A Brief Overview of Scientific Progress in the Modern EraA group
directed by Major Alexeyev of the Bakinskii orps of Mining
Engineers hand!drilled an oil wellin the Baku region in
1848"rawford #illia$son %ong used ether for the first ti$e on March
&'( )*+, to re$ove a tu$or fro$ the neck of a patient( -a$es M"
.enable( in-efferson( /eorgia" %ong subse0uently re$oved a second
tu$or fro$ .enable and used ether as an anesthetic in a$putations
and childbirth" 1he results of these trials were published
in1849inThe Southern Medical and Surgical Journal"1he world2s
firstlarge refineryopenedat Ploie3ti( 4o$ania( in )*56!1857( with
7nited States invest$ent"1hefirst commercial oil wellin anada
beca$e operational in1858at Oil Springs( Ontario 8then anada #est9"
Business$an -a$es Miller #illia$s dug several wells between )*55
and )*5* before discoveringarichreserve of oil four $etres below
ground" #illia$s extracted crude oil( refining $uch of it into
kerosene la$p oil"Belgian -ean -oseph Etienne %enoir 8)*,,:);''9
produced agas-fired internal combustion engine si$ilar in
appearance to a horiorest2s );'6
GaudionGwasalsodevelopedasaradiodetector( and soon led to the
develop$ent of the triode tube" =n 1887( Prof" Aeinrich Aert< in
a series of experi$ents provedthe actual existence ofelectric
wa$es" 1he discovery of electric waves in space naturally led to
the discovery and introduction in the closing years of the );th
centuryofwireless telegrahy(various syste$s of which are nowin
successful use on shipboard(
lighthousesandshoreandinlandstationsthroughout the world( by $eans
of which intelligence is trans$itted across the widest oceans and
large parts of continents"=n1889(/ottlieb Cai$lerand#ilhel$
Maybachbuilttheirfirst automobilewhich was so$ewhat influencedby
bicycle designs" 1here was no production in /er$any( but it was
licensed to be built in >ranceandpresentedto the public in Paris
in October )**; by both engineers"Aer$an Aollerith invented the
recording of data on a medium that could then be read by a machine"
Prior uses of $achine readable $edia had been for control(
notdata"Afterso$einitialtrialswithpapertape( he
settledonunchedcards(developingpunchedcard data processing
technology for the 1890 +, census" Ae founded theTabulating Machine
Company8)*;69 which was one of four co$panies that $erged to for$
o$puting 1abulating 4ecording o$pany 8149( later rena$ed
=BM"=n1891( notableadditions toour knowledgeof the pheno$ena of
electro$agnetic fre0uency and high potential current were
contributed by Dikola 1esla" A$ongst theno$el
e-erimentsperfor$edby1esla was to take in his hand a glass tube
fro$ which the air had been exhausted( then bringing his body into
contact with a wire carrying currents of high potential( the tube
was suffused with a pleasing bright glow" Another experi$ent was
tograspabulbthat was suspended fro$ a single wire attached to a
high otential. high fre#uencycurrentcircuit( when a platinu$button
within the bulb was brought to vivid incandescence( the
experi$enter at this ti$e standingonaninsulating platfor$" 1he
fre0uency and potential involved in the experi$ents$adeby1eslaat
thisti$ewereof the order of one or $ore $illion cycles and volts"
=n )*;&( #estinghouse won the bid to electrify the )*;&
#orld2s olu$bian Exposition in hicago with alternating current"
1his #orld2s >air devoted a building to electrical exhibits" =t
was a key event in the history of /'oweras
#estinghouseand1eslade$onstrated
thesafetyandreliabilityofalternatingcurrent tothe A$erican
public"1he chloralkali rocess is an industrial process for the
electrolysis of sodiu$ chloride solution 8brine9" Cependingonthe
$ethod( several products besides hydrogen can be produced" =f the
products are separated( chlorine and sodiu$hydroxide 8caustic soda9
are the productsF by $ixing( sodiu$ hypochlorite or sodiu$chlorate
are produced( dependingonthe te$perature" Aigher te$peratures
areneededfor the production of sodiu$ chlorate instead of sodiu$
hypochlorite"0ndustrial scale roductionbegan in 1892"Page & of
)'A Brief Overview of Scientific Progress in the Modern EraAugust
?Jhler designed a new $ethod of illu$ination
whichusesaperfectlydefocusedimageofthelight sourceto illu$inatethe
sa$ple" 1his work was published in189"in the Keitschrift fLr
wissenschaftliche 1ikroskoieand was soon followed by publication of
an English translation in the -ournal of the 4oyal Microscopical
Society" GMber eine neue Art von StrahlenN( was published on
,*Cece$ber)*;5" On5-anuary)*;6( an Austrian newspaper
reported#ilhel$ onrad4Jntgen2s discoveryof a newtype of radiation"
4Jntgenwas awarded an honorary Coctor of Medicine degree fro$ the
7niversityof #Lrebruary he took the first radiograph to direct a
surgical operation" Ae also took the firstO!ray of the hu$anspine"
Aall!Edwards2 interest in O!rays cost hi$ his left ar$( which had
to be a$putated in );'* as a conse0uence of O!ray der$atitis
=n1897( che$istsworkingat BayerA/produceda
syntheticallyalteredversionof salicin( derivedfro$ the species
Filipendula ulmaria 8$eadowsweet9( which caused less digestive
upset than pure salicylic acid" 1he identity of the lead che$ist on
this project is a $atter of controversy" Bayer states the workwas
done by >elix Aoff$ann( but the -ewish che$ist Arthur EichengrLn
later clai$ed he was the lead investigator
andrecordsofhiscontributionwereexpungedunder the Daair9 inParis
using peanut oil fuel"=n1901?arl %andsteiner discoveredhumanblood
grous" Mixing blood fro$ two inco$patible
individualscanleadtoani$$uneresponse( andthe destruction of