The 20th century can be considered a century of revolutions. And not only political, but also scientific. Many believed that scientists were of no use at all. They sit, they say, in their offices and laboratories for years and all to no avail. What's the point of spending money on research? But scientists, through a series of significant discoveries, have convinced the whole world that this is not so. At the same time, in the 20th century, significant discoveries were made extremely often, radically changing our lives. This has made it possible today to create the future that science fiction writers once did not even dream of. Below we will tell you about the ten most significant scientific discoveries of the last century, just a decade for each.
1) The first revolution was organized by Max Planck at the beginning of the century. At the end of the 19th century, he was invited to the position of professor at the University of Berlin. Planck was so devoted to science that, in his free time from lectures and work, he continued to study the distribution of energy in the spectrum of an absolutely black body. As a result, the stubborn scientist in 1900 derived a formula that very accurately described the behavior of energy in this case. This had absolutely fantastic consequences. It turned out that energy is not emitted evenly, as previously thought, but in portions - quanta. These conclusions initially confused Planck himself, but he nevertheless reported the strange results on December 14, 1900 to the German Physical Society. It is not surprising that they simply did not believe the scientist. However, based on his conclusions, already in 1905, Einstein created the quantum theory of the photoelectric effect. After this, Niels Bohr built the first model of the atom, according to which electrons rotate around the nucleus in certain orbits. The consequences of Planck's discovery for humanity are so great that it can be considered incredible, a genius! Thus, thanks to the scientist, nuclear energy, electronics, and genetic engineering subsequently developed. Astronomy, physics and chemistry received a powerful impetus. This happened due to the fact that it was Planck who clearly marked the boundary where the Newtonian macroworld with the measurement of matter in kilograms ends, and the microworld begins, in which it is necessary to take into account the influence of individual atoms on each other. Thanks to the scientist, it became known at what energy levels electrons live and how they behave there.
2) The second decade brought a discovery that also changed the minds of all scientists. In 1916, Albert Einstein completed his work on the general theory of relativity. It also received another name - the theory of gravity. According to the discovery, gravity is not a consequence of the interaction of fields and bodies in space, but a consequence of the curvature of four-dimensional space-time. The discovery immediately explained the essence of many hitherto incomprehensible things. Thus, most of the paradoxical effects that occur at near-light speeds simply contradicted common sense. However, it was the theory of relativity that predicted their appearance and explained the essence. The most famous of them is the effect of time dilation, in which the observer's clock runs slower than the one moving relative to him. It also became known that the length of a moving object along the axis of motion is compressed. Today, the theory of relativity applies not only to objects moving at a constant speed relative to each other, but also to all reference systems in general. The calculations were so complex that the work took 11 years. The first confirmation of the theory was the description of the curved orbit of Mercury produced with its help. The discovery explained the bending of rays from stars when they pass near other stars, the red shift of galaxies and stars observed in telescopes. Black holes became a very important confirmation of the theory. Indeed, according to calculations, when a star like the Sun is compressed to 3 meters in diameter, light simply will not be able to leave its limits - such will be the force of attraction. Recently, scientists have discovered many such stars.
3) After the discovery made in 1911 by Rutherford and Bohr about the structure of the atom by analogy with the solar system, physicists around the world were delighted. Soon, based on this model, with the help of Planck and Einstein’s calculations on the nature of light, it was possible to calculate the spectrum of the hydrogen atom. But when calculating the next element, helium, difficulties arose - the calculations showed completely different results from the experiments. As a result, by the 1920s, Bohr's theory had faded and began to be called into question. However, a way out was found - the young German physicist Heisenberg managed to remove some assumptions from Bohr's theory, leaving only the most necessary. He found that it was impossible to simultaneously measure the location of electrons and their speed. This principle was called “Heisenberg uncertainty”, and electrons appeared to be unstable particles. But even here the strangeness with elementary particles did not end. By that time, physicists had already become accustomed to the idea that light could exhibit the properties of both a particle and a wave. The duality seemed paradoxical. But in 1923, the Frenchman de Broglie suggested that ordinary particles could also have wave properties, demonstrating the wave properties of the electron. De Broglie's experiments were confirmed in several countries at once. In 1926, Schrödinger described de Broglie's material waves, and the Englishman Chirac created a general theory, the assumptions of Heisenberg and Schrödinger included in it as special cases. In those years, scientists had no idea about elementary particles at all, but that theory of quantum mechanics perfectly described their movement in the microworld. Over the ensuing years, the basis of the theory has not undergone obvious changes. Today, in any natural sciences that reach the atomic level, quantum mechanics is used. These are engineering sciences, medicine, biology, mineralogy and chemistry. The theory made it possible to calculate molecular orbitals, which in turn allowed the emergence of transistors, lasers, and superconductivity. It is to quantum mechanics that we owe the appearance of computers. Solid state physics was also developed on its basis. That is why new materials appear every year, and scientists have learned to clearly see the structure of matter.
4) The decade of the thirties can without mistake be called radioactive. Although back in 1920, Rutherford expressed a hypothesis that was strange at that time. He tried to explain why positively charged protons do not repel. The scientist suggested that in addition to them, there are also some neutral particles in the nucleus, equal in mass to protons. By analogy with the already known electrons and protons, Rutherford proposed calling them neutrons. However, the scientific world did not take the physicist’s ideas seriously at that time. Only 10 years later, the Germans Becker and Bothe discovered unusual radiation when irradiating boron or beryllium with alpha particles. Unlike the latter, the unknown particles escaping from the reactor had much greater penetrating power. And their parameters were different. Two years later, in 1932, the Curies decided to direct this radiation to heavier atoms. It turned out that under the influence of these unknown rays they become radioactive. This effect is called artificial radioactivity. In the same year, James Chadwick was able to confirm these results, and also find out that nuclei from atoms are knocked out by new uncharged particles with a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. It was the neutrality of such particles that allowed them to penetrate the core, destabilizing it. So Chadwick discovered the neutron, confirming Rutherford's thoughts. This discovery brought not only benefit to humanity, but also harm. By the end of the decade, physicists were able to prove that nuclei could fission under the influence of neutrons, releasing even more neutral particles. On the one hand, this use of such an effect led to the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, decades of the Cold War with nuclear weapons. And on the other hand, the emergence of nuclear energy and the use of radioisotopes in various scientific fields for widespread use.
5) With the development of quantum theories, scientists could not only understand what was happening inside matter, but also try to influence these processes. The case with the neutron is mentioned above, but in 1947, employees of the American company At@T Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley were able to learn how to control large currents flowing through semiconductors using small currents. For this they will subsequently receive the Nobel Prize. This is how a transistor was born, in which two p-n junctions are directed towards each other. Along the junction, current can only flow in one direction; when the polarity changes at the junction, the current stops flowing. In the case of two junctions directed towards each other, unique opportunities for working with electricity appeared. The transistor gave a huge impetus to the development of all science. Tubes have been removed from electronics, which has dramatically reduced the weight and volume of the equipment used. Logic chips appeared, which gave us the microprocessor in 1971, and later the modern computer. As a result, today there is not a single device, car or even home in the world that does not use a transistor.
