canniff.babcock.historytimeline.2009

__Name__: Democritus __Life__: (ca. 460 BCE – ca. 370 BCE) __Country of Origin__ Born in Abdera, Ancient Greece __Year of Discovery__:around 300 BCE __Biography__: Many consider Democritus to be the father of modern science. Democritus studied under his mentor Leucippus, and it is unknown whether Democritus or his mentor originated the atomic theory. Throughout his long career, Democritus wrote many books, including an encyclopedia called //Little Cosmology.// Democritus' contemporaries disliked his work and discoveries; much of it has been lost over the course of time. Plato disliked him so much that he wished all his books be burnt. __Discovery__: Democritus created the atomic theory, stating that all matter is composed of tiny, indestructible units called atoms. The atoms themselves remain unchanged, but move around in space to form larger objects.

__Name:__ Aristotle __Life__: 384 BC – 322 BC __Country of Origin__: Born in Stagira, in northern Greece __Year of Discovery__: __Biography__: Aristotle was the son of a physician to a royal Macedonian family. He was first trained in medicine, but in 367 BC he was sent to Athens to study philosophy with Plato. Aristotle studied almost every subject possible at his time, and he made significant contributions to most of them. His discoveries largely influenced medieval science, and it has been said that Aristotle knew "everything there was to be known" in his time. __Discovery__: Aristotle disagreed with Democritus' atomic theory. He claimed that matter was not made up of individual particles; he though all matter on earth was composed of proportions of fire, air, earth, and water. He also thought that there was a fifth element called Aether, which composed stars and planets.

__Name__: Leucippus __Life__: He lived during the first half of the 5th century BC __Biography__: Leucippus was the mentor to Aristotle. He was the first person to ever suggest that all things were made up of very small, individual pieces of matter. He also thought that these particles were always moving and that they collided to form more complex compounds.

__Name__: James Bradley __Life:__ 1693-1762 __Country of Origin__: England __Year of Discovery__: 1728 __Biography__: Bradley was an astronomer from Gloucester-shire, and was educated at Oxford in the early 1700's. Bradley received the Copley Medal in 1748 for his discovering the aberration of light. __Discovery:__ Bradley discovered the speed of light within 5% accuracy. He was able to do this by studying the aberration of starlight.



__Name__: Charles-Augustin de Colomb __Life__: 1736-1806 __Country of Origin__: France __Year of Discovery__:1785 __Biography__: Colomb was born to into a wealthy french family. He studied mathematics at the College des Quatre Nations, a very prestigous institution. Colomb studied the effects of magnetism and was a renowned physist. He was a pioneer in the fields of electricity, friction, and magnetism. __Discovery__: Created Colomb's law, which stated that particles with opposite charges attract and like charges repel.



__Name__: Antoine Lavoisier __Life__: 1743-1794 __Country of Origin__: France __Year of Discovery__: 1787 __Biography__: Lavoisier was born into an upper class family. He became educated att the College des Quatre Nations, where he obtained a license to practice law. After publishing a paper about ways to better light Paris Streets, he became accepted into the Royal Academy of Science. He was executed for his actions during the French Revolution. __Discovery__: Lavoisier was the first chemist to formerly discover the conservation of mass. He did this by comparing the weights of reactants and products in combustion reactions. __Name__: John Dalton __Life:__ 1766-1844 __Country of Origin__: Born in Cumberland, England __Year of Discovery:__ 1803 __Biography__: Raised as a Quaker, Dalton considered studying law or medicine. His family did not approve, and he later went on to teach science and mathematics in Manchester in 1793. Dalton was colorblind, and after examining himself, he became the fist scientist to officially notice and recognize colorblindness. __Discovery__: Dalton published the first table of atomic weights. This table contained the weights of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, and phosphorous. He also published his atomic theory, which is as follows: 1. All matter is composed of atoms. 2. Atoms cannot be created or destroyed. 3. All atoms of the same type are identical. 4. Chemical reactions are formed by the rearranging of atoms. 5. Compounds are formed from atoms combining.

__Name__: Michael Faraday __Life:__ 1791-1867 __Country of Origin:__ Born in London, England __Year of Discovery:__ 1832 __Biography:__ Faraday was raised as a Christian and only received a basic education. He trained to be a blacksmith and was not considered to be an upper class citizen by any means. He read many books, however, and soon became fascinated and inspired by the work of Isaac Watts. In 1813, he became a chemical assistant at the Royal Institution of England. __Discovery__: Faraday studied the effect of electricity on solutions, and discovered the splitting of atoms, which he called electrolysis. He also created the laws of electrolysis.

