THE ROARING TWENTIETH CENTURY – David Thomas, PhD

Thirty-five years ago (or so), I collected a few magazines from various eras with the idea of collaging pictures by decade—ten decades, ten collages… the story of the Twentieth Century.

Recently, as I was going through the seemingly endless process of sorting out and throwing away, I found those magazines. It turns out that I had in fact cut out a number of pictures for the project. Not to let the idea and project go to waste completely, I put together the collage below (7’ by 3 ½’). The text lists key scientific discoveries, inventions, and accomplishments by year, 1900 to 2000.

My sources for those discoveries/developments are Buckminster Fuller’s Critical Path and Chat GBT. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that made me aware of so much unused brain space as did Fuller’s Critical Path. And Chat GBT is remarkable, to say the least.

(The images that follow, except for the collage, were generated using Microsoft CoPilot/Designer.)

1920: Development of the Wilson Cloud Chamber / Neutron discovered / Commercial radio broadcast of voice

1921: The Discovery of Insulin / Rubber plated on metal

1922: Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background / Air conditioning / Radar / Vitamin D

1923: Discovery of Vitamin C / Hubble discovers another galaxy / Bulldozer

1924: Discovery of Hubble’s Law / First intercity bus lines / Wave mechanics – De Broglie

1925: Schrodinger’s Wave Equation / First commercial airline on regular schedule / Methanol

1926: Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle / Talking movies / Conditioned reflexes – Pavlov

1932: Discovery of the Positron / All-metal passenger airplanes / Neutron discovered

1933: Discovery of Artificial Radioactivity / FM broadcasting

1934: Discovery of Cosmic Rays as High-Energy Particles / High intensity mercury arc lamp

1935: Discovery of the Neutrino / Cortisone / Public TV in England

1936: Discovery of Nuclear Fission / Micrometer / Rust cotton picker

1937: Development of the Cyclotron / Jet engine, England / nylon produced

1938: Discovery of Nuclear Isomerism / Ballpoint pen

1939: Discovery of Nuclear Reactivity of Uranium-235 / DDT / Electron microscope / Synthetic rubber

1940: Development of the Magnetron / Radio map of Milky Way / Meningitis cure

1941: Development of the First Computer / Dacron

1942: First Controlled Nuclear Chain Reaction / Magnetic tape / V-2 rocket

1943: Discovery of the Coelacanth / LSD – Hoffman

1944: Discovery of DNA Structure / 1^st jet airplane fighter

1945: Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II / Streptomycin developed

1946: Invention of the First Electronic Computer / Radio-controlled rocket missile

1947: Invention of the Transistor / Geodesic dome – B. Fuller / World’s largest reflector telescope – Mt. Palomar / Commercial TV broadcasting

1952: Discovery of the First Microwave Background Radiation / Hydrogen bomb explosion / Radioisotopes into scientific, medical, industrial use

1953: Discovery of the Structure of DNA / Cosmic-ray observatory in Alaska

1954: Development of the First Nuclear Power Plant / Nautilus, 1^st atomic-powered submarine

1955: Development of the First Polio Vaccine / Discovery of radio emissions from Jupiter / Open heart surgery

1956: Discovery of the Antiproton / Neutrino first detected / 1^st transatlantic telephone cable

1961: Human Spaceflight — Gagarin orbits Earth as first human spaceman — USSR

1962: Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation / Telstar, half-ton communication-relay satellite / Four ice ages established from soil core diggings

1963: Development of the First Handheld Calculator / Discovery of anti-xi-zeno, fundamental atomic particle of antimatter

1964: Discovery of Quarks / Close-up photos of Moon’s surface / Divers live in underwater Sealab for nine days

1965: Confirmation of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation / First space walks / 1^st use of satellites in TV transmission

1966: Discovery of Pulsars / Luna 9 instrument package makes soft landing on Moon

1967: Development of the First Successful Heart Transplant / Docking of two unmanned spacecraft

1968: Discovery of the T-Quark / First men orbit Moon / Pulsars detected / Integrated circuits

1971: Development of the Internet’s Precursor, ARPANET / First synthesis of hormone responsible for human growth

1972: Development of the First Video Game / Computer-programmed subway train

1973: Development of Recombinant DNA Technology

1974: Discovery of the J/Psi Particle / Orbiting space station, astronauts spend 85 days aboard / “Close-in” pictures of Venus, Mercury and Jupiter

1975: Development of Personal Computers / Particles with “charm” discovered / Satellite educational TV to 2400 villages in India

1976: Discovery of the W and Z Bosons / Mars unmanned landing

1977: Voyager 1 and 2 Launch / Gene-splitting technique to attack human disease

1978: Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy / World’s first test tube baby

1979: Discovery of Moon’s volcanic activity /Discovery of Charon / The First Gene Cloning

1980: Smallpox eradication / Development of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope

1981: Identification of HIV / The First Space Shuttle Flight (STS-1) / Discovery of the Antigen Receptor on T Cells

1986: Challenger Space Shuttle disaster / Discovery of High-Temperature Superconductivity

1987: First superconducting material / Loma Prieta Earthquake Prediction

1988: Discovery of oldest fossils indicating that life began on Earth 3.5 billion years ago / Discovery of the First Exoplanets

1989: Hubble Space Telescope launched / Discovery of the Oldest Known Human Ancestor (4.4 million)

1990: World Wide Web invention / First Successful Gene Therapy Trial / Discovery of the Ozone Hole Over Antarctica

1991: First exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star / Cometary Impact Hypothesis for the extinction of dinosaurs

1992: First confirmed Exoplanet around a Pulsar / Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy (support for Big Bang Theory)

1993: Discovery of Machu Picchu’s “Sister City” / Discovery of the Top Quark (1 of 6 fundamental particles of the Standard Model of particle physics)

1994: Discovery of first hot Jupiter Exoplanet / Identification of the BRCA1 Gene / Development of the First Quantum Computer Algorithm