The Science Book Read online

  THE

  SCIENCE

  BOOK

  From Darwin to Dark Energy,

  250 Milestones in the History of Science

  Clifford A. Pickover

  STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

  Introduction © 2018 Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

  Text pages 22, 32, 78, 298, 430, 432, 456, 468, 496, 500, 508 from The Space Book © 2013 Jim Bell

  Text pages 158, 194, 212, 216, 248, 254, 260, 284, 294, 316, 366, 372, 394, 418, 446, 452, 454, 458, 474, 490, 492 from The Engineering Book © 2015 Marshall Brain

  Text pages 14, 16, 18, 20, 96, 116, 136, 140, 178, 184, 186, 190, 192, 220, 222, 250, 306, 330, 334, 412, 420, 428, 440, 448, 484, 486 from The Biology Book © 2015 Michael C. Gerald

  Text pages 38, 66, 72, 196, 198, 240, 246, 314, 350, 360, 380, 402 from The Chemistry Book © 2016 Derek B. Lowe

  Text pages 12, 26, 36, 42, 46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, 68, 70, 74, 80, 88, 98, 102, 106, 108, 112, 130, 132, 134, 142, 152, 162, 166, 168, 182, 206, 218, 226,242, 244, 258, 270, 280, 318, 342, 358, 374, 384, 400, 436, 460, 462, 464, 510 from The Math Book © 2009 Clifford Pickover

  Text pages 30, 44, 76, 82, 86, 100, 114, 122, 124, 144, 146, 154, 180, 202, 208, 214, 228, 232, 236, 238, 264, 266, 276, 282, 296, 338, 388, 398, 404, 408, 410, 424, 426, 438, 450, 476, 478, 480, 498, 502, 506 from The Medical Book © 2012 Clifford Pickover

  Text pages 28, 34, 40, 52, 56, 60, 62, 64, 84, 90, 92, 104, 110, 118, 120, 126, 128, 138, 148, 150, 156, 160, 164, 170, 172, 174, 176, 188, 200, 204, 210, 224, 230, 234, 244, 252, 256, 268, 272, 274, 278, 288, 290, 292, 300, 302, 304, 308, 310, 312, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, 332, 336, 340, 344, 346, 348, 352, 354, 356, 362, 364, 368, 370, 376, 378, 382, 386, 390, 392, 396, 406, 414, 422, 434, 442, 444, 470, 472, 482, 488, 494, 504 from The Physics Book © 2011 Clifford Pickover

  Text pages 262, 286, 416, 466 from The Psychology Book © 2014 Wade E. Pickren

  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 (including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-4549-3300-7

  For information about custom editions, special sales, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales at [email protected].

  sterlingpublishing.com

  See page 526 for Photo Credits.

  Contents

  Introduction

  c. 18,000 BCE Ishango Bone Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 11,000 BCE Wheat: The Staff of Life Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  c. 10,000 BCE Agriculture Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  c. 10,000 BCE Domestication of Animals Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  c. 7000 BCE Rice Cultivation Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  c. 5000 BCE Birth of Cosmology Jim Bell

  c. 3300 BCE Bronze Derek B. Lowe

  c. 3000 BCE Dice Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 3000 BCE Sundial Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 3000 BCE Sutures Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 2500 BCE Egyptian Astronomy Jim Bell

  c. 1850 BCE Arch Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 1650 BCE Rhind Papyrus Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 1300 BCE Iron Smelting Derek B. Lowe

  c. 1000 BCE Olmec Compass Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 600 BCE Pythagorean Theorem and Triangles Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 600 BCE Sewage Systems Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 350 BCE Aristotle’s Organon Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 350 BCE Platonic Solids Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 300 BCE Euclid’s Elements Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 250 BCE Archimedes’ Principle of Buoyancy Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 250 BCE π Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 240 BCE Eratosthenes Measures the Earth Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 240 BCE Sieve of Eratosthenes Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 230 BCE Pulley Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 125 BCE Antikythera Mechanism Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 50 Gears Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 126 Roman Concrete Derek B. Lowe

  c. 650 Zero Clifford A. Pickover

  830 al-Khwarizmi’s Algebra Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 850 Gunpowder Derek B. Lowe

