Top 5 scientific discoveries in the 20th C
Discussion
Simpo Two said:
It comes down to how you define 'top'.
Plate tectonics and exoplanets may be major discoveries in their fields but they don't affect anyone's life.
The biggest changes to ordinary people's lives in the 20th C, globally, were probably advances in medicine and food storage/preservation. So discovering how to freeze food is probably a good candidate for the list.
I strongly disagree with your second sentence. My town & a large hinterland experienced major change in a 7.8 quake 2 yrs ago. Whilst loss of human life was minimal, the other effects were substantial. The Kaikoura quake lasted 2 minutes & 30 secs & ruptured 25 faults. World wide many quakes are much more devastating in human terms. My financial well-being has been & continues to be devastated. Examples abound, Japan & Indonesia in very recent memory.Plate tectonics and exoplanets may be major discoveries in their fields but they don't affect anyone's life.
The biggest changes to ordinary people's lives in the 20th C, globally, were probably advances in medicine and food storage/preservation. So discovering how to freeze food is probably a good candidate for the list.
Back on topic : Relativity, Anti-biotics & DNA.
I'm biased as Physics/Astrophysics is my 'thing', but here's my list.
1) The atomic nucleus (Rutherford) - this changed the model of the atom (from Thomson's 'Plum Pudding' model). With this, Planck's black body work (the idea of quantized energy) and Einstein's 1905 paper on the Photoelectric effect (quanta of light / E=hf) you have significant groundwork for Quantum Mechanics.
2) The Theory of General Relativity (A. E.) - Newton's theories described the effects of gravity, but never what it is and how it works. Einstein gave us spacetime, gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, black holes...
3) Quantum Mechanics (Niels Bohr et al.) - IMHO this is the great 20th century breakthrough. At a fundamental level, the universe is not deterministic/clockwork and there is inherent uncertainty. Influenced so much 20th C science; nuclear, solid state, quantum field theory, particle physics, the standard model and chemistry (valence electrons & shells).
4) Universal expansion (Hubble) - from this it's not difficult to imagine running the clock backwards to a point when the whole universe was in the same point and we arrive at the Big Bang. Subsequent measurements that show the expansion is accelerating opened a whole new area of research; dark energy.
5) Exoplanets - given the number of bodies orbiting our own (very) ordinary G-type star, it was always likely they were out there but it's a big deal to actually find them. Since the first confirmed discovery (~1995) we've found well over 3000. We're also close to our first confirmed exomoon too (Kepler-1625b-i).
Honourable mentions for Special Relativity, Information Theory, the structure of DNA and the Humbucking pickup.
1) The atomic nucleus (Rutherford) - this changed the model of the atom (from Thomson's 'Plum Pudding' model). With this, Planck's black body work (the idea of quantized energy) and Einstein's 1905 paper on the Photoelectric effect (quanta of light / E=hf) you have significant groundwork for Quantum Mechanics.
2) The Theory of General Relativity (A. E.) - Newton's theories described the effects of gravity, but never what it is and how it works. Einstein gave us spacetime, gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, black holes...
3) Quantum Mechanics (Niels Bohr et al.) - IMHO this is the great 20th century breakthrough. At a fundamental level, the universe is not deterministic/clockwork and there is inherent uncertainty. Influenced so much 20th C science; nuclear, solid state, quantum field theory, particle physics, the standard model and chemistry (valence electrons & shells).
4) Universal expansion (Hubble) - from this it's not difficult to imagine running the clock backwards to a point when the whole universe was in the same point and we arrive at the Big Bang. Subsequent measurements that show the expansion is accelerating opened a whole new area of research; dark energy.
5) Exoplanets - given the number of bodies orbiting our own (very) ordinary G-type star, it was always likely they were out there but it's a big deal to actually find them. Since the first confirmed discovery (~1995) we've found well over 3000. We're also close to our first confirmed exomoon too (Kepler-1625b-i).
Honourable mentions for Special Relativity, Information Theory, the structure of DNA and the Humbucking pickup.
Edited by SteveO... on Tuesday 20th November 15:55
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