6) The German chemist Ziegler studied the Gregnard reaction, which helped to significantly simplify the synthesis of organic substances. The scientist wondered - is it possible to do the same with other metals? His interest had a practical side, because he worked at the Kaiser Institute for Coal Research. A by-product of the coal industry was ethylene, which had to be disposed of somehow. In 1952, Ziegler studied the decomposition of one of the reagents, and as a result, low-density polyethylene, HDPE, was obtained. However, it has not yet been possible to completely polymerize ethylene. However, unexpectedly, chance helped - after the end of the reaction, not a polymer, but a dimer (a compound of two ethylene molecules) - alpha-butene - unexpectedly fell out of the flask. The reason for this was the fact that the reactor was poorly washed from nickel salts. This ruined the main reaction, but analysis of the resulting mixture showed that the salts themselves did not change; they only acted as a catalyst for dimerization. This conclusion promised huge profits - previously, to produce polyethylene it was necessary to use a lot of organoaluminum, apply high pressure and temperature. Now Ziegler began to look for the most suitable catalyst, sorting through transition metals. In 1953, several of these were found at once. The most powerful of them turned out to be based on titanium chlorides. Ziegler told the Italian company Montecatini about his discovery, where his catalysts were tested on propylene. After all, ethylene, being a by-product of oil refining, costs ten times less than ethylene, and also gives the opportunity to experiment with the structure of the polymer. As a result, the catalyst was somewhat modernized, resulting in stereoregular polypropylene, in which all propylene molecules were located equally. This gave the chemist greater control over polymerization. Soon artificial rubber was created. Today, organometallic catalysts have made it possible to carry out most syntheses cheaper and easier; they are used in almost all chemical plants in the world. However, the most important thing remains the polymerization of ethylene and propylene. Ziegler himself, despite the enormous industrial application of his work, always considered himself a theoretical scientist. The student who did not clean the reactor well did not become famous either.
7) April 12, 1961 became a significant milestone in the history of mankind - its first representative visited space. This was not the first rocket to orbit the Earth. Back in 1957, the first artificial satellite was launched. But it was Yuri Gagarin who showed that dreams of stars can someday become reality. It turned out that not only bacteria, plants and small animals, but also humans can live in zero gravity. We realized that the space between the planets is surmountable. Man has visited the Moon, and an expedition to Mars is being prepared. The solar system is full of space agency vehicles. A person studies Saturn and Jupiter, Mars and the Kuiper belt up close. Several thousand satellites already revolve around our planet. These include meteorological instruments, scientific instruments (including powerful orbital telescopes), and commercial communications satellites. This allows us today to call anywhere on the planet. The distances between cities seem to have decreased, and thousands of television channels have become available.
8) The birth of a girl, Louise, into the Brown family on July 26, 1978, became a scientific sensation. Gynecologist Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Bob Edwards, who attended the birth, were extremely proud. The fact is that the girl’s mother, Leslie, suffered from obstruction of the fallopian tubes. She, like millions of other women, could not conceive a child on her own. The attempts lasted 9 long years. Steptoe and Edwards undertook to solve the problem, and for this they made several scientific discoveries at once. They developed a method for extracting an egg from a woman without damaging it, creating conditions for its existence in a test tube, then artificially inseminating it and returning it back. The experiment was a success - specialists and parents were convinced that Louise was an absolutely normal child. In the same way, her parents helped her sister to be born. As a result, by 2007, more than two million people were born using the in vitro fertilization (IVF) method. If it were not for the experiments of Steptoe and Edwards, this would simply be impossible. Today, medicine has gone even further - adult women give birth to their own granddaughters, if their children are unable to do this themselves, women are fertilized with the semen of already deceased men... The IVF technique is becoming increasingly popular - after all, multiple experiments have confirmed that test tube children are no different from those born who is conceived naturally.
9) In 1985, scientists Robert Curl, Harold Croteau, Richard Smalley and Heath O'Brien studied the spectra of graphite vapor formed under the influence of a laser on a solid sample. Unexpectedly, strange peaks emerged that corresponded to atomic masses of 720 and 840 units. Scientists soon came to the conclusion that a new type of carbon had been found - fullerene. The name of the find was born from Buckminster Fuller's designs, which were very similar to new molecules. Carbon-based varieties of football and rugby football soon appeared. Their names are associated with sports, since the structure of the molecules was similar to the corresponding balls. Now fullerenes, which have unique physical properties, are used in many different devices. But the most important thing was the fact that these techniques allowed scientists to create carbon nanotubes, which are twisted and cross-linked layers of graphite. Today, science has been able to create tubes with a diameter of 5-6 nanometers and a length of up to 1 centimeter. The fact that they are made from carbon allows them to exhibit a wide range of physical properties, from semiconducting to metallic. New materials for fiber optic lines, displays and LEDs are being developed based on nanotubes. With the help of the invention, it became possible to deliver biologically active substances to the right place in the body, to create so-called nanopipettes. Ultra-sensitive chemical sensors have been developed and are now used in environmental monitoring, medical, biotechnological and military applications. Nanotubes help create transistors, fuel cells, and nanowires are created from them. The latest development in this area is artificial muscles. In 2007, research was published showing that a bundle of nanotubes could behave similarly to muscle tissue. Although the conductivity of electric current in an artificial formation is similar to natural muscles, nanomuscles do not wear out over time. Such a muscle withstood half a million compressions to 15% of its original state, the shape, mechanical and conductive properties did not change as a result. What does this give? It is quite possible that someday disabled people will receive new arms, legs and organs, which can be controlled only by the power of thought. After all, a thought for the muscles is like an electrical signal to activate it.
10) The 90s became the era of biotechnology. The first worthy representative of the work of scientists in this direction was an ordinary sheep. Usually she was only outwardly. For the sake of its appearance, the staff of the Roslin Institute in England worked hard for several years. The egg from which the famous Dolly was later born was completely gutted, then the nucleus of an adult sheep cell was placed in it. The developed embryo was implanted back into the uterus and the result was awaited. Dolly, in the rank of candidates for the title of the first clone of a large living creature, beat out almost 300 candidates - all of them died at different stages of the experiment. Although the legendary sheep survived, its fate was unenviable. After all, the tips of DNA, telomeres, which serve as the body’s biological clock, have already counted 6 years in Dolly’s mother’s body. After another 6 years of the clone's life, in February 2003, the animal died from the diseases of old age - arthritis, specific pneumonia and other ailments. But Dolly’s appearance on the cover of Nature magazine in 1997 itself created a real sensation - it became a symbol of the superiority of man and science over nature itself. The following years after Dolly's cloning saw the appearance of copies of a wide variety of animals - dogs, piglets, bulls. It was even possible to obtain second-generation clones - clones from clones. So far, however, the problem with telomeres has remained unresolved, and human cloning remains prohibited around the world. But this area of science remains very interesting and promising.
1900 paper clips - Johann Vaaler, Norway.
1900 sound cinema - Leon Gaumon, France.
