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Extensible Markup Language | 1995-08-15 | 19KB | 34 lines

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE card PUBLIC "-//Apple, Inc.//DTD card V 2.0//EN" "" > <card> <id>41694</id> <filler1>0</filler1> <cantDelete> <false /> </cantDelete> <showPict> <true /> </showPict> <dontSearch> <false /> </dontSearch> <owner>5472</owner> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet_3106.css" /> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>25</id> <text>he History of Science (2 of 2)MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE3500ΓÇô3000 BCThe Sumerians develop metallurgy and the use of a lunar calendar.3000ΓÇô2500 BCMultiplication tables are invented and mathematics used for calculating areas. In Egypt a solar calendar is used.2500ΓÇô2000 BCA superior lunar calendar is used in Babylon. Units of time such as the minute and hour are introduced.2000ΓÇô1500 BCBabylonians use maths to plot planetary positions. The stellar constellations are identified. Simple taxonomies for classifying animals are used.1500ΓÇô1000 BCMathematics continues to develop. Chemicals are used to make paints and cosmetics.1000ΓÇô500 BCEarly Greek philosophers conceive rational theories of the universe. Those of Thales of Miletus (640ΓÇô560 bc; see p. 16) and Anaximander (611ΓÇô547 bc) are notable. Anaximander introduced the concept of infinity into cosmology and believed that life had evolved from the sea. The notion that the world is a sphere is attributed to Pythagoras (c. 580ΓÇôc. 500 bc), who also formulated basic laws of geometry.500ΓÇô400 BCThe concept of elementary matter was introduced by Empedocles of Agrigentum (c. 490ΓÇô430 bc), who believed that there are four elements, namely earth, water, fire and air. Democritus (c. 460ΓÇôc. 370 bc) and Leucippus (c. 500ΓÇô450 bc) conceived of matter as consisting of minute invisible particles called atoms.400ΓÇô300 BCThe first fully comprehensive cosmology to give a rational account of all physical phenomena was devised by Aristotle (384ΓÇô322 bc; see also p. 486). He divided the universe into two distinct regions. Below the sphere of the Moon was the realm of the four elements and of change and decay. Above was the realm of a fifth element, the ether, changeless and divine. Each element had its natural place and motion, the ether moving in circles around the Earth, and carrying the stars with it. AristotleΓÇÖs cosmology and physics ruled until the time of Galileo and Newton. Aristotle did the first systematic work on comparative biology.300ΓÇô200 BCArchimedes of Syracuse (287ΓÇô212 bc) pioneered the sciences of mechanics and hydrostatics invented the lever and the Archimedian screw for raising water, and made many contributions to mathematics. Observational astronomy reached its peak with Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310ΓÇô250 bc; see p. 16), who realized that the Earth rotates on its own axis and orbits the Sun. 200ΓÇô100 BCThe most accurate ancient star catalogue was constructed by Hipparchus of Nicaea (c. 190ΓÇô120 bc), who also discovered the precession of the equinoxes.100 BCΓÇôAD 100Little original science was done in these centuries, although Greek astronomy was perfected by Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus, ad 100ΓÇô170), in whose system the Earth was the center of the universe, so rejecting the theory of Aristarchus. The earliest known alchemical text appeared; alchemy was a mystical forefather of chemistry that sought to transmute base metals into gold and produce the elixir of eternal life.AD 200ΓÇô1200Much of classical learning disappeared from Europe during the so-called ΓÇÿDark AgesΓÇÖ, but was preserved by Islamic scholars such as Avicenna (Ibn Sinna, ad 980ΓÇô1037) and Averro├½s (ibn-Rushd, 1126ΓÇô98; see p. 392). From c. 1100 it was transmitted back when Christian scholars such as Gerard of Cremona (1145ΓÇô87) translated Arabic texts into Latin and began to assimilate ancient knowledge.1200ΓÇô1300Albertus Magnus (Count von B├╢llstadt, c. 1193ΓÇô1280), a German scholastic philosopher, patron saint of scientists and teacher of Aquinas, worked to reconcile Aristotelian science and philosophy with Christian doctrine. The English friar Roger Bacon (c. 1214ΓÇô92) became a great advocate of experimentation. He did important work in optics and was the first European to describe the manufacture of gunpowder. He was also a great speculator, proposing flying machines and mechanically powered ships and carriages. The man considered by Bacon to be the greatest experimental scientist of his day was the French crusader