__Name__: Dimitri Mendeleev __Life:__ 1834-1907 __Country of Origin:__ Born in Tobolsk, Russia __Year of Discovery__: 1869 __Biography__: Mendeleev is believed to be the youngest of 14 children. Mendeleev became a master of science in the 1850's, and studied the capillarity of liquids from 1859 until 1861. In 1893, he was appointed the Director of the Bureau of Weights and Measures, and set a new standard for the production of vodka, where it had to contain 40% alcohol by volume. __Discovery__: Mendeleev arranged elements in seven groups with similar properties. He discovered periodic law, that the properties of elements were functions of their weights.

__Name__: Marie Curie __Life__: November 7, 1867 to July 4, 1934 __Country of Origin__: Warsaw, Vistula, Russian Empire __Year of Discovery__: 1896 __Biography__: Marie Curie was born on November 7, 1867 in the Russian Empire. At the age of twenty four she travelled to Paris she studied the sciences and subsequently founded the Curie Institues of science. Her husband Pierre Curie served as a great partner to her scientific studies in radioactivity. She was the first female professor at the University of Paris. Her main discoveries were the establishment of the theory of radioactivity, the discovery of two new element, and the applications of radioactive isotopes in the treatment of cancers. She passed away in 1934 due to cancer caused by her direct contact with radioactive materials because throughout her entire career she did not employ proper safety techniques. __Discovery__- The two main discoveries of Marie Curie and her husband Pierre were the establishment of the radioactive theory and the discovery of two new radioactive elements. The scientific couple discovered Polonium and Radium in 1898. Marie concentrated the emelemts by sifting through tons of pitchblende and isolating the elements. In 1903 Marie was awarded the Nobel Prize for her great contribution to the research of the "radiation phenomena." she was the first female to win the Nobel Prize. __Name__- Julius Pucker __Life__- June 16, 1801 to May 22, 1868 __Country of Origin__- Germany __Year of Discovery__- 1858 __Biography__- Julius Plucker was born in June 16, 1801 in Elberfeld, Germany. He was educated both in Germany and in Paris, under Gaspard Monge. At the age of 35, Plucker was promoted to professor at the university of Bonn. twenty two years later he published his work on vacuum tubes. Plucker was know for his work with the spectroscopy of gases. His genius extended far beyond chemistry as later in his career Julius came to his backround in Geometry and pioneered serveral advancements in the field. Julius Plucker died on May 22, 1866 at the age of 66 in Bonn, Germany. __Discovery__- Plucker's many discovery came in 1858 when he published his work with effect of magnets on compressed gas. He discovered that the discharge when interacting with a magnet provoked the walls of the tube to glow fluorescently.He also found that with the movement of the magnet, the glow would shift too. subsequently it was illustrated that the light was caused by Cathode rays. this action created a magnetic field.



__Name__- William Rontgen __Life__- March 27, 1845 to February 10, 1923 __Country of Origin__- Germany __Year of Discovery__- 1895 __Biography__- William Rontgen was born on March 27, 1845 in Lennep, Prussia. He was expelled from his private high school because he violated the honor code. However Rontgen graduated the University of Zurich with a Ph.D in mechanical engineering. Before World War One, the great Germany physicist had extensive plans to immigrate to the United States but these plans were foiled by the onset of the war. In 1895, Rontgen produced the first X ray by expanding on the research completed with vacuum tubes when an electrical current is passed through them. The first X ray was of his wife' left hand and shows a large ring on her ring finger. William Rontgen died on February 10, 1923 at the age of 77 in Munich, Germany of intestinal cancer. __Discovery__- William Rontgen's most crucial discovery was that of electromagnetic radiation in the form of a wavelength range. in modern terms, he discovered X rays which are used in numerous applications throughout society. On November 8, 1895, Rontgen produced the first x ray almost on complete accident. Well performing research with cathode rays and vacuum tubes, Rontgen produced an electrostatic charge around a vacuum tube causing a completely different ray other than light to be formed. After a couple of weeks of constant observation, Rontgen took and developed his first picture utilizing x rays. The picture was of his wife's left hand. __Name__- Henri Becquerel __Life__- December 15, 1852 to August 25, 1908 __Country of Origin__- France __Year of Discovery__- 1896 __Biography__- Henri Becquerel was born in Paris, France on December 15, 1852. He recieved his education in the sciences at French institutions where he studied science and engineering. After working for the state in various positions, Henri discovered the theory of radioactivity without even trying to. For his work, Becuerel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, he shared the award with Marie Curie and her husband Pierre. __Discovery__- The most notable discovery of Becquerel's career came in 1896 while studying the fluorescent glow which uranium salts produce. Turing this period he accidentally encountered the theory of radioactivity. Based of the progress made by William Rontgen, Becquerel covered a phosphorescent material with developing prints. before he could expose the prints to the sunlight, they had been exposed. This phenomeon caused Becquerel to look into the emission of nuclear radiation.

