicists Observatory was

Proton linear accelerator
The rst device to accelerate protons
in a straight line was a 12 m (40 ft)
construction. It helped advance
research and understanding of
fundamental particles of matter.
theoretical technique for
producing 3D-style images,
or holograms. He described
how to produce an image of an
object that changed orientation
depending on the viewing angle.
However, practical application of
his theory became possible only
with the development of the rst
working lasers in 1960.
American engineer Percy
Spencer (18941970) was
involved in radar design with
a company called Raytheon.
He accidentally discovered that
the microwaves produced by a
vacuum tube called a magnetron
a core component of radar
heated food. By conning the
food target in a metal box,
Spencer invented the rst
microwave oven patented
in 1945. Raytheon sold the rst
commercial model in 1947.
Julian Schwinger (191894) and
Richard Feynman (191888)
introduced a new eld of science:
quantum electrodynamics. It
described how electrically
charged particles interacted with
packets of electromagnetic
radiation, called photons. The
conference included the rst
presentations of Feynman
diagrams to show interactions
between subatomic particles,
with time along one axis and
space along another.
In April, Russian physicist
George Gamow (190468) and
American cosmologist Ralph
Alpher (19212007) proposed
that elements produced when
the Universe formed (see
traces of
24% lithium
300,000 YEARS AFTER
THE UNIVERSE FORMED
76%
Composition of the Universe
The rst elements formed after the
Universe formed were the lightest.
Cosmologists theorise that the
heavier elements were formed
inside stars by fusion of atoms.
completed. Its dome
houses the Hale
telescope, named after
American astronomer
George Hale. This
telescope rst used
by astronomer Edwin
Hubble has aided in the
discovery of quasars and
Takahe stars of distant galaxies.
Since their rediscovery in 1948, In the same month, Albert 1
the New Zealand takahe have been
became the rst monkey
moved to predator-free islands as
part of a conservation programme. astronaut to leave for space
onboard a V2 rocket. However, ERWIN CHARGAFF
pp.34445) occurred in xed he died of suffocation 63 km (39 (19052002)
proportions. Hydrogen and helium miles) into the ascent, before
are still the most abundant reaching the Karman line that In studying the chemistry
elements in the Universe today. marks the beginning of space at of biological molecules,
In June, Caltechs (California 100 km (62 miles). Austrian-born chemist Erwin
Institute of Technology) Palomar AustrianAmerican chemist Chargaff made breakthroughs
Erwin Chargaff reported on a in a range of topics, such as
0.1%
0.1% traces of other study of the makeup of DNA a how blood clots. He moved to
0.5% elements substance that had recently been the USA as Nazi inuence
1% shown to be the chemical of spread through Europe.
23% heredity. Five years before DNA Chargaff discovered that
structure was revealed as a DNA varied between species,
0.5%
double helix, Chargaffs analysis but the proportions of key
TODAY, AFTER MANY showed that DNA components components were xed.
CYCLES OF STAR BIRTH called bases occurred in xed
AND DEATH
proportions. The proportions of
74% base adenine matched that of On 20 November, English
thymine, while the proportion of ornithologist Geoffrey Orbell
guanine matched cytosine. The (19082007) made a remarkable
double helix model would show discovery when he saw birds
KEY that these matches were due to called takahe in the mountains of
the bases pairing up. Later work South Island, New Zealand. These
Hydrogen Helium
Lithium Oxygen revealed that the base sequence ightless relatives of rails and
Carbon Neon along the double helix was the moorhens had been thought to be
Iron Nitrogen basis for inherited information. extinct for the previous 50 years.

s n e
e ry er over tio
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b e B e eb astr per rmo Mira il
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ce ria en am 16 tch Ku inne s 3 J lesc era Al e aut
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279
 1949 1950

EDSAC was one of the rst recognizably modern computers in terms of design, but it nearly lled Deployment of the myxoma virus was the rst biological control method used
a room and needed 152-cm (5-ft) long tubes of mercury to help with memory storage. for a mammal pest, dramatically reducing the number of rabbits in Australia.

ON 28 MARCH, BRITISH
ASTRONOMER FRED HOYLE
coined the term Big Bang on
BBC radio, while explaining the
Steady State Theory his view
that the Universe had an innite
past and an innite future. He
disagreed with the theory that all
matter was created in one big
bang at a particular time in the
remote past. In doing so, he
unwittingly gave the name to an THE YEAR 1950 SAW RAPID And Computer), which became
idea that would later gain almost ADVANCEMENT in nuclear the rst computer to be used in
universal acceptance. technology. On 31 January, predicting weather. It started
DutchAmerican astronomer US President Harry Truman the rst 24-hour weather
Gerald Kuiper had established announced largely in response forecast service on 5 March.
that the atmosphere of Mars to the Soviet Unions detonation of In October, British computer
was made of carbon dioxide and an atomic bomb in August 1949 scientist Alan Turing proposed
Saturns rings were made of ice. that he had authorized the a test for articial intelligence.
In May, he discovered Nereid development of a hydrogen Rabbits had become a national
the outermost moon of Neptune. bomb. Its design would form the problem for Australia. A century
Kuiper later attributed Nereids basis for all future thermonuclear and a half before, European
eccentric orbit to its origin in an
hypothesized ring of icy bodies
beyond Neptune. The existence
of this ring called the Kuiper
FRED HOYLE (19152001)

British astronomer Fred

,,A COMPUTER WOULD
DESERVE TO BE CALLED
Belt was conrmed in 1992. Hoyle was one of the great
On 6 May, EDSAC (Electronic scientic thinkers of the INTELLIGENT IF IT COULD

Delay Storage Automatic
Calculator), a new computer
at Cambridge University, UK,
ran its rst program. EDSAC
could work through around
700 operations per second. It
became the rst computer to
routinely help scientists with
complex calculations.
In the US, rocket scientists
successfully launched the rst
mammal into space (see 1948).
Albert II a rhesus monkey
went beyond Earths atmosphere
when his V2 rocket reached a
20th century, and stimulated
widespread interest in
cosmology with his support
of the Steady State Theory.
This idea has been supplanted
by the Big Bang Theory (see
pp.34445). However, Hoyles
Stellar Nucleosynthesis
Theory prevails.
height of 130.6 km (81 miles).
Albert II survived the ight, but
he died on return to Earth due
to parachute failure.
DECEIVE A HUMAN INTO
BELIEVING THAT IT
WAS HUMAN.
Alan M. Turing, British computer scientist, 1950
weapons. A month later, at the
University of California, nuclear
chemist Stanley Thompson
(191276) and his team created
californium the 98th element
of the periodic table. Despite its
instability, californium is still the
,,
settlers had brought rabbits
with them for food. But in a land
without predators, the rabbit
population exploded, wreaking
havoc on crops and native
wildlife. When shooting,
poisoning, and containment with

3
heaviest element that does not fences failed to control them,

THOUSAND
quickly decay and unlike most Frank Fenner (19142010), a
other ultraheavy elements, it can microbiologist at the Australian
be made in quantities visible to National University, oversaw the
Monkey astronaut THE NUMBER OF the naked eye. release of myxoma a deadly
The V2 rocket carrying a rhesus
monkey went beyond the Karman VACUUM TUBES USED Computing science was racing
forward too. The US had ENIAC
virus that caused myxomatosis.
It curbed the rabbit plague, and
Line the boundary between Earths
atmosphere and outer space. IN EDSAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator though rabbits were not

n ist in rt
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 1951

600,000,000
PEAK NUMBER OF RABBITS
IN AUSTRALIA BEFORE
INTRODUCTION OF MYXOMA
Science inuenced fashion at the 1951 Festival of Britain, where fabric and wallpaper
designs based on X-ray crystallography (see 1945) were exhibited.

Sun orbit of Oort IN 1951, the Lancet, a medical Early transistors

Oort Cloud
Kuiper
Belt
Oort Cloud
Made up of billions of comets, the Oort Cloud marks the hypothetical outer
boundary of the Solar System. Orbits of Oort Cloud comets are more than
a thousand times bigger than planetary orbits.
eradicated, their numbers never
recovered to pre-1950s levels.
In the 1970s, Fenner went on to
use his skills in disease control
and played a crucial role in the
World Health Organizations
successful global elimination
of human smallpox.
The start of a new decade
also saw an effort to bring into
focus the most mysterious part
of Earths surface: the ocean
oor. Geologists such as Marie
Tharp (19202006) and Bruce
Cloud comet
planetary
orbit
Heezen (192477) had used
photographic methods to locate
sunken aircraft from World
WarII. They went on to map
the underwater seascape
discovering submerged
mountain ranges along the way.
In this year, Dutch astronomer
and physicist Jan Oort (190092)
suggested that comets came
from a cloud-like reservoir at
the edge of the Solar System.
Modern astronomers believe that
Oort was right.
journal, published an article
by British physician Richard
Asher (191269) about a new
mental disorder in which
sufferers sought attention by
fabricating medical ailments.
Asher called it the Mnchhausen
syndrome after the 18th-
century German baron who
invented wild stories about his
life that he claimed were true.
The same year also saw an
important breakthrough in
the eld of molecular biology.
Unravelling the molecular
structure of complex biological
substances such as protein had
been one of the challenges of
analytical chemistry. British
biochemist Fred Sanger (b.1918)
studied one particular protein,
insulin, which consisted of
interlocked chains of smaller
variable components called
amino acids. By chemically
splitting these chains, Sanger
was able to determine the types
of amino acids, and even the
sequence in which they were
linked together. Sanger was the
rst scientist to show that this
sequence was the same for all
insulin molecules, and that
different kinds of proteins have
unique amino acid sequences.
It would take scientists more than
a decade to fully appreciate the
implications of Sangers ndings:
that in the living body, individual
Transistors revolutionized
the world of electronic devices
and circuitry. Their ability to act as
switches also proved to be especially
valuable in the growing eld of POINT-CONTACT
computer technology. TRANSISTOR
genes in the DNA hold the
instructions for assembling
particular proteins by linking
amino acids together in the JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
correct order.
On 4 July, American inventor rst transistor in 1947, but it was
William Shockley (191089), the improved design of 1951 that
working at Bell Telephone would become the standard
Laboratories in New Jersey, USA, component of electronic devices
announced the invention of the for the next 30 years.
junction transistor. Shockley
and his team had made their
peptide
bond
amino
acid
AMINO ACID CHAINS
Protein molecules perform critical roles in the bodies of living
things, such as driving metabolism and helping cells to absorb
nutrients. In 1951, Fred Sanger found that the chain-like molecule
of a certain kind of protein insulin consisted of a unique
sequence of amino acids. He also found that different kinds of
proteins have different sequences this determines how each
chain folds into a shape for a particular purpose.

s
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281
 1952 1953

The hydrogen bomb test on the Enewetak Islands in the Pacic was the rst thermonuclear explosion The polio vaccine, developed in the early 1950s against a virus that attacked
that combined atomic fusion and ssion. Its mushroom cloud rose 17 km (10 miles) into the air. the central nervous system, saved thousands from a lifetime of paralysis.

THE YEAR 1952 saw some
important breakthroughs.
American microbiologist Alfred
Hershey and geneticist Martha
Chase worked together at New
Yorks Cold Spring Harbour
Laboratory to tackle a key
question in biology: was lifes
genetic material made from
protein or DNA? Some scientists
of highly specic wavelengths.
Walsh developed the atomic
absorption spectrometer,
which measured this radiation
and detected the tiniest levels
of elements in a mixture. The
spectrometer, patented the
following year, later became
a standard tool in forensic
science and other elds that
correct a congenital heart defect.
Just over a week later, American
surgeon Charles Hufnagel
implanted the rst articial heart
valve in a patient with rheumatic
fever, prolonging her life by nearly
a decade. Plans were also made
for the rst separation of
conjoined twins. The Brodie
brothers, fused at the head, had
IN 1953, SCIENTISTS gained
insight into how inheritance
and reproduction worked at
a chemical level. English
scientists James Watson and
Francis Crick (see pp.28485)
believed that DNA was the key.
While the chemical make-up
of DNA was partially known,
the physical arrangement of

12
been born the year before. Oscar its components had until then
Sugar and his team separated the been a mystery.
MEGATONS twins and saved one of them. By 1953, a new technique

OF TNT
THE SIZE OF THE
1952 IVY MIKE
EXPLOSION
thought only protein was
sufciently complex to suit the
task. Hershey and Chase
examined the genetic material
that phages viruses that infect
bacteria inject into host cells.
They discovered that the injected
cells contained phosphorus an
element found in DNA, but not in
protein. This indicated that genes
were made of DNA.
On the other side of the world,
Alan Walsh, a British physicist
living in Australia, pioneered a
technique that revolutionized
analytical chemistry. He explored
the practical applications of the
fact that atoms of different
elements absorb radiation
On 1 November, the rst X-ray crystallography was
hydrogen bomb test being used to produce 3-D images that DNA was shaped like a helix.
codenamed Ivy Mike was
conducted by the US on the
of the structure of complicated
biological molecules. At Kings
In spite of Franklins reluctance
to draw premature conclusions,
Enewetak Islands in the northwest College, London, a team that Watson and Crick began building
Pacic. It produced a 5 km (3 mile) included Rosalind Franklin and a helical model of DNA based on
reball and obliterated a small Maurice Wilkins used it to study the evidence. They published their
island. Previous thermonuclear DNA. Franklin perfected a results in the science journal,
demanded high-precision bombs had used atomic ssion technique of preparing samples of Nature. They depicted DNA as
chemical analysis. (see 1938), but Ivy Mike showed DNA that yielded especially clear two molecular chains entwined
In the US, Walton Lillehei and that an explosion could come, results. The early indications were around one another in a double
John Lewis performed the rst at least in part, from fusion helix. This model of DNA was
open-heart surgery in (see 198889) too. ground-breaking, as it suggested
September. They a way living things could
induced hypothermia reproduce their genetic material.
(cooling below normal A month later, another
body temperature) in journal, Science, reported on an
their patient, giving experiment conducted the year
them 10 minutes to before. American researchers
Stanley Miller and Harold Urey
had tried to recreate the origin
Articial heart valve
The rst articial heart of life in a laboratory. They had
valve was a caged-ball heated a mixture of ammonia,
design. Blood leaves the X-ray diffraction image of DNA water, methane, and hydrogen in
heart as the ball is pushed Franklins remarkable, distinct X-ray
a sealed ask, and sparked it with
against the cage. When the diffraction image with its striking X
heart relaxes, the ball falls pattern clearly indicated that DNA electrodes to simulate lightning.
back to seal the valve. was shaped like a double helix. Within two weeks the mixture was

at
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 1954

The Boeing 367-80 the prototype for the Boeing 707, which was the most successful of the early passenger jetliners
was donated to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, USA, after being used to test design innovations.

273.16 K
Life in a ask that had previously been tried ENCOURAGED BY EARLY damaged
Stanley Miller and Harold and found unsuccessful earlier. RESULTS, the US conducted kidneys
Urey recreated the dawn
Just as one discovery was being a nationwide eld trial the
of life in a ask: their transplanted
primordial soup championed, another was being largest medical eld trial ever THE kidney
produced amino acids demolished. A hominoid skull of Salks polio vaccine. On
within two weeks. in the Natural History Museum, 23 February, a mass vaccination
TEMPERATURE transplanted
London, supposedly excavated in programme involving 1.8 million AT WHICH ureter
found to contain amino
acids the building
Piltdown, East Sussex, in 1912
and acclaimed as a valuable link
schoolchildren began. In 1955, a
licence was issued for its routine
WATER, ICE,
blocks of proteins. in the story of human evolution, use. Salks vaccine went on to AND VAPOUR bladder
This showed that the was exposed as a hoax. The protect children from polio CAN COEXIST
building blocks of life anatomists and palaeontologists across the world and heralded
could be made from the Kenneth Oakley, Wilfred Le Gros the World Health Organizations Kidney transplant
simplest of substances. Clark, and Joseph Weiner international campaign to at the USSR Academy of Sciences In a kidney transplant, the failed
kidney is usually left in place. The
In November, Jonas Salk, an declared that the skull actually eradicate polio. published their description of
donated kidney is implanted lower
American virologist, announced consisted of a medieval human In May, the American aerospace maser (microwave amplication down the body and connected to a
a breakthrough of a more cranium, the teeth of a fossil company Boeing rolled out a by stimulated emission of different part of the blood system.
humanitarian nature. He chimpanzee, and the jaw of an new type of jet aircraft. The radiation) a system for
developed a vaccine against orangutan. To this day, no-one 367-80 was the prototype for the concentrating beams of radiation. potential for other uses, such
poliomyelitis based on a dead knows who perpetrated the hoax 707 passenger aircraft that came Maser came to be used in atomic as in medical body scanners.
form of the polio virus. It was a and duped the academic world into use in the 1960s and 1970s. clocks and helped amplify The year ended with the rst
far safer version of a live vaccine for so long. Until then, civil aviation had tiny signals in long-distance successful kidney transplant,
mostly been centred on aircraft television broadcasts. Since then, carried out by Dr Joseph Murray
ROSALIND FRANKLIN (192058) that were propeller-driven, but researchers have explored its in Boston, USA.
the 367-80 demonstrated that jet
Trained in chemistry, Rosalind propulsion was the way forward. 60
Franklin applied her skills to From 1954, scientists worldwide

57,879
study the structure of biological were able to apply a standard unit
NUMBER OF POLIO CASES IN US

50
molecules. She produced an of measurement for temperature,
X-ray diffraction image of following the General Conference
42,033

40
DNA Photograph 51 that

38,476
on Weight and Measures held in
35,592
showed a cross pattern. This France. The conference had been
33,300

30
Polio

28,985
suggested that DNA was helical established to oversee what would
28,386
27,726

vaccinations
in shape. It became a key piece be known as the International 20 The use of Salks
of evidence in Watson and System of Units (SI). In 1954, polio vaccine for
Cricks double helix model. Kelvin (named after British 10 15,140 mass vaccination
Franklin died in 1958, and she physicist Lord Kelvin) was deemed of children across
the US brought
did not share the Nobel Prize to be the SI unit for temperature. 0 down the number
awarded for this achievement. At the same time, Nikolay 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
of polio cases by
Basov and Alexander Prokhorov YEAR the thousands.

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 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

UNDERSTANDING
DNA
A SELF-COPYING MOLECULE CALLED DNA IS THE CHEMICAL CODE OF LIFE ITSELF

The characteristics of living things are produced by chemical processes that

happen in every cell. Twentieth-century science traced these processes to
their source a molecule that not only carries genetic information but also
has the remarkable capacity to copy itself. It is called DNA.

By the turn of the 20th century, scientists had
discovered that inherited characteristics come
from particles passed down through
generations. However, they did not
understand the composition of these
units of genetic material, which we
now know as genes. In 1919, Lithuanian
biochemist Phoebus Levene dismissed
nucleic acid a material present in the
nucleus of every cell as too simple to
be involved directly in inheritance. But in
the decades that followed, experiments
proved that a form of nucleic acid is, in fact,
the substance of genes.
By the 1950s, advances in analytical techniques
meant that the best-known form of nucleic acid,
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), could be examined
in ways never before possible. A method called
X-ray crystallography even promised to reveal
its three-dimensional shape.
BASE PAIRS JAMES WATSON AND FRANCIS CRICK
In 1953, results from these new methods To test their double helix theory, Watson and
Crick built a model of the structure to check
convinced American biologist James Watson and that the chemical pieces would t.
British biophysicist Francis Crick that DNA had a
helical structure. Evidence indicated two coiled was because they were bonded in xed ways:
chains (a double helix) with variable components adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine.
(bases) that hold the chains together. Four This would be key to understanding not only
varieties of bases were always present in certain how DNA carried inherited information but also
proportions. Watson and Crick deduced that this how this information replicated at reproduction.

DNA molecule coiled

into a double helix
adenine
double helix
wrapped around
packaging proteins
called histones

thymine

CHROMOSOMES
chromatid Jack
When a cell divides, to prevent short arm jumper ant
entanglement each DNA Kangaroo
molecule is bundled into
Pill millipede
condensed structures called
chromosomes. The number Human
of chromosomes per cell
Pigeon
varies from species to species.
Adders-tongue
fern
Chromosome micrograph
Because DNA replication happens before 0 20 40 60 80 100 1000 1500
long arm DNA backbone,
cell division, every chromosome appears
consisting of
with duplicated chromatids. NUMBER OF CHROMOSOMES deoxyribose (a form of
sugar) and phosphates

284
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G D N A

DNA REPLICATION MAKING PROTEINS

Just before a cell divides, it replicates its
entire DNA. Each DNA molecule unzips,
and the paired bases separate. Because
of the strict base-pair ruling, the base
sequence along one strand determines
coding strand
A gene is a section of DNA containing
instructions to assemble a protein 1 strands of
DNA separate
molecule to carry out a specic task,
2 bases complementary
such as making a pigment. In this to those on DNA template
way, genes determine an organism's strand create mRNA strand

the sequence along the other: they are characteristics. Before a protein is
complementary. Free DNA building blocks assembled, the gene's base sequence
are linked to make new complementary must be copied in the cell nucleus, 3 DNA strands
strands along each existing strand a process called transcription. This rejoin
template. This creates material for two copy is then sent to the cytoplasm. In instead of thymine, RNA mRNA strand
new, genetically identical double helices. another process, called translation, template strand has a base called uracil under construction
At cell division, one double helix goes to the base sequence information is
TRANSCRIPTION
one cell, and one goes to the other. used to assemble the protein. Inside the nucleus, part of a DNA double
helix unravels to expose the coding region
2 tRNA 3 tRNA molecule 4 amino acids are of a gene, ready for copying. This involves
parent molecule recognizes bonded together
complementary codon in the ribosome
making a strand of nucleic acid called RNA
double helix brings in an
amino acid (ribonucleic acid) by bonding together free
RNA building blocks.

5 amino acid detaches

free DNA from the tRNA molecule
building block

DNA double 6 tRNA molecule

helix unzips old DNA leaves ribosome
template
old DNA strand
TRANSLATION
template 1 ribosome The so-called messenger RNA (mRNA)
strand moves along
new DNA moves from the nucleus to the cytoplasm,
mRNA strand
strand where it settles on a protein-making granule
new DNA called a ribosome. The ribosome moves
strand along the mRNA, reading its base sequence
and building the correct protein. Specic
mRNA strand base triplets (codons) dictate specic protein
set of three bases
on the mRNA is building blocks called amino acids
called a codon collected by transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules.

daughter
guanine always forms a
double helix
base pair with cytosine

thymine and adenine

always form base
pairs together

cytosine

guanine

DOUBLE HELIX
A DNA molecule can be centimetres long
and consists of two entwined chains held
together by breakable glue in a hydrogen
bond. The outer backbones consist of
alternating units of sugar and phosphoric
acid. The linear sequence of the inner linked
bases determines the genetic information.

285
 1955 1956

3,611.4
KILOMETRES
THE LENGTH OF TRANSATLANTIC
TELEPHONE CABLE
The rst radiometric dating of rock layers, such as these in Bryce Canyon, USA, put estimates
of Earth's age at only about 2 billion years, far below the actual age of the planet.

IN 1955, AMERICAN GEOCHEMIST
CLAIR PATTERSON (192295)
studied the atoms of rocks to
estimate the age of Earth.
He focused his analysis on
meteorites, which are considered
remnants of an age when the
Solar System and therefore
Earth was rst made. Patterson
isolated lead from samples of
rock and studied the relative
proportions of lead isotopes
variants of the metal. Radioactive
atoms, such as those of uranium,
decay at a known rate (see p.267),
and thereby provide information
about the age of samples (see
4.55
BILLION
YEARS nitrogen
atom
THE AGE
OF EARTH carbon
atom
which build up over time. caesium metal. It would make
Patterson calculated Earth's age time measurement more
as 4.55 billion years older, and precise than ever the new
more accurate than prevailing atomic clock would gain or lose
estimates. This changed the way only a second in 300 years. Modern
scientists viewed our world. atomic clocks are accurate to
British physicist Louis Essen 1 second in 6 million years.
(190897), working at the UKs In December, in the laboratory
National Physics Laboratory, of Swedish geneticist Albert hydrogen
designed the rst atomic clock. Levan at the Institute of atom

below). Some of these atoms Its time-keeping was based on Genetics in Lund, Sweden,
decay into specic lead isotopes, radiation emitted by atoms of visiting Javanese-born American
biologist Joe Hin Tjio (19192001)
atom of radioactive atom of new made a discovery that corrected
material, uranium-235 radioactive a 50-year error in the eld of
product, lead-207
genetics: that human cells
contained 48 chromosomes.
He showed that there are in fact
46 chromosomes in a normal
human body cell. Tjio used an
improved microscopic technique oxygen atom cobalt atom
original radioactive
atom remaining
to squash cells into single layers,
rather than relying on slicing thin
ROCK AT ITS FORMATION ROCK AFTER MILLIONS OF YEARS
sections of tissue. He also used Structure of vitamin B12
RADIOMETRIC DATING a technique to spread out the A NEW DISEASE affecting a A model of a vitamin B12 molecule
reveals the complexity of it structure.
tiny chromosomes in a sample, shing community in Minamata,
This was rst revealed by Dorothy
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date rocks, minerals, so that they separated easily and Japan, was described in May 1956. Hodgkin, through a method called
or fossils using natural rates of radioactive decay. Its origins are clearly, without fragmenting. Tjio Called Minamata disease, it was X-ray crystallography (see 1945).
in the work done by physicists in the early 1900s. Radioactive continued his career in the US, characterized by progressive
material decays at a known rate. By working out the ratio of a where he became a signicant paralysis reminiscent of many metal poisoning. In the years
radioactive material (for example, uranium) to its decay products gure in developing the new nervous system disorders. It was that followed, the disease was
(lead), the age of the rock can be calculated. branch of biology called not until November that the linked specically to mercury
cytogenetics (cell genetics). disease was traced to heavy that had been leaking into the

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286
 1957
,,
,,
THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL
EARTH SATELLITE HAS
BEEN BUILT.
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS), published
in Pravda newspaper, 5 October 1957

The transatlantic telephone cable was Bleeping signals from Sputnik 1 the worlds rst articial satellite were

22
laid from a ship in coiled batches. heard by people on their radio sets around the world.

shing waters from a chemical
factory. The mercury had
accumulated in sh and
shellsh, and had poisoned the
people who ate them. This
incident was one of the rst
well-documented cases of the
effects of toxic chemicals
polluting food chains.
In July, British chemist Dorothy
Hodgkin (see 1945) published a
THE HAMILTON ELECTRIC 500,
launched in January, was the
rst ever wristwatch that
did not need winding. Although
its battery life was relatively
short, the innovation proved to
be very popular.
Danish chemist Jens Skou
(b.1918) published the basis of
THE NUMBER how the nervous system works.
OF DAYS THAT He discovered molecules in the
an impulse (see panel, below)
when stimulated.
On 4 October, Russia launched
Sputnik 1 the rst articial
satellite to orbit Earth.
At the start of the nuclear
arms race, and prompted by
US President Eisenhowers
"atoms for peace" speech in
1953, the United Nations set
up the International Atomic
The device emits electrons
(negatively charged particles),
which are then absorbed by
certain gases to produce a signal.
It helped environmentalists detect
tiny quantities of atmospheric
pollutants, such as the pesticide
DDT and chlorouorocarbons
(CFCs) ozone-depleting
(see 1973) compounds used in
refrigeration and as propellants

study of the structure of vitamin
B12 a vitamin needed to prevent
pernicious anaemia. Using X-ray
crystallography, she found that
the vitamin contained a ring-like
structure, porphyrin, that
surrounded a central atom
of the element cobalt.
The worlds rst underwater
telephone cable became
operational on 25 September. It
ran between the US and Europe
under the Atlantic Ocean. In the
rst 24 hours of operation,
the service hosted 588 London
to US telephone calls, which
were clearer than any previous
transatlantic communication.
In September, IBM launched
the 305 RAMAC (Random Access
Memory Accounting Machine)
the rst computer with a hard
disk drive and random access
memory. RAMAC weighed over a
ton and stored 5 MB of data on
a stack of 50 large discs.
SPUTNIK 1
cell membranes of crab nerves Energy Agency (IAEA) in July in aerosol cans.
that pump ions to "charge up" 1957 to control and develop
TRANSMITTED membrane surfaces, using up atomic energy. Thirteen years
SIGNALS BACK cellular energy in the process.
This makes the molecules
later, the IAEA would oversee the
Treaty on Non-Proliferation of
TO EARTH excitable so that they can carry Nuclear Weapons.
In the same year, aviation
region of negative company Boeing launched the
resting potential charge negative charge rst commercial jet airliner,
the 707. It marked the dawn of
a new age of air travel powered
by turbine engines that made
aeroplanes y higher and faster
than before.
In November, American
physicist Gordon Gould
nerve cell region of action positive charge
(19202005) suggested a method
membrane potential
of amplifying light into an intense
CREATING A NERVE IMPULSE beam and coined the term for
it as laser (Light Amplication
Membranes around nerve bres are electrically charged because by Stimulated Emission of
they contain protein "pumps" that push ions (charged particles) of Radiation). An operational laser,
sodium out and pull potassium ions in. This makes positive charge however, would not be produced
accumulate on the outer surface: a so-called resting potential. until 1960.
When stimulated, protein channels open in the membrane, British scientist James James Lovelock holds ECD
making positive charge leak in. This reverses the resting potential Lovelock (b.1919) invented the The electron capture detector (ECD)
picked up the tiniest amounts of
to create an action potential. The region of action potential res electron capture detector (ECD)
electron-binding chemicals in the
down the nerve bre membrane as a nerve impulse. as an ultra-sensitive atmosphere, such as the chlorine
way of analysing gas mixtures. in pesticides and other compouds.

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Ja pu 287
 1958 1959

New satellite technology helped explain how Earths magnetic eld channels energetic solar particles Hidden from the gaze of astronomers since antiquity, the far side of the Moon
into a collision course with the atmosphere to produce the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. was nally revealed when USSRs Luna 3 probe photographed it from orbit.

THE SOVIET UNIONS SPUTNIK1 Sputnik 1 measured the density biology. They traced what TWO MONKEYS, ABLE AND haemoglobin the red oxygen-
the rst articial satellite of the upper atmosphere, and happened to components of DNA BAKER, went up in the US missile carrying pigment of blood using
burned up on 4 January after Explorer 1 found how Earths when it replicated, and found Jupiter AM-18, and became the techniques that had cracked the
spending three months in orbit. magnetosphere (see panel, that a double helix molecule rst primates to survive a space structure of DNA. He found that
The US joined the space race below) could deect harmful unravelled into two strands, ight. Meanwhile, the USSR it had four protein chains, each
with the launch of Explorer 1 radiation before it reached each of which was a genetic launched three lunar probes with oxygen-grabbing iron.
later that month. For the month the ground. template for making more Luna 1 and 3 achieved yby.
or so of their battery-powered In California, USA, Matthew DNA. After replication, each new Luna 3 also took the rst
lives, these satellites sent back Meselson (b.1930) and Franklin double helix contained one old photograph of the Moons far side. Australopithecine skull
Dated at 1.75 million years old, this
important information about Stahl (b.1929) were unlocking strand and one new one. This In Cambridge University, UK,
skull belongs to an australopithecine,
aerospace a term that refers the secrets of DNA in what would method of semi-conservative molecular biologist Max Perutz also known as nutcracker man
to the realm of the atmosphere come to be described as the replication had been proposed by (19142002) was studying because of his large cheek teeth.
and the accessible space above it. most beautiful experiment in Watson and Crick in 1953, when
large eye
they developed the double helix socket
model of DNA.
In the same year, a practical
bow shock Earth
expression of this replication
came with the work of British
botanists Frederick Steward
(190493) and John Gurdon
(b.1933). Both teased cells from
mature organisms Gurdon
from a tadpole and Steward
from a carrot and grew
clones from them
as new genetically
identical plants. It
solar wind was the rst cloning
magnetosphere
using material from
magnetopause differentiated body tissues.
The year also saw a
THE MAGNETOSPHERE breakthrough in electronic
engineering. American electrical
Earth is enveloped by the magnetosphere, a magnetic blanket that engineers Jack Kilby (19232005)
results from magnetism deep inside the planet. The magnetosphere and Robert Noyce (192790) thick tooth
deects harmful high-energy particles from the Sun through a bow simultaneously came up with enamel
shock, or shock wave created at the magnetopause an abrupt the idea of condensing all the
boundary between incoming solar wind and the magnetosphere. components of an electronic
Without the bow shock, the solar wind would destroy life on Earth. circuit into a single plate of silicon,
thereby inventing the microchip.

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288
 1960

10,911
METRES
THE DEPTH REACHED
BY THE TRIESTE
The submersible Trieste was designed to withstand the immense pressures of the deepest
part of the Marianas Trench. Until 2012, it was the only manned vessel to get there.

LOUIS LEAKEY (190372)
British anthropologist Louis
Leakey was instrumental in
advancing the understanding
of human evolution. Together
with his wife Mary, he spent
much of his career studying
fossils in East Africa. He
showed that humankind
originated in Africa, and later
in his career helped inspire
the work of primatologists
such as Jane Goodall and
Dian Fossey.
Anthropologists Louis and Mary
Leakey had been excavating
prehistoric stone tools at Olduvai
Gorge in East Africa for two
decades. In July 1959, Mary found
a prehistoric skull. It belonged to
an australopithecine, an
ancestor of modern humans who
was later thought to be the rst
apeman to use stone tools.
JUST AFTER MIDDAY ON
23 JANUARY, the US Navy
submersible Trieste touched
down at the deepest spot of
the worlds oceans: Challenger
Deep in the Marianas Trench of
the western Pacic Ocean. The
submersibles onboard team of
Don Walsh (b.1931) and Jacques
Piccard (19222008) spent 20
minutes there, and saw that some
animals were adapted to survive
even at these great depths.
Harry Hess (190669), a
geologist with the US Navy,
had studied the ocean depths
during World War II. In 1960,
he suggested that the entire
seaoor was moving. He later
stated that the molten magma
spewing out of Earths crust from
underwater ridges was cooling,
expanding, and pushing the
oceanic plates on either side.
Today, Hesss theory is accepted
by geologists. It is believed that
as new mantle forms at a ridge,
old mantle plunges back into
Earth elsewhere. This process
is responsible for continental
drift, a theory rst suggested by
Alfred Wegener (see 191415)
nearly 50 years before.
In April, NASA launched
the rst successful weather
satellite, TIROS-1 (Television
Infrared Observation Satellite
Program-1). For 78 days,
television cameras aboard
the satellite took thousands
seaoor pushes lava cools and Seaoor spreading
away from solidies to form Lava eruptions create
central ridge new seaoor new mantle along the
length of the mid-
Atlantic Ridge, pushing
out the seaoor on
either side.
oceanic crust
lava erupts along
continental
mid-Atlantic ridge
crust
of images of cloud cover and His method involved using a rod of succeeded in articially
other aspects of atmospheric synthetic ruby to produce a series creating chlorophyll II one
conditions from aerospace. of laser pulses. This technology of the main components of the
In August, American physicist was later modied to produce a green plant pigment that traps
Theodore Maiman (19272007) continuous beam that today has light energy for photosynthesis.
demonstrated a new way of applications ranging from eye In October, the 11th General
producing a concentratedpencil- surgery to compact disc players Conference on Weights and
beam of light known as a laser and supermarket scanners. Measures published a series
(Light Amplication by Stimulated American chemist Robert of unit standards. Known as Le
Emission of Radiation, see 1957). Woodward (191779) had spent Systme International dUnits
the last decade studying (SI units), these were adopted
the chemical structures by scientists and technologists.
of complex biological Also in October, British surgeon
substances, such as Michael Woodruff (19112001)
cholesterol and quinine. performed the UKs rst kidney
He showed that the rules transplant operation. It was
of structural chemistry performed between identical
could be used to produce twins to minimize the risk of
these substances in the rejection. Both donor and
laboratory. In 1960, he recipient survived the operation
and went on to live many years.
First weather satellite
TIROS-1 carried television
cameras and photographed
Earths weather patterns
from a height of at least
700 km (435 miles).

n
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m han vitro ry d he
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ine hu m J h S we t A o t
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on

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o k
Wo rst se o the val R
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289
 1961 1962

108
MINUTES
THE DURATION
OF YURI
GAGARINS
SPACE FLIGHT

Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin was selected from DDT was developed as a contact poison to control insect pests and was
20 candidates to be the rst man in space. claimed to be harmless to people and the environment.

IN FEBRUARY, PHYSICISTS at
the University of California, USA,
succeeded in producing atoms
of a new heavy element by
bombarding a sample of the
element californium with nuclei
of boron atoms. They called the
element lawrencium, after
American physicist Ernest
Lawrence, the inventor of
the cyclotron a particle
accelerator. With an
atomic number of
103, lawrencium
was the last and
the heaviest of
a group of radioactive metals
called actinides.
On 12 April, Soviet pilot Yuri
Gagarin (193468) became
the rst cosmonaut when
he travelled to outer space
aboard Vostok 1. He orbited
Earth once before returning
safely and was awarded his
countrys highest honour
the title of Hero of the Soviet
Union. He went on to train
new cosmonauts in Russia.
The USSR launched its
Venera programme to gather
information about Venus. The
rst probe, Venera 1, is thought to
have passed within 100,000 km
Soviet Venera space probe
The Venera probes were among the more
sophisticated of the rst interplanetary
space probes. Over the years, Russia would
succeed in landing 10 probes on Venus.
(62,137 miles) of Venus. It was
the rst man-made object to y
by another planet.
In April, prompted by the
plight of wildlife in Africa and
elsewhere, a team including
biologist Julian Huxley (1887
1975) and ornithologist Peter
Scott (1909-89) proposed the
establishment of an international
antenna
organization for wildlife
conservation. They created the
International Secretariat of
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
now known as the World Wide
Fund for Nature in Switzerland.
The WWF went on to set up
ofces worldwide and harnessed
the expertise of scientists to
protect endangered species.
toughened body
to withstand
pressure
IN JUNE, The New Yorker
magazine began to serialize
a book by American marine
biologist Rachel Carson, titled
Silent Spring. It proclaimed that
human activity, particularly the
use of pesticides such as DDT
(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane),
threatened the environment with
damage and destruction. Carson
explained how the intensive
techniques used to satisfy
humankinds demand for food and
its drive to eliminate pests were
affecting the environment on an
unprecedented scale. Widespread
use of pesticides was harming
wildlife, and would ultimately
harm humans too. Carson was
concerned about DDT. Developed
as a contact poison to control
the spread of insect-borne
diseases during World
WarII, DDT was later
adopted as an agricultural
pesticide. However, it
accumulated in food chains,
killing wildlife. Carsons
book, coming a year after
the inauguration
of the WWF,
served as an
alarm call. It
created a new
environmental
awareness, especially in the US,
where environmental concerns
ultimately precipitated a national
ban on DDT and other highly
potent pesticides.
In July, the multinational
communications satellite
Telstar was sent into space
aboard a NASA rocket. The rst of
its kind, Telstar made it possible
for live television signals to be
transmitted across the Atlantic.
The rst pictures were seen on
television screens on 10 July.
Telstar became the prototype
for later, more efcient, models.
RACHEL CARSON
(190764)
Trained in marine biology,
Rachel Carson achieved
acclaim as a writer of popular
natural history books before
she became famous for her
book, Silent Spring. Her work
led to the establishment
of the US Environmental
Protection Agency. She was
posthumously awarded the
Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 1980.

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290
 1963
,, BUT MAN IS PART OF
NATURE, AND HIS WAR

,,
AGAINST NATURE
IS INEVITABLY A WAR
AGAINST HIMSELF.
Rachel Carson, marine biologist,
from Silent Spring, 1962

Surtsey emerged in a volcanic eruption in 1963. Subsequent eruptions over the next four years
built up the island, which in spite of erosion boasts more than 60 plant species.

Telstar THE BELL COMPANY conventional

The worlds rst communications
satellite, Telstar transmitted
its signals intermittently from
1962 to early 1963. Although it
has ceased to communicate,
it remains in orbit to this day.
American biologist Gerald
Edelman (b.1929) and
English biochemist
Rodney Porter (191785)
independently made a
breakthrough that would
eventually win them the Nobel
Prize. They were working on
antibodies natural secretions
that help the immune system
ght infection by targeting and
neutralizing harmful foreign
particles called antigens.
Edelman and Porter analysed
antibodies by chemically splitting
The structure of antibodies
An antibody molecule is made up of
them into smaller constituents.
They found that each Y-shaped
antibody molecule was made
up of protein chains. Their work
helped to unravel the chemical
structure of antibodies. Later
work would show how the
human body produces different
kinds of antibodies to target
developed the rst push-
button telephone for public
use. Scientists also saw
breakthroughs in science
on a grander and more
fundamental scale.
Soviet cosmonaut
Valentina Tereshkova
(b.1937) became the rst
woman and the rstcivilian
to y into space. An amateur
parachutist, she became an
honorary inductee in the Soviet
Air Force before she trained to
pilot Vostok 6. The mission
helped Russian scientists
understand how the female
body reacted to time in space.
Scientists also reached a
fundamental turning point in
understanding the nature of
matter. Experiments conducted
in the 1950s had shown that
subatomic particles,
such as protons
and neutrons, could
explode to create even
smaller fundamental
entities. However,
no-one could be sure
what these were.
In 1963, American
physicists Murray
Gell-Mann (b.1929)
and George Zweig
(b.1937) independently
proposed a quark
model of matter,
suggesting that a
variety of different The buttery effect
entities called quarks come A Lorenz attractor is a
buttery-shaped graphical
together in combinations to
plot based on mathematical
make subatomic particles. equations that describe a
Over the next few years, chaotic system.
experiments in particle physics
indicated that this quark model In November, change on a

two light and two heavy protein
chains, held together by tight bonds
in a Y-shaped structure.
48
different kinds of antigens, so was essentially correct.
that the immune system can American mathematician
attack specic infections. Edward Lorenz (19172008)
was revising the way we look
at systems, such as weather, on a
much larger scale. He suggested
that a small, seemingly
insignicant change in one place
can have major repercussions
THE NUMBER in the long term. By alluding to
the effect of tiny apping wings
OF TIMES leading to hurricane-scale
TERESHKOVA devastation, he came up with an
massive scale was seen in the
geographic realm, when an
island was born near Iceland.
An underwater volcano on the
mid-Atlantic ridge erupted to
push Surtsey out of the water.
This gave scientists a rare chance
to study Earths active geology
rst-hand. In subsequent years,
scientists were able to see how
life colonized the island in a
process of biological succession
to form a new ecosystem.

ORBITED evocative name for his idea: the

buttery effect. With this, he laid
EARTH the foundation for chaos theory.

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H Ha sea 291
 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

THE STORY OF
OCEANOGRAPHY
ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST UNEXPLORED REALMS HAS GRADUALLY BEEN REVEALING ITS SECRETS
sonar equipment

For a long time, oceans have been the least understood features on Earth.
titanium hull
However, knowledge of marine life and the topography of the ocean floor protects passengers

has gradually accumulated and, in recent years, new exploration

techniques have led to several discoveries.

The earliest records of sea exploration date back
3,000 years to the Phoenicians, who made charts
to navigate and used weights to plumb the oceans
depths. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was
one of the rst to speculate about marine life, and
other Greeks developed instruments to help ships
locate their position when far from shore.
However, the open oceans remained unexplored
by Westerners until the 1400s, when Christopher
Columbus sailed westwards into the Atlantic in the
hope of nding land on the far side. This paved
the way for further voyages of exploration, such as
Ferdinand Magellans circumnavigation, which
nally revealed the extent of the worlds oceans,
and allowed mapmakers to chart their shapes.
Scientic attempts to study beneath the surface
of the oceans began in the 19th century. Early
surveys were conducted using sounding chains
and sample nets. The introduction of sonar after
World War II helped in mapping the ocean oor.
Recently, improved sonar, satellite techniques,
and an array of submersibles have helped add
to our knowledge of marine life and ocean
currents as well as the oceans geography.

lights for
video camera
SONAR
manipulator arm for picking
The rst maps of the ocean oor objects off seaoor
were produced by sonar, a technology sonar emitted
from base of boat
developed during World War II to detect Nautile
submarines by picking up reections of transmitted French miniature submarine
sound Nautile is only 8 m (26 ft)
sound waves from underwater objects.
long. However, its tough
It can also be used to detect shoals of sound wave
hull allows it to reach a
reected from
sh. Nowadays, new systems, such as shoal depth of 6 km (3 3/4miles),
side-scan sonar, are being used together and external robotic
shoal of sh arms, video cameras,
with GPS to survey vast areas quickly. and oodlights enable
detailed exploration.

1200250 BCE c.80 BCE 151922 1842

Phoenician traders Antikythera mechanism Strait of Magellan Matthew Maury
The rst seafarers, The Greeks develop Portuguese explorer Considered to
the Phoenicians instruments, such Ferdinand Magellan is be the father of
plumb the seabed as the clockwork the rst to sail from oceanography,
to nd channels. Antikythera mechanism, the Atlantic to the US naval ofcer
They develop the Ancient to plot the movement Pacic Ocean, and Maury compiles
rst coins to Phoenician of the heavens and to discovers the Strait of sea charts of the
facilitate trade. coin navigate at sea. Magellan on the way. Map of the Strait of Magellan worlds oceans.

500200 BCE 1492 176971

Greek marine science
Aristotle identies many
marine species, such as
crustaceans, molluscs,
echinoderms, and sh.
Ancient Grecian bowl
showing a sailing boat
Columbus voyage Captain Cooks Endeavour
Italian navigator British naval captain James
Christopher Columbuss Cook makes voyages to the
voyage to the Americas Southern Oceans and is the
shows that it is possible rst European to reach New
to cross the Atlantic Zealand and Australia.
and even sail around
the world. Christopher Columbus Endeavour

292
 T H E S TO R Y O F O C E A N O G R A P H Y

,,
,,
HOW INAPPROPRIATE TO
CALL THIS PLANET EARTH WHEN
IT IS QUITE CLEARLY OCEAN.
Arthur C. Clarke, British writer, 19172008

main thruster
propellor provides power
for forward
movement

3 THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS

8 m THE LENGTH OF NAUTILE
7.5 km THE RANGE OF NAUTILE

1956 1984 Dumbo

Mid-ocean ridge
Marie Tharp and Bruce
Heezen, American
oceanographers,
discover the mid-ocean
ridge an undersea
ridge running down the
Atlantic seabed.
Trieste
1960
Descent to the bottom
The bathyscaphe (diving vessel) Trieste
dives 10,911 m (35,797 ft) down the Pacics
Marianas Trench, to make the rst descent
to the deepest part of the ocean.
Nautile
The bathyscaphe Nautile is
used to lm the wreck of the
RMS Titanic and search for
the ight data recorder from
Air France Flight 447, which
crashed into the Atlantic
Ocean in 2009.
octopod
200010
Marine census
A Census of Marine Life that
catalogued the diversity of life in
oceans worldwide is completed
in 2010. This octopod is one of the
many strange discoveries.

187276 1968 1977 2012

HMS Challenger Deep sea drilling Ocean oor Deepsea Challenger
On its voyage Rock samples taken Marie Tharp and Bruce Heezen Canadian lmmaker
around the world, the from the mid-ocean make the rst accurate relief James Cameron goes
HMSChallenger collects ridge show map of all the worlds ocean to the bottom of the
a huge amount of data magnetic striping oors, mainly using data Marianas Trench in the
about the oceans. conrming that the recorded by sonar. submersible Deepsea
ocean oor is Challenger and makes
Samples from ocean oor actively spreading. Map of ocean oor a lm about life there.

293
 1964 1965
,,WELL BOYS, WEVE
BEEN SCOOPED.
Robert Dicke, American physicist, on the accidental detection
of microwave radiation by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, 1965
,,
A map of microwave radiation emitted after the Big Bang denes Alexey Leonovs historical spacewalk
an expanding universe that is 13.7 billion years old. lasted for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.

AMERICAN PHYSICISTS Arno existence of astronomical objects showed how proteins solidied American chemist Jerome IN MARCH, SOVIET COSMONAUT
Penzias (b.1933) and Robert with such compacted mass that in blood when exposed to air Horwitz (19192012) made a ALEXEY LEONOV (b.1934) became
Wilson (b.1936) were studying not even light could escape from due to chemical reactions that drug called azidothymidine (AZT) the rst person to walk in space.
radio waves from satellites. them. In 1964, these massive involved different clotting factors. that was a modied component of Tethered to his spacecraft,
Despite removing all known objects got a name: black holes. American physiologist Judith Pool DNA. By injecting it into tumours, Voskhod 2, Leonov spent over
sources of interference, their In June, a rocket discovered the (191975) isolated the chemical he hoped it would confuse cancer 10 minutes in extra-vehicular
antenna continued to pick up strongest source of X-rays near factor that was eventually used in cells and stop them from dividing. activity (EVA). He nearly failed to
background noise. What they Earth, Cygnus X-1 later shown treating haemophiliacs, people AZT became an effective antiviral get back inside the spacecraft
were hearing, by accident, to be a black hole. These holes with impaired blood clotting. treatment for AIDS. because his suit had swelled up
was the cosmic microwave are now known to be formed in the vacuum of space.
background radiation (CMB) when massive stars collapse. rotating wheel for aluminium In the late 1950s, astronomers
left over from the formation of British physician Robert positioning aperture ear-like aperture found a celestial object that gave
the universe evidence of the Macfarlane (190787), and off brilliant light. First detected
Big Bang (see p.344). American scientists Oscar by their radio waves, these
For more than a century, Ratnoff (19162008) and Earl objects were called quasars
physicists had hypothesized the Davie (b.1927) independently (for quasi-stellar radio sources).
In 1965, however, American
astronomer Allan Sandage
(19262010) found the rst
radio-quiet quasar, which had
weak radio emissions, but could
emit other types of radiation.
It took another 20 years for
astronomers to identify a
quasar as the core of
a galaxy with a black
hole at its centre.
Until 1965, biologists
thought that human cells
could divide continuously.
But in March, American
biologist Leonard Hayick
(b.1928) published evidence that
cultures of human cells only
cab containing Holmdel Horn Antenna went through about 50 rounds
receiver to Classied as a National Historic of division before stopping
measure Landmark, this radio telescope altogether. Ten years later, it
incoming at the Bell Laboratories in New
was found that this happened
signals Jersey, USA, was the rst
detector of background radiation because each division corroded
left over from the Big Bang. the ends of chromosomes

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294 m
i
 1966
,, THE SPACESUIT STARTED

,,
BEHAVING ABSOLUTELY
DIFFERENT FROM WHAT
IT DID ON THE GROUND.
Alexey Leonov, Soviet cosmonaut, 1965

The endosymbiosis theory proposes that cellular organelles such as the nucleus and chloroplasts shown here once
lived as independent organisms. Evidence for this comes in the form of their own functioning DNA.

Dividing cancer cells IN JUNE, after being rejected

Cancer cells have a genetic
abnormality that makes them
divide uncontrollably, deviating from
the normal cellular ageing process.
In the 1960s, scientists cracked
the genetic code. By 1961 it was
known that DNA is a two-chain
double helix that carries
information for building proteins.
The sequence of DNA chain
building-blocks, called bases,
determines the sequence of
protein chain units, called amino
until the cells were no longer acids. Between 1961 and 1966,
viable. Hayicks discovery had cell biologists worked out the
important implications in the triplet combinations of bases
biology of cancer. Cancer cells that are encoded for all 20
are abnormal in that their cell different kinds of amino acids.
division is unchecked so The nal link came in 1965, when
continuous division produces American biochemist Robert
a tumour. A modern strategy Holley (192293) unravelled the
in cancer treatment involves structure of tRNA (transfer
exposing the affected cells to RNA) the molecule that provided
drugs that encourage the natural a physical link between DNA base
corrosion of chromosomes. code and assembling protein.
60
50
ROUNDS OF DIVISION
by more than a dozen scientic
journals, a young scientist nally
managed to publish a theory that
would eventually revolutionize
our understanding of the early
history of life on Earth. American
biologist Lynn Margulis (then
called Sagan, see 1970) proposed
that components of cells such
as the nucleus and chloroplasts
originally had independent lives.
She suggested that millions of
years ago bacteria-like life forms
engulfed one another to form the
rst complex cells, called
eukaryotes. Today, all animals,
plants, and many microbes are
made up of eukaryotic cells.
Her endosymbiotic theory
was initially resisted by most
other scientists.
In July, Japanese husband
and wife biologists Kimishige
Ishizaka (b.1925) and Teruko
Ishizaka (b.1926), working in the
eld of immunology, reported
that they had discovered a
new class of antibodies.
These substances, called
histamine released
from vesicles
mast cell
(tiny sacs)
allergen
(foreign
particle)
IgE antibody
ALLERGIC RESPONSE
IgE antibodies are the basis for allergic responses. When rst
exposed to an allergen (allergy-causing particle, such as pollen),
white blood cells release IgE antibodies, which then bind to mast
cells. When these IgE molecules bind to a second exposure of the
same allergens, it makes the mast cell release histamine. This
triggers the bodys allergic response symptoms.
oversensitive to certain triggers inammation associated with
called allergens. Although they allergic reactions.
help in defending the body Meanwhile, in a Mt Hotham
against certain kinds of Resort ski hut in Victoria,
parasites, IgE antibodies Australia, the discovery of
can also make it overproduce a mouse-sized animal was
chemicals such as histamine, causing a sensation among
which triggers the massive zoologists. This mountain

Hayicks graph immunoglobulin E pygmy possum the only

40
of cell (IgE), play a central role marsupial adapted to the
proliferation in making people snow-capped habitats of the
30
Normal cells
Australian Alps was previously
nurtured in the
20 laboratory soon known only from fossils and
divide to produce Mountain pygmy possum thought to be extinct for more
10 a living culture The mouse-sized alpine than half a century. In 1966, the
but after about 50 possum was discovered
0 rst living specimen was found.
rounds of division, as a fossil in 1896, but a
10 50 90 130 170 210 250 290 330
reproduction living animal was found
DAYS IN CULTURE stops. in Australia in 1966.

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295
 1967 1968

First detected by their radio signals, pulsars are now known to emit other This image shows tracks made by neutrinos the most abundant subatomic
forms of radiation, such as visible light and, as shown here, X-rays. particles in the universe caught in a nanosecond inside a bubble chamber.

ALTHOUGH IT WAS PRACTICALLY
IGNORED at the time, American
physicist Steven Weinbergs
(b.1933) 1967 study of the forces of
nature eventually became one
of the most quoted scientic
papers. In it, Weinberg explained
how electromagnetism and weak
nuclear force were just different
aspects of a single unied set
of electroweak forces. He
also proposed that breaking the
symmetry of these forces provided
particles with a fundamental
property their mass. For his
work, Weinberg went on to win the
1979 Nobel Prize in Physics, with
Pakistani nuclear physicist Abdus
Salam (192696) and American
theoretical physicist Sheldon
Glashow (b.1932).
In November, British
astronomers Antony Hewish
(b.1924) and Jocelyn Bell Burnell
JOCELYN BELL BURNELL (b.1943)
observed pulses of radio signals
coming from a xed position in the
sky. They whimsically called them
LGM-1 (Little Green Men-1). It
was later found that the signals
were coming from the radiation
beam of a rotating neutron star
(a dense, compact star thought to
be composed mainly of neutrons),
British astrophysicist
Jocelyn Bell Burnell came to
prominence as a postgraduate,
when she discovered radio
pulsars with her thesis
supervisor, Antony Hewish.
Controversially, Bell did not
share Hewishs 1974 Nobel
Prize for this work. More
recently, she served for two
years as president of Londons
Institute of Physics.
First heart transplant
South African surgeon Christiaan
Barnard shows a chest X-ray image
of 54-year-old Louis Washansky, the
rst person to undergo a successful
heart transplant.
and each pulse corresponded to
a single rotation. In 1968, these
stars were termed pulsars.
In December, surgeon
Christiaan Barnard (19222001)
performed the worlds rst
successful heart transplant at
Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape
Town, South Africa. The patient,
with diabetes and incurable heart
disease, received a heart from
a young road-accident victim.
The recipient survived for just
over two weeks, ultimately dying
of pneumonia. Barnard was
nonetheless celebrated for his
achievement, and went on to
perform other similar operations.
His longest-surviving recipient
went on to live for 23 years.
THE STANFORD LINEAR recorded striking Earth than had
ACCELERATOR CENTER in been estimated. Italian physicist
California, USA, houses the Bruno Pontecorvo (19131993)
longest linear accelerator accounted for this discrepancy
3.2 km (2 miles) long. In 1968, it by proposing that neutrinos had
provided the rst evidence for appreciable mass, which allowed
the existence of fundamental them to change types. Many went
particles called quarks (see undetected by neutrino detectors,
1963) by bombarding and which monitored only one type.
shattering subatomic particles. American physician Henry
A solution to the solar neutrino Nadler (b.1936) reported on
problem was proposed in 1968. the rst prenatal diagnosis
Neutrinos subatomic particles of Downs syndrome using
with no charge and negligible amniocentesis (see panel,
mass are generated by atomic below). His observations were
reactions in the Sun. However, conrmed by direct diagnosis
fewer neutrinos were on the fetus.
hypodermic needle ultrasound
probe monitors
extracts uid
procedure
amniotic
uid
amniotic sac
AMNIOCENTESIS
The amniotic uid, which surrounds a fetus, contains cells that
come from the unborn child. Amniocentesis is a method by which
a sample of this uid is extracted to test for abnormality. In 1952,
British obstetrician Douglas Bevis (191994) discovered how it could
be used as a diagnostic tool. By the 1960s, scientists could use it to
detect chromosome abnormalities, including Downs syndrome.