Petrus Peregrinus (active 13th century), who described in detail the use of the magnetic compass in navigation.1300ΓÇô1400The English philosopher William of Ockham (c. 1285ΓÇô1349) propounded the principle (known as OckhamΓÇÖs razor) that ΓÇÿentities are not to be multiplied beyond necessityΓÇÖ. This principle, that the simplest explanation is the best, was adopted by many later scientists, including the French bishop Nicole dΓÇÖOresme (c. 1325ΓÇô82), who worked on cosmology and motion. In the latter field, Oresme confirmed the theories of the Merton School at Oxford, and both Oresme and the Mertonians worked on the mathematization of science.1400ΓÇô1500There was little of scientific note in this century, although at the end of the century Leonardo da Vinci (1452ΓÇô1519) began his studies of all kinds of natural phenomena. The discovery of the New World in 1492 contradicted the geographical teachings of Ptolemy, so helping to free science from its psychological dependence on ancient authorities.1500ΓÇô1550Nicholas Copernicus (1473ΓÇô1543), the Polish astronomer, revived the heliocentric theory, placing the Sun at the center of the universe. Because this theory threatened the ChurchΓÇÖs cosmology, Copernicus only circulated it among a few friends. Chemistry was to some extent freed from its alchemical bonds by Paracelsus (real name Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493ΓÇô1541).1550ΓÇô1600The study of terrestrial magnetism was developed by English physician William Gilbert (1540ΓÇô1603), who introduced the concept of magnetic poles. Tycho Brahe (1546ΓÇô1601; see p. 16) produced a very accurate star catalogue, and his assistant Johann Kepler (1571ΓÇô1630; see p. 17) demonstrated that planetary orbits round the Sun are elliptical. The English statesman and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon (1561ΓÇô1626) revived the use of induction in scientific method.1600ΓÇô1650The modern science of mechanics (statics; see pp. 20ΓÇô23) was founded by Galileo Galilei (1564ΓÇô1642). Galileo formulated laws of motion that conflicted with ancient physics, and tended to support the heliocentric hypothesis. The French philosopher and mathematician Ren├⌐ Descartes (1596ΓÇô1650; see also pp. 62, 418 and 486) proposed a radically mechanistic model of the universe that rendered God virtually redundant. He invented coordinate geometry.1650ΓÇô1700The controversy between ancient and modern cosmologies and physics was resolved in the work of Englishman Sir Isaac Newton (1643ΓÇô1727). He formulated the law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion and made important contributions to optics and calculus. Chemistry continued to be separated from its alchemical roots by the work of men such as the English scientists Robert Boyle (1627ΓÇô1716) and Robert Hooke (1635ΓÇô1703), who studied the chemistry of gases and the nature of respiration and combustion.1700ΓÇô1750Combustion was also tackled by the German chemist Georg Stahl (1660ΓÇô1743), who suggested a hypothetical substance called phlogiston as the causal agent of combustion.1750ΓÇô1800The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707ΓÇô78) introduced his binomial system of biological classification. The phlogiston theory was rendered obsolete with the discovery of oxygen by the English chemist and radical Joseph Priestley (1733ΓÇô1804), who also invented soda water. However, it was left to the Frenchman Antoine Lavoisier (1743ΓÇô94) to name oxygen and demonstrate its role in combustion. Lavoisier also formulated the important law of conservation of matter and recognized that air and water are chemical compounds. In geology the Scotsman James Hutton (1726ΓÇô97) introduced the notion that the Earth is millions of years old, denying catastrophes such as NoahΓÇÖs Flood. The Frenchman Charles Augustin Coulomb (1736ΓÇô1806) first identified the electric force. In Italy Count Alessandro Volta (1745ΓÇô1827) made important experiments with electricity, while the Frenchman Andr├⌐ Amp├¿re (1775ΓÇô1836) did pioneering work on electricity and magnetism. The concept of ΓÇÿbiologyΓÇÖ was established by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744ΓÇô1829), who also set out a theory of evolution.1800ΓÇô1850The conceptual groundwork of modern chemistry was laid by the Englishman John Dalton (1766ΓÇô1844) when he revived atomic theory and applied it to gases. The Englishman Michael Faraday (1791ΓÇô1867) and the American Joseph Henry (1797ΓÇô1878) separately discovered electromagnetic induction, the basis of electricity generation. Study of the nature of heat was furthered by American-born