  1202 Fibonacci’s Liber Abaci Clifford A. Pickover

  1284 Eyeglasses Clifford A. Pickover

  c. 1500 Early Calculus Jim Bell

  1509 Golden Ratio Clifford A. Pickover

  1543 De Humani Corporis Fabrica Clifford A. Pickover

  1543 Sun-Centered Universe Clifford A. Pickover

  1545 Paré’s “Rational Surgery” Clifford A. Pickover

  1572 Imaginary Numbers Clifford A. Pickover

  1608 Telescope Clifford A. Pickover

  1609 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion Clifford A. Pickover

  1614 Logarithms Clifford A. Pickover

  1620 Scientific Method Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1621 Slide Rule Clifford A. Pickover

  1628 Circulatory System Clifford A. Pickover

  1637 Descartes’ La Géométrie Clifford A. Pickover

  1638 Acceleration of Falling Objects Clifford A. Pickover

  1639 Projective Geometry Clifford A. Pickover

  1654 Pascal’s Triangle Clifford A. Pickover

  1660 Von Guericke’s Electrostatic Generator Clifford A. Pickover

  1665 Development of Modern Calculus Clifford A. Pickover

  1665 Micrographia Clifford A. Pickover

  1668 Refuting Spontaneous Generation Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1672 Measuring the Solar System Clifford A. Pickover

  1672 Newton’s Prism Clifford A. Pickover

  1678 Discovery of Sperm Clifford A. Pickover

  1683 Zoo Within Us Clifford A. Pickover

  1687 Newton as Inspiration Clifford A. Pickover

  1687 Newton’s Laws of Motion and Gravitation Clifford A. Pickover

  1713 Law of Large Numbers Clifford A. Pickover

  1727 Euler’s Number, e Clifford A. Pickover

  1733 Normal Distribution Curve Clifford A. Pickover

  1735 Linnaean Classification of Species Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1738 Bernoulli’s Law of Fluid Dynamics Clifford A. Pickover

  1760 Artificial Selection (Selective Breeding) Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1761 Bayes’ Theorem Clifford A. Pickover

  1761 Causes of Cancer Clifford A. Pickover

  1761 Morgagni’s “Cries of Suffering Organs” Clifford A. Pickover

  1783 Black Holes Clifford A. Pickover

  1785 Coulomb’s Law of Electrostatics Clifford A. Pickover

  1797 Fundamental Theorem of Algebra Clifford A. Pickover

  1798 Smallpox Vaccine Clifford A. Pickover

  1800 Battery Clifford A. Pickover

  1800 High-Pressure Steam Engine Marshall Brain

  1801 Wave Nature of Light Clifford A. Pickover

  1807 Fourier Series Clifford A. Pickover

  1808 Atomic Theory Clifford A. Pickover

  1812 Laplace’s Théorie Analytique des Probabilités Clifford A. Pickover

  1822 Babbage Mechanical Computer Clifford A. Pickover

  1824 Carnot Engine Clifford A. Pickover

  1824 Greenhouse Effect Clifford A. Pickover

  1825 Ampère’s Law of Electromagnetism Clifford A. Pickover

  1827 Brownian Motion Clifford A. Pickover

  1828 Germ-Layer Theory of Development Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald
>
  1829 Blood Transfusion Clifford A. Pickover

  1829 Non-Euclidean Geometry Clifford A. Pickover

  1831 Cell Nucleus Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1831 Darwin and the Voyages of the Beagle Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1831 Faraday’s Laws of Induction Clifford A. Pickover

  1836 Fossil Record and Evolution Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1837 Nitrogen Cycle and Plant Chemistry Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1837 Telegraph System Marshall Brain

  1839 Daguerreotype Derek B. Lowe

  1839 Rubber Derek B. Lowe

  1841 Fiber Optics Clifford A. Pickover

  1842 General Anesthesia Clifford A. Pickover

  1843 Conservation of Energy Clifford A. Pickover

  1844 Transcendental Numbers Clifford A. Pickover

  1847 Semmelweis’s Hand Washing Clifford A. Pickover

  1850 Second Law of Thermodynamics Clifford A. Pickover

  1855 Bessemer Process Marshall Brain

  1855 Cell Division Clifford A. Pickover

  1856 Plastic Marshall Brain

  1858 Möbius Strip Clifford A. Pickover

  1859 Darwin’s Theory of Natural Section Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1859 Ecological Interactions Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1859 Kinetic Theory Clifford A. Pickover