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be ode ag earn ica n ch t m
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itis zi ici e t em m m cl Am ria e nsp De cis zes lac de , late s an Th em am s r
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o ec ses own the
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296 Mo p
1969
,,
,,
ONE SMALL STEP FOR [A]
MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP
FOR MANKIND.
Neil Armstrong, American astronaut, 1969

IN THE WAKE OF Christiaan First man on the Moon

Barnards ground-breaking heart
transplant (see 1967), American
surgeon Denton Cooley (b.1920)
implanted the rst articial
heart on 4 April. At times when
natural hearts were unavailable
and surgical intervention urgent,
early articial hearts could give
the patient time until a donor
could be found. The rst patient to
receive an articial heart survived
long enough to get a donor.
In an event that was televised
live across the world, American
astronauts Neil Armstrong
(19302012) and Buzz Aldrin
(b.1930) became the rst
humans to set foot on the Moon
on 21 July Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC). Their spacecraft,
Apollo 11, had touched down on
the Moons Sea of Tranquillity,
Structure of insulin
Dorothy Hodgkin showed how
the building blocks of insulin were
spatially arranged to form a xed
complex shape.
Neil Armstrong was the rst person
to step on the Moon, followed soon
afterwards by Buzz Aldrin. Television
images of the event were sent back to
at least 600 million people on Earth.
a large plain, the day before.
Armstrong and Aldrin spent two
and a half hours on the surface
of the Moon, collecting samples
of lunar rock. They left behind
instruments, including a series
of reectors for laser-ranging
experiments, which would help
determine the distance between
Earth and the Moon to a degree
of accuracy never before possible.
The astronauts returned to Earth
on 24 July, splashing down in
a module in the Pacic Ocean.
The entire mission took just over
eight days to complete.
British biochemist Dorothy
Hodgkin (see 1945) specialized
in working out the structures of
complex biological molecules.
After her success with
steroids, penicillin, and
vitamins, she moved on to
a much more complicated
substance insulin, a
protein hormone. Fred
Sanger had determined the
sequential building blocks of
insulin in 1951. Ten years later,
Hodgkin worked out the 3-D
structure of insulin by using
X-ray diffraction techniques that
had earlier been applied to DNA
and other complex structures.

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297
 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

1957 1959 1962 1963 1966

Man-made satellite Luna 2 and 3 Mission to Venus First female cosmonaut Landing on the Moon
On 4 October, USSR The Soviet lunar On 14 December, On 7 June, Soviet cosmonaut On 3 February, Soviet
launches the rst probes Luna 2 and 3 the Mariner 2 Valentina Tereshkova becomes probe Luna 9 becomes
satellite into orbit are the rst craft to becomes the rst the rst woman in space. A the rst spacecraft to
around Earth, successfully reach the spacecraft to y crater on the far side of the successfully land on the
Sputnik 1. Today Moon. Luna 3 captures past another planet, Moon is named after her. The Moon. On 30 May, the US
there are over 500 the rst images of the revealing Venus as rst US female astronaut was Surveyor 1, made the
working satellites. far side of the Moon. Luna 2 a hothouse planet. Sally Ride, 20 years later. Tereshkova second soft landing.

1949 1961 1965

Animals in space
The rst astronauts were
animals. American rocket
scientists send Rhesus
monkey Albert II into space
in 1949. Soviet dog Laika
became the rst animal to
orbit Earth in 1957.
First person in space First spacewalks
On 12 April, Soviet cosmonaut On 18 March, Soviet
Yuri Gagarin becomes the rst Aleksei Leonov becomes
person in space. He completes the rst astronaut to
one orbit of the Earth in Vostok 1. venture outside his craft.
In May, Alan Shephard (192398) American astronaut
becomes the rst American Edward White completes
Laika in space. Yuri Gargarin a spacewalk in June.

THE STORY OF Edward White

SPACE EXPLORATION
FROM THE FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE TO REACHING OTHER WORLDS AND THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The launch of the Soviet Unions Sputnik 1 in October 1957 is usually taken
to mark the start of space exploration, even though some earlier flights
had left Earths atmosphere. It was the beginning of a series of adventures
that has taken astronauts to the Moon and probes to distant planets.

Sputnik 1 was followed a month later by the astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
voyage of the Soviet dog Laika, which became set foot on the Moon. Their rst moments there
the rst animal to orbit Earth. The rst human were broadcast live to people around the world.
to travel in space was Yuri Gagarin, who orbited Astronauts returned to the Moon several times in VOYAGER 1 AND 2
Earth in the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 1 in the 1970s, but most voyages of exploration
April 1961. These Soviet successes since have been by robot craft, which When the two Voyager probes were launched in
threw down the challenge to the USA have now travelled to every planet in 1977, they were expected to send back useful data
to step up its space exploration the Solar System and some even from as far as Jupiter and Saturn. However, they
programme. In 1965, the beyond that (see panel, right). have continued to return data as they travelled
American Mariner 4 sent back through the heliosheath the very edge of the Solar
the rst close-up pictures of hatch through which astronauts System and will soon be in interstellar space.
another planet, Mars. In entered and exited module Voyager 1 may well have left the Solar System in
1966, a Soviet probe, Luna 9, October 2012. It is the most distant human-made
made a soft-landing on the Apollo 11 command module object, nearly 18.5 billion km (11,495 billion miles)
Moon and sent back the rst This was part of the spacecraft that away in March 2013. Voyager 2 is not far behind,
carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,
pictures from the surface. and Michael Collins on their historic over 15 billion km (9,320 billion miles) away.
Three years later, American mission to the Moon in 1969.

,,
,,
IF OUR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL IS AT STAKE, Apollo 11 hatch
The main hatch on the Apollo
WE HAVE A BASIC RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR Command Module had to provide a
perfect seal to protect the crew. It
SPECIES TO VENTURE TO OTHER WORLDS. was redesigned to open outwards
after an accident in 1967 in which
astronauts were trapped inside
Carl Sagan, American cosmologist, 193496 the capsule as it caught re.

298
 T H E S TO R Y O F S PAC E E X P LO R AT I O N

1973 1990 1998

Lunar
rover
1971
First Lunar Roving Vehicle
American astronauts on the Apollo
15, 16, and 17 missions explore the
Moon with an electric car called
the Lunar Roving Vehicle.
Missions to Mars
In 1973, Soviet probe Mars 2
reaches Mars one part of it
sent back pictures from orbit, the
other crashed while attempting
to land. In 1975, the American
Viking 1 successfully landed and
sent back data for six years.
Space telescope
Orbiting telescopes
give astronomers a view
of space not inuenced by
Earths atmosphere. Launched
in 1990, the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) is the most
well-known space telescope.
ISS
The International
Space Station is a
collaboration between
16 countries. It is
launched in 1998 and
assembled bit by bit
Hubble Space Telescope over 14 years. ISS

1969 1971 1981 Space Shuttle 1995 2012

Man on the Moon
On 21 July, Neil Armstrong
becomes the rst human
to set foot on the Moon. As
he steps on to the Moons
surface, he says, One
small step for (a) man, one
giant leap for mankind.
First space station Space Shuttle Challenger Galileo Mars Curiosity
On 19 April, the rst The rst spacecraft were NASAs Galileo probe becomes NASAs Curiosity Rover, a car-
space station, the designed to be used only once. the rst spacecraft to orbit the sized robot exploration vehicle,
Salyut1, is launched by The Space Shuttle is the rst Solar Systems largest planet, lands in Gale Crater on Mars on
the Soviet Union. Later reusable craft, able to land after Jupiter. It beams back many 6 August. The latest in a series of
in the year, the rst crew a mission like an aeroplane. The images of Jupiters moons and similar missions, it studies rocks
of three stays on board USSR built the similar, though also the impact of comet and climate, and searches for
for 23 days. much less successful, Buran. Shoemaker Levy 9. signs of water and microbial life.

27 cm (11 in)
diameter
porthole

pressurized
locking
mechanism

cabin
seal

299
 1970
452
THE PASSENGER
CAPACITY OF
THE BOEING
747-100
The rst Boeing 747-100 Clipper Victor went into commercial service on 22 January,
on a PanAm ight from New York, USA to London, UK.

THE AGE OF WIDE-BODY
PASSENGER JET TRAVEL began
when the rst Boeing 747 jumbo
jet made its maiden commercial
voyage in January this year. The
idea of the airliner was conceived
in the mid-1960s, partly to ease
congestion at busy airports. By
2013, more than 1,500 Boeing
747s had been built.
In February, Japan became
the fourth country after the
USSR, the US, and France to
send a rocket into space, when
its national space development
agency (NASDA) launched the
experimental satellite called
sumi. China became the fth
country to do so, in April, with
the successful launch of its
experimental satellite, Dong
Fang Hong 1.
After the successes of its
rst three manned missions
to the Moon, NASAs Apollo
programme suffered a setback
in April 1970, during the Apollo
13 mission. Around 55 hours after
lift off more than 320,000 km
(200,000 miles) from Earth one
of the spacecrafts two oxygen
cylinders exploded. Oxygen was
crucial not only to make the air
in the spacecraft breathable, but
also to generate electrical power
and to make drinking water in
the fuel cells. The mission was
aborted, and the drama of the
journey back to Earth was played
out on radio and television. The
spacecraft splashed down in
the South Pacic Ocean, ve
days after the incident.
Later this year, NASA
successfully launched Uhuru, the
rst dedicated orbiting X-ray
observatory. X-ray astronomy is
only possible at high altitude
ideally, in orbit because the
atmosphere absorbs most of
the X-ray radiation from space.
The rst Earth Day an annual
celebration of the worlds natural
environment and a call to action
for environmentalists to protect
it was observed this year. It
was rst proposed in 1969 by
American peace activist John
McConnell (19152012), as an
event that would take place on
the spring equinox (northern
hemisphere) each year around
21 March. The rst Earth Day
Rescue mission
Three Apollo 13 astronauts are lifted
aboard a helicopter in a rescue net,
after their Lunar Module returned
them safely to Earth on 17 April.
LYNN MARGULIS (19382011)
American biologist Lynn
Margulis is best known for her
theory of complex cell evolution,
which she rst published in
1966 when working at Boston
University. Origin of Eukaryotic
Cells (1970), expanded on her
endosymbiotic theory, but
earned criticism within the
scientic community. It took 30
years before sufcient evidence
led to the theorys acceptance.
took place on 22 April, and organelles, with specic functions
is seen as a major event in the (see pp.19495); for example,
history of environmentalism. It plant cells contain organelles
was celebrated with events across called chloroplasts, in which
the US, but since 1990, Earth Day photosynthesis (see 178788)
events have been held worldwide. takes place. Margulis idea was
In May, American biologist that organelles were once simple
Lynn Margulis (see panel, above) cells in their own right, and that
published a book expanding on eukaryotic cells evolved as a
her endosymbiotic theory of the symbiosis of these subunits.
origin of eukaryotic cells (cells It was a year of important
with complex structures contained breakthroughs in genetics too.
within a membrane), which she Genetic information is carried
rst proposed in 1966. Eukaryotic in two similar compounds
cells contain structures called inside cells: DNA and RNA
(see pp.28485). DNA stores
,,
,,
genetic information, while RNA
HOUSTON, transfers this information, and
WEVE HAD is involved in building protein
A PROBLEM.
molecules. Until 1970, biologists
believed that information could
John L. Jack Swigert, US ow in only one direction: from
astronaut, Apollo 13 mission, 1970 DNA to RNA. In June, American

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 ,,
,,
WE DECLARE THAT THE PROPER
USE OF SCIENCE IS NOT TO CONQUER
NATURE BUT TO LIVE IN IT.
Professor Barry Commoner, American biologist, Earth Day, 1970

Earth Day protests like this one in New York appealed for changes
in government policy that would promote a sustainable way of life.

geneticist Howard Temin virus (HIV), which causes AIDS points were discovered. 25 Space missions
(193494) and American (see 1982). The enzyme involved Restriction enzymes play a 17 days Endurance records for

MISSION DURATION (IN DAYS)

17 hours manned space ight
biologist David Baltimore in the process is called reverse central role in modern genetic 20
steadily improved
(b.1938) independently transcriptase. For their work, technologies, including DNA 13 days
18 hours between 1963 and
discovered that some viruses Temin and Baltimore jointly proling (see 1984), which is 15 1970. The Soyuz 9
carry information in won the 1975 Nobel Prize used in elds such as paternity 7 days record was broken
23 hours in 1971, when
RNA, which is then in Physiology or Medicine. testing, criminal investigation, 10 4 days cosmonauts on board
passed to DNA. These In July, Type II restriction and ecological studies. American 23 hours
Soyuz 11 remained in
retroviruses include the enzymes that cut DNA into microbiologists Hamilton Smith 5 orbit for 24 days.
human immunodeciency fragments at specic (b.1931) and Daniel Nathans
(192899), along with Swiss 0
microbiologist Werner Arber Vostok 5 Gemini 5 Gemini 7 Soyuz 9
Lunokhod 1
The rst lunar (b.1929), all shared the 1978
rover landed on directional Nobel Prize in Physiology or exploration. In June, two of its unmanned lunar probe Luna 16
the Moons surface antenna Medicine for this discovery. cosmonauts set an endurance drilled into the Moons surface
on 17 November,
The USSR had a particularly record for space ight. Their and returned samples to Earth.
aboard the USSRs
Luna 17 spacecraft. successful year in space Soyuz 9 mission lasted 17 days, In November, the unmanned
omnidirectional 16 hours, and 59 minutes. Luna 17 mission put the rst
antenna In September, the rover the Lunakhod on the
lunar surface. The Lunokhod,
spent nearly 11 months
analyzing the lunar soil and
sending back photographs. In
December, Venera 7 became
the rst spacecraft to make a
soft landing on another planet,
when it touched down on Venus.
Engineers back on
Earth detected
television camera
no signals from the probe after
its landing and assumed it had
been destroyed. Later analysis
drive wheels of their recordings revealed
23 minutes of data, which
indicated that the surface
temperature was extremely
hot at 475C (887F).

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20 na Mo
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301
 1971

NASAs Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is driven on the surface of the Moon. During the Apollo 15
mission in July, the rst LRV travelled a total of nearly 28 km (17 miles).

THE FIRST ALL-ELECTRONIC
CALCULATORS appeared in the
1950s, but they were large and
expensive. In the 1960s,
calculators became smaller and
cheaper, thanks to the use of
integrated circuits, or chips
tiny but complex electronic
circuits etched onto a single
piece of semiconductor material.
In 1968, adding-machine company
Busicom was designing a portable
calculator, and approached two
chip manufacturers: Intel and
Mostek. Intel developed a chip
with the entire central processing
unit of a computer in its tiny
circuits. It was the worlds rst
commercially available
microprocessor (see panel,
right), the Intel 4004. Busicom
chose not to use the Intel 4004,
because it would have made the
costs of producing the calculator
prohibitively high. It chose a
about a decade, different users was released and the rst scans
logged into the same computer of the human brain produced.
were able to leave messages for American inventor Raymond
each other. With the creation of Damadian published the results
the US militarys ARPANET of his experiments into magnetic
network in 1969, organizations resonance imaging (MRI, see
could send information across 1977). British pharmacologist
large distances. American John Vane published his
COLOURED CT SCANS OF THE HUMAN BRAIN computer programmer Ray research that explained how the
Tomlinson designed an e-mail painkiller aspirin works by
CT SCANNING system for ARPANET and sent blocking the production of
the rst true e-mail. prostaglandins, compounds
In computed tomography (CT), an X-ray source and a detector are In space, the USSRs Salyut 1 that play a central role in
placed on opposite sides of a rotating drum. A person lies inside the became the rst ever orbiting the mechanism of pain and the
drum and an X-ray beam passes through him or her. The signal in space station, remaining in orbit bodys inammatory response.
the detector depends on the average density of the material through for 175 days. The cosmonauts of
which the beam passes. Then a computer combines multiple scans, the Soyuz 11 mission were the protective cover
to produce a 2-D slice through the person. rst to enter the craft, in June.
They spent three weeks inside,
but all three were killed as they
simpler chip, made by Mostek them through the post. Floppy were leaving; they remain the
and the worlds rst truly disks were thin plastic disks only people to have died outside
pocket-sized calculator, the coated with magnetic particles, Earths atmosphere.
pins connect
LE-120A HANDY, went on sale and were attached to a spindle In July, astronauts from NASAs to circuit board
in January 1971. inside a rigid plastic housing. The Apollo 15 mission drove around
In May, US computer company rst oppy disks were 20.3 cm the lunar surface in the rst FIRST MICROPROCESSOR
IBM announced a new convenient (8 in) in diameter, and held 80 kB Lunar Roving Vehicle, or Rover.
data storage device the oppy (kilobytes) of information. In medical science, the rst A microprocessor is a
disk. The oppy played a key role Another important rst in 1971 commercially available CT single-chip central
in enabling the development and was e-mail (electronic mail). For (computed tomography) scanner processing unit (CPU).
popularity of personal computers Beneath the cover is a single
as users could store electronic
documents, carry them from
,, I THOUGHT ABOUT OTHER
at crystal of silicon onto
which thousands, millions,

,,
computer to computer, and send or, more recently, billions
SYMBOLS, BUT @ DIDNT of transistors and other
First pocket calculator
Busicoms HANDY LE, had a red APPEAR IN ANY NAMES, components are etched.
Microprocessors are one
SO IT WORKED.
LED display. It featured a xed
decimal point, with a choice of of the dening components of
four, two, or no decimal places. the microelectronics industry.
It cost $395. Ray Tomlinson, US computer programmer and inventor of e-mail, 1998

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302 Sa
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1972

Apollo 17 astronauts captured this image the celebrated Blue Marble photograph on 7 December.
Seeing our planet from space helped to raise concern for the environment.

THE LIMITS TO GROWTH gene the rst time this had ,,IT WAS JUST A EUREKA. YOU

,,
been accomplished. Also in May,
Japanese-born evolutionary KNOW, I LOOK AT THE TV SET AND
A simple graph (right) illustrates KEY
biologist Susumu Ohno SAY TO MYSELF, WHAT CAN I DO
that while population grows Food supply introduced the term junk WITH THIS?
geometrically the more people Population DNA. Geneticists knew that
GROWTH

there are, the faster it grows a
nite resource, such as food
supply, can only increase at a
steady rate. This inevitably leads
to crisis at some point, showing
that continued growth cannot
be sustained indenitely.
THE MICROELECTRONICS
INDUSTRY produced a number
of advances in 1972. American
company Magnavox introduced
the Odyssey, the worlds rst
home video game console,
which plugged into televisions.
The popular Pong video game
Crisis
TIME
In January, the international
think tank The Club of Rome
published The Limits to Growth. It
set out the results of a computer
simulation investigating the
possible effects of unbridled
industrial development and
population growth. The report
mutations introduced when
DNA replicates inside cells
impose a limit on the number of
genes a genome can carry. That
upper limit is around 30,000. Since
the amount of DNA in each human
cell could carry 3 million genes,
the great majority of our
genome must have no
function hence the term junk
DNA. Most geneticists prefer to
use the term non-coding DNA:
the DNA in genes carry codes
used to build proteins inside
cells, but other DNA may yet be
found to have other functions.
Ralph Baer, inventor of Magnavox Odyssey video game console, 2007
In October, a team of American
molecular biochemists led by
Paul Berg reported that they
had combined sequences of
DNA from different organisms.
This process of making
recombinant DNA is central
to genetic engineering.
In July, NASA launched the
Earth Resources Technology
Satellite the rst of the USAs
Landsat satellites. NASA
launched seven satellites to
gather information about Earth
from space providing data on
land use, geology, oceans, lakes
and rivers, and pollution. The last
two Apollo missions, 16 and 17,
took another six astronauts to the
Moon. Three further Apollo
missions had been planned, but
were cancelled, partly because
the budget was cut and partly so
that NASA could concentrate on
developing an orbiting space
station. In March, NASA launched
its Pioneer 10 probe, bound for
Jupiter (which it ew past in 1974).

111
a two-dimensional on-screen had many critics at the time, but
version of table tennis was was nonetheless very important
released by Atari in November. for raising public awareness of
The rst digital watch, the environmental concerns, such
Hamilton Watch Companys as the affects of economic growth
Pulsar, went on sale in autumn. on nite natural resources.
The company had announced the In May, a team led by American
watchs development in 1970 and geneticist Walter Fiers revealed
begun producing it in 1971.
Computer users had been
that they had worked out the
sequence of nucleotide bases KILOGRAMS
able to send information across along the entire length of a THE WEIGHT OF
MOON ROCKS
the telephone network since the
mid-1960s, but in December, Information plaque about Earth
Vadic Corporation introduced Pioneer 10 carries this information
plaque, which aimed to give
COLLECTED BY
the rst practical modem, the
VA3400. It could send data at
extraterrestrials an idea of the
human form and planet Earths
APOLLO 17
1,200 bits per second. place in the Solar System. ASTRONAUTS
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 1973

2,249
THE NUMBER
OF DAYS SKYLAB
WAS IN ORBIT
AROUND EARTH

THIS YEAR SAW THE LAUNCH Computer touch screen

of the USSRs second space
station, Salyut 2, in April, while
a month later the US launched
Skylab. This space station
remained in orbit until 1977.
In April, in New York, USA,
Motorola researcher Martin
Cooper (b.1928) made the rst
telephone call from a truly
mobile, handheld phone albeit
one that weighed 1.1 kg (2.5 lb).
Around the same time, engineers
at the European Organization for
Nuclear Research (CERN), on
the SwissFrench border, were
developing the worlds rst touch
screen, which was put to use
on computers in a sophisticated
control room.
Later in the year, American
computer scientists Vint Cerf
(b.1943) and Robert Kahn (b.1938)
drafted the internet protocol
suite a set of networking
standards that enable different
interconnected computer
networks to communicate. The
most important components,
Transfer Control Protocol and
the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP),
are the basis of nearly all trafc
across the internet today. At
Xeroxs Palo Alto Research
Center (PARC) in California, USA,
Danish electronics engineer Bent
Stumpe holds one of the rst touch
screens, which he developed with
British engineer Frank Beck.
computer scientists produced
the Alto the rst computer to
have a graphical user interface
(GUI) and a mouse.
In November, American
geneticists Herbert Boyer
(b.1936) and Stanley Cohen
(b.1935) announced that they had
created the rst ever transgenic
organism, heralding the dawn of alternative energy device, known
genetic engineering. Boyer and as Salters duck, which could
Cohen inserted an antibiotic- extract energy from water
resistant gene from one waves. This device could be
bacterium into the genome of used to generate electricity.
another, endowing the recipient
bacterium with the donors Salters duck
resistance against antibiotics. A prototype of the duck generates
electric power from waves in a
Also in November, British
laboratory test. The water behind
inventor Stephen Salter (b.1938) the duck is at, as its energy has
applied for a patent for an been extracted.

Skylab in orbit
Skylab housed a laboratory, in which
astronauts carried out scientic and
medical experiments, and carried a
telescope for studying the Sun.

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304
1974

The rst extreme-loving organisms were discovered in the USA, in Yellowstone National Parks
sulphur-rich hot springs. In 1974, such organisms were classied as extremophiles.

STEPHEN HAWKING (b.1942)
Perhaps best known to the
public for A Brief History of Time
(1988), British theoretical
physicist Stephen Hawking has
made pioneering contributions
to the understanding of black
holes, cosmology, and quantum
physics. He is almost completely
paralysed, a result of the
degenerative condition known
as motor neurone disease, with
which he was diagnosed when
he was just 21.
IN JULY, AMERICAN
MICROBIOLOGIST Robert
MacElroy coined the term
extremophiles to refer to
organisms that thrive in
extremes of acidity, pressure, or
temperature, for example. This
classication sparked interest
from astrobiologists, since such
development in genetics caused
concern in the general public and
the scientic community about
the possible environmental
effects of genetic engineering.
More concern about the
environmental effects of scientic
progress arose after scientists
published their ndings about the
in the Afar Triangle, Ethiopia. The annihilating each Lucy
fossils were from a 3.2 million other. Hawking A reconstructed
skull of an
year-old Australopithecus uncovered
Australopithecus
afarensis a species of bipedal a strange afarensis, a
(walked on two legs) hominid. possibility: species of early
The nd was named Lucy for any virtual bipedal apes.
after the Beatles song Lucy in pairs created
the Sky with Diamonds, which at the event
was often played at the camp horizon (boundary) succession of
where the bones were found of a black hole, one discoveries known
and was by far the oldest such member would as the November
nd at the time. disappear inside, while Revolution which
British theoretical physicist the other would travel included the discoveries
Stephen Hawking published a out into space, the result of the charm quark and the
revolutionary idea about black being that black holes radiate particle called J or psi gave an
holes. One of the ndings of particles. At rst controversial, enormous boost to the emerging
quantum physics is that empty Hawking radiation is now part understanding of subatomic
space is constantly thronging of mainstream physics, and particles, known as the
with pairs of virtual particles, the search is on to detect it. Standard Model of particle
which exist only eetingly, before Also in physics, a rapid physics (see panel, below).
STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE PHYSICS
The Standard Model, developed in the particles that carry force
particles
1960s and 1970s, is still the best-t of matter Fermions Bosons
explanation of fundamental particles the
most basic building blocks of matter and form
composite
u
up
c
charm
t
top photon

Quarks
organisms might be found in dangers of chlorouorocarbons force. The models success rests largely on
particles
hostile environments on other (CFCs). These man-made its predictions of the existence of particles such as
d s b z

Force carriers
planets, and from evolutionary compounds were widely used as that have since been observed, including the protons and down strange bottom Z boson
biologists, as extremophiles are refrigerants and propellents in charm quark in 1974. According to the neutrons
mostly primitive organisms that aerosol cans. The researchers theory, there are two families of fundamental ve v vt w
Leptons

evolved early in Earths history. warned that CFCs could deplete particles: the fermions, which make matter, exist in electron muon tau W boson
neutrino neutrino neutrino
isolation, not
German geneticist Rudolf
Jaenisch (b.1942) and American
the ozone layer, which protects
the planet from harmful
and the bosons, which carry force. The
fermions are further divided into quarks
in composite
particles
e
electron

muon
t
tau
g
gluon
embryologist Beatrice Mintz ultraviolet radiation. which normally occur in tightly bound twos
(b.1921) reported that they had In November, American or threes to make composite particles such
gives mass to H0
created the rst transgenic anthropologist Donald Johanson as the proton and the neutron and leptons, other particles Higgs
animal, by introducing virus DNA (b.1943) discovered fossil which occur singly and include the electron. boson

into a mouse embryo. The pace of fragments of a hominid skeleton

s
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305
 1975

The Mandelbrot set is a simple mathematical formula that, when visualized using
computer graphics, reveals intricate beauty at different scales.

53
IN JUNE 1975, Japanese
electronics company Sony
released the rst home video
MINUTES mass
spectrometer
recorder format, Betamax.
THE LENGTH OF TIME THE
Video cassette recorders VENERA 9 LANDER OPERATED helical
(VCRs) allowed people to record
television programmes and watch ON THE SURFACE OF VENUS antenna

prerecorded lms bought or

rented from video shops. Although another Japanese company, JVC, only about 5 per cent of
VCRs had been available since the came out with a rival format the home video market,
1960s, they were expensive and VHS (Video Home System). Over although they remained the
very few households owned one. the next decade, the two systems standard for broadcasters
Betamax was inexpensive enough competed in a format war; by and professional video aerobrake
to be purchased by many families the end of the 1980s, Betamax editors until the rise of
for home use. The following year, VCRs and cassettes represented digital video production. Venera 9
In July, millions of people lander
This is a model
around the world watched a
of the Venera 9
historic moment live on their lander probe
televisions: the docking of a that carried out
Russian Soyuz spacecraft with tests and sent
panoramic
an American Apollo module. The
photographs
two craft were together in orbit from Venus.
for more than 40 hours, during
which the crews carried out joint
experiments, exchanged gifts,
and un-docked and re-docked
their craft several times.
Further out in space, the
COLLABORATION IN SPACE Russian unmanned space
probe Venera 9 became the
Since the 1950s, the US and USSR had been engaged in a space rst spacecraft to orbit Venus.
race, each superpower trying to assert its technological superiority. A spherical entry pod detached on Earth. The lander relayed data Probability, and Dimension). The
The Russians were the rst to put a satellite into orbit, launch a from the orbiter and opened to and images for 53 minutes, after mathematics of fractals provided
person into space, and send probes to the Moon. Not far behind, release a lander probe, which which radio contact was lost. a way of bringing apparently
the Americans achieved perhaps the biggest coup, by landing descended on the planets In November, PolishFrench rough, irregular, and chaotic
astronauts on the Moons surface. The docking of the two nations surface. It was the rst probe mathematician Benoit phenomena into the domain
craft in orbit the ApolloSoyuz Test Project was an important to send images back from the Mandelbrot (19242010) coined of mathematics. It allowed
statement of peace and collaboration between the US and USSR, surface of another planet; the word fractal in his book Les mathematicians to understand
a reection of the easing of tensions between them. the orbiter acted as a relay station Objets Fractals: Forme, Hasard, and model intricate natural forms
between Venus and astronomers et Dimension (Fractals: Form, such as mountains, clouds,

e ny r ot l
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306
 1976

2,179
KILOMETRES PER HOUR
THE TOP SPEED OF CONCORDE

Concorde could travel at more

than twice the speed of sound.

snowakes, plants, and lightning Apple 1 In July and September, NASAs

bolts as simple repeating patterns
on different scales. Mandelbrots
work also fed into the emerging
eld of computer graphics,
enabling computer game
designers and artists to create
stunning virtual worlds with
realism. With its strong links
to another emerging discipline,
chaos theory, fractal mathematics
helped scientists understand
unpredictable systems, such as
stock markets and earthquakes.
In December, US engineer
Steven Sasson (b.1950) took
the rst digital photograph
with a device he had invented,
which proved to be a prototype
of the digital camera. Sassons
images had a resolution of just
0.01 megapixels, and took
23 seconds to be stored on
magnetic tape.
Also in December, US physicist
Martin Perl (b.1927) announced
the discovery of a
subatomic particle
that he called
tau lepton. It
was further
gamma-ray
detector evidence in
favour of the
Standard Model of fundamental
particles (see 1974). In 1995, Perl
was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Physics for his discovery.
THE YEAR DAWNED with the
maiden ight of Concorde,
the rst supersonic jet airliner.
It was developed jointly by British
Aerospace (formerly British
Aircraft Corporation) and the
French company Arospatiale.
After more than 10 years of
development and testing,
Concordes rst commercial
ights took place on 21 January,
one from London to Bahrain
and the other from Paris to Rio.
Concorde remained in service
until 2003. Only one other
supersonic airliner has ever gone
into service: the Russian Tupolev
Tu-144, in 1977. However, it was
grounded in 1978 after a crash.
In March, British evolutionary
biologist Richard Dawkins
published The Selsh Gene. In it,
he suggested that evolution was
best understood at the level of
genes, and not whole organisms.
The gene-centric theory developed
in the 1960s, and it accounts for
The rst Apple computer came as a single
circuit board to which customers would
connect a keyboard and a video display,
and a cassette player to load programs.
certain behaviours that are
otherwise hard to explain; for
example, the altruism that
organisms show towards those
most closely related (and therefore
likely to carry many of the same
genes). Dawkins use of the word
selsh, although gurative,
captured the imagination of the
general public and scientists
alike. Many consider it to be a
landmark in the development
of evolutionary biology.
In April, American computer
scientists Steve Jobs (19552011)
unmanned space probes Viking 1
and Viking 2 orbited Mars and
dropped lander probes on its
surface. The landers sent back
motherboard high resolution images, and also
carried out chemical analyses
cassette board of the soil, partly with the aim of
connector nding clues that life had once
existed on the planet; however,
and Steve Wozniak (b.1950), no such evidence was found.
and electronics expert Ronald
Wayne (b.1934) founded a new
company called Apple Computers.
Their rst product, simply called
the Apple Computer (later known
as Apple 1), came as a single
circuit board. It had 8 kilobytes
of RAM, and sold for $666.66.
A few months later, US
computer company Cray
Research delivered a ground-
breaking supercomputer, Cray-1,
to the Los Alamos National RICHARD DAWKINS
Laboratory in New Mexico. Cray-1 (b.1941)
was the brainchild of Seymour
Cray (192596), who had been British evolutionary biologist
working since the mid-1960s on Richard Dawkins was born
making processing in Kenya, and graduated with
units work in a degree in zoology from
parallel, to increase Oxford University in 1962. For
computer power. most of the 1960s, he was a
researcher in ethology (the
study of animal behaviour).
Surface of Mars He has written a number of
The Viking landers, inuential and hugely popular
which spent a combined books explaining evolution,
total of 10 years
studying the Martian
criticizing creationism, and
surface, sent back many promoting atheism.
colour pictures to Earth.

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307
 1977 1978
,,
447 IN A WAY, IM PROUD
SECONDS
,,
THAT WHAT I WAS HAS
THE LENGTH OF TIME THE HELPED OTHER PEOPLE
GOSSAMER CONDOR FLEW HAVE CHILDREN.
TO WIN THE KREMER PRIZE Louise Brown, first baby conceived through IVF, 1998

The Gossamer Condor was the rst human-

powered aircraft to achieve sustained ight.

IN FEBRUARY, a team of in South Africa. Their nd pushed Sanger method remained the Earth. A receiver worked out its
oceanographers and geologists back the date of the earliest basis of genome sequencing until exact location by triangulating
set out to explore the Galpagos known living things by several automated techniques became the signals from the satellites.
Ridge in the East Pacic Ocean, hundred million years. available in the early 2000s. In 1983, the president of the US,
searching for hydrothermal In the same year, the science In August, Jerry Ehman, an Ronald Reagan, announced that
vents cracks in the ocean oor of genomics analysis of the American astronomer, detected the system would be available for
where seawater meets hot sequence of nucleotide bases a remarkably strong and public use once the rst group
magma. They found that the (genetic material) along the consistent radio signal that of satellites was complete.
mineral-rich water gushing out of length of an organisms DNA seemed to have come from an A second group of satellites, the
the hydrothermal vents supported took two major steps forward. extraterrestrial source. The rst of which was launched in
a rich and diverse community of First, in February, British signals strength, frequency, and MARY LEAKEY (191396) 1989, enhanced accuracy.
organisms never seen before. biochemist Frederick Sanger consistency suggested that it Also in February, a team led
Later in the year, American determined the sequence of the was broadcast on purpose by Born in London, Mary Nicol by British palaeontologist
palaeobotanist Elso Barghoorn 5,000 or so bases in the genome intelligent extraterrestrial married archaeologist and Mary Leakey revealed a set of
(191584) and his PhD student of a simple virus. Then, in beings. Ehman used Ohio State anthropologist Louis Leakey. prehistoric footprints that
Andrew Knoll discovered 3.4 December, Sanger published Universitys Big Ear radio The couple spent many years were made by bipedal hominids
billion-year-old fossils of simple details of a new, rapid method telescope as part of the Search in Africa, inspired by the idea an estimated 3.4 million years
single-celled organisms in rocks of genome sequencing. The for Extraterrestrial Intelligence that human origins lay in that ago. The 24 m- (80 ft-) long set of
(SETI) project. The signal has continent. In 1959, Mary found footprints, discovered at Laetoli,
never been detected again. the 1.75 million-year-old in Tanzania, were made by three
Also in August, the Gossamer remains of a hominid in individuals walking in volcanic
Condor became the rst Tanzania. Her nd contributed ash. Light rainfall soon after
human-powered aircraft to to later understanding of cemented the footprints, which
achieve sustained, controlled human evolution. were then covered in another
ight, completing a gure of layer of ash and preserved until
eight around two markers set erosion revealed them to Leakey
0.8 km (0.4 mile) apart, at Minter THE US AIR FORCE LAUNCHED and her team. The oldest
Field, California, USA. It had a the rst of 24 NAVSTAR hominid footprints known before
mass of just 32 kg (70 lb) and (Navigation System using Timing the discovery at Laetoli were
was driven by pedal power. And Ranging) satellites for its made by Neanderthals just
The aircrafts designer, Paul Global Positioning System 80,000 years ago.
MacCready, was awarded the (GPS) in February. The satellites In July, the rst human baby
HYDROTHERMAL VENTS Kremer Prize (50,000), which acted as orbiting radio beacons. conceived outside a womans
was set up in 1959 by British Each one carried an accurate body was born. Louise Brown
A common feature around mid-ocean ridges, hydrothermal vents industrialist Henry Kremer to atomic clock and broadcast was conceived through in vitro
are ssures in the ocean oor from which chemically-rich water reward innovations in human- constant signals announcing fertilization (IVF) a technique
emerges. They can either be hot black smokers, which form powered ight. its position and the exact time. that was the result of nearly a
rocky, chimney-like structures, or cool white smokers. Some Ground-based receivers could decade of work by British
biologists believe white smokers to be the site of the origin of life. detect signals from at least four embryologist Robert Edwards
satellites from any point on and surgeon Patrick Steptoe.

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308
Louise Brown, the rst baby conceived through IVF, holds her fathers
hand shortly after her birth at Oldham General Hospital, UK.

Newspaper reports of the birth of Ancient footprints

the rst test tube baby caused
a urry of both praise for the
achievement and condemnation
for meddling with nature.
Since the birth of Louise Brown,
several million babies have been
conceived through IVF.
In another technological
substitute for a natural process,
US company Genetech announced
that it had managed to genetically
engineer E.coli bacteria to
produce the hormone insulin.
People suffering from diabetes
The footprints at Laetoli, preserved
in hardened volcanic ash, were made
by three individuals apparently on
their way to a watering hole.
(Type I) cannot produce enough
of this hormone, and at the time,
their only source of life-saving
supplementary insulin was from
pigs and cattle. The US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved Genetechs product
in 1982, making it the rst
genetically engineered product
to gain approval.

fallopian tube

ovary

follicles
uterus
containing
eggs
ultrasound tube
guides needle
hollow needle into ovary
extracts eggs

IN VITRO FERTILIZATION

In this assisted fertilization technique, a womans ovaries are

stimulated (using drugs) to produce several eggs. The eggs are
extracted, and combined with sperm in the laboratory. One or two of
the embryos produced are then implanted into the womans womb to
develop into fetuses. Since rst introduced, IVF has become more
sophisticated and there are many ways to achieve egg fertilization.

A
ise AS in
ou e r N nste rst pe
o f L aby b Ei o
rth rst b h IV
F em e the esc
Bi g N ov es th y tel
u ly he rou r
13 nch vato X-ra
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n e l a c a n i p pu 6 S nete etic pro
Ju ine d a ing sig vel m
o n
19 id W ppe s us ove de m co Ge s ge ia to
r
v ra pr tu ha cte
Da ve t atom an ba
ha qu 309
 1979

140,000
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE EVACUATED
FROM THE AREA AROUND THREE MILE
ISLAND AFTER THE DISASTER
An aerial view of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
which is considered the site of the USAs worst nuclear accident.

,,
,,
AS THE DECADE DREW TO
A CLOSE, progress in space
FOR EACH OF OUR ssion in nuclear control rods slide steam used to

ACTIONS THERE ARE ONLY

fuel heats water down between fuel spin turbines and
exploration continued. NASAs lling reactor rods to slow down the drive electricity

CONSEQUENCES.
two Voyager space probes rate of ssion generators
reached their rst target, Jupiter,
two years after leaving Earth.
Voyager 1 made its closest James Lovelock, British biologist, in Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, 1979
approach in March; Voyager 2
in July. The probes sent back September, NASAs Pioneer 11 year, the European Space Agency hot water
exceptionally clear photographs became the rst space probe launched the rst of its highly nuclear produces steam
and data to reveal new to y past Saturn, another gas successful Ariane rockets, fuel rods in the steam
generator
information about Jupiter giant. Pioneer 11 came as close from French Guyana.
and its moons, including the as 21,000 km (13,000 miles) to In May, astronomers based at concrete steam is
discovery of volcanoes on the tops of the planets deep, Kitt Peak National Observatory, dome condensed
to water and
the innermost moon, Io. In dense clouds. At the end of the USA, discovered two quasars
returned to
close to each other in the sky; steam
a quasar (quasi-stellar radio generator
actual position and galaxy cluster as
shape of galaxy gravitational lens source) is the energetic centre of
a distant galaxy. The two quasars
light path without
gravitational appeared so similar that the
lensing astronomers concluded they
coolant pump circulates
were two views of the same water around reactor
object. This was the rst
example of gravitational NUCLEAR REACTOR
Earth lensing (see panel, left): the light
from the quasar was bent, as if A nuclear reactor generates electric power by using nuclear
by a lens, due to the distortion of ssion to heat water. This in turn produces steam, which is used
apparent position light bent by space-time by a massive galaxy to drive huge turbines. A reactor core contains fuel rods made
of distorted galaxy cluster
cluster that lies between the of radioactive material, and control rods, which limit the rate of
galaxies
quasar and Earth. ssion. There are two separate cooling circuits, in which water
GRAVITATIONAL LENSING On 28 March, the USA suffered circulates to carry heat away from the reactor core.
its worst-ever nuclear power
The gravitational eld of matter present in space acts as a plant accident. In the early
lens, causing light to be deected. As a result, people viewing hours of the morning, one of the the reactor core then leaked out women within an 8 km- (5 mile-)
a celestial object from Earth may see multiple distorted images reactors at the Three Mile into a containment building. radius to evacuate; two days after
of it. This phenomenon, known as gravitational lensing, was rst Island nuclear power plant, Although the reactor was the accident, the radius was
proposed in 1936 by GermanAmerican physicist Albert Einstein. Pennsylvania, went into partial stabilized by the evening, extended to 32 km (20 miles).
The rst example of gravitational lensing was discovered in 1979, meltdown after a valve failed to concern over rising radiation Radiation levels around the
when astronomers observed two views of the same quasar. operate correctly. A large amount levels caused local ofcials to power plant did not rise
of pressurized water circulating advise children and pregnant signicantly, and nuclear

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scientists concluded that neither
people nor the environment had
come to any harm.
Sony, a Japanese company,
introduced a revolutionary new
product in July: the Walkman.
It was the rst truly personal
portable audio device, allowing
people to carry their music with
them on audio cassettes and
listen to it on headphones.
Earlier in the year, the US
company Bell Laboratories
released the seventh, and most
important, version of UNIX a
computer operating system that
is the direct ancestor of the
popular modern operating
systems Mac OS X and Linux.
In October, British biologist
James Lovelock published Gaia:
A New Look at Life on Earth. The
book set out the Gaia hypothesis.
This states that Earth can be
considered a single, self-
regulating, living organism.
Lovelock asserted that Earths
living things interact with the
physical environment, keeping
the oceans and atmosphere
favourable for life to continue.
Lovelock had been developing
the idea and gathering relevant
evidence since the early 1960s.
The hypothesis inuenced how
many people tend to think
about the environment, and
the interconnectedness and
interdependence of all living
things in the world.
ck
h elo
itis Lov w
r
r B es Ne
be m : A h
to st Ja aia Eart
c ay bly n of
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1980
Erosion has revealed the 65-million-year-old CretaceousPaleogene boundary which corresponds to the extinction
of the dinosaurs in these rocks in the Hoodoo Formation, Alberta, Canada.
LUIS ALVAREZ (191188)
American physicist Luis
Walter Alvarezs hypothesis
about the cause of the
extinction of dinosaurs came
near the end of a long and
illustrious career in physics.
He made many contributions
to radar technology during
World War II, but his
speciality was subatomic
particles. In 1968, he won
the Nobel Prize in Physics.
IN JANUARY, AMERICAN
THEORETICAL PHYSICIST
Alan Guth (b.1947) proposed
a renement to the Big Bang
theory (see pp.34445), which
states that the Universe began
84
MINUTES
THE TIME IT TOOK VOYAGERS
RADIO SIGNALS FROM SATURN TO
REACH ASTRONOMERS ON EARTH
al
tic
a r y eore uth ic
nu th G m
Ja can lan os
23 eri ist A his C y
Am ysic hes eor
ph blis on th
pu ati
In
in an incredibly tiny, hot, dense Mushroom
state several billion years ago, The cholesterol-reducing
compound lovastatin
and has been expanding ever
accounts for around
since. He suggested that the 2 per cent of the dry
universe underwent cosmic weight of edible oyster
ination, expanding by a factor mushrooms (Pleurotus
ostreatus), shown here.
of a trillion trillion trillion trillion
trillion trillion trillion trillion
(1 followed by 78 zeroes) in a hit Earth, throwing up
tiny fraction of a second. Guths dust that blocked out
proposition solved many existing the Sun for thousands
problems with the Big Bang of years, and leaving a still-visible name Mevacor. Lovastatin has
theory. Evidence in support of crater. His hypothesis remained since been discovered in other
Guths theory has since come controversial until 1990, when a fungi, such as oyster mushrooms.
from astronomers and particle huge 65-million-year-old crater Earlier in the year, the thirty-
physicists, and although some was discovered off the Yucatn third World Health Assembly
mysteries remain, it is now peninsula, Mexico. declared that smallpox had
almost certain that cosmic In the following month, been eradicated globally.
ination did occur. pharmacologists announced the Space probe Voyager 1 made
In June, Luis Alvarez (see isolation of a compound called its closest approach to Saturn
panel, left) put forward a theory mevinolin from the mould in November, ying within
to explain the extinction of (fungus) Aspergillus terreus. 124,000 km (77,000 miles)
dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Mevinolin was shown to inhibit of the planets cloud tops.
Geologists had already noticed a the production of cholesterol,
survivors fatalities
distinct transition in rock layers which is associated with
dated to the time of extinction. increased risk of heart disease.
Alvarez analysed the rocks at this It was renamed lovastatin, and
CretaceousPaleogene (KPg) became the rst cholesterol-
boundary and found high levels reducing statin drug ever 30%
of iridium, an element more sold. In 1987, the US Food and
common in asteroids. He Drug Administration (FDA)
suggested that an asteroid approved it, under the brand
70%
Deaths from smallpox
Until its global eradication in 1980,
smallpox had claimed millions of
human lives, killing about one-third
of all those aficted by it.
ts
alt
h tis y
He he ien the g us
d c
S e cin ng r1
l
or es lpo
t x
u ly unc ated edu he fu r ge
e W erti mal J no ol l-r t s be Voya t
an ve is tero from reu m
T h c s ve be ses rn
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8 M sem atio 12 ace its to S
ch ast illu
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311
 1981

ial ed st e es n
c st r , th , go ica rd n e
rti s te As raft bia e er ha w
t a S c m A m Ric s do r th
rs ctim NA ace olu t tim y ist ay s fo
e vi il s Ma ysic an l tion f
pr le sp ttle e r
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l Th burn A ph ynm nda ent o ute
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Fe fou pm om
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sk the velo m c
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s
f ce ts
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ro e r a tis d
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x i th with s c s
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Th 1, t pu Xe Star uter en itis Ev uf
ril rne com i l v
p p r x p dm y Br rtin Ka y ha nt
3 A sbo able A ro om an ul Ma thew t the pote se
27 e Xe ial c ns, 9J t i
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m e o ed om br
m us p
re ltur s fr em
co mo
cu cell
312
,,
WHAT WE DO IS MAKE A
SCAFFOLDING ON WHICH
THE CELLS GROW.
John Burke, American trauma surgeon, in New York Times, 1981
IN APRIL, NASAS REUSABLE
SPACECRAFT, the Space Shuttle,
made its rst full, orbital test
ight. It was the rst of 28 ights
made by Space Shuttle Columbia,
which tragically broke up on
reentry in 2003. The Shuttles
main engines lifted the craft into
orbit, with extra fuel provided
by an external fuel tank;
solid-fuel booster rockets
provided extra thrust. Once
empty, the boosters and the
fuel tank detached from the
Shuttle. The boosters were
recovered and reused in
future missions. NASA
used ve space
shuttles, which made a
total of 135 successful missions,
lifting into orbit satellites as
well as components for the
International Space Station.
American company Osborne
Computer Corporation released
the rst successful portable
computer, the Osborne 1. This
was followed by Japanese
company Epsons rst laptop
computer, the HX-20, which
weighed just 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) and
worked on rechargeable
Preparing for launch
NASAs Space Shuttle Columbia
sits on the launch pad at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida, USA. It
is attached to the huge external
liquid fuel tank and two slimmer
solid-fuel boosters.
s e
se
lea
re OS ded
of t D an n
os S- br ive
icr of M , a S g
M 26 obe clo o Sa k
m O
st ion te -D
gu rs sys PC -PC
Au st ve ing lled IBM
erat n ca the
r ap d se ng i
op rsio ith
ve ay w
aw
he
s r L -2
nc ful
lau ess er,
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tI
g us rst com BM-
Au the ona the
l I
12 rs
pe
,,
Articial human skin, shown here, can be created by culturing human skin cells and growing
them around a collagen matrix.
IBM-PC
One conguration of
the IBM 5150 had two
disk drives. There was
no mouse, because the
only interaction with
the operating system
was through typed
commands.
referred to
as the IBM-PC.
The computers
operating system
was PC-DOS, a
version of MS-DOS
(Microsoft Disk
Operating System).
Microsofts enormously
successful Windows
batteries. Xerox launched the 8010 software (see 1985) was built
Information System (Star), a around MS-DOS. The IBM-PC
workstation computer signicant had a huge inuence on the
as the rst commercially development of the personal
available computer with les computer. Its success led other
displayed graphically as icons companies to make clones
inside window folders, and an called IBM compatibles, which
on-screen pointer controlled by have dominated the personal
a mouse. The most important computer market ever since.
development in computer Companies could make IBM
technology this year was the compatibles using off-the-shelf
release of the IBM 5150, usually hardware, but the operating
256
THE MAXIMUM
NUMBER OF
KILOBYTES OF
RAM MEMORY
IN THE IBM-PC
ac
Sp 2
u st ger
g a t n
Au Voy ses tur
s t
pr ke ch bac es
a
m proa nds mag
an nni
stu
system had to be licensed from formed a scaffold onto which
Microsoft making that company the body could generate its own
extremely successful. collagen, and build up new
In April, Swiss physicist Heinrich skin and the silicone layer
Rohrer and German physicist could then be removed.
Gerd Binnig succeeded in Two separate teams, one in the
building the rst scanning UK and one in the USA, developed
tunnelling microscope (STM, the technology to isolate and
see panel below) an instrument culture embryonic stem (ES)
with which scientists can produce cells from mouse embryos.
accurate images of the atoms ES cells are pluripotent they
that make up solid surfaces. have the potential to develop into
Also in April, American trauma any kind of cell. They can also
surgeon John Burke and replicate indenitely. Human ES
Greek-born American chemical cells rst cultured in 1998
engineer Ioannis Yanas hold great promise for future
developed the rst successful medical treatments. For
articial skin for patients with example, ES cells could be used
severe burns. Their skin was to generate tissues for transplant,
made with collagen from sharks or implanted into the body, could
and cows, sealed with a layer of help repair damage done by
silicone rubber. The collagen disease, injury, or ageing.
SCANNING TUNNELLING MICROSCOPE
At the heart of a scanning
tunnelling microscope (STM)
is an extremely sharp metal tip
that scans across a surface at
very close range, measuring
the electric current created by
electrons tunnelling across
the gap between the surface
and the tip of the probe. The
false-coloured STM image to
the right shows a clump of gold
atoms (yellow and brown) on a
graphite surface (carbon
atoms, green).
for
ine
cc rst
a
rV s
be viru USA
em s-B the
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em son orld lap ter r A a ed e e lls
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eig com c m o
th
htw De logi ha from he c nic s
e
lig bio sh ells nd s ryo
c a mb
e
313
 1982

10
BILLION DOLLARS
THE COST OF DAMAGE
CAUSED BY EL NINO
IN 198283

In 1982, El Nio caused sustained high rainfall, resulting in the raised water level in the
San Lorenzo River, California, USA.

AN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT 1,000 In May, Taiwanese biologist

AIDS PATIENTS (IN THOUSANDS)

IN DIGITAL SOUND reproduction,
the compact disc (CD), became
available in October this year.
The CD, developed jointly
by Philips and Sony, is a
polycarbonate disc with a thin
layer of aluminium inside. The
aluminium is pitted with millions
of tiny indentations, arranged
as a spiral track more than 5 km
(3 miles) long. The pits represent
binary digits, which in turn
represent the original sound.
A laser inside the CD player
reects light off the pits as the
disc spins, and a microprocessor
reconstructs the original sound
wave from the pattern of the
reected light. Within a few
years, CDs became the most
popular format for buying
recorded music. The compact
disc was adapted as a medium
for read-only computer data
storage (CD-ROM), and later,
as writeable data discs (CDRs).
Also in October, American
synthesizer pioneer Robert
Moog announced the Musical
Instrument Digital Interface
(MIDI), a new way of recording
and playing back musical
performances. MIDI consists of
simple messages that relate to
the notes played; the messages
can be produced by playing MIDI
instruments such as keyboards,
or by manipulating software.
MIDI messages trigger sound
free HIV
particle
binding and
injection
insertion of viral DNA
creation of proteins
new HIV created
free oating
mature HIV
particle
HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV)
The cause of AIDS was identied as a virus in 1984, and that virus
was given the name human immunodeciency virus (HIV) in 1986.
HIV is transmitted in bodily uids and infects cells crucial to the
bodys immune system in particular, CD4 cells and uses them
to reproduce. The cells may die as a result or be destroyed by
other immune system cells.
samples, giving musicians
great exibility in composition,
recording, and performance.
In July, a recently identied
disease was given its name:
acquired immunodeciency
syndrome (AIDS). The disease
had claimed many lives in the
gay community in New York
and California. However, it had
become clear that while the
disease spread easily among
homosexual men, via sexual
contact, it was by no means
infected CD4
lymphocyte
cell DNA
cell nucleus
cytoplasm
infected
CD4
lymphocyte
mature HIV
particle
winds found in the tropics) . El
and typically last for several
conned to the gay community.
The rapid spread of the disease
led to major health campaigns,
encouraging people to use
condoms during intercourse,
and intravenous drug users to
avoid sharing needles.
Widespread extreme weather
alerted the general public to
the existence of the El Nio
phenomenon in which the
Pacic Ocean remains warmer
for longer than usual because
of a change in the worlds trade
970
Chiaho Shih (b.1950) and
800 American biologist Robert
700
Weinberg (b.1942) reported
600 that they had isolated a human
oncogene, which is a genetic
400 cause of cancer.
In December, American
200 180
surgeon William DeVries (b.1943)
performed surgery on retired
0 dentist Barney Clark to implant
1982 1992 2002
the rst permanent articial
YEAR
human heart, the Jarvik-7.
Living with AIDS The articial heart, designed
This graph shows the number of
by American inventor Robert
people living with AIDS in the USA.
Worldwide, 30 million people were Jarvik (b.1946), kept Clark alive
living with the disease by 2002. for 112 days.
winds (the prevailing easterly
Nio events happen occasionally,
months. This years El Nio,
one of the most devastating
on record, began in July
and lasted into the next
year. It decimated sh
stocks in Peru, brought
drought and bush res
to Australia and parts
of Africa, and extreme
rainfall in California,
USA, and Peru causing
an estimated 2,000 deaths.
Articial heart
A Jarvik-7 articial heart like this
was given to Barney Clark at the
University of Utah, USA. Clark lived
for 112 days after the operation.

ist s be ton
ter log ne ri ing se
pu e uro de desc a s h
om odor ly il ne er to At a ea
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314
 1983
,,I DRANK IT DOWN IN ONE GO AND
THEN FASTED FOR THE REST OF THE

,,
DAY. A FEW STOMACH GURGLES
OCCURRED, WAS IT THE BACTERIA
OR WAS I JUST HUNGRY?
Barry Marshall, Australian physician, from Nobel
Lecture, 8 December 2005

Rod-shaped, helical bacteria, known as Helicobacter pylori, attached

to the stomach lining. These bacteria cause stomach ulcers.

