Pocket Genius Science: Scientific advances
Some scientific breakthroughs have changed the course of history.
Inventions such as the wheel, penicillin, and the World Wide Web have transformed people’s lives, while the development of theories on the laws of motion and natural selection have helped build our understanding of the universe.
Inventions and theories
An invention is something that humans have created that did not exist before. But scientists do not just come up with new inventions, they also develop new ways of thinking about how the world works.
Agriculture (c.9000 BCE)
The development of farming in Mesopotamia allowed people to settle in permanent communities for the first time. This led to the development of large towns, such as Babylon.
Invention of the wheel (c.3500 BCE)
Invented in Mesopotamia, the first wheels were used as potters wheels and were later attached to vehicles for transportation.
The Iron Age (c.1200–1000 BCE)
A new method was discovered to extract iron from iron ore through smelting (heating with carbon). Iron tools were harder and sharper than the bronze and stone tools of previous ages.
Invention of paper (c.50 BCE)
The Chinese produced the first paper from a mixture of tree bark, plant fibers, and rags mixed to a pulp and then squeezed flat.
Invention of gunpowder (c.800 CE)
China was also responsible for gunpowder, an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, which they used in fireworks and firearms.
Invention of printing (c.1450)
Johannes Gutenberg invented a new printing process using movable metal letters that made the mass production of books and newspapers possible.
The Laws of Motion (1687)
One of the leading scientists of his day, Sir Isaac Newton devised important theories explaining how gravity works and how things move.
The Age of Steam (1700–1900)
Steam engines could perform much more work than animals.
They were used to power everything from factory machinery to trains and helped kick-start the Industrial Revolution.
Natural selection (1859)
In his book On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin put forward the revolutionary theory that species gradually evolve (see page 140) into new forms through “natural selection.”
Invention of cars (1885)
The invention of the gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz at the end of the 19th century eventually brought the Age of Steam to an end.
X-rays discovered (1895)
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays, which can be used to produce images of bones inside the body.
This transformed medicine.
Discovery of polonium and radium (1898)
The French-Polish physicist Marie Curie discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium. Her work on radioactivity paved the way for a new understanding of atoms.
Albert Einstein (1905-16)
The Theory of Relativity (proposed in 1905 and completed in 1916) put forward by the physicist Albert Einstein fundamentally changed people’s understanding of time, space, matter, and energy.
Discovery of penicillin (1928)
Antibiotics have saved millions of lives. The first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by accident by Alexander Fleming, when he noticed a strange mold killing the bacteria in a Petri dish.
Invention of the microchip (1958)
The first computers were big and slow. However, Jack Kilby’s invention of the microchip (a set of electronic components etched on to a tiny silicon chip) allowed the development of smaller, faster computers.
Invention of the World Wide Web (1990)
The British computer scientist Tim Berners Lee linked up the world with his invention of the World Wide Web, a global computer communication system that uses the Internet.