Science has affected our daily lives in many ways. The environmental and social conditions in which we live in right now are due to some of these scientific discoveries, and others are based on discoveries that have impacted societal changes, such as the way we think about medicine and the vast world around us.
1. The Structure of DNA
DNA was studied in the 1950’s by Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, James Watson, and Francis Crick. Rosalind Franklin was an expert in X-ray crystallography. Using her expertise, she took a picture called Photo 51, which showed that phosphate units of the DNA molecule are found in the external part of the molecule. Later, her senior associate, Maurice Wilkins, gave away her data without her permission to James Watson and Francis Crick of Cambridge University. Watson and Crick then used the data she collected to figure out a create a comprehensive model the double helix structure of DNA.
2. The Law of Relativity
In 1905, Albert Einstein was working in a federal patent office in Bern when he discovered what has come to be known as the most famous equation in the world. According to E=mc2, mass and energy are not two separate entities. Rather, a huge amount of energy could be released from a single particle of matter. Einstein also pointed out in the same paper that the speed of light remains constant. This groundbreaking discovery serves now as the foundation of modern science.
3. Evolution
Darwin theorized his theory of natural selection while he visited the Galapagos Island in 1835. During his time on the islands, he studied different species of finches and recognized these species had similar features. He found that there is competition between organisms with respect to specific traits. From that he deduced that in the next generation, there will be more of the organisms with the trait that helps the organisms survive more in a specific environment. He found all life on earth evolved from one common ancestor. In 1859, his book "Origin of the Species" was published, stating his discoveries.
4. The Periodic Table
Attempts to develop the periodic table took the work of several scientists, including John Newlands and Alexandre-Emile Beguiler, who made attempts to classify elements based on their properties. One scientist who has been highly recognized for his work is the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. Mendeleev arranged elements based on increasing atomic weights. In his table, elements with the same properties were arranged in the same group. In 1914, however, Henry Mosely arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic number, which created a more suitable and accurate periodic table.
5. Law of Universal Gravitation
One of the greatest scientists of all time, Issac Newton, discovered that objects are attracted to each other due to the force of gravity, and thus concluded that gravitational forces depend on the mass of an object and the distance between it and other objects. Newton’s contributions to calculus and physics make him one of the most renowned scientists in the world.