__Name__- J.J. Thomson __Life__- December 18, 1856 to August 30, 1940 __Country of Origin__- United Kingdom __Year of Discovery__- 1897 __Biography__- J.J. Thomson was born Cheetham Hill, Manchester in the United Kingdom. He reccieved his education at the University of Manchester and Trinity College in Cambridge. He was a great teacher, many of those he mentored became great scientists such as Ernest Rutherford. He won the Nobel Prize in 1906 for his work with Cathode Rays. Thomson's work with Cathode Rays and tubes provoked the discovery of electrons and subatomic particles. He was knighted for his work in 1908. J.J. Thomson died on August 30, 1940 in Westminster Abbey at the age of 83. __Discovery__- Through his work with Cathode rays and Cathode ray tubes, J.J. Thomson discovered electrons and subatomic particles. Thomson used three separate experiments to investigate these claims. All involved the idea that the negitively charged particles within the cathode ray tube could be pulled apart by the introduction of a magnetic field. Thomson quotes, "This experiment shows that however we twist and deflect the cathode rays by magnetic forces, the negitive electrification follows the same path as the rays, and that this negative electrification is indissolubly connected with the cathode rays."

__Name__- Hans Geiger __Life__- September 30, 1882 to September 24, 1945 __Country of Origin__- Germany __Year of Discovery__- 1909 __Biography__- Hans Geiger was born on September 30, 1882 in Germany. he studied physics at the University of Erlangen. In 1907 Hans began sharing his work with Ernest Rutherford at the university of Manchester. Based of their research, Geiger performed the Geiger-Marsden experiment in 1909. this experiment is also called the gold foil experiment. Two years later he developed the Geiger Counter and his own law which later helped Rutherford design the Atomic Model. As a citizen of Germany, with the outbreak of WWII, Geiger became one of the lead German scientists attempting to develop an atomic bomb for Hitler. Hans Geiger died not far after the end of WWII in Potsdam Germany at the age of 62. __Discovery__- Geirger's main discoveries came in the early twentieth century while he worked with Ernest Rutherford. He was the first to perform the gold foil experiment which lead to the discovery of the atomic nucleus. Then he developed the Geiger counter and a law to follow. It was the work of Hans Geiger that Rutherford looked to well designing his atomic model

__Name__- Robert Millikan __Life__- March 22, 1868 to December 19, 1953 __Country of Origin__- United States __Year of Discovery__- 1910 __Biography__- Robert Millikan was born on March 22, 1868 in Maquoketa, Iowa. He was educated at both Oberlin College and Columbia University. Before his major discoveries, Millikan wrote a series of scientific textbooks. While teaching at the University of Chicago in 1909, Millikan performed his first oil-drop experiment. This experiment measured the charge of an electron. He won the nobel prize for this work in 1923. Millikan later became the president of California Institute of Technology for a number of years. Millikan dies in 1953 at the age of 85 in San Marino, California. Millikan is a celebrity in the area surronding the Cal Tech campus. __Discovery__- Robert Millikan's most famous work concerns the charge of an electron. Beginning in 1909, Millikan performed a series of oil drop experiments to decipher the charge of an electron. it was originally believed that the charge of an electron varied but Millikan proved this theory wrong. The experiment involved balancing the force of gravity with the upward force of electromagnetic particles, this balance suspended drops of oil thus the oil drop experiment. Millikan also worked for over a decade to prove that Einstein's theory of light was incorrect.

__Name__- Ernest Rutherford __Life__- August 30, 1871 to October 19, 1937 __Country of Origin__- New Zealand __Year of Discovery__- 1911 __Biography__- Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1971 in Bridgewater, New Zealand. Rutherford gained his scientific back round at Nelson College, Canterbury College, University of New Zealand, and the University of Cambridge. Rutherford later became known as the "father of nuclear physics." Of his many accomplishments, he deciphered that an atom has a positive charge in its nucleus, designed the model of an atom, performed his own variation of the gold foil experiment. He won the Nobel Prize and split the first atom in 1917. Ernest Rutherford died on October 19, 1937 at the age of 66. He is among the most accomplished scientists in modern history. __Discovery__- Ernest Rutherford made numerous important discoveries throughout his scientific career. Rutherford's career began focused mostly on radiation. He created the terms alpha and beta radiation, expressing the difference types of radiation produced by uranium and thorium. Later he discovered gamma rays as well. Rutherford also was the first to observe the idea of half life and theorized about the concept. Based of the work of Hans Geiger, Rutherford produced his own model for an atom. Stating that a small positively charged center or nucleus of an atom was encompassed by the orbitals of electrons. He also created the idea of neutrons.

