Physics Timeline

By: Eryn Johnston

Greek Civilization - 1895

Pre-1600s
490 BC - Empedocles a Greek philosopher, who is best know for originating the cosmogenic theory of the 4 classical elements was born. 384 BC Aristotle was born About 240 BC A heliocentric model is proposed by Aristarchus 1054 - Crab supernova explosion is seen by Chinese and American Indian astronomers 1512 - Nicholas Copernicus declares his heliocentric theory in Commentariolus 1543 - De Revolutionibus de Orbium Coelestium is published by Nicholas Copernicus 1572 Supernova observed by Tycho Brahe 1577 - Tycho Brahe proves comets are distant entities 1589 - Galileo Galilei proves different weights fall with equal constant acceleration using balls rolling on inclined planes

1600-1700
1609 - Johannes Kepler declares his first two empirical laws of planetary motion 1609 Galileo Galilei builds his first telescope 1613 - Galileo Galilei demonstrates the rotation of the sun using sunspots 1619 - Johannes Kepler declares his third empirical law of planetary motion 1621 Law of Refraction declared by Willebrord Snell 1629 - Christian Huygens a Dutch astronomer was born 1642 Isaac Newton was born. 1656 The first accurate pendulum clock is created by Christian Huygens 1665 - Isaac Newton uses the acceleration of the moon to come up with the inverse-square gravitational force law 1665 Isaac Newton invents Calculus 1668 The law of conservation of momentum is suggested by John Wallis 1673 - The discovery that ac=v2/R is published by Christian Huygens 1675 The speed of light is estimated by Ole Romer using the orbital mechanics of Jupiter's moons 1678 A principle of wave front sources is stated by Christian Huygens 1687 - Isaac Newton publishes his Principia Mathematica

1700-1895
1705 - The periodicity of Halleys comet is projected by Edmond Halley 1751 - Experiments and Observations on Electricity was published by Benjamin Franklin 1752 - Benjamin Franklin proves lightning is a form of electricity 1767 - An electrical inverse-square law is suggested by Joseph Priestly 1781 - Uranus is located by William Herschel 1785 - The inverse-square law of electrostatics is presented by Charles Coulomb 1798 - The gravitational constant is measured by Henry Cavendish. He also defines the mass of the Earth. 1798 - The idea that heat is a form of energy is founded by Count Rumford 1801 Thomas Young demonstrates the wave nature of light and the principle of interference 1820 Hans Oersted notices that a current in a wire can deflect a compass needle providing the first concrete evidence of the connection between electricity and magnetism 1821 Michael Faraday builds an electricity-powered motor 1826 Simon Ohm states his law of electrical resistance 1827 Robert Brown discovers the Brownian motion

1700-1895 Cont.
1831 Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction 1848 Lord Kelvin discovers the absolute zero point of temperature 1859 Maxwell works out the mathematics of the distribution of velocities of the molecules of a gas 1873 James Maxwell states that light is an electromagnetic phenomenon 1874 Lord Kelvin formally states the second law of thermodynamics 1887 Heinrich Hertz discovers the photoelectric effect 1888 Heinrich Hertz discovers radio waves

1895-Present
1896 Antoine Becquerel discovers the radioactivity of uranium 1897 Joseph Thomson discovers the electron 1899 Ernest Rutheford discovers that uranium radiation is composed of positively charged alpha particles and negatively charged beta particles 1900 Max Planck states his radiation law and Planck's constant 1905 Albert Einstein completes his theory of special relativity 1913 Niels Bohr presents his first quantum model of the atom 1913 Robert Millikan measures the fundamental unit of charge 1915 Albert Einstein completes his theory of general relativity 1927 Werner Heisenberg states the quantum uncertainty principle 1929 Edwin Hubble discovers the expansion of the universe 1932 James Chadwick discovers the neutron 1932 Carl Anderson discovers the positron 1933 Wolfgang Pauli proposes the existence of neutrinos to account for an apparent violation of energy conservation in certain nuclear reactions 1958 Charles Townes invents the laser 1963 Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig propose the quark/aces model 1965 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover the 3K background radiation

1895-Present Cont.
1896 Antoine Becquerel discovers the radioactivity of uranium 1897 Joseph Thomson discovers the electron 1899 Ernest Rutheford discovers that uranium radiation is composed of positively charged alpha particles and negatively charged beta particles 1900 Max Planck states his radiation law and Planck's constant 1905 Albert Einstein completes his theory of special relativity 1913 Niels Bohr presents his first quantum model of the atom 1913 Robert Millikan measures the fundamental unit of charge 1915 Albert Einstein completes his theory of general relativity 1927 Werner Heisenberg states the quantum uncertainty principle 1929 Edwin Hubble discovers the expansion of the universe 1932 James Chadwick discovers the neutron 1932 Carl Anderson discovers the positron 1933 Wolfgang Pauli proposes the existence of neutrinos to account for an apparent violation of energy conservation in certain nuclear reactions 1958 Charles Townes invents the laser 1963 Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig propose the quark/aces model 1965 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover the 3K background radiation

1895-Present Cont.
1896 Antoine Becquerel discovers the radioactivity of uranium 1897 Joseph Thomson discovers the electron 1899 Ernest Rutheford discovers that uranium radiation is composed of positively charged alpha particles and negatively charged beta particles 1900 Max Planck states his radiation law and Planck's constant 1905 Albert Einstein completes his theory of special relativity 1913 Niels Bohr presents his first quantum model of the atom 1913 Robert Millikan measures the fundamental unit of charge 1915 Albert Einstein completes his theory of general relativity 1927 Werner Heisenberg states the quantum uncertainty principle 1929 Edwin Hubble discovers the expansion of the universe 1932 James Chadwick discovers the neutron 1932 Carl Anderson discovers the positron 1933 Wolfgang Pauli proposes the existence of neutrinos to account for an apparent violation of energy conservation in certain nuclear reactions 1958 Charles Townes invents the laser 1963 Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig propose the quark/aces model 1965 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover the 3K background radiation