Full orchestra
A MIDI controller keyboard came
with a standard set of MIDI
instruments, but MIDI messages
can play any sounds.
openings connect to
major arteries and veins
polyester shell
THIS YEAR, THREE
IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
in consumer electronics
reected advances made
exactly 10 years earlier. The rst
day of the year was the deadline
for all computers connected to
the worldwide network known as
ARPANET to be using the internet
protocol, TCP/IP (see 1973). Many
computer historians consider
that day as the switching on
of the modern internet. Until
then, some computers were
still using a different protocol to
communicate, but TCP/IP has
formed the basis of all internet
trafc ever since. The rst
computer to have a graphical
user interface (GUI) was the Alto,
developed at Xeroxs research
centre in California, USA, (see
1973). Ten years later, Apple
Computer Inc. launched the rst
personal computer with a GUI.
In October, American
businessman David Meilahn
made the rst commercial
mobile phone call, over a
cell-based wireless network
10 years after the rst call on
Physicists at the European
Organization for Nuclear
Research (CERN) discovered
three particles whose existence
gave more weight to the Standard
Model (see 1974). The W+, W,
and Z bosons carry the "weak
interaction", which is involved in
radioactive decay (see pp.26667).
The existence of these particles
had been predicted in 1968,
as a result of a unied theory
of the weak interaction and the
electromagnetic force. Their
discovery was only possible
because of CERNs powerful new
particle accelerator, the Super
Proton Synchrotron, which had
been operational since 1976.
In October, the 17th General
Apple Lisa
The Apple Lisa, the rst
personal computer
with a graphical user
interface, and the team
that designed it.
Measures dened the metre as
equal to the length of the path
travelled by light in a vacuum
during a time interval of one
299,792,458ths of a second.
At the University of Western
Australia, in Perth, Australian
physician Barry Marshall
(b.1951) and Australian
pathologist Robin Warren
(b.1937) identied the most
common cause of stomach
ulcers a common condition
that can lead to death by
gastrointestinal bleeding or
stomach cancer. Their work
began when Warren became
curious about large numbers
of a new species of bacteria
he had found in patients
infecting the lining of the stomach
and the duodenum (part of the
small intestine), leading to
inammation and causing the
ulcers. Marshall realized he
needed to carry out a denitive
test of the hypothesis, on a
human subject and he decided
to use himself as a subject. After
making sure the bacteria were
not present in his stomach, he
prepared a culture, mixed it with
chicken broth, and drank it.
Marshalls stomach lining became
inamed, and the hypothesis was
soon proven. The link between the
new species of bacteria later
named Helicobacter pylori and
stomach ulcers meant that
most ulcers can be treated
using antibiotics, saving
hundreds of thousands of lives.
In recognition of their discovery,
Marshall and Warren were
awarded the 2005 Nobel
Prize in Physiology
or Medicine.

7.5
a prototype device (see 1973). Conference on Weights and stomachs. At the time, no
one expected bacteria to be
THE NUMBER present inside the stomach,
because of the strong acid
Mobile phone

OF TIMES LIGHT there. After nding the

The worlds rst
commercially available
CAN TRAVEL bacteria in patients with mobile phone, Motorolas
DynaTAC 8000x. Early
AROUND EARTH stomach ulcers, Warren and
Marshall hypothesized that
mobile phones like this
were affectionately
IN A SECOND these organisms were known as "bricks".

of ts sts all a
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giv ar th
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315
 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

Early post
1635
For centuries,
messages were sent
either through traders
or by special courier.
In 1635, King CharlesI
of Great Britain
opened up his postal
service to the public
for the rst time.

earpiece

Message carrier Semaphore ags

Early 20th century
The idea of using
Cuneiform inscription specially trained pigeons
c.3200 BCE to carry post originated in
The earliest written language Persia. Messages would
was cuneiform a set of be placed inside metal
symbols inscribed on wet carriers and attached
clay with a stylus. to pigeons legs.
1792
The rst semaphore system
(visual signalling using ags)
was developed by French
engineer Claude Chappe.
Signals could be sent across
a network of towers but were
limited by the weather.

COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY FOR TALKING AND SENDING MESSAGES OVER LONG DISTANCES HAS SHAPED THE MODERN WORLD

The ability to communicate complex ideas through Bells electric telephone

1876
language is a key trait separating humans from animals. Alexander Graham Bells
telephone transmitted sound
In recent years, technological advances have enabled us using electrical signals. As the
signal reached the receiver, a
to send messages faster than a person can travel. metallic disc would vibrate,
producing soundwaves.
Most prehistoric cultures communicated solely through the spoken word,
relying on an oral tradition to pass on or record important information.
The appearance of writing in the 4th century BCE transformed human
society forever. However, written messages still had to be delivered by
hand. It was only in the 19th century that the harnessing of electricity
paved the way for modern forms of instantaneous communication. winding the handle
sends a high-
tickertape key to send Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph voltage signal to
records electrical 1837 display shows the exchange
received pulses This telegraph used electricity 20 most widely
messages for used letters
to send signals. Messages were
decoding
composed using the ve needles Early payphone
across the middle of the grid; 1905
deecting any two would point By the 20th century,
to specic letters. payphones were
installed in public
places. Several phones
would be connected,
with calls being
directed by operators
at a single exchange.

Morse telegraph
1836
American inventor Samuel Morse
designed a telegraph that could send
signals over long distances along a
single wire. His colleague Alfred Vail
devised a code that used short and
long pulses (dots and dashes)
to represent letters of the alphabet.

316
 C O M M U N I CAT I O N

Webcam
2000s
The development
of webcams has
enabled video
calling over
iPhone the Internet,
2012 and much
Digital technology has communication
changed cellphones has now been
beyond all recognition. transferred to
The Apple iPhone, computers.
launched in 2007,
brought together
computer and
phone technology.
Cellular telephone
1983
Cellphones use radio
integrated
waves to make wireless
speaker and telephone calls via local
mouthpiece unit antennae that form a
cellular telephone
Ericsson table phone network. The Motorola
1890 DynaTAC 8000x was the
This design was one of the rst to rst truly hand-held
have an integrated speaker and cellular phone.
mouthpiece unit. Winding the handle
alerted the operator at a telephone
exchange to open the line for a call. photoelectric sensors
convert image on paper
into electric signals

keyboard
Facsimilie telegraph
1956
bell rings to indicate
Pictures were transmitted via
incoming signal the telegraph system as early
from exchange as 1865, but the rst device to
use telephone lines for this was
patented by Xerox in 1964. Once
popular, faxes have now largely
been superseded by e-mail.
numbered
dial

Rotary dial phone

1931 Walkie talkie
Popular during the 1940
mid-20th century, Compact short-distance
rotary telephones used wireless telephones
a numbered dial to send a developed rapidly during
series of electrical pulses World War II. Signals were
along the line. Switches at typically sent using AM
the exchange connected (amplitude modulated)
calls automatically. radio waves.

317
 1984

512342 PIXELS
THE RESOLUTION OF THE SCREEN
OF THE FIRST MACINTOSH COMPUTER

A worker on Apples assembly line in Fremont, California, USA, checks

and cleans a Macintosh computer.

FOLLOWING ON FROM THEIR IBM-compatibles a graphical of nitrogen gas. McCandless ,,BEGINNING WITH A SINGLE

SUCCESS with the Apple Lisa
computer the previous year,
Apple Computer Inc. launched a
groundbreaking new personal
computer: the Macintosh. Easy
to use, with a modern design,
and a high-prole advertising
campaign, the Macintosh was
aimed at breaking the growing
dominance of IBM-compatible
computers (see 1981). The
following year, Microsoft would
launch the Windows operating
system, which gave users of
,,
user interface, strengthening ventured nearly 100 m (328 ft)
that dominance. away from the spacecraft. MOLECULE OF DNA, THE PCR CAN
In February, American US secretary of Health and GENERATE 100 BILLION SIMILAR
astronauts Bruce McCandless Human Services, Margaret MOLECULES IN AN AFTERNOON.
and Robert Stewart made Heckler, announced that
the rst ever untethered American virologist Kary Mullis, American biochemist, in Scientific American, 1990
spacewalk. They were strapped Robert Gallo (b.1937)
into Manned Manoeuvring had discovered the probable cause of AIDS (see Montagnier announced that the
Units (MMUs), which could 1982). Gallo had been working two new viruses were the same;
move and orient in with a team in France, led by the virus eventually gained its
space thanks to French virologist Luc Montagnier name, HIV (Human
24 small retro (b.1932), who had also discovered Immunodeciency Virus), in 1986.
rockets that a new virus that seemed to be This year, two independent
emitted jets related to AIDS. In June, Gallo and teams of geneticists reported
the same discovery the genetic
code in the DNA of the fruit y
(Drosophila melanogaster) that
control the development of
the insects major anatomical
features. These so-called
homeobox sequences code for
proteins that switch other genes
on or off during the insects
embryonic stage. Homeobox
genes have since been found in
nearly all types of living organism,
from yeasts to humans.
In September, British geneticist
Alec Jeffreys (b.1950) developed
DNA proling a tool that can be
used to identify individuals from
samples containing their DNA,

Untethered space walk

American astronaut Bruce
McCandless II, became the worlds
rst human satellite, when he
performed the untethered
spacewalk, in February.

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318 r o
 1985

66
THE PERCENTAGE
BY WHICH OZONE IS
DEPLETED EACH SPRING
OVER ANTARCTICA

An image, constructed from satellite data, shows the

ozone hole over Antarctica, in October 1985.

DNA PROFILING
Although DNA differs
minimally between any two
individuals, some sections
of the genome do vary. In
DNA proling, these sections
can be cut and then be
arranged, in a gel, according
to length. Photographs of
these fragments resemble
barcodes, and can be used to
identify an individual with a
high degree of certainty.
such as blood or saliva. He later
improved the sensitivity of his
new procedure, by employing a
technique called the polymerase
chain reaction (PCR), which was
rst reported in June by American
UNTIL THE 1980S, scientists
had made very little progress
in understanding Alzheimers
disease an age-related disorder
affecting nerve cells in the brain
rst described in 1906 by German
psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer. One
phenomenon that seemed to be
common in sufferers brains was
the build-up of proteins that
form plaques in the spaces
between neurons. This year, a
team headed by Australian
neuropathologist Colin
Masters (b.1947)
published the rst clear
analysis of the protein present
in these plaques. The protein,
called A-Beta amyloid, had rst
been described by American
pathologist George Glenner
(192795) just a year earlier.
Within two years, another protein,
called tubulin associated unit
(tau), would also be implicated
in the disease (see 198687).
In May, scientists from the
British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
announced they had discovered
a downward trend in the
concentration of ozone above
the Antarctic. Most atmospheric
Alzheimers protein
A beta-amyloid protein
molecule shows how
the twisted structure of
these molecules helps
make them clump
together, forming
plaques.
used in refrigerators and as
ozone is found in a layer between
20 and 30 km (12 and 18 miles)
above ground, and is greatest
above the poles. The ozone layer
plays a vital role in protecting
life on Earth, blocking out
potentially harmful ultraviolet
radiation. Within two years, the
main cause of the depletion
of atmospheric ozone was
conrmed: synthetic compounds
called chlorouorocarbons
(CFCs), which were widely
twisted
structure
to that of a geodesic dome
propellants in aerosol cans
(see 198687).
The element carbon is
extremely versatile, forming
chains and rings in countless
compounds. Even when pure, this
versatility is apparent: two of its
best known allotropes (forms) are
diamond, in which carbon atoms
are arranged in tetrahedrons (see
1797), and graphite, in which they
form at planes of hexagons. In
September of this year, chemists
Buckyball
A buckminsterfullerene,
also known as a buckyball,
has a structure of
alternating pentagons
and hexagons,
resembling the
sections of a football.
at Sussex University, UK, and
Rice University, USA, found
evidence of a stable allotrope
of carbon consisting of
molecules with 60 atoms.
The scientists quickly worked
out the molecules structure:
the carbon atoms are joined
in hexagons and pentagons.
The structure is similar
designed by American architect
Richard Buckminster Fuller, so
the new allotrope was named
buckminsterfullerene. The new
allotrope had been predicted by
other chemists, and it has since
been found occurring naturally. It
spawned interest in an important
new class of materials, called
fullerenes (see 199091).
carbon
atom

60
biochemist Kary Mullis (b.1944).
This process enables molecular
biochemists to multiply THE NUMBER OF
small sections of DNA almost
indenitely. PCR is a crucial CARBON ATOMS IN
element in many important
DNA technologies, including DNA
EACH MOLECULE OF
sequencing, cloning, and proling. BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE
c
cti ing r e
nc w
ar
nt clin t be nou ne
rs m a
ve a of the e
A n
ish de one e
rit ts a oz h No ists ery en
y B epor n of tic r T ing an e 14 ient cov rbon ller
a be volv ng put Sc e dis f ca erfu
M r tio rc to i is
16 rvey tra Anta Oc se in rol n d th m o inst
Su ncen the ca A p ratio for ckm
co ove DN mig bu
ab im

ts
tis d ch
ien yloi n n
un f
c
S m i ica in La .0 o s
ne -a ted f er r
Ju beta lica nt o e A m arv s be ion ow
1
r M ce
p
se im pm seas
e be ist un g em rs ind em
aly n, lo i c to em nno ildin A N ov f ve s W syst
an otei eve rs d O ch a u N 20
o ft g
pr he d ime 18 bio ers of b of D der o
os ratin
h
ut way ces to or cr
t he r Mi ope
Al
z Ca a uen
q
se
319
 198687
,,CHERNOBYL SHOWED US A

,,
WORLD IN WHICH THE VERY EARTH
AND AIR AND WATER FROM WHICH WE
DRAW SUSTENANCE LIES POISONED.
Satya Das, Canadian author, in speech at the University of Alberta, 1986

Repairs are carried out on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after what
most consider as the worlds worst ever nuclear accident.

TWO DISASTERS DOMINATED months later, the Chernobyl

technology news in 1986. In
January, NASAs Space Shuttle
Challenger broke apart as a result
of a catastrophic explosion soon
after lift-off. All seven astronauts
on board were killed including
a civilian, schoolteacher Christine
McAuliffe and the Space
Shuttle programme was halted
for more than two years. Three
nuclear reactor in Ukraine,
USSR, exploded after a power
surge during a routine test. Two
workers died immediately, and a
further 28 in the following few
weeks. The area around the
reactor was highly contaminated
by radioactive material. Around
ve per cent of the obliterated
reactor core was carried high
into the air after the explosion

73
and the resulting res, spreading
contamination over a wide area
far beyond Ukraine. The accident
was attributed to design aws and
inadequate personnel training.
Above Earths atmosphere, a
THE NUMBER Russian Proton-K rocket lifted
OF SECONDS the rst element of the USSRs
AFTER LIFT modular space station Mir into

OFF BEFORE
orbit. Over the next decade,
another six modules were
SPACE SHUTTLE attached, and a wide range of
scientic experiments were
CHALLENGER conducted in them including
EXPLODED research into the effects of long
periods spent in space.
Mir was more or less
permanently inhabited,
by successive crews
of astronauts and

Space shuttle tragedy

NASAs space shuttle
Challenger disintegrates
after an explosion shortly
after lift-off. All seven
astronauts on board the
shuttle died.

e
6 ac
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S cl nu o s 20 orb spa Ma obes s C Se M de emp uct
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to of Ha hig perc
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320 A f
This image shows a eld of rapeseed that has been genetically modied to be resistant to herbicides.
In some countries, as much as 90 per cent of all rapeseed is genetically modied.

66.9
Mir Space Station Laser eye surgery
The Soviet space station Mir in orbit An ophthalmologist prepares to
about 360 km (223 miles) above carry out laser eye surgery by rst
the Pacic Ocean. This photograph measuring the curvature of the
was taken in 1995, from NASAs patients eye.
space shuttle Discovery.

cosmonauts from 12 different

countries, for most of its
15-year lifetime.
Also up in space, ve probes
ew close to Halleys comet,
which was venturing in towards
the inner Solar System. The
European Space Agencys Giotto
probe passed within 600 km
(373 miles) of the centre of the
comet, capturing the rst ever
images of a comets nucleus.
Researchers attempting to
unravel the mystery of
Alzheimers disease discovered
the nature of the neurobrillary
tangles (NFTs) found inside
neurones in the brains of people
with the disease. They found that
NFTs are made of Tau (tubule
associated unit) proteins, which
stabilize microtubules vital for
maintaining cell structure. This
was the second major
breakthrough in understanding
Alzheimers disease since the
characterization of beta-amyloid
protein (see 1985) that makes up
plaques between neurons in
Alzheimers sufferers.
The rst eld trials of
genetically modied (GM) plants
began in France and the USA:
tobacco plants with altered DNA
KM/H
THE AVERAGE
SPEED OF THE
SUNRAYCER
SOLAR CAR
that gave them resistance to
herbicides. Since 1986, many GM
crops have been produced,
including cotton, potatoes, and
rapeseed. From the outset, the
production of GM crops has been
controversial, with concerns
about the unpredictable
consequences of GM organisms
on the environment and some
people simply opposed to
tampering with nature.
In February 1987, astronomers
in the southern hemisphere
observed a new source of light
in the sky, as bright as many of
the stars visible to the naked
eye. It turned out to be
a supernova the
Solar car
General Motors car Sunraycer beat
the competition in the rst ever
Solar Challenge, a race for solar
powered vehicles across Australia
at the height of summer.
explosive death throes of a giant
star and was labelled SN1987a.
The explosion happened in a
nearby galaxy, the Large
Magellanic Cloud, nearly 170,000
light-years away. It was the rst
naked-eye supernova for more
than 300 years.
The discovery of the ozone hole
over Antarctica (see 1985) led to
more research into the effects of Corrective eye surgery began in (PRK), that Seiler was using.
chlorouorocarbons (CFCs) on the the 1970s, with the introduction of A more sophisticated procedure,
ozone layer. The United Nations radial keratotomy, in which radial called LASIK (laser in-situ
proposed an international treaty to lines are cut into the cornea, keratomileusis) was patented in
limit the production of CFCs, and changing its shape. In 1983, 1989 and available commercially
the Montreal Protocol was opened American ophthalmologist from 1991.
for signature in September 1987, Stephen Trokel (b.1934) In November, the rst World
and came into force in 1989. developed a way of changing the Solar Challenge a race held
In Berlin, German ophthalmic corneas shape by burning away to promote research into solar
surgeon Theo Seiler (b.1949) corneal tissue with an ultraviolet technology for cars was held
carried out the rst laser eye laser. It was this method, called in Australia. The race was won
surgery on a human patient. photo-refractive keratectomy by General Motors Sunraycer.

y
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A l de e
321
 198889

A culture of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which produces the botulinum toxin.
The toxin was approved for medical use in the USA in 1988.

IN JUNE 1988, JAMES HANSEN

(b.1941) the director of NASAs
Goddard Institute for Space
being enhanced by the enormous
amounts of carbon dioxide
released into the atmosphere
,, GLOBAL WARMING HAS REACHED
A LEVEL SUCH THAT WE CAN ASCRIBE

Studies, in New York, reported to
the US Senate Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
that the average global
temperature was increasing
above what would be expected
by normal climate variation.
He noted that the worlds
temperature was greater than it
had ever been since systematic
recording had begun about a
hundred years earlier. He said
raised temperatures would
probably cause an increase in
heat waves and other extreme
weather events. Importantly, he
suggested that the main cause of
the warming was the greenhouse
effect (see pp.32627), which was
HOW SATELLITE NAVIGATION WORKS
Satellite navigation (sat-nav)
devices pick up signals sent
out by satellites in orbit around
Earth. Each satellite carries
a very accurate atomic clock.
From the difference between the
time signals that are received
from three or more satellites,
a sat-nav device can calculate
how far it is from each satellite.
Using those distances, the
device can work out its
geographic position with
great accuracy.
by the burning of fossil fuels.
Climate scientists were already
well-aware of global warming,
and the possible challenges the
world might face if the warming
continued. In 1986, the World
Meteorological Organization and
the United Nations Environment
Programme had set up a body to
examine the phenomenon: the
Advisory Group on Greenhouse
Gases. This small group was
superseded by the UNs
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), which
was formed in late 1988. The
IPCCs rst assessment report
would be published two years
later (see 1990).
sat-nav
receiver
receiver calculates
its position in
relation to satellites
A CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
AND THE OBSERVED WARMING.
James Hansen, American climate scientist, testifying before the US Senate Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources, 1988
In November, Dutch computer
scientist Piet Beertema (b.1943)
initiated a connection to the US
National Science Foundation
Network (NSFnet). The
NSFnet was a nationwide set
of interconnected computer
networks for academics. It
formed the backbone of
the early Internet. Other
satellite
transmits
signals to
receiver
signal to
receiver is
delayed by
distance
organizations in the Netherlands
and across Europe became
connected soon afterwards.
Fortunately for computer
scientists in the Netherlands,
their connection to NSFnet was
made two weeks after the rst
internet worm was released.
The Morris worm written by
student Robert Morris at Cornell
University, USA infected
several thousand computers
across NSFnet, slowing them
down. The cost in terms of
downtime and the effort involved
in removing the worm from
infected computers is not known,
but is estimated to be around
$1 million. Morris was convicted
under the US Computer Fraud
and Abuse Act.
In February 1989, the rst in
a new phase of satellites was
launched to modernize the
Global Positioning System
(GPS, see 1978). Over the next
decade, 18 new satellites were
placed in orbit. Since GPS was
,,
initially a US military enterprise,
access to highly accurate GPS
signals was restricted to the
armed services mainly to
ensure that military enemies
would not be able to benet.
By the end of the 1990s, this
restriction was lifted, and the
general public was given access
to the full service, opening up
a new market in navigational
devices including in-car
satellite navigation devices
and GPS-enabled mobile phones.
Russia has a similar satellite
navigation system the
Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya
Sputnikovaya Sistema
(GLONASS), whose roots also
lie in the 1970s. It became fully
operational in 1993. Since the
late 2000s, many satellite
navigation devices use both
GPS and GLONASS.
In December, botulinum toxin,
better known as botox, was
approved in the USA for problems
associated with eye muscles. The

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322
8
THE TYPICAL NUMBER
OF CELLS IN AN EMBRYO
BEFORE REMOVING A CELL
FOR GENETIC DIAGNOSIS

A single cell is removed from an embryo, the rst stage of preimplantation genetic diagnosis. The embryo
can continue to develop unharmed the removed cell is subjected to genetic testing.

(see 1978), the technology of by chemical reactions alone. In August, NASAs Voyager 2
2 hydrogen nuclei fuse to form a
helium nucleus (2 protons, assisted reproduction advanced They claimed that the extra made its closest approach to
2 neutrons) fusion greatly. The fact that embryos are energy had come from nuclear Neptune, capturing the rst
deuterium releases
(hydrogen created outside the body (and fusion normally only possible at detailed images of the planet.
energy
isotope, typically implanted after three extremely high temperatures It was Voyager 2s last visit to
1 proton, days growth) opened up the and pressures (see panel, left). any planet or moon before
1 neutron)
possibility of genetic testing on There was great interest in this it headed towards the outer
tritium
excess neutron embryos from parents with cold fusion, but many scientists reaches of the Solar System.
is released and certain genetic diseases. Since were sceptical, and no one could
(hydrogen
may react with
isotope, a cycle of IVF creates several repeat the experiment with
other nuclei
1 proton, Neptune
embryos, any that carried the the same result leading the
2 neutrons) NASAs Voyager 2 spacecraft
genes giving rise to the disease scientic community to conclude
captured images of the gas giant
would be discarded. A team Pons and Fleischmanns claim Neptunes clouds, whose blue colour
NUCLEAR FUSION headed by British IVF doctors Alan was almost certainly incorrect. is due to the presence of methane.
Handyside (b.1951) and Robert
Fusion is the process of joining together atomic nuclei, most Winston (b.1940) carried out the
commonly deuterium and tritium (heavy hydrogen) nuclei fusing rst human preimplantation
to form a nucleus of helium. This releases a burst of energy and is genetic diagnosis (PGD). The
the power source deep inside stars. Fusion has been achieved in procedure was controversial,
experiments but, so far, the amount of energy input to create the with some disability rights groups
heat and pressure is much greater than the energy released. claiming it was a high-tech
version of eugenics.
There was also controversy
toxin, produced by bacteria in Some began receiving the surrounding a claim made by
the genus Clostridium, can be treatment for cosmetic reasons American physicist Stanley
lethal even in tiny amounts. Upon only, illegally at rst; botox Pons (b.1943) and British physicist
injection, it causes paralysis injections were approved for Martin Fleischmann (19272012),
of facial muscles for around cosmetic use in the USA in who were at the University of
three months. In the same 2002, and shortly afterwards Utah, USA. The pair announced
year, American plastic surgeon in other countries. they had conducted an experiment
Richard Clark reported that In the 11 years since the birth in which more energy was
injections of botox had removed of the rst baby conceived by IVF produced than could be explained

12
unwanted wrinkling above one

YEARS
eye in a patient who had paralysis
in the facial nerve on one side.
The fact that botox injections
can reduce wrinkles one of THE TIME VOYAGER 2
the most visible signs of ageing
was of great interest to many
TOOK TO REACH THE
customers of cosmetic surgeons. PLANET NEPTUNE
y ist
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ov an 19 ncol ac st
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323
 199091

180
KILOMETRES
THE DIAMETER
OF THE
CHICXULUB
CRATER

This radar image shows a small portion of the Chicxulub crater, Mexico. The crater was rst discovered nearly 20 years
before geologists realized it was caused by the object that probably contributed to the demise of the dinosaurs.

THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL It set out some of the potential 180 Rise in number of websites
PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE impacts of global warming, 160 The number of websites rose

WEBSITES (IN MILLIONS)

(see 1988) published its rst
assessment report in 1990.
The report suggested that the
average global temperature
was increasing by about 0.3C
(32F) per year due largely
to man-made emissions of
greenhouse gases, such as
140 steeply after the internet became
such as rising sea levels and
commonplace among businesses
threats to biodiversity. Further 120 and home users.
assessment reports have 100
maintained and rened the 80 could differentiate between
scientic conclusions. 60 oxygenated and deoxygenated
British computer scientist 40 blood. Ogawa realized that this
Tim Berners-Lee created the 20 could reveal which regions of
worlds rst Web browser 0 a brain are most active. His

2004
1994

1999

2000

2005
2002

2007
1990

1995
1992

carbon dioxide (see pp.32627).
TIM BERNERS-LEE
(b.1955)
British computer scientist
Tim Berners-Lee earned a
physics degree from Oxford
University. While working at
the European Organization
for Nuclear Research (CERN)
he developed the concept of
the Web. In 1994, Berners-
Lee founded the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C), the
international organization
that develops Web standards.
called WorldWideWeb. At the
time, the internet was growing
rapidly, but was mainly used by
academics, communicating via
typed commands on bulletin
boards systems that allowed
users to exchange software and
post messages. There were
several different operating
systems in use, and few common
programs or document formats.
Berners-Lee devised a computer
language hypertext markup
language (html) that could be
used on any computer, to create
pages of information. Crucially,
these pages could contain links
to pages on other, specially
programmed, internet-linked
computers called servers. The
result would be a web of
information hence the
name of the software,
and eventually the
World Wide Web itself.
Berners-Lee created
the rst web server at
CERN, in Switzerland,
where he was working
at the time.
1997
technique forms the basis of
functional MRI (fMRI), which
YEARS is used to measure brain activity.
He produced fMRI images of rats
In April 1990, NASAs Space Space Telescope has produced in 1990; the rst human fMRI
Shuttle Discovery carried the stunning images of a wide range imaging was carried out in 1992.
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of objects in space, and has In June 1990, researchers
into a low-Earth orbit. The provided huge amounts of in the USA began the worlds
telescope, named after the information for astronomers, rst clinical trial to use gene
American astronomer Edwin astrophysicists, and cosmologists. therapy. A gene was inserted
Hubble (see 1923), carries a Japanese biological physicist into white blood cells, and the
range of instruments that can Seiji Ogawa (b.1934) developed resulting transgenic cells were
detect infrared, ultraviolet, an extension of magnetic injected into a girl suffering from
and visible light. The Hubble resonance imaging (MRI) that a severe immune disorder.
Hydrogen fuelled car
In 1991, the Japanese rm Mazda
revealed its rst HR-X concept
car, which has an internal
combustion engine that
burns hydrogen.

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In 1991, Canadian geophysicist
Alan Hildebrand (b.1955)
announced that the Chicxulub
crater, centred on the coast of
the Yucatn Peninsula, Mexico,
was almost certainly created
by the impact that American
physicist Luis Alvarez had
hypothesized as the cause of the
extinction of the dinosaurs (see
1980). The ages of the rocks and
the size of the object that would
have made the crater tallied well
with Alvarezs hypothesis.
In November, Japanese
physicist Sumio Iijima (b.1939)
published his research into
nanoscale tubes of pure carbon,
known as carbon nanotubes.
Although these tubes had been
observed before, Iijimas work
was inspired by the growing
interest in carbon allotropes
called fullerenes (see 1985)
and helped to develop it further.
American inventor Roger
Billings (b.1948) revealed the
rst electric vehicle powered
by a hydrogen fuel cell. In the
same year, Japanese rm Mazda
announced a concept hydrogen
car with an internal combustion
engine that burns hydrogen.

Global connections
This image represents a map of
internet activity in the early 2000s.
The World Wide Web is the sum of
interconnected information that is
stored on servers throughout this
complex interconnected network.

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 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

UNDERSTANDING
GLOBAL WARMING
HUMAN ACTIVITY IS ENHANCING THE EARTHS GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND WARMING ITS ATMOSPHERE

Over the past 200 years, Earths average temperature has risen rapidly
against a prevailing trend of cooling. Evidence suggests that this global
warming is not the result of natural climate variation but is due largely
to human activity and it could have disastrous consequences.

Energy from the Sun reaches Earth in the form the surface below. As a result, the equilibrium
of electromagnetic radiation mostly visible light temperature is higher around 14C (59F). This
and infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Some of phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect,
the energy is absorbed, with the rest reected since a greenhouse also traps heat, making it
back into space. The absorbed energy heats warmer than it would otherwise be.
the planet and since any warm object emits
infrared radiation, Earth also loses heat to space. GREENHOUSE GASES
At a certain temperature, the planet radiates The rst experimental evidence for the JOHN TYNDALL
energy at the same rate as it absorbs it. greenhouse effect came from Irish physicist Irish physicist John Tyndall
(182093) studied magnetism
John Tyndall. In the 1850s, Tyndall measured and atmospheric physics. He was
GREENHOUSE EFFECT how much infrared radiation various gases a great popularizer of science.
With no atmosphere, Earths equilibrium absorb. The strongest greenhouse gas is water
temperature would be around 18C (1F). vapour, but methane, carbon dioxide, and ozone
total of 30 per cent 4 per cent of
However, the atmosphere absorbs some of the also contribute signicantly. In the 20th century, of incoming energy energy reected
incoming and outgoing radiation, and it warms climate scientists found that the concentration (52 PW) reected by atmosphere
without being absorbed
up. The warmed atmosphere produces its own of carbon dioxide is increasing, enhancing the
infrared radiation, some of which is absorbed by greenhouse effect and raising the equilibrium

,, GLOBAL WARMING MUST

BE SEEN AS AN ECONOMIC
AND SECURITY THREAT.
Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General, 2009
,,
390 F-gases carbon dioxide
nitrous oxide 1% (fossil fuels)
380
CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATION

8% 57% 20 per cent of 6 per cent of

370 energy reected energy reected
(PARTS PER MILLION)

annual methane by clouds from Earth's surface

360 14%
uctuation
350
amount of reection
340 depends on land
carbon dioxide covering snow reects
mean carbon dioxide
330 (other) 3% more than soil
concentration
carbon dioxide
320 (deforestation,
biomass decay) atmosphere
310
17% and clouds
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
YEAR
Keeling curve Emissions by greenhouse gases
In 1958, American scientist Charles Keeling began a programme to These gases are released as a result
monitor atmospheric carbon dioxide. The concentration has now reached of human activity. Carbon dioxide
400 parts per million, compared with 280 before the Industrial Revolution. contributes most to global warming.

326
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G G LO B A L WA R M I N G

temperature. The increase in carbon dioxide

concentration is largely the result of burning
fossil fuels in vehicles and power stations.
2060 cm
THE PREDICTED RISE
EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN SEA LEVEL BY THE
There is consensus among climate scientists
that global warming is anthropogenic (caused by END OF THE CENTURY
human activity). International agreements such
as the Kyoto Protocol represent efforts to curb EXTREME WEATHER
greenhouse gas emissions. Rising temperatures Global warming appears to be
will have drastic consequences meltwater will increasing the frequency and severity
of hurricanes, as the warmer atmosphere
raise the sea level and increase ooding, while injects more energy and moisture
extreme weather events are likely to increase. into the climate system.
overall, 122 PW radiated to space
from the atmosphere and surface
EARTHS ENERGY BUDGET (equal to the total absorbed)
Earth receives 174 PW (petawatts), which means it receives
total of 112 PW radiated
energy at 174 trillion joules per second. About 30 per cent
by warmed atmosphere
reects back into space. The rest warms the surface and
atmosphere, which produce energy as infrared radiation.
Overall, the system is balanced but the balance shifts
as the concentration of greenhouse gases increases.

incoming energy (incident

energy) is electromagnetic
radiation from the Sun atmosphere radiates

ING Earth receives 174 PW atmosphere

energy lost from surface
is trapped, warming
the atmosphere
trapped energy some
of it escapes to space

OM GY
(174 trillion joules of absorbs 33 PW,
energy per second)
C
IN ER
about 20 per cent
of incident energy

EN
surface and
atmosphere absorb
a total of 122 PW
(about 70 per cent
trapped energy
of incident energy)
ultimately makes
it out to space

atmosphere
surface loses energy radiates trapped
surface absorbs as infrared radiation, by energy some of it
89 PW, about warming the air directly warms the surface
50 per cent of (convection), and through
incident energy the evaporation of water

10 PW radiates
atmosphere acts directly out to space
as a secondary heat from the surface
source for the surface

incoming
radiation heats
the surface
 199293

1
CELL
THE NUMBER OF SPERM CELLS INJECTED
DIRECTLY INTO AN EGG DURING AN
INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION

During intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ISCI), a single sperm cell is placed

directly inside an ovum via an extremely ne glass needle.

ASTRONOMERS HAD ASSUMED signicant development in sperm injection (ICSI) was

for decades that there existed
extrasolar planets planets
outside our Solar System. They
had found several possible
candidates, but no denitive
proof. Conrmation came at last
in 1992, with the detection of a
cosmology since the discovery developed mainly to address
of cosmic background radiation male infertility. This revolutionary
(CMB, see 1964). COBE carried technique involves injecting a
out an extremely sensitive single sperm into an ovum (egg
all-sky survey of the CMB, and cell) to overcome problems arising
detected slight variations in the from low sperm count or low
radiation, which correspond to sperm motility (ability to move

,,
planet orbiting a pulsar which slight variations in temperature towards the ovum). It was
is a rotating neutron star that in the early Universe. These developed by Italian fertility

,, MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Neil Papworth, British engineer, first SMS, 1992
emits beams of radio waves.
Within three years, astronomers
had detected a planet in orbit
around an ordinary star one
that is in the main part of its
lifetime (see 1995).
Data collected by the Cosmic
Background Explorer satellite
(COBE) led to the most
temperature variations in turn
represent variations in density.
The density variations are
important if the density had
been perfectly uniform, matter
would never have clumped
together to form stars, galaxies,
and galaxy clusters.
In June 1992, representatives
of governments and non-
governmental organizations
(NGOs) attended the
UN Conference on
hole in ozone above
Antarctica
Ozone hole
At the end of
September 1992,
atmospheric scientists
reported that the ozone
hole over the Antarctic
(see 1985) had grown by
15 per cent in a single year.
COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION
specialist Gianpiero Palermo
and Belgian doctor Andr van
Steirteghem at the Vrije
Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.
The rst births resulting from the
The cosmic background radiation (CMB) is the heat radiation that technique were conrmed in 1992.
lled the Universe 380,000 years after the Big Bang (see pp.34243), Small, simple liquid crystal
and it provides a record of the temperature of the Universe at that displays (LCDs) had been
time. The CMB is remarkably isotropic the same in every direction. available since the 1970s and
Slight variations, or anisotropies, in the CMB are shown in the were incorporated into consumer
false-colour map above red areas are slightly warmer than blue. electronics devices such as
calculators, digital watches,
and video cassette
Environment and Development (UNFCCC). An ambitious initiative recorders. In
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aimed at combatting climate 1992, Japanese
commonly referred to as the change called the Kyoto
Earth Summit. The main goal of Protocol (see 1997) arose from
the conference was to discuss the UNFCCC, and came into
issues concerning the force in 2005.
sustainable use of Earths At the end of September 1992, hydraulic
suspension
natural resources in an atmospheric scientists reported
increasingly industrialized and that the ozone hole over the
highly populated world. Two Antarctic (see 1985) had grown by carbon bre
major conventions came out of 15 per cent in a single year and lower leg
the summit. The rst was the was the size of North America.
Convention on Biological In vitro fertilization (see 1978) Prosthetic knee
Diversity in 1993 (see opposite); had been developed mainly to This microprocessor-
controlled knee
the second convention was the overcome female infertility; in the
prosthesis
United Nations Framework early 1990s, an extension of the automatically adjusts
Convention on Climate Change technology intracytoplasmic to the wearers gait.

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 1994

These fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 were photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope two months before their collisions
with Jupiter. Shoemaker-Levy 9 was the rst comet ever observed in orbit around anything other than the Sun.

298,000 611,000
fungi plant
species species
7,700,000
ANIMAL SPECIES
Biodiversity
More than eight million plant, animal,
and fungal species are known
there are many more undiscovered.
company Hitachi developed a
new technology, called in-plane
switching, making it possible
to use large LCDs as television
screens. By 2007, LCD televisions
were outselling those with
cathode ray tube screens.
In 1993, the UN Convention
on Biological Diversity came
EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE FIRST
FIELD TRIALS of genetically
modied crops (see 1986), the
rst commercially available
genetically modied food
became available this year, when
American company Calgenes
Flavr Savr tomato was approved
for sale by the US Food and
Drug Administration. Calgene
had inserted a gene into the
genome of the tomato that
hindered the production of an
enzyme normally involved in
breaking down of cell walls and
softening of the fruit. The result
was a tomato that could stay
rm and fresh for longer. The
Flavr Savr was discontinued in
1997, after initial commercial
success waned.
Astronomers around the
world had their telescopes
xed on Jupiter in July, when
21 mountain-sized fragments
of the planet. The comet had
been captured by Jupiters
gravitational inuence, and
had probably been in orbit around
the planet for more than 20 years.
It was discovered in 1993, by
American astronomers Eugene
Shoemaker (192897),
Carolyn Shoemaker (b.1929),
and Canadian astronomer David
Levy (b.1948). The comet had
broken into fragments after
passing close to the huge planet
some time in 1992, and the pieces
formed a chain about 10,000 km
(6,000 miles) long. The impacts
produced explosions that left
scars in the atmosphere. The
Galileo space probe (see 1995),
en route to Jupiter, was well
placed to gather data and images
of the collisions.
In December, a team led by
American medical researcher
Jeffrey Friedman (b.1954)
with appetite and therefore with
obesity. The hormone, named
leptin from the Greek word
leptos, meaning thin, acts on
the brains hunger centre in the
hypothalamus (see panel, below).
The discovery was made after
Friedmans team studied mice
with a mutant gene that gave
them a voracious appetite. The
mutant obese mice were rst
FOOD INTAKE UP
AND ENERGY
EXPENDITURE DOWN
BRAIN
hypothalamus
fat cell
discovered in 1950. Injecting
leptin into the blood of the obese
mice caused the mice to eat
much less and lose weight
rapidly. Medical researchers
hoped that leptin might form
the basis of a cure for morbid
obesity in humans, but it remains
an elusive hope.
FOOD INTAKE DOWN
AND ENERGY
EXPENDITURE UP

into force. This treaty, which of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 reported the discovery of a
opened for signatures at the plunged into the atmosphere hormone that is closely involved
Earth Summit, aims to conserve
biodiversity and encourage the GM food WEIGHT LOSS WEIGHT GAIN
sharing of prots made utilizing Firm, fresh-looking leptin level falls leptin level rises
ADIPOSE (FAT) TISSUE
genetically modied
traditional knowledge.
Flavr Savr tomatoes
The British company Blatchford (right) and three LEPTIN AND APPETITE
unveiled their rst prosthesis that ordinary tomatoes,
was controlled by a microchip. which have begun The energy-regulating hormone leptin is produced by adipocytes (fat
softening. All six are at the
This knee prosthesis could cells). Leptin levels are controlled by an area of the brain called the
same stage of ripening.
automatically adjust to the hypothalamus. A person gains weight when the adipocytes in their
wearers gait and became genetically body fat store more fat. In this state, adipocytes produce more leptin,
commercially available in 1993. modied and the hypothalamus reduces appetite, leading to weight loss. If
persons weight reduces, leptin level falls, and appetite increases.
organic

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329
 1995 96

7,000
THE DISTANCE IN LIGHT YEARS
TO THE EAGLE NEBULA

IN APRIL 1995, NASA Pillars of Creation

AMALGAMATED 32 individual
Hubble Space Telescope
photographs to produce an
image known as The Pillars of
Creation. It shows immense
clouds of interstellar gas and
dust several light years long,
shaped by intense ultraviolet
radiation from nearby stars, in
which new stars are forming.
Also in space, NASAs Galileo
spacecraft dropped a probe into
Jupiters atmosphere. Analysis
of meteorite ALH84001, which
originated from Mars and was
discovered in Antarctica in 1984,
revealed tiny structures that
resembled fossilized bacteria. The
discovery prompted speculation
that these were the rst denitive
signs of extraterrestrial life.
However, further analysis has
since shown that the structures
are almost certainly not of
biological origin.
Wireless endoscopy
The PillCam is a swallowable capsule
that contains a tiny camera, a
ashing light, and a radio transmitter
to send images to a receiver.
In this dramatic composite image,
areas of star birth in the Eagle
Nebula can be seen in the tiny
globules at the tops of the pillars.
In October 1995, astronomers
detected a planet orbiting the
star 51 Pegasi, by measuring
the wobble in the stars motion
caused by the planets presence.
It was the rst conrmed planet
around an ordinary star other
than the Sun.
Israeli inventor Gavriel Iddan
patented the PillCam in 1995. It
is a small capsule that a patient
swallows, and which then passes
through the digestive tract taking
pictures and sending them
wirelessly to a receiver. The
PillCam gave gastroenterologists
a new, safe, low-cost window on
processes and problems in the
large section of the digestive
system where endoscopes
cannot reach.
There were three important
advances in modern physics in
1995. At the time, theoretical
physicists had developed ve
separate superstring theories,
which propose that the particles
of matter and force are actually
tiny vibrating one-dimensional
objects (strings). Each theory
assumed the existence of several
dimensions in addition to the
three space dimensions with
which we are familiar in everyday
life. The extra dimensions are

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 71
THE NUMBER OF
STATES THAT SIGNED
THE TREATY TO BAN
NUCLEAR MISSILE TESTS

Delegates at the United Nations observe the result of their voting on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty an outright ban on all nuclear explosions.

rolled up tightly and cannot

be perceived directly. All the
theories had inconsistencies, but
at a conference at the University
of Southern California, USA,
American theoretical physicist
Ed Witten (b.1951) proposed a
way of combining them into a
single, super-theory, which
became known as M-theory. To
date, it is the most complete
theory of everything, explaining
the existence of the particles in
the Standard Model (see 1974),
but it is hard to test its validity.
In June 1995, physicists at
the University of Colorado, USA,
created an unusual state of
matter called a BoseEinstein
condensate (BEC), predicted
in the 1920s, in which several
particles at a temperature just
above absolute zero (see 184748)
attain exactly the same quantum
state, and act as a single system.
In September, physicists at
the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research (CERN), on
the border between Switzerland
and France, created anti-atoms
composed of antiprotons and
positrons (anti-electrons).
Antimatter particles are
created naturally, in cosmic ray
CLONING
The process that created
Dolly the sheep began with
the removal of the nucleus
(enucleation) of a cell taken
from an adult sheep. The
nucleus, containing the
animals DNA, was inserted into
an enucleated egg cell from
another sheep. The egg was
fertilized and then grew into a
sheep with a genome identical
to that of the original sheep.
In 1995, molecular biologists at
the The Institute for Genomic
Research in Maryland, USA,
completed the rst genome
sequence of a bacterium.
In 1996, a global collaboration
among biologists around the
world resulted in the rst
complete sequencing of the
genome of a eukaryote (an
,,LIKE AN ICE
CREAM CONE,
WITH A NEWLY
UNCOVERED
donor of
skin cells
egg-donor sheep
organism whose cells have a
nucleus). Another signicant
breakthrough in genome science
and technology was the creation
of a cloned sheep, which was
named Dolly, at the Roslin
Institute, Scotland. Clones
of many animals, including
mammals, had been carried out
before, but Dolly was the result
of transferring DNA from a cell
taken from an adult sheep into
an egg a procedure known as
somatic cell nuclear transfer
(see panel, above).
In September, the UN adopted
the Comprehensive Nuclear-
skin cell containing
genetic material of nucleus donor egg combined embryo
taken from with nucleus from skin implanted in
donor sheep
skin cell cell of genetic parent a foster sheep
nucleus
articial cell division of zygote lamb, a
donor eggs zygote creates embryo, clone of
egg from from nucleus created genetically identical its genetic
donor sheep removed and grown to skin-cell nucleus parent
commercial DVD players became wavelength than the red light
available in Japan. In November used in DVD players, Nakamuras
1996, Japanese inventor Shuji invention allows much more
Nakamura (b.1954) invented a information to be carried on
continuous, low-power blue light DVD-like discs.
LED (light emitting diode) laser.
Since blue light has a shorter
SHUJI NAKAMURA (b.1954)
Born in Ikata, Japan, Shuji
Nakamura studied electronic
engineering at the University of
Tokushima. He made the rst
practical LEDs (light emitting
diodes) to use gallium nitride,
resulting in brighter LEDs,

collisions, for example, but when
an antiparticle meets a particle,
both are annihilated. Modern
physics has not explained why
matter, rather than antimatter,
dominates the Universe.
,,
STAR PLAYING Test-Ban Treaty, which places and the rst LEDs to produce
a ban on all nuclear explosions. blue light. Nakamuras
THE CHERRY It has still not been fully ratied. development of the blue LED
ON TOP. In technology, the Universal laser represents a milestone
Serial Bus (USB) connection was in consumer electronics.
Jeff Hester, US physicist, 1995 launched in 1996, and the rst

96
19 A ite ji
B
US .0) r il me n ell AS eor hu ts a er
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tio e 1 ec rt
ca ng s S epo 9 6 a c p be va DV
B sh l p g ul 19 otal n is Se Co t-B m ly a d ale
a
m onin n ad bli ha C R
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am y cl m a Pu C IPC ent Ju a s r- N e r s c
m b ro s m an
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331
 1997

6
THE NUMBER OF
FATALITIES IN THE
18 PEOPLE INFECTED
WITH BIRD FLU IN 1997

Journalists in Hong Kong wear face masks to reduce the risk of airborne infection
by the H5N1 virus, commonly known as bird u.

CHESS-PLAYING COMPUTER
PROGRAMS rst appeared
their emissions of greenhouse
gases most importantly, carbon
,, DEEP BLUE WAS ONLY
INTELLIGENT THE WAY YOUR
in the late 1950s. Increases in dioxide released by burning fossil
computing power led to more fuels (see pp.32627). Each PROGRAMMABLE ALARM CLOCK IS

powerful programs. In 1997, for
the rst time, a computer won a
match against the reigning world
chess champion. IBMs Deep
Blue computer won two of the six
games of the match, with three
draws, while its human opponent,
Russian grandmaster Garry
Kasparov, won only one game.
The popular Internet search
engine Google got its name this
year it was originally called
BackRub. The new name was
derived from the word googol
a mathematical term for the
number represented by 1 followed
by one hundred zeroes. The
creators of Google American
computer scientist Larry Page
(b.1973) and Russian-born
computer scientist Sergey Brin
Green uorescent protein
A micrograph shows a cell taken
from a mouses brain. The cell is
producing green uorescent protein
(GFP), a substance used to track
gene expression.
travellers and to people working in
the poultry trade. Although other
bird u outbreaks have occurred
since then, fears of a pandemic
have not been realized.
At a conference in December in
Kyoto, Japan, the United Nations
reached an agreement called the
,,
participating nation had a target: INTELLIGENT. NOT THAT LOSING
its emissions for the period
200812 had to be reduced by TO A $10 MILLION ALARM CLOCK
a certain percentage compared MADE ME FEEL ANY BETTER.
with the emissions in a base
year (in most cases, 1990). The Garry Kasparov, Russian chess grandmaster, 1997
targets did not take into account
emissions from aviation and produce a green glow under into a part of the genomes of
international shipping. At a ultraviolet light. The glow is other organisms, researchers
conference at Doha, Qatar, in produced by a compound called can tell when and whether that
December 2012, parties to the green uorescent protein (GFP), part of the genome is being
UNFCCC agreed to new targets which exists naturally in certain activated. Okabe injected the
for the second assessment jellysh. The gene that codes gene into mouse embryos
period 2013 to 2020. for GFP was rst sequenced with the hope of tracking the
A team led by Japanese in 1994, and the protein is now development of the mices sperm
geneticist Masaru Okabe hit the an important tool in molecular cells, but instead, the protein was
headlines when they produced biology. By inserting the GFP- produced in nearly every type
genetically modied mice that coding gene from the jellysh of cell in the mices bodies.
10
10
TARGET CHANGE IN CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS (%)

(b.1973) were still developing
the search engine at Stanford
University, USA. They incorporated
the company, Google Inc., in 1998.
A particularly virulent inuenza
virus known as H5N1, which had
affected birds since the 1950s,
crossed the species barrier
into humans. An outbreak of the
disease it causes, nicknamed
bird u, in Hong Kong killed six
people. Health authorities were
concerned that the disease could
become a pandemic and issued
hygiene advice to international
8
Kyoto Protocol that relates to 8 KEY
the UN Framework Convention Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech
6 Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
on Climate Change (UNFCCC, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland,
see 1992). The countries that 4 Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco,
signed and ratied the agreement Netherlands, Portugal, Romania,
2
were committed to reducing 1 Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
0 Sweden, Switzerland, United
0 Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
2 United States of America
Kyoto Protocol emission targets Canada, Hungary, Japan, Poland
Emissions targets are shown for the 4 Croatia
rst assessment period (200812) of
the Kyoto Protocol. Most countries 5 New Zealand, Russian Federation,
6 Ukraine
had to reduce their emissions by the 6
7 Norway
end of this period; some had leeway 8
to increase them. The USA signed 8 Australia
the protocol but did not ratify it. 10 Iceland

r s
er o
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Ky e
d le e m regi e
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nd ab es m uce ote Se In n n r T
ta or c ive acc ng rod t pr be pted min
g
S f
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M a blis s t inte
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wh een r r go Pr oto ence
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s
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y I e th be n Ju ing ed W ased i n
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332
1998
,, THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE

,,
AMOUNT OF MATTER BETWEEN
US AND THE CENTER OF THE MILKY
WAY TO OBSCURE OUR VIEW.
Terry Oswalt, National Science Foundation programme manager
for Stellar Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1998

This false-coloured X-ray image shows the region around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at
the galactic centre that produces regular X-ray ares as a result of vaporizing asteroids and other matter.

INTERNET USE BEGAN TO Thomson later managed to

GROW steeply this year. A new,
high speed internet connection
through telephone lines became
available in 1998. With
asymmetric digital subscriber
line (ADSL), users could receive
information from the internet
at 8 megabits (8 million bits)
per second. The previous year,
another broadband technology
had its debut for home users: the
cable modem, which connected
to the internet via existing coaxial
cables that also delivered
television signals. These new
technologies allowed users to
easily download larger les,
such as mp3 music les, more
easily. The worlds rst portable
mp3 player, the MPMan F10,
was released this year, by
SaeHan Information Systems
from South Korean.
In September, American
astronomer Andrea Ghez (b.1965)
reported that she had detected
the presence of a supermassive
black hole at the centre of our
galaxy. Astronomers have since
found evidence that supermassive
black holes are present in most,
if not all, galactic centres.
Astrophysicists studying
supernovas in distant galaxies
came to the conclusion that the
expansion of the Universe is
accelerating; this was the rst
concrete evidence of the existence
of a cosmological constant
Robotic surgery
The da Vinci Surgical System
has four robot arms, which are
controlled by the surgeon. One of
the arms carries a high denition,
3-D vision system.
some kind of repulsive agent,
also known as dark energy
(see pp.34445), that drives the
expansion of space-time ever
faster. Dark energy probably
accounts for around three-
quarters of the mass-energy
in the Universe.
In November, a Russian Proton
rocket launched the rst module
of the International Space
Station (ISS), into orbit. The ISS
has been inhabited continuously
since November 2000. The
project involves ve space
agencies representing a total
of 16 countries.
A team led by American cell
biologist James Thomson
(b.1958) created a culture of
human embryonic stem cells
(hESCs). These cells can develop
into any kind of tissue, and
have the potential of creating
donor-matched organs for
transplantation. The cultures,
or lines, began with cells
harvested from human
embryos a fact that raised
signicant ethical concerns,
since the technique led to the
destruction of human embryos.
create induced stem cells
similar to hESCs, but created
from reprogrammed adult
cells, not taken from embryos
(see 2007).
In another milestone in
genomics (see 1977 and 1995),
a nematode worm became the
rst multicellular organism
to have its genome sequenced.
Within two years, the draft
sequence of the human genome
was complete (see 2000).
In May, German surgeon
Friedrich-Wilhelm Mohr (b.1951)
performed the rst robotically
assisted heart surgery. In
robotic surgery, the surgeon
benets from the assistance of
computer-controlled instruments,
which do not suffer from vibration
or fatigue. With information and
images relayed via the internet,
an expert surgeon can carry out
operations in distant locations
using surgical robots remotely.
Worm genome
Caenorhabditis
elegans was the
rst multicellular
organism to have
its genome
sequenced. This
nematode worm
lives in soil and
grows to about
1 mm (132 in)
in length.

tal r es man
en be re t
em ers t the
m m
r i t r Ja s hu l irs g
pe a p om a ive r F cin
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a
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lea ume e p h n i y m r for po pace t
e tro pa se g as be m
h R ns , th t As e ex iver atin L ( scri uced USA co l S rbi
rc t co yer F10 irs r S st na o o
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Ma rs pla an a y F sted r A l su intro n th r
M ssi ass em th h c be ta i be tern hed
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th mp MP
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333
 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

THE STORY OF
ROBOTICS
ROBOTS HAVE DEVELOPED FROM BASIC MECHANICAL TOOLS AND TOYS TO PLAYING AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MODERN SOCIETY

Robots are built in a wide range of forms, and there is no single definition of a
robotic device that encompasses all its aspects. However, the vast majority
are electromechanical machines that can perform tasks and manipulate their
environment in accordance with a set of pre-established instructions.

