History of Science: Antiquity

• Scientists are responsible for vital discoveries and inventions.
• Science uses observation, experimentation, and analysis to develop theories and laws.

Antiquity: Before 500 CE

• Science stemmed from the need to solve practical problems.
• Ancient civilizations developed solutions for agriculture, building, and navigation.
• Imhotep (2667–2600 BCE, Egypt) was a physician, architect, and high priest who designed the Step Pyramid of Djoser.
• Thales of Miletus (c. 624–c. 546 BCE, Greece) was a pre-Socratic philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer and one of the first Greek philosophers.
• Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 495 BCE, Greece) was a philosopher and mathematician known for the Pythagorean theorem.
• Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 370 BCE, Greece), the "Father of Medicine," founded a medical school and is credited with the Hippocratic Oath.
• Aristotle (384–322 BCE, Greece) contributed to logic, metaphysics, physics, biology, and ethics.
• Euclid (c. 300 BCE, Greece), the "Father of Geometry," wrote "The Elements".
• Archimedes (c. 287–c. 212 BCE, Greece) invented, engineered, and discovered buoyancy.
• Ptolemy (c. 100–c. 170 CE, Egypt) proposed a geocentric model of the universe.
• Zhang Heng (78–139 CE, China) was a polymath who invented the first seismoscope.
• Galen (c. 129–c. 216 CE, Greece) was a physician whose theories dominated Western medicine for over 1000 years.

The Islamic Golden Age: 750–1258 CE

• The Islamic world advanced science and mathematics, preserving Greek and Roman texts.
• Original discoveries were made in algebra, medicine, and astronomy.
• Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–c. 850, Persia) is considered the "father of algebra."
• Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–c. 815, Persia) was a polymath and alchemist called the "father of early chemistry."
• Al-Razi (865–925, Persia) made fundamental contributions to medicine.
• Ibn Sina (980–1037, Persia) wrote "The Canon of Medicine."
• Ibn al-Haytham (c. 965–c. 1040, Iraq) is known as the "father of optics."
• Al-Biruni (973–1048, Persia) wrote on physics, mathematics, astronomy, geography, and philosophy.
• Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274, Persia) advanced trigonometry.

The Renaissance: 1300–1600 CE

• The Renaissance saw renewed interest in classical learning and the arts, leading to discoveries in science and technology.
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519, Italy) was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, inventor, and more.
• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543, Poland) proposed a heliocentric model of the universe.
• Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564, Belgium) is considered the founder of modern human anatomy.
• Tycho Brahe (1546–1601, Denmark) is known for comprehensive astronomical observations.
• Galileo Galilei (1564–1642, Italy) played a major role in the scientific revolution.
• William Gilbert (1544–1603, England) advocated the experimental method.
• William Harvey (1578–1657, England) described systemic circulation.
• Johannes Kepler (1571–1630, Germany) is known for his laws of planetary motion.

The Scientific Revolution: 1550–1700 CE

• Scientists used the scientific method to investigate the natural world, leading to discoveries in physics, astronomy, and biology.
• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723, Netherlands) is known as the "father of microbiology."
• Robert Boyle (1627–1691, Ireland) is known for Boyle's law.
• Isaac Newton (1643–1727, England) formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation.
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716, Germany) independently developed calculus.
• Christiaan Huygens (1629 – 1695, Netherlands) improved telescopes.

The Age of Enlightenment: 1685–1815

• The Age of Enlightenment emphasized reason and science, leading to new ideas about government, society, and human nature.
• Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778, Sweden) formalized binomial nomenclature.
• Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790, USA) was an author, printer, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, and more.
• Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794, France) is considered the "father of modern chemistry."
• Alessandro Volta (1745–1827, Italy) invented the electric battery.
• Edward Jenner (1749–1823, England) is known as the "father of immunology."

The 19th Century: 1800–1900

• Great scientific and technological progress led to new inventions and industries.
• John Dalton (1766–1844, England) is known for his atomic theory.
• Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856, Italy) contributed to molecular theory, including Avogadro's law.
• Michael Faraday (1791–1867, England) contributed to electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
• Charles Babbage (1791–1871, England) originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
• Mary Anning (1799–1847, England) made important finds in Jurassic marine fossil beds.
• Justus von Liebig (1803–1873, Germany) is a founder of organic chemistry.
• Charles Darwin (1809–1882, England) is known for his theory of evolution by natural selection.
• Gregor Mendel (1822–1884, Austria) is known as the "father of genetics."
• Louis Pasteur (1822–1895, France) discovered vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization.
• James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879, Scotland) formulated the theory of electromagnetism.
• Alfred Nobel (1833–1896, Sweden) founded the Nobel Prizes.
• Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907, Russia) formulated the periodic table of elements.
• Marie Curie (1867–1934, Poland/France) conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.

The 20th and 21st Centuries: 1900–Present

• New discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine.
• Max Planck (1858–1947, Germany) originated quantum theory.
• Albert Einstein (1879–1955, Germany/USA) developed the theory of relativity.
• Sigmund Freud (1856–1939, Austria) founded psychoanalysis.
• Niels Bohr (1885–1962, Denmark) contributed to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics.
• Alexander Fleming (1881–1955, Scotland) discovered lysozyme and penicillin.
• Lise Meitner (1878–1968, Austria/Sweden) was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission.
• Edwin Hubble (1889–1953, USA) established extragalactic astronomy.
• Alan Turing (1912–1954, England) contributed to computer science, mathematics, and more.
• Jonas Salk (1914–1995, USA) developed one of the first successful polio vaccines.
• Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958, England) contributed to understanding the molecular structures of DNA and RNA.
• James Watson (born 1928, USA) discovered the structure of DNA with Francis Crick.
• Francis Crick (1916–2004, England) discovered the structure of DNA with James Watson.
• Stephen Hawking (1942–2018, England) worked on black holes and the origin of the universe.
• Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955, England) invented the World Wide Web.

The Future of Science

• Science is constantly evolving and continues to shape our future.
• New discoveries are continually emerging.