Science: A History in 100 Experiments
A history of science distilled into 100 notable experiments – epic moments that have fuelled our understanding of Earth and the Universe beyond.The history of science is a fascinating and long one, covering thousands of years of history. The development of scientific experiments involves some of the most enlightened cultures in history, as well as some great scientists, philosophers and theologians. As the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman said, ‘If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong’, the simplest summary of what science is all about. And science is nothing without experiments.Everything in the scientific world view is based on experiment, including observations of phenomena predicted by theories and hypotheses, such as the bending of light as it goes past the Sun. From the discovery of microscopic worlds to weighing the Earth, from making electricity to the accelerating Universe and gravitational waves, this stunning book by renowned science writers John and Mary Gribbin tells the fascinating history of science through the stories of 100 groundbreaking experiments.
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William Collins
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London SE1 9GF
This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016
Text © John and Mary Gribbin 2016
Photographs © individual copyright holders
John and Mary Gribbin assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
Edited by Patricia Briggs
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Source ISBN: 978-0-00-814560-6
Ebook Edition © October 2016 ISBN: 9780008145613
Version: 2016-09-22
CONTENTS
2 MEASURING THE DIAMETER OF THE EARTH
5 MEASURING THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE EARTH
10 REVEALING THE MICROSCOPIC WORLD
11 ALL THE COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW
12 THE SPEED OF LIGHT IS FINITE
17 BREATHING PLANTS AND PURE AIR
18 OPENING UP THE SOLAR SYSTEM
19 ANIMAL HEAT, BUT NO ANIMAL MAGIC
20 TWITCHING FROGS AND ELECTRIC PILES
31 THINKING ABOUT THE POWER OF FIRE
33 THE MAGNETISM OF ELECTRICITY
41 THE LEVIATHAN OF PARSONSTOWN
43 FROM FIRE LIGHT TO STAR LIGHT
44 PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
45 PINNING DOWN THE SPEED OF LIGHT
47 THE FLOWERING OF EVOLUTION THEORY
52 THE SPEED OF LIGHT IS CONSTANT
54 NOBLE GASES AND A NOBLE LORD
59 KNOCKING ELECTRONS WITH LIGHT
61 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
64 THE DISCOVERY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
68 ELECTRON WAVES AND QUANTUM DUALITY
69 TAKING THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH
78 THE FIRST PROGRAMMABLE COMPUTER
79 DISCOVERING THE ROLE OF DNA
84 MAKING THE MOLECULES OF LIFE
86 MAGNETIC STRIPES AND SEA-FLOOR SPREADING
87 DETECTING THE GHOST PARTICLE
92 MAKING WAVES IN THE UNIVERSE
95 THE ULTIMATE QUANTUM EXPERIMENT
98 FIFTEEN EQUALS THREE TIMES FIVE
100 THE COMPOSITION OF THE UNIVERSE
© NASA/Science Photo Library
Astronaut working on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during a routine servicing mission.
© Caltech/MIT/Ligo Labs/Science Photo Library
LIGO gravitational wave detector. Aerial photograph of the Livingston detector site for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). LIGO compares measurements between two detector sites 3000 kilometres apart, one near Hanford, Washington, USA, and the other near Livingston, Louisiana, USA. Each site is an L-shaped ultra-high vacuum system, four kilometres long on each side. Laser interferometers are used to look for small changes caused by gravitational waves. LIGO has been operating since 2002, with an advanced upgrade (aLIGO) operating since 2015. On 11 February 2016 it was announced that gravitational waves had been detected by LIGO. The signal was detected on 14 September 2015, and was the result of two black holes colliding.
Science is nothing without experiments. As the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman said: ‘In general, we look for a new law by the following process: First we guess it; then we compute the consequences of the guess to see what would be implied if this law that we guessed is right; then we compare the result of the computation to nature, with experiment or experience [observation of the world], compare it directly with observation, to see if it works. If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It does not make any difference how beautiful your guess is, it does not make any difference how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is —