__Name__: Neils Bohr __Life__: October 7, 1885 to November 18, 1962 __Country of Origin__: Born in Copenhagen, Denmark __Year of Discovery:__ published his model of atomic structure in 1913 __Biography__: Neils Bohr is one of the founding fathers of modern atomic research. Born in Denmark, he attended Copenhagen University where he majored in physics. In 1913, Bohr released his model of atomic structure and won the Nobel Prize in 1922 because of his research in the atomic field. Denmark was invaded by German in 1941, Bohr fled to Sweden and then made his way to London to avoid prosecution because his mother was Jewish. From London, Bohr made his way to the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico, where he contributed greatly to the Manhattan project, America’s wartime effort to create an atomic bomb. Following the war he returned to Copenhagen and supported the safe use of atomic energy. He died in 1962 of congested heart failure. __Discovery__: Neils Bohr had an extremely successful career as an atomic physist. His laid down the fundamentals for modern atomic physics. At an early age he published the Bohr model of the atom. It focused on the electrons which are arranged in specific orbits or shells which surround the nucleus of the atom. In addition to this, Bohr also released the shell model of an atom molecule. He discovered that the electrons on the outermost shell of the molecule distinguish the chemical qualities of that element.



__Name__- Werner Heisenberg __Life__- December 5, 1901 to February 1, 1976 __Country of Origin__- Germany __Year of Discovery__- 1927 __Biography__- Werner Heisenberg was born on December 5, 1901 in Wurzburg, Germany. He studied physics and mathematics at the University of Munich. In his earlier years as a scientist Heisenberg worked with Neils Bohr at the University of Copenhagen. Most of his work was done establishing the basics of quantum mechanics by contributing the uncertainty principle of quantum theory. As a German scientist, Heisenberg was a major contributor to the Uranium Club, the Nazi's attempt to built an atomic bomb. __Discovery__- In 1927, Heisenberg published a paper on his uncertainty principle of quantum theory. It was too complicated for most scientists even in his field to understand.

__Name__: James Chadwick __Life__: October 20, 1891 to July 24, 1974 __Country of Origin__: England __Year of Discovery:__ 1932 __Biography__: James Chadwick was born on October 20, 1891 in Bolllington, Cheshire, England. He attended the University of Cambridge. While studying with Hans Geiger and Ernest Rutherford in German in 1913, he was imprisoned in a P.O.W camp for most of World War I. In 1932, Chadwick discovered the neutron. The neutron, as he discovered, was a particle found the nucleus of an atom that possesses no charge. The discovery of neutrons however led to the discovery of isotopes. For his work Chadwick received the Nobel Prize of Physics in 1935. Because of his work, uranium 235 was discovered ant the atomic bomb became possible. Chadwick worked on the Manhattan Project for the United States, in an effort to build an atomic bomb, during World War II. __Discovery:__ Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron changed the course of history forever. It was only with his discovery of neutrons that made the atomic bomb possible. Although neutrons do not hold a charge, they do effect the overall structure and chemical properties of an element. Isotopes are merely different variations of an element, all with the same number of protons, but different numbers of neutrons. The isotope, uranium 235, was discovered shortly after Chadwick’s work became public and within a few years the atomic bombs on Japan were dropped.

__Name__- Erwin Schrodinger __Life__- August 12, 1887 to January 4, 1961 __Country of Origin__- Austria __Year of Discovery__- 1933 __Biography__- Erwin Shrodinger was born on August 12, 1887 in Vienna, Austria. Shrodinger was mentored by Schopenhauer who had great influence upon Erwin as a student. In 1921, at the University of Zurich, he published his work on wave mechanics which is now considered the Schrodinger equation. His personal life of housing a wife and a mistress in the same house made it almost completely impossible for him to find a university to settle down at. Schrodinger openly opposed the nazi ideals and therefore was not welcome back in his homeland. this bothered him greatly as he searched for a place to work in peace. Schrodinger struggled with tuberculosis throughout his life. He died on January 4, 1961 of the illness in Vienna.