The Stumbling Progress Of 20th Century Science

The 70 years from 1880 to 1950 witnessed the final ascent of humankind into the modern age. Historically, this period is characterized by deep political, social and economic crises. However, parallel to this and much less known in the public, rational scientific thinking also experienced the darkest and deepest crisis of its own history. All the great modern scientific discoveries like quantum theory, genetics and neurology are products of this. Ground-breaking discoveries, profound crises, revolutionary thoughts, refutation of previously unshakable beliefs - these years are marked by scientific achievements of numerous great minds, who overturned our understanding of the world, of space, time and infinity, of life, logic and calculability almost overnight. The "intuitive genius" of these pioneers still forms the foundation of today’s scientific thinking and technological progress. In fact, tackling and overcoming those deep scientific crises shaped our modern life like nothing else. The resulting reorientation of our understanding of nature and ourselves allowed ancient philosophical questions to appear in a new light: "What is reality?", "What can we know about the world?" or "What is man's place in nature?". The most exciting period in the history of science is retold here in an entertaining way.

Historically, the scientific method has been said to require proposing a theory, making a prediction of something not already known, testing the prediction, and giving up the theory (or substantially changing it) if it fails the test. A theory that leads to several successful predictions is more likely to be accepted than one that only explains what is already known but not understood. This process is widely treated as the conventional method of achieving scientific progress, and was used throughout the twentieth century as the standard route to discovery and experimentation. But does science really work this way? In Making 20th Century Science, Stephen G. Brush discusses this question, as it relates to the development of science throughout the last century. Answering this question requires both a philosophically and historically scientific approach, and Brush blends the two in order to take a close look at how scientific methodology has developed. Several cases from the history of modern physical and biological science are examined, including Mendeleev's Periodic Law, Kekule's structure for benzene, the light-quantum hypothesis, quantum mechanics, chromosome theory, and natural selection. In general it is found that theories are accepted for a combination of successful predictions and better explanations of old facts. Making 20th Century Science is a large-scale historical look at the implementation of the scientific method, and how scientific theories come to be accepted.

"Science in the Twentieth Century and beyond provides a much-needed overview of the history of science from 1900 to the present day. It is the first book to survey modern developments in science during a century of unprecedented change, conflict and uncertainty. The scope is global and it covers a wide range of disciplines, including life sciences, information sciences, as well as aspects of mathematics, engineering and technology, and medicine"--Back cover.

This work on science in the 20th century represents work in America, Europe and Asia. It includes such topics as the countries that have made the most significant contributions, the relationship between science and industry and the importance of instrumentation.

Examines scientific discoveries and developments within their historic context, showing how social trends and events influenced science and how scientific developments changed people's lives.

​This handbook provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on the topic of scientific, industrial and legal metrology. It discusses the state-of-art review of various metrological aspects pertaining to redefinition of SI Units and their implications, applications of time and frequency metrology, certified reference materials, industrial metrology, industry 4.0, metrology in additive manufacturing, digital transformations in metrology, soft metrology and cyber security, optics in metrology, nano-metrology, metrology for advanced communication, environmental metrology, metrology in biomedical engineering, legal metrology and global trade, ionizing radiation metrology, advanced techniques in evaluation of measurement uncertainty, etc. The book has contributed chapters from world’s leading metrologists and experts on the diversified metrological theme. The internationally recognized team of editors adopt a consistent and systematic approach and writing style, including ample cross reference among topics, offering readers a user-friendly knowledgebase greater than the sum of its parts, perfect for frequent consultation. Moreover, the content of this volume is highly interdisciplinary in nature, with insights from not only metrology but also mechanical/material science, optics, physics, chemistry, biomedical and more. This handbook is ideal for academic and professional readers in the traditional and emerging areas of metrology and related fields.

Early Theorists believed that science promised certainty. Built on a foundation of fact and constructed with objective and trustworthy tools, science consistently produced knowledge. Then disturbing discoveries made by twentieth-century scientists revealed that this knowledge will always be fundamentally incomplete and that a true understanding of the world is ultimately beyond our grasp. In this book, physicist F. David Peat examines the basic philosophic certainty that characterized the thinking of humankind through the nineteenth century and contrasts it with the startling fall of certainty in the twentieth. Indeed, the nineteenth century was marked by a boundless optimism and confidence in the power of progress and technology. Our ebullience was so great, our belief in science so firm, that in 1900 the President of Britain's Royal Society proclaimed that everything of importance had already been discovered by science. But it was not long before the seeds of a scientific revolution began to take root.