Timeline of Fundamental Physics Discoveries Since 1780 | |
Advances in our knowledge of the laws of nature consisting either of experimental discoveries or theoretical proposals that were confirmed experimentally. | |
1780 |
|
1782 |
Conservation of matter, Lavoisier |
1785 |
Inverse square electricity confirmed, Coulomb |
1801 |
Wave theory of light, Young |
1803 |
Atomic theory of matter, Dalton |
1805 |
|
1806 |
Kinetic energy, Young |
1814 |
Wave theory of light, interference, Fresnel |
1820 |
Evidence for electro-magnetic interactions, Ampere, Biot, Savert |
1824 |
Ideal gas cycle analysis, internal combustion engine, Sadi Carnot |
1827 |
Resistance, etc., Ohm |
1830 |
|
1838 |
Lines of force, fields, Faraday |
1838 |
Earth's magnetic field, Weber |
1842–3 |
Conservation of energy, Julius Robert Mayer, William Thomson |
1842 |
Doppler effect, Lord Kelvin |
1845 |
Faraday rotation (light and electromagnetic) |
1847 |
Conservation of energy 2, Joule, von Helmholtz |
1850–1 |
Second law of thermodynamics, Rudolf Clausius, Kelvin |
1855 |
|
1857–9 |
Kinetic theory, Clausius, James Clerk Maxwell |
1861 |
Black body, Kirchhoff |
1863 |
Entropy, Clausius |
1864 |
A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field, Maxwell |
1867 |
Dynamic theory of gases, Maxwell |
1880 |
|
1871–89 |
Statistical mechanics, Boltzmann, Gibbs |
1884 |
Boltzmann derives Stefan radiation law |
1887 |
Electromagnetic waves, Hertz |
1893 |
Wein's radiation law |
1895 |
X-rays |
1897 |
Electron |
1900 |
Planck formula for radiation |
1905 |
|
1905 |
Special relativity, Einstein
Photoelectric effect, Einstein
|
1911 |
Equivalence Principle
Discovery of the nucleus
|
1913 |
Bohr atom |
1916 |
General relativity, Einstein |
1919 |
Light bending confirmed |
1922 |
Friedmann proposes expanding universe |
1923 |
Stern-Gerlach experiment
Matter waves
Galaxies
|
1925–7 |
Quantum mechanics |
1925 |
Stellar structure understood |
1927 |
Big Bang proposed by Lemaitre |
1928 |
Antimatter predicted |
1929 |
Hubble confirms expansion of universe |
1930 |
|
1932 |
Antimatter confirmed |
1933 |
Dark matter found |
1937 |
Muon discovered |
1938 |
Superfluidity discovered |
1939 |
Uranium fission discovered |
1944 |
Theory of magnetism |
1947 |
Pion discovered |
1948 |
Quantum electrodynamics |
1955 |
|
1956 |
Electron neutrino discovered |
1956–7 |
Parity found violated |
1957 |
Superconductivity explained |
1959–60 |
Role of topology in quantum physics, predicted and confirmed |
1962 |
SU(3) theory of strong interactions |
1963 |
Quarks predicted |
1967 |
Unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions
Solar neutrino problem found
|
1968 |
Experimental evidence for quarks found |
1970–3 |
Standard model of elementary particles invented |
1971 |
Helium 3 superfluidity |
1974 |
Black hole radiation predicted
Renormalization group
|
1975 |
Tau lepton found |
1977 |
Bottom quark found |
1978 |
Dark matter found in galaxies |
1980 |
|
1980 |
Quantum Hall effect |
1981 |
Theory of cosmic inflation proposed |
1985 |
Bose-Einstein condensate found |
1995 |
Top quark found |
1998 |
Dark energy discovered |
2003 |
WMAP observations of Cosmic microwave background |
Timeline Source: <a href="http://timeline.aps.org/APS/Timeline/" target="_blank">American Physical Society </a> |
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