Robots vary hugely in form and function.
Physically, they range from a jointed arm with
tools at the end to the human-shaped android
beloved of science ction enthusiasts.
Operationally, they are just as diverse and include
machines whose function is dened by their
form such as ancient Egyptian water clocks,
or clepsydra, and Jacquard looms that could
weave textile patterns based on instructions
stored on punched cards. There are also robots
that are versatile devices capable of performing
a wide range of tasks and reacting to external
stimuli, such as robot space probes.
MODERN ROBOTS
The word robot was rst used by Czech writer
Karel apek in his 1920 science ction play
R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots), and derives
from the Czech term for forced labour indeed,
most robots do perform their tasks by obeying
instructions either embedded in their design, or
passed on to them by a governing computerized
controller in the form of software. Such robots ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
excel at carrying out repetitive, complex, or
detailed tasks at high speed and without fatigue. For many robotics enthusiasts, the ultimate goal
More versatile robots, such as the da Vinci of computing is to develop a form of intelligence
surgical robot, often function under the direct capable of mimicking human behaviour. Most forms
command of a human operator a technique of articial intelligence (AI) used in robots so far
known as telepresence, which may use cameras have involved the machine recognizing and reacting
or more complex technology to relay the robots to scenarios according to a set of pre-programmed
view of a hostile, dangerous, or complex rules that its computer can understand. AI research
environment. Increasing numbers of robots are has made its greatest advances in applications such
being equipped with articial intelligence, which as chess computers.
allows them to make decisions of their own.

,, ROBOTICS HAS BECOME A SUFFICIENTLY WELL DEVELOPED

,,
TECHNOLOGY TO WARRANT ARTICLES AND BOOKS ON ITS HISTORY AND
I HAVE WATCHED THIS IN AMAZEMENT, AND IN SOME DISBELIEF,
BECAUSE I INVENTED IT. NO, NOT THE TECHNOLOGY; THE WORD.
Isaac Asimov, US writer, from Counting the Eons, 1983

c.250 BCE
Early robotics
Automated machinery,
such as Egyptian water
clocks, are considered
by some to be an early
form of robotics.
1801
Programmable loom
The Jacquard loom, a
programmable device
that can weave textile
patterns automatically,
Clesibiuss clepsydra is developed.
1942
Asimovs laws
In his book I, Robot, US writer
Isaac Asimov devises three laws
to govern his ctional robots.
These go on to inuence
Jacquard loom real-life robot builders.
Turtle
robot
1949
Educational robot
The highly popular Turtle
design developed by William
Grey Walter is equipped with a
variety of sensors that allow it
to react to its environment.

c.1206 19th century 1961

Al-Jazaris automata Mechanical toy Industrial robot
One of Arabic inventor From the European The rst commercial
al-Jazaris many Renaissance onwards, manufacturing robot, a
achievements is a band robotic gures, called robotic arm called
of automata that can automata, are collected Unimate, enters service
be commanded to play as playthings and curios at a General Motors
different pieces of music. by the wealthy. plant in the USA.

Al-Jazaris band Drum automaton Robotic arm

334
 T H E S TO R Y O F R O B OT I C S

hands mimic
human hands, with 180
four ngers and
160

2011
a thumb

UNITS (IN THOUSANDS)

140
120

2005

2010
2007
2008
2006
100

2000

2004
80

1997

2003

2009
1999
1996

2001
1998

2002
60
40
20
0
YEAR
face plate conceals Annual supply of robots
stereo cameras for There has been a steady increase in the annual supply
object recognition and of robots worldwide. Experts predict this will rise
distance calculation exponentially in the future.

Honda ASIMO
Launched in 2000, this
130 cm- (4 ft-) tall humanoid
robot is capable of
performing a variety
of complex tasks, such
as walking over uneven
surfaces and recognizing
and picking up objects.

on board computers
allow ASIMO to
recognize and
interpret movement
and gestures

2000
1966 1970 Humanoid robot
Articially intelligent Moon rover Japanese
Designed at Stanford USSRs remote-controlled engineering
Research Institute, USA, Lunokhod 1 becomes the company Honda
Shakey becomes the rst robot to operate on unveils ASIMO,
rst robot to use articial the surface of the Moon, the worlds most
intelligence to make paving the way for later advanced humanoid
independent decisions. Shakey Mars rovers. Lunokhod I robot to date.

Aibo 1999 2000 2010

Robot dog
Aibo, a dog-like toy robot
developed by the Sony
Corporation, is capable of
responding to a range
of stimuli, displaying
articial intelligence, and
developing a personality.
Telepresence Robonaut II
The da Vinci robot surgeon This humanoid robot, carried
is a telepresence device that aboard the International
uses robotic technology Space Station, tests the
(with a skilled human controller) potential for the use
to operate on a ner level than of telepresence on future
can be achieved by human hands. space missions.
Da Vinci robot
surgeon

335
 1999
NASAs Stardust probe ew past comet Wild 2 and a retractable aerogel panel
collected the dust from the comets coma (dust cloud).
IN FEBRUARY, NASAS
STARDUST PROBE BEGAN
an unprecedented mission: to
collect samples from the dust
cloud (coma) surrounding a
comets nucleus. As it travelled,
it also collected interstellar dust.
When Stardust ew past Earth in
2006, it released a sample-return
capsule, which returned to Earth.
Scientists created three
identical goats by transferring
the contents of embryo cells into
empty egg cells. The embryonic
cells had an extra gene, which
caused the goats to produce a
3
THE NUMBER OF
IDENTICAL GOATS
PRODUCED BY CLONING
AN ADULT ANIMAL
METAMATERIALS
Metamaterials are man-made
materials that have properties
not found in naturally occurring
materials. One example (right)
is this material with tiny metal
coils embedded within it, which
can divert microwaves around
itself. This makes the material
invisible to the microwaves.
A metamaterial that does the
same to visible light could act
as an invisibility cloak.
ll
ce i
i an scov
ta l e on
y I o V ati
ar ngel cre
u
n A he om
Ja ist t fr m 23 e co g th loba
22 log nces lls ls in
bio nou d ce cel
an bloo tem
of ain s
br
ry
ua s
e br ASA n
7 F of N issio 5
3 ist
ch t m 55 nd
un us id
La tard tero nk a d 2
S as fra Wil
to nne et
A om
c od of
336
2000
,, IN THIS FIVE-YEAR JOURNEY
WE REACHED BACK IN TIME
,,
TO COLLECT PARTICLES THAT
HAVENT BEEN CHANGED IN
4.6 BILLION YEARS.
Tom Duxbury, Project Manager, Stardust project, 2004
blood clotting factor that could 1.0 Hockey-stick IN THE MONTHS LEADING UP TO
be harvested from their milk and graph THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM,
TEMPERATURE CHANGE (C)
A simplied
used in human medicines. 0.5 people were warned of the
version (without
The increasing number of error bars) of the possibility that electronic
digital gadgets around the home controversial devices and systems could fail,
0.0 graph that shows
encouraged the development of as computer operating systems
estimated
wireless data connections. The used two digits to represent
average global
most widely used wireless -0.5 temperature years and internal clocks would
networking protocol IEEE 802.11 over the past revert to the year 1900. In a world
(see 1997) was given a user- thousand years. in which peoples livelihoods and
-1.0
friendly name this year: Wi-Fi. 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 even their safety increasingly
For one-to-one connections rely upon computerized systems,
YEAR
between various types of device, this possibility known as the
a new protocol was released: most popular use for Bluetooth reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Y2K problem or the Millennium
Bluetooth. Developed by Swedish is sending digital audio signals to However, many who were opposed Bug led to widespread panic.
company Ericsson in 1994, the wireless headphones or speakers. to the idea that human activity is Software engineers worked hard
American climatologists Michael causing global warming disputed to ensure that the fears would
Mann (b.1965) and Raymond the accuracy of the graph. turn out to be unfounded, and
Bradley (b.1948) and American Researchers studying growth indeed only a small number of
dendrochronologist (studies tree
rings) Malcolm Hughes (b.1943)
hormones discovered a protein,
which they called ghrelin, that is
systems were affected.
constructed a graph of the secreted by cells in the stomach
estimated average global lining. Ghrelin acts on the
temperature over the past appetite centre in the brain (see
thousand years. The data were leptin, 1994). The release of
derived from meteorological ghrelin into the bloodstream is
readings, with older estimates determined by stretch receptors in
based on historical records and the stomach lining: when the
tree rings. The graphs showed a stomach is full, less ghrelin is
gradual cooling, with a rapid rise produced, but as the stomach
in temperature corresponding to empties between meals, more
the rise in global population and ghrelin is produced, leading to
industrialization. The graphs the sensation of hunger.
shape reminded American Also this year, British physicist
climate scientist Jerry Mahlman John Pendry (b.1943) described
(19402012) of a hockey stick. To a new class of materials with
climate scientists, the graph is a unusual properties, called Fruit y
The fruit y has been used as a model
symbol of the effect of human metamaterials. One metamaterial
organism in genetic research since
activity on the climate and a in particular held the promise of 1910, and so was a natural choice to
stark reminder of the need to invisibility (see panel, left). have its genome sequenced.
f s
no he As r i d he
tio aph in t e AS ecto she s t
ist rs p t ing
ca r
li l g rise atur ly
N
s p ra th ice sic the g u loak ing
b Ju Pro ly c nor ter y r at
Pu rsia ent per Ph of enin ty c be gul in
il e 31 nar rate nar wa ris be
r s i m
pr trov e re tem
c il op il e re el
ice A Lu libe e lu ling deb m eta ls, sib ec ite- hr
n l
de o th evea sion ve h d ria nvi 9 D pet ne g
th owin e g No blis ate of i o
A rm ered
p
int le, r colli pu tam ility
sh erag po the e ib ho cov
av m ss dis
in po
es
as g on
ele rkin h ati c
on
r
o ic C re eni
d
ss etw wh 94 r y nsg ce
s ric s n oth, 19 n ua tra oun
nt es r E e s o i n Ja ich an n
cie lon at be irel luet ted 14 A-r ice
S m
ril ee t go
c n
ce he w ol B inve in r
A p thr dul 1D
e t to c y ita
m
27 uce n a pr
o the v
a of
pr

Seeds are shown after they have been collected and sorted as part of the Millennium Seed Bank
Partnership. The project aims to store seeds of 25 per cent of the worlds plants by 2020.
The cells inside a developing
embryo have the potential to
develop into any kind of cell
(see 1981). There are similar
stem cells in other tissues, but
they only differentiate (develop)
into a limited number of different
cell types. In 1999, a team led by
Italian researcher Angelo
Vescovi (b.1962) took stem cells
from mouse brains, injected
them into mouse blood, and
found they developed into various
types of blood cell. This year, the
same team took stem cells from
mouse brains and found they
developed into muscle cells just
by being in contact with muscle
cells in laboratory glassware.
These experiments proved that
non-embryonic stem cells
are more exible than was
believed a boon to stem cell
research since it avoids the
harvesting of embryonic stem
cells, which involves the
destruction of the embryo.
After a huge international
effort, scientists involved in the
Human Genome Project
announced the completion of
,,WE ARE HERE TODAY TO
CELEBRATE A MILESTONE ALONG A
TRULY UNPRECEDENTED VOYAGE,
THIS ONE INTO OURSELVES.
Francis Collins, American geneticist, 26 June, 2000
h nin
rc
Ma lete f
4 n
2 m gop
o n
s c ci the
t ist uen of y
i e n eq
m
e it
Sc he s eno fru
t g
e
th
1.8
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
Ofcially launched in 1990, the human genome project was an
international effort to determine all 3 billion DNA base pairs along
the length of the human genome and identify all the 25,000 or so
genes the genome contains. This knowledge holds great benets
for medical science as well as studies of human evolution and
genetics in general. The project was declared complete in 2003.
the draft sequence of the entire melanogaster), was also
human genome. Thale cress sequenced this year.
(Arabidopsis thaliana), a model German biotechnologist Ingo
organism widely used in genetic Potrykus (b.1933) and German
experiments, became the cell biologist Peter Beyer (b.1952)
rst plant to have its genome announced that they had created
sequence completed. The a genetically modied (GM)
genome of another model variety of rice. The new rice
organism, the fruit y (Drosophila plant produced beta carotene,
the precursor to vitamin A, in the
edible grain. Vitamin A deciency
is commonplace in many
,,
developing countries, causing
an estimated two million deaths
every year, and is a major,
preventable cause of blindness.
The rice earned the nickname
golden rice, because of the
aft
dr e Ve
u gh man by th t
Ro e hu ced ojec
n e ir n r
Ju ent ou e P
26 the e an nom
f e
o nom n G
ge ma
Hu
BILLION
THE NUMBER OF
SEEDS CONSERVED
IN THE MILLENNIUM
SEED BANK
colour of the beta carotene. underground freezers. Climate
Biotechnology companies agreed change and changes in land use
to give the rice seeds free to could put many plant species at
farmers who made less than risk of extinction, and protecting
$10,000 per year, and the project the seeds means that extinct
was supported by various species could be reintroduced.
humanitarian organizations. In November, engineers at the
However, the project has Japanese car manufacturer
attracted resistance from Honda revealed the rst model of
anti-GM protesters (and their humanoid robot ASIMO
anti-capitalists), who fear that (Advanced Step in Innovative
multinational food companies Mobility), a popular human-like
will have an economic hold on robot that can talk, walk, and run.
poor farmers. Controversy
delayed eld trials and approval,
but in 2013, golden rice seeds
were given to farmers in the
Philippines with several
other nations considering
following suit.
In November, plant
conservationists at the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK,
launched the Millennium
Seed Bank Partnership
a project involving more
than 50 countries that
aims to collect and
preserve the seeds of
tens of thousands
of plants. Seeds are sorted,
cleaned and dried, then stored
in cold, dry conditions in large
ASIMO
The rst version of Japanese
car manufacturer Hondas
humanoid ASIMO robot was
just 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and weighed
48 kg (106 lb).
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 20012002

The third IPCC report contained detailed analysis of the shrinking of glaciers and icecaps
over the past hundred years a clear sign of global warming.

THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL One of the early indications of the SARS virus

PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
or IPCC (see 1988) published its
third major report into climate
change in 2001. The document
supported and extended the
conclusions of the organisations
previous reports (see 1990, 1995)
and provided more detailed
projections of climate change for
the decades ahead. The report
included the hockey stick graph,
produced by climate scientists
two years earlier (see 1999).
Water on Mars
This polar icecap is made of water
ice covered with a layer of carbon
dioxide ice. NASAs Mars Odyssey
also found evidence of huge
amounts of underground water.
emerging Web 2.0 in which
users create content on the
world wide web was the launch
of the online encyclopaedia
Wikipedia. Supported by the
non-prot making Wikimedia
Foundation, Wikipedia can be
written and edited by anyone.
In 2007, it became the largest
encyclopaedia ever written, with
more than two million articles.
In October, Apple Inc. launched
its portable digital music player,
the iPod. Similar products already
existed, but sleek design and an
intuitive user interface, coupled
with Apples music library and
iTunes software, made the iPod
a landmark consumer product.
Researchers at the Sudbury
Neutrino Observatory, Canada,
detected denitive evidence of
neutrino oscillation. Neutrinos
are fundamental particles
produced in nuclear reactions.
There are three types, or avours,
of neutrino: muon, tau, and
electron. According to the
Standard Model (see 1974),
neutrinos should have no mass.
In the 1960s, American physicist
Raymond Davis had studied
solar neutrinos (see 1968), but
detected one-third as many as
was predicted. Davis experiment
could only detect electron
neutrinos. One way to explain the
In 2002, NASAs Mars Odyssey
space probe detected huge
amounts of water on Mars, just
below the surface in the planets
Arctic region. Much of the water
was locked in clay-like minerals.
NASAs Phoenix lander probe
visited that region in 2008 and
conrmed Odysseys observations.
In Guandong Province, China,
doctors became aware of an
outbreak of a pneumonia-like
,, IMAGINE A WORLD
IN WHICH EVERY SINGLE
PERSON IS GIVEN FREE
This electron microscope image
shows the corona virus the virus
found to be the cause of the
mysterious respiratory illness
known as SARS.
illness that gave people trouble
breathing and, in some cases,
led to their death. Treatment with
antibiotics was ineffective, and
researchers found none of the
bacteria or viruses known to
cause pneumonia. The number
of cases increased rapidly and it
became clear that SARS (severe
acute respiratory syndrome)
was highly infective. The disease
began to spread and risked
becoming a major pandemic.
A combination of quarantines
and the screening of airline
passengers curbed the spread of
the disease, and the last known
case occurred in May 2004. In all,
there were 8,273 reported cases,
with 775 deaths most of them
in China and Hong Kong.

,,
decit was that neutrinos change
avour, or oscillate, and this is ACCESS TO ALL HUMAN
what the Sudbury experiment
found. Neutrino oscillation is only
KNOWLEDGE. THATS WHAT
possible if neutrinos havemass WERE DOING.
something the Standard Model
has yet to account for. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, 2004

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2003

13.75
BILLION YEARS
THE AGE OF OUR
UNIVERSE

This super computer simulation of the structure of the Universe from 2005, created at the Max Planck
Institute in Germany, shows the distribution of dark matter in part of the Universe.

IN THIS YEAR, THE CHINESE almost as long as the gap in the background radiation (CMB) model of the Universe, the 22.5% 4.5%
NATIONAL SPACE administration programme caused by the loss reect variations in the density of Lambda-Cold Dark Matter model dark matter matter

launched its rst manned space
mission, Shenzhou 5. Astronaut
Yang Liwei spent 21 hours and
23 minutes in space, orbiting
Earth 14 times.
In February, the US space
shuttle Columbia disintegrated
while it was re-entering Earths
atmosphere. The incident resulted
in the halting of the space shuttle
programme for two years
of the Challenger (see 1986).
The same month, cosmologists
and astrophysicists published
the rst years observations
of the Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). One
of the aims of the programme was
to provide a more detailed map of
the cosmic background radiation
than the COBE satellite did (see
1992). Variations in the cosmic
the early Universe, which in turn
caused matter to clump together,
forming galaxies and galaxy
clusters. The map produced by
WMAP also rened an emerging
Yang Lewei in space
Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, is
shown aboard the Shenzhou 5
capsule. China became only the
third nation to send humans into
space, joining the USA and Russia.
(see p.345). The lambda part is
the cosmological constant
a repulsive force that is
accelerating the Universes
expansion. Evidence for the
existence of the cosmological
constant or dark energy came
from studies of supernovas in
other galaxies (see 1998). Cold
dark matter is matter that neither
produces nor interacts with
electromagnetic radiation. The
presence of cold dark matter can
be inferred only by its gravitational
interaction with ordinary matter.
WMAPs observations also
enabled scientists to put the
Universes age, with a high
degree of accuracy, at 13.7 billion
years (it has since been updated
to closer to 13.82 billion years).
Three years after the draft
version of the human genome
was published, the International
Human Genome Sequencing
Consortium nally completed
the full sequencing of all 3
73%
DARK ENERGY
Composition of the Universe
According to WMAP observations,
ordinary matter accounts for only
a small percentage of the Universes
total mass-energy.
billion DNA base pairs that
make up the human genome. A
draft of the chimpanzee genome,
which is nearly 99 per cent
identical to the human genome,
was also published in 2003.
The chimpanzee is the closest
living relative to humans, and
comparisons between the two
genomes give biologists an
unprecedented opportunity to
study primate evolution.

,, IM FEELING VERY GOOD

,,
IN SPACE, AND IT LOOKS
EXTREMELY SPLENDID
AROUND HERE.
Yang Liwei, Chinese astronaut, on the telephone to his
wife from space, 2003

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 2004

10,000
THE NUMBER OF GALAXIES
VISIBLE IN THE HUBBLE
ULTRA DEEP FIELD
Part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, showing some of the furthest galaxies ever seen. The entire image contains
about 10,000 individual galaxies, some of which are seen by light that left them 13 billion years ago.

IN MARCH, NASA RELEASED A
REMARKABLE IMAGE of a tiny
part of the sky taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope (HST):
the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, a
follow-up to the Hubble Deep
Field of 1995. This new image
was the result of 800 long
exposures with a total exposure
cranium has a volume
about a quarter that of
a modern human
time of nearly 280 hours
captured by an instrument called
the Advanced Camera for
Surveys, which was installed on
the HST in 2002. The image
showed thousands of faint
galaxies, many of which are so
far away that their light would
have left them billions of years
ago, when the Universe was very
young. Astronomers are still
studying the image, which
provides new information about
galaxy formation. In 2012, the
HST produced an even more
detailed view of the same part of
the sky. Called the eXtreme Deep
Field, the 2012 image revealed
about 5,500 galaxies more than
shown in the Ultra Deep Field.
In October, Australian
palaeoanthropologists unveiled
the partial remains of an
unusual human-like
skeleton: a 1 m- (3 ft-)
tall adult with
a small skull that
would have housed
a very small brain.
Australian and
Indonesian
archaeologists
discovered the
specimen in
a cave on the
maxilla
(upper jaw)
GRAPHENE
Island of Flores, east of Bali,
Indonesia, together with
sophisticated tools and the
remains of animals. The skeletal
remains were around 18,000
years old, and the researchers
conrmed them as being from a
new species in the genus Homo,
which includes our closest
ancestors, such as Homo
erectus, as well as our own
species, Homo sapiens. The
researchers called the new
species Homo oriensis.
Graphene takes its name from
graphite, which is composed of
layers of carbon atoms. In
graphite, the layers move over
each other easily, which is why
it is slippery, but they are
extremely robust because the
atoms form strong hexagonal
bonds, as shown in this false-
colour electron micrograph;
graphene is simply a single
layer of graphite.
Remains of a total of seven
individuals were found
altogether. The indigenous
people of Flores have ancient
but detailed legends about a
race of small, hairy people
who murmured in their own
language, and so it is likely that
Homo oriensis lived side-by-
side with modern humans.
Also in October, scientists at
Manchester University, UK,
succeeded in producing samples
of graphene (see panel, above),

,,THIS CANNOT
a form of pure carbon not
previously produced in bulk.

,,
The new material was just one
Homo oriensis skull
BE A PECULIAR atom thick but remarkably
This skull of the recently extinct, newly MODERN strong, transparent, and was
discovered species of human, Homo
oriensis, is from a female who would HUMAN. later found to conduct electricity
at room temperature.
have been about 1 m (3 ft) tall. The
small, human features led to this mandible Chris Stringer, British
species being nicknamed the Hobbit. (lower jaw) anthropologist, 2004

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2005
,,
,,
A NEW PAGE OF
AERONAUTICAL HISTORY
HAS BEEN WRITTEN.
Jacques Chirac, French politician, 2005

The Airbus A380 takes off from its production site in Toulouse, France, on its maiden ight on 27 April 2005.
The worlds largest passenger airliner, the A380 can carry up to 853 people.

IN THE FIRST-EVER LANDING OF
A SPACECRAFT in the outer
Solar System and only the
second landing on any moon
the European Space Agencys
(ESAs) Huygens probe
parachuted on to the surface of
Saturns largest moon, Titan,
in January. The probe was part
of the joint NASAESA Cassini-
Huygens mission, and the
spacecraft that carried Huygens
to Titan, Cassini, remained in
orbit around Titan, gathering
data and images and relaying
signals from Huygens back
to astronomers on Earth.
Titan had long been of interest
to astrobiologists, as its
atmosphere was known to
contain organic compounds
carbon-rich compounds that
could form the basis of life
(see panel, below). The Huygens
probe captured more than 300
images of Titans surface during
its descent. Images of the
surface taken after landing show
rock-shaped objects on sandy
ground although these objects
and the sand are both probably
mostly frozen water.
In the following month,
an international team of
astronomers released their
analysis of a huge, galaxy-sized
mass of hydrogen known as
VIRGOHI21, which lies about
50 million light years away and
had been discovered by radio
astronomers in 2004. The motion
of the galaxy suggests that it
may be composed mostly of
cold, dark matter a strange
form of matter that does not
interact with light or other types
of electromagnetic radiation but
does have a gravitational effect
(see 2003). Current astrophysical
theories suggest that all galaxies
contain dark matter it is
the only way to account for the
motion and distribution of
the galaxies stars. However,
VIRGOHI21 was the rst strong
candidate for a dark matter
galaxy, a galaxy dominated by
dark matter.
are completely mineralized.
However, with this specimen the
process revealed a soft, elastic
bone matrix made mostly of what
seemed like collagen. Viewing
this matrix under a microscope,
Schweitzer found what appeared
to be blood vessels and bone
cells. She saw similar structures
in soft tissue extracted from the
femur of a modern ostrich, a
close relative of T. rex. Repeating Facing the press
the procedure on other dinosaur The rst person to receive a partial
face transplant, Isabelle Dinoire
fossils, Schweitzer found two
gave a press conference in February
other samples of soft tissue. 2006, only three months after her
Many scientists were sceptical of pioneering operation.
the analysis, suggesting that the
organic matter was the result of (see 1970) as the worlds
contamination, but more detailed largest commercial passenger
examination in 2008 and 2011 aircraft. Designed and built by
seemed to support Schweitzers European corporation Airbus,
interpretation. the wide-bodied A380 has two
In April, a new aircraft made its decks and is 73 m (239 ft)
maiden ight: the Airbus A380, long. It began commercial
which replaced the Boeing 747 service in 2007.
Towards the end of the year,

5,150
In March, US palaeontologist in November, 38-year-old
Mary Schweitzer reported Frenchwoman Isabelle Dinoire
nding 68-million-year-old soft became the rst person to
tissue, which she had extracted have a partial face transplant.
from the fossilized femur (thigh She received skin, blood vessels,
LIFE ON TITAN? bone) of a Tyrannosaurus rex and muscles after her face had

Titans atmosphere has clouds that produce rain of the carbon

dinosaur by dissolving away the
mineral parts of the fossil. This
KILOMETRES been badly damaged when she
was mauled by a dog six months
compound methane, and the space probe Cassini found lakes of method is commonly used on THE DIAMETER earlier. The rst full face
methane and ethane (the blue areas in this false-colour radar living bone as a way of extracting transplant was performed in
image) around Titans poles. In 2012, NASA also found evidence of soft tissue. The same procedure OF TITAN, Spain in 2010.
a huge subsurface ocean of water, which led to speculation that
simple life forms may exist on this seemingly inhospitable world.
carried out on a fossil would
normally dissolve the whole
SATURNS
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341
 2006

This carrot-shaped track in Stardusts aerogel collector panel was made by the tiny comet particle the black speck
to the right of this image which entered the aerogel at a relative speed of several kilometres per second.

AT THE BEGINNING OF 2006, the
Solar System ofcially had nine
planets. The outermost, Pluto,
stood out as being different from
the others. For example, while
all the other planets orbits lie
more or less in the same plane,
50 m
(164 ft)
below
surface
IceCube lab
Plutos orbit is inclined at a fairly
steep angle to it; Plutos orbit is
also very eccentric and passes
inside Neptunes. When, in
the 1970s, an object similar to
Pluto was discovered, Plutos
classication as a planet was
in doubt. In 2005, astronomers
detected a rocky object outside
the orbit of Neptune with a mass
greater than Plutos. After much
deliberation, the International
Astronomical Union decided in
2006 to designate Pluto as a dwarf
planet, one of many similar
asteroid-like objects in
the Kuiper Belt
(see 1949).
After seven years in
space, NASAs Stardust probe
released its sample return
capsule, which parachuted to
Earth and landed safely in the
desert in Utah, USA. The capsule
contained around a million
matter, making them very
difcult to detect. Every so often,
one will interact with the nucleus
of an atom, resulting in a tiny
ash of light. The observatory
has strings of detectors in the
rock and ice under the ground
in Antarctica that pick up the tiny
ashes of light. Neutrinos
originating from high-energy
phenomena, such as supernovas
and mysterious gamma-ray
bursts, provide astrophysicists
with a unique window on the
Universe. Construction of the
observatory began in 2005,
and was completed in 2010.
Just 10 years after the launch
this format war, largely because
it garnered more support, but
also partly as a result of the
inclusion of a BluRay player in
Sonys popular PlayStation 3
games console, which was
released in November 2006.
In August, doctors in Australia
administered for the rst time
a vaccine for the human
papilloma virus (HPV). There
are many different strains
of HPV; several types are
transmitted during sexual
contact, and are the most
common cause of genital warts
and cervical cancer. Medical
researchers suggested that the

8
specks of dust collected from
each detector string
Stardusts encounter with Comet
has 60 sensors
Wild 2 (see 1999). THE NUMBER OF
In January, shortly after it
became the worlds largest
PLANETS IN OUR
sensors pick up light neutrino observatory, the SOLAR SYSTEM AFTER
24 AUGUST 2006
ashes produced by IceCube Neutrino Observatory
neutrinos interacting
detected its rst neutrino.
with atomic nuclei
Trillions of neutrinos pass
through the detector every of DVDs (see 199596), this year vaccine should be given to girls
2,450 m
second, but these elusive saw the introduction of two and boys routinely, in an effort
(8,038 ft) particles interact only rival formats for video discs to reduce incidence of cervical
below very weakly with designed to carry high denition and other cancers. This idea was
surface video. HD DVD and BluRay can controversial, with some groups
carry around 10 times as much claiming it would encourage
data as DVDs. Each had different underage sex. Nevertheless, the
2,820 m electronics and entertainment vaccine is now routinely given in
Neutrino observatory
(9,252 ft)
The IceCube Neutrino companies bent on promoting it. many countries.
below
Observatory consists of deep Japanese company Toshiba was In the journal Nature, a team
surface
holes drilled into the Antarctic
rock and ice. Strings of detectors
the main protagonist for HD of palaeoanthropologists (who
bedrock
pick up tiny ashes as neutrinos DVDs, Sony for BluRay. Within study hominid history through
interact with atomic nuclei. just two years, BluRay had won fossil evidence) described an

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 2007

26
GIGAWATT
THE GLOBAL
WINDPOWER
CAPACITY IN 2007

The IPCC stressed the need to increase the proportion of electricity generated
by renewable sources, such as wind power, to mitigate climate change.

IN ITS FOURTH ASSESSMENT messages. American company Apple iPhone

Skull of Selam
This well-preserved skull is that of
a human ancestor nicknamed Lucys
Child, who would have walked
upright on two legs.
REPORT, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
further rened and extended its
analysis of global climate change
presented in its earlier reports
(see 1990, 1995, 2001), while
reiterating the same conclusions
with still more certainty: that
human activities particularly
carbon dioxide emissions from
burning fossil fuels are
producing a greenhouse effect
(see pp.32627), causing a rise
in average global temperature.
While mobile phones were
becoming commonplace in
developed nations, most devices
could do little more than make
calls and send SMS (text)
Apple Inc. revolutionized the
mobile phone industry with the
introduction of the iPhone. In
addition to calling and texting,
users could browse the web,
download and use a huge range
of apps (applications), listen to
music, watch and record videos,
and take pictures. The iPhone
was an enormous success, and
other manufacturers soon
created smartphones with
similar capabilities.
Stem cell research promises
many benets in medicine
for example, stem cells could
regenerate brain cells to cure
dementia. In an example of this
kind of potential, researchers in
The iPhone from Apple introduced
a convenient touch interface, with
gestures such as swiping and
pinching, to mobile phones.
the UK grew heart tissue from
bone marrow stem cells in 2007.
One stumbling block in stem cell
research was the fact that only
embryos contain cells that can
develop into any kind of cell.
Many people found that idea
objectionable, because the
embryos were destroyed in
the process. However, in 2007
two teams of scientists
independently managed to achieved with cells taken from
reprogramme ordinary cells mice. Also this year, a team used
(see panel, below) to make them DNA bases to synthesize a copy
into stem cells a feat previously of a bacterial chromosome.

important nd: a partial skeleton CELL PROGRAMMING

of a bipedal human ancestor who
lived and died around 3.3 million A major breakthrough in stem ADULT FIBROBLAST reprogramming factor
years ago. The fossilized remains cell research involves cells heart muscle is added to adult cell
were of a young female about called broblasts, which are
three years of age, and had been found in skin and connective skeletal skin cells
discovered in 2000, in Dikika, tissue. Fibroblasts are muscle cells of epidermis
Ethiopia close to where the responsible for producing
skeleton nicknamed Lucy was collagen and other proteins tubule cell
neuron cell
found (see 1974). The individual, that repair the skin. Turning of the kidney
from the same species as Lucy these cells into pluripotent
pluripotent stem
(Australopithicus afarensis), stem cells, which have the red blood
pigment cell
cell can become
earned the nickname Lucys potential to develop into any cells
any body cell
Child although she predates kind of cell, involves adding
Lucy by around 120,000 years. compounds that switch on smooth
muscle (in gut)
certain genes. This causes the
cells to revert to the state in lung cell thyroid pancreatic
which all cells begin. (alveolar cell) cell cell

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 194 6 2 013 T H E I N FO R M AT I O N AG E

UNDERSTANDING
COSMOLOGY
EARLY 20TH-CENTURY ASTRONOMERS DEVELOPED A THEORY TO EXPLAIN THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Cosmology is the scientific study of the Universe as a whole the term is

derived from the Greek word for Universe, cosmos. Cosmologists are
interested in how the Universe began, how it works (particularly on the
largest scales), how it will develop in the future, and if and how it will end.

It was only in the 1920s that astronomers IN THE BEGINNING

discovered other galaxies outside our own. Belgian
astronomer and priest Georges Lematre (1894
1966) applied the equations of Einstein's General
Relativity to the Universe as a whole; the results
suggested that the Universe might be expanding.
He proposed that if that were true, it must long
ago have been very small, very dense, and very
hot a state he called the primordial atom.
In 1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble
discovered that galaxies are moving away in every
direction, suggesting that the Universe is indeed
expanding and that Lematres theory might be
correct. British astronomer Fred Hoyle rejected
these ideas, but coined the term Big Bang in 1950 GEORGES LEMAITRE
After a strict Jesuit upbringing, Lematre studied
to help explain them. Big Bang theory remains a civil engineering, then physics and mathematics.
very likely explanation of how the Universe began. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1923.

THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

As the Universe expanded after the Big Bang,
it also cooled. Some of its energy turned into
fundamental particles, and the basic forces
of nature came into existence.

DIAMETER 10-26m/3x10-26ft 10m/33ft 105m (100km/62miles)

27 27
TEMPERATURE 10 k (100 trillion trillionC/1,800 trillion trillionF) 10 k (100 trillion trillionC/1800 trillion trillionF) 1022k (100 billion billionC/18 billionF)

Cosmic ination Particle soup Separation of forces

At the moment of the the Big Bang, the
entire Universe was much smaller than an
atomic nucleus. Within a tiny fraction of a
second, it underwent an inconceivably rapid
expansion called cosmic ination.
When cosmic ination ended, still well within
the rst second, the Universe was tiny and
hot. Energy created pairs of particles and
antiparticles, which pop into existence
eetingly before annihilating each other.
Originally, what we know as electromagnetism,
gravity, and the weak and strong nuclear forces
were unied as a single force. After cosmic
ination, the unied force separated, giving
rise to the laws of nature we know today.

TIME A hundred-billionth of a yoctosecond A hundred-millionth of a yoctosecond 1 yoctosecond

-35 -32
(10 k seconds) (10 k seconds) (10-24 k seconds)

all time,
space, and
energy begins
as a point of
unimaginable
density

cosmic ination a early Universe contains a soup of protons and neutrons compound particles
dramatic expansion fundamental particles, such as quarks, made of quarks held together by gluon
of the Universe gluons, and force-carrying bosons elds formed nuclei of the lightest elements

344
 U N D E R S TA N D I N G C O S M O LO GY

EXPANDING UNIVERSE HUBBLE LAW IN THE END FATE OF THE UNIVERSE

The rst compelling piece of evidence in favour Edwin Hubble found that the The Universe appears to be dominated by dark Three possible scenarios
further away a galaxy is, the for the fate of the Universe
of the Big Bang theory was the discovery of the faster it is receding. The matter and dark energy forms of matter and are shown here. The
cosmic background radiation. This radiation was mathematical relationship energy that have not been directly observed but gravitational inuence of
produced around 300,000 years after the Big Bang, between a galaxys distance whose existence is inferred from their gravitational matter and dark matter
and its speed is called could slow the expansion of
and shows that the Universe was much smaller Hubbles Law. It is best inuence and effect on the Universe's rate of the Universe, until it reaches
and hotter than it is now. The Universe's expansion explained by the fact that expansion. If this is indeed the case, the fate of a maximum. It is more likely
has stretched the radiation, so that it is now mostly space itself is expanding. the Universe depends on whether the mutual that expansion will reverse
or continue forever.
long-wavelength microwave radiation. Expanding gravitational attraction of observable and dark
space represented by
3-D space is best visualized as the growing surface surface of sphere
matter in the Universe is enough to slow and
expansion accelerates
of an inating sphere. The relatively recent even reverse the expansion driven by dark energy.
increase in the rate of expansion is caused by a
galaxies far
poorly understood form of mass-energy called apart Universe expansion
dark energy (see right and 1998). Measurements of expands slows and
and then stops
the expansion and other key parameters suggest contracts Universe
that the Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago. dark matter cools, and
drives energy density
expansion dwindles
galaxies close space between present towards zero
together in early galaxies expanding day
Universe present
present day day

Big Big Big

Bang Bang Bang

EXPANSION REVERSES UNIVERSE CONTINUES FOREVER EXPANSION ACCELERATES

100 billion km (60 billion miles) 1,000 light years 100 million light years
13 8
10 k (10 trillionC/18 trillionF) 10 k (100 millionC/180 millionF) 3,000k (2,700C/4,900F)

Protons and neutrons Opaque era Matter era

The Universe continued to expand and cool, though
more slowly, and fundamental particles called
quarks combined into compound particles called
baryons. The most important are protons and
neutrons these later formed the nuclei of atoms.
For the next 300,000 years, the temperature was
too high for atoms to form. Charged particles such
as protons and electrons constantly produced and
absorbed photons (particles of electromagnetic
radiation), making the Universe opaque.
As the Universe cooled, electrons began
settling down into orbits around the atomic
nuclei. The cosmic background radiation (see
above) dates from this time. The Universe
has continued to expand ever since.

1 microsecond 200 seconds 300,000 years

-6
10 seconds (1 millionth of a second)

helium-4 nucleus photons produced by Universe is opaque, as the

has two protons charged particles such movement of photons is electrons become bound to atoms will eventually clump
and two neutrons as protons and electrons constantly restricted nuclei, forming atoms together to form stars

345
 200809

27
KILOMETRES
THE APPROXIMATE
CIRCUMFERENCE
OF THE LHC

The ATLAS detector in the Large Hadron Collider is surrounded by eight huge electromagnets, which deect
the particles produced during collisions to that their mass and charge can be determined.

IN FEBRUARY 2008, A SECURE
SEED BANK WAS OPENED ON
the island of Spitsbergen in the
Norwegian archipelago of
Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean. Seed
banks (see 2000) store seeds that
could boost the populations of
important plant species should
climate change, wars, or natural
disasters threaten their survival.
However, seed banks themselves
can also be vulnerable: in 2004,
war claimed a seed bank at
Abu Ghraib in Iraq, while oods
destroyed one in the Philippines
in 2006 after a typhoon hit. The
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
has the capacity to hold up
to 4.5 million seeds and is
embedded in an icy mountain
in a remote location, providing
more secure storage.
Icy seed storage
Situated on the Norwegian island
of Spitsbergen, the Svalbard Global
Seed Vault can hold up to 4.5 million
seeds at temperatures of 18C (0F).
The worlds largest and most
powerful particle accelerator, the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC),
was turned on for the rst time
in September 2008. The LHC
is situated in a huge, circular,
underground tunnel that
straddles the border between
France and Switzerland, at the
European Organization for
Nuclear Research (CERN).
When the LHC is in operation,
beams of protons (or for some
experiments, ions) circle at
extremely high speeds and are
made to collide inside detectors.
The energy of the collision
creates new particles, and the
detectors record the tracks of
these particles as they hurtle out
in all directions. These tracks are
then analysed by a network of
powerful computers to look for
evidence of specic types of
particle in particular, the
Higgs boson. This particle is
associated with the Higgs eld,
Darwinius masillae
Nicknamed Ida, this fossil of a
female is the only known example
of Darwinius masillae, quite
possibly a direct human ancestor
that lived 47 million years ago.
which, according to theory, is
responsible for giving particles
mass. Scientists have since
revealed convincing evidence
for the existence of the Higgs
boson, and therefore the Higgs
eld (see 201112).
Several hundred extrasolar
planets (planets outside our
Solar System) had been found
since the rst example was
detected (see 199293). In March
2009, NASA launched the Kepler
space observatory to nd
Earth-sized planets around
relatively nearby stars and to
help astronomers estimate what
proportion of stars have Earth-
like planets. By 2012 it had
discovered over 2,000 candidates.
In May 2009, Norwegian
palaeontologist Jrn Hurum
(b.1967) unveiled a remarkable
specimen: an almost complete,
fossilized skeleton of a
previously unknown species
of lemur-like animal that lived
47 million years ago. The
specimen was claimed to be a
transitional fossil a missing
link between lower primates,
such as lemurs, and higher
primates such as monkeys, apes,
and humans. The fossil was

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346
 2010
,,
,,
WE ARE ON THE
VERGE OF PERPETUAL
FLIGHT.
Bertrand Piccard, Swiss co-founder of the Solar
Impulse project, 2010

The Solar Impulse used 200 square metres (2,200 sq ft) of solar panels to generate
electricity to power the electric motors that drove its propellers.

originally found in 1983, in a
disused quarry in Germany;
Hurum came across it in 2006
and was intrigued by features
that made it stand apart from the
lower primates including
human-like nails and opposable
big toes. The species was named
Darwinius masillae, in honour of
British naturalist and pioneer of
the theory of evolution Charles
Darwin (see 1859). Later that
year, in October, scientists
announced that the bones of a
4.4-million-year-old hominid
fossil, Ardipithecus ramidus,
were the oldest hominid
remains ever discovered.
Meanwhile, two projects began
to increase knowledge of our
own species. In October 2008,
the Human Microbiome Project
was launched. Spearheaded by
the US National Institutes of
Health, this was an initiative to
investigate the microbes that
colonize different parts of the
body and establish the roles
of these organisms in health
and disease. A year later, the
Human Epigenome Project,
an international project to map
IN 2010, IBM AND INTEL BEGAN
MANUFACTURING CHIPS with
32-nanometre transistors.
Semiconductor manufacturers
had been cramming ever more
transistors on to a single chip
since the invention of integrated
circuits (see 1958). Advances
like these helped to increase
the power and portability and
decrease the cost of various
electronic devices, and the rst
commercially successful tablet
Synthetic mycoplasma bacteria
This false-colour micrograph shows
the rst organisms with a synthetic
genome. Nicknamed Synthia, the
new species is ofcially called
Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0.
computer, Apples iPad, was
released in 2010. It was soon
There is a limit to how small
conventional transistors can be,
so researchers were looking for
alternatives to silicon as the
basis of future electronics. In
February 2010, IBM researchers
created the rst reliable,
fast-switching transistor from
the material graphene (see
2004). In July 2009, scientists
at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, had
created a transistor made from a
single molecule, and in May 2010
a team at the University of New
South Wales, Australia, made a
transistor with just seven atoms,
using phosphorus.
In May, a team led by US
biologist Craig Venter (see
panel, right) created the rst
synthetic life form. Using a
technique called oligonucleotide
synthesis in which DNA
sequences stored in a computer
are pieced together to order
Venter and his co-workers had
already created a complete virus
genome (2003) and a synthetic
chromosome (2007). In 2010,
they synthesized a copy of the
genome of a bacterium called
Mycoplasma mycoides, made a
CRAIG VENTER (b.1946)
US biologist Craig Venter is a
pioneer in genome studies and
synthetic biology. In 1998, he
helped form Celera Genomics,
a private company that helped
speed up sequencing of the
human genome (see 2000). In
2006, he founded the J. Craig
Venter Institute in California, a
centre of expertise in genomics
that produced the rst
synthetic life form.
few changes (including adding for example, by helping to clean
a kind of watermark), then up oil spills or produce biofuels.
inserted it into another bacterial In July, a solar-powered aircraft
cell that had had its DNA called Solar Impulse made a
removed. The new genome continuous 26-hour ight.
functioned as required, Electricity generated by solar
manufacturing proteins and panels was stored in batteries
causing the cell to reproduce. during the day, allowing the
Biologists hope to learn a great aircraft to y through the night.
deal about living systems by The project was the brainchild of
building them themselves, rather Swiss balloonist Bertrand Piccard
than just taking them apart. (b.1958) and Swiss entrepreneur
Synthetic life also holds the Andr Borschberg (b.1958), and
promise of designing new life it aimed to encourage
forms that could be benecial development of renewable

the epigenome (factors that
affect which genes are switched
on and when) published its rst
map of the human epigenome.
1
followed by tablet computers energy. Later in the year, US
running the Android operating
system, which had been MILLION company SpaceX launched
Dragon, the rst commercially
developed by a consortium THE NUMBER OF DNA BASE owned spacecraft to go into
headed by Google, and had its
rst release in 2008. Android
PAIRS USED TO MAKE THE orbit. In 2012, it completed the
rst of a number of scheduled
was already a popular operating FIRST ORGANISM WITH A missions delivering supplies to
system for smartphones. SYNTHETIC GENOME the International Space Station.

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 201113

This image shows the Rocknest, an area of the Martian surface where Curiosity found mysterious
bright objects and where it carried out its rst X-ray diffraction experiments.

IN MAY 2011, NASA ANNOUNCED
RESULTS FROM ITS GRAVITY
PROBE B, which was designed
to test Albert Einsteins general
theory of relativity, originally
published in 1916. Since
its launch in 2004, the probe
had been measuring the
curvature of space-time
in the vicinity of Earth (see
pp.24445), and the extent
to which Earths rotation
drags space-time around
with it. The results of both
tests provided the best
conrmation to date
of Einsteins general
theory of relativity.
In June, a team of
geophysicists presented the
rst map of the terrain beneath
the Antarctic ice sheet. Part of
a long-term project to examine
the geology of Antarctica, the
map was produced from data
provided by several instruments,
including ice-penetrating radar.
It revealed various geological
features in glacial landscapes
and also gave valuable
information about the icecaps
antenna sends
data back to Earth
formation, which began about
30 million years ago. In August,
a team of Australian and British
scientists found microfossils
in rocks 3.4 billion years old,
pushing back the date of the
earliest known life on Earth by a
few million years. The primitive
cells metabolisms were based
on sulfur rather than oxygen.
The following year, 2012, was
a momentous one for science as
physicists at CERN announced a
digital camera
takes
high-resolution
colour images
result of experiments at the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC, see
2008). The LHC aims to recreate
energies and conditions that
existed a tiny fraction of a second
after the Big Bang (see pp.344
45), when the Universe formed.
On 4 July 2012, physicists at
CERN announced that they had
found compelling evidence for
the existence of the Higgs
boson. This particle is a
mainstay of the Standard Model
of particle physics (see 1974) and
Roving over Mars
NASAs Curiosity rover is about the
size of a family car. It carries an
array of instruments, including
ones designed to detect chemical
compounds that could support life.
particles, such as quarks and
leptons, their mass.
In August 2012, NASAs
Curiosity rover landed in a
large crater (the Gale crater)
on Mars, beginning the most
comprehensive mission to the
planet so far. The landing took
place autonomously, during a
radio black-out that NASA
engineers called seven minutes
of terror. In the last stage of
descent, four rockets red to
slow the craft to almost a hover
and the rover itself was lowered
to the surface on cables to
prevent kicking up dust that
could damage its instruments.
PETER HIGGS (b.1929)
Theoretical physicist Peter
Higgs was born in Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, UK. In the early
1960s, he developed a
theoretical mechanism (which
Soon after landing, the rover
began transmitting stunning,
high-resolution panoramas
and close-ups from Mars. As
well as cameras, Curiosity also
carries a number of instruments
to collect and analyse regolith
(soil) and rock samples. A laser
vaporizes any rock samples of
interest and a spectroscope
records the spectrum of the
light emitted by the vapour to
determine the rocks makeup.
Other instruments work out the
crystal structure of minerals
using X-ray diffraction, and an
environmental monitoring station
records temperature, wind
speed, atmospheric pressure,
and humidity. By the end of 2012,
Curiosity had travelled more
than 500 m (1,650 ft) and had
analysed regolith from more
than 30 different locations.

899 kg
is associated with the Higgs eld. was also proposed by several
According to a theory developed other physicists at around the
THE MASS OF CURIOSITY by British physicist Peter Higgs same time) to explain why

2.9 m THE LENGTH OF CURIOSITY

and others in the 1960s, the
Higgs eld exists throughout
space, and interaction with
particles have mass. In 1964,
he predicted the existence of
a particle associated with that

2.2 m THE HEIGHT OF CURIOSITY

the Higgs eld is responsible
for giving fundamental
mechanism: the Higgs boson.

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y 2 be bje ar S
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348
,, AS A LAYMAN

,,
I WOULD NOW
SAY I THINK WE
HAVE IT.
Rolf Heuer, CERN Director
General, announcing the discovery
of the Higgs boson, 4 July 2012

In September 2012, NASA

published the eXtreme Deep
Field, the most detailed image of
deep space obtained to date (see
2004). Back on Mars, in February
2013, Curiosity had moved on to
analyse subsurface rocks after
drilling a 6.4-cm (2.5-in) hole in
the Martian surface.
Regenerative medicine took
two important steps forward in
early 2013: scientists in the USA
successfully implanted a fully
functioning laboratory-grown
kidney into a rat, while a team in
Bolivia injected stem cells into
rats brains soon after the rats
had strokes and restored full
brain function.
In China, a new strain of bird
Flu (see 1997) , called H7N9,
infected humans for the rst time,
causing concern of an epidemic.
Meanwhile, new calculations of
the age of the Universe were being
made. In March, data from the
European Space Agencys Planck
satellite rened cosmologists
estimate of the age of the Universe
to 13.82 billion years old about
100 million years older than
previously thought.

Searching for the Higgs boson

This computer-generated image
shows tracks from particle collisions
inside the Large Hadron Collider.
Analysis of such tracks provided
evidence for the Higgs boson.

s
SA 3
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349
7
352 MEASUREMENTS AND UNITS 360 BIOLOGY
352 Base SI Units 360 Taxonomic Ranks
352 SI Prefixes 360 Domains and Kingdoms
352 Supplementary and Derived SI Units 361 Fungi
353 Common Physical Properties 361 Plants
354 SI Conversion Factors 362 Animals
362 Human Ancestors
355 PHYSICS
355 Newtons Laws 364 ASTRONOMY AND SPACE
355 Mechanics of Forces 364 The Planets of the Solar System
355 Laws of Thermodynamics 364 Keplers Laws of Planetary Motion
355 Temperature Scales 364 Spectral Classification of Stars
356 Gas Laws 365 The Magnitudes of Stars
356 Pressure and Density 365 The HertzsprungRussell Diagram
356 Einsteins Theories of Relativity
356 Maxwells Equations 366 EARTH SCIENCE
357 Electricity and Circuit Laws 366 The Geological Timescale
357 Subatomic Particles 366 Mineral Classification
357 The Four Fundamental Forces 366 Earths Rock Types
357 Common Equations 367 Tectonic Plates

358 CHEMISTRY
358 The Periodic Table
359 The Elements

REFERENCE
 REFERENCE MEASUREMENTS AND UNITS

MEASUREMENTS AND UNITS

BASE SI UNITS
The SI (Systme International dUnits) is the modern form of the metric system
of measurements, and it is used by most countries. It consists of series of units of
measurement built around seven interdependant base units of individual physical
qualities. All other physical qualities are obtained from these units.
SUPPLEMENTARY AND DERIVED SI UNITS
The SI is an evolving system in which units are created and denitions are
modied as the technology and precision of measurement improves. In
addition to the seven base SI units, there are two supplementary units and
many other units derived from the SI base units.

UNIT SYMBOL DEFINITION SUPPLEMENTARY UNITS SYMBOL DEFINITION

Metre m This unit is the length of a path travelled by light
in a vacuum during a time interval of 1299,729,458 of
a second.
Kilogram kg The unit of mass, equal to the mass of the
international prototype kilogram.
Second s The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods
of the radiation corresponding to the transition
between the two hyperne levels of the ground
state of the caesium-133 atom.
Radian rad The unit of measurement of angle;
it is the angle subtended at the centre
of a circle by an arc equal in length
to the circles radius.
Steradian sr The unit of measurement of solid
angle; it is the solid angle subtended
at the centre of a circle by a spherical
cap equal in area to the square of the
circles radius.

Ampere A The constant electric current which, if maintained

DERIVED UNITS SYMBOL DEFINITION
in two straight parallel conductors of innite length
and negligible cross-section, and placed 1 metre Hertz Hz The unit of frequency; 1 hertz has
apart in a vacuum, would produce between these a periodic interval of 1 second.
conductors a force equal to 2 10-7 newtons per
metre. Newton N A unit of force equal to the force that
imparts an acceleration of 1 m/sec/sec
Kelvin K The unit of thermodynamic temperature, this to a mass of 1 kilogram.
is the fraction 1273.16 of the thermodynamic
temperature of the triple point of water. Pascal Pa A unit of pressure equal to 1 newton
per square metre.
Candela cd The luminous intensity, in a given direction, of
a source that emits monochromatic radiation Joule J A unit of energy exerted by a force of
of frequency 540 1012 hertz and that has a 1 newton acting to move an object
radiant intensity in that direction of 1683 watt through a distance of 1 metre.
per steradian.
Watt W A unit of power equal to 1 joule per
Mole mol The mole amount of substance that contains as second; it is also the power dissipated
many elementary units as there are carbon atoms by a current of 1 ampere owing across
in 0.012 kilograms of carbon-12. a resistance of 1 ohm.

Coulomb C A unit of electrical charge equal to

SI PREFIXES the amount of charge transferred by
a current of 1 ampere in 1 second.
SI prexes and symbols are used to indicate decimal multiples and submultiples
of SI units to avoid having to write either very large or extremely small numeric Volt V A unit of potential equal to the potential
values, from 1018 to 10-18. When the number is written, the prex attaches directly difference between two points on
to the name of the unit for example nanosecond. Similarly, a prex symbol can a conductor carrying a current of
also be attached to the symbol for the unit for example ns. 1 ampere when the power dissipated
between the two points is 1 watt; it is
equivalent to the potential difference
FACTOR PREFIX SYMBOL FACTOR PREFIX SYMBOL
across a resistance of 1 ohm when
18 -1
10 exa- E 10 deci- d 1 ampere of current ows through it.

1015 peta- P 10-2 centi- c Farad F A unit of capacitance of a capacitor that

has an equal and opposite charge of
1012 tera- T 10-3 milli- m 1 coulomb on each plate and a voltage
difference of 1 volt between the plates.
109 giga- G 10-6 micro-
Ohm A unit of electrical resistance equal to
106 mega- M 10-9 nano- n the resistance between two points on
a conductor when a potential difference
103 kilo- k 10-12 pico- p of 1 volt between them produces a
current of 1 ampere.
102 hecto- h 10-15 femto- f
Siemens S A unit of electrical conductance, the
101 deca- da 10-18 atto- a reciprocal of 1 ohm: 1 divided by 1 ohm.