  1859 Riemann Hypothesis Clifford A. Pickover

  1861 Cerebral Localization Clifford A. Pickover

  1861 Maxwell’s Equations Clifford A. Pickover

  1862 Germ Theory of Disease Clifford A. Pickover

  1864 Electromagnetic Spectrum Clifford A. Pickover

  1865 Antiseptics Clifford A. Pickover

  1865 Mendel’s Genetics Clifford A. Pickover

  1869 Periodic Table Derek B. Lowe

  1874 Cantor’s Transfinite Numbers Clifford A. Pickover

  1875 Boltzmann’s Entropy Equation Clifford A. Pickover

  1876 Gibbs Free Energy Derek B. Lowe

  1876 Telephone Marshall Brain

  1878 Enzymes Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1878 Incandescent Light Bulb Clifford A. Pickover

  1878 Power Grid Marshall Brain

  1887 Michelson-Morley Experiment Clifford A. Pickover

  1888 Tesseract Clifford A. Pickover

  1890 Steam Turbine Marshall Brain

  1890 The Principles of Psychology Wade E. Pickren

  1891 Neuron Doctrine Clifford A. Pickover

  1892 Discovery of Viruses Clifford A. Pickover

  1895 X-rays Clifford A. Pickover

  1896 Proof of the Prime Number Theorem Clifford A. Pickover

  1896 Radioactivity Clifford A. Pickover

  1897 Electron Clifford A. Pickover

  1899 Psychoanalysis Clifford A. Pickover

  1900 Blackbody Radiation Law Clifford A. Pickover

  1900 Hilbert’s 23 Problems Clifford A. Pickover

  1902 Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance Clifford A. Pickover

  1903 Wright Brothers’ Airplane Marshall Brain

  1903 Classical Conditioning Wade E. Pickren

  1905 E = mc2 Clifford A. Pickover

  1905 Photoelectric Effect Clifford A. Pickover

  1905 Special Theory of Relativity Clifford A. Pickover

  1908 Internal Combustion Engine Marshall Brain

  1910 Chlorination of Water Clifford A. Pickover

  1910 Main Sequence Jim Bell

  1911 Atomic Nucleus Clifford A. Pickover

  1911 Superconductivity Clifford A. Pickover

  1912 Bragg’s Law of Crystal Diffraction Clifford A. Pickover

  1912 Continental Drift Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1913 Bohr Atom Clifford A. Pickover

  1915 General Theory of Relativity Clifford A. Pickover

  1919 String Theory Clifford A. Pickover

  1920 Hydrogen Bonding Derek B. Lowe

  1920 Radio Station Marshall Brain

  1921 Noether’s Idealtheorie Clifford A. Pickover

  1921 Einstein as Inspiration Clifford A. Pickover

  1924 De Broglie Relation Clifford A. Pickover

  1925 Pauli Exclusion Principle Clifford A. Pickover

  1926 Schrödinger’s Wave Equation Clifford A. Pickover

  1927 Complementarity Principle Clifford A. Pickover

  1927 Food Webs Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1927 Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Clifford A. Pickover