1900 airship - Ferdinand von Zeppelin - German airship designer.
1901 safety razor - King Camel Gillette, American merchant.
1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright are American engineers who make the first airplane flight.
1903 crayons - "Crayola", USA.
1904 diode - John Ambrose Fleming, British electrical engineer.
1906 pianola - automatic - "Automatic Machinery and Tool Company", USA.
1906 fountain pen - Slavoljub Penkala, Serbian inventor.
1907 washing machine - Alva J. Fisher.
1908 assembly line - Henry Ford, American engineer.
1908 Geiger counter - German physicist Hans Geiger and V. Müller invented a device for detecting and measuring radioactivity.
1909 Louis Bleriot, a French engineer, flew over the English Channel.
1909 Robert Edwin Peary - American explorer who finally reached the North Pole.
1910 Alfred Wegener - German geophysicist, author of the theory of continental drift.
1910 mixer - George Smith and Fred Osius, USA.
1911 Roald Amundsen - Norwegian explorer, first to reach the South Pole.
1912 Robert Falcon Scott - British military officer, second to reach the South Pole.
1912 reflector - Belling Co., USA.
1913 autopilot - Elmer Spirit (USA).
1915 gas mask - Fritz Haber, German chemist.
1915 cardboard milk cartons - Van Wormer - USA.
1915 Heat-resistant glassware - Pyrex Corning Glass Works, USA.
1916 microphone - USA.
1916 tank - William Tritton, British designer.
1917 Electric Christmas tree lights - Albert Sadakka, Spanish American.
1917 shock therapy - UK.
1920 hair dryer - Racine Universal Motor Company, USA.
1921 Albert Einstein, an American physicist originally from Germany, formulated the theory of relativity.
1921 lie detector - John A. Larsen (USA).
1921 toaster - Charles Straight (USA).
1924 adhesive plaster - Josephine Dixon, USA.
1926 black and white television - John Logi Baird, Scottish inventor.
1927 ventilator - Philip Drinker, American medical researcher.
1928 Penicillin is the first antibiotic discovered by Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist.
1928 chewing gum - Walter E. Diemer, USA.
1929 yo-yo - Pedro Flores, Philippines.
1930 multi-storey car park - Paris, France 1930 electronic clock - penwood numecron.
1930 duct tape - Richard Drew, USA.
1930 frozen prepared foods - Clarence Birsey, USA.
Circa 1930 bra.
1932 parking meter - Carlton Magee, American inventor.
1932 electric guitar - Adolphus Rickenbucket, USA.
1933 - 1935 radar - Rudolf Kuehnhold and Robert Watson - watt.
1934 nylon stockings - Wallace Hume Carothers, American chemist.
1936 food baskets and carts - Sylvan Goldman and Fred Young, USA.
1938 copier - Chester Carson, an American lawyer, contributed to the development of xerography.
1938 ballpoint pen - Laszlo Biro.
1939 DDT - Paul Muller and Weismann - Switzerland.
1940 mobile phone - Bell Telephone Laboratories, USA.
1943 scuba - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French oceanographer.
1946 electronic computer - John Presper Eckert and John Moakley, USA.
1946 microwave oven - Percy LeBaron Spencer, USA.
1948 player - CBC Corporation, USA.
1949, January 10, the release of vinyl records begins.
RCA - 45 rpm.
Columbia - 33.3 rpm.
1950 remote control - Zenith Electronic Corporation, USA.
1950 credit card - Ralph Schneider, USA.
1951 liquid paper - Bette Nesmith Graham, USA.
1952 rubber gloves - UK.
1954 transistor radio - Regency Electronics, USA.
1955 Lego designer - Ole Kirk Christiansen, Denmark.
1956 contact lenses, USA.
1957 ultrasound - Professor Ian Donald, Scotland.
1957 Vivian Ernest Fuchs - first to cross Antarctica.
1958 Barbie doll - Rude Handler, USA.
1958 hula hoop - Richard P. Niir and Arthur Melvin, American inventors.
1959 microchip - Jack Kilby, USA.
1959 hovercraft - Christopher Cockerell, British engineer.
1960 laser - Theodore Maiman, American physicist.
1961 space shuttle, USA.
1961 Alan Bartlett Shepard is the first American to go into space aboard the Freedom 7 capsule.
1961 Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin - Russian cosmonaut, the first man in space.
1962 John Herschel Glenn Jr. - The first American to fly around the earth.
1962 industrial robots - "Unimation", USA.
1963 cassette recorder - Phillips, Netherlands.
1964 bullet train - Japan.
1965 virtual reality - Ivan Slacherland, American scientist, computer technology specialist.
1968 computer mouse - Douglas Engelbart.
1969 first people. American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin set foot on the moon.
1970 artificial heart - Robert K. Jarvik, USA.
1970 fire alarm - Pitway Corporation, USA.
1971 body armor - Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist who invented fiber.
1972 computer games - Nolan Bushnell, USA.
1973 Wobot, the first humanoid robot - Japan.
1977 Internet - Vinton Surf, USA.
1978 personal computer - Stephen Jobs and Stefan Wozniak.
1979 audio player - "Sony", Japan.
1980 Rubik's cube - Hungarian professor Erno Rubik.
1981 video camera - Sony, Japan 1981 CD - Japan and the Netherlands 1983 satellite television - U.S. Satellite Communications Inc., USA 1988 airbags - Toyota, Japan 1980s laptop computer - Cleve Seaclair, UK 1998 "Mad Dog 2", solar car - UK.
To paraphrase the classic - if ballpoint pens did not exist, they would have to be invented. All the convenience of a ballpoint pen can be fully appreciated only by those who have had the opportunity to write with fountain pens and liquid pens.
With the arrival of ballpoint pens on the stationery market, schoolchildren could breathe a sigh of relief. Blots, blotters, notebooks covered in ink, smeared hands and face are a thing of the past. After all, previously the student’s task was not so much learning to write, but the ability to handle pens and inkwells.
The advent of ballpoint pens
The main inconvenience of fountain pens and liquid pens was the need to regularly wet the pen with ink, which was still acceptable at school, but significantly slowed down any processes in the adult world - from political to industrial. A special need for transformation was observed where pilots were forced to use pencils. The idea of a permanent supply of ink to the writing unit of the pen was considered by inventors for a long time. The first analogues of a pen with a ball built into the writing tip were discovered on the territory of modern Armenia in a drawing dated 1166. Subsequently, the idea of a rotating tip was returned to repeatedly - 350 patents were issued in the USA alone. But the official inventors are the American John D. Loud and the Hungarians Laszlo and Georg Biro, who patented non-leak handles.
