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Top Twelve Scientific Discoveries

  • Jan 1, 1543

    Copernicum System

    Copernicum System
    The system was created by a Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus. As he was dying, he published the theory that the Sun is the center of our solar system. Before this theory, scientists and astronomers believed the Earth was at the center of the universe.
  • Gravity

    Gravity
    Fun Facts About Isaac Newton A mathmatician and physicist, Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravitation. The law states that gravity is the force that draws objects toward each other. It is why planets orbit the sun and things fall down to the ground when dropped.
  • Electricity

    Electricity
    Michael Faraday Facts and Inventions
    Electricity was discovered by Michael Faraday. He disovered that a wire carrrying an electric current will rotate when place next to a single magnetic pole. His discovery led to the creation of the electric motor.
  • Pasteurization

    Pasteurization
    A French chemist named Louis Pasteur experimented with bacteria to help identify where disease came from. From his experiments, he found that disease came from microorganisms. He also found that disease could be killed by heat and disinfectants. This led to sterilzation of medical equipment and hand washing.
  • The Periodic Law

    The Periodic Law
    Periodic law was founded by a Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev. The law became the basis for the Periodic Table. Mendeleev found that he could group chemical elements by atomic weight to form groups with similar patterns. The table could be used to predict new elements and find errors in atomic weights.
  • X-Ray

    X-Ray
    A German Physicist Wilhelm Roentgen found that an x-ray will go through flesh and wood but can be stopped by bone and lead. This discovery allowed for the examination of broken bones or explosives inside packages. He was the first one to win a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901.
  • Theory of Relativity

    Theory of Relativity
    The Theory of Relavity is by Albert Einstein. It is a theory that is about the relationship of speech, time, and distance. It is complicated. He found that the speed of light is always the same- 186,000 miles per second. The theory of relativity became the foundation of modern science.
  • Penicillin

    Penicillin
    Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic. He grew it using mold and fungi in his lab. It kills dangerous bacteria in the body. It changed modern medicince. Before penicillin, a strep throat could kill someone.
  • DNA

    DNA
    James Watson and Francis Crick, from England, made what is considered by many to be the greatest discovery in science. They found the double-helix structure of DNA. The double-helix is two strands that twist around and have endless patterns of instructions for the human body. They won the Nobel Prize. It has helped the scientific community to understand genetics and disease and prevent them.
  • Human Genome Map

    Human Genome Map
    Ten years of research went into mapping the entire human genome. Every human cell has 23 molecules called chromosomes. With the information from individual genome maps, scientists have been able to learn more about the human body including disease prevention and cures.
  • T.Rex Tissue

    T.Rex Tissue
    Mary Schweitzer and her team found soft tissue- blood vessels, bone matrix and other cells- inside the fossilized femur of a small T.rex. The finding confirmed a link between dinosaurs and birds.
  • Robotic Limbs

    Robotic Limbs
    Building on previous research about brain waves and electrodes, an amputee Pierpaolo Petruzziello learned to control a biomechanical hand. It was connected to his arm nerves with wire and electrodes. He was able to wiggle his fingers, make a fist, and grab an object using his own thoughts sent to the biomechanical hand.
  • Robo-Surgeon

    Robo-Surgeon
    A group of surgeons at McGill University used a da Vinci robo-surgeon and a robot anesthesiologist to complete the world's first suregery without the direct use of humans. They safely removed the patient's prostate. Humans were used to conrol the robots but did not touch the patient.