352
 MEASUREMENTS AND UNITS REFERENCE

SUPPLEMENTARY UNITS SYMBOL DEFINITION PHYSICAL PROPERTY SYMBOL SI UNIT SI UNIT SYMBOL
Weber Wb A unit of magnetic ux that produces Electrical energy megajoule MJ
an electromagnetic force of 1 volt when kilowatt-hour kWh
the ux is reduced to zero at a uniform
rate of 1 second. Electrical power P watt (joule/second) W (J s1)

Tesla T A unit of magnetic ux density, the Electromotive force E volt (watt/ampere) V (W A1)
equivalent of 1 weber of magnetic ux (EMF)
per metre squared.
Electrical conductance S siemen (ohm1) A V1
Henry H A unit of inductance in which an
induced electromotive force of 1 volt is Electrical resistance R ohm (volt/ampere) (V A1)
produced when the current is varied at
the rate of 1 ampere per second. Frequency hertz (cycles/second) Hz (s1)

Degree Celsius C A unit of temperature on the centigrade Force F newton (kilogram metre/ N
scale, with the ice point at 0C and second2) (kg m s2)
boiling point at 100C.
Gravitational newton/kilogram N kg1
Lumen lm A unit of luminous ux equal to the intensity, eld
amount of light given out through a strength
solid angle of 1 steradian by a point
source of 1 candela intensity radiating Magnetic eld strength H ampere/metre A m1
uniformly in all directions.
Magnetic ux weber Wb
Lux lx A unit of illumination that describes the
illumination given by 1 lumen over an Magnetic ux density B tesla (weber/metre2) T (Wb m2)
area of 1 square metre.
Mass m kilogram kg
Becquerel Bq A unit of radioactivity. One becquerel
descibes the activity of radioactive Mechanical power P watt W
material in which one nucleus decays (joule/second) (J s1)
per second.
Moment of inertia I kilogram metre2 kg m2
Gray Gy A unit of an absorbed dose of ionizing
radiation and the energy it gives off. It Momentum p kilogram metre/second kg m s1
is equal to the absorption of 1 joule per
kilogram of irradiated material. Pressure P pascal (newton/metre2) Pa (N m2)

Sievert Sv A unit of the dose equivalent needed for Quantity of substance n mole mol
protection against ionizing radiation.
Specic heat capacity C or c joule/kilogram/kelvin J kg1 K1
Katal kat A unit that measures the activity, or
property, of catalysts such as enzymes. Specic latent heats L joule/kilogram J kg1
For example, 1 katal of trypsin is the of fusion, vaporization
amount needed to break a mole of
peptide bonds in 1 second. Torque newton metre Nm

Velocity, speed u, v metre/second m s1

kilometre/hour km h1
COMMON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Volume V metre3 m3
Scientists use a number of symbols when dening processes using millilitre ml
mathematical formulae. The following table shows some of the most
common physical properties and the symbols that are used to represent Wavelength metre m
them. The units by which the different properties are measured are
indicated by their SI units together with the relevant symbols. Weight W newton N

Work, energy W joule (newton metre) J (N m)

PHYSICAL PROPERTY SYMBOL SI UNIT SI UNIT SYMBOL
Acceleration, a metre/second2 m s2
deceleration kilometre/hour/second km h1 s1

Angular velocity radian/second rad s1

Density kilogram/metre3 kg m3
kilogram/millilitre kg ml1

Electric charge Q, q coulomb C

Electric current I, i ampere (coulomb/ A (C s1)

second)

353
 REFERENCE MEASUREMENTS AND UNITS

SI CONVERSION FACTORS UNIT SYMBOL QUANTITY SI EQUIVALENT SI UNIT RECIPROCAL

This table lists units of measurements from non-SI systems and the factors needed Knot kn velocity 9.461 1015 km h-1 0.540
to convert them to SI units. The conversion factor in the column headed SI equivalent
can be used to convert from the non-SI unit to the SI unit named. The reverse Light year ly length 1 m 1.057 10-16
conversion can be made using the conversion factor in the column headed reciprocal.
Litre l volume 1,193.3 dm 1
UNIT SYMBOL QUANTITY SI EQUIVALENT SI UNIT RECIPROCAL
Mach number Ma velocity 10 km h-1 8.380 10-4
Acre area 0.405 hm 2.471
Maxwell Mx magnetic ux 1 nWb 0.1
ngstrm length 0.1 nm 10
Micron length 1.852 m 1
Astronomical AU length 0.150 Tm 6.684
unit Mile (nautical) length 1.609 km 0.540

Atomic amu mass 1.661 10-27 kg 6.022 1026 Mile (statute) length 1.609 km 0.621
mass unit
Miles per hour mile h-1 velocity 2.91 x 10-4 km h-1 0.621
Bar bar pressure 0.1 MPa 10 (mph)

Barrel (US) = bbl volume 0.159 m 6.290 Ounce oz mass 31.103 g 0.035
42 US gal (avoirdupois)

Calorie cal energy 4.187 J 0.239 Ounce (troy) = mass 30,857 g 0.032
480 gr
Cubic foot cu ft volume 0.028 m 35.315
Parsec pc length 10 Tm 0.0000324
Cubic inch cu in volume 16.387 cm 0.061
Pint (UK) pt volume 0.1 dm3 1.760
Cubic yard cu yd volume 0.765 m 1.308
Pound lb mass 4.448 kg 2.205
Curie Ci activity of 37 GBq 0.027
radionuclide Pound force lbf force 6.895 N 0.225

Degree C temperature 1 K 1 Pound force/in pressure 0.138 kPa 0.145

Celsius
Pounds per psi pressure 0.01 kPa 0.145
Degree F temperature 0.556 K 1.8 square inch
Fahrenheit
Rntgen R exposure 0.258 mC kg-1 3.876
Electronvolt eV energy 0.160 aJ 6.241
Second = plane angle 4.85 x 10-6 mrad 2.063 x 105
Erg erg energy 0.1 J 10 (1/60)

Fathom (6 ft) length 1.829 m 0.547 Solar mass M mass 1.989 1030 kg 5.028 10-31

Fermi fm length 1 fm 1 Square foot sq ft area 9.290 dm 0.108

Foot ft length 30.48 cm 0.033 Square inch sq in area 6.452 cm 0.155

Foot per ft s-1 velocity 0.305 m s-1 3.281 Square mile sq mi area 2.590 km 0.386
second 1.097 km h-1 0.911 (statute)

Gallon (UK) gal volume 4.546 dm3 0.220 Square yard sq yd area 0.836 m 1.196

Gallon (US) = gal volume 3.785 dm3 0.264 Stere st volume 1 m 1

231 cu in
Therm = 105 energy 0.105 GJ 9.478
Gauss Gs, G magnetic ux 100 T 0.01 btu
density
Ton = 2240 lb mass 1.016 Mg 0.984
Grain gr mass 1 g 15.432
Ton-force tonf force 9.964 kN 0.100
Hectare ha area 0.746 hm 1
Ton-force/
Horsepower hp power 2.54 kW 1.341 sq in pressure 15.444 MPa 0.065

Inch in length 9.807 cm 0.394 Tonne t mass 1 Mg 1

Kilogram- kgf force 1.852 N 0.102

force

354
 PHYSICS REFERENCE

PHYSICS
NEWTONS LAWS HOOKES LAW

British physicist Isaac Newton proposed a series of laws of motion, which he Fs = force of spring
published in his masterpiece Principia (see 169899). Newtons laws describe
how objects move, remain at rest, or interact with other objects and forces.
Fs = -kx k = spring constant (indication
of springs stiffness)
Newton also formulated the law of universal gravity to describe the force of x = extension
attraction that acts between physical bodies.

LAW DESCRIPTION TURNING FORCES

LAW OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION FORCE FORMULA KEY
DESCRIPTION
First Unless disturbed by a
2
law of force, an object will Moment The equivalent of I = mr I = moment of inertia
motion either stay still or travel Gm1m2 of inertia mass for an object m = mass
r2 = square of distance from axis
at a constant speed in a
straight line.
F= rotating about an axis

r2 Angular The velocity of an

=
= angular velocity
Second The force acting on a velocity object rotating about t = angular displacement
law of body is equal to its rate F = force an axis t = change in time
motion of change of momentum, G = universal
which is the product gravitational constant Angular The momentum of L = I L = angular momentum
of its mass and its m1, m2 = masses momentum an object rotating I = moment of inertia
acceleration. r2 = square of distances about an axis = angular velocity
between masses
Third For every action there is
law of an equal and opposite LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
motion reaction.
Thermodynamics is the study of the interrelationship between heat, work, and
internal energy. The laws of thermodynamics describe what happens when a
MECHANICS OF FORCES thermodynamic system goes though an energy change. Energy cannot be created
or destroyed (as stated in the rst law), but it can be converted into other forms.
A force is a push or pull that makes an object move in a straight line or turn.
Forces can act alone or together, and they can be harnessed to make machines
LAW DESCRIPTION
work more effectively. The relationship between the properties of moving objects
such as time, distance, direction and speed can be described using equations. First law Energy can be neither created nor destroyed.

MOTION FORMULAE Second law The total entropy of an isolated system increases over time.
QUANTITY DESCRIPTION FORMULA
Third law There is a theoretical minimum temperature at which the
Speed distance d motion of the particles of matter would cease.
S=
time t
Zeroth law If two bodies (distinct systems) are each in thermal
Time distance d equilibrium with a third body, these two bodies will also
t=
speed S be in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Distance speed time d = St

Velocity displacement (distance in a given direction)

v=
s TEMPERATURE SCALES
time t
Heat is a form of kinetic energy. KELVIN CELSIUS FAHRENHEIT
Acceleration change in velocity (v u) The amount of energy contained in
a=
time taken for change t an object its temperature can be 373K 100C 212F
measured using one of three scales:
Resultant mass acceleration F = ma kelvin (one of the SI base units),
force Celsius (an SI derived scale), and
Fahrenheit (rst proposed by the 300K 27C 81F
Momentum mass velocity p = mv DutchGermanPolish physicist
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (see 1724). 273K 0C 32F
Absolute 0 kelvin is the point at which 255K 18C 0F
EQUATIONS OF MOTION UNDER CONSTANT ACCELERATION
atoms in a substance have no heat
These four equations are used to express energy and do not vibrate at all. 200K 73C 99F
constant acceleration in different ways:

v = u + at s = displacement
u = original velocity
(u + v)t v2 = u2 + 2as v = nal velocity 100K 173C 279F
s= a = acceleration
t = time taken
2 s = ut + at2 Absolute
zero 0K 273C 460F

355
 REFERENCE PHYSICS

GAS LAWS
Gas is a state of matter with relatively low density and viscosity, variable pressure molecules within a gas to its volume, pressure, and temperature, and state how
and temperature, and the ability to diffuse readily and distribute uniformly each measure responds when the others change. Most of the laws are named
throughout any container. The gas laws described below relate movements of after the person who discovered them.

LAW DESCRIPTION FORMULA KEY

Avogadros law At a constant temperature and pressure, volume is Vn V = volume
proportional to the number of molecules. Equal volumes of n = number of molecules
different gases, in identical conditions of temperature and = proportional to
pressure, will contain equal numbers of molecules.

Boyles law For a given mass of gas at a constant temperature, volume is P V = constant P = pressure
inversely proportional to pressure. So, for example, if volume V = volume
doubles, pressure halves.

Charless law For a given mass of gas at a constant pressure, volume V = volume
is directly proportional to absolute temperature V constant T = (absolute) temperature
(measured in kelvin). T

Gay-Lussacs law For a given mass of gas at a constant volume, pressure P = pressure
is directly proportional to absolute temperature P constant T = (absolute) temperature
(measured in kelvin). T

Ideal gas law An ideal gas is a hypothetical gas in which particles may P = total pressure
collide but do not have attractive forces between them. PV=nRT n = number of moles
The ideal gas law is a good approximation of the behaviour R = universal gas constant
of many gases in various conditions. T = absolute temperature

Daltons law of partial This law describes mixtures of two or more gases. It states P = p or P = total pressure
pressures that the total pressure of gaseous mixture equals sum of the P total = p1 + p2 + p3 p = sum of individual
partial pressures of individual component gases. The law is partial pressures
used to work out gas mixtures breathed by scuba divers.

PRESSURE AND DENSITY MAXWELLS EQUATIONS

Pressure is the force applied to an object divided by the area over which the This is a series of equations, or laws, formulated by Scottish physicist James
force is applied, and it varies according to the density of the body exerting Clerk Maxwell (see 1855) that provide a full description of how electromagnetic
the force. Pressure and density can be described using a series of equations. waves behave. The equations show how electromagnetic elds are produced
and how the rates of change in the elds are related to their sources.
LAW DESCRIPTION FORMULA
LAW STATEMENT APPLICATION
Pressure force F
P=
area A Gausss law The electric ux through any Used to calculate electric
for electricity closed surface is proportional elds around charged
Density mass m to the total charge contained objects.
=
volume V within that surface.

Volume mass m Gausss law For a magnetic dipole (one of Describes sources of
V=
density for magnetism a pair of equal and oppositely magnetic elds and shows
magnetized poles) with any that they will always be
Mass volume density m=V closed surface, the magnetic closed loops.
ux drawn inwards towards
the south pole will equal the
ux directed outwards from
EINSTEINS THEORIES OF RELATIVITY the north pole; the net ux will
always be zero.
In 1905 and 1915, German physicist Albert Einstein published his ground-breaking
theories that challenged the previously accepted theory of gravitation. Faradays law The induced electromotive Describes how a changing
of induction force (EMF) around any closed magnetic eld can generate
loop equals the negative of the an electric eld; this is
THEORY PROPOSITION
rate of change of the magnetic the operating principle
Special theory of 1) All physical laws are the same in all frames of reference ux through the area enclosed for electric generators,
relativity in uniform motion with respect to one another. by the loop. inductors, and transformers.
2) The speed of light is a constant, regardless of the motions
of the light source and the observer. Ampres law In static electric eld, the line Used to calculate magnetic
with Maxwells integral of the magnetic eld elds. Shows that magnetic
General theory Spacetime is curved; strong gravity causes distortions of time correction around any closed loop is current can be generated
of relativity and mass, and large objects (such as stars) warp spacetime proportional to the electric by electric current and by
around them. current owing through it. changing electric elds.

356
 PHYSICS REFERENCE

ELECTRICITY AND CIRCUIT LAWS

Electricty can be made to travel in a ow, or current. Electric current can be two main ways in which ow is driven around a circuit: an alternating current
generated by a source of electromotive force (EMF), such as a battery cell, and (AC), which ows to and fro; and direct current, which ows in one direction
directed around wire loops called circuits to power electrical devices. There are only. Particular laws govern the way that a current ows around a circuit.

LAW DESCRIPTION FORMULA KEY

Coulombs law The force of attraction or repulsion between two charged k = Coulombs constant
particles is directly proportional to the product of the charges F = k q1q2 q1 and q2 = electric (point) charges
and inversely proportional to the distance between them. r2 r2 = square of distance

Ohms law This law expresses the relationships between voltage, V V R = resistance
I= R=
resistance, and current, which can be expressed in R I I = current
several ways. V=IR V = potential difference (voltage)

Kirchhoffs current law The sum of the electric currents entering any junction in I = 0 = summation symbol
a circuit is equal to the sum of those leaving the junction. I = current

Kirchhoffs voltage law The sum of the voltage changes around the path of any V = 0 = summation symbol
closed loop is zero. V = potential difference (voltage)

SUBATOMIC PARTICLES COMMON EQUATIONS

These are the basic building blocks of matter. Physicists distinguish between The following equations are commonly used in physics.
elementary particles (with no substructure) and composite particles (composed
of smaller structures). Elementary particles are the fundamental constituents
QUANTITY STATEMENT FORMULA
of everything in the Universe. Scientists think that every particle is twinned with
an opposing antiparticle, which if paired can annihilate each other, producing Kinetic energy mass velocity 2
Ek = mv2
packages of light (photons).
Weight mass gravitational eld strength W = mg
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES COMPOSITE PARTICLES (HADRONS)
Power work done or energy transferred P =W
Quarks Particles that make Baryons Particles made up of time taken time taken t
protons and neutrons. There are three quarks. The best known are
six avours: up, down, charm, the proton (two up and one down Speed distance moved d
s=
strange, top, and bottom. quarks) and the neutron (one up time taken t
and two down quarks)
Leptons A group of six particles, Velocity displacement s
v=
comprising electron, muon, and time taken t
tau particles and their associated
neutrinos (the electron-neutrino, Acceleration change in velocity (v u)
a=
muon-neutrino, and tau-neutrino). time taken for this change t

Gauge bosons Particles Mesons Particles made from a Resultant force mass acceleration F = ma
associated with the four quark with an antiquark. There
fundamental forces (see below). are many types, including the Momentum mass velocity mv
No gauge boson has yet been positive pion (up quark with
found for gravity, although the down antiquark) and the negative Refractive index speed of light in a vacuum c
n=
existence of a graviton has kaon (strange quark with up speed of light in a medium v
been hypothesized. antiquark).
Wave speed frequency wavelength v=

Electric charge current time taken q=It

THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES
Potential current resistance or energy transferred V=IR
All matter in the Universe is subject to four basic forces: gravity, electromagnetism, difference charge W
V=
and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Each one is associated with a subatomic (voltage) q
messenger particle. Physicists theorize that the forces were once unied in a
single force that split in the rst fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Matter Resistance voltage
R=
V
particles affected by a particular force produce and absorb specic force carriers. current I

PARTICLE FORCE RELATIVE STRENGTH RANGE IN (M) Electrical energy potential difference (or voltage) E=VIt
current time taken
Graviton Gravity 10-41 Innite
Work done force distance moved in the direction W = Fs
Photon Electromagnetic 1 Innite force of the force

Gluon Strong nuclear force 25 10-15 Efciency work output Wo

100% 100%
work input Wi
W, Z bosons Weak nuclear force 0.8 10-18

357
 REFERENCE CHEMISTRY

CHEMISTRY
THE PERIODIC TABLE
The modern periodic table contains 118 known elements, of which 90 occur number of protons in an elements nucleus) and grouped within the chart
naturally on Earth. The elements are grouped according to their atomic structure. according to the arrangement of the outer electrons. This way a chemist can
They are positioned on the chart in ascending order of their atomic number (the predict the likely characteristics of an element from its position on the table.

1 18
1 1 2 4

KEY
1 H Alkali metals Metalloids
He
Hydrogen 2 13 14 15 16 17 Helium
Transition metals Other non-metals
3 7 4 9 5 11 6 12 7 14 8 16 9 19 10 20
Other metals Halogens
2 Li Be Alkali earth metals Noble gases B C N O F Ne
Lithium Beryllium Rare earth metals Unknown Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon

11 23 12 24 13 27 14 28 15 31 16 32 17 35 18 40
GROUP
3 Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
Sodium Magnesium 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulphur Chlorine Argon

19 39 20 40 21 45 22 48 23 51 24 52 25 55 26 56 27 59 28 59 29 64 30 65 31 70 32 73 33 75 34 79 35 80 36 84
PERIOD

4 K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton

37 85 38 88 39 89 40 91 41 93 42 96 43 98 44 101 45 103 46 106 47 108 48 112 49 115 50 119 51 122 52 128 53 127 54 131

5 Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon

55 133 56 137 72 178 73 181 74 184 75 186 76 190 77 192 78 195 79 197 80 201 81 204 82 207 83 209 84 209 85 210 86 220

6 Cs Ba Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
Caesium Barium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon

87 223 88 226 104 261 105 262 106 263 107 264 108 265 109 268 110 281 111 273 112 285 113 284 114 289 115 288 116 292 117 292 118 294

7 Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Cn Uut Fl Uup Lv Uus Uuo

Francium Radium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Ununtrium Flerovium Ununpentium Livermorium Ununseptium Ununoctium

57 139 58 140 59 141 60 144 61 145 62 150 63 152 64 157 65 159 66 163 67 165 68 167 69 169 70 173 71 175

LANTHANOIDS La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium

89 227 90 232 91 231 92 238 93 237 94 244 95 243 96 247 97 247 98 251 99 252 100 257 101 258 102 259 103 262

ACTINOIDS Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium

INDIVIDUAL ENTRY BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE TABLE

Each block on the table describes The periodic table is divided in three
an individual element. The relative different directions: groups form
atomic mass is the average number the vertical columns; periods, the 7
of protons and neutrons in the nucleus horizontal rows; and series are
Periods 1
and is given in the table above as a indicated by blocks of colour. Elements that have the same
rounded gure. The overall groupings put number of electron shells are 2 Groups
elements that demonstrate close grouped horizontally in rows. The elements in each of the
family resemblances together. 3 vertical columns all have
relative Periods 6 and 7 are too long
atomic atomic Reactive metallic elements are to t on the table so are the same number of electrons
4
number mass on the left, progressing across the positioned below the chart. in their outer shells.
chart through less reactive metals,
26 56
metalloids, and non metals, to barely
transition mainly
reactive gases on the far right.
Fe symbol
reactive
metals
elements non-metals

Iron
Series
The table is divided into four
element
series: reactive metals, transition
name
elements, rare earth metals, and
mainly non-metals. The elements
in each of these groups react in a rare earth
similar way. The different types of metals
elements are further subdivided
by colour, see key above.

358
 CHEMISTRY REFERENCE

THE ELEMENTS
The chart below lays out essential information for each of the known elements. symbol, the relative atomic mass (in this chart given to the nearest two decimal
It is sorted by atomic number the number of protons in the nucleus of an places), and the valency (the number of chemical bonds formed by the atoms)
elements atoms. For each element, the table includes the commonly used for each given element.

ATOMIC ELEMENT SYMBOL ATOMIC MELTING BOILING VALENCY ATOMIC ELEMENT SYMBOL ATOMIC MELTING BOILING VALENCY
NUMBER MASS POINT POINT NUMBER MASS POINT POINT
C F C F C F C F
1 Hydrogen H 1.00 -259 -434 -253 -423 1 64 Gadolinium Gd 157.25 1313 2395 3266 5911 3
2 Helium He 4.00 -272 -458 -269 -452 0 65 Terbium Tb 158.93 1356 2473 3123 5653 3
3 Lithium Li 6.94 179 354 1340 2440 1 66 Dysprosium Dy 162.50 1412 2574 2562 4644 3
4 Beryllium Be 9.01 1283 2341 2990 5400 2 67 Holmium Ho 164.93 1474 2685 2695 4883 3
5 Boron B 10.81 2300 4170 3660 6620 3 68 Erbium Er 167.26 1529 2784 2863 5185 3
6 Carbon C 12.01 3500 6332 4827 8721 2,4 69 Thulium Tm 168.93 1545 2813 1947 3537 2,3
7 Nitrogen N 14.01 -210 -346 -196 -321 3,5 70 Ytterbium Yb 173.04 819 1506 1194 2181 2,3
8 Oxygen O 16.00 -219 -362 -183 -297 2 71 Lutetium Lu 174.97 1663 3025 3395 6143 3
9 Fluorine F 19.00 -220 -364 -188 -306 1 72 Hafnium Hf 178.49 2227 4041 4602 8316 4
10 Neon Ne 20.18 -249 -416 -246 -410 0 73 Tantalum Ta 180.95 2996 5425 5427 9801 3,5
11 Sodium Na 22.99 98 208 890 1634 1 74 Tungsten W 183.84 3410 6170 5660 10220 2,4,5,6
12 Magnesium Mg 24.31 650 1202 1105 2021 2 75 Rhenium Re 186.21 3180 5756 5627 10161 1,4,7
13 Aluminium Al 26.98 660 1220 2467 4473 3 76 Osmium Os 190.23 3045 5510 5090 9190 2,3,4,6,8
14 Silicon Si 28.09 1420 2588 2355 4271 4 77 Iridium Ir 192.22 2410 4370 4130 7466 3,4
15 Phosphorus P 30.97 44 111 280 536 3,5 78 Platinum Pt 195.08 1772 3222 3827 6921 2,4
16 Sulphur S 32.07 113 235 445 832 2,4,6 79 Gold Au 196.97 1064 1947 2807 5080 1,3
17 Chlorine Cl 35.45 -101 -150 -34 -29 1,3,5,7 80 Mercury Hg 200.59 -39 -38 357 675 1,2
18 Argon Ar 39.95 -189 -308 -186 -303 0 81 Thallium Tl 204.38 303 577 1457 2655 1,3
19 Potassium K 39.10 64 147 754 1389 1 82 Lead Pb 207.20 328 622 1744 3171 2,4
20 Calcium Ca 40.08 848 1558 1487 2709 2 83 Bismuth Bi 208.98 271 520 1560 2840 3,5
21 Scandium Sc 44.96 1541 2806 2831 5128 3 84 Polonium Po 208.98 254 489 962 1764 2,3,4
22 Titanium Ti 47.87 1677 3051 3277 5931 3,4 85 Astatine At 209.99 300 572 370 698 1,3,5,7
23 Vanadium V 50.94 1917 3483 3377 6111 2,3,4,5 86 Radon Rn 222.02 -71 -96 -62 -80 0
24 Chromium Cr 52.00 1903 3457 2642 4788 2,3,6 87 Francium Fr 223.02 27 81 677 1251 1
25 Manganese Mn 54.94 1244 2271 2041 3706 2,3,4,6,7 88 Radium Ra 226.02 700 1292 1200 2190 2
26 Iron Fe 55.85 1539 2802 2750 4980 2,3 89 Actinium Ac 227.03 1050 1922 3200 5792 3
27 Cobalt Co 58.93 1495 2723 2877 5211 2,3 90 Thorium Th 232.04 1750 3182 4787 8649 4
28 Nickel Ni 58.69 1455 2651 2730 4950 2,3 91 Protactinium Pa 231.04 1597 2907 4027 7281 4,5
29 Copper Cu 63.55 1083 1981 2582 4680 1,2 92 Uranium U 238.03 1132 2070 3818 6904 3,4,5,6
30 Zinc Zn 65.41 420 788 907 1665 2 93 Neptunium Np 237.05 637 1179 4090 7394 2,3,4,5,6
31 Gallium Ga 69.72 30 86 2403 4357 2,3 94 Plutonium Pu 244.06 640 1184 3230 5850 2,3,4,5,6
32 Germanium Ge 72.63 937 1719 2355 4271 4 95 Americium Am 243.06 994 1821 2607 4724 2,3,4,5,6
33 Arsenic As 74.92 817 1503 613 1135 3,5 96 Curium Cm 247.07 1340 2444 3190 5774 2,3,4
34 Selenium Se 78.96 217 423 685 1265 2,4,6 97 Berkelium Bk 247.07 1050 1922 710 1310 2,3,4
35 Bromine Br 79.90 -7 19 59 138 1,3,5,7 98 Californium Cf 251.08 900 1652 1470 2678 2,3,4
36 Krypton Kr 83.80 -157 -251 -152 -242 0 99 Einsteinium Es 252.08 860 1580 996 1825 2,3
37 Rubidium Rb 85.47 39 102 688 1270 1 100 Fermium Fm 257.10 unknown unknown 2,3
38 Strontium Sr 87.62 769 1416 1384 2523 2 101 Mendelevium Md 258.10 unknown unknown 2,3
39 Yttrium Y 88.91 1522 2772 3338 6040 3 102 Nobelium No 259.10 unknown unknown 2,3
40 Zirconium Zr 91.22 1852 3366 4377 7911 4 103 Lawrencium Lr 262.11 unknown unknown 3
41 Niobium Nb 92.91 2467 4473 4742 8568 3,5 104 Rutherfordium Rf 261.11 unknown unknown unknown
42 Molybdenum Mo 95.96 2610 4730 5560 10040 2,3,4,5,6 105 Dubnium Db 262.11 unknown unknown unknown
43 Technetium Tc 97.91 2172 3942 4877 8811 2,3,4,6,7 106 Seaborgium Sg 263.12 unknown unknown unknown
44 Ruthenium Ru 101.07 2310 4190 3900 7052 3,4,6,8 107 Bohrium Bh 264.13 unknown unknown unknown
45 Rhodium Rh 102.91 1966 3571 3727 6741 3,4 108 Hassium Hs 265.13. unknown unknown unknown
46 Palladium Pd 106.42 1554 2829 2970 5378 2,4 109 Meitnerium Mt 268.14 unknown unknown unknown
47 Silver Ag 107.87 962 1764 2212 4014 1 110 Darmstadtium Ds 281.16 unknown unknown unknown
48 Cadmium Cd 112.41 321 610 767 1413 2 111 Roentgenium Rg 273.15 unknown unknown unknown
49 Indium In 114.82 156 313 2028 3680 1,3 112 Copernicium Cn [285] unknown unknown unknown
50 Tin Sn 118.71 232 450 2270 4118 2,4 113 Ununtrium Uut [284] unknown unknown unknown
51 Antimony Sb 121.76 631 1168 1635 2975 3,5 114 Flerovium Fl [289] unknown unknown unknown
52 Tellurium Te 127.60 450 842 990 1814 2,4,6 115 Ununpentium Uup [288] unknown unknown unknown
53 Iodine I 126.90 114 237 184 363 1,3,5,7 116 Livermorium Lv [293] unknown unknown unknown
54 Xenon Xe 131.29 -112 -170 -107 -161 0 117 Ununseptium Uus [292] unknown unknown unknown
55 Caesium Cs 132.91 29 84 671 1240 1 118 Ununoctium Uuo [294] unknown unknown unknown
56 Barium Ba 137.33 725 1337 1640 2984 2
57 Lanthanum La 138.91 921 1690 3457 6255 3
58 Cerium Ce 140.12 799 1470 3426 6199 3,4
59 Praseodymium Pr 140.91 931 1708 3512 6354 3
60 Neodymium Nd 144.24 1021 1870 3068 5554 3
61 Promethium Pm 144.91 1168 2134 2700 4892 3
62 Samarium Sm 150.36 1077 1971 1791 3256 2,3
63 Europium Eu 151.96 822 1512 1597 2907 2,3

359
 REFERENCE B I O LO G Y

BIOLOGY
TAXONOMIC RANKS
Biologists classify organisms into groups according to their characteristics as a way
of illustrating their evolutionary relationships. All life has descended from a single
common ancestor, which lived billions of years ago, and has diversied through
evolution. The most distantly related organisms belong to groups that are ranked as
domains. These are subdivided into groups of successively lower ranks to contain
organisms that are progressively more closely related. At any rank, modern
biologists strive to dene groups that are monophyletic: ones that contain all
organisms descended from a single point of ancestry. At the lowest rank, species,
organisms are so closely related that they can usually interbreed. In the charts
opposite and on pp.36263, dotted lines are used to dene informal assemblages
of taxonomic ranks. Although these are not natural evolutionary groups, they often
provide a convenient and useful way to refer to collections of organisms.

DOMAIN KINGDOM PHYLUM CLASS ORDER FAMILY GENUS SPECIES

Introduced in the Domains are divided Kingdoms are divided Phyla are divided into Classes are divided into Orders are divided into Families are divided into The species group is
1990s in response to into different kingdoms into phyla (singular: classes. Organisms orders. Animal orders families. Names of genera (singular: the only taxonomic rank
discoveries that were that include familiar phylum). Organisms within a class are are based largely on plant, algal, and fungal genus). The name of that can be dened in
made in cellular biology, groups of organisms united in a phylum dened by body body structure, but plant families conventionally each genus determines biological terms. It is
the domain rank denes (animals, plants, and share a particular structure and life orders are also dened end in aceae (for the rst part of the often taken to be a
groups that represent fungi) as well as body plan; for animals history. For example, by the chemicals made example, Liliaceae for scientic name of a group of organisms that
the most ancient other groups (including and plants, this includes land vertebrates are in their tissues. For the lily family); names species. For example, can interbreed. But in
divisions of life on a range of single-celled groups that originated split into classes that example, the mammals of animal families end big cats are united in the practice, most species
Earth. These emerged organisms and algae) 0.51 billion years ago, include amphibians, are split into orders that in idae (for example, genus Panthera and including those that
as distinct groups that evolved around a when the seas were reptiles, birds, and include primates, Sciuridae for the include the species cannot reproduce
around 4 billion years billion years ago. teeming with life and mammals. Plant rodents, and bats. squirrel family). Panthera leo (lion) and sexually or where
ago and include bacteria land was being classes include Plant orders include Panthera tigris (tiger). reproductive biology is
and the more complex colonized for the monocotyledon and Ranunculales The generic and species unknown are dened
multi-celled life forms. rst time. dicotyledon owering (buttercups and names are always given by their physical
plants. relatives) and Lamiales in italics. characteristics.
(mints and relatives).

DOMAINS AND KINGDOMS LIFE ON EARTH

Biologists used to divide all life into plants and
animals, but the roots of biological diversity are
now known to be far more complex. The earliest life
diversied as single-celled organisms. Two lineages
of these organisms, out of countless others, later BACTERIA ARCHAEA EUKARYOTES
gave rise to plants and animals. This means that BACTERIA ARCHAEA EUKARYA
most groups at the ranks of domain and kingdom These are single-celled organisms, most These are single-celled organisms These are single- or multi-celled
include single-celled organisms. The most basic of which have a cell wall made from a with genetic material (DNA) reinforced organisms whose genetic material is
differences evolved when the earliest life split into tough material called murein. Their by packaging proteins called histones, packaged into a nucleus and reinforced
genetic material (DNA) is not packaged but they do not have a nucleus or other with histones. During cell division, this
three domains: simple single-celled Bacteria and
into a nucleus. Other cellular organelles organelles. Many are adapted to survive material solidies into structures called
Archaeae; and the more complex Eukaryotes, whose (membrane-bound structures, such as in harsh environments, such as hot, chromosomes. The cells also have
genetic material became packaged into a cellular mitochondria) are also absent. acidic pools. other organelles, such as mitochondria
nucleus. Many groups of eukaryotic organisms and chloroplasts.
retained their single-celled nature, but others
2 MILLION+
formed the multi-celled bodies that became fungi,
plants, and animals. 8,000+ SPECIES 2,000+ SPECIES SPECIES

FUNGI PLANTS ANIMALS ALL OTHER KINGDOMS

FUNGI PLANTAE ANIMALIA

Single- or multi-celled organisms, fungi
reproduce by spores and absorb food by
decomposing dead material or behaving
as parasites. Multi-celled forms are
usually made up of a network of
microscopic bres called a mycelium.
Multi-celled organisms that make food
through the light-absorbing process
of photosynthesis, plants grow into a
branching, often leafy, body. The most
primitive forms reproduce by free-
swimming sperm and drifting spores;
so-called higher plants form seeds.
These are multi-celled organisms that
obtain food by eating other organisms or
dead material. Fast response times and
movement are possible because animals
have a nervous system that transmits
electrical signals to contracting muscles.
The remaining eukaryotes were formerly classied as a single
kingdom (called Protoctista). It is now known that they do not
form a natural evolutionary group, but instead comprise at least
seven different kingdoms and include a wide range of single-
and multi-celled organisms. Many, such as algae and seaweeds,
photosynthesize like plants. Some are animal-like predators
or parasites, such as amoebas. Others, including slime moulds,
grow like fungi.

1.6 MILLION+
70,000+ SPECIES 290,000+ SPECIES SPECIES 70,000+ SPECIES

360
 B I O LO GY REFERENCE

FUNGI
A distinction can be made between simple fungi (the
microsporidians and chytrids) and higher fungi, which
have an extensive mycelium (a network of microscopic
laments). The common feature of chytrids also called
FUNGI
water moulds is that they produce spores that swim by FUNGI
beating agella (microscopic hairs). Some kinds of sac or
club fungi form lichens: partnerships with certain algae 70,000+ SPECIES
or bacteria to supplement nutrition by photosynthesis.

TYPICAL CHYTRIDS GUT CHYTRIDS PIN MOULDS SAC FUNGI

CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA
Decomposers in soil and water, or
parasites in animals (including one
that infects amphibians).
700+ SPECIES
NEOCALLIMASTIGOMYCOTA ZYGOMYCOTA ASCOMYCOTA
Fungi that inhabit gut of herbivorous Fungi with threads of mycelium with Fungi with spores forming in minute
vertebrates (for example, cows) and no cross-walls between adjacent pods. Includes forms with mycelium
help digest plant bre. cellular nuclei. and single-celled yeasts.
20+ SPECIES 1,100+ SPECIES 33,000+ SPECIES

MICROSPORIDIANS BLASTOCLADIAL CHRYTRIDS GLOMEROMYCOTES CLUB FUNGI

MICROSPORIDIA BLASTOCLADIOMYCOTA GLOMEROMYCOTA BASIDIOMYCOTA
Tiny, single-celled microbes that live Decomposers in soil, or parasites Soil-living fungi found on roots of Mushrooms and toadstools whose
as parasites inside cells of animals. of plants or invertebrate animals. simple plants, where they exchange spores form on tiny, club-like
Many infect insects. nutrients. structures, often in fruiting bodies.
1,200+ SPECIES 180+ SPECIES 230+ SPECIES 32,000+ SPECIES

MOSTLY PARASITIC SINGLE- OR MULTI-CELLED FUNGI THAT LACK AN EXTENSIVE MYCELIUM FUNGI THAT MOSTLY GROW BY MULTI-CELLED MYCELIUM

PLANTS PLANTS
Plant classication is based largely on their reproduction and need moist habitats to thrive, while in seed plants both PLANTAE

life cycle, which alternates between sperm- and egg-producing generation stages happen inside reproductive shoots
generations (gametophyte) and spore-producing generations (such as cones or owers), so that the life cycle can 290,000+ SPECIES
(sporophyte). Gametophytes of simple plants, such as mosses, succeed in drier conditions.

LIVERWORTS HORNWORTS FERNS AND HORSETAILS CYCADS GNETOPHYTES

MARCHANTIOPHYTA ANTHOCEROTOPHYTA PTERIDOPHYTA CYCADOPHYTA GNETOPHYTA

Simple at or leafy body produces
eggs and free-swimming sperm.
Spores on umbrella-like shoots.
8,000+ SPECIES
Flat body produces eggs and
free-swimming sperm. Spores
on erect, horn-like structures.
100+ SPECIES
Fronds (ferns) or bottle-
brush-like whorls (horsetails)
produce spores. Tiny egg-
producing stage.
12,000+ SPECIES
Palm-like trees, conned to the
tropics, that produce seeds
in cones.
300+ SPECIES
Mostly tropical woody plants
producing seeds in cones.
Transport vessels more open
than in conifers.
70+ SPECIES

MOSSES LYCOPODS CONIFERS GINKGO FLOWERING PLANTS

BRYOPHYTA LYCOPODIOPHYTA PINOPHYTA GINKGOPHYTA MAGNOLIOPHYTA

Leafy or tufted body produces Leafy, upright body producing Mostly trees that produce cones. Tree that produces seeds Plants that produce seeds in
eggs and free-swimming sperm. spores. The egg-producing Many are needle-leaved to cope without cones or true fruit. fruit that develops from a ower;
Spores in upright capsules. stage may be underground. with cold or drought. Naturally conned to China. includes tiny herbs and big trees.

12,000+ SPECIES 1,200+ SPECIES 630+ SPECIES 1 SPECIES 260,000+ SPECIES

WATER LILIES AND RELATIVES MONOCOTYLEDONS

NYMPHAEA AND OTHER GENERA MONOCOTYLEDONEAE

Soft-bodied aquatic plants, growing Plants with mostly strap-like leaves

either submerged or with oating with parallel veins. Pollen grains have
leaves. one opening and a single seed-leaf.
100+ SPECIES 58,000+ SPECIES

AMBORELLA STAR ANISE AND RELATIVES MAGNOLIAS AND RELATIVES ADVANCED DICOTYLEDONS
AMBORELLA ILLICIUM AND OTHER GENERA MAGNOLIIDAE EUDICOTYLEDONEAE

Shrubs with tiny owers and Trees, shrubs, and climbing plants Mostly woody plants, supercially Plants with variable leaves and net-
without open transport vessels. that produce berry-like fruit. From like dicotyledons, but pollen grains like vein pattern. Pollen grains have
Conned to New Caledonia. North America and Indo-Pacic. have a single opening. three openings and two seed-leaves.
1 SPECIES 100+ SPECIES 7,100+ SPECIES 190,000+ SPECIES

BASAL FLOWERING PLANTS

361
 REFERENCE B I O LO G Y

ANIMALS
Animals are grouped into phyla according to the internal arrangement of their
organs and body cavities. The simplest bodies have a single opening to the gut
and even lack blood circulatory systems. In more advanced animals, the body has
organs for respiration and excretion, as well as a sophisticated brain. Most animals
reproduce sexually by producing eggs and swimming sperm, but some are
asexual. More than 90 per cent of animals in over 30 phyla are invertebrates
animals that lack a backbone. All vertebrates (including humans) belong to the
single phylum Chordata, but even this phylum includes some invertebrates.

SPONGES CNIDARIANS ROTIFERS WATER BEARS VELVET WORMS

PORIFERA CNIDARIA ROTIFERA TARDIGRADA ONYCHOPHORA

Filter-feeding, mostly marine,
aquatic colonies of closely knit
cells, but lacking true tissues
and organs. Silica- or calcareous
skeleton often present.
10,000+ SPECIES
Radial predators with stinging
tentacles; life cycle alternates
between swimming form
(medusa) and attached form
(polyp). Includes jellysh.
11,000+ SPECIES
Microscopic aquatic animals
with wheel organ two whorls
of microscopic hairs (cilia) for
swimming or feeding. Males
are unknown in many species.
2,000+ SPECIES
Microscopic aquatic animals
with four pairs of short, clawed
legs; a cuticle enables them to
survive dehydration. Many live
in damp moss.
1,000+ SPECIES
Caterpillar-like predators with a
soft body and unjointed, clawed
legs. Head glands squirt slime
to immobilize prey. Conned to
warm, wet forests.
180+ SPECIES

COMB JELLIES FLATWORMS ROUND WORMS ARTHROPODS ARROW WORMS

CTENOPHORA PLATYHELMINTHES NEMATODA ARTHROPODA CHAETOGNATHA

Free-swimming marine
predators with sticky tentacles
that beat using comb-like plates
of microscopic hairs (cilia).
200+ SPECIES
Flattened worms that lack
circulatory systems or gills. Gut
absent or with single opening.
Mostly aquatic (planarians) or
parasitic (tapeworms).
20,000+ SPECIES
Cylindrical worms with two
openings to each end of gut,
muscle-lined body cavity, and
tough outer cuticle. Live in
many habitats.
20,000+ SPECIES
Highly diverse animals with
segmented body and jointed
legs; a tough exoskeleton
must be moulted (shed) to allow
for growth.
1.3 MILLION+ SPECIES
Predatory marine animals that
immobilize prey using spines
around the mouth and by
injecting poision.
150+ SPECIES

SEA SPIDERS ARACHNIDS MILLIPEDES PAUROPODS CENTIPEDES SYMPHYLANS INSECTS

PYCNOGONIDA ARACHNIDA DIPLOPODA PAUROPODA CHILOPODA SYMPHYLA INSECTA

Spindly marine
predators with three
or four pairs of legs.
Body is fused head,
thorax, and abdomen.
1,330+ SPECIES
Mostly land-living Elongated, multi- Tiny, eyeless, Elongated, multi- Tiny, eyeless, Arthropod with head,
predators with four segmented, mostly multi-segmented segmented, mostly multi-segmented soil thorax, and abdomen.
pairs of legs, claw-like herbivorous animals animals. Live in soil, carnivorous animals animals that feed on Thorax has three pairs
mouthparts, and fused with two pairs of legs feeding on decaying with one pair of legs plants and decaying of legs. Often winged.
head and thorax. per body segment. matter. per body segment. matter.
1.1 MILLION+
103,000+ SPECIES 10,000+ SPECIES 500+ SPECIES 3,150+ SPECIES 200+ SPECIES SPECIES

MYRIAPODS
HORSESHOE
CRABS
MEROSTOMATA

Predators with four SEED SHRIMPS COPEPODS AND REMIPEDES CRABS AND ALLIES HORSESHOE WATER FLEAS
pairs of legs, claw-like OSTRACODA BARNACLES REMIPEDIA MALACOSTRACA SHRIMPS AND ALLIES
mouthparts, and body
MAXILLOPODA CEPHALOCARIDA BRANCHIOPODA
with hard carapace. Small swimming or Small, elongated Diverse group of
crawling crustaceans Copepods are free- crustaceans that multi-limbed Small, elongated Small, mostly
4 SPECIES freshwater
enclosed by hinged, swimming; hard- swim on their backs crustaceans enclosed marine crustaceans
two-piece carapace. shelled barnacles and immobilize prey by carapace, often with horseshoe- crustaceans with
CHELICERATES attach to surfaces. by injecting poison. hardened by minerals. shaped head. leafy limbs.
5,400+ SPECIES 18,000+ SPECIES 20 SPECIES 38,000+ SPECIES 15 SPECIES 1,000+ SPECIES

CRUSTACEANS

HUMAN ANCESTORS
Humans members of the genus
Homo appeared on Earth within the
last 2 million years, having descended
from a group of ape-like ancestors
that included the genera Paranthropus
and Australopithecus. Several different
species of Homo, such as Homo AUSTRALOPITHECUS ANAMENSIS (4.23.9 MYA )
neanderthalensis, have lived in recent
SAHELANTHROPUS TCHADENSIS (76 MYA )
times, but only a single species
Homo sapiens survives today. ARDIPITHECUS KADABBA (5.85.2 MYA )
All humans and apes belong to the ORRORIN TUGENENSIS (6.25.6 MYA ) ARDIPITHECUS RAMIDUS (4.54.3 MYA )
family Hominidae in the mammal
order Primates.
6 MYA 5 MYA 4 MYA

362
 B I O LO GY REFERENCE

ANIMALS
ANIMALIA

1.6 MILLION+ SPECIES

ENTOPROCT MOSS
ANIMALS
ENTOPROCTA
Colonial, lter-feeding marine
animals, similar to ectoprocts,
but with both mouth and anus
of gut within tentacle crown.
150+ SPECIES
SEGMENTED WORMS
ANNELIDA
Animals with segmented body,
an internal body cavity, blood
vessels, and sets of muscles
for swimming and burrowing.
Includes earthworms.
21,000+ SPECIES
MOLLUSCS
MOLLUSCA
Diverse animals with a soft
body carried on a muscular
foot and overhung by a eshy
mantle that makes a shell.
Includes mussels and snails.
110,000+ SPECIES
ACORN WORMS AND ALLIES
HEMICHORDATA AND OTHER
FAMILIES
Burrowing, marine lter-
feeders. Like vertebrates,
these animals have a dorsal
nerve cord.
130+ SPECIES
+ 18 MORE MINOR PHYLA
MINOR PHYLA
Around half of animal phyla include fewer
than a hundred species. Some of these
minor phyla almost all known only
from the marine habitat have been
discovered within the last two decades.
1,000+ SPECIES

ECTOPROCT MOSS RIBBON WORMS LAMPSHELLS ECHINODERMA CHORDATES

ANIMALS
ECTOPROCTA
Colonial, lter-feeding, mostly
marine animals with tiny
crowns of tentacles. Anus
emerges outside the crown.
6,000+ SPECIES
NEMERTEA
Predatory marine animals with
muscular, barbed proboscis for
harpooning prey and injecting
poison. Includes some of the
longest animals.
1,400+ SPECIES
BRACHIOPODA
Marine animals supercially
similar to molluscs. A two-
valved shell attaches to rock.
Filter-feeds using tentacles
with beating cilia.
400+ SPECIES
ECHINODERMATA
Five-part radial marine animals
with spiny skin and numerous
tiny tube feet. Transport
system relies on circulating
water. Includes starshes.
7,000+ SPECIES
CHORDATA
Animals with body supported
by a stiff rod (notochord) that
develops into a spine in adult
vertebrates becoming part of a
cartilaginous or bony skeleton.
70,000+ SPECIES

PELAGIC JAWLESS FISHES RAY-FINNED AMPHIBIANS BIRDS

TUNICATES CYCLOSTOMATA FISHES AMPHIBIA AVES
THALIACEA ACTINOPTERYGII
Fishes with a simple Mostly four-legged Two-legged
Drifting lter-feeders skull and incomplete Marine shes with vertebrates (caecilians vertebrates with
that siphon water cartilaginous spine. bony skeletons; ns are legless) that wings and feathered
through their body. Sucker-like mouth are supported by breathe using lungs skin. All lay hard-
Can form big colonies. ringed by teeth. jointed rods. and moist skin. shelled eggs.
80 SPECIES 130 SPECIES 31,000+ SPECIES 6,640+ SPECIES 10,200+ SPECIES

SEA SQUIRTS LANCELETS CARTILAGINOUS LOBE-FINNED REPTILES MAMMALS

ASCIDIACEA LEPTOCARDII FISHES FISHES REPTILIA MAMMALIA
CHONDRICHTHYES SARCOPTERGYII
Sac-like lter feeders Small lter-feeders Mostly four-limbed Four-limbed, warm-
attached to rocks that that resemble larvae Mostly predatory Fishes with ns (snakes and some blooded vertebrates
siphon water through of sh. Have gill slits shes with a skeleton supported by a strong lizards are legless) with hairy skin. Most
their body. Larval and body muscle made from cartilage. muscular base; some with scaly skin. Most give birth to live
form has notochord. blocks for swimming. Includes sharks. can shufe on land. lay hard-shelled eggs. young.
2,900+ SPECIES 30 SPECIES 1,200 SPECIES 8 SPECIES 9,400+ SPECIES 5,400+ SPECIES

INVERTEBRATE CHORDATES VERTEBRATE CHORDATES

HOMO HABILIS (2.41.6 MYA)

AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFARENSIS (3.73 MYA ) HOMO RUDOLFENIS (1.81.9 MYA)

AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFRICANUS (3.32.1 MYA )

PARANTHROPUS AETHIOPICUS (2.72.3 MYA ) HOMO ERGASTER (1.91.5 MYA )
HOMO ERECTUS (1.80.03 MYA )
AUSTRALOPITHECUS GARHI (2.52.3 MYA ) HOMO ANTECESSOR (1.20.5 MYA )
HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS (0.60.2 MYA )
PARANTHROPUS BOISEI (2.31.4 MYA ) HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS (0.350.03 MYA )
PARANTHROPUS ROBUSTUS (21.2 MYA ) HOMO SAPIENS (0.2 MYA)
AUSTRALOPITHECUS SEDIBA (21.8 MYA ) HOMO FLORESIENSIS (0.10.01 MYA )

3 MYA 2 MYA 1 MYA PRESENT DAY

363
 REFERENCE A S T R O N O M Y A N D S PAC E

ASTRONOMY AND SPACE

THE PLANETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Solar System consists of our local star, the Sun, and a large number of
objects that orbit around it, including eight planets. In the inner region, nearest
the Sun, there are four rocky planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The four
outer planets are known as the gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

PLANET MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE

Distance from Sun 57.9 108.2 149.6 227.9 778.3 1,427 2,870 4,497
millions of km (miles) (36.0) (67.2) (93) (141.5) (483.3) (886) (1,782) (2,774)

Diameter at equator 4,879 12,104 12,756 6,786 142,984 120,536 51,118 49,528
km (miles) (3,033) (7,523) (7,928) (4,222) (88,784) (74,914) (31,770) (30,757)

Mass (Earth = 1) 0.06 0.82 1 0.11 317.83 95.16 14.54 17.15

Volume (Earth = 1) 0.056 0.86 1 0.15 1,319 744 67 57

Surface temperature 180 to +430 +480 70 to +55 120 to +25 150 180 214 220
C (F) (356 to +800) (+896) (158 to +133) (248 to +77) (238) (292) (353) (364)

Surface gravity (Earth = 1) 0.38 0.91 1 0.38 2.64 0.92 0.79 1.12

Time to orbit Sun (year) 87.9 days 224.7 days 365.3 days 687.0 days 11.9 years 29.5 years 84.0 years 164.8 years

Time to turn 360 (day) 58.6 days 243.0 days 23.9 hours 24 .6 hours 9 .9 hours 10 .7 hours 17.2 hours 16.1 hours

Orbital speed 47.9 35.0 29.8 24.1 13.1 9.6 6.8 5.4
km/s (miles/s) (29.7) (21.7) (18.5) (15) (8.1) (6) (4.2) (3.4)

Number of 0 0 1 2 64 62 27 13
observed moons

KEPLERS LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION OF STARS

These laws, rst formulated by 17th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler Light from a star can be split into a band of its component wavelengths called a
(15711630), show how the planets move around the Sun. The laws demonstrate spectrum. The positions of dark absorption lines and bright emission lines on this
that the planets travel in eliptical, not circular, orbits (see pp.100101) and that the spectrum indicate the chemical components in the stars atmosphere. Based on
further they are from the Sun the slower the orbiting speed. their spectra, stars are divided into seven main classes O, B, A, F, G, K, M.

LAW DESCRIPTION TYPE COLOUR PROMINENT AVERAGE EXAMPLE

SPECTRAL LINES TEMPERATURE OF STAR
First law This law, sometimes called the law of ellipses, states that
planets move around the Sun in a regular oval-shaped O Blue He+, He, H, O2+, N2+, 45,000C Regor
path, known as an ellipse, with the Sun at one focus. C2+, Si3+ (80,000F)
An ellipse has two focuses along its major axis. On any
particular ellipse, the total distance from one focus B Blueish He, H, C+, O+, N+ 30,000C Rigel
to any point on the ellipse and back to the other focus white Fe2+, Mg2+ (55,000F)
is always the same.
A White H, ionized metals 12,000C Sirius
Second law Also known as the law of equal areas, this law describes (22,000F)
how the speed of a planet changes as it orbits the Sun.
A line drawn from the centre of the Sun to the centre of a F Yellowish H, Ca+, Ti+, Fe+ 8,000C Procyon
planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of white (14,000F)
time. Therefore, a planet moves faster when it is near
the Sun and slower when it is further away from it. G Yellow H, Ca+, Ti+, Mg, H, 6,500C The Sun
some molecular bands (12,000F)
Third law Also known as the law of harmonies, the third law
describes the mathematical relationship between the K Orange Ca+, H, molecular 5,000C Aldebaran
distances of the planets from the Sun and their orbital bands (9,000F)
periods. It states that the square of each planets orbital
period (the time it takes to travel one orbit of the Sun) is M Red TiO, Ca, molecular 3,500C Betelgeuse
directly proportional to the cube of its average distance bands (6,500F)
from the Sun. This law allows orbital period and distance
to be calculated for each of the planets.

364
 A S T R O N O M Y A N D S PAC E REFERENCE

THE MAGNITUDES OF STARS

Astronomers measure the luminosity, or brightness, of stars in units called
magnitudes. The chart below is a modern scale that describes stars in terms of
intensities of brightness as seen from Earth. The smaller the magnitude number,
the brighter the star. The very brightest stars have negative magnitude values.
Each step in the scale represents an increase or decrease in brightness of
2.5 times, so ve magnitude steps correspond to an increase or decrease in
brightness by a factor of about 100. Astronomers can now measure differences in
brightness as small as one-hundredth of a magnitude. For the purposes of
comparison, the scale shown here includes the planet Venus, which sometimes
appears in the sky as a far brighter object than any star.