The idea to organize our own production of ballpoint pens in the Soviet Union arose in 1949. It was not in the traditions of the Soviet state to purchase patents, especially for public consumption. Therefore, based on the best world samples, domestic copies were created. The production of ballpoint pens was carried out by local industrial enterprises and industrial cooperation. The quality of the product was so low that the appearance of the first ballpoint pens passed without a stir. The problem was the poor design of the writing unit. The complex procedure for refilling the balloon again created inconveniences - a ball was removed from the tip, a new portion of ink was pumped through the resulting hole with a syringe, and the ball was rolled back into the sphere. There were even stationary refill points. The quality of the ink, for the production of which they began to use a mixture of castor oil and rosin, left much to be desired. At that time, the Union did not have the technological capabilities to eliminate these shortcomings, the pens ceased to be in demand and were no longer produced. The production of ballpoint pens resumed in 1965 at the Kuibyshev Ball Bearing Plant. Then Swiss equipment was purchased for the production of writing units and it was possible to find out the recipe for Parker ink. However, the introduction of ballpoint pens into mass culture occurred in the early 70s. The popularization of the model was hampered by educational standards, according to which great importance was attached to the formation of handwriting. The technical capabilities of a ballpoint pen did not make it possible to implement the requirements for “writing out” letters that existed at that time. For a long time, the problem was the issue of components - replacing a covered refill was extremely difficult, you had to buy a new one. But with the solution of these issues, a design boom for ballpoint pens began in the Union. Sets of colored pens, automatic, two-, four-, and six-color ballpoint pens began to be produced. Interesting fact: among the Kremlin leaders, M.S. was the first to sign documents with a Parker ballpoint pen. Gorbachev. Previous leaders preferred either pencils or solid ink devices.
The principle of a ballpoint pen is quite simple - at its end there is a small ball that rolls along the surface of the paper and leaves behind traces of ink that seeps into a small gap between the walls. But this invention was made not so long ago - in 1888, and the pen became widespread only in the 20th century, after the creation of the modern model.
History of the invention of the ballpoint pen
Until the end of the 19th century, all writing instruments that used ink required constant dipping into the inkwell. It was inconvenient to write, it took a long time, and there were ugly blots on the paper. Engineers began to think about how to make a pen with ink supply. In 1888, American engineer John Loud patented the principle of a pen with a special reservoir for ink, which was fed through thin channels to a tip with a round hole. There was no ball in the small hole at the end of the pen yet, but this device already made it possible to write on paper without dipping it into ink. Although this pen was far from perfect: it also made blots, although less often than feathers.
In 1938, a Hungarian journalist named Biro invented a modern ballpoint pen: first of all, he placed a small ball in a hole that allowed ink to be retained and prevent blots from getting in, and also made writing more enjoyable. In addition, Biro made special ink for such pens - while watching newspapers being printed, he noticed that the ink on them dried out much faster. True, they were too thick to use in a pen, but he perfected their formula.
History of the development of the ballpoint pen
A lot of time has passed since the advent of the modern design of a ballpoint pen - more than seventy years, but its principle and structure have hardly changed. Even the very first such pens had excellent characteristics, and most importantly, they were distinguished by a large supply of ink and low ink consumption.
The first buyers of ballpoint pens were pilots - for them it was important that the writing instrument did not “leak”, since at high altitudes this was a common phenomenon: the pressure in the air is higher.
The first ballpoint pens appeared in the Soviet Union after World War II. Soviet engineers had to make the ink themselves, since the owner of the company that produced the most famous Parker pens refused to cooperate with Stalin. Production of the pens began in 1949, but they were too expensive for widespread distribution.
It wasn't until 1958 that ballpoint pens dropped in price enough to become widely used. In 1965, they began to be produced using Swiss equipment, and soon the pens began to be issued in schools. Soon this product became one of the most popular; today most handles have this design.
First controllable aircraft
In December 1903, the first controllable aircraft was created by the Wright brothers, called Flyer 1. It was not the first aircraft in history, but its main feature was the developed new theory of flight “on three axes of rotation.” It was this theory that allowed aircraft manufacturing to develop further, focusing the attention of scientists not on the installation of more powerful parts, but on the efficiency of their use. Flyer 1 stayed in the air for almost a minute, flying 260 meters.
Computer
The invention of the computer and the first full-fledged programming language is credited to the German engineer Konrad Zuse. The first fully functional computer was presented to the public in 1941 and was called the Z3. It should be noted that the Z3 had all the properties that computers have today.
After the war, the Z3, like its predecessors, was destroyed. However, its successor Z4 survived, from which sales of computers began.
Internet
Initially, the Internet was conceived by the US Department of Defense as a reliable channel for transmitting information in case war broke out. Several research centers were commissioned to develop the first network, which eventually were able to create the first Arpanet server. Over time, the server began to grow, and more and more scientists connected to it to exchange information.
The first remote connection (at a distance of 640 km) was made by Charlie Cline and Billy Duvalley. This happened in 1969 - this day is considered the birthday of the Internet. After this operation, the sphere began to develop at tremendous speed. In 1971, a program for sending email was developed, and in 1973 the network became international.
Space exploration
The stumbling block in the 20th century in relations between the United States and the Soviet Union was developments in space exploration. The first artificial satellite was launched by the USSR on October 4, 1957.
The first scientist who put forward the idea of creating a rocket traveling between planets was K. Tsiolkovsky. By 1903, he managed to design it. The main thing in his development was the formula he created for the speed of an aircraft, which is used to this day in rocket science.
The first vehicle to go into space was the V-2 rocket, launched in the summer of 1944. It was this event that laid the foundation for further accelerated development, demonstrating the great capabilities of missiles.
Inventions of the 20th century that changed our lives
Since ancient times, people have tried to make dreams and fantasies come true in order to simplify and diversify their life. We will list several inventions of the 20th century that changed the way we look at life.
1. X-rays
A KVN joke says that X-ray was invented by clerk Ivanov, who told his wife: “I can see right through you, bitch.” In fact, electromagnetic radiation was discovered at the end of the 19th century by the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen. Having turned on the current in the cathode tube, the scientist noticed that a nearby paper screen covered with barium platinocyanide crystals was emitting a green glow. According to another version, the wife brought X-ray dinner, and when she put the plate on the table, the scientist noticed that her bones were visible through the skin. It is reliably known that Wilhelm for a long time refused to obtain a patent for an invention, not considering his research to be a full-fledged source of income. X-rays can easily be considered one of the discoveries of the 20th century.
2. Airplane
Since ancient times, people have tried to create a flying machine and rise above the earth. But only in 1903, the American inventors the Wright brothers managed to successfully test their Flyer 1, equipped with an engine. It was in the air for a full 59 seconds and flew 260 meters over the Kitty Hawk Valley. This event is considered the moment of the birth of aviation. Today, it is impossible to imagine either business development or recreation without airplanes. "Steel birds" are still the fastest mode of transport.
3. Television
Not so long ago, a television was considered a prestigious thing, emphasizing the status of the owner. At different times, many minds worked on its development. Back in the 19th century, Portuguese professor Adriano De Paiva and Russian inventor Porfiry Bakhmetyev independently put forward the idea of the first device capable of transmitting images over wires. In 1907, Max Dieckmann demonstrated the first television receiver with a 3x3 screen. In the same year, Boris Rosing, a professor at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, proved the possibility of using a cathode ray tube to convert an electrical signal into a visible image. In 1908, Armenian physicist Hovhannes Adamyan received a patent for a two-color apparatus for transmitting signals. At the end of the 20s of the 20th century, the first television was developed in America, assembled by Russian emigrant Vladimir Zvorykin. He managed to split the light beam into blue, red and green colors and get a color image. He called his sample an “iconoscope.” However, in the West, the “father of television” is considered the Scotsman John Logie Bird, who patented a device that creates an image from eight lines.
