[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

PART 2 - The 20th Century

• Discovery of Biological Nitrogen Fixation by bacteria that are associated with plants :: (M.W. Beijerinck 1901) (11)
• Proof that atoms exist :: (Einstein 1905, Perrin 1909)
• Relativity :: (Einstein 1905, Einstein 1916)
• Proof of glacial-interglacial cycle (evidence for rapid non-anthropogenic climate change) :: (Penck & Bruckner 1901-1909) (12)
• Superconductivity :: (Onnes 1911)
• Bohr model of the atom :: (Bohr 1913 ) (13)
• Discovery that two atoms of the same element that are chemically indistinguishable can, however, have different atomic weights. (Frederick Soddy, 1913)
• Structure of the Earth - discovery of Crust, Mantle, inner Core, outer Core :: (1900-1936)
• Size of the Milky Way & the Sun's position within it :: (Shapley, 1918-1919) (14)
• Quantum Mechanics :: (Planck, Einstein, Bohr, de Broglie, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Born, Dirac,1900-1928)
• Proof that stars are mainly Hydrogen & Helium, and that Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe :: (Payne-Gaposchkin , 1925) (15)
• Biogeochemistry & the study of whole Earth systems :: (Vernadsky 1926)
• Bees shown to communicate with each other using symbolic language (von Frisch, 1927)
• Proof that the Milky Way is not the only galaxy in the universe :: (Hubble, 1929) (16)
• "Hubble Law" & The Expansion of the Universe : (Lemaitre 1927, Hubble & Humason 1931) (17)
• The Neutron is discovered :: (Chadwick, 1932)
• Dark Matter :: (Zwicky 1933)
• Theory of general-purpose computing devices; the ability of a single machine to compute anything which is computable (Turing 1936-1937 ; ; Church 1936)
• Nuclear fission discovered :: (Hahn & Meitner & Frisch , 1938) (18)
• Black Hole shown to be the result of the collapse of a massive star at the end of its life :: (Oppenheimer & Snyder, 1939) (19)
• Energy-Producing Mechanism of the Sun :: (Bethe 1939 ;; von Weizsacker 1938)
• Planetary Atmospheres are characterized :: ( >1940)
• Ediacaran fossil assemblage is discovered :: (Sprigg 1946)
• Big Bang theory :: ( Lemaitre 1931, Gamow & Alpher 1948 )
• First Identification of a disease as due to a specific molecular abnormality :: (Pauling, 1949)
• First amino acid sequence of a protein :: (Sanger 1952) (20)
• DNA :: (Watson and Crick, 1953) (21)
• Calvin-Benson Cycle (the reactions by which plants utilize CO2 in photosynthesis) :: (Melvin Calvin & Andrew Benson, 1946 to 1954)
• First full structure of a protein :: (Kendrew 1958)
• Nucleosynthesis in Stars :: (Burbidge & Burbidge & Fowler & Hoyle, 1957)
• Australopithecus boisei is discovered :: (Mary Leakey, 1959)
• Oceanography :: (> 1960)
• Standard Model of Particle Physics :: (1960)
• First realistic theory of Galaxy Formation :: (Eggen & Lynden-Bell & Sandage, 1962)
• Quasars proved to be extremely distant & much more luminous than a large galaxy :: (Schmidt 1963)
• The Quark model :: (Gell-Mann 1964, Zweig 1964)
• Cosmic Microwave Background is observed :: (Penzias & Wilson , 1965)
• Plate Tectonics & Continental Drift are proved :: (mid 1960s)
• Pulsars - theory that they are rotating neutron stars (Gold, 1968) (22)
• Australopithecus afarensis is discovered (Donald Johanson, 1974)
• Archaea (Woese & Fox, 1977)
• Life discovered near Deep Sea hydrothermal vents :: (1977)
• Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction - evidence for an asteroid impact (Alvarez & Alvarez & Asaro & Michel , 1980)
• Largest-Scale Structures in the Universe are mapped (> 1980) (23)
• Symbiotic theory for origin of Eukaryotic cells :: (Margulis, 1981) (24)
• Characterization of gene control networks and the proteome :: (>1990 )
• Hubble Deep Field - research on primeval galaxies comes of age :: (1996)
• Observational proof of "dark energy" :: (1998) (25)
• Extragalactic distances become known to an accuracy of 10-20 percent, finally resolving the controversy over the value of the Hubble Constant :: (HST Key Project on Extragalactic Distance Scale; final report in 2001)
• Apparently explosive Cambrian evolutionary (diversification) event with the rapid appearance of most metazoan phyla, is characterized :: (20th C.) (26)
• Understanding of Animal Behaviour and Cognition :: (20th C)