MAGNITUDE SCALE

-4 -3 -2 -1 -0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +11 +12 +13 +14 +15 +16 +17 +18 +19 +20 +21 +22

Venus Sirius (brightest Polaris, faintest star visible faintest star visible faintest star visible on
star in the sky), magnitude 2.0 to the naked eye with binoculars sky survey photographs
magnitude -1.46

THE HERTZSPRUNGRUSSELL DIAGRAM

SURFACE TEMPERATURE (THOUSANDS OF DEGREES CELSIUS)
The HertzsprungRussell (HR)
30 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
diagram, devised by Swedish and
American astronomers Ejnar -10
Hertsprung and Henry Norris Russell
(see 1910), plots stars on a chart
according to their intrinsic values: SUPERGIANT STARS
luminosity, surface temperature, 100,000 Deneb
Rigel Mu Cephei
magnitude, and spectral type. The
chart shows that most stars obey Alnilam
a simple relationship between Canopus Betelgeuse
Alnitak
luminosity and temperature (brighter 10,000 -5
Antares
at higher temperatures) and it is one Mirfak
the most useful diagrams in Spica BLUE GIANT STARS Polaris
astronomy. It also reveals that the RED GIANT STARS
1,000 Achernar
majority of stars lie on a diagonal
Alphard
called the main sequence that links
faint red dwarf stars with the rarer Alnath
Dubhe
and very bright blue giants. Stars Regulus Alioth Arcturus
can only be seen at one stage in 100
Aldebaran Gacrux 0
their incredibly long lives, and so Vega Castor
Pollux
during a human life any star will Sirius

ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE
appear at only one point on the
LUMINOSITY (SUN=1)

diagram. However, as hydrogen fuel 10 Fomalhaut

Altair Procyon A
in their cores is exhausted and they
near the end of their lives, most
stars move off the main sequence Alpha Centauri A
band, shifting to a new position 1 Sun +5
on the diagram that is dictated MAIN SEQUENCE
Alpha Centauri B
by their mass. Tau Ceti

0.1 61 Cygni A
61 Cygni B

0.01 +10

40 Eridani B
Sirius B
ZZ Ceti
0.001
Procyon B Barnards Star

WHITE DWARF STARS RED DWARF STARS

0.0001 +15
Proxima Centuari

0.00001

O B A F G K M
SPECTRAL TYPE

365
 REFERENCE EARTH SCIENCE

EARTH SCIENCE
THE GEOLOGICAL TIMESCALE
This timescale provides scientists with an
internationally recognized chronology of Earths P R E C A M B R I A N
history over 4 billion years. The history of Earth is
divided into a hierarchical system of named units: the
largest are called eons, followed in order of size by EON A R C H E A N P R O T E R O Z O I C
eras, periods, epochs, and ages (the latter are not
included on the chart below). The timescale allows

PALEOPROTEROZOIC

MESOPROTEROZOIC

NEOPROTEROZOIC
geologists to go anywhere in the world, examine the

PALEOARCHEAN

MESOARCHEAN

NEOARCHEAN
EOARCHEAN
rock strata, identify the fossils within them, and give
them an approximate age as they know that they are
all referring to the same events, strata, and time periods. ERA
The timescale has been developed by examining the
history of global changes in ocean and atmospheric
chemistry preserved in sedimentary rocks, as well
as several other lines of evidence. Lithostratigraphy
looks at sedimentary rock types and sequences.

1,000.0
1,600.0
2,800.0

541.0
3,200.0

2,500.0
3,600.0
4,000.0
Biostratigraphy examines fossils fossils in the millions of
same layer can be matched up across the world. years ago
Chronostratigraphy, or radiometric dating, calculates (MYA)
when certain minerals were crystalized, while
magnetostratigraphy is a tool that uses the record
of the changing polarity of Earths magnetic eld.

EON P H A N E R O Z O I C

ERA PALEOZOIC MESOZOIC

PERIOD Carboniferous Permian Triassic Jurassic

Mississippian Pennsylvanian
Guadalupian
Cisuralian

Lopingian

Middle

Middle
Lower

Lower

Upper
Upper

EPOCH
Middle

Middle
Lower

Lower
Upper

Upper

237.0
298.8

163.5
174.1
307.0

272.3

259.9

247.2
252.2

201.3
358.9

330.9

323.2
346.7

315.2

millions of
years ago
(MYA)

MINERAL CLASSIFICATION EARTH'S ROCK TYPES

Most minerals are solid, naturally occurring inorganic materials with well-dened Rocks are naturally occurring assemblages of minerals. All of Earths rocks
chemical compositions and characteristic crystal structures. More than 4,000 are can be categorized as one of the three main types: igneous, sedimentary, and
known, although only about 100 are abundant. Minerals are classied according to metamorphic. Within each type, geologists recognize many different rocks.
their chemical composition, and are commonly divided into the groups listed below. Much of this rocky materials is also recycled over geological time.

GROUP APPROXIMATE EXAMPLES TYPE DESCRIPTION

MINERALS
Igneous Rocks formed by cooling and crystallizing lava or magma.
Sulphides 600 Pyrite, galena They range from quick-cooled, ned-grained volcanic lava
Silicates 500 Olivine, quartz, feldspar, garnet to coarse-grained rocks that have cooled more slowly.
Oxides and hydroxides 400 Chromite, haematite
Phosphates and vanadates 400 Apatite, carnotite Sedimentary Rocks formed by the deposition of material on Earths
Sulphates 300 Anhydrite, barite, gypsum surface. Weathering and erosion of rock transports sediment
Carbonates 200 Calcite, aragonite, dolomite to inland areas, where it is laid down in layers. Plant and
Halides 140 Fluorite, halite, sylvite animal fossils are found in sedimentary rock.
Borates and nitrates 125 Borax, colemanite, kernite, nitratine
Molybdates and tungstates 42 Wulfenite, wolframite Metamorphic When igneous or sedimentary rock is subjected to high
Native elements 20 Gold, platinum, copper, sulphur, temperature and pressure, it is pushed into Earths crust,
carbon which causes it to ow and re-crystallize as metamorphic rock.

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 EARTH SCIENCE REFERENCE

P H A N E R O Z O I C EON

PALEOZOIC ERA

Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Devonian PERIOD

Terrenuvian

Llandovery
Furongian

Wenlock
Series 2

Series 3

Ludlow
Middle

Middle
Pridoli
Lower

Lower
Upper

Upper
EPOCH
541.0

485.4

470.0

443.4

433.4

427.4

423.0

419.2

393.3

382.7

358.9
521.0

509.0

458.4
497.0

millions of
years ago
(MYA)

P H A N E R O Z O I C

MESOZOIC CENOZOIC

Cretaceous Paleogene Neogene Quaternary

Pleistocene
Paleocene

Oligocene

Holocene
Pliocene
Miocene
Eocene
Lower

Upper
145.0

100.5

5.3

2.6
56.0

23.0

0.01
66.0

33.9

TECTONIC PLATES
Earths lithosphere (its crust and MAJOR TECTONIC PLATES
uppermost mantle) is divided into 1 North American Plate
nine major tectonic plates, about six 2 Pacic Plate
or seven medium-sized plates, and
ASIA
3 Nazca Plate
numerous much smaller plates NORTH AMERICA EUROPE 4 South American Plate
called microplates. 7 5 African Plate
The boundaries between the plates 1 6 Arabian Plate
are of three different types: divergent, 7 Eurasian Plate
where the plates have moved apart; 6 8 Antarctic Plate
convergent, where they have moved AFRICA 9 Indo-Australian Plate
together; and transform, where plates 2
slide past one another along fault 5
planes. The movement of divergent SOUTH
3 AMERICA AUSTRALASIA
and convergent plates has shifted
continents, open and closed oceans, 4 9 KEY
and formed mountains. 8 Convergent
Divergent
Transform
ANTARCTICA Uncertain

367
 REFERENCE WHOS WHO
WHOS WHO
The selection of people included in this
Whos Who reects the main experimenters,
philosophers, and scientists represented
in the book. Cross references have been
included for scientists with biography panels
within the main timeline pages.
Alhazen (9651040) Arab mathematician,
astronomer, and physicist widely considered
to be the father of modern optics. Arguing that
light enters the eye rather than being emitted
from it, his inuential treatise Optics described
the laws of reection and refraction, as well
as the anatomy of the human eye. He also tried
to develop realistic cosmological models.
Al-Khwarizmi (c.780c.850) Persian
mathematician, geographer, and astronomer
responsible for introducing HinduArabic
numerals and algebra to the West. Working
in Baghdads translation and research centre,
the House of Wisdom, he produced two
mathematical textbooks and updated
Ptolemys Geography, presenting coordinates
for places around the world. The word
algorithm is derived from the Latin
pronunciation of Al-Khwarizmis name.
Al-Kindi (Abu Yusuf Yaqub Ibn Ishaqal-Kindi),
Arab philosopher (c.801c.873) See p.46
Al-Razi (Rhazes), Arab philosopher
(c.865c.925) See p.48
Alvarez, Luis Walter, American physicist
(191188) See p.311
Ampre, Andr-Marie, French mathematician
and physicist (17751836) See p.181
ngstrm, Anders Jonas (181474) Swedish
physicist and father of spectroscopy who
discovered that hot gas emits and absorbs light
at the same wavelengths at which it absorbs
light when cooler. ngstrm wrote on heat,
magnetism, optics, and the solar spectrum and
was the rst to examine the spectrum of the
aurora borealis. The ngstrm unit () for
measuring atomic distances is 10-10 m.
Anning, Mary, British fossil hunter
(17991847) See p.176
Archimedes (c.290c.212 BCE) Greek inventor,
philosopher, and mathematician, who stated
that any object immersed in a liquid will
experience an upward force equal to the weight
of the liquid displaced. Archimedes wrote works
on arithmetic, geometry, and mechanics, and
constructed siege machines to defend Syracuse
against the Romans. He is also credited with the
creation of the Archimedes screw water pump.
Aristarchus of Samos (c.310230 BCE) Greek
astronomer who rst suggested that Earth
revolves around the Sun. Aristarchuss treatise
On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon
incorrectly calculated the Sun as 20 times as
far from Earth as the Moon, and 20 times the
size of the Moon, but his pioneering methods
paved the way for future astronomical studies.
Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384322 BCE)
See p.29
Arkwright, Richard (173292) English textile
industrialist whose water frame invention
368
enabled the automated spinning of cotton
threads. Arkwright installed his water frames
in purpose-built factories, an early example of
mass production and the Industrial Revolution.
Arrhenius, Svante August (18591927)
Swedish physicist and chemist who was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his
electrolytic theory of dissociation. He was also
the rst to recognize that carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere could create a greenhouse effect
on Earths surface. The lunar crater Arrhenius
is named after him.
Avicenna (see Ibn Sina)
Avogadro, Amedeo (17761856) Italian
mathematical physicist whose law states that
equal volumes of gases contain equal numbers
of molecules when at the same temperature
and pressure. As a tribute, the number of
elementary particles in a mole was called
Avogadros constant.
Babbage, Charles (17911871) English
mathematician and inventor regarded in Britain
as the pioneer of modern computers. Babbage
devoted his life to building two mechanical
calculating machines, including his Analytical
Engine, designed to perform arithmetic using
punched cards as its memory source. Neither
machine was successfully completed.
Bacon, Francis, English philosopher
(15611626) See p.98
Bacon, Roger, English scholar (c.122092)
See p.60
Baekeland, Leo Hendrik (18631944)
Belgium-born American chemist who invented
Velox, the rst photographic paper that could
be developed under articial light. In 1899,
Baekeland sold his Velox rights to American
innovator George Eastman for $1 million and
used the proceeds to develop his most famous
invention, Bakelite the rst synthetic plastic
that could be poured into moulds to harden in
different shapes.
Baird, John Logie (18881946) Scottish
engineer, inventor, and television pioneer.
Baird rst televised objects in 1924, moving
objects in 1926, and produced the rst colour
transmission in 1928. When the BBC began
broadcasting in 1936, Bairds mechanical
scanning system competed with Guglielmo
Marconis EMI electronic system, which the
corporation adopted exclusively from 1937.
Banks, Joseph (17431820) English botanist,
naturalist, president of the Royal Society, and
often called Australias rst scientist. Banks
travelled around the world on Captain Cooks
HMS Endeavour and introduced many new
plants to the West. Geographical features
and plants have been named after him. He
helped establish the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew, London, and persuaded the government
to invest in scientic exploration.
Bardeen, John (190891) American physicist
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: in
1956 for co-inventing the transistor; and in 1972
for developing the theory of superconductivity.
The transistor paved the way for modern
electronics, while superconductivity was used
in medical advances such as MRI (magnetic
resonance imaging). Bardeen was professor
of electrical engineering and physics at Illinois
University, USA, from 1951 to 1975.
Barnard, Christiaan Neethling (19222001)
South African surgeon who performed the rst
human heart transplant. Barnard introduced
open heart surgery, performing heart
transplants on dogs and designing an articial
heart valve. In 1967 he performed the worlds
rst human heart transplant on grocer Louis
Washkansky, who later died from pneumonia.
Bassi, Laura, Italian physicist (171178)
See p.137
Becquerel, Antoine-Henri (18521908)
French physicist who shared the 1903 Nobel
Prize in Physics with Marie and Pierre Curie
for discovering radioactivity. He discovered
radioactivity accidentally by experimenting
with phosphorescence and uranium salts. This
led to the isolation of radium and paved the
way for modern nuclear physics.
Bell, Alexander Graham, American inventor
(18471922) See p.217
Bell Burnell, Jocelyn, British astrophysicist
(1943) See p.296
Benz, Karl (18441929) German inventor
who, together with Gottlieb Daimler, created
the rst petrol-powered motor vehicle. Benz
patented his three-wheeled, four-stroke
cylinder Motorwagen in 1886 and produced
the rst four-wheel automobile in 1893. This
laid the foundation for the motor industry
and in 1899 Benz & Co. began producing
the worlds rst racing cars.
Berg, Paul (1926) American biochemist and
co-winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
for developing recombinant DNA techniques
for splicing and recombining DNA from
different organisms, which led to modern
genetic engineering.
Berners-Lee, Tim, British computer scientist
(1955) See p.324
Bernoulli, Daniel (170082) Swiss physicist
and mathematician, who proposed that the
pressure in a uid decreases as the speed
of its ow increases Bernoullis principle.
Bernoullis 1738 work Hydrodynamica was
very important for kinetic theory of gases
and uids, and proposed practical applications
of watermills, water propellers, and water
pumps. Bernoulli also investigated medicine,
biology, astronomy, and oceanography.
Bernoulli, Johann, Swiss mathematician
(16671748) See p.124
Berzelius, Jns Jakob (17791848) Swedish
chemist considered to be the founding father
of modern chemistry. Berzelius is noted for
formulating his electrochemical theory,
producing a list of atomic weights, and
developing modern chemical symbols. A
professor of medicine and member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Berzelius
discovered and isolated several elements,
developed analytical techniques, and
investigated isomerism and catalysis.
Bessemer, Henry (181398) English engineer
who introduced the Bessemer process for
creating the rst inexpensive steel by blowing
air through molten iron. The son of a
metallurgist, Bessemer manufactured gold
paint powder, invented a sugarcane crushing
machine, and developed a cast-iron cannon
for the Crimean War.
Biot, Jean-Baptiste (17741862) French
physicist who established the existence of
meteorites and made the rst scientic balloon
ight for scientic purposes. He won a Royal
Society award for his study of light polarization
and helped develop saccharimetry, a technique
for analysing sugar solutions. Working with
fellow physicist Flix Savart, he formulated the
BiotSavart law, a fundamental component of
modern electromagnetic theory.
Bjerknes, Vilhelm (18621951) Norwegian
meteorologist and physicist who helped found
modern weather forecasting. As a professor at
Stockholm University, Sweden, Bjerknes studied
hydrodynamics and thermodynamics and their
relation to atmospheric motion. This led to the
theory of air masses, an essential component
of modern-day weather forecasting. He later
founded the Geophysical Institute and Weather
Service of Bergen in Norway.
Black, Joseph (172899) Scottish chemist and
physician famous for discovering that xed air
(carbon dioxide) is present as a distinct gas in
the atmosphere. He also discovered latent heat
by showing that when ice melts, it takes up
heat without changing temperature.
Bode, Johann Elert (17471826) German
astronomer responsible for Bodes law
(TitusBode rule) predicting the relative
spacing between the Sun and its planets.
Bohr, Niels (18851962) Danish physicist
awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics
for using quantum theory to explain atomic
structure. Bohrs 1913 model of the atom
describes a central atomic nucleus with
electrons in orbit around it. Bohr joined
the Manhattan Project during World War II,
but later advocated the peaceful use of
nuclear energy.
Bonnet, Charles, Swiss naturalist and
philosopher (172093) See p.148
Boole, George (181564) English
mathematician who pioneered Boolean
algebra symbolic logic and the rules that
govern it. His ideas proved vital for modern
computer science.
Bosch, Carl (18741940) German chemist
whose HaberBosch process for the high
pressure synthesis of ammonia won him
the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and
is today the standard industrial procedure
for nitrogen xation.
Bose, Satyendranath (18941974) Indian
mathematician and physicist who collaborated
with Albert Einstein in the study of quantum
mechanics. Together, they developed Bose
Einstein statistics for studying the behaviour
of bosons (particles with integral spin values
named after Bose), important for lasers and
superuid helium.

Boyle, Robert, English chemist, physicist, and
inventor (162791) See p.111
Brahe, Tycho, Danish astronomer (15461601)
See p.87
Bramah, Joseph (17481814) English
locksmith noted for inventing the hydraulic
press, an improved water closet, a machine
for printing bank notes, and a wood planing
machine. He also built a pick-proof lock a
model of which was left as a challenge in his
shop window and remained unpicked for 67
years, despite numerous attempts.
Brewster, David (17811868) Scottish
physicist best known for his work in optics,
including polarization, reection, refraction,
and light absorption. The invention of the
kaleidoscope and an improved stereoscope
popularized Brewsters name and his portrait
was displayed on cigar boxes.
Broca, Paul (182480) French surgeon
who discovered the part of the frontal lobe
responsible for articulate speech now known
as Brocas area. Broca found that lesions in
this area of the brain caused aphasia, which
impairs the ability to form articulate words.
His studies of the brain helped to establish
physical anthropology.
Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (180659)
English engineer whose bridges, railway
lines, and steamships revolutionized modern
engineering. Brunel helped his father build the
rst tunnel under the River Thames, designed
the Clifton Suspension Bridge across the River
Avon, and constructed the Great Western
Railway from London to Cornwall. He also built
three steamships, including theGreatWestern delivered their rst message between Paris
the rst regular transatlantic passenger ship.
Buffon, Georges (170788) French naturalist
and mathematician best known for his
36-volume Natural History (17491788). After
studying law, medicine, and mathematics,
Buffon devoted himself to the study of natural
history and was an early proponent of evolution.
Carnot, Nicolas Leonard Sadi (17961832)
French physicist and military engineer often
considered the father of thermodynamics.
Carnots 1824 Reections on the Driving Power
of Fire presented the Carnot cycle, which is
now considered the most efcient heat engine
allowed by physical laws. Carnots work was
largely ignored until after his death, when he
was credited with introducing the second law
of thermodynamics.
Carson, Rachel Louise, American marine
biologist (190764) See p.290
Cassini, Giovanni Domenico (16251712)
Italian-born French astronomer who discovered
a dark gap between two of Saturns rings, now
called Cassinis division. He also discovered
four of Saturns moons and Jupiters Great
Red Spot. Cassini was the rst to regard
zodiacal light as a cosmic rather than a
meteorological phenomenon.
Cauchy, Augustin-Louis, Baron (17891857)
French mathematician, writer, and a pioneer
of analysis. In ve textbooks and over 800
research articles, he presented innovative
research on innitesimal calculus, probability,
mathematical physics, and other subjects.
Cavendish, Henry (17311810) English
physicist and chemist and noted for his
study of inammable air (hydrogen). A
wealthy recluse, Cavendish devoted his life
to conducting scientic experiments on
a wide range of topics, including chemistry,
electricity, and a celebrated experiment to
calculate the weight of Earth.
Celsius, Anders, Swedish astronomer
(170144) See p.140
Chadwick, James (18911974) English
physicist awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in
Physics for discovering the neutron, a particle
without electric charge in the nucleus of an
atom. He joined the Manhattan Project and
was knighted in 1945.
Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan (191095)
Indian-born American astrophysicist awarded
the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics for showing
that white dwarf stars can exist only up to a
maximum mass, the Chandrasekhar limit,
of about 1.44 times that of the Sun. Initially
rejected, this later helped the understanding
of neutron stars, supernovas, and black holes.
Chambers, Robert (180271) Scottish
publisher and anonymous writer of the
enormously controversial Vestiges of the Natural
History of Creation (1844). Only acknowledged
posthumously as the books author, Chambers
wrote several other historical, literary, and
geological titles and published the Edinburgh
Journal and Chambers Encyclopaedia.
Chappe, Claude (17631805) French engineer
who invented a mechanical semaphore system
to connect the French mainland and bring
news of Napoleon Bonapartes campaign. In
1772, Chappe and his brother Ince successfully
animals. His studies proved that whole species
and Lille. By 1774, 513 semaphore towers
spanned France and parts of Europe. Chappes
system was superseded by the electric
telegraph in 1846.
Chargaff, Erwin, Austrian biochemist
(19052002) See p.279
Chtelet, milie du (170649) French physicist
and mathematician noted for her translation
of Isaac Newtons Principia Mathematica, still
the only complete one. Living with her lover
Voltaire, she wrote several important books
on science, philosophy, and religion.
Cherenkov, Pavel Alekseyevich (190490)
Russian physicist who shared the 1958 Nobel
Prize in Physics with Igor Tamm and Ilya Frank
for discovering Cherenkov radiation. Cherenkov
observed that electrons emit a blue glow when
travelling through a medium such as water at
speeds faster than light in that medium. Based
on this effect, the Cherenkov detector is used
in experimental nuclear and particle physics.
Cohen, Stanley Norman (1935) American
geneticist, microbiologist, and early pioneer
of genetic engineering. From 1972, Cohen
collaborated with Stanford University colleagues
Herbert Boyer and Paul Berg to combine and
transplant genes. This led to the rst genetic
engineering experiment, which transferred
frog ribosomal RNA into bacteria cells.
Cope, Edward Drinker (184097) Pioneering
American palaeontologist whose discovery of
over 1,000 extinct Tertiary Period vertebrates
helped dene modern palaeontology. Cope
wrote over 1,200 papers on his nds, which
included extinct sh and dinosaurs. From
1877, Cope competed with rival Othniel Marsh
in the bone wars to discover the greatest
number of fossils, damaging the reputation
and nances of both men.
Copernicus, Nicolaus, Polish astronomer
(14731543) See p.76
Coriolis, Gaspard-Gustave de (17921843)
French engineer and mathematician best
known for the Coriolis force, which affects
movement across a rotating body, such as air
masses around Earth. Coriolis dedicated his
life to studying applied mechanics, friction and
hydraulics, and introduced the terms work
and kinetic energy into scientic parlance.
Crick, Francis (19162004) British
biophysicist and neuroscientist who
determined the structure of deoxyribonucleic
acid, or DNA, with colleague James Watson.
Their discovery conrmed that DNA contained
lifes hereditary information and earned Crick,
Watson, and biophysicist Maurice Wilkins the
1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Crookes, William (18321919) British chemist
and physicist noted for pioneering vacuum
tubes and discovering the element thallium.
After inheriting a fortune, he devoted himself to
scientic research, inventing the Crookes tube
to investigate cathode rays, founding the journal
Chemical News, and inventing the radiometer to
convert light radiation into rotary motion.
Curie, Marie, PolishFrench physicist and
chemist (18671934) See p.233
Cuvier, Georges (17691832) French zoologist
who established comparative anatomy and
palaeontology by comparing fossils with living
of creatures had become extinct. He attributed
mass extinctions to extreme catastrophic
events, a theory known as catastrophism.
Da Vinci, Leonardo, Italian artist, architect,
botanist, mathematician, and engineer
(14521519) See p.71
Daguerre, Louis (17871851) French painter
and physicist who perfected a process of
creating permanent photographs on thin
copper sheets, called daguerreotypes.
Dalton, John, British chemist and physicist
(17661844) See p.172
Darwin, Charles, British naturalist (180982)
See p.206
Darwin, Erasmus (17311802) English
physician, poet, and inventor, and grandfather
of naturalist Charles Darwin. Darwin was a
prominent gure best known for his scientic
poetry, freethinking ideas, and mechanical
inventions. His Zoonomia outlined his radical
theories on evolution.
Davy, Humphry (17781829) English chemist
and pioneer of electrochemistry, noted for
using electrolysis to isolate and discover
several chemical elements, including sodium,
potassium, barium, and magnesium. He also
invented the Davy gas safety lamp for miners
and was made a baronet in 1818.
Dawkins, Richard, British zoologist and
evolutionary biologist (1941) See p.307
Delbrck, Max (190681) German-born US
biophysicist and pioneer of molecular biology.
Trained in physics, Delbrck began working
WHOS WHO REFERENCE
on chemistry after eeing Nazi Germany for
America in 1937. He was awarded the 1969
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with
Alfred Day Hershey and Salvador Luria for
their work on bacteriophages viruses that
infect bacteria and then replicate.
Descartes, Ren (15961650) French
mathematician known as the father of modern
philosophy. His principle I think, therefore I
am summarizes his determination to build
only on knowledge that is certain. He also
founded Cartesian geometry and contributed
to optics.
Diesel, Rudolf (18581913) German engineer
famous for inventing the diesel engine, a
four-stroke, vertical cylinder compression
engine that made him rich. Later, he
disappeared from the deck of a channel
steamer, and was presumed drowned.
Diophantus of Alexandria (c.200c.284)
Greek mathematician based in Alexandria
and reputed as a founding father of algebra.
His only surviving work is Arithmetica, the
earliest known treatise on algebra, which
greatly inuenced Islamic scholars and also
the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat,
who helped found modern number theory.
Dirac, Paul, British theoretical physicist
(190284) See p.262
Dollond, John (170661) English optician and
manufacturer of astronomical instruments.
Born to Huguenot silk weavers, Dollond is
best known for reducing colour distortion
with achromatic lenses. He also invented the
heliometer, a telescope used to measure
the distances between stars.
Doppler, Christian Johann (180353)
Austrian mathematician and physicist best
known for the Doppler effect, which describes
how the perceived frequency of light and
sound waves produced by a moving source
depends on the position of the observer. In
1850, he became professor of experimental
physics at the University of Vienna.
Duchenne, Guillaume (180675) French
neurologist who studied nervous and
muscular disorders and developed
electrotherapy to treat diseased nerves
and atrophied muscles. Duchenne became
the rst to use deep tissue biopsy, clinical
photography, and nerve conduction tests.
Eddington, Arthur, British astronomer,
mathematician, and astrophysicist
(18821944) See p.257
Edison, Thomas Alva, American inventor
(18471931) See p.221
Ehrlich, Paul, German bacteriologist
(18541915) See p.247
Einstein, Albert, German-born American
physicist (18791955) See p.242
Eratosthenes (c.276c.194 BCE) Greek
mathematician and astronomer who rst
calculated the circumference of Earth. He was
chief librarian at Alexandria in Egypt, where he
measured the tilt of Earths axis and calculated
its circumference to be 250,000 stadia. Although
the value of stadia is uncertain, his estimate
was within the current range. He also created a
calendar that included leap years, and created a
system of latitude and longitude.
369
 REFERENCE WHOS WHO
Euclid (c.330c.260 BCE) Prominent Greek
mathematician, often considered the father
of geometry. A teacher at the mathematical
school in Alexandria, Euclid is best known
for his 13-volume treatise on geometry,
Elements. It is considered the most important
mathematical textbook of antiquity and was
still in general use until the 19th century.
Euler, Leonhard, Swiss mathematician
(170383) See p.152
Fabricius, Hieronymus, Italian surgeon
(15371619) See p.93
Fahrenheit, Gabriel Daniel (16861736)
German physicist and engineer who invented
alcohol and mercury thermometers.
Fahrenheit worked as a glassblower and
chemistry lecturer in the Netherlands, where
he also manufactured barometers, altimeters,
and thermometers. In addition to developing
the Fahrenheit scale, he discovered that water
can remain as a liquid below its freezing point.
Falloppio, Gabriele, Italian anatomist
(152362) See p.83
Faraday, Michael, English chemist and
physicist (17911867) See p.192
Fermat, Pierre de, French mathematician
(160165) See p.104
Fermi, Enrico (190154) Italian physicist best
known for developing atomic energy. A professor
of theoretical physics at the University of Rome,
Fermi was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his work in induced radioactivity. A
leading gure in the USAs Manhattan Project
to build an atomic bomb, he later designed the
countrys rst nuclear reactor.
Feynman, Richard (191888) American
physicist and co-winner of the 1965 Nobel
Prize in Physics for developing quantum
electrodynamics the theory of the interaction
between light and matter. He also created
pictorial representations (Feynman diagrams)
of interacting particles, provided an
explanation of the physics of supercooled
liquid helium, and contributed to the
Manhattan Project.
Fibonacci, Leonardo, Italian mathematician
(c.1170c.1250) See p.59
Flamsteed, John (16461719) The rst
Astronomer Royal of England and who helped
establish the Greenwich Observatory in London.
Educated at Cambridge University and ordained
a clergyman, Flamsteed is noted for his 1725
Historia Coelestis Britannica, which catalogued
3,000 stars. His observational data helped Isaac
Newton verify his gravitational theory.
Fleming, Alexander (18811955) Scottish
bacteriologist and co-winner of the 1945 Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering
penicillin. He is also noted for discovering the
antiseptic properties of the enzyme lysozyme,
and for being the rst to use anti-typhoid
vaccines on humans.
Florey, Howard Walter (18981968)
Australian pathologist who collaborated
with Ernst Boris Chain to purify, isolate,
and produce penicillin for medical use, for
which both scientists were awarded the 1945
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The
manufacture of penicillin began in 1943, and
saved the lives of countless war casualties.
370
Fossey, Dian (193285) American zoologist
famous for her 18-year-long study of mountain
gorillas in Rwanda. Anthropologist Louis Leakey
convinced Fossey to undertake the study, which
she began in 1967. She lived reclusively among
gorillas and became a leading authority on their
behaviour. Fossey was murdered in 1985, after
ensuring worldwide media coverage of the issue
of gorilla poaching.
Foucault, Jean Bernard Leon (181968)
French physicist famous for measuring the
speed of light and showing that it travels more
slowly through water than air. Foucault is also
noted for inventing the gyroscope and using a
giant pendulum to demonstrate that Earth
rotates on its axis.
Fourier, Joseph, French mathematician
(17681830) See p.183
Franklin, Benjamin, American inventor and
scientist (170690) See p.143
Franklin, Rosalind, British chemist and
biophysicist (192058) See p.283
Fraunhofer, Joseph von (17871826)
German physicist who discovered the dark
lines of the Suns spectrum, now known as
Fraunhofer lines, which later helped reveal
the chemical composition of the Suns
atmosphere. To observe the lines, Fraunhofer
designed and constructed achromatic lenses
of high magnitude. He is considered the
founder of the German optical industry.
Fresnel, Augustin Jean, French engineer
(17881827) See p.179
Freud, Sigmund (18561939) Austrian
neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis.
Freuds methods advocated dialogue and free
association to interpret childhood dreams,
recollections, and infantile sexuality. Always
controversial, Freuds ideas gained importance
after World War I, especially in the USA, but in
1933, Hitler banned psychoanalysis and Freud
ed to England.
Gabor, Dennis (190079) HungarianBritish
engineer and physicist, awarded the 1971
Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing holography,
a method of 3-D photography. Originally a
research engineer in Berlin, Gabor moved to
London in 1933, where he worked on optics,
oscilloscopes, and television. Holograms could
not be produced until lasers were invented.
Galen, Claudius, Roman physician, surgeon,
and philosopher (c.130c.210) See p.37
Galilei, Galileo, Italian natural philosopher,
astronomer, and mathematician (15641642)
See p.97
Galvani, Luigi (173798) Italian physiologist
who discovered that he could make the
muscles of a dead frog twitch by applying
two pieces of metal to nerve endings in its
leg. This showed that nervous messages
are carried by what was called animal
electricity, later shown to be the same
as the electricity produced by a battery.
Galvanization, or rust prevention, is named
after Galvani.
Gamow, George (190468) Russian-born
American nuclear physicist and cosmologist
who helped develop the Big Bang theory of
creation. He also correctly proposed that
patterns within DNA form a genetic code.
Gamow authored popular science books,
including the notable Mr Tompkins series.
Gassendi, Pierre (15921655) French priest,
mathematician, and philosopher who tried to
reconcile an atomic theory of matter based
on Epicureanism with Christian doctrine.
Gassendi took the harmony of nature as proof
of the existence of God and is noted for his
1642 Objections to Descartes Meditations. He
was the rst to observe the planetary transit
of Mercury in 1631.
Gauss, Carl Friedrich, German mathematician
and physicist (17771855) See p.163
Gay-Lussac, Joseph-Louis (17781850)
French chemist and physicist noted for his
investigations into gases. An assistant to
chemist Berthollet, Gay-Lussac conducted
experiments on gases, vapours, temperature,
and terrestrial magnetism, sometimes from
an ascending hot-air balloon. He discovered
the law of combining volumes of gases as well
as the element boron.
Geiger, Hans (18821945) German physicist
who developed the Geiger counter for detecting
and measuring radioactivity. Working under
Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University,
Geiger and Ernest Marsden undertook an
experiment to show that an atom has a nucleus.
He later worked with his student Walther Mller
to improve the sensitivity of his Geiger counter.
Gilbert, William (15441603) English
physicist and royal physician often regarded
as the father of magnetic studies. Held in high
esteem by his contemporaries, Gilbert was the
rst to establish the magnetic nature of Earth,
and to use the terms: electric attraction,
electric force, and magnetic pole.
Goddard, Robert H. (18821945) American
physicist and inventor who created the rst
liquid-fuelled rocket. A professor at Clark
University, Goddard wrote A Method of Reaching
Extreme Altitudes (1919) considered a classic
treatise on 20th-century rocket science. He
developed three-axis control, gyroscopes, and
steerable thrust for rockets, and successfully
launched 34 rockets between 1926 and 1941.
Goeppert-Mayer, Marie (190672)
German-born American theoretical physicist
awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for
proposing the shell theory of nuclear structure.
Goeppert-Mayer is also noted for her work in
quantum electrodynamics and spectroscopy,
and for researching organic molecules with her
husband, American chemist Joseph Mayer. She
also worked on the separation of uranium
isotopes for the Manhattan Project.
Golgi, Camillo (18431926) Italian biologist,
pathologist, and co-winner of the 1906
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for
his investigations into the central nervous
system. Golgis development of a silver nitrate
nerve-tissue staining technique called the
black reaction, allowed him to discover a
connecting nerve cell, known as the Golgi cell.
Goodall, Jane (1934) English ethologist
best known for her 45-year study on the
chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National
Park, Tanzania. A one-time assistant to
anthropologist Louis Leakey, Goodall
established her Gombe Stream camp in
1960. She discovered that chimpanzees are
omnivores, capable tool-makers, and have
highly complex social behaviours.
Gould, Stephen Jay (19412002) American
palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist best
known for creating the theory of punctuated
equilibrium with Niles Eldredge. This theory
proposes that evolution undergoes periods of
relative stability, punctuated by short bursts
of change. A Harvard University professor and
popularizer of evolutionary theory, Gould
campaigned against creationism and argued
that science and religion be kept as two
distinct elds.
Greene, Brian (1963) American physicist,
mathematician, and advocate of string theory,
which tries to reconcile relativity and quantum
theory, and proposes that minuscule strands
of energy are responsible for creating every
particle and force in the universe. A well-
known popularizer of science, his best-selling
books include Pulitzer Prize nalist The
Elegant Universe.
Guericke, Otto von (160286) German
physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mayor
of Magdeburg. Guericke invented the air
pump, with which he was able to investigate
atmospheric pressure and the properties of
the vacuum, which he demonstrated to
Emperor Ferdinand III. In 1663, Guericke
produced static electricity by rubbing a
spinning sulphur globe.
Gutenberg, Johannes, German inventor
(c.1395c.1468) See p.69
Guth, Alan (1947) American theoretical
physicist, cosmologist, and creator of the
inationary universe theory, which states that
a rapid period of ination during the Big Bang
caused the universe to expand exponentially
from microscopic to cosmic.
Haber, Fritz (18681934) German chemist
awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
for synthesizing ammonia an essential
component of explosives and fertilizers.
Together with Carl Bosch, Haber developed a
process for the mass production of ammonia
for use in fertilizer, a method still widely used
today. Known as the father of chemical warfare,
Haber also developed poisonous gases for use
in World War I.
Hadley, George (16851768) English
physicist and meteorologist whose theory
of the trade winds explained why northern
hemisphere winds blow from the north, and
southern hemisphere winds blow from the
southeast. Now known as Hadleys principle,
it remained unacknowledged from 1735 until
its rediscovery by John Dalton in 1793.
Haeckel, Ernst (18341919) German
zoologist and Darwinist who was the rst to
map a genealogical tree relating all forms of
life. A professor at Jena University, Germany,
Haeckel studied marine organisms, described
and named thousands of new animal species,
and created the now discarded recapitulation
theory, summarized as ontogeny recapitulates
phylogeny (evolution can be seen in
embryonic development).
Hahn, Otto (18791968) German chemist and
pioneer of radioactivity and radiochemistry.
Hahns rst great breakthrough came in 1917
when he and colleague Lise Meitner discovered
the radioactive element protactinium. This was
followed by the discovery of nuclear ssion in
1938, for which he won the 1944 Nobel Prize
in Chemistry. Hahn later became an outspoken
opponent of nuclear weapons.

Hales, Stephen (16771761) English botanist
and clergyman whose pioneering research on
plant and animal physiology was described in
his Vegetable Staticks. The rst to note the
upwards ow of sap and measure vapour
emission in plants, he also measured blood
pressure and blood output from the heart.
His inventions included an articial ventilator
and pneumatic trough.
Halley, Edmond (16561742) English
astronomer and mathematician who
calculated the orbit of the eponymous Halleys
Comet and its subsequent 1758 date of return
to Earth. Later Astronomer Royal, Halley
published inuential papers on magnetic
variation, the trade winds and monsoons. He
was also responsible for the publication of
Isaac Newtons Principia.
Harrison, John (16931776) English carpenter
and clockmaker who invented the marine
chronometer, which enabled sailors to establish
their position at sea. Harrison designed and
built four chronometers in response to a
20,000 government prize offered in 1714 for
a way of accurately nding longitude at sea.
Despite the great accuracy of his chronometers,
Harrison was not paid in full until 1773.
Harvey, William, English physician
(15781657) See p.103
Hawking, Stephen, British theoretical
physicist (1942) See p.305
Heisenberg, Werner, German physicist
(190176) See p.259
Henry, Joseph (17971878) American
physicist who discovered the phenomenon
of self-inductance a dening principle of
electronic circuitry. His many contributions
included constructing the rst electromagnetic
motor, developing the telegraph with Samuel
Morse, and introducing an early weather
forecasting system.
Herschel, Caroline (17501848) German-
born British astronomer who had a long
collaboration with her brother, William
Herschel. Planning to be an opera singer, she
moved to her brothers house in England at
age 22, and is noted for discovering three
nebulae and eight comets, as well as for
completing their star catalogue.
Herschel, William (17381822) German-born
British astronomer noted for discovering
Uranus in 1781. Originally a music teacher,
Herschel took up astronomy and specialized in
making very large telescopes. He developed a
theory of nebulae and star evolution, observed
and catalogued many stars, and showed that
the Solar System moves through space.
Hertz, Heinrich, German physicist (185794)
See p.224
Hertzsprung, Ejnar (18731967) Danish
astronomer best known for his 1913
HertzsprungRussell diagram, a star
classication system still used today. The
diagram, developed with Henry Norris Russell,
plotted the brightness of stars against their
spectral types. He also researched open star
clusters and variable stars, and developed
a method for positioning double-stars.
Hevelius, Johannes (161187) Polish
astronomer and early lunar topographer,
best known for his detailed map of the Moons
surface. A city councillor of Gdansk, Hevelius
built an observatory on top of his house to
investigate the night sky. He catalogued over
1,500 stars, discovered several constellations,
and named many lunar features.
Higgs, Peter, British physicist (1929)
See p.348
Hipparchus (c.170c.120 BCE) Greek astronomer
and mathematician often considered the founder
of trigonometry. Hipparchuss contributions to
astronomy include a study of solar eclipses,
discovery of the precession of the equinoxes,
and a description of the Sun and Moons orbits
and their distances from Earth.
Hippocrates (c.460c.377 BCE) Greek physician
widely regarded as the father of medicine.
A medical pragmatist, Hippocrates based
his practice on studies of the body and the
symptoms and treatments of illness. He was
the rst to describe many diseases and coin
terms such as acute, chronic, and
relapse. Hippocrates code of ethics for his
medical students is today known as the
Hippocratic oath sworn by all doctors.
Hodgkin, Dorothy, British chemist (191094)
See p.275
Hooke, Robert (16351703) English inventor
and natural philosopher who, after being
Robert Boyles assistant, became Curator of
Experiments at the newly established Royal
Society in London. He worked on theoretical
astronomy, as well as inventing a compound
(two-lens) microscope to study microscopic
life producing the Royal Societys rst
publication: Micrographia. He was also the rst
to record biological cells. Given the range of
his scientic contribution, he is widely hailed
as Englands Leonardo.
Hopper, Grace (190692) American
mathematician and pioneer of computer
programming and technology. A rear admiral
in the US Navy, Hopper was one of the rst
programmers of the Harvard Mark I and helped
develop UNIVAC I, the rst commercial
electronic computer. She also contributed to the
COBOL computer language, and introduced the
term bug. US Navys missile-destroyer,
the Hopper, is named after her.
Hoyle, Fred, British mathematician and
astronomer (19152001) See p.280
Hubble, Edwin (18891953) American
astronomer considered the founder of
extragalactic astronomy for discovering that
the universe is expanding. While working at the
Mount Wilson Observatory, USA, Hubble
established that previously thought nebulae of
the Milky Way were in fact different galaxies
receding away from our own. The rate at which
the universe is expanding is known as the
Hubble constant.
Humboldt, Alexander von (17691859)
German naturalist, explorer, and pioneer of
biogeography best known for investigating
the geography and ora and fauna of Latin
America with French botanist Aim Bonpland.
An enthusiastic popularizer of science,
Humbolt spent 25 years writing Cosmos,
an account of the structure of the universe
four volumes of which were published during
his lifetime.
Hutton, James, British geologist (172697)
See p.157
Huxley, Thomas Henry (182595) English
biologist, surgeon, and champion of Darwinism.
His studies on comparative anatomy led him to
conclude that birds evolved from dinosaurs. He
debated evolutionary theory against Samuel
Wilberforce in 1860, earning him the nickname
Darwins bulldog. Huxley also declared anthrax and cholera. His postulates establish
himself agnostic a term he coined.
Huygens, Christiaan (162995) Dutch physicist,
mathematician, and astronomer known for the
HuygensFresnel principle, which states that
light is made up of waves. Huygens discovered
the rings of Saturn and its fourth moon Titan,
and also invented the pendulum clock and other
time-keeping innovations.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Persian physician
(9801037) See p.50
Ingenhousz, Jan, Dutch physician (173099)
See p.155
Isidore of Seville, Saint, Spanish theologian astronomer and mathematician noted for his
(c.560636 CE) See p.42 research into the stability of the Solar System
Jeans, James (18771946) English physicist,
mathematician, and astronomer. A great
popularizer of astronomy, Jeans investigated
spiral nebulae, multiple star systems, and
giant and dwarf stars. He was also the rst to
hypothesize a continuous creation of matter
throughout the universe. Among his best-known
books is the 1929 The Universe Around Us.
Jenner, Edward (17491823) English
physician who developed a vaccine for
smallpox. Learning from dairy-maids,
Jenner observed that a person infected with
the cowpox disease would not succumb to the
deadly smallpox virus. Within ve years, his
cowpox inoculation was in widespread use.
Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980.
Joule, James Prescott (181889) English
physicist who provided the foundation for
the theory of conservation of energy, which
states that energy can change form, but
cannot be created or destroyed. Joule showed
that heat is energy and helped to establish
the mechanical equivalent of heat.
Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike (18531926) University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence
Dutch physicist awarded the 1913 Nobel
Prize in Physics for his research on low-
temperature physics and for discovering
liquid helium. His work in cryogenics led
him to discover superconductivity.
Kant, Immanuel (17241804) German
philosopher whose theories on knowledge,
ethics, and aesthetics profoundly inuenced
subsequent philosophical thought. Kant
attempted to reconcile the theories of
rationalism (we know only what our minds
can construct) and empiricism (we know
only what our senses reveal) by asking
what can we know?
Kekul, Friedrich August (182996) German Cepheid variable stars showed a regular
chemist and founder of structural theory in
organic chemistry. A professor at Ghent and
Bonn universities, Kekul showed that carbon
atoms can link together to form chains, which
led to his later discovery of benzenes
six-carbon cyclical structure.
Kepler, Johannes, German astronomer
(15711630) See p.95
Khayyam, Omar, Persian mathematician and
astronomer (10481131) See p.53
WHOS WHO REFERENCE
Koch, Robert (18431910) German physician
awarded the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine for isolating the tuberculosis
bacillus. Considered one of the founders
of microbiology and bacteriology, Koch
also discovered the bacteria responsible for
four criteria for investigating the relationship
between a causative microbe and a disease.
Krebs, Hans (190081) GermanBritish
physician and biochemist who discovered
the citric acid cycle in living organisms. The
discovery of this metabolic cycle, also known as
the Krebs cycle, won him and Fritz Lipmann the
1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Krebs also discovered the urea cycle, during
which mammals convert ammonia into urea.
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste, French biologist
(17441829) See p.169
Laplace, Pierre-Simon (17491827) French
and often called the French Newton. Using
calculus, Laplace reformed astronomical
mathematics in his ve-volume Celestial
Mechanics, and introduced determinism into
Newtonianism. Several operators and
transforms are named after him.
Laue, Max von (18791960) German physicist
awarded the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physics for
studying the diffraction of X-rays in crystals.
This proved important for X-ray crystallography,
solid-state physics, and modern electronics.
Director of the Max Planck Institute and the
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Laue also
researched into superconductivity, quantum
theory, and optics.
Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, French chemist
(174394) See p.160
Lawrence, Ernest (190158) American physicist
awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for
inventing the cyclotron, which accelerates
particles to study sub-atomic interactions.
Lawrence used his cyclotron to produce
radioactive iodine, phosphorus, and other
isotopes for medical use. A professor at
later contributed to the Manhattan Project. The
chemical element lawrencium is named after him.
Leakey, Louis, British archaeologist and
anthropologist (190372) See p.289
Leakey, Mary, British archaeologist and
palaeontologist (191396) See p.308
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan (18681921)
American astronomer who discovered the
relationship between the brightness and
time span of Cepheid variable stars. Leavitt
worked at the Harvard College Observatory,
where she examined the luminosity of stars
from photographic plates, and observed that
pattern of brightness. Her work proved crucial
for measuring the distance between Earth and
other galaxies.
Lee, Tsung-Dao (1926) Chinese-born
American physicist and co-winner of the 1957
Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering violations
of the law of parity conservation, which led to
important developments in particle physics.
Lee created a solvable model of quantum eld
theory, called the Lee model, and helped study
the violations of time-reversal invariance.
371
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Leeuwenhoek, Anton van (16321723)
Dutch microscopist often considered the
father of microbiology. Originally employed
in the textile trade, Leeuwenhoek built and
used microscopes, becoming the rst to
observe single-celled organisms, including
bacteria and protozoa, as well as muscle
bres and blood ow in capillaries.
Leibniz, Gottfried von (16461716) German
philosopher and mathematician who made
major contributions to physics, metaphysics,
optics, logic, statistics, mechanics, and
technology. Leibniz developed calculus
independently of Isaac Newton, built a
calculating machine, and rened the binary
system, which forms the foundation of
digital technology. He published no major
philosophical treatises.
Lenard, Philipp (18621947) German
physicist awarded the 1905 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his research on cathode rays. A
professor at four German universities, Lenard
supported Nazi doctrine and denounced
Jewish science, including Einsteins theory
of relativity.
Liebig, Justus von (180373) German
chemist whose pioneering work in the elds
of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and
agriculture contributed to the establishment
of the fertilizer industry. Appointed professor
at Giessen University at 21 years old, Liebig
was the rst to establish the laboratory-based
teaching methodology that spread to the USA
and the rest of Europe.
Lind, James (171694) Scottish physician
who tried to eradicate scurvy from the British
navy by introducing citrus juice to the
shipboard diet. Although the Navy was slow to
adopt his ideas, he also introduced fumigation
below decks, better hygiene for sailors, and
the distillation of seawater into drinking water.
Linnaeus, Carolus (Carl von Linn), Swedish
naturalist (170778) See p.139
Lippershey, Hans (c.1570c.1619) Dutch
spectacle-maker commonly credited with
inventing the telescope. In 1608, Lippershey
sold his invention to the Dutch government for
use in warfare. Later astronomers, notably
Galileo, recognized the telescopes importance
for science. A planet and lunar crater were
named after Lippershey.
Lister, Joseph (18271912) British surgeon
and founder of antiseptic medicine. A
professor and president of the Royal Society,
Lister pioneered the principle of bacteria
prevention during surgery, using carbolic acid
to sterilize surgical instruments, and keeping
post-operative wounds clean.
Lockyer, Joseph (18361920) English
astronomer known for discovering the
element helium in the Suns atmosphere and
naming it. Originally a civil servant, Lockyer
observed solar prominences in the Suns
chromosphere, devised the spectroscopic
observation of sunspots, and founded the
periodical Nature.
Lodge, Oliver (18511940) English physicist
noted for his pioneering work in wireless
telegraphy. Lodge is best known for improving
detector devices for transcribing Morse code
radio waves onto paper. A keen promoter of
spiritualism, Lodge also received patents for
several wireless inventions.
372
Lomonosov, Mikhail, Russian chemist,
physicist, geographer, and astronomer
(171165) See p.145
Lonsdale, Kathleen (190371) Irish
crystallographer who developed X-ray
techniques to investigate chemical structures.
Lonsdale established the hexagonal shape
of carbon atoms in benzene, and determined
the structure of Hexachlorobenzene. In 1945,
Lonsdale became the rst woman to be elected
a Royal Society fellow.
Lord Kelvin (see Thomson, William)
Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon (18531928) Dutch
physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in
Physics with Pieter Zeeman for their work
on electromagnetic radiation. The rst to
describe the force of charged particles within
an electromagnetic eld, Lorentzs analysed
how events may be perceived at different
times in different frames of reference, and
developed the transformation equations that
underpinned Einsteins theory of relativity.
Lorenz, Konrad (190389) Austrian founder
of ethology and co-winner of the 1973 Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research
on animal behaviour. Lorenz is noted for
studying imprinting in birds, and also animal
aggression, which he argued is motivated
purely by survival.
Lovelace, Ada, British mathematician
(181552) See p.197
Lovelock, James (1919) English chemist best
known for his 1979 Gaia hypothesis, which
proposes that Earth is a living organism
maintained and regulated by life on the
surface. An ardent environmentalist, Lovelock
invented the electron capture detector to
reveal chlorouorocarbons in the atmosphere.
Lyell, Charles (17971875) Scottish geologist
who proposed that the geological features of
Earths surface were shaped by processes
still operating at the same rate as in the past.
His theory of uniformitarianism, presented
in Principles of Geology (183033), was vital
for Charles Darwins theories because it
provided a greatly expanded time frame
for Earths history.
Malpighi, Marcello (162894) Italian physician
and biologist who founded the science of
microscopic anatomy through his study of plant
and animal tissue. Personal physician to Pope
Innocent XII and a pioneer of brain anatomy,
Malpighi named capillaries, contributed to
embryology, discovered taste buds, and
investigated the anatomy of frog lungs.
Malthus, Thomas Robert (17661834) English
economist, clergyman, and philosopher who
argued that natural growth in human
population will always outstrip the food
supply. To preserve humanity, Malthus
proposed strict limits on reproduction or that
overpopulation be left to be checked by war or
famine. His theory, known as Malthusianism,
greatly inuenced social, political, and
economic thought.
Mandelbrot, Benoit (19242010) Polish-born
French-American mathematician who
introduced the Mandelbrot set and fractal
geometry, which shows how visual complexity
can be created from simple shapes. A
professor at Yale University, he examined
many phenomena which, like a rocky
coastline, seem equally rough or jagged
however close or far away you get.
Marconi, Guglielmo (18741937) Italian
physicist and inventor of the wireless telegraph.
Marconi sent the rst wireless signal across the
English channel in 1896 and across the Atlantic
Ocean in 1902. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize
in Physics with Ferdinand Braun and helped
develop shortwave wireless communication.
Margulis, Lynn, American biologist
(19382011) See p.300
Maudslay, Henry (17711831) English
inventor and engineer considered a founding
father of the machine-tool industry. Originally
a locksmiths apprentice, Maudslay invented
many important machines during the
Industrial Revolution, such as the metal lathe,
marine engines, and methods for desalinating
seawater and printing calico cloth.
Maxwell, James Clerk, British physicist
(183179) See p.209
Mayer, Julius Robert von (181478) German
physicist, physician, and early founder of
thermodynamics. Mayer was the rst to
determine the mechanical equivalent of heat,
although this was credited to James Joule.
He also described oxidation as the primary
energy source for living creatures.
Mendel, Gregor (182284) Austrian monk and
botanist whose plant experiments laid the
foundation for modern genetics. Experimenting
with garden peas, Mendel discovered that the
characteristics of an individual are controlled
by hereditary factors, now called genes. The
signicance of Mendels ndings was not
recognized until the early 20th century.
Mendeleev, Dmitri, Russian chemist
(18341907) See p.211
Mercator, Gerardus, Flemish cartographer
(151294) See p.73
Michell, John (172493) English clergyman,
astronomer, and pioneer of seismology. In 1760,
Michell proposed that earthquakes were wave
motions in Earths crust, and in 1790, he created
a torsion balance to measure Earths density.
Michelson, Albert Abraham (18521931)
PolishAmerican physicist who accurately
measured the speed of light. His experiments
with Edward Morley to detect the drift of an
aether were important for the understanding
of Einsteins relativity theory. He was awarded
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907, the rst
American to receive a scientic Nobel prize.
Millikan, Robert (18681953) American
physicist awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in
Physics for measuring the electrical charge
of the electron with his oil-drop experiments.
Millikan also conrmed Einsteins photoelectric
equation and conducted studies on the nature of
cosmic rays, X-rays, and electric constants.
Mitchell, Maria (181889) First American
woman to work as a professional astronomer,
and discoverer of a comet named after her.
Mitchell became director of the Vassar Female
Colleges Observatory in 1865, and she also
founded the Association for the Advancement
of Women.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, English writer
(16891762) See p.131
Morgan, Thomas Hunt (18661945) American
geneticist and biologist whose research on the
Drosophila fruit y helped establish genetics.
Morgans experiments showed that genes are
arranged on chromosomes and are responsible
for hereditary traits. He received the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933.
Moseley, Henry (18871915) English physicist
who used X-ray spectroscopy to prove the
theory of atomic numbers. Working under
Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University,
Moseley conrmed physically the atomic
numbers for elements that had been derived
chemically. Like Mendeleev, his research
enabled him to predict elements for gaps in the
periodic table. Moseley was killed in World War I.
Murchison, Roderick Impey (17921871)
Scottish geologist best known for establishing
the Silurian, Permian, and Devonian geological
time periods. Murchisons ndings were
regarded as the crowning achievement of
19th-century geology and saw him elected
president of the Geological Society in 1831.
Muybridge, Eadweard (18301904) English
photographer known for his pioneering work
in photographing motion. An establishd
landscape photographer, Muybridge captured
images of horses in full gallop by using up
to 24 cameras and fast shutter speeds. He
presented apparently moving images of
animals using his zoopraxiscope.
Nakamura, Shuji, Japanese electronic
engineer and inventor (1954) See p.331
Napier, John (15501617) Scottish
mathematician who invented logarithms. The
8th Laird of Merchistoun, Napier introduced
the use of the decimal point in fractions,
developed logarithms for mathematical
calculations, and devised a set of calculating
rods called Napiers bones. He also designed
secret weapons to defend Scotland against
a perceived Catholic attack.
Newcomen, Thomas (16631729) English
engineer and inventor of the rst practical
steam engine. Developed in conjunction with
Thomas Savery, the Newcomen engine was
originally used to pump water from a coal mine
in Dudley, Staffordshire. Over the next 75 years,
hundreds of Newcomen engines greatly
increased coal production in England and
contributed signicantly to industrialization.
Newton, Isaac, English physicist and
mathematician (16421727) See p.118
Nightingale, Florence (18201910) English
nurse who reformed hospitals and founded
modern nursing. Dubbed the lady with the
lamp for her nursing work during the Crimean
War, Nightingale founded the nurses training
school at Londons St Thomas Hospital in 1861.
She also helped improve public health in India
and introduced new statistical techniques.
Nobel, Alfred (183396) Swedish chemist
who invented dynamite, a less sensitive form
of nitroglycerine, and founded the Nobel
Prizes. He willed the majority of his fortune to
creating the Nobel Prize, an annual award for
achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine,
literature, and peace.
Noether, Emmy (18821935) German
mathematician and pioneering leader of
abstract algebra. Appointed a lecturer at
Gttingen University in 1919, she won acclaim