  1927 Insect Dance Language Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1928 Dirac Equation Clifford A. Pickover

  1928 Penicillin Clifford A. Pickover

  1929 Hubble’s Law of Cosmic Expansion Clifford A. Pickover

  1931 Gödel’s Theorem Clifford A. Pickover

  1932 Antimatter Clifford A. Pickover

  1932 Neutron Clifford A. Pickover

  1933 Dark Matter Clifford A. Pickover

  1933 Polyethylene Derek B. Lowe

  1933 Neutron Stars Clifford A. Pickover

  1935 EPR Paradox Clifford A. Pickover

  1935 Schrödinger’s Cat Clifford A. Pickover

  1936 Turing Machines Clifford A. Pickover

  1937 Cellular Respiration Derek B. Lowe

  1937 Superfluids Clifford A. Pickover

  1938 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Clifford A. Pickover

  1941 Doped Silicon Marshall Brain

  1942 Energy from the Nucleus Clifford A. Pickover

  1945 Little Boy Atomic Bomb Clifford A. Pickover

  1945 Uranium Enrichment Marshall Brain

  1946 ENIAC Clifford A. Pickover

  1946 Stellar Nucleosynthesis Clifford A. Pickover

  1947 Hologram Clifford A. Pickover

  1947 Photosynthesis Derek B. Lowe

  1947 Transistor Clifford A. Pickover

  1948 Information Theory Clifford A. Pickover

  1948 Quantum Electrodynamics Clifford A. Pickover

  1948 Randomized Controlled Trials Clifford A. Pickover

  1949 Radiocarbon Dating Clifford A. Pickover

  1949 Time Travel Clifford A. Pickover

  1950 Chess Computer Marshall Brain

  1950 Fermi Paradox Clifford A. Pickover

  1951 HeLa Cells Clifford A. Pickover

  1952 Cellular Automata Clifford A. Pickover

  1952 Miller-Urey Experiment Derek B. Lowe

  1953 DNA Structure Clifford A. Pickover

  1955 Atomic Clocks Clifford A. Pickover

  1955 Birth-Control Pill Clifford A. Pickover

  1955 Placebo Effect Clifford A. Pickover

  1955 Ribosomes Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1956 Parallel Universes Clifford A. Pickover

  1957 Antidepressant Medications Wade E. Pickren

  1957 Space Satellite Marshall Brain

  1958 Central Dogma of Molecular Biology Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1958 Integrated Circuit Clifford A. Pickover

  1959 Structure of Antibodies Clifford A. Pickover

  1960 Laser Clifford A. Pickover

  1961 Cracking the Genetic Code for Protein Biosynthesis Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1961 First Humans in Space Jim Bell

  1961 Green Revolution Marshall Brain

  1961 Standard Model Clifford A. Pickover

  1963 Chaos and the Butterfly Effect Clifford A. Pickover

  1963 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Clifford A. Pickover

  1964 Brain Lateralization Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1964 Quarks Clifford A. Pickover

  1965 Cosmic Microwave Background Clifford A. Pickover

  1966 Dynamic RAM Marshall Brain

  1967 Endosymbiont Theory Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1967 Heart Transplant Clifford A. Pickover

  1967 Saturn V Rocket Marshall Brain

  1969 ARPANET Marshall Brain
/>   1969 First on the Moon Jim Bell

  1972 Genetic Engineering Marshall Brain

  1975 Feigenbaum Constant Clifford A. Pickover

  1975 Fractals Clifford A. Pickover

  1977 Public-Key Cryptography Clifford A. Pickover

  1978 Theory of Mind Wade E. Pickren

  1979 Gravitational Lensing Jim Bell

  1980 Cosmic Inflation Clifford A. Pickover

  1981 Quantum Computers Clifford A. Pickover

  1982 Artificial Heart Marshall Brain

  1983 Epigenetics Clifford A. Pickover

  1983 Polymerase Chain Reaction Clifford A. Pickover

  1984 Telomerase Clifford A. Pickover

  1984 Theory of Everything Clifford A. Pickover

  1987 Mitochondrial Eve Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1990 Domains of Life Michael C. Gerald with Gloria E. Gerald

  1990 Hubble Telescope Clifford A. Pickover

  1990 World Wide Web Marshall Brain

  1994 Global Positioning System (GPS) Marshall Brain

  1998 Dark Energy Clifford A. Pickover

  1998 International Space Station Jim Bell

  2003 Human Genome Project Clifford A. Pickover

  2004 Spirit and Opportunity on Mars Jim Bell

  2008 Human Cloning Clifford A. Pickover

  2009 Large Hadron Collider Clifford A. Pickover

  2016 Gene Therapy Clifford A. Pickover

  2016 Gravitational Waves Jim Bell

  2017 Proof of the Kepler Conjecture Clifford A. Pickover

  Notes and Further Reading

  About the Contributors

  Photo Credits

  Introduction

  “It is the most persistent and greatest adventure in human history, this search to understand the universe, how it works and where it came from. It is difficult to imagine that a handful of residents of a small planet circling an insignificant star in a small galaxy have as their aim a complete understanding of the entire universe, a small speck of creation truly believing it is capable of comprehending the whole.”

  —Murray Gell-Mann, in John Boslough’s Stephen Hawking’s Universe, 1989

  The Scope of Science and Mathematics

  Today scientists and mathematicians roam far and wide, studying an awesome variety of topics and fundamental laws in order to understand the behavior of nature, the universe, and the very fabric of reality. Physicists ponder multiple dimensions, parallel universes, and the possibilities of wormholes connecting different regions of space and time. Biologists, physicians, and ethicists consider organ transplants, gene therapy, and cloning, while the studies of DNA and the human genome yield secrets about fundamental aspects of life itself. The usefulness of mathematics allows us to build spaceships and investigate the geometry of our universe. Interestingly, a significant number of discoveries in basic physics have also led to a range of medical tools and have helped to reduce human suffering and save lives (for example, X-rays, ultrasonagraphy, magnetic resonance imaging, and more.)