10. The publication of Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson

This book created worldwide awareness of the dangers associated with environmental pollution from chemical pesticides. Environmental awareness expanded to include a consideration of possible contamination of our air, water, and land from nearly every human activity and the manufacture, use, and ultimate disposal of nearly every manufactured material. Many environmentally conscious organizations exerted political pressure to pass laws outlawing practices that they believe may harm the environment. Environmental concerns also produced government funding for research on such phenomena as depletion of the earth's ozone layer and global warming.

 

 

Marianna A. Busch is the Chair and a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Baylor University. Her Top 10 list centers on the most important scientific events of the 1900's. She discusses what these events meant to scientists and society in general. She calls attention to a number of the groundbreaking scientists who left their mark on the world of science in this century.

1.

The discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (1953)

2. The invention of the transistor (1947)
3. The first use of penicillin (1928)
4.

Development of the atomic bomb (1940's)

5. The launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union (Oct. 4, 1957)
6. Construction of the first laser (1960)
7. The development of new plants and the Green Revolution (mid-1900's)
8. The beginning of nuclear physics (early 1900's)
9. The development of quantum theory (early 1900's)
10. The publication of Silent Spring (1962)