physicist Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford, 1753ΓÇô1814), who suggested that it was a form of motion rather than a substance. The English amateur scientist James Joule (1818ΓÇô89) did important work on thermodynamics, discovering the principle of the mechanical equivalent of heat, and helping to develop the principle of the conservation of energy.1850ΓÇô1900Thermodynamics was furthered by the Scottish physicist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin, 1824ΓÇô1907). The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev (1834ΓÇô1907) compiled the first periodic table of chemical elements. The English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809ΓÇô92) revolutionized biology with his theory of evolution by natural selection. The study of genetics was furthered by the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel (1822ΓÇô84), who demonstrated that inheritance involves dominant and recessive characteristics. The Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831ΓÇô79) established the concept of the electromagnetic force, and in 1887 the existence of electromagnetic waves was demonstrated experimentally by the German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857ΓÇô94). At the end of the century another German physicist, Wilhelm R├╢ntgen (1845ΓÇô1923), discovered X-rays, a fundamental research tool in physics and a vital diagnostic tool in medicine. Ernest Rutherford (1871ΓÇô1937), an English physicist, used X-rays to investigate gases, and discovered alpha, beta and gamma rays.1900ΓÇôPRESENTMendelΓÇÖs work was developed by the American geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866ΓÇô1945), the discoverer of chromosomes. After the Canadian bacteriologist Oswald Avery (1877ΓÇô1955) had demonstrated that DNA is responsible for inheritance, the Anglo-American team of Francis Crick (1916ΓÇô ), James Watson (1928ΓÇô ) and Maurice Wilkins (1916ΓÇô ) were able in 1953 to unravel its structure. Following the cracking of the genetic code by Wilkins and others in the 1960s, Paul Berg (1926ΓÇô ) and colleagues developed the use of restriction enzymes to cut DNA and allow the insertion of new genes. This originated the now widespread technology of genetic engineering. The major biological activity of the century, the human genome project, is expected, by the year 2000, to map the entire genetic structure of human DNA and enormously advance understanding of human physiology and disease.In astronomy, Erwin Hubble (1889ΓÇô1953) proved that the universe was rapidly expanding. The first space telescope, launched into permanent orbit in April 1990, was named after him.The structure of atoms was investigated by Ernest Rutherford, who discovered the atomic nucleus. The German physicist Albert Einstein (1879ΓÇô1955) radically revised classical physics with his theories of special and general relativity. The German Max Planck (1858ΓÇô1947) formulated quantum theory, which was applied to RutherfordΓÇÖs atom by the Dane Niels Bohr (1885ΓÇô1962), thereby effecting another major revision of classical physics. Understanding of the structure of the atom and the tremendous forces locked into it led to the development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Erwin Schr├╢dinger (1887ΓÇô1961) and Werner Heisenberg (1901ΓÇô76) fundamentally advanced ideas on the nature of the atom by developing quantum mechanics. Deepening research into subatomic particles led Murray Gell-Mann (1929ΓÇô ), Henry Kendall (1926ΓÇô ) and others to the concept of quarks, from which other subatomic particles are made.Modern science is dominated by expensive technology and extreme specialization. In physics, subatomic particles continue to be investigated, and are thought to hold the key to understanding the origin and ultimate nature of the universe.</text> </content> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>26</id> <text>arie Curie (1867ΓÇô1934), the Polish scientist who, with her French husband Pierre (1859ΓÇô1906) and Henri Becquerel (1852ΓÇô1908), received the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity. She also received the 1911 Prize for Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium.</text> </content> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>23</id> <text>ΓÇó ASTRONOMYΓÇó PHYSICSΓÇó CHEMISTRYΓÇó THE SCIENTIFIC METHODΓÇó MATHEMATICSΓÇó EARTH SCIENCESΓÇó LIFE SCIENCESΓÇó THE HISTORY OF MEDICINEΓÇó TECHNOLOGY</text> </content> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>36</id> <text>42040596276108248304</text> </content> <name>p060-2</name> <script></script> </card>