Home > Timeline of scientific discoveries

See also Timeline of scientific experiments, Timeline of technological discoveries, List of timelines of Science and Technology, Obsolete scientific theories.

• 1543 - Copernicus: the earth orbits the sun

• 16?? - John Napier: Logarithm
• 16?? - Robert Boyle: Boyle's law of ideal gas
• 1609 - Johannes Kepler: Laws of planetary motionJohannes Kepler's primary contribution to astronomy/ astrophysics were the three laws of planetary motion . Kepler derived these laws, in part, by studying the observations of Brahe. Isaac Newton would later design his laws of motion and universal gravita
• 1628Events March 1 writs were issued in February 1628 by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date August 10 The Swedish 64 gun sailing ship HMS Wasa sinks on her maiden voyage September 6 Puritans se - William HarveyWilliam Harvey ( April 1, 1578 June 3, 1657) was a medical doctor who first correctly described in exact detail the circulatory system of blood being pumped around the body by the heart. This developed the ideas of Rene Descartes who in his Description of: Blood circulation
• 1637Events February 3 Tulipmania collapses in Netherlands by government order February 15 Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor December 17 Shimabara Rebellion erupts in Japan Pierre de Fermat makes a marginal claim to have proof of what would become known - Descartes: Scientific methodThe scientific method is a sequence or collection of processes that are considered characteristic of scientific investigation and the acquisition of new scientific knowledge based upon physical evidence. Science deals with assertions about the way the wor (also: Roger BaconFor the Nova Scotia premier see Roger Bacon (politician) Oxford University Museum Roger Bacon ( 1214- 1294), also known as Doctor Mirabilis ( Latin: "astounding doctor"), was an English philosopher who placed considerable emphasis on empiricism, and has b)
• 1675 - Leibniz, Newton: infinitesimal calculus
• 1687 - Newton: Laws of motion, law of universal gravitation, basis for classical physics

• 1787 - Jacques Charles: Charles' Law of ideal gas
• 1789 - Lavoisier: law of conservation of mass, basis for chemistry

• 1824 - Carnot: 2nd law of thermodynamics
• 1827 - Georg Ohm: Ohm's law ( Electricity)
• 1838 - Matthias Schleiden: all plants are made of cells
• 1843 - James Prescott Joule: Law of Conservation of energy ( First law of thermodynamics)
• 1848 - Lord Kelvin: absolute zero of temperature
• 1858 - Rudolf Virchow: cells can only arise from pre-existing cells
• 1859 - Charles Darwin: Theory of evolution by natural selection
• 1865 - Gregor Mendel: Mendel's laws of inheritance, basis for genetics
• 1869 - Dmitri Mendeleev: Periodic table
• 1873 - Maxwell: Theory of electromagnetism
• 1877 - Boltzmann: Statistical definition of entropy

• 1900 - Planck: Planck's law of black body radiation, basis for quantum theory
• 1905 - Albert Einstein: special theory of relativity
• 1906 - Walther Nernst: Third law of thermodynamics
• 1912 - Alfred Wegener: Continental drift
• 1913 - Niels Bohr: Model of the atom
• 1915 - Albert Einstein: general theory of relativity
• 1924 - Wolfgang Pauli: quantum Pauli exclusion principle
• 1925 - Erwin Schrödinger: Schrödinger equation ( Quantum mechanics)
• 1927 - Werner Heisenberg: Uncertainty principle ( Quantum mechanics)
• 1927 - Georges Lemaître: Theory of the Big Bang
• 1928 - Paul Dirac: Dirac equation ( Quantum mechanics)
• 1929 - Edwin Hubble: Hubble's law of the expanding universe

• 1953 - Crick and Watson: helical structure of DNA, basis for molecular biology
• 1965 - Richard Feynman: Quantum electrodynamics