Scientific discoveries in everyday life. The greatest scientific discoveries. But it may still be the case

In the industrial civilization that established itself in Europe in the 19th century, scientific and technological progress began to be considered the main value. And this is no coincidence. As P. Sorokin noted, “only one XIX century. brought more discoveries and inventions than all previous centuries combined.

The 19th century was the epitome of unprecedented technological progress, scientific and technical discoveries were made that led to a change in the way of life of people: its beginning was marked by harnessing the power of steam, the creation of steam engines and engines, which made it possible to carry out an industrial revolution, to move from manufactory production to industrial, factory production.

Scientific discoveries in the field of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology, medicine followed one after another. Following the discovery by Michael Faraday of the phenomenon of the electromagnetic arc, James Maxwell undertook the study of electromagnetic fields, developing the electromagnetic theory of light. Henri Becquerel, Pierre Curie and Marie Sklodowska-Curie, studying the phenomenon of radioactivity, called into question the previous understanding of the law of conservation of energy.

Physical science has gone from John Dalton's atomic theory of matter to the discovery of the complex structure of the atom. After the discovery of J.J. Thompson in 1897 of the first elementary particle of the electron was followed by the planetary theories of the structure of the atom by Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr. Interdisciplinary research is developing - physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical pharmacology. A true revolution in science was made by the works of the great naturalist Charles Darwin "The Origin of Species" and "The Origin of Man", which interpreted the emergence of the world and man differently than Christian teaching.

Advances in biology and chemistry gave a powerful impetus to the development of medicine. The French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur developed a method of vaccination against rabies and other contagious diseases. The German microbiologist Robert Koch and his students discovered the causative agents of tuberculosis, typhoid fever, diphtheria and other diseases, and created drugs against them. The arsenal of doctors has new medications and tools. Doctors began to use aspirin and pyramidon, the stethoscope was invented, X-rays were discovered. If the XVII-XVIII centuries. were the era of windmills, then from the end of the XVIII century. the age of steam begins. In 1784, J. Watt invented steam engine. And already in 1803. The first steam-powered car appears.

James Clark Maxwell. A great achievement of science in the 19th century. was put forward by the English scientist D. Maxwell electromagnetic theory of light(1865), which summarized the research and theoretical conclusions of many physicists from different countries in the fields of electromagnetism, thermodynamics and optics.

Maxwell is well known for having formulated four equations which were an expression of the basic laws of electricity and magnetism. These two areas had been extensively researched prior to Maxwell over the years, and it was well known that they were interrelated. However, although various laws of electricity had already been discovered and they were true for specific conditions, no general and uniform theory existed before Maxwell.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882). The 19th century was a time of celebration evolutionary theory. Charles Darwin was one of the first to realize and clearly demonstrate that all types of living organisms evolve over time from common ancestors. Darwin called natural selection and indefinite variability the main driving force of evolution.

Pierre-Simon Laplace. Laplace is one of the founders probability theory; developed and systematized the results obtained by other mathematicians, simplified the methods of proof.

Most of Laplace's research relates to celestial mechanics. He sought to explain all the visible movements of celestial bodies, based on Newton's law of universal gravitation. He determined the amount of compression of the Earth at the poles. In 1780 Laplace proposed a new method for calculating the orbits of celestial bodies. He came to the conclusion that the ring of Saturn cannot be continuous, otherwise it would be unstable. Predicted the compression of Saturn at the poles; established the laws of motion of Jupiter's satellites.

John Dalton. The first scientist who achieved significant success in a new direction in the development of chemistry was the English chemist John Dalton, who entered the history of chemistry as the discoverer of the law of multiple ratios and the creator of fundamentals of atomic theory. J. Dalton showed that each element of nature is a collection of atoms that are strictly identical to each other and have a single atomic weight. Thanks to this theory, the ideas of systemic development of processes penetrated into chemistry.

He received all his theoretical conclusions on the basis of his own discovery that two elements can be combined with each other in different ratios, but each new combination of elements is a new connection. He believed that all the atoms of each individual element are the same and are characterized by the fact that they have a certain weight, which he called atomic weight. Reasoning in this way, Dalton compiled the first table of the relative atomic weights of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, sulfur and phosphorus, taking as a unit atomic mass hydrogen. This table was Dalton's most important work.

Computers. Although it is believed that the first computer appeared in the 20th century, the first prototypes of modern machine tools with numerical control were built already in the 19th century.

Mechanical engineering and industry. Cars of the Russian-Baltic Plant - a scientific discovery of the 19th century. Already at the beginning of the 19th century, a gradual revolution in mechanical engineering began. Oliver Evans was one of the first who in 1804 in Philadelphia (USA) demonstrated a car with a steam engine.