19th century inventions
Inventions of the 19th and 20th centuries are very numerous. The most significant are photography, dynamite, and aniline dyes for fabrics. In addition, cheaper methods for producing paper and alcohol were discovered, and new medicines were invented.
Technical inventions of the 19th century were of great importance in the development of society. Thus, with the help of the telegraph, people were able to transmit messages within a few seconds from one end of the world to the other. The telegraph was invented in 1850. A little later, telegraph lines began to appear. Graham Bell invented the telephone. Today people cannot imagine life without this discovery.
Inventions of the 19th century from different countries of the world were brought to an exhibition in 1851 in England. About seventeen thousand exhibits were present. In subsequent years, other countries, following the example of England, also began to organize international exhibitions of the latest achievements.
Inventions of the 19th century became a powerful impetus for the development of chemistry, physics, and mathematics. A feature of this period was the widespread use of electricity. Scientists of that time were studying electromagnetic waves and their effect on various materials. Electricity also began to be used in medicine.
Michael Faraday noticed the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, and James C. Maxwell developed the electromagnetic theory of light. Heinrich Hertz proved that electromagnetic waves exist.
Inventions of the 19th century in the fields of medicine and biology were no less significant than in other scientific fields. A great contribution to the development of these industries was made by: Robert Koch, who discovered the causative agent of tuberculosis, Louis Pasteur, who became one of the founders of microbiology and immunology, Claude Bernard, who laid the foundations of endocrinology. In the same century, the first X-ray image was obtained. French doctors Brissot and Lond saw a bullet in the patient's head.
There were also inventions in the field of Astronomy in the 19th century. This science began to develop rapidly in that era. Thus, a section of Astronomy appeared - Astrophysics, which studied the properties of celestial bodies.
Dmitry Mendeleev made a great contribution to the development of chemistry by discovering the Periodic Law, on the basis of which a table of chemical elements was created. He saw the table in a dream. Some predicted elements were subsequently discovered.
The beginning of the 19th century was marked by the development of mechanical engineering and industry. In 1804, a car powered by a steam engine was demonstrated. In the 19th century, the internal combustion engine was created. This contributed to the development of faster means of transportation: steamships, steam locomotives, cars.
In the 19th century, railways began to be built. The first was built in 1825 by Stephenson in England. By 1840, the length of all railways was about 7,700 km; at the end of the 19th century it was about 1,080,000 km.
It is believed that people began to use computers in the 20th century. However, their first prototypes were invented already in the previous century. The Frenchman Jacquard discovered a way to program a loom in 1804. The invention made it possible to control the thread using punched cards, which contained holes in certain places. Using these holes, thread was supposed to be applied to the fabric.
Invented at the end of the 18th century, lathes found widespread use in industry in the 19th century. The equipment successfully replaced manual labor, processing metal with high precision.
The 19th century is rightly called the century of the “industrial revolution”, railways and electricity. This century had a huge impact on the worldview and culture of mankind, changing its value system. The invention of electric lamps, radio, telephone, engine and many other discoveries revolutionized human life at that time.
The 20th century went down in history thanks to a large number of important events. During these hundred years, two world wars happened, man went into space, and the state for the first time announced the transition to a post-industrial society. All this would have been impossible without relevant discoveries in various fields of knowledge. They were the impetus for further development.
The most important discoveries
The first major discovery was penicillin. This molecule became the world's first antibiotic and saved the lives of millions of people during the war. In 1928, biologist Alexander Fleming noticed during an experiment that ordinary mold destroys bacteria. In 1938, two scientists who continued to work on the properties of penicillin were able to isolate its pure form, on the basis of which the substance was produced as a medicine. All this gave a huge impetus to medicine in the research and creation of new medicines, thanks to which doctors around the world can fight most diseases.
A discovery was made by Max Planck, which explained to the entire scientific world how energy behaves inside an atom. Based on these data, Einstein created quantum theory in 1905, and after him Niels Bohr was able to create the first model of the atom. This gave impetus to electronics, nuclear energy, the development of chemistry and physics. All scientists used these data in their discoveries. Thanks to this discovery, the world has become so high-tech.
Discoveries recently assessed
The third important discovery was made in 1936 by John Keynes. He developed the theory of self-regulation of a market economy. His books and the ideas put forward in them helped develop economics and created a classical school that is still taught in universities of higher education. Thanks to his work, macroeconomics emerged as an independent science.
The fourth important discovery was made in 1911 by Kamerling-Oness. He first introduced the concept of superconductivity. This is a state in which some materials may have zero resistance to electricity. The contribution of this discovery is that thanks to such materials it became possible to create strong magnetic fields, which are needed to create the conditions for numerous experiments. Thanks to the capabilities of conductivity, much smaller power lines are already being created. Superconductors are parts of most serious scientific equipment.
The fifth discovery was made in 1985, when it was possible to detect ozone holes that arise in the atmosphere due to the release of large amounts of freons. Restoring the ozone layer is very important to prevent large amounts of solar radiation from reaching the Earth. Reducing the amount of ozone affects the incidence of cancer and the life of animals and plants.
Thanks to this discovery, humanity has taken measures to reduce emissions of bromine- and chlorine-based freons and replace the substance with fluorine-containing freons. But the most important thing is that people are thinking about preserving the planet and how to avoid environmental destruction as a result of anthropogenic activities.
Medical inventions of the 20th century. Top 10 medical discoveries of the 20th century
What 10 medical discoveries revolutionized medicine? This is what our article is about. In general, there are many ratings of everything in the world on the website top10reiting.com. Many discoveries were made without any purpose, simply as an experiment, and in the future they played a significant role in saving people with dangerous diseases.
Penicillin
Consider such a strange drug as penicillin, which saves from severe protracted gangrene and pneumonia that could not be cured and was fatal. It was discovered by a British scientist, in which he contributed his negligence by not washing the test tube after the microbes he was studying. In the future, this played an important role, which led to the drug “Penicillin”, which was used as an antibiotic.
Let us now consider a very popular research such as DNA. Which did not save human destinies. This discovery was recognized by all scientists of the world, as English scientists created a molecule by collecting all the information about the DNA of all living creatures on earth, from bacteria to humans, and came to the common idea that the structure of cells is the same for everyone. They made a significant contribution to the development of genetics as such.
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation was unknown until the 20s; no one dared to carry out such a thing with a person, but a doctor from America decided to take a risk, who transplanted the kidney and liver of a living person into a living one, without having a fatal outcome.
A large-scale device such as ultrasound plays a big role in the present time, and all thanks to those waves that penetrate a person and mirror the process in the body. The initial origin of radioactivity and subsequent research through nuclear physics led to the development of radiobiology, from which came the change in ionizing radiation on living organisms.
