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Over the course of ages, we have made countless discoveries that have
improved the quality of our life and helped us to understand the world
around us. It is very difficult (if not impossible) to rank the
importance of the discoveries we have made, but one thing is for sure –
some of them have literally changed our life. From penicillin and the
screw pump to X-rays and electricity, here are some Biggest Scientific
Discoveries in History of Mankind.
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Penicillin
If Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, had not discovered penicillin,
the first antibiotics, in 1928, we would probably be still dying from
things such as stomach ulcers, tooth abcesses, strep throat and scarlet
fever, staph infections, lyme disease, leptospirosis etc. |
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Mechanical Clock
There is certain controversy as to what the first mechanical clock was,
but it is usually considered to be the clock created by Chinese monk and
mathematician I-Hsing in 723 A.D. This groundbreaking discovery allowed
us to quantify time. |
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Blood Circulation
One of the most important discoveries in medicine, the discovery of
blood circulation is credited to the English physician William Harvey
who, in 1628, was the first person to completely describe the systemic
circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the brain and body
by the heart. |
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Gravity
It is a well-known story – Isaac Newton, famous English mathematician
and physicist, discovered gravity after an apple fell on his head in
1664. His discovery explained why things fall down and why the planets
revolved around the Sun. |
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Air Conditioning
Primitive air conditioning systems have existed since the ancient times,
but it was not until 1902 when the very first modern electrical air
conditioning unit was invented by a young engineer named Willis Carrier
in Buffalo, New York.
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Electricity
The life-changing discovery of electricity is attributed to the English
scientist Michael Faraday. His main discoveries include the principles
underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and electrolysis.
Faraday’s experiments also created the first generator, the forerunner
of the huge generators that produce our electricity.
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DNA
Many people believe that American biologist James Watson and English
physicist Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950’s, but in fact, it
was first identified in the late 1860’s by Swiss chemist Friedrich
Miescher. Then, in the decades following Miescher’s discovery, other
scientists carried out many research studies that helped us understand
how organisms pass on their genes and how the workings of cells are
governed. |
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X-Rays
German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered X-rays in 1895 when
he was studying the phenomena accompanying the passage of an electric
current through a gas of extremely low pressure. For this
ground-breaking discovery, Roentgen was awarded the first-ever Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1901.
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