At the end of the 18th century, the first lathes appeared. They were developed by the English mechanic Henry Maudsley. Started to develop railways. In 1825, George Stephenson built the first railway in England.

The history of mankind is the history of scientific discoveries that made this world more technological and perfect, improved the quality of life, helped to understand the world. This review of 15 scientific discoveries, which had a key focus on the development of civilization and which people still use. .

1. Penicillin

As you know, the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin (the first antibiotic) in 1928. If this did not happen, then people would probably still die from such things as stomach ulcers, tooth abscess, tonsillitis and scarlet fever, staph infection, leptospirosis, etc.

2. Mechanical watch

It is worth noting that there is still a lot of controversy regarding what can be considered the first mechanical watch. However, as a rule, the Chinese monk and mathematician Yi-Sing (723 AD) is considered to be their inventor. This groundbreaking discovery allowed humans to measure time.

3. Screw pump

One of the most important ancient Greek scientists, Archimedes is believed to have developed one of the first water pumps that pushed water up a tube. It completely transformed irrigation.

4. Gravity

This is good famous history- The famous English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton discovered the force of gravity after an apple fell on his head in 1664. His discovery explains why things fall to earth and why the planets revolve around the sun.

5. Pasteurization

Discovered by the French scientist Louis Pasteur in the 1860s, pasteurization is a heat treatment process that destroys pathogens in certain food products and drinks such as wine, beer and milk. This discovery had a huge impact on public health.

It is common knowledge that modern civilization grew thanks to the industrial revolution, the main cause of which was the steam engine. In fact, this engine was not invented overnight, but rather it was gradually developed over a period of about a hundred years thanks to 3 British inventors: Thomas Savery, Thomas Newcomen and (most famously) James Watt.

7. Electricity

The fateful discovery of electricity belongs to the English scientist Michael Faraday. He also discovered the basic principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. During his experiments, Faraday also created the first generator to produce electricity.

8. DNA

Many people believe that the American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950s, but in fact, deoxyribonucleic acid was first identified in the late 1860s by the Swiss chemist Friedrich Miescher. Then, in the decades after Miescher's discovery, other scientists conducted many scientific research, which helped to understand how organisms pass on their genes and how they control how cells work.

9. Pain relief

Rough forms of anesthesia such as opium, mandrake, and alcohol were in use as early as 70 AD. But it wasn't until 1847 that the American surgeon Henry Bigelow determined that ether and chloroform could be anesthetics, thereby making painful surgery far more bearable.

10. Theory of relativity

Two related theories of Albert Einstein - special theory relativity and general theory Relativity - were published in 1905. They transformed theoretical physics and astronomy in the 20th century, replacing the 200-year-old theory of mechanics created by Newton. This theory became the basis for much of modern science.

11. X-rays

German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895 when he was studying the phenomena that accompany the passage of electric current through gas extremely low pressure. For this pioneering discovery, Roentgen was awarded the first ever Nobel Prize in physics in 1901.

12. Periodic table

In 1869, the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, while studying the atomic weights of elements, noticed that chemical elements could be formed into groups with similar properties. As a result, he managed to create the first periodic table which has become one of the most important discoveries in the field of chemistry.

Infrared radiation was discovered by the British astronomer William Herschel in 1800 when he studied the heating effect of different colors of light using a prism and thermometers. IN modern days infrared light used in many fields, including tracking systems, heating, meteorology, astronomy, etc.

Today it is used as a very accurate and efficient diagnostic tool in medicine. And for the first time, nuclear magnetic resonance was described and measured American physicist I. Rabi in 1938. For this discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944.

15. Paper

Although predecessors modern paper, such as papyrus and amate, existed in the Mediterranean and pre-Columbian America, respectively, these materials were not real paper. The paper-making process was first documented in China during the Eastern Han period (25-220 AD).

Today, man makes discoveries not only on earth, but also in space. That's just . They are really impressive!

Series: Soviet holidays. Builder's Day

For the first time, Builder's Day was celebrated in the USSR on August 12, 1956. And it was like that. On September 6, 1955, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the establishment of the annual holiday" Builder's Day "(on the second Sunday of August)" was issued. The conciseness of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR is proof that the Builder's Day did not appear by chance, and that its appearance seemed to go without saying. Here is how the newspapers commented on it:
“A new manifestation of the concern of the party and government for builders is the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On measures for further industrialization, improving the quality and reducing the cost of construction” adopted on August 23, 1955. This resolution fully and clearly analyzes the state of construction, determines further ways for the broad industrialization of the construction business ”(“ Construction Newspaper ”, September 7, 1955).

“We builders are having a big day! Newspapers and radio carried the message throughout the country that the party and the government had adopted a resolution on a radical improvement in the construction industry. At the same time, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the annual holiday - "Builder's Day" was published.
A sense of pride for our country, for our profession and ardent gratitude to the party and the government for taking care of us, the builders, filled our hearts ... ".