Vacuum conception
Another name for in vitro conception, which facilitates fertility, the process is expensive and painstaking, its essence lies in the fact that the family of a healthy man is taken and placed in the woman’s uterus, where conception occurs under the supervision of a specialist doctor, the danger lies with the woman as rejection and such actions can occur will have to be interrupted, but in modern conditions such cases are unlikely.
Phacoemulsification
Destruction of the lens using vibration vibrations that destroy the nucleus. The advantage of this operation is that the incision is small, it is practically invisible. Operations often occur without complications, and another artificial lens is installed in place of the previous lens, which performs all the same functions as the natural one.
Prosthetics
Prosthetics. Medicine has stepped forward a great distance in the field of mechanics, namely, scientists created a prosthesis, an artificial part of the body, an organ by German scientists, thanks to his discoveries, many now have arms and legs, as well as hearts and eyes. But closer to the 21st century, prosthetics have become such that they cannot be distinguished from natural ones.
Immunology
Immunology has made its contribution to science, which helps to cope with viruses and diseases in the early stages and stopping them. Mechnikov has developed a serum that helps the body overcome the early stages.
A disease of unknown origin, which has not been discovered to this day, but helps to maintain a balance in life with the help of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar thanks to beta cells. Back in 1969, they began to study this disease, but they could not find a solution to what the body still lacked to reduce sugar. In Toronto there was a development that was not the first stage, but with a final ending.
Vitaminology
The body is so fragile that it does not have time to fight many diseases; frequent illnesses, viruses, and a decline in immunity are associated with a lack of vitamins in the body. For the first time, the teachings of Resche came to this discovery and began to develop and combine vitamins of different groups. After conducting more than one study, he came to the division of vitamins into groups and made an immunological table.
Today, a parachute, designed for soft landings from high altitudes, has become a common item used all over the world. An object that is so familiar to everyone has come a long and interesting way through the centuries, acquiring a modern appearance.
The great Leonardo da Vinci, who became the author of many useful devices and mechanisms of Renaissance Italy, did not ignore the parachute, developing the design of a simple apparatus with a stretched dome area, 
approximately equal to the area of the modern one. A design similar to a conical device is preserved in a 15th century manuscript. However, the ingenious invention remained only on paper.
Several decades later, the Italian Fausto Veranzio, impressed by da Vinci’s sketches, published the treatise “New Machines” in 1595. The treatise depicts a drawing of a man flying from a tower, suspended from a six-meter dome, attached at the edges to a wooden frame. In 1617, Veranzio made his dream come true by descending on a piece of square canvas from the bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.
Achievements and losses
The following centuries revealed to the world several dozen inventors who contributed to the development of the parachute. Some died while testing their devices.
In 1777, the Frenchman de Fontanges designed a version of the “flying cape” parachute. A criminal was chosen to test the "cloak". In the presence of law enforcement officers, the inventor and spectators, repeat offender Jacques Doumier climbed the Parisian arms tower and jumped. The flight went well, and the death penalty for the criminal skydiver was abolished. 
Soon the Frenchman Louis Sebastian Lenormand modernized the design of Fausto Veranzio. The device looked like an umbrella-shaped canvas dome with slings, glued on the inside with paper to reduce air permeability. In addition, Lenormand invented “parachute” by combining the Greek “para” and the French “chute” into one word, which literally translates as “against the fall.”
André Jacques Garnerin is the first person to jump from a hot air balloon. On October 22, 1797, at an altitude of 1 kilometer above Parc Monceau in Paris, he cut the lines connecting the basket to the eight-meter dome. 
Garnerin's wife, Jeanne Genevieve, followed her husband's example, becoming the first woman in the world to complete the jump.
In the 19th century, jumping from heights became popular among traveling parachutists and circus performers. Aerial acrobats made money by performing risky stunts. One of the most famous was Charles Laroux, who created an anti-fall device similar to a large umbrella for a circus trick. The device resembled a strange semi-automatic parachute with 12 wedges, which were connected by slings to a belt belt. The device was fixed to the side of the balloon with a special string with a spring, which opened during the jump, and the parachute was disconnected from the balloon. Laroux died during testing during the flight.
In 1880, Erwin Baldwin invents the automatic parachute. While making a jump, the cord securing the structure with the ball broke under the weight, filling the dome with air.
2 years later, Lev Stevenson creates a traction ring, and Herman Latheman uses a new principle for deploying a parachute from an elongated bag.
Creation of the first aviation parachute
Over time, hot air balloons replaced airplanes. As aviation developed, so did the number of casualties. The parachute as a rescue device for pilots has become a pressing issue.
In 1910, Lev Makarovich Matsievich, a legend of Russian aeronautics, died during demonstration flights in St. Petersburg. 
Impressed by the tragedy, Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov, a theater actor, became eager to construct an aviation parachute. A year later, having completed his work, he created a reliable, compact and lightweight device that was assembled into a backpack, attached to the pilot using a harness. At the bottom of the backpack there were springs that, when the pull ring was pulled out, ejected a silk dome, into the edges of which a thin elastic cable was sewn. The invention, the free-action backpack parachute RK-1, which immediately gained recognition abroad, was registered by Kotelnikov in 1913 in France. The use of the device in Russia began only in the First World War.
Thus, a simple actor played a vital role in the development of world aviation. Over time, backpack parachutes have improved and changed, but the principle of operation remains the same.
Video Great inventions of the 20th century. "De facts from de Jura"
American film inventor Thomas Edison, who was able to make this form of entertainment technically feasible
The competition, sponsored by Scientific American in 1913, required participants to write essays on the 10 greatest inventions of “our time” (from 1888 to 1913), and the inventions had to be patentable and dated to the time of their “industrial introduction.”
Essentially, this assignment was based on historical perception. Innovation seems more remarkable to us when we see the changes it brings about. In 2016, we may not think much of Nikola Tesla or Thomas Edison because we are used to using electricity in all its forms, but at the same time we are impressed by the social changes that it has brought about. popularization of the Internet. 100 years ago people probably wouldn’t have understood what we were talking about.
Below are excerpts from the first and second prize essays, along with a statistical tally of all entries submitted. First place was awarded to William I. Wyman, who worked at the US Patent Office in Washington, thanks to which he was well aware of scientific and technological progress.
Essay by William Wyman
1. The 1889 electric furnace was “the only means capable of producing carborundum” (the hardest man-made material at that time). She also transformed aluminum from "merely valuable to a very useful metal" (reducing its cost by 98%) and "radically changed the metallurgical industry."
2. The steam turbine, invented by Charles Parsons, began mass production within the next 10 years. The turbine significantly improved the power supply system on ships, and was later used to support the operation of generators that produced electricity.
The turbine, invented by Charles Parsons, powered the ships. When given in sufficient quantity, they drove generators and produced energy
3. Gasoline car. In the 19th century, many inventors worked on creating a “self-propelled” car. Wyman, in his essay, mentioned Gottlieb Daimler's 1889 engine: “A hundred years of persistent but unsuccessful efforts to create a practically self-propelled machine proves that any invention that first fits into the stated requirements becomes an immediate success. Such success came to the Daimler engine.”