for her research on noncommutative algebras
and the general theory of ideals in rings. She
emigrated to the USA to escape the Nazis.
Ockham, William of, German philosopher
(c.1285c.1349) See p.65
rsted, Hans Christian (17771851) Danish
chemist and physicist who showed that
electricity and magnetism are related by
observing the needle of a magnetic compass
move when close to a wire carrying an electric
current. The unit of magnetic induction was
named after rsted.
Ohm, Georg Simon (17891854) German
physicist and discoverer of Ohms law, which
uses the concept of resistance to formulate
the relationship of current and voltage. Ohms
law was so badly received at the time that
he resigned as professor. Its value was
recognized later.
Olbers, Heinrich Wilhelm (17581840)
German astronomer and physician who carried
out theoretical work on comets, and discovered
two asteroids and ve comets. Olbers paradox,
which asks why the sky is dark at night,
remained unanswered during his lifetime.
Oppenheimer, Robert (190467) American
physicist best known as the father of the
atomic bomb. Oppenheimer investigated
subatomic particles, before becoming
director of the Manhattan Project in 1941
under General Groves. Although he won
the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1946,
Oppenheimer was accused of communism in
1953. He received the Enrico Fermi Award
in 1963 as a gesture of reconciliation.
Otto, Nikolaus August (183291) German
engineer who invented the four-stroke internal
combustion engine. Ottos prize-winning
engines offered a practical alternative to steam
power. Described theoretically by the Otto cycle,
four-stroke engines were used by Karl Benz
and Gottlieb Daimler in the rst motorcars.
Oughtred, William (15741660) English
mathematician and teacher who invented the
slide rule. His popular and inuential textbook
The Key to Mathematics (1631), introduced
symbols such as x for multiplication.
Owen, Richard (180492) English anatomist
and palaeontologist who coined the word
Dinosauria or terrible reptile. Owen published
several texts on dinosaurs, classifying them
differently from other reptiles. Owen helped
establish Londons Museum of Natural History,
and although he believed in evolution, was an
outspoken opponent of Darwins theory.
Papin, Denis (1647c.1712) French physicist
and inventor whose steam digester led to the
development of steam engines. Papin also
invented a steam safety valve, a condensing
pump, and a paddle-wheel boat.
Paracelsus (14931541) Swiss physician
and alchemist who established the use of
chemistry in medicine. Travelling and practising
medicine across Europe, Paracelsus introduced
laudanum, sulphur, lead, and mercury as
medicinal remedies and gave a clinical
description of syphilis. An outspoken opponent
of university medicine, he gained huge
inuence by writing and speaking in German.
Pascal, Blaise, French mathematician and
physicist (162362) See p.107
Pasteur, Louis, French chemist, biologist, and
microbiologist (182295) See p.214
Pauli, Wolfgang (190058) Austrian-born
American theoretical physicist awarded the
1945 Nobel Prize in Physics for his Pauli
exclusion principle, which states that no two
electrons in an atom can exist in the same
quantum state simultaneously. Pauli also
devised an atomic model of the thermal
properties of metal, and was the rst to
propose the existence of neutrinos.
Pauling, Linus Carl, American chemist
(190194) See p.271
Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (18491936) Russian
physiologist whose experiments on dogs led
to his discovery of the conditioned reex.
Pavlov showed that dogs salivate in
anticipation of food, not just at the sight of it.
He was awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine and summarized his
work on behaviourism in the 1926 book,
Lectures on Conditioned Reexes.
Perkin, William (18381907) English chemist
celebrated for creating the rst synthetic
dye, aniline purple, which became extremely
fashionable. While synthesizing quinine,
Perkin came across a bluish dye now called
aniline purple, which he patented and
manufactured, enabling him to retire at 35.
Petit, Alexis Therese (17911820) French
physicist who discovered the DulongPetit
Law with Pierre Dulong. This states that for all
solid elements, the specic heat multiplied
by the atomic weight is a constant. He also
designed a thermometer to measure the
dilation coefcients of metals.
Planck, Max, German physicist (18581947)
See p.236
Plato, Greek philosopher(424 BCE348 BCE)
See p.25
Poincar, Henri, French mathematician
(18541912) See p.227
Priestley, Joseph (17331804) English
chemist and clergyman who discovered
several gases including the one later identied
as oxygen. Learning the theories of electricity
from Benjamin Franklin, Priestley began his
own electrical experiments and presented
his ndings in the popular 1767 The History
and Present State of Electricity. He then
experimented with gases and made important
discoveries, although he believed in the
phlogiston theory that was later discarded.
Proust, Joseph-Louis (17541826) French
chemist best known for formulating the law
of denite proportions (Prousts law), which
states that in any compound, the elements
are present in a xed proportion by weight.
Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus)
(c.100c.170 CE) Greek astronomer and
geographer whose Ptolemaic system placed
Earth at the centre of the universe and
incorporated complex epicycles. Based in
Alexandria, Ptolemy also made a map of the
world and wrote the encyclopedia Almagest.
Pythagoras (580500 BCE) Greek philosopher
and mathematician whose teachings
contributed to mathematics and rational
philosophy. Pythagoras taught that nature
and the world could be interpreted through
numbers, and greatly inuenced Plato and
Aristotle. He is credited with discovering the
chief musical intervals and the Pythagorean
theorem of geometry.
Raman, Chandrasekhara Venkata
(18881970) Indian physicist awarded the
1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on
the scattering of light, called the Raman
effect. This shows that when light passes
through transparent material, a small
proportion of the deected light changes
in wavelength (that is, in energy).
Ramn y Cajal, Santiago, Spanish histologist
and neuroscientist (18521934) See p.229
Ramsay, William (18521916) Scottish
chemist awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry for discovering the inert gases
argon, neon, xenon, and krypton. He also
discovered the rare gas radon and isolated
helium from liquid air.
Ray, John (16271705) English naturalist and
botanist whose contributions helped found
modern taxonomy. A fellow of Cambridges
Trinity College, Ray lost his position during
the Restoration and began studying botany
and zoology across Europe. He set out his
classication of plants in Historia Plantarum,
which established the species as the basic
unit of taxonomy.
Raumur, Ren, French physicist and
entomologist (16831757) See p.134
Rhazes (see Al-Razi)
Richter, Charles (190085) American
physicist, seismologist, and developer of the
logarithmic Richter scale, which records
the magnitude of an earthquake at its
epicentre. Richter also devised a map of the
most earthquake-prone areas in America.
Rmer, Ole Christensen (16441710) Danish
astronomer who established that light travels
at a nite speed. Rmer calculated the speed
of light to be 225,000 km (140,000 miles) per
second, around 75,000 km (47,000 miles)
per second slower than modern estimates.
Rmer also invented a temperature scale and
introduced the rst Danish system for weights
and measures.
Rntgen, Wilhelm (18451923) German
physicist and recipient of the rst Nobel Prize
in Physics in 1901 for discovering X-rays. A
professor of physics, Rntgen researched
elasticity, capillarity, polarized light, and the
specic heat of gases. His 1895 discovery
of X-rays was enormously important for
medicine and modern physics.
Rumford, Benjamin Thompson (17531814)
American-born British physicist, inventor,
soldier, and administrator, best known for his
work on heat. Rumford correctly theorized
that heat was produced by the motion of
particles, rather than being a liquid form of
matter as thought previously. He helped to
found the Royal Institution of London in 1799.
Russell, Henry Norris (18771957) American
astronomer who helped establish the modern
science of theoretical astrophysics. Russell
is known for discovering the relationship
between a stars magnitude and its spectral
type, which he presented in the 1910
HertzsprungRussell diagram. He also
theorized an abundance of hydrogen in stellar
WHOS WHO REFERENCE
atmospheres now considered a fundamental
tenet of modern cosmology.
Rutherford, Ernest, New Zealand-born
chemist and physicist (18711937) See p.248
Salam, Abdus (192696) Pakistani nuclear
physicist and co-winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize
in Physics for formulating the electroweak
theory, which unies the weak nuclear force
and electromagnetic interactions of elementary
particles. Salam was a professor of theoretical
physics in London, and the rst Muslim
scientist to win a Nobel prize.
Salk, Jonas Edward (191495) American
physician and medical researcher who
discovered the rst effective vaccine for
polio. After working on an inuenza vaccine
at Michigan University, Salk began human
trials of his polio vaccine in 1952. In 1955, the
vaccine was released for use in America,
virtually eradicating polio.
Sanger, Frederick (1918) English biochemist
and the only person to be awarded the Nobel
Prize in Chemistry twice. Sangers 1958 Prize
was for his research on the structure of
proteins, in particular insulin. His 1980 Prize
was for his method of sequencing DNA
molecules, which was used to develop the
rst fully sequenced DNA-based genome.
Schrdinger, Erwin (18871961) Austrian
theoretical physicist and co-recipient of the
1933 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions
to quantum mechanics. Schrdinger is best
known for his equations of wave mechanics, but
his book What is Life? (1948) greatly inuenced
molecular biology.
Schwann, Theodor (181082) German
physiologist who founded histology by
proposing that all organisms are composed
of cells. He discovered the digestive enzyme
pepsin and the cells that surround nerve
axons. He helped disprove the theory of
spontaneous generation, and coined the
term metabolism.
Semmelweis, Ignaz (181865) Hungarian
physician who pioneered the use of antisepsis
to prevent deaths caused by puerperal fever.
Although he showed that the high mortality
rates associated with childbirth could be
reduced by physicians washing their hands
in chlorinated lime, this practice was not
introduced until many years later.
Servetus, Michael, Spanish physician
(c.151153) See p.80
Shen Kuo (103195) Polymathic Chinese
scholar who discovered magnetic declination
and described the rst magnetic needle
compass. Shens nding is one of the many
recorded in his famous book, Brush Talks from
Dream Brook. He also described movable type,
formulated a geological hypothesis about
fossils, and undertook an ambitious project
of mapping the stars.
Shockley, William Bradford (191089)
American physicist who shared the 1956
Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen and
Walter Brattain for inventing the transistor.
Professor of Engineering at Stanford
University, Shockley commercialized his
transistor, which led to the development of
Californias Silicon Valley. He later caused
controversy by advocating eugenics and
proposing sterilization for those with low IQs.
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Shoujing, Guo (12311316) Chinese engineer
astronomer, and mathematician, known for his
Shoushi Calendar, which accurately presented
365 days in a year. Shoujing also invented an
astrological compass, built hydraulic clocks,
engineered the Kunming Lake reservoir in
Beijing and developed spherical trigonometry.
Siemens, Werner von (181692) German
electrical engineer remembered for his role
in developing the telegraph industry. Inventor
of the electric dynamo and an electroplating
process, Siemens laid the rst telegraph line
in Germany and co-founded the telegraph
company that is now called Siemens AG. The
unit of electrical conductance bears his name.
Smith, William (17691839) English geologist
and engineer who founded the science of
stratigraphy. While working as a canal-site
surveyor across Britain, Smith studied regional
rock strata and the fossils within each layer,
which enabled him to establish geological time
periods. Smith produced the rst geological
map of England and Wales in 1815.
Snell, Willebrord (15801626) Dutch physicist
and mathematician credited with discovering
the law of refraction. In 1617, he presented a
method of measuring Earth by triangulation,
and in 1621, developed his law of refraction.
Snow, John (181358) English physician and
pioneer of modern epidemiology. Snow is best
known for showing cholera to be a waterborne
disease a theory he published in 1839 and
conrmed in 1854 through his investigation of
Londons Broad Street pump outbreak. He
also promoted gaseous anaesthesia after
administering chloroform to Queen Victoria.
Somerville, Mary (17801872) Scottish
astronomer, geographer, and popularizer
of science. With little formal education,
Somerville won acclaim for her 1831
translation of Pierre-Simon Laplaces The
Mechanism of the Heavens. Celebrated as
the Queen of the Sciences for her numerous
and wide-ranging books, in 1835, she and
Caroline Herschel became the rst women
members of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Srensen, Sren Peder Lauritz (18681939) Thomson, Joseph John (18561940)
Danish biochemist famed for introducing the pH
scale for expressing hydrogen ion concentration
as a measure of acidity. Srensen also
contributed to the chemical technology of
Denmarks spirits and explosives industries.
Spallanzani, Lazzaro (172999) Italian
biologist and physiologist noted for his
experimental research on animal reproduction
and bodily functions. Spallanzani discredited
the theory of spontaneous generation and
showed that living cells use oxygen and give
off carbon dioxide. He also proved that mammal
reproduction requires semen and an ovum, and
was the rst to articially inseminate a dog.
Spitzer, Lyman (191497) American theoretical
physicist and astronomer who made signicant
contributions to the study of interstellar
matter, plasma physics, and the dynamics
of star clusters. Spitzers 1946 proposal of
a space telescope led to the development
of the Hubble telescope, and he helped design
the ultraviolet astronomy satellite, Copernicus.
Stahl, Georg (16601734) German physician
and chemist who founded the phlogiston theory
of combustion, which states that all substances
that burn contain a substance called phlogiston.
374
Although later discarded, this theory was
accepted for decades because it was very
useful, especially in the mining industry.
Swammerdam, Jan (163780) Dutch
microscopist who helped found the elds
of comparative anatomy and entomology.
After designing a dissecting microscope, he
recorded his observations of the structure,
classication of insects, and metamorphosis.
The rst to describe red blood cells, he also
discovered Swammerdam valves in the
lymphatic vessels.
Swan, Joseph (18281914) English physicist
and chemist whose early incandescent light
bulb predated that of Thomas Edison. While
an assistant at a chemical manufacturing
rm, Swan made important contributions to
photography, and later legal disputes between
Swan and Edison over the light bulb led to
the Edison & Swan United Electric Light
Company partnership.
Talbot, William Henry Fox (180077) English
chemist and photography pioneer. Talbot is
best known for his calotype photographic
process that produced negatives from which
prints could be taken. Talbot had 12 patents
to his name and published over 50 articles
on mathematics, astronomy, and physics. His
book, The Pencil of Nature, was the rst to
feature photographic illustrations.
Tansley, Arthur (18711955) English
ecologist and conservationist who coined the
term ecosystem. Tansley advocated the study
of plants within their natural communities
an approach central to modern ecology.
Tansleys best-known book was the 1939
The British Islands and their Vegetation.
Tesla, Nikola (18561943) Serbian engineer
and pioneering inventor in the elds of
electricity and radio transmission. Tesla
emigrated to America in 1884 where he
worked with Thomas Edison and sold patents
to George Westinghouse. He invented the
Tesla coil transformer, the induction motor,
and discovered the rotating magnetic eld.
The unit of magnetic induction bears his name.
Vries, Hugo de (18481935) Dutch botanist
English physicist who discovered the
electron. A professor of experimental physics
at Cambridge University, Thomson also
developed the mathematical theory of
electricity and magnetism, discovered the
natural radioactivity of potassium, and
invented the mass spectrometer. He received
the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for his study
of conduction of electricity through gases.
Thomson, William (Lord Kelvin) (18241907)
Scottish physicist and thermodynamic pioneer
known for determining the correct value of
absolute zero. Appointed a professor at
Glasgow University at 22, Thomson developed
the second law of thermodynamics and the
electromagnetic theory of light, determined
the value of absolute zero, and helped lay the
rst transatlantic telegraph cables. Deeply
religious, he used his estimate of Earths age
to argue against evolution by natural selection.
Trevithick, Richard (17711833) English
engineer and inventor of the rst successful
steam-powered railway locomotive.
Trevithicks engines were rst used to power
stationary mill and mine machinery, but he
invented the rst self-propelled road vehicle
in 1801, and the railway locomotive in 1803.
Tull, Jethro, English agronomist and inventor
(16741741) See p.126
Turing, Alan (191254) English mathematician
widely regarded as the father of computer
science. During World War II, Turing developed
the Bombe, a prototype for electronic
computers, which helped to crack the German
enigma code. His development of the
theoretical Turing machine, the Automatic
Computing Engine, and the Ferranti Mark I
paved the way for modern computing.
Venter, Craig, American biologist (1946)
See p.347
Vesalius, Andreas (151464) Flemish
physician and founder of modern anatomy
at Padua University. Vesaliuss dissections of
human cadavers informed his The Seven Books
on the Structure of the Human Body, which
included many detailed illustrations of internal
human anatomy. He revolutionized anatomical
teaching by insisting on the importance
of close observation and the use of
human cadavers.
Villasante, Manuel Losada (1929) Spanish
biologist and biochemist noted for his research
on the photosynthetic assimilation of nitrogen.
Losadas work focuses on biochemical and
biological systems that can transform solar
energy into chemical energy.
Virchow, Rudolf Carl (18211902) German
physician and founding gure of modern
pathology. Virchow popularized the expression
every cell is derived from a cell and showed and Antiquities of Selborne. Whites observation
that disease occurs as a result of changes in
normal cells. A pioneer of social medicine, he
advocated the advancement of public health.
Volta, Alessandro (17451827) Italian
physicist and inventor of the voltaic pile the
rst electric battery to produce an electric
current. A professor of physics at Pavia
University, Italy, Volta also invented the
electrophorus a device that produced a static
electric charge, and was the rst to isolate
methane gas. The unit of electrical potential
the volt bears his name.
the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
known for his research into the nature of
mutations in plant breeding. While a professor
at Amsterdam University, Vries coined the
terms mutation, isotonic, and pangene vitamins. Director of the Berson Research
(later shortened to gene), and rediscovered
Gregor Mendels laws of heredity, while being
unaware of Mendels work at the time.
Waals, Johannes Diderik van der (18371923)
Dutch physicist awarded the 1910 Nobel Prize
in Physics for his equation of state for gases
and liquids. The equation explained why real
uids do not obey the ideal gas laws at high
pressures. His work led to the liquefaction
of hydrogen and helium, and the study of
temperatures near absolute zero.
Wallace, Alfred Russel, British naturalist
(18231913) See p.203
Warburg, Otto Heinrich (18831970) German
biochemist and physician awarded the 1931
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for
his research on cancerous tumours and the
respiration of cells. Director of the Kaiser
Wilhelm Institute, Warburg discovered the
nature and mode of action of the respiratory
yellow enzyme, outlining his research in
The Metabolism of Tumours (1931).
Watson, James Dewey (1928) American
geneticist and co-discoverer of the double
helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA). Watson shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and
Maurice Wilkins for the discovery. Watson
became Director of the Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory, and took a leading role in the
Human Genome Project.
Watt, James, British engineer and inventor
(17361819) See p.150
Wegener, Alfred, German geophysicist and
meteorologist (18801930) See p.252
Weinberg, Steven (1933) American physicist
and co-recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize
in Physics for his work in formulating the
electroweak theory. Weinbergs theory,
published in his 1967 article A Model of Leptons
explains that electromagnetic and weak forces
are indistinguishable at extremely high
temperatures, such as those occurring
during the Big Bang.
Weismann, August (18341914) German
biologist and founder of the modern science
of genetics. Weismann is known for his germ
plasm theory, which states that all living
things are born with a special and stable
hereditary substance. A supporter of Darwin,
Weismann opposed the idea of the inheritance
of acquired characters.
White, Gilbert (172093) English naturalist,
clergyman and author of The Natural History
journals on his garden have attained English
classic status.
Whler, Friedrich (180082) German chemist
who became the rst to synthesize an organic
compound, urea, from an inorganic substance,
ammonium cyanate. Professor of chemistry at
Gttingen University, Germany, Whler also
discovered calcium carbide, isolated the
elements silicon and beryllium, and developed
a way of preparing metallic aluminium.
Yalow, Rosalyn Sussman (19212011)
American medical physicist and co-recipient of
for developing radioimmunoassay. This is a
method of measuring minute substances in
the blood, such as hormones, enzymes, and
Laboratory, Yalow was the second woman to
win a Nobel Prize in this eld.
Yukawa, Hideki (190781) Japanese physicist
awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics for
his theory of elementary particles. Yukawas
prediction of the existence of the meson, a
subatomic particle hundred times heavier than
the electron, would inform later research on
nuclear and high-energy physics. He joined
other scientists in signing the RussellEinstein
Manifesto for nuclear disarmament in 1955.
Zhang Heng (78139) Chinese geographer,
mathematician, and astronomer who invented
a device to record any earthquake within
500 km (310 miles) by causing a ball to drop
from a model dragon into a frogs mouth
below, thus making a sound. Zhang also
calculated the value of pi, created a
comprehensive star map, and explained
solar and lunar eclipses.
GLOSSARY
Terms dened elsewhere in the glossary are
in italics.
aberration Any of various defects that may
occur in an image formed by a lens or mirror.
absolute scale Also called Kelvin scale, a
temperature scale starting at absolute zero.
absolute zero The lowest possible
temperature (0 K, 273.15C, or 459.67F),
when there is no random energy of
movement in atoms and molecules.
absorption (1) The taking up of one
substance by another. (2) The capture of
electromagnetic radiation by matter.
acceleration The rate of change of velocity.
acid A compound containing hydrogen
that splits up in water to give reactive
hydrogen ions.
acoustics (1) The study of sound. (2) The
properties of a particular space, such as a
concert hall, in terms of how sound travels
around it.
active transport In biology, any transport of
substances across cell membranes that
requires energy input.
acupuncture A medical treatment originating
in China, which involves ne needles being
inserted into the skin at particular points.
adaptation Any inherited aspect of an
organisms structure or behaviour that helps
t it to its environment; also, the evolutionary
process giving rise to such features.
ADP Adenosine diphosphate, a compound
formed when ATP releases energy.
adrenal gland Either of two glands situated
one on top of each kidney.
alchemy A medieval science that tried,
among other things, to change different
metals into gold.
algae (singular: alga) Simple water-living
organisms that produce their food by
photosynthesis. They include single-celled
forms as well as large seaweeds.
algebra A branch of mathematics that
involves performing calculations using
letters and other general symbols.
algorithm Set of rules by which calculations
can be performed automatically, especially
by a machine, to get a particular result.
alkali A base that dissolves in water.
alkaline A solution with a pH greater than 7.
allotropes Different forms of the same
element. For example, graphite and diamond
are allotropes of carbon.
alloy A metal that is a mixture of more than
one element, either all metallic elements or
with non-metals mixed in.
alternating current An electric current
whose direction reverses at regular intervals.
alternator An electric generator that
produces an alternating current.
amino acid Any of a group of small molecules
that are the building blocks of proteins. They
also have various other roles in the body.
amniocentesis Obtaining a sample of the
uid surrounding a baby in the womb by
passing a hollow needle through the
mothers body wall under anaesthetic.
amp (ampere) The SI unit of electric current.
amplitude The size of a vibration or the
height of a wave.
anaesthesia The production of pain relief by
loss of sensation or consciousness. Drugs
that achieve this are called anaesthetics.
anaphase The stage of mitosis or meiosis
where chromosomes or chromatids
separate from one another.
anatomy The study of the internal structure
of living things.
angle of incidence The angle between a
light ray hitting a surface and an imaginary
line perpendicular to that surface.
angle of reection The angle between a
light ray reected from a surface and an
imaginary line perpendicular to that surface.
anion A negatively charged ion.
anode A positive electrode.
anther A pollen-producing structure of a
ower, which together with its supporting
stalk (lament) makes up a stamen.
antibiotic A drug used to kill or inhibit the
growth of bacteria that cause infections.
antibodies Proteins produced by the body
that identify and attack foreign particles,
such as invading bacteria.
antigen Anything that stimulates the body to
produce antibodies, such as the outer coat of
an invading microorganism.
antiparticle A version of a subatomic
particle that is opposite in electrical charge
to the normal version.
aphasia The inability to produce and/or
understand speech.
area The size of a two-dimensional surface.
arithmetical progression A sequence of
numbers each differing from the previous
one by the same amount.
armillary sphere A metal model in the form
of an open sphere, representing the
apparent movements of the Sun, stars,
planets, etc. as seen from Earth.
artery A blood vessel leading away from the
heart. See also vascular circulation.
asteroid A small rocky body orbiting the
Sun. See also meteoroid.
asthenosphere The relatively soft upper
layer of Earths mantle, below the lithosphere.
astrolabe A historical astronomical
instrument used by astronomers and sailors
for locating the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars.
astronomical unit A unit of distance used in
astronomy equal to the distance between
Earth and the Moon.
astronomy The scientic study of space and
the Universe beyond Earths atmosphere.
atmosphere (1) The gases that surround
the Sun, Earth, and some planets. (2) A
measurement of pressure.
atmospheric pressure The normal pressure
of the air, especially near the ground.
atom The smallest part of an element that
has the chemical properties of that element.
An atom consists of a nucleus of protons and
neutrons surrounded by orbiting electrons.
atomic mass Also called atomic weight, a
measure of the relative amount of material
in different kinds of atoms. (Hydrogen atoms
have the smallest atomic mass.)
atomic number The number of protons
in the nucleus of an atom. All atoms of the
same element have the same atomic number.
atomic theory Any theory that states that
matter is made up of atoms.
atomic weight See atomic mass.
ATP Adenosine triphosphate, an important
energy-carrying molecule in all living cells.
aurora borealis A display of lights in the
night sky in Arctic regions, caused by the
impact of electrically charged particles from
the Sun with Earths atmosphere.
axis (1) The imaginary line about which
a body, such as a planet, rotates.
(2) A reference line on a graph.
axle A structural rod upon which a wheel or
wheels revolve, or a rod which revolves
along with the wheels.
background radiation See cosmic background
radiation.
bacteriophage A virus that attacks bacteria,
called phage for short.
bacterium (plural: bacteria) A member of a
kingdom of single-celled microscopic life
forms whose cells lack nuclei. See also
prokaryotic cell.
barometer An instrument for measuring
air pressure.
base (1) A substance that reacts with an acid
to form a salt. (Soluble bases are called
alkalis.) (2) Any of the four similar molecules
found repeatedly in molecules of DNA,
whose order spells out the genes of living
things. (3) In mathematics, the specic
number that forms the basis of how
numbers are conventionally written down.
For example, in everyday life 10 means ten
(= one ten and no units) but in the binary
system 10 means two (= one two and no units);
this latter system is also called base 2.
base pair A matching pair of complementary
bases opposite each other on the strands of
a DNA molecule.
battery Originally, two or more voltaic cells
connected together; now often just means a
single voltaic cell.
beta decay A form of radioactive decay in
which beta particles (fast-moving electrons
or positrons) are given out.
Big Bang The moment, estimated at about
13.8 billion years ago, when the present
Universe is thought to have begun by
explosion and expansion from a tiny point.
binomial system The standard system of
giving a two-part scientic name to each
biological species. For example, the human
species is named Homo sapiens.
biodegradable Able to be broken down by
natural biological processes.
biomass (1) The amount of living material of a
specic kind or in a given area. (2) Non-fossil
plant material, such as wood, usable as fuel.
biosphere The surface regions of Earth
where living things are found.
bit In computing, a fundamental unit of
information having just two possible values,
as either of the binary digits 0 or 1.
black body A theoretical object that can
absorb all electromagnetic radiation, and
can also emit radiation of all wavelengths,
dependent only on its temperature.
black hole A super-dense body of matter
with gravity so intense that not even light
can escape from it.
blastocyst A hollow ball of cells that is an
early stage in the formation of an embryo.
blood type Also called blood group, any
of several categories into which blood can
be classied, dened by differences in the
surface chemistry of red blood cells.
blood vessel An artery, vein, or capillary.
See also vascular circulation.
boiling point The temperature at which a
particular liquid changes into a gas.
bond A binding connection between atoms.
botany The study of plants.
Brownian motion The random movement
of tiny particles in a liquid or a gas, caused
by molecules colliding with them.
buoyancy The tendency of an object to rise
upwards in a uid (liquid or gas) when the
object is less dense than the uid.
byte A unit of information storage
and transmission in computing and
telecommunications. A kilobyte is a
thousand bytes, a megabyte is a million
bytes, and a gigabyte is a billion bytes.
calculus (1) A branch of mathematics based
on calculations involving tiny innitesimal
changes. It comprises differential calculus,
which is concerned with rates of change, and
integral calculus, which can be used to
calculate areas, volumes, etc. (2) A medical
name for a hard mass formed in the body,
such as a kidney stone.
calendar round cycle In the Maya
civilization, a cycle of 52 years after which
the two separate Mayan calendar systems
become aligned with one other.
calx A powdery or crumbly substance left
when a mineral or metal has been burnt.
capacitor A device used to store electric
charge temporarily.
capillaries The tiny blood vessels that supply
tissues and connect the arteries and veins.
See also vascular circulation.
carbon A chemical element (symbol C,
atomic number 6) which forms more
compounds than any other element,
including the important chemicals of life.
carbon cycle The cycling of carbon through
the living and non-living parts of Earth and
its atmosphere.
cartography The science and practice of
map-making.
375
 catalyst A substance that speeds up a
chemical reaction without being changed
itself at the end of the reaction.
cathode A negative electrode, from which
electrons ow or are emitted.
cathode ray tube A kind of vacuum tube
incorporating a uorescent screen, best
known from its use in televisions and
monitors before the era of at screens.
cauterization Destroying tissues by applying
heat: used in medicine, especially in the past,
to remove small growths or stop bleeding.
celestial body A natural body in space, such
as a planet or star.
celestial sphere Imaginary sphere on which
the stars seem to lie when seen from Earth.
cell (1) The unit of life: a tiny structure
composed of genes, surrounding uid that
carries out chemical reactions, and an
enclosing membrane. See also eukaryotic
cell, prokaryotic cell. (2) See voltaic cell.
cell division The process by which one cell
splits to produce two daughter cells.
Celsius scale The temperature scale in
which, under normal conditions, water
freezes at 0 and boils at 100.
centrifuge A device used to separate
substances of different densities by spinning
them at high speed.
cerebellum Part of the brain near the back
of the skull. Its primary role is to control the
detailed coordination of movements.
cerebrum The largest part of the brain in
mammals, and in humans responsible for
most conscious thought and activity.
chain reaction A chemical or nuclear
reaction in which the product of one step
triggers the next step, which in turn triggers
the next step, and so on.
chaos theory A mathematical theory for
analysing complex systems whose behaviour
is very dependent on initial conditions, for
example weather systems.
charged particle A small particle which has
a net positive or negative electrical charge.
chlorophyll The green pigment found in
plants that absorbs light to provide the
energy for photosynthesis.
chloroplasts The chlorophyll-containing
structures in the cells of plants and algae
where photosynthesis occurs.
chromatid One of two identical strands of a
chromosome. During cell division, the strands
part and become separate chromosomes.
chromosomes Structures within living cells
that contain copies of the genes of an
organism. Each chromosome consists of a
single long DNA molecule combined with
various proteins. For example, humans have
23 pairs of chromosomes, with a complete
set present in nearly every cell of the body.
circuit See electric circuit.
circulation See vascular circulation.
circumference The distance round the
perimeter of an object or shape.
climate The average weather conditions of
a region over a long period.
clone An identical copy or set of copies.
Depending on the context, it can refer to:
a copied DNA molecule; a set of identical
376
descendants of a given cell; an animal bred
articially using the cell nucleus of an adult.
cloud chamber An early form of apparatus
for detecting subatomic particles.
codon A sequence of three adjacent bases that
forms part of the genetic code. Most codons
represent the code for adding a specic amino
acid to a protein being synthesized in the cell.
cohesion The force of attraction between
two particles of the same substance.
coke A solid fuel, mostly carbon, obtained
by heating coal in the absence of air.
combustion A chemical reaction (burning)
in which a substance combines with oxygen,
producing heat energy.
comet Any of millions of bodies in the outer
solar system consisting of a mixture of rocky
particles and ice. A comet becomes apparent
when it orbits close to the Sun, its evaporating
ice and dust particles producing a visible tail.
companion planting Growing plants of
different crops together for mutual benet.
compass Any of various devices to indicate
the direction of north and south.
compound A molecule or chemical
substance made up of atoms of two or
more elements bonded together.
concave Curving or projecting inwards.
concentric spheres Hollow spheres, arranged
one outside the other, with the same centre.
conductor A structure or material that
conducts electricity and/or heat easily.
cones Light-sensitive cells in the retina of
the eye of humans and some other animals
that make it possible to see colours.
conic section Any of several mathematically
important curves and shapes, produced by
intersecting a cone with a plane surface.
conjugation In bacteria, the transfer of
genetic material by direct cell-to-cell contact.
conjunctiva Mucous membrane covering the
inside of the eyelids and the front of the eye.
conservation of energy The principle that
energy can neither be created nor destroyed,
but only changed from one form to another.
constellation A named pattern of stars that
astronomers use when referring to different
regions of the sky.
continental drift The moving of Earths
continents with respect to each other over
millions of years, resulting from plate
tectonic activity.
convection The transfer of heat through a
uid by currents within the uid.
convergent boundary The line along which
two tectonic plates that are moving towards
each other meet. See plate tectonics.
convergent evolution The phenomenon
by which unrelated species evolve similar
features as a result of adaptation to
similar environments or ecological niches.
convex Curving or projecting outwards.
Coriolis effect The deection of winds and
ocean currents by the rotation of Earth.
corona The outer atmosphere of the Sun or
another star.
cosine (cos) The ratio of the adjacent side of
an angle to the hypotenuse in a right-angled
triangle. Also, the mathematical function
describing how this ratio varies when the
angle changes as the hypotenuse sweeps
round a circle.
cosmic background radiation Microwave
radiation coming from all directions of outer
space that represents a relic of the Big Bang.
cosmic rays High-energy particles
bombarding Earth from space.
cosmological principle The principle that
the Solar System and Earth are not positioned
in any special or central place in the Universe.
cosmology The study of the Universe on the
largest scale.
coulomb The SI unit of electric charge.
covalent bond A chemical bond formed by
atoms sharing one or more electrons.
cross-fertilization Fertilization of a plant by
a different member of the same species (in
contrast to self-fertilization).
crystal A solid whose constituent atoms,
ions, or molecules are arranged in a regular,
repeating geometrical pattern.
cubic equation A mathematical equation
containing at least one variable number
multiplied by itself twice (for example,
dynamics Branch of physics, which studies
xxx, also written x 3 ), but no variables
multiplied more times than this.
cumulus clouds Rounded uffy clouds that
form when moisture-containing air rises.
cuneiform A form of writing using
wedge-shaped impressions made in clay,
characteristic of some ancient civilizations.
curvature of space The idea derived
from relativity that, viewed on a large scale,
space itself is curved, not in three straight
dimensions as common sense would suggest.
curve In mathematics, a plot on a graph of
one quantity against another, or a line that
represents a particular geometrical shape.
dark energy A little-understood theoretical
phenomenon proposed to explain why the
expansion of the Universe is accelerating.
dark matter Matter that cannot be detected
by conventional means but which must exist
in galaxies to explain their gravitational
properties. Its properties mean that it cannot
be made of atoms as we understand them.
dead reckoning Navigating by estimating
speed and direction only, without using other
checks such as astronomical observations.
decibel The standard unit for measuring
sound intensity.
decomposition (1) The decay of organic
material. (2) In chemistry, a reaction that
breaks a larger molecule into smaller ones.
detector In electronics, the circuit in a radio
receiver that separates out the sound signal
from a radio wave.
differential calculus See calculus.
differentiation The type of calculation
carried out in differential calculus.
diffraction The bending of waves around
obstacles or the spreading out of waves
when they pass through a narrow aperture.
diffusion The spreading of one substance
through another by random motions of its
atoms or molecules.
digital A term referring to the storage and
transmission of information (such as sound
or video information) using patterns of
discrete units, such as the 0 and 1 values
of the binary system.
digital sound Sound recorded digitally.
diode An electronic component that lets
electricity ow in one direction only.
dioptre A unit of refractive power of a lens.
See refraction.
diploid cell A cell containing two copies of
each chromosome.
DNA Short for deoxyribonucleic acid,
the large molecule that carries the genetic
information in all living things, except for
some viruses which use RNA.
double helix A double spiral: the term
is used particularly to refer to the two
intertwining strands of a DNA molecule.
driving mechanism A mechanism that
transmits mechanical movement and power.
dwarf planet An astronomical object (which
includes the former planet Pluto) that is big
enough to have become rounded by its own
gravity, but not big enough to have cleared
surrounding space of objects.
dye A substance that colours a material.
the movement of objects when under the
inuence of forces.
dynamo A generator that produces direct
current.
eclipse The temporary hiding of one
astronomical object behind another,
especially the Sun behind the Moon when
seen from Earth (a solar eclipse), or Earth
between the Moon and the Sun, when Earths
shadow falls on the Moon (a lunar eclipse).
ecliptic The curved path, representing the
plane of the Solar System, through which the
Sun and planets appear to move through the
skies over the course of a year.
ecology The study of the relationships
between organisms and their environment.
ecosystem A community of living things
considered together with the interactions
between them and their physical environment.
egg (1) A female sex cell (gamete), also called
an ovum. (2) A structure that protects the
growing embryo in birds and other animals.
elasticity The tendency of a substance to
bounce back to its original shape or
volume when an applied force is removed.
electric charge A basic property of many
subatomic particles that makes them
interact electromagnetically. Charge can
be either positive or negative.
electric circuit A complete loop of
conducting material that carries an electric
current and connects electrical devices such
as switches and light bulbs.
electric current The ow of electrical energy.
electric motor A device in which electrical
power is converted into rotational
mechanical power.
electrical resistance Resistance to the ow
of electricity, usually resulting in heat being
given off.
electrode An electrical terminal, which can
conduct electricity into or out of a system.
electrolysis Chemical change or breakdown
in an electrolyte caused by electrical current
being passed through it.
electrolyte A substance that conducts
electricity when molten or in solution.
electromagnetic induction See induction,
senses 2 and 3.
electromagnetic radiation Waves of energy
that are in the form of electric and magnetic
elds vibrating at right angles to each other.
electromagnetic rotation Mechanical
rotation produced by electromagnetic means.
electromagnetic spectrum The complete
range of electromagnetic radiation,
including (from the highest to the lowest
frequency and energy): gamma rays, X-rays,
ultraviolet radiation, visible light, infrared
radiation, microwaves, and radio waves.
electromagnetism The physics of the
electromagnetic eld created by the
interaction of electricity and magnetism.
electromotive force (emf) The potential
difference of a battery or generator, which
pushes an electric current around a circuit.
electron A tiny subatomic particle with a
negative electric charge. Electrons are
leptons, with about a thousandth of the mass
of a proton or neutron. They orbit the nuclei
of atoms in a cloud, and their movement is
responsible for electric currents in circuits.
electron micrograph Permanent magnied
image of an object obtained using an
electron microscope.
electron microscope A microscope that
uses a beam of electrons instead of light to
obtain a magnied image of an object.
electron shell One of the layers in which
electrons orbit around the nucleus of an atom.
electron volt A small unit of energy,
convenient when discussing the energies
of subatomic particles.
electrophoresis A technique for analysing
and separating large molecules and small
particles by using the different speeds at
which they move through a medium when
electricity is supplied.
electroscope An instrument demonstrating
the presence of electric charge.
electrostatic Relating to stationary electric
charges.
electrostatic eld The eld of force
surrounding a stationary electrically
charged object.
element In chemistry, a substance whose
atoms are all of the same kind (that is, all have
the same number of protons in their nuclei).
ellipse A at symmetrical oval shape or
outline, like a attened circle.
embryo An early stage in the development
of a new individual (animal or plant). In
humans, an embryo more than eight weeks
old is called a fetus.
emission lines Bright lines in the spectrum
of light emitted by a body, usually indicating
the presence of particular elements.
endangered species A species of living
thing that is at risk of becoming extinct.
endocrinology The study of hormones and
of the endocrine glands that produce them.
endoscope Any of various instruments for
directly viewing inside the body.
energy Traditionally described as the
capacity to do work, energy is difcult to
dene fully but can be regarded as the agent
that can produce change in the Universe.
entanglement In quantum physics, the
linking of two particles as one, so that when
the particles move apart, a change in one
instantly causes a change in the other.
environment The surroundings of living
things, sometimes including the living things
themselves.
enzyme A catalyst in living things that
increases the speed of a particular
biochemical reaction. There are thousands
of different kinds, nearly all of them proteins.
equinox Either of the twice-yearly moments
when the Sun crosses the celestial equator
and the day-length of the northern and
southern hemispheres is momentarily equal.
escapement Mechanism in a clock or watch
that allows its motive power to be released
in a way that provides exactly timed motion.
eukaryotic cell The typical cell of an animal
or plant, in which the genes are contained in
a nucleus. See also prokaryotic cell.
evolution The gradual process by which
living things develop and change over a long
period of time.
evolutionary biology The study of evolution
and its related areas of biology.
exoplanet A planet that orbits a star
other than the Sun; also known as an
extrasolar planet.
exothermic Of a chemical reaction, resulting
in the release of heat.
Fahrenheit scale The temperature scale
named after Gabriel Fahrenheit, in which,
under normal conditions, water freezes at
32 and boils at 212.
faience Pottery decorated with glazes.
fermion Any of the group of subatomic
particles associated with matter, such as
electrons, quarks, and protons, rather than
those that carry force, such as bosons.
Ferrel cell The circulation of the
atmosphere in mid-latitudes that brings
westerly winds at surface level and
returning easterly winds at high level.
fertilization The joining of two gametes as
the rst stage of producing a new organism.
fetus The unborn, developing offspring of a
mammal. In humans, it covers pregnancy
after the rst eight weeks.
eld of force A condition produced in the
space around (for example) a magnet
(magnetic eld) or an electric charge
(electric eld), which can be diagrammed as
curved lines showing the direction in which
any nearby object inuenced by these forces
will tend to be moved.
lament See anther.
ssile A term referring to certain atomic
nuclei, such as one type of uranium, which
are capable of being split into two roughly
equal parts when bombarded with neutrons.
intlock mechanism A mechanism for
discharging a gun by using the spark
obtained from a int striking metal.
uid A substance that can ow, including
solids, liquids, or plasmas.
FM Frequency modulation. The transmission
of a signal by changing the frequency of the
carrier wave, such as a radio wave.
formula (plural: formulae or formulas)
(1) In chemistry, a set of symbols that
represent the makeup of a substance. (2) A set
of mathematical symbols expressing a rule,
principle, or method for nding an answer.
fossil The long-preserved remains of a
living thing, especially when it has been
mineralized (turned to stone).
Fraunhofer lines Dark lines in the spectrum
of the Sun and other stars. They show where
particular chemical elements in a stars outer
layers are absorbing light from the stars.
freezing point The temperature at which a
given liquid freezes. Freezing point also
depends on pressure.
friction A force that resists or stops the
movement of objects in contact with each
other. The friction between an object and a
uid, such as air or water, is known as drag.
fundamental particle Also called an
elementary particle, any subatomic particle
such as electrons, which it is believed does
not consist of simpler particles. Electrons
are an example, but not protons or neutrons
since they are made of quarks.
fuse (1) A safety device used in electrical
circuits, such as a thin wire which melts if
too much current passes through it. (2) A
cord or other device that can be ignited or
activated and used to set off an explosive.
Gaia hypothesis The concept that all the
living things and physical components of
Earth interact to form a complex self-
regulating system, like a huge organism.
galaxy A huge grouping of stars, dust, and
gas, all loosely held together by gravity. Our
galaxy is called the Milky Way.
gamete A sex cell, such as a sperm or egg
cell. Gametes have half the number of
chromosomes of most other cells (see
haploid cell) so that, when they join together
in fertilization, the normal number of
chromosomes is restored.
gametocytes Cells that represents an early
stage in the production of gametes.
ganglion Concentration of nerve cell bodies,
more so outside the central nervous system.
Geiger counter An instrument used to
detect and measure radioactivity.
gene The basic unit of inheritance in living
things, a segment of DNA (or RNA in some
viruses) that typically codes for making a
particular protein and also incorporates
features allowing it to be switched on and off.
gene map A plot of the sequence of genes
along an entire strand of DNA.
gene sequencing Finding out the order of
bases in the DNA of particular genes.
generator A device that converts
mechanical energy into electrical energy.
genetic code The code by which sequences
of DNA spell out the recipe for making a
particular protein. See also codon.
genetic drift Change in the overall genetic
composition of a population as a result of
random events rather than natural selection.
genetic engineering Techniques of articially
modifying an organisms characteristics by
manipulating its genetic material.
genetic ngerprinting The analysis of a
DNA sample to identify who it belongs to.
genome The complete set of genes for
an organism.
genotype The genetic make-up of an
organism.
geological period One of the time divisions
(such as the Jurassic period) into which
Earths history is divided.
geostationary Term applied to a satellite
orbiting Earth at the same rate as Earth
rotates, so staying above one particular
point on the surface.
geothermal Relating to the internal heat
of Earth, or energy obtained form it.
germ theory The theory that infectious
living agents (germs) cause many diseases.
glaciation Coverage of land areas by
glaciers and ice caps.
gluons Particles within protons and neutrons
that hold their component quarks together.
gravitational force The force of gravity. It is
regarded as one of the four fundamental
forces in the Universe.
gravitational lensing Phenomenon where
the gravity of a large astronomical object
can bend light coming from another behind
it, sometimes resulting in several images of
the more distant object being visible.
gravity The tendency of every body
possessing mass to attract every
other body.
greenhouse effect Heating effect due to
heat rays from the ground being absorbed
by some of the gases in the atmosphere.
greenhouse gases Gases that lead to the
greenhouse effect, including water vapour,
carbon dioxide, and methane.
habitat The environment where a particular
living thing occurs naturally.
Hadley cell The circulation pattern of the
atmosphere in the tropics, which brings
north- and southeasterly trade winds
towards the equator at surface level and
returns westerly winds at high level.
haemoglobin An iron-containing protein
that is the carrier of oxygen in the blood.
half-life (1) The time taken for the radioactive
emission of any particular radioactive
material to drop to half of its initial value. (2)
The time taken for a drug in the body to reduce
to half of its original concentration.
haploid cell A cell containing only one copy
of each chromosome.
heredity The passing on of characteristics
from one generation to the next.
hertz (Hz) The SI unit of frequency. One
hertz is one cycle per second.
histology The study of tissues of the body.
homeobox A sequence of DNA that is part of
the genes controlling body development in
animals, plants, and other organisms.
hominid Any member of the primate family
Hominoidea, including humans.
horology The science of clockmaking and of
measuring time.
H-R diagram HertzsprungRussell diagram.
A chart showing how stars evolve from one
type to another over time.
html Hypertext markup language. The main
computer language used on websites.
377
 http Hypertext transfer protocol. The call
and response system used to link websites
to the Internet.
Hubbles law This law states that a galaxys
distance is proportional to the speed at
which it is moving away from us; the more
distant the galaxy, the faster it is receding.
This shows that the Universe is expanding.
Human Genome Project The worldwide
science project completed in 2003 to map
the entire sequence of genes in human DNA.
hydraulic pressure The pressure created
by a uid, for example, when pushed through
a pipe.
hydraulics The study and phenomena of
liquids owing through pipes, especially
when used as a source of power.
hydrocarbon A chemical compound made
up of carbon and hydrogen only.
hydrogen The lightest, most abundant
chemical, which makes up about 75 per cent
of the total mass of elements in the Universe.
hydrostatics The branch of physics that
studies the pressure and equilibrium of
liquids at rest.
imaginary number Any number that is a
multiple of the square root of 1, which does
not exist as a normal number.
imaging Any method of producing images,
especially when done indirectly by analysing
X-rays, magnetic responses of materials, etc.
immune system The bodys natural defence
mechanisms, which react to foreign material
such as microorganisms, with effects such
as inammation and antibody production.
immunization The priming the bodys
immune system, by inoculation, to ght
against future infection.
indeterminate equation A mathematical
equation which has more than one solution.
induction Any of the processes by which (1)
an object becomes electrically charged
when near another charged object; (2) a
magnetizable object becomes magnetized
when in the presence of an electric eld,
including one produced by an electric
current; (3) an electric current is produced
in a circuit by a varying magnetic eld.
inertia The tendency of an object to remain
at rest or to keep moving in a straight line
until a force acts on it.
infrared radiation A type of electromagnetic
radiation with a wavelength just longer than
that of visible light but shorter than that of
microwaves. It is often experienced as heat.
inheritance The pattern or manner in which
genetic characteristics are passed on.
inhibitor In chemistry and biology, a substance
that prevents or hinders a reaction or
physiological response.
inoculation The deliberate introduction of
disease-causing organisms into the body in
a mild or harmless form to stimulate the
production of antibodies that will provide
future protection against the disease.
inorganic chemistry Branch of chemistry
that deals with all chemicals except the
large number of organic compounds (those
that contain carbonhydrogen bonds).
insulator A material that stops or reduces
the ow of electricity, heat, or sound.
378
integrated circuit A tiny electric circuit made
of components built into the surface of a
silicon chip.
interference The disturbance of signals
where two or more waves meet.
interferometry Techniques for analysing
the interference patterns of waves.
Internet The electronic information network
linking computers around the world.
interstellar space The space between stars,
where density of matter is typically very low.
ion An atom or molecule that has lost or
gained one or more electrons to become
electrically charged.
ionic bond A chemical bond formed when
one or more electrons have been transferred
from one atom to another, creating two ions of
opposite charge that attract each other.
ionosphere The part of Earths atmosphere
that reects radio waves. It lies within the
thermosphere.
irrational number Any number that cannot
be expressed as one whole number divided
by another.
isomer A chemical compound with the same
formula but a different structure to another
compound.
isotope A version of a chemical element in
which the atoms have different numbers of
neutrons in their nuclei compared with other
atoms of that element.
IVF In-vitro fertilization. The techniques
(informally called the test-tube baby
method) of arranging for a sperm to fertilize
an egg outside the body before implanting
the early embryo back in the womb.
joule The SI unit of work or energy.
karyotype Chromosomal characterization of
a species or individual in terms of the number,
size, and structure of each chromosome; also,
a diagram that shows this.
Kelvin scale See absolute scale.
kinetic energy The energy an object has
because of its movement.
Kyoto Protocol An international agreement
on climate change that sets industrialized
countries binding targets for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
Lamarckism The theory that evolution
depends on inheritance of characteristics
acquired during an organisms life.
laser A device used to produce an intense
narrow beam of light in which the light rays
are parallel.
latent heat The heat absorbed or given out,
without change of temperature, when a
substance changes between a liquid and
a gas, or between a solid and a liquid.
lathe A machine designed to spin objects
around while cutting them into shape.
latitude A measure of distance from the
equator (the poles are at 90 latitude and
the equator is at 0). Lines of latitude are
imaginary lines drawn around Earth,
parallel with the equator.
lens A transparent object shaped to refract
light so that it produces or causes to be
produced a sharp image.
lepton A family of fundamental particles,
including the electron, that are not affected
by the strong nuclear force, unlike quarks
and particles made up of quarks.
leucocyte A white blood cell.
Leyden jar Capacitor, invented in the 18th
century, capable of delivering electric shocks.
line of force One of the imaginary lines in a
eld of force.
linear equation A mathematical equation
that contains no variable number multiplied
by itself (for example, there is no x 2 , x 3 , etc.).
Linear equations result in straight lines
when plotted out on graphs.
lithosphere The rigid outer layer of Earth,
consisting of the crust and the uppermost
layer of the underlying mantle.
lock and key Term applied to a situation (for
example involving biological molecules)
where two parts have to match and interact
like a lock and key to effect a change.
lodestone A naturally magnetic piece of the
iron-containing mineral magnetite.
logarithm In mathematics, the power to
which a base, such as 10, must be raised
to yield a given number.
long count An indenitely long calendar with
a starting point of several thousand years ago,
used by the Maya and other Mesoamericans.
longitude A measure of position on Earth,
measured by degrees east or west from an
imaginary line (the prime meridian) running
from the north to the south pole via Greenwich
in London. All other lines of longitude also
run from the north to the south pole.
longitudinal wave A wave whose to-and-fro
movement takes place along the line that the
wave is travelling, not at right angles to it.
Sound waves are an example.
low frequency Involving a relatively small
number of vibrations in a given time period.
luminosity The amount of light given out by
an object, such as a star.
lunar eclipse See eclipse.
lymphatic system A network of tubes and
small organs that drains a uid called lymph
from the bodys tissues into the bloodstream.
lymphocytes Types of white blood cell that
play specialist roles in the immune system.
magnetic dip The downward-pointing angle
at which a freely moving compass points,
representing the fact that Earths magnetic
poles lie below the surface.
magnetic poles (1) The two regions of a
magnet where magnetic effect is strongest.
(2) The two variable points on Earth where
Earths magnetic eld is strongest and
towards which a compass needle points.
magnetism The invisible force of attraction
or repulsion produced by a magnetic eld.
magnetosphere The magnetic eld around
a star or planet.
mass The amount of matter in an object.
matter Anything that has mass and
occupies space.
megabyte See byte.
megalith A large stone, especially one
deliberately set in position as a marker or
monument in prehistoric times.
meiosis A specialized type of cell division
(strictly speaking, of nuclear division) that
takes place in two stages, and in which
haploid sex cells are produced.
Mercators projection A way of representing
the Earths surface on a at map so that
longitude and latitude lines are at right
angles to each other.
merozoite A stage in the life cycle of some
microscopic parasites.
mesopause The boundary between the
mesosphere and the thermosphere, about
80 km (50 miles) above Earths surface.
mesosphere (1) The layer of the atmosphere
above the stratosphere. (2) The layer of the
Earths mantle below the asthenosphere.
metabolism The sum total of all the
chemical reactions taking place in a
living organism.
metal A substance typically having a
combination of properties including shiny
appearance, ability to be bent into shape,
and high conductivity to heat and electricity.
Most chemical elements are metals, and
there are also thousands of metallic alloys.
metaphase The stage of mitosis and
meiosis preceding anaphase, during which
the chromosomes are aligned along the
middle of the cell.
meteoroid Any rocky body, smaller than an
asteroid, moving freely through space in the
Solar System. If one falls to Earth and is not
completely burnt up, it is called a meteorite.
microorganism A tiny organism which can
be seen only with the aid of a microscope.
microscope An instrument that produces
magnied images of very small objects.
mid-ocean ridge A ridge down the middle of
the ocean oor, created by volcanic material
erupting from the gap between oceanic
plates. See also plate tectonics.
mitosis The division of the nucleus during
normal cell division, in which each daughter
nucleus has the same number of
chromosomes as the parent cell.
mode (1) A particular pattern of vibrations.
(2) In statistics, the value that occurs most
frequently in a set of data.
model organism A specimen studied by
scientists with a view to developing
knowledge that can be applied more
generally for understanding other organisms.
modular arithmetic Sometimes called
clock arithmetic, a method of counting
where one starts again at the beginning
after a set point is reached.
modulation Transmitting information by
superimposing an extra pattern upon a radio
wave (called a carrier wave) or other waves.
molecule Smallest free unit of an element
or compound, made up of at least two atoms.
momentum A quantity equal to an objects
mass multiplied by its velocity.
Monocotyledons (Monocots) A major
subgroup of owering plants (including
grasses, orchids, spring bulbs, palms, etc.)
originally identied because they have only
one cotyledon (seed-leaf) in their seeds.
motor nerve A nerve that transmits
impulses from the central nervous system
to operate a muscle or control a gland.
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging. A
non-invasive form of medical imaging.
multiple A number is described as a
multiple of x when x is multiplied by 2, 3, 4,
or any other whole number.
mutation A random change in a chromosome
of a cell, either to a particular gene or on a
larger scale.
myelin Fatty material wrapped around some
neurons, which speeds up the transmission
of signals.
myobril Any of the tiny structures in a
muscle that enable it to contract.
nano- A prex meaning a billionth
(thousand-millionth).
nanometre A billionth of a metre.
natural selection The process whereby the
inheritable characteristics that increase
ones chances of survival and reproduction
are passed on to the next generation.
Neanderthal A member of an extinct
species closely related to modern humans.
nebula Originally, a term for any distant
cloud-like object visible beyond Earths
atmosphere. It now applies specically to
huge clouds of dust and gas which are often
the locations for new stars to be formed.
negative number A number less than zero.
nephron One of the million or so purication
and ltration units in the kidney.
nerve A cable-like structure transmitting
information and control instructions in the
body. A typical nerve consists of strands of
many separate nerve cells (neurons) running
parallel to, but insulated from each other.
nervous system The network of nerve cells
(including the brain) that controls the body.
neuron A nerve cell.
neutrino A tiny, almost massless, uncharged
subatomic particle abundant in the Universe
but rarely interacting with other matter.
neutron A subatomic particle found in all
atomic nuclei except the normal form of
hydrogen. It is similar in size to a proton but
has no electric charge.
neutron star A small but extremely dense
star made mostly of neutrons, formed by the
gravitational collapse of a giant star.
newton The SI unit of force.
nitrogen A chemical element that as a gas
makes up most of Earths atmosphere, and
combined into compounds is essential to
living things.
noble gases Gases such as helium and neon
that have a complete complement of electrons
in their outer shell and are very unreactive.
nomenclature A body or system of names.
nuclear ssion See ssion.
nuclear fusion A reaction in which the
nuclei of light atoms such as hydrogen fuse
to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy.
nuclear reaction A change in the nucleus of
an atom.
nucleolus A small, dense, round body inside
the nucleus of a cell.
nucleus (1) Central part of an atom, made up
of protons and neutrons. (2) The structure in
eukaryote cells that contains chromosomes.
nutrients Substances that are used by
living organisms for growth, maintenance,
and reproduction.
observatory A building or institution where
astronomers study space.
ohm The SI unit of electrical resistance.
Oort cloud Huge spherical region containing
comets that is thought to exist towards the
outer boundary of the Solar System.
opiates Drugs related to opium. They are
strong painkillers but have many side-effects.
optical bres Thin glass bres along which
light travels, used in communication.
optics The study of the behaviour of light
and how it is affected by devices such as
lenses, mirrors, etc.
orbit The path of any body that is circling
round another one.
orbital period The time a celestial body
takes to complete one orbit around another.
organ A group of tissues, usually grouped
together in a discrete structure, that has a
special function, such as the brain.
organic Adjective that can refer to (1) Any
compound containing carbon, with the
exception of some simple molecules such as
carbon dioxide, (2) Food produced without
the use of articial fertilizers or pesticides.
Orrery A mechanical model of the solar
system, showing the relative positions and
orbits of the planets and their moons.
oscillation A regular movement back and
forth.
oscillator A circuit or instrument that
produces an alternating current of known
frequency.
oscilloscope An instrument that shows
electrical signals on a screen.
osmosis The movement of water through a
semi-permeable membrane from a weak
solution to a more concentrated one.
ovary (1) The structure in animals that
produces female sex cells (gametes). (2) A
specialized region of the female part of a
ower that contains the ovules.
ovule A structure within a ower that
develops into a seed after fertilization.
ovum An egg cell.
oxidation Originally, a reaction where a
substance combines with oxygen; now used
for any reaction where a substance loses
electrons. Its opposite is reduction.
oxide A compound of oxygen with one other
element.
oxidizing agent A compound that can cause
oxidation.
oxygen A reactive gas that makes up 21 per
cent of Earths atmosphere and is essential
to life.
ozone A very reactive form of oxygen that
has three atoms in each molecule instead
of two.
P wave Primary wave. A fast-moving
earthquake wave that alternately stretches
and squeezes rocks as it moves.
palynology The study of living and fossil
pollen grains and spores.
pancreas A gland close to the stomach
that secretes digestive enzymes and also
hormones that regulate glucose levels.
parallax The apparent movement of objects
against each other when an observer moves
position, such as nearby trees against distant
hills. Astronomers use the same principle to
measure the distance to nearby stars.
parallel circuit A circuit in which there are
at least two independent paths to get back
to the source.
particle In physics, usually short for
subatomic particle.
particle accelerator A giant machine in
which subatomic particles are accelerated
along or around a tunnel by electromagnets,
and smashed together at very high speeds.
particle physics The branch of physics that
deals with subatomic particles.
pasteurization The heating of food to
destroy disease-causing bacteria.
pathogen A disease-causing microorganism.
peptide A molecule similar to a protein in
structure but typically smaller.
pericardium A tough double-layered
membrane surrounding the heart.
periodic table A table of the chemical
elements in order of their atomic numbers,
whose vertical columns bring together
elements with similar properties.
perpetuum mobile Also called perpetual
motion, the theoretically impossible notion
that a machine can be made to run forever
without energy input although work is
extracted from it.
petal One of a set of structures surrounding
the sexual organs of most owers, usually
shaped and coloured for attracting
pollinating animals.
pH A measure of acidity or alkalinity of a
solution. A pH of 7 is neutral, below 7 is acid,
and above 7 is alkaline.
pharmacology The study of drugs and how
they act in the body.
phlogiston theory A now-disproved
18th-century theory that all burning involved
giving off a substance called phlogiston.
photoelectric effect The emission of
electrons from the surfaces of some objects
when light hits them.
photon The particle that makes up light and
other electromagnetic radiation.
photoperiodism Any situation where
life-processes in living things are affected
by the length of daylight they are exposed to.
photosynthesis The process by which
plants and algae make food from water and
carbon dioxide, using energy from the Sun.
physiology The study of body processes.
Also a term for the body processes.
pi The ratio of the circumference of a circle
to its diameter, approximately 22 divided by
7, or about 3.14159.
piezoelectric effect The production of
electricity by applying mechanical stress
to certain crystals, such as quartz.
pistil A female organ of a ower.
piston A close-tting sliding disc or short
solid cylinder attached to a rod that is
pushed up and down in the cylinder of
an engine to provide power.
pitch (1) The property of a sound that makes
it high or low. (2) The angle of an aeroplane
wing, propeller blade, etc.
Planck constant Symbol h, the ratio of the
energy in one photon of electromagnetic
radiation to its frequency. It is a fundamental
constant in quantum physics.
plane gure A two-dimensional shape.
planet A large spherical or almost spherical
body that orbits a star. See also dwarf planet.
plankton Plants, animals, or other
life-forms living in open water that cannot
swim strongly and so drift with the currents.
Most are small or microscopic.
plant A member of one of the major
kingdoms of living things, making their own
food using photosynthesis. They include
everything from trees and owers to ferns
and mosses, but not most algae (see alga).
plasmid A normally circular strand of DNA
in bacteria or protozoa.
plate tectonics The theory and phenomena
of Earths lithosphere being divided into huge
rigid plates that move with respect to each
other. Some plates include continents or
parts of continents, while others comprise
only deep ocean oor.
platelets Irregular disc-shaped microscopic
structures in the blood which function to
coagulate the blood and stop bleeding.
pluripotent Term applied to a stem cell that
can give rise to any of several other cell types.
pneumatics Branch of physics studying the
mechanical properties of air and other gases.
polarized light Light in which the wave
vibrations occur only in one plane.
pollen tube The tube that a germinating
pollen grain forms as it grows down the
female part of a ower to fertilize an ovule.
pollination The deposition of pollen on a
ower so that its ovules can be fertilized
and it can set seed.
polymer A long, thin molecule made of many
identical or very similar small molecules
joined together; also, a substance made of
such molecules.
population In biology, a group of individuals
of the same species, especially when able to
interbreed with each other.
positron Positively charged counterpart of
an electron, sometimes called antielectron.
potential difference The electrical
equivalent of pressure. A high potential
difference is like a high pressure forcing
electricity round a circuit. Also called voltage.
potential energy Stored energy that a body
has because of its position or internal state.
power (1) The rate of change of energy. (2)
The number of times a number is multiplied
by itself: for example, xxx, or x 3 , is also
called x to the power of 3.
precipitate Tiny solid particles formed in
a liquid as a result of a chemical reaction.
predator An animal that feeds by attacking
and eating other animals (its prey),
especially those that are relatively large
in relation to its own size.
preservation The process of keeping
something in its original state, or free from
harm, erosion, or decay.
pressure Continual physical force pushing
against an object, especially considered as
force per unit area.
379
 prey See predator.
prime number Any positive whole number
that cannot be divided to give another whole
number except by dividing by itself and 1.
prism (1) Any solid geometric form with
sides that form a parallelogram. (2) A prism-
shaped block of glass, especially one with
triangular sides, that is used to split white
light into the colours of the spectrum.
probability The likelihood of an event
happening, normally expressed as a value
between 0 and 1.
product In mathematics, the result of one
number being multiplied by another.
prokaryotic cell The cell of microscopic
organisms such as bacteria: it is smaller
than a eukaryotic cell and does not have a
separate nucleus.
prosthetic An articial body part.
protein Any of thousands of different types
of large molecules made by the body and
coded for by genes. See also amino acid.
proton A particle in the nucleus of an atom
that has a positive electric charge.
pulsar A neutron star which can be detected
because its rapid rotation causes pulses of
radiation to be beamed outwards.
quadrant A navigational instrument.
quadratic equation Mathematical equation
containing at least one variable number that
is multiplied by itself once (for example xx,
also written x 2 ), but none which have been
multiplied more times than this.
quantum electrodynamics The quantum
physics theory that deals with the interactions
between electrons, positrons, and photons.
quantum physics The branch of science that
deals with subatomic particles and energy
interactions in terms of minute discrete
energy packets called quanta.
quantum theory The theory that light and
other electromagnetic radiation is made up
of a stream of photons, each carrying a
certain amount of energy.
quark One of a group of fundamental
particles that do not exist separately but
make up protons, neutrons, and some other
subatomic particles.
quasar An immensely powerful source of
radiation occurring beyond our own galaxy.
Quasars are thought to be the central regions
of other galaxies that are producing far more
radiation than the Milky Ways centre does.
radar A way of detecting objects by sending
out radio waves and collecting their
returning echoes.
radiation Any stream of fast-moving
particles or waves.
radio waves Invisible waves at the
low-frequency end of the electromagnetic
spectrum, whose wavelength can range from
kilometres to centimetres (microwaves).
radioactive Emitting high-energy
subatomic particles or radiation as part
of radioactive decay.
radioactive decay The process whereby
unstable nuclei emit high-energy particles,
or radiation, as they break up or transform.
radioactive tracers Substances that contain
radioactive atoms to allow easier detection
and measurement.
380
radioactivity Phenomena involving
radioactive decay.
radiometric dating The process of nding
a rocks absolute age by detecting the
stage of radioactive decay of particular
isotopes in it.
RAM Random access memory. Computer
memory chips where information can be
stored and retrieved.
rarefaction The opposite of compression,
especially in a gas, where the density
becomes lowered.
ratio The proportional relation between two
numbers.
reactant A substance taking part in a
chemical reaction.
reaction (1) A force same in magnitude, but
opposite in direction, to another force. Every
force has a reaction. (2) Any change that
alters the chemical properties of a
substance or forms a new substance.
red giant A star that is nearing the end of its
life and has expanded to a giant size and
become reddish in colour.
red shift The tendency for wavelengths of
light to be shifted towards the red end of the
spectrum when their source is receding
rapidly from the observer. The effect also
occurs with other wavelengths of
electromagnetic radiation.
reduction Originally, a reaction where a
substance loses oxygen; now used more
generally for any reaction where a substance
gains electrons. Its opposite is oxidation.
reex An automatic reaction to something.
refraction The bending of light rays as they
enter a different medium at an angle, such
as from air to water.
refractive index The ratio of the speed of
light in one medium to the speed of light in
a second medium.
relativity The description of space and time,
energy and matter according to the theories
of Albert Einstein, which depend on the
constancy of the speed of light in a vacuum.
repouss The ancient art of decorating
metal by hammering on the back of
the piece.
reproduction Process of creating offspring.
resistance See electrical resistance.
resistor An electrical device or component
that resists current ow.
resonance Situation when the vibrations of
an object become large because it is being
made to vibrate at its natural frequency.
structures usually found around the rim or
respiration (1) Breathing. (2) Also called
cellular respiration, the biochemical
processes within cells that break down food
molecules to provide energy, usually by
combining the food molecules with oxygen.
retrograde motion Motion that is the
opposite of another motion, such as a
satellite orbiting a planet in the opposite
direction to the planets own rotation.
Retrograde motion can only be apparent as
when a planet seems to move backwards
against the stars because Earth is
overtaking it on its orbit round the Sun.
retrovirus An RNA virus such as HIV
which reproduces itself by inserting a DNA
copy of its genes into the host cell.
Richter scale A scale for measuring the size sine (sin) The ratio of the opposite side of an
of an earthquake in terms of the amount of angle to the hypotenuse in a right-angled
energy released. triangle. Also, the mathematical function
describing how this ratio varies when the
right angle An angle created by lines
angle changes as the hypotenuse sweeps
meeting perpendicularly, forming an equal
round a circle.
angle on either side.
skeleton The frame of bone and cartilage in
RNA Ribonucleic acid. A molecule similar to
vertebrates that supports the body and
DNA with various roles in cells, including
protects its organs, or any structure in other
acting as an intermediary between DNA and
animals that serves similar functions.
the rest of the cell.
slide rule A ruler with a central sliding bar
robot (1) An intelligent human-like machine
designed to make quick calculations using
(mainly in ctional contexts). (2) A machine,
logarithms.
especially a programmable one, that can
carry out a complex series of movements. smelting Extracting a metal from its ore.
ruminant An animal such as a cow or deer software The programs used by a computer.
that chews the cud.
solar constant The amount of heat energy
S wave Secondary wave. An earthquake from the Sun received per unit area of
wave that travels through the ground as Earths surface.
lateral or horizontal waves.
solar eclipse See eclipse.
satellite An object that orbits a planet.
solar are A sudden burst of radiation from
There are natural satellites, such as a moon,
the Sun.
and articial satellites, such as a craft used
to retransmit radio signals. Solar System The system consisting of the
Sun, the planets, and other objects orbiting
secretion The release of specic
the Sun, and the surrounding regions of space
substances by the cells of living things.
in which the Suns inuence is discernable.
sedimentary rock Formed when fragments
solenoid A cylindrical coil of wire that
of material settle on the oor of a sea or lake
becomes a magnet when an electric current
and are cemented together over time.
is passed through it.
sedimentation The geological process in
solstice Each of the two times in the year,
which loose material is laid down on ocean
one at midsummer and one at midwinter,
and river beds, and by wind and moving ice.
when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest
seismic wave A wave that travels through point in the sky at noon.
the ground, such as from an earthquake.
solubility The ability of a solute to dissolve.
seismograph A device for measuring and
solute The substance that dissolves in a
recording earthquake waves.
solvent to form a solution.
seismology The study of earthquakes.
solution A liquid in which individual atoms,
seismometer A device for measuring molecules, or ions of another substance (as
earthquake waves. The term is now distinct from small solid particles) are
interchangeable with seismograph, since evenly dispersed.
modern seismometers record their
solvent A substance, especially a liquid, that
measurements as well.
can dissolve other substances.
selective breeding The process of choosing
somatic nuclear transfer A laboratory
particular domestic animals for breeding to
technique for creating a fertilized ovum
encourage the development of desired traits
using a somatic cell (ordinary body cell) to
over the generations.
create a clone of the organism.
semiconductor A substance whose
sonar A means of detecting objects and
resistance is intermediate between a
navigating under water by sending out sound
conductor and an insulator. The properties
waves and receiving their echoes.
of semiconductor devices can be controlled
and altered very exactly, making them vital space probe An unpiloted vehicle (other
in modern electronics. than an Earth satellite) that is designed to
explore space.
sensory nerve A nerve that transmits
information about the environment (touch, space station A human-occupied orbiting
taste, etc.) to the central nervous system. structure for the purposes of carrying out
experiments, observations, etc.
sepal One of a set of petal-like or leaf-like
space-time The three dimensions of space
base of a ower outside the petals. combined with time in a single continuum.
sex cell See gamete. species A particular kind of living thing,
often dened in terms of the ability of
sextant A navigational instrument designed
individuals of that species to mate and
to measure the altitude of an object, such as
produce fully fertile offspring (although this
the Sun above the horizon at noon.
denition does not work for all cases).
sexual reproduction Reproduction that
specic heat capacity The quantity of heat
involves the fusion of two gametes (sex
required to raise the temperature of a unit
cells) to produce a new individual.
mass of a given substance by one degree.
SI unit A unit in the international system of
spectroscope A machine that measures and
measure based on the metre, kilogram,
analyses spectra.
second, ampere, kelvin, candela, and mole.
spectroscopy The study and measurement
silicon A semi-metallic element related to
of spectra.
carbon, which is a constituent of many of
Earths rocks. spectrum (plural: spectra) Originally, light
separated by refraction so that its different
wavelengths (colours) are spread out in
sequence. The term is now also applied to
other electromagnetic radiation, and also to
refer to characteristic patterns of radiation
given off by particular sources.
speed The rate at which something is
moving. See also velocity.
sperm A male sex cell (gamete) that can
move to locate a female cell. All animals
and some lower plants produce sperm.
spherical trigonometry Trigonometry
modied to apply to the surface of a sphere
rather than a at surface.
sporozoite A stage in the life cycle of some
microscopic parasites.
square root A number which when
multiplied by itself yields a given number.
stade (1) An ancient Greek unit of
measurement. (2) A period of geological
time when glaciers have stopped retreating.
stamen The male organ of a ower. See also
anther.
standard model The principle theoretical
framework of particle physics, combining
theories on how three of the four fundamental
forces interact (electromagnetism and the
strong and weak nuclear forces) with 12 basic
particles (six quarks and six leptons).
star A huge luminous ball of ionized gas
(plasma) whose energy emissions are
powered by nuclear reactions in its core.
static electricity Phenomena involving
non-moving electric charges on objects.
stem cell A type of cell in the body that is
able to divide and grow into other more
specialized cells.
sterilization (1) Giving special treatment to
equipment to kill life forms such as harmful
bacteria. (2) Rendering an animal infertile by
performing an operation, using radiation, etc.
stethoscope A diagnostic instrument used
to listen to sounds within the body, especially
the chest.
stigma The top of the female part of a ower
(pistil). It is usually sticky to receive pollen.
stratigraphy The study of rock layers.
stratopause The boundary between the
stratosphere and mesosphere.
stratosphere The part of Earths atmosphere
between the troposphere and mesosphere.
stratus cloud Usually low cloud and in the
form of at sheets, often bringing light rain.
style The stalk that supports a stigma.
subatomic particle A particle smaller than
an atom or its nucleus, such as a proton,
neutron, or electron.
subduction boundary A boundary between
two tectonic plates in the deep ocean where
one plate is being pushed beneath the other.
submersible A usually small vessel for
underwater exploration.
substance Any kind of matter.
sunspot A region of the Suns surface whose
temperature is temporarily lowered and
which therefore appears darker than its
surroundings in images.
superconductivity Phenomenon in which
some substances lose all electrical
resistance close to absolute zero.
supernova An enormous explosion taking
place at the end of the life of a very large star.
supersonic Faster than the speed of sound.
surface tension The effect that makes a
liquid seem as though it has an elastic
skin, caused by cohesion between the
surface molecules.
suspension A mixture of tiny solid particles
or globules of liquid in a surrounding medium.
switch A device that turns an electric
current on or off, or more generally changes
something from one state to another.
synapse A junction between two nerve
cells, or between a nerve cell and a muscle
or gland cell.
synthesis The combining of separate parts
or different theories to make a whole.
taxonomy The classication of living things,
and also the principles behind classication.
tectonic Relating to the structure of Earths
crust and its movements. See also plate
tectonics.
telophase The nal stage of mitosis and
of each part of meiosis, in which a nuclear
membrane forms around each set of
separated chromosomes.
temperature A measure of how hot or cold
something is.
theodolite A surveying instrument that
measures angles using a rotating telescope.
theorem A mathematical rule or statement,
especially a truth that is not self-evident but
which can be proved by reasoning.
thermal (1) Relating to heat (adjective). (2) A
current of rising hot air in the atmosphere.
thermodynamics The branch of physics
dealing with the relationship between heat
and other forms of energy.
thermoelectric effect Any of various effects
that can occur when there are temperature
differences in an electric circuit.
thermosphere The layer of Earths
atmosphere above the mesosphere.
three dimensions (3-D) Length, breadth,
and depth.
tissue Living material made up of broadly
similar kinds of cells and performing a
particular function: for example, nerve
tissue, muscle tissue.
topography The study of landforms.
torque A twisting force.
trace elements Elements that are needed
in only minute amounts by living things.
trade wind A wind that blows from the
southeast or northeast all the year round
in equatorial regions.
transformer A device that increases voltage
while decreasing current, or vice versa. It
works only with alternating currents.
transfusion The transfer of blood from a
donor to a recipient.
transistor A semiconductor electronic device
that acts as a switch, amplier, or rectier.
translocation (1) A situation where part
of one chromosome has moved to another
location, either on the same chromosome
or a different one. (2) Movement of materials
through a plant.
transmission The conveying of something
from one place to another.
transmutation (1) The evolutionary
change of one species into another. (2) The
conversion of one kind of atom to another
through a nuclear reaction.
transparent Allowing light or other
radiation to pass through.
transpiration The loss of water from
the surfaces of a plant, especially from
its leaves.
transplant A tissue or organ taken from one
part of the body to be placed in another part,
or in another individual.
transverse wave A wave whose to-and-fro
movement takes place at right angles to the
line that the wave is travelling. Light waves
are an example.
triangulation A method of surveying by
measuring angles and distances using the
mathematical properties of triangles.
trigonometry The branch of mathematics
dealing with calculations involving the sides
and angles of triangles.
tropical Relating to the warm regions of
Earth that lie between the Tropic of Cancer
(23.5 north of the equator) and the Tropic of
Capricorn (23.5 south of the equator), or to
climates typical of those regions.
tropopause In Earths atmosphere,
the boundary between the troposphere
and stratosphere.
troposphere The lowest layer of Earths
atmosphere, starting from ground level,
where most weather events take place.
tsunami A water wave, sometimes of huge
size, generated by an earthquake, underwater
landslide, or other major disturbance.
turbine A rotating wheel driven by water, or
moving gas or air, in order to provide power.
ultrasound Sound with a frequency above
that which the human ear can detect.
ultraviolet A type of electromagnetic
radiation with wavelengths shorter than
visible light.
uncertainty principle The quantum physics
principle that it is impossible to measure
both the position and momentum of objects
at the subatomic level exactly, because the
observation of one changes the other.
Universe Traditionally, a term for the
totality of everything that exists. Now often
used for everything created as a result of the
Big Bang, which leaves open the possibility
of other universes existing.
urine A uid that most animals discharge to
get rid of waste products and excess water.
vaccine A special preparation of substances
that stimulate an immune response, used
for inoculation.
vacuum A space in which there is no matter.
(In real-life examples a vacuum is only
approximate.)
vacuum tube A sealed tube, usually glass,
from which most air has been removed and
which contains electrodes. Application of
electricity causes a beam of electrons to be
emitted from the negative electrode
(cathode). It is a general term and includes
various devices used or formerly used in
electronics. Also called an electron tube.
valency The number of chemical bonds that
an atom can make with another atom.
valve A device or structure that restricts
the ow of uid or electricity to one
direction. In electrical contexts it refers to a
kind of vacuum tube.
Van der Waals bond A relatively weak kind
of chemical bond.
vascular circulation The circulation of
blood through blood vessels (arteries,
capillaries, and veins) and back to the heart.
vein A blood vessel leading back towards
the heart. See also vascular circulation.
velocity Speed in a particular direction.
Vernier scale A small movable, graduated
scale added to a larger scale for increased
accuracy in precision measuring
instruments, named after Pierre Vernier.
virus (1) Tiny parasitic non-cellular
life-forms consisting mainly of genes with a
protective coat that are able to hijack living
cells to make copies of themselves. (2) A
piece of computer software that can spread
itself through computer systems in a
manner similar to a biological virus.
visible light Electromagnetic radiation with
wavelengths that can be detected as light by
the eye.
vitamin Any of various organic compounds
needed in small amounts in the diet to
preserve health.
viviparous Giving birth to live young as
distinct from eggs.
voltage See potential difference.
voltaic cell A device that converts the energy
of a chemical reaction directly into electricity;
colloquially, a battery. See also battery.
volume (1) The amount of space something
takes up. (2) The loudness of a sound.
vulgar fraction A fraction expressed as one
number divided by another rather than using
decimal points.
wave A regular oscillation in intensity or
concentration. Waves typically travel in a
particular direction or directions and
transmit energy in that direction.
wavelength The distance between each
successive peak or crest of a series of waves.
weak force The force in atomic nuclei
responsible for beta decay. It is so called in
comparison with the strong force.
weak interaction Another name for the
weak force.
white dwarf A small, faint, very dense star,
thought to represent the nal stage of
evolution of stars below a certain mass.
World Wide Web A vast network on the
Internet for gathering and exchanging data
and documents through hypertext links.
worm gear A gear arrangement in which
one of the gears is a cylinder with grooves
cut in it.
X-ray diffraction A technique of beaming
X-rays at materials to obtain information
about their internal structure by analysing
the diffraction patterns produced; also
called X-ray crystallography.
X-rays A type of high-energy, high-
frequency electromagnetic radiation.
381
 INDEX
Page numbers in bold indicate main agricultural revolution, early founding 38 Egypt 22 hormone 329
treatements of a topic. stages 137 invention 46 Malpighi 372 see also hunger
agriculture 13 new 92 story of 7879 Apple
Aguilera, Diego Marin 163 Noether 372 Verheyen 123 name of computer 185
Agulhas Current 154 symbols 103 Vesalius 76, 374 Apple Computer Inc. 307, 318