Builder's Day was celebrated on August 12. On this day, the newspapers wrote: “The Builder's Day celebrated today for the first time will henceforth be included in the calendar as a national holiday,” and this was not an exaggeration. Today it is difficult to imagine it, but in 1956 the country celebrated the holiday of builders with considerable enthusiasm, including folk festivals in parks of culture and recreation. Again, newspaper reports allow you to feel the atmosphere of those days:
“Moscow celebrated the holiday of builders with mass festivities, exhibitions, reports and lectures. It was especially crowded in the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure. A meeting of builders took place here Leninsky district of the capital, which built the architectural ensemble of the building of Moscow State University, blocks of residential buildings in the south-west of the capital, the stadium named after V.I. Lenin, where the flag of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR is now hoisted. The builders of the district made a decision - to hand over by December 20, 210 thousand square meters. m of living space.
“On Sunday, the Chelyabinsk Park of Culture and Leisure was filled with about forty thousand builders. There was a rally…”

"Baku. A solemn meeting of the Baku City Council of Working People's Deputies was held here together with representatives of party, Soviet and public organizations dedicated to the Builder's Day. The meeting was attended by the parliamentary delegation of Uruguay visiting here…”.

"Tbilisi. In the capital of Georgia, on August 11 and 12, festivities were held, dedicated to the Day builder. Thousands of workers visited the Permanent Construction Exhibition that opened in the Ordzhonikidze Central Park of Culture and Leisure. It is deployed according to a new thematic plan. The main idea of ​​the exhibition is to show elements of prefabricated reinforced concrete, large-block construction and advanced industrial methods of construction and installation works.

It is curious that many of the traditions laid down at the dawn of the Builder's Day have survived to this day: awards for the holiday, and ceremonial meetings with the participation of representatives of government structures, and simply feasts, which the press of those years does not mention, but which, no doubt , took place. But specialized exhibitions are no longer timed to coincide with the Builder's Day. And maybe in vain ...


Whether he is in a suit, with a new tie,
Whether he is in lime, like a snowman.
Each builder in a phrase, in a word,
By interjection recognizes the foreman!
Here he rises to his full height,
Loud toast:
To everyone who levels the wall
Master level,
Who does the work
With a kind word, mother,
Who dined in the change house,
Ate sausage with radish
Who hung with their feet in the sky
On the mounting belt
To all who work in bad weather
Crowbar, drill and saw,
We wish: build happiness!
And don't stand under the arrow!

In 1928, the English bacteriologist Alexander Fleming conducted the usual experience of studying the protection of the human body from infectious diseases. As a result, quite by accident, he found out that ordinary mold synthesizes a substance that destroys pathogens, and discovered a molecule that he called penicillin.

And on September 13, 1929, at a meeting of the Medical Research Club at the University of London, Fleming presented his discovery.

Not everyone scientific discoveries were made after long experiments and exhausting reflections. Sometimes the researchers came to completely unexpected results, very different from the expected ones. And the result turned out to be much more interesting: for example, in search of the philosopher's stone in 1669, he discovered white phosphorus Hamburg alchemist Hennig Brand. “Chance, the god-inventor,” as Alexander Pushkin called him, helped other researchers as well. We have collected ten such amazing examples.

1. Microwave

Raytheon Corporation engineer Percy Spencer worked on a radar project in 1945. While testing the magnetron, the scientist noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. So Percy Spencer realized that microwave radiation could heat food. In the same year, the Raytheon Corporation patented the microwave oven.

2. X-rays

Out of curiosity, having placed his hand in front of the cathode ray tube, in 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen saw her image on a photographic plate, allowing him to examine almost every bone. So Wilhelm Roentgen discovered the method of the same name.

3. Sugar substitute

Actually, Konstantin Fahlberg studied coal tar. Once (mother, apparently, did not teach him to wash his hands before eating), he noticed that for some reason the bun seemed very sweet to him. Returning to the laboratory and having tasted everything, he found the source. In 1884, Fahlberg patented saccharin and began mass-producing it.

4. Pacemaker

In 1956, Wilson Greatbatch was developing a device that records heart beats. By accidentally installing the wrong resistor in the device, he discovered that it produced electrical impulses. Thus was born the idea of ​​electrical stimulation of the heart. In May 1958, the first pacemaker was implanted in a dog.

Initially, lysergic acid diethylamide was planned to be used in pharmacology (hardly anyone now remembers exactly how). In November 1943, Albert Hoffman discovered strange sensations while working with the chemical. He described them as follows: "I observed very bright light, streams of fantastic images of unreal beauty, accompanied by an intense kaleidoscopic array of colors." So Albert Hoffman gave the world a dubious gift.