4. Movies. Entertainment will always be of great importance to everyone, and "the moving picture has changed the way many people spend their time." The technical pioneer Wyman cited was Thomas Edison.
5. Airplane. For “the realization of a centuries-old dream,” Wyman praised the invention of the Wright brothers, but at the same time emphasized its military applications and doubted the general usefulness of flying technology: “Commercially, the airplane is the least profitable invention of all those under consideration.”
Orville Wright conducts a demonstration flight at Fort Mere in 1908 and fulfills the requirements of the US Army
Wilbur Wright
6. Wireless telegraphy. Various systems have been used to transmit information between people for centuries, perhaps even millennia. In the US, telegraph signals became much faster thanks to Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail. Wireless telegraphy, invented by Guglielmo Marconi, later evolved into radio and thus freed information from cables.
7. Cyanide process. Sounds toxic, doesn't it? This process appears on this list for only one reason: it was performed to extract gold from ore. “Gold is the lifeblood of commerce,” and in 1913 international trade relations and national currencies were based on it.
8. Nikola Tesla's asynchronous motor. “This landmark invention is largely responsible for the widespread use of electricity in modern industry,” writes Wyman. Before electricity was available in homes, Tesla's AC machine generated 90% of the electricity used in manufacturing.
9. Linotype. This machine allowed publishers—primarily newspaper publishers—to compose text and produce it much faster and cheaper. This technology was as advanced as the printing press was considered at one time in relation to the handwritten scrolls that preceded it. It is possible that soon we will stop using paper for writing and reading, and the history of printing will be forgotten.
10. Electric welding process from Elihu Thomson. During the era of industrialization, electric welding allowed for faster production rates and better, more sophisticated machines for the manufacturing process.
Electric welding, created by Elihu Thomson, significantly reduced the cost of producing complex welding equipment
Essay by George Dow
The second best essay, by George M. Dowe, also from Washington, was more philosophical. He divided all inventions into three supporting sectors: manufacturing, transport and communications:
1. Electrical fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. As natural sources of fertilizer became depleted in the 19th century, artificial fertilizers enabled further agricultural expansion.
2. Preservation of sugar-containing plants. George W. McMullen of Chicago is credited with discovering a method for drying sugar cane and sugar beets for transportation. Sugar production became more efficient and soon sugar supplies increased significantly.
3. High-speed steel alloys. By adding tungsten to steel, "tools thus made could cut at tremendous speeds without sacrificing the hardening or cutting edge." The increased efficiency of cutting machines has been "nothing short of a revolution"
4. Lamp with tungsten filament. Another advance in chemistry: With tungsten replacing carbon in the filament, the light bulb is considered “improved.” As of 2016, they are being phased out worldwide in favor of compact fluorescent lamps, which are 4 times more efficient.
5. Airplane. Although it was not yet widely used for transportation in 1913, "Samuel Langley and the Wright brothers should receive major honors for their contributions to the development of powered flight."
6. Steam turbine. As in the previous list, the turbine deserves praise not only for its "use of steam as a prime mover" but also for its application in "electricity generation."
7. Internal combustion engine. In terms of transportation, Dow credits "Daimler, Ford and Duryea" the most. Gottlieb Daimler is a well-known pioneer of motor vehicles. Henry Ford began production of the Model T in 1908, which remained very popular until 1913. Charles Duryea created one of the earliest commercially successful gasoline vehicles after 1896.
8. A pneumatic tire that was originally invented by Robert William Thomson, a railway engineer. “What the track did for the locomotive, the pneumatic tire did for vehicles not tied to railroad tracks.” However, the essay acknowledges John Dunlop and William C. Bartlett, each of whom made major contributions to the development of automobile and bicycle tires.
9. Wireless communication. Dow praised Marconi for making wireless communications "commercially feasible." The author of the essay also left a comment that can be attributed to the development of the World Wide Web, stating that wireless communications were “developed primarily to meet the needs of commerce, but along the way it contributed to social interaction.”
10. Typesetting machines. The giant rotary press could produce enormous volumes of printed material. The weak link in the production chain was the assembly of printing plates. Linotype and monotype helped get rid of this shortcoming.
All submitted essays were collected and analyzed to create a list of inventions that were perceived as the most significant. Wireless telegraphy was in almost every text. "Airplane" came in second, although it was considered important only because of the potential of the aircraft. Here are the rest of the results:
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………...2
1. Scientific and technical inventions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries…………………...3
2. Structural changes in industry………………………………...7
3. The influence of scientific and technological progress on the world economy…………9
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….11
List of used literature……………………………………………………...12
Introduction
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the development of productive forces occurred at a rapid pace. In this regard, the volume of global industrial production has increased significantly. These changes were accompanied by the rapid development of technology, innovations of which covered various areas of production, transport and everyday life. Also, significant changes have occurred in the technology of organizing industrial production. During this period, many completely new industries arose that did not exist before. There have also been significant shifts in the distribution of productive forces, both at the international level and within individual states.
Such rapid development of global industry was associated with the scientific and technological revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through the introduction of achievements of scientific and technological progress, the development of industry in the 19th and 20th centuries. led to significant changes in the conditions and way of life of all mankind.
The purpose of writing this work is to analyze scientific and technological achievements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as to determine their impact on global economic development.
When writing this work, it is necessary to solve the following problems: characterization of scientific and technical inventions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; analysis of structural changes in industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; determining the impact of technological development on the global economy.
Scientific and technical inventions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
At the end of the 19th century, the so-called “Era of Electricity” began. So, if the first machines were created by self-taught craftsmen, then during this period all technological implementations were closely interconnected with science. Based on the development of electricity, a new energy basis for industry and transport was developed. So, in 1867 V. Siemens invented an electromagnetic generator, with the help of which, by rotating a conductor in a magnetic field, it was possible to receive and generate electric current. In the 70s. In the 19th century, the dynamo was invented, which was used not only as a generator of electricity, but also as a motor that converted electrical energy into dynamic energy. In 1883, the first modern generator was invented by T. Edison, and in 1891. he invented the transformer. Thanks to these inventions, industrial enterprises could now be located far from energy bases, and electricity production was organized at special enterprises - power plants. Equipping machines with electric motors significantly increased the speed of machines, which led to increased productivity and created the prerequisites for subsequent automation of the production process.
Due to the fact that the demand for electricity was constantly growing, there was a need to develop more powerful, compact and economical engines. Thus, in 1884, the English engineer Charles Parsons invented a multi-stage steam turbine, with the help of which it was possible to increase the rotation speed several times.
Internal combustion engines, which were developed by German engineers Daimler and Benz in the mid-80s, were widely used.
In 1896 German engineer R. Diesel developed an internal combustion engine with a high efficiency. A little later, this engine was adapted to operate on heavy liquid fuel, and therefore it began to be widely used in all sectors of industry and transport. In 1906, tractors with internal combustion engines appeared in the USA. Mass production of such tractors was mastered during the First World War.
