Presented by Sarah W. Sophomore EHAP HGHS Chappaqua, NY European Scientists in the 19th and 20th Centuries

How Did European Scientists in the 19 th and 20 th Centuries Contribute to World Science?

Scientists Make Their Mark On The World

Charles Darwin (February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882) Charles Darwin (February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882)

Charles Darwin British Naturalist Born in Shrewsbury, England Proposed the theory of natural selection – animals with favorable traits will survive and reproduce Developed concept that related species descended from common ancestors Proposed concept that life is not static, but evolving Conducted most of his work in the Galapagos Islands, studying the beak sizes of different Finch species

Charles Darwin 1831: Graduated from University of Cambridge with a degree in theology : Sailed aboard the HMS Beagle 1839: Filled notebooks with careful observations of animal and plant species

H.M.S. Beagle

The natural history of these islands is eminently curious, and well deserves attention. Most of the organic productions are aboriginal creations, found nowhere else; there is even a difference between the inhabitants of the different islands; yet all show a marked relationship with those of America, though separated from that continent by an open space of ocean, between 500 and 600 miles in width…Hence, both in space and time, we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact—that mystery of mysteries—the first appearance of new beings on this earth. - Charles Darwin from Voyage of the Beagle

Charles Darwin First person to challenge the “catastrophe” theory was English geologist Sir Charles Lyell  Catastrophe theory stated that organisms were individually created and unchangeable In Principles of Geology, Lyell declared that the earth is constantly changing due to affects of natural forces Argued that species are specially created

Natural Selection Darwin incorporated work done by Thomas Robert Malthus, a British Economist  An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) Darwin applied Malthus’ theory to animals and plants

Charles Darwin 1859: Published On the Origin of Species 1871: Published The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex 1872: Published The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

Charles Darwin I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection. - Charles Darwin from The Origin of Species From Darwin’s study of Galapagos Finches

Charles Darwin This principle of preservation, or the survival of the fittest, I have called Natural Selection. It leads to the improvement of each creature in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life; and consequently, in most cases, to what must be regarded as an advance in organization. Nevertheless, low and simple forms will long endure if well fitted for their simple conditions of life. - Charles Darwin from The Origin of Species

Natural Selection Darwin’s theory stated:  Young compete for survival (e.g. food, shelter)  Young that survive produce a new generation with more favorable characteristics  These natural variations are passed on by heredity.  Each generation will adapt and improve over time Evolution of species

Charles Darwin Theory of natural selection was later used as justification for imperialism and the destruction of weaker races and peoples  Social Darwinism

Marie Curie (November 7, 1867 – July 4, 1934)

Marie Curie Polish-born French Chemist Studied radioactivity and discovered the radioactive elements radium and polonium  Radioactivity  spontaneous decay of certain elements into other elements and energy

Marie Curie First woman to win the Nobel Prize. Won the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Antoine Henri Becquerel. Won the 1911 Nobel Prize in chemistry. First scientist to receive the Nobel Prize in two different categories. The element curium, discovered in 1944, was named in honor of Marie and Pierre

Marie Curie 1891: Attended the Sorbonne (now part of the University of Paris) to study physics and mathematics 1898: Discovered the radioactive elements radium and polonium with husband, Pierre Curie 1903: Received her doctorate degree in physics from the Sorbonne

Marie Curie 1906: Became professor of general physics and first woman to teach at the Sorbonne 1910 – Isolated pure radium metal with chemist André Devierne 1914 – University of Paris built Institut du Radium (now the Institut Curie)

Marie Curie 1914: Equipped ambulances with X-ray equipment to be used on the front lines of World War I : Directed the Research Department at the Radium Institute of the University of Paris 1934: Died from leukemia as a result of long-term exposure to radiation

Marie Curie We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity. - Marie Curie, Lecture at Vassar College, May 14, 1921 Marie and Pierre’s Nobel Prize

Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955)

Albert Einstein Born in Ulm, Germany Proposed theory of relativity, a physical theory of gravity, space and time Most famous for equation E = mc 2 The element einsteinium, discovered in 1952, was named in honor of Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein Proposed light can be considered as consisting of particles under certain conditions Hypothesized that energy carried by any light particle, a photon, is proportional to frequency of radiation  Formula  E = hv

Albert Einstein 1905: Published papers on special relativity, Brownian motion, and the photoelectric effect Photoelectric Effect  Formation of charged particles when light reflects off mass Brownian Motion  All particles move around randomly

Albert Einstein Contradicted traditional view that light energy was a result of a continuous process Instead, proposed that energy contained within a light beam is transferred in individual units, or quanta

Special Theory of Relativity 1905: “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”  All measurements of time and space depend on whether the two events occur simultaneously Developed a theory based on two assumptions:  Physical laws are the same under all conditions  Speed of light never changes

Albert Einstein : Taught physics at the University of Zürich : Taught physics at German-speaking university in Prague : Returned to teach at University of Zürich

Albert Einstein 1914: Became a professor at the University of Berlin and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics 1916: Published a paper on general relativity, extending his earlier theory of special relativity

General Theory of Relativity Interaction of bodies, or gravitational forces, are explained by the impact of bodies on geometry of space-time. Likened the interaction to a ball being dropped on a trampoline. This theory accounted for previously unexplained variations in orbital motion of planets and predicted bending of starlight in the vicinity of a massive body such as the sun. Proposed the inter-conversion of mass and energy through the equation E = mc 2 Proposed the inter-conversion of mass and energy through the equation E = mc 2

Newton, forgive me.

Unified Field Theory Attempted to unify the understanding of all physical interactions, including gravity and time.

Albert Einstein 1919: A solar eclipse confirmed Einstein’s prediction that starlight bends in the vicinity of a massive body such as the sun 1921: Won the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the photoelectric effect 1933: Began teaching at Princeton University 1939: Pointed out in a letter to President Roosevelt that there was a possibility that Germans were working on creating an atomic bomb

Albert Einstein In a letter to F.D.R.: In the course of the last four months it has been made probable—through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America—that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future…I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsäcker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in Berlin where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated. In the course of the last four months it has been made probable—through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America—that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future…I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsäcker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in Berlin where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated.

Francis Harry Compton Crick (June 8, 1916 – July 28, 2004)

Francis Harry Compton Crick British biophysicist Born in Northampton, England Co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA with James Dewey Watson Discovered that every three stairs on the DNA ladder contain the code for one amino acid Shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins

Francis Harry Compton Crick 1937: Graduated from University College, London, with a B.S. in physics 1947: Began to study biology at the Strangewats Research Institute of the University of Cambridge : Worked as a researcher at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England

Francis Harry Compton Crick : Discovered the structure of DNA while working with James Watson as a researcher at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge  Aided by X-ray images of biological molecules made by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin

Francis Harry Compton Crick Letter to Cambridge University discussing the model of the double helix.

Francis Harry Compton Crick We wish to put forward a radically different structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid. This structure has two helical chains each coiled round the same axis…Both chains follow right-handed helices, by owing to the dyad the sequences of the atoms in the two chains run in opposite directions…The novel feature of the structure is the manner in which the two chains are held together by the purine and pyrimidine bases…They are joined together in pairs, a single base from one chain being hydrogen-bonded to a single base from another chain, so that the two lie side by side with identical z-co-ordinates. - Francis Crick and James Watson, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids,” Nature, 1953

1953: Completed his Ph.D. on the structure of hemoglobin During World War II, Crick worked with explosive mines for the British Navy 1958: Took the double helix theory one step further to propose and prove the “central dogma”

The Central Dogma From "Central Dogma of Molecular Biology“, Nature, 1970

The End