A
A Brief History of Time 304, 322
A Treatise on Electricity and
AI 334, 335
Aibo 335
AIDS 301, 318
naming 314
airbrakes 210, 211
Magnetism 215 Airbus A380 241, 300, 341
A380 Airbus 241, 300, 341 aircraft
AB blood group 238 Ader ole 226
abacus 184 Stringfellows 196, 199
first mention 41 types 24041
in Europe 49 Wright Brothers 238, 239
Abbe, Ernst 115 airfield radar 133
Abel, Frederick 225 airship 240
Abel, John 233 first 201
Abelson, Philip 272 hot-air 128
Able, monkey 288 Zeppelin 236
ABO blood groups 237 Airy, George 201
Abraham, Edward 272 aither 28
absolute zero 125, 199 Ajax 93
Abu Kamil 48 al-Abbas, Abu ibn 49
Abu Yusuf Yaqub Ibn Ishaqal- al-Asmai 43
Kindi see Al-Kindi al-Battani 48
Academia Secretorum Naturae 83 al-Baytar, Ibn 59
Accademia dei Lincei 95 al-Biruni 51
Accademia del Cimento 110 al-Bitruji 58
acceleration 56, 353 al-Dakhwar 59
and gravity 245, 252 al-Din, Taqi 81, 88
and laws of motion 121 al-Farabi 48
equations 355, 357 al-Fazari Ibrahim 43, 48
acetylcholine 252, 255 al-Haytham, Abu Ali ibn 50
acetylene 191 al-Jayyani, Abu Abdallah ibn
acetylsalycilic acid 232, 233 Muadh 51
Acheson, Edward Goodrich 228 al-Jazari, Ibn Ismail 58, 62
Acheulian tools 12 automata 334
Achilles tendon 123 al-Kashi, Jamshid 68
achromatic lens 136 al-Kaysarani 57
achromatic microscope 114, 115 al-Khazini, Abu 49, 56
acid-base al-Khujandi 49
reaction 175 al-Khwarizmi 46, 56, 58, 368
theory 256 al-Kindi 46, 368
acidity, Srenson 374 al-Marindi, Maswijah 50
acoustics, early 29 al-Nafis, Ibn 59
acquired characteristics, al-Nasawi 51
inheritance 169 al-Qalasadi, Ali 68, 69
acquired immunodeficiency al-Quhi, Abu Sahl 50
syndrome see AIDS al-Razi (Rhazes) 43, 47, 48, 368,
action-reaction 121 373
active transport 195 al-Saati 57
acupuncture 32, 90 al-Shatir, ibn 67
Adams, John Couch 198 al-Sijzi 49
adaptive radiation 204, 236 al-Zahrawi 49
Adelard of Bath 56 Alberti, Friedrich 191
adenine 284, 285 Alberti, Leon Battista 68, 70
adenosine triphosphate 272 Albinus, Bernhard Siegfried 142
Ader, Clment 226 Albucasis 49
Ader ole 226 alchemy 43, 46, 48, 86, 93
adrenal glands 81 Alcmaeon of Croton 28
adrenaline 229 see also alcohol 47, 79
epinephrine Aldrin, Buzz 297, 298
stress 248 Aldrovandi, Ulisse 94
ADSL 333 alembic 43
Advisory Group on Greenhouse Aleutian Islands 140
Gases 322 Alexander of Tralles 41
aeolipile 33, 170 Alfonsine tables 61
aerial carriage 240 Alfvn, Hannes 273
aether 224, 244 algebra 58, 68, 72, 80
Aetius 41 Al-Khwarizmi 368
Afrwedson, Johann 179 Bombellis book 87
Agassiz, Louis 192 Boole 368
Agricola, Georgius 80, 82 Diophantus 369
agricultural chemistry 149 first book in English 82
Algebra, first general work 71
algebraic symbols, introduction
103
ALH8400 meteorite 330, 331
Alhazen 50, 60, 61
Anaximander 24
anchor escapement 110
Anderson, Carl 264, 269
Android operating system 346, 347
android robot 334
see also iPad, iPhone
applied mathematics 72
aqualung 274
aqueducts 32
Aquinas, St Thomas 57
biography 368 Andromeda nebula/galaxy 256, Arab medicine 59
Alighieri, Dante 64 257 Arabic numerals 58
Allbutt, Thomas 91 Andry, Nicolas 126 Arabidopsis genome sequence 337
alleles 202, 248 anemograph 146 Arago spot 134
Allen, Charles 118 anemometer 146 Arago, Franois 179
allergy 295 aneroid barometer 146 Arber, Werner 301
allotropy 193 angles, units of measurement 352, Arbuthnot, John 122
alloys 14, 180 354 arch, in architecture 37
Almagest, Ptolemy 37 ngstrm, Anders Jonas 202, 208, Archaea, classification 360
alpha decay 267 210 Archaeopteryx 202
alpha particles (rays) 246, 250, biography 368 Berlin 208, 209
253, 266, 267 Anguillara 80 fossils 165
as helium nuclei 246 animal behaviour 269, 307 Archean eon 366
naming 236 Lorenz 269, 372 Archer, Frederick Scott 200
Alpher, Ralph 279 Tindbergen 269, 281, 292 Archigenes 36
Alpini, Prospero 88 see also ethology Archimedes 30, 31, 34
Alter, David 202 animal domestication 13, 14 biography 368
alternating current 224 animalcules 116 Archimedean solids 26
aluminium 186, 359 animals Archimedes Claw 31
from electrolysis 224 classification 360, 36263 Archimedes Principle 31
Whler 374 in space 298 Archimedes screw 24, 30
Alvarez, Luis 278, 311, 325 Rays classification 123 architecture, arch in 37
biography 368 Anning, Mary 165, 176, 182, 187 Arderne, John 67
Alzheimer, Alois 237, 319 biography 368 Ardipithecus ramidus 347
Alzheimer, report on 243 anode, vacuum diode 239 Arduino, Giovanni 148
Alzheimers disease 237, 319, 320, Anopheles mosquito 131, 228, 229 Aretaeus of Cappadocia 36
321 Antarctica 148 Argand, Alm 155
AM, amplitude modulation 317 Amundsen and Scott 248 argon 229, 232, 359
America, naming of continent 72 first sightings 181 Ramsey 373
americium 275, 359 terrain under the ice 348 Ariane rocket 310, 311
Amici, Giovanni 188, 189 Anthemius of Tralles 40 Ariel 200
amino acids 285 anthracite 173 Aristarchus of Samos 28, 30
and genetic code 295 anthrax 217, 221 biography 368
and proteins 243 anti-atoms 330, 331 Aristotle 28, 29
chains 281 antibiotics 272 banned works 58, 59
isolation 173 pills 90 biography 368
ammonia 80, 242, 249 resistance 272, 278 marine life 292
ammonites 80, 164 penicillin 262 projectiles in motion 120
amniocentesis 296 antibodies 226, 291, 295 arithmetical progression 40
Amontons, Guillaume 125 antigen-antibody interaction 232 arithmometer 184
Amontons friction law 125 Antikythera mechanism Arkwright, Richard 151
Ampre, Andre-Marie 181 astronomical calculator 21 biography 368
biography 368 bronze gearing 184 Armagh Observatory 161
law 356 gear wheels 62 armillary sphere
ampere, definition 352 navigation at sea 292 attached to clock 43
Amundsen, Roald 248 predicting eclipses 32 Guo Shoujing 61, 374
anaesthesia recovered from shipwreck 63 Zhang Heng 36, 62
chloroform 199 antimatter 262, 264, 331 Zhang Sixun 49
early 60 antisepsis 58 Armstrong, Neil 297, 298, 299
first general 172 Lister 209 Arnold, John 154
first local 223 Semmelweis 373 ARPANET 302
general 172, 198, 199 surgery 210 Arrhenius, Svante 256
Long 196, 199 antiseptic medicine, Lister 372 biography 368
Snow 374 Apain, Peter 73 arrows 13
analemma 137 apeiron 24 Ars Magna 80
analogue sound 219 Apollo programme 290, 29899 Arsenale 56
analytic geometry 26, 27 Apollo 11 297 arsenic 14, 359
analytical balance 85 Apollo 13 300 in Salvarsan 247
Analytical Engine 184, 190, 191, Apollo 17 303 arthropods, classification 362
197 final missions 303 artificial heart 297, 314, 315, 331
Anatomia 64, 65 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project 306 artificial intelligence 280, 281,
anatomy 43 Apollodorus 37 334, 335
Albinus 142 Apollonius of Perga 31 artificial skin 312
ancient Greece 31 Appert, Nicholas 163, 177 Aryabhata 39, 306
Arabic 49 appetite Asclepiades of Bithynia 32
Colombo 82 ghrelin 336 ASDICS 254

382
Asher, Richard 281 Oppenheimer 373 bacteria becquerel, definition 353 microwave background 294
ASIMO 335, 337 test, post-war 278 classification 360 Beddoes, Thomas 167 see also Universe, origin
Asimov, Isaac 334 atomic clock 109, 286 methane-producing 243 Bede 43 Big Chill, Universe 345
Asimovs laws 334 atomic fission 268 bacteriology Beebe, Charles 268 Big Crunch, Universe 345
Asperger, Hans 274 atomic force microscope 115, 320 Delbrck 369 beer 167 Bikini Atoll 278, 283
Aspergillus 311 atomic mass 250, 251, 266 Koch 371 Beer, Wilhelm 188 Billings, Roger 325
aspirin 149, 232, 233 table of elements 359 bacteriophage 253, 273 Beertema, Piet 322 binary numbers 117, 184
how it works 302 atomic nuclear forces Baekeland, Leo 243, 260 Beijerinck, Martinus 233 binary stars 155, 169
trademarked 236 Salam 373 biography 368 Bell Burnell, Jocelyn 296 binnacle compass 132
assembly line 149 Weinberg 374 patent application 247 biography 368 Binnig, Gerd 313
Astbury, William 270 atomic number 249 Baer, Ralph 303 Bell X-1 278 binomial classification 139
asteroid table of elements 359 Baillie, Matthew 162 Bell, Alexander Graham 216, 217, biochemistry 190
323 Brucia 227 atomic radius 250 Baird, John Logie 258, 259, 262 316 founding 137
extinction of dinosaurs 311, 324, atomic structure 25051 biography 368 biography 368 biodiversity 328, 329
325 Bohr 368 Bakelite 243, 260, 368 Bell, Charles 177 biogeography 216
Trojan 242 Chadwick 369 patent 247 Bellingshausen, Fabien 181 biology 169
astrarium 67 Goeppert-Mayer 370 Baker, monkey 288 Bellini, Lorenzo 111 biomechanics 117
astrolabe 43, 46, 48, 87, 132 Pauli 373 Bakhtishu, Jurjish ibn 43 Benda, Carl 233 biosphere 216, 259
astronauts atomic theory Bakshali manuscript 37 Benedetti, Giambattista 81 Biot, Jean-Baptiste 178
Armstrong 297, 298, 299 Bokovi 145 balance spring 110 Benot, J. B. 229 biography 368
Aldrin 297, 298 Dalton 172 balance, weighing 85 Benz, Karl 220 bird flu 332, 349
first Chinese 339 early 24 Balard, Antoine 186, 187 and automobile 223 Birkhoff, George 256
Gagarin 290 Gassendi 106, 107 balloon biography 368 bismuth 267, 359
Shephard 298 see also atoms, structure hot-air 128, 156, 240 benzene 186, 209 bitumen 14, 19
see also Apollo, Gemini, Vostok atomic weights 187 hydrogen 156 Berg, Paul 303 Bjerknes, Jacob 297
astronomical clock 87, 108, 109 verification 180 Montgolfier Brothers 156, 240 biography 368 biography 368
astronomical unit 116 ATP 195, 272, 273 ballpoint pen 225 beriberi 233 black body 236
astronomy 36465 Audubon, John James 186, 187 Balmer, Johann 223 Bering, Vitus 136, 140 radiation 220, 228
ancient 18 Augusta of Saxe-Coburg 148 Baltimore, David 300, 301 Bering Strait 137 Black Death 66
ancient Greece 28, 31 aurora borealis 288 Banks, Joseph 151 Berkley, Bishop George 138 black hole 54, 55, 296
Aristarchus 368 link with magnetism 134 biography 368 Berliner, Emile 218 Cygnus X-1 303
Bode 368 Australopithecine, nutcracker Banting, Frederick 255 and gramophone 224 Hawking 304
C & W Herschel 371 skull 288, 289 Barbaro, Ermolao 71 Bernal, John 259 naming 294
Cassini 369 Australopithecus 12 barber-surgeons 83 Bernard of Verdun 61 prediction 156
Chandrasekhar 369 A. afarensis 304, 343 instruments, surgical 213 Bernard, Claude 201, 269 supermassive 333
Copernicus 76 see also Lucy, Selam Barber, John 161, 170 Berners-Lee, Tim 323, 324, 368 black niello 16
Halley 371 autism 274 Bardeen, John 368 Bernoulli, Daniel 134 black smokers 308
Hertzsprung 371 autochrome 243 Barghoorn, Elso 308 biography 368 Black, James 291
Hevelius 371 automata 58, 87, 334 barium 359 Hydrodynamics 139 Black, Joseph 144, 149, 150
Hipparchus 371 automobile Davy 369 Bernoulli, Jacob 129 biography 368
Hubble 371 Benz 368 discovery 153 Bernoulli, Johann 124, 368 Blanchard, Jean 156, 157, 246
Huygens 371 da Vincis 6263 barley 13, 15 Bernoulli, Nicolas 129 Blriot, Louis 246, 247
Jeans 371 first 223 Barnard, Christiaan 296, 297 Bernoullis principle 139, 368 Bloch, Felix 278
Leavitt 371 see also car biography 368 beryllium 166, 359 block and tackle 35
Lockyer 372 auxins 262 barograph 146 Whler 374 blocks, pulley 35
Mayan 39 Avenzoar 78 barometer 106, 118 Berzelius, Jns Jakob 176, 179, blood
Mitchell 372 Averros 57 first 105 187, 189 bag, surgical 212
Olbers 373 Avery, Oswald 274 portable 123 allotrope 193 banks 253
Spitzer 374 Avicenna 50, 56 types 146 biography 368 cells and vessels 110, 111
see also Hubble Space Telescope Avicenna see Ibn Sina Barry, James 177 proteins 193 circulation 59, 98, 102
astrophysics, Russell 373 Avogadro, Amedeo 176 Bartholin, Thomas 107 Bessel, Friedrich 193, 197 clotting 294
asymmetric digital subscriber line biography 368 Bartholomew the Englishman 59 Bessemer, Henry 202 groups 236, 237
333 Avogadros Law 356 Barton, Otis 268 biography 368 blood pressure 91
Atkinson, Robert 263 avoirdupois weights 64 baryons, and cosmology 344 Best, Charles 255 first measurement 135
Atlantic convergence 126 axes 12 base pairs, in DNA 284, 285 beta blood transfusion 112, 113, 252
atmosphere axle 21 Basel Problem 105 decay 267 first 180
and global warming 32627 simple machine 34 baskets 14 particle 266, 267 blood sugar regulation 255
height 51 ayurvedic medicine 33 Basov, Nikolay 283 radiation, naming 236 Bloor, Walter 258
layers 238 azidothymidine 294 Bassi, Laura 137 beta-amyloid 319, 321 Blucher 178
see also CFCs, climate change, AZT 294 biography 368 beta-blockers 291 blue ray laser 331
global warming for AIDS 321 Bateson, William 242 Betamax video 306 blueshift 263
atmosphere engine 122, 125 Aztecs 21 bathysphere 268 Bether, Hans 54 Bluetooth 336
atmospheric chlorofluorocarbons bats, echolocation 270, 274 bevel gears 63 Blundell, James 180
see CFCs batteries 167 Bevis, Douglas 296 BluRay 342
atmospheric pressure
and altitude 118
Guericke 370
measuring 106
atoms
B
Baade, Walter 268
Babbage, Charles 182, 184
NiCad
NiMH 323
Volta 374
wet cell 167
Baumann, Eugen 215, 260
Bevis, John 139
Bewick, Thomas 166
Beyer, Peter 337
Bharke, Rudolphine Tables 102
Bhaskara II 56
boats 19, 22
Bode, Johann Elert 368
Boeing 367-80/707 283
Boeing 707 287
Boeing 747 241, 300, 341
and compounds 174 Analytical Engine 190, 191 Bayeux tapestry 52 Bible, Gutenberg 70 Boerhaave, Hermann 91, 128
and cosmology 345 biography 368 Bayt al-Hikma 46 bicycle 179 chemistry book 137
Bohrs quantum model 249 and Lovelace 197 BCG vaccine 242, 243 first pedal 193 Boethius 40
plum pudding model 239 concept of calculator 185 first trials 255 first practical 210 Bohlin, Anders 259
Saturnian model 239 Bacille Calmette Gurin (BCG) 243 Beadle, George 273 gearing 63 Bohr, Niels 249
splitting 265 BackRub 332 Beagle 191, 206 Big Bang biography 368
structure of 25051 backstaff 133 beam-balance 85 COBE 328 quantum theory 258
see also atomic structure, atomic Bacon, Francis 368 Beaumont, William 182 coining name 280, 344 Bolle, Amdee 227
theory Bacon, Francis 96, 98, 99, 102 BEC 33, 331 cosmic inflation 311 Bolton, Elmer 263
atomic absorption spectrometer biography 368 Becher, Johann 124 early mention 259 Boltwood, Bertram 243
282 Bacon, Roger 60 Becquerel, Antoine-Henri 232, elements of 279 Boltzmann, Ludwig 210, 215, 220,
atomic bomb 271, 275 biography 368 233, 236, 266 Gamow 370 223
Fermi 370 Baconian method 96 biography 368 Guth 370 Bolyai, Jnos 183

383
 bomb hydraulics 163 see also automobile Schwann 373
atomic 271, 275
hydrogen 280
nuclear 268
test 282, 283
thermonuclear 281
Branca, Giovanni 102, 103
Brand, Hennig 113
Brandenburger, Jacques E. 246
Brandt, George 138
Bransfield, Edward 181
C
Cade, John 280
cadmium 179, 359
Caraka Samhita 32, 33
carbolic acid 209
carbolic spray, surgical 213
carbon 359
pure forms 166
see also meiosis, mitosis
cell division 194, 285
see also meiosos, mitosis
cell membrane 194, 195
cell programming 343
weapons 59 brass 14 Caenorhabditis worm 333 carbon-14 272 Cell Theory 194
Bombe 185 Braun, Karl 232 Caesarian section 221 carbon chemistry, Kekul 371 cell wall 195
Bombelli, Rafael 87 breast cancer 42 caesium 359 carbon cycle 259 cellophane 246, 260
Bond, William 199 Bretonneau, Pierre 186, 187 atom 250 carbon dioxide cellphone 317
bonds, chemical 106, 174, 271 Breuer, Josef 228 discovery 207 and global warming 324, 32627 see also mobile phone
bone anatomy 122 Brewster, David 179 measuring time 109 Black 368 celluloid 211, 260, 261
bone marrow transplant 288 biography 369 Cajal, Ramn y 229, 373 discovery of 144 cellulose 261
Bonner, James 271 Brewsters Angle 179 calcium 359 emissions 332 Celsius scale 140
Bonnet, Charles 141, 144, 148, 368 bridges compounds 175 fixed air 151 Celsius, Anders 140, 369
Bontius, Jacobus 105 Brooklyn 222 calculating machines respiration 195 Celsus 32
Book of Ingenious Devices 62 early 37 Babbage 185 carbon nanotubes 325 Celts 20
Book of Optics 50 early Chinese 41 Leibniz 113 carbon paper 173 Census of Marine Life 293
Boole, George 201 Ironbridge 154 story of 18485 carbonated drinks 151 Centigrade 140
biography 368 suspension 168, 179, 186 calculators Carboniferous period 366 central processing unit (CPU) 302
Boolean logic 201 briks 13 Leibniz 113 carborundum 228 centre of gravity 38, 56
Booth, Edgar 262 Brin, Sergey 332 mechanical, Pascal 105 Cardano, Gerolamo 80, 88 centre of mass 101
Booth, Hubert Cecil 237 British Antarctic Survey 319 pocket 302 Carina Nebula 54 centrosome 194
Borelli, Giovanni 117 broadband internet 332, 333 story of 18485 Carlisle, Anthony 167 ceramics 13
Borgognoni, Hugo and Teodorico Broca, Paul 208 calculus Carlisle, Harry 275 and glass 23
60 biography 369 criticism 138 Carnot, Nicholas Leonard Sadi ceraunia 134, 135
Borough, Steven 89 Brock, Thomas 297 dispute over priority 129 183, 190 cereals 13
Borschberg, Andr 347 Brodmann, Korbinian 247 early form 57 biography 369 Ceres 168, 169
Bosch, Carl 242, 248, 249 Broecker, Wallace 306 Lagrange 157, 166 Carnot cycle 183, 369 Cerf, Vint 303
biography 368 bromine 186, 187, 359 Leibniz 129 Carothers, Wallace 261, 268, 270 Cesalpino, Andrea 89
Bose, Satyendranath 257, 368 Brnsted, Johannes 256 Newton 112, 129 cars see automobile, car Cesi, Federico 95
Bose-Einstein Condensate 330, bronze 14, 15 calendar 108 Carson, Rachel Louise 290, 291, CFCs 287, 304, 319
331 early 16, 17 first 19 369 limiting 321
Bose-Einstein statistics 369 spread of 18 Gregorian 89 Cartesian measuring 287
Bokovi, Ruder Josip 144, 145 Brooklyn Bridge 222 Islamic 53 coordinates 104 Lovelock 372
bosons 257, 304, 357 Brown, Barnum 238 Julian 89 geometry 369 Montreal Protocol 321
and cosmology 344 Brown, Louise 308, 309 Maya 25, 32, 39 system 27 Chadwick, James 264, 265
early mention 258 Brown, Robert 186, 187, 189 reform of 61 cartography 71 biography 369
Higgs 346 Brownian motion 186, 187, 242, Shoujing 374 Corts 89 chain reaction 268, 270, 271, 273,
W 315 243 californium 280, 359 Mercator 86 275
Z 315 Bruce double-astrograph 227 calipers 85 see also maps and mapmaking Chain, Ernst Boris 272
botany 88, 94 Bruce, David 239 Callisto 97, 150 Cartwright, Edmund 156, 157 chain, surveying 85
Botany Bay 151 Brunel, Isambard Kingdom Calmette, Albert 242 Caruthers, Marvin 319 Challenger Deep 289
botany, Banks 368 Great Britain 197 first BCG trials 255 Casserius, Julius 93 Challenger, ship 147, 215, 217, 293
botox 322 Great Western 192, 193 caloric 166 Cassini, Giovanni Domenico 111, Challenger, Shuttle disaster 320
botulinum toxin, botox 322 biography 369 calorimeter, ice 154 112, 113, 116, 117 Chambers, Ephraim 136
Bouchard, Pierre 166, 167 Brunel, Marc Isambard 197 calotype 191 biography 369 Chambers, Robert 369
Bouchon, Basil 135 Brunelleschi, Filippo 68, 69 Calvin, Melvin 280 Cassini, spacecraft 341 Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan
Bouguer, Pierre 136, 142, 143 Brunfels, Otto 73 calx 124 Cassini III 141 369
Boulton, Matthew 149, 150 Bruno, Giordano 94, 95 calymene, fossils 164 Cassini division 116, 369 Chandrasekhar limit 369
Bouvet Island 139 Bryson, Bill 250 Cambrian period 367 Cassini map projection 141 chaos theory 291
Boveri, Theodor 226, 238 BSE 314 camera Cassini-Huygens mission 341 Chappe, Claude 161, 316
Bovet, Daniel 268 buboes 66 first 192 Cassini, Jacques, size of Earth 138 biography 369
bovine spongiform encephalitis bubonic plague 41, 66, 67 Kodak 225 Cassiodorus, Flavius 40 Chargaff, Erwin 279, 369
314 Buchner, Eduard 232 see also photography Cassiopeia 87 chariots 20, 23, 62, 63
BSE 314 bucket orchid 205 camera lucida 173 cast iron 22, 128 Charles, Jacques 156, 169
bows 1213, 51 Buckland, William 180, 182, 183 camera obscura 61, 86, 87, 186 cast-iron mould 16 Charless Law 356
composite 22 Buckminster Fuller, Richard 319 Camerarius, Rudolf 123 casting metal 15, 16 Charlotte Dundas 172
Boyer, Herbert 303 buckminsterfullerene 319 Cameron, James 293 catapult 66 charts, portolan 132
Boyle, Robert 110, 111, 369 buckyballs 319 Camman, George 90 catastrophe theory 186, 188, 369 Chase, Martha 282
isolates hydrogen 113 Buffon, Georges 142 camshaft 58 catastrophism, Cuvier 369 Chtelet, milie du 369
gas laws 169 biography 369 canals, China 41 Catesby, Mark 136, 137 chemical compounds 17475
Boyles Law 111, 356 bulb, electric light 176, 220 cancer cathode ray tube 233, 248 chemical reactions 17475
Bozzini, Philip 91 Edison 176 cells 295 cathode rays 232 chemical symbols 160
brachiopod 40 first 207 oncogenes 314 Crookes 369 established 176
Bradley, James 135, 136, 142 Swan 374 radiotherapy 267 cathode, vacuum diode 239 chemistry
Bradley, Raymond 336 incandescent 176, 207 therapy, targeted 338 Cauchy, Baron Augustin-Louis 369 Arab 43
Bragg, William Lawrence 249 bulkhead 37 Warburg 374 caulking 14 as a science 160
Brahe, Tycho 87, 88, 92, 94, 369 Bunsen, Robert 169, 202, 206, 207 candela, definition 352 cautery, surgical 212 Berzelius 368
Brahmagupta 42 buoyancy 3031 cannon Cavendish, Henry 150, 166, 229 Cavendish 369
Brahmasphutasiddhanta 42 Buran 299 earliest surviving 61 and water 156 Liebig 372
Brahms, Albert 144 Burgess Shale 246, 247 in Europe 65, 67 biography 369 organic 187
Braille, Louis 183 Buridan, Jean 56, 66 Canon of Medicine 50 Caventou, Joseph 181 periodic table of the elements
brain Burke, John F. 313 canopic jar 78 Cayley, George 201 358
and electricity 214 Burroughs I, William 225 Cantor, Georg 216 CD (compact disc) 219, 314 Whler 374
Broca 369 Burt, William 188 apek, Karel 334 Cecil, Jack 255 chemotherapy 246
functional areas 247 Burton, Richard Francis 203 Capella, Martianus 38, 39 Celera Genomics 347 Cherenkov, Pavel Alekseyevich
role of 32 Burton, Robert 99 capillaries 110, 111 cells, biological 112, 19495 369
brain scan 302 Bushnell, David 152, 153 capillary action 71 as the unit of life 193 Chernobyl explosion 320
brain-computer interface 340 butterflies, catalogue 131 car embryonic stem 313 chess, computer 332
Bramah, Joseph 156 butterfly effect 291 hydrogen-fuelled 324, 325 eukaryote 295, 300 Chicago pile-1 273
biography 369 steam-driven 238 pluripotent 312, 313, 343 Chicxulub Crater 324, 325

384
chimpanzee clocks 108109 early 51 Coriolis force 369 cytogenetics 286
genome 339 astronomical 67, 87 first 30 Cormick, Cyrus 190 cytoplasm 195, 222
first dissection 124, 125 atomic 286 lodestone 132 corn reaper 190 cytosine 284, 285
China chronometer 148 types 132 Corning Glass 301
first manned space mission 339 Huygens 371 Shen Kuo 373 corona, Sun 54, 55
space programme 300
Chinese remainder theorem 39
Chirikov, Aleksey 140
Chirurgia magna 67
Chladni, Ernst 163
mass-produced 178
mechanical 62
quartz 259
Shoujing 374
Sixuns mercury 49
Shoujing 374
Compendium of Medicine 60
Complete Herbal 107
composite carbon 21
compound microscopes 114
Corts, Martin 89
Coryell, Charles 274
Cosmic Background Explorer 328
cosmic background microwave
radiation 294, 328, 339, 345
D
d-orbital 251
dAlembert, Jean Le Rond 140,
chlorine 359 striking 57 compounds cosmic inflation 311, 344 142, 143
as an element 176 weight-driven 64, 67 chemical 17475 cosmological constant 339 dAlibard, Thomas 143
discovery 153 clockwork 63 Proust 373 cosmology 304, 344 dArezzo, Guido 51
chlorofluorocarbons see CFCs model of solar system 127 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban cotton gin 162 dArlandes, Marquis 156
chloroform cloning 288, 319, 331 Treaty 331 cotton spinning 368 dHrelle, Felix 253
anaesthesia 199 goat 336 computers and computing cotton textiles 43 da Carpi, Berengario (Jacopo) 73,
chloroform-ether dropper, closed-cycle steam engine 171 Babbage 368 coulomb, definition 352 78
surgical 213 Clostridium botulinum, botox 322 Colossus 274 Coulombs Law 357 da Carpi, Jacopo 78
chlorophyll 117, 157, 192 cloth 13 Hopper 371 Couper, Archibald 202 da Gama, Vasco 72
artificial 289 clouds, types 172 laptop 313 Courtenay-Latimer, Marjorie 270 da Pisa, Giordano 61
chloroplast 117, 195 Clusius, Carolus 88 personal 302 Courtois, Bernard 177 da Vinci, Leonardo 63, 71, 369
cholera 105, 201 CMB 294, 328, 339 tablet 347 courtship behaviour 269 anatomy 78, 79
cholesterol 275 see also cosmic background Turing 374 Cousteau, Jacques 274 automobile 6263
statins 311 radiation computer chess 332 covalent bond 174, 253, 254 ornithopter 240
Chongzhi, Zu 39 CNRP 261 computer graphics 307 cowpox 163 da Vinci robot surgery 333, 334,
chordates, classification 363 co-evolution 205 computer program, first 197 Cox, Richard 186 335
chromatid 284 cobalt 138, 359 concave lens 50 CPU (central processing unit) 302 Daedalus 240
chromatin 221 COBE satellite 328 Concorde 241, 307 Crab Nebula 52 Daguerre, Louis 191, 192
chromatography 238 cocaine 223 concrete 31 cracking petroleum 270 biography 369
chromium 166, 359 Cockcroft, John 264, 265 reinforced 227 cranes, ancient Greece 33 daguerreotypes 191, 192, 369
chromosomes 194, 215, 222, 226, codex 39 water-setting 144, 145 crankshaft 58, 62 Dale, Henry 252
284 codon 285 conditioned reflex 243 crannequin 51 Dalton, John 168, 172, 369
artificial 343 coelacanth 271 conduction, electrical 136 Crawford, Adair 162 colour blindness 162, 163
as genetic material 238 coeliac disease 36 cone cells 210, 269 Cray-1 307