6. Penicillin

After leaving a colony of staphylococcus bacteria in a Petri dish for a long time, Alexander Fleming noticed that the resulting mold inhibited the growth of some bacteria. Chemically, the mold was a type of the fungus Penicillium notatum. So in the 40s of the last century, penicillin was discovered - the world's first antibiotic.

Pfizer was working on a new drug to treat heart disease. After clinical trials, it turned out that in this case, the new drug does not help at all. But there is by-effect which no one expected. This is how Viagra was born.

8. Dynamite

Working with nitroglycerin, which was extremely unstable, Alfred Nobel accidentally dropped the test tube from his hands. But the explosion did not follow: having poured out, the nitroglycerin was absorbed into the wood shavings that covered the floor of the laboratory. So the future father of the Nobel Prize understood: nitroglycerin must be mixed with an inert substance - and received dynamite.

9. Safety glass

The inaccuracy of another scientist allowed another discovery to be made. Frenchman Edouard Benedictus dropped a test tube with a solution of cellulose nitrate on the floor. It shattered, but did not shatter into pieces. Cellulose nitrate became the basis for the first safety glass, which is now indispensable for the automotive industry.

10. Vulcanized rubber

Charles Goodyear once poured nitrous acid on rubber to discolor it. He noticed that after that the rubber became much harder and at the same time more plastic. After thinking about the result and improving the method, in 1844 Charles Goodyear patented it, naming it after Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire.

We offer a selection of interesting scientific discoveries of recent times.

See death. This month, British scientists managed to make interesting discovery: they captured on camera the process of the spread of death. The process itself was a blue glow that, in the literal sense of the word, permeated the cells of the body while it was dying. The very goal pursued by scientists from the Research Council for Biotechnology and biological sciences, there was a deepening of knowledge in the processes of death, in order to further try to increase the duration of human life. (According to the Daily Mail. Photo: DailyMail)

Ancient Mayan temple. Last year, in the jungles of Guatemala, archaeologists discovered ancient temple. Presumably, this temple belonged to the Mayan tribes 1600 years ago and was called the “Temple of the Night Sun”. The temple itself is adorned with gigantic masks of the Mayan solar god.

New animal species in Peru. Between 2009 and 2012, a group of biologists from Mexico and Peru went in search of new animal species to the northern part of Peru - national reserve Tabaconas Namballe. During the entire expedition, they discovered many new species of mammals. Among them is an unknown species of night monkey. Only last year, scientists managed to agree that this species of monkeys was really not known to science. Disputes over some other species of mammals are still ongoing. (according to nationalgeographic.com, photo: National Geographic)

Solar systems and planets. In April 2012, scientists discovered interesting star in the constellation Southern Hydra. The Sun-like star is 127 light-years from Earth. At least 9 planets revolve around it, which makes this solar system the largest known. Our solar system has only 8 official planets. (according to nationalgeographic.com, photo: National Geographic)

Baby teeth and dictators. Scientists have made an interesting conclusion why, most likely, dictators are born. Approximately 1 in 2,000 babies are born with one erupted tooth. For a mother, feeding such a child turns into real torment. The child feels a lack of attention, and with age, subconsciously tries to win it more and more. Anthropologists claim that people like Julius Caesar, Hannibal, Napoleon, Mussolini, and Hitler were born with an erupted tooth. (according to www.mentalfloss.com, photo: open sources)

Tie and vision. After many years of research, American scientists came to the conclusion that in 67% of men, visual impairment is associated with a tightly tightened collar. This is especially true for those who wear a tie. A tight tie restricts blood flow to the eyes. It also affects blood pressure. (according to Stephen Juan, "The odd body", photo: public sources)

Chimpanzee and deceit. The conclusion was made by zoologists from Sweden. They found that a chimpanzee named Santino, who constantly threw stones at zoo visitors, prepared the weapon in advance. Santino has been under surveillance for a long time. Without giving a look, he waited for the visitors to reach a certain place, and then quickly took out and threw a stone. Scientists concluded that such an action is the result of a well-thought-out plan, which means that chimpanzees are capable of deceit. (according to the journal PLoS ONE and the ScienceNOW website, photo: open sources )

happiness and food. British scientists came to the conclusion that only food can bring true happiness to a person. Everyone knows that a hungry person often Bad mood, but as soon as he eats, the mood improves. In the first place among the “products of happiness” were all kinds of sweets and french fries - for most people, these products are associated with relaxation. Next on the list are red and black caviar. It is associated with wealth and luxury. (according to www.geo.ru, photo: open sources)

Mars and water NASA experts have come to the final conclusion that in the distant past there was water on the red planet suitable for living organisms. They managed to make such a conclusion with the help of the Opportunity rover. The spacecraft found a piece of ancient clay that could only form in the presence of water. (according to bbc.co.uk, photo: NASA)