During this period, one of the main industries was electrical engineering. Thus, electric lighting became widespread, which was associated with the construction of large industrial enterprises, urban development and a significant increase in electricity production.
Also, such a branch of electrical engineering as communications technology has also received widespread development. At the end of the 19th century, wire telegraph equipment was improved, and by the beginning of the 80s. In the 19th century, work was carried out on the design and practical use of telephone equipment. Telephone communications began to quickly spread throughout all countries of the world. The first telephone exchange was built in the USA in 1877, in 1879. a telephone exchange was built in Paris, and in 1881 - in Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Riga and Warsaw.
One of the main achievements of the scientific and technological revolution was the invention of radio - wireless telecommunications, which is based on the use of electromagnetic waves. These waves were first discovered by the German physicist G. Hertz. In practice, this connection was applied by the outstanding Russian scientist A.S. Popov, who on May 7, 1885 demonstrated the world's first radio receiver.
At the beginning of the 20th century, another branch of electrical engineering was invented - electronics. So, in 1904 English scientist J. A. Fleming invented a two-electrode lamp (diode), which could be used to convert the frequencies of electrical vibrations. In 1907 American designer Lee de Forest invented a three-electrode lamp (triode), with which it was possible not only to convert the frequency of electrical vibrations, but also to amplify weak vibrations.
Thus, the industrial use of electrical energy, the construction of power plants, the expansion of electric lighting in cities, and the development of telephone communications led to the rapid development of the electrical industry.
The rapid development of mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, military production and railway transport created a demand for ferrous metals. Technical innovations began to be applied in metallurgy, and metallurgical technology achieved great success. The designs of blast furnaces have changed significantly and the volumes of blast furnaces have increased. New methods of steel production were introduced through the processing of cast iron in a converter under strong blast.
In the 80s In the 19th century, the electrolytic method of producing aluminum was introduced, which led to the development of non-ferrous metallurgy. The electrolytic method was also used to obtain copper.
Another main area of scientific and technological progress was transport. Thus, in connection with technological development, new types of transport have appeared. The growth in the volume and speed of transportation contributed to the improvement of railway technology. The rolling stock on the railways was improved: power, traction force, speed, weight and size of steam locomotives and the carrying capacity of cars increased. Since 1872, automatic brakes were introduced in railway transport, and in 1876. An automatic coupling design has been developed.
At the end of the 19th century, experiments were carried out in Germany, Russia and the USA to introduce electric traction on railways. The first electric city tram line opened in Germany in 1881. In Russia, the construction of tram lines began in 1892.
During the period of scientific and technological progress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A new type of transport was invented - the automobile. The first cars were designed by German engineers K. Benz and G. Daimler. Industrial production of cars began in the 90s. 19th century. The high pace of development of the automobile industry contributed to the construction of highways.
Another new mode of transport was air transport, in which airplanes played a decisive role in its development. The first attempts to design aircraft with steam engines were made by A.F. Mozhaisky, K. Ader, and H. Maxim. Aviation became widespread after the installation of light and compact gasoline engines. At first, airplanes had a sporting value, then they began to be used in military affairs, and then for transporting cars.
During this period, chemical methods of processing raw materials were also organized in almost all branches of production. In industries such as mechanical engineering, electrical production, and the textile industry, the chemistry of synthetic fibers has begun to be widely used.
Scientific and technological progress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. contributed to the introduction of many innovations to improve the technical sphere of light, printing and other industries.
Many new things were invented in the 20th century. New construction projects were built, military equipment was developed, and space was explored. Let's try to note the most outstanding inventions and buildings that were made in the twentieth century and left a significant imprint on the history of mankind.
1. Titanic
This famous cruise ship of the British company White Star Line, the largest of its time, was launched on May 31, 1911. The construction of such a large steamship aroused truly enormous interest among people. Still would! Its length was as much as 268.83 m, its width reached 28.19 m, and its height reached 54 m. The liner could carry 2,556 passengers and another 892 crew members.
On April 2, 1912, the Titanic successfully passed sea trials on the water and a few days later set off on its first voyage. Only very wealthy people could get on board the ship, because... the ticket price reached 4,350 dollars (this is about 60 thousand at the modern exchange rate). But, unfortunately, the Titanic's maiden voyage turned out to be its last.
On April 10, 1912, she set sail from the port of Southampton with 1,316 passengers and 891 crew on board. The final destination of the journey was supposed to be the Irish port of Cobh... But on April 14, 1912, the ship crashed after colliding with an iceberg, as a result of the disaster more than 1,500 people died, only 704 survived....
2. Vostok spaceship
A real breakthrough in space exploration was human flight into outer space! It’s nice to know that Soviet scientists were the first to succeed in this matter. The Vostok spacecraft, intended for flights in low-Earth orbit, was designed under the leadership of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
Only one cosmonaut could be on board the ship, and the flight duration was no more than five days. The launch of the first manned spacecraft took place on April 12, 1961, piloted by Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. “Vostok” made one revolution around our planet, spending 108 minutes on it.
3. Sydney Opera House
Perhaps the most striking symbol of Australia, besides the kangaroo, is the famous Sydney Opera House. This architectural structure (with an area of 2.2 hectares), built in 1973, is recognized as one of the outstanding examples of modern architecture (it is also called an architectural wonder of the world).
More than $100 million was spent on construction, and the construction itself lasted more than 15 years! In addition to the opera hall itself, there is also a concert hall, drama and chamber theater halls, several restaurants and a reception hall. The theater can accommodate 1,507 people at the same time. Here is the world's largest mechanical organ with ten thousand pipes.
4. First computer
In the modern world it is difficult to imagine life without computers. But just recently, some 50-60 years ago, the creation of such a machine as a computer seemed like a pipe dream. After World War II, in 1946, the world learned about the creation in the United States of the first electronic computer, ENIAC, the development of which took more than half a million dollars and three years of time.
The chief designer was Charles Babbage, who went down in history as the inventor of the first prototype of a computer. The machine was enormous: it weighed about 28 tons and absorbed about 140 kW of energy. The computers that were invented before him were a kind of prototype of ENIAC. Although he himself, whose power is equal to thousands of adding machines, was first called an “electronic calculator.”
5. Nuclear weapons
Sooner or later, humanity would learn to create weapons of mass destruction, which actually include nuclear weapons. The United States was the first to achieve success in this area. The project to create an atomic bomb, which was called the Manhattan Project (led by Leslie Groves), was carried out on July 16, 1945.
The first atomic bomb weighed 2722 kg, the power reached 18 kt in TNT equivalent. The creation of such weapons led to tragic consequences: explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For a relatively short time, the United States had a monopoly in this matter. Already in 1949, on August 29, near the city of Semipalatinsk, the first Soviet nuclear device, codenamed “RDS-1,” was tested at a test site.
The presence of nuclear weapons in the USSR made it possible to maintain parity between the two states. Currently, the world community is trying to protect itself from this type of weapon and is trying to prevent its further spread, as well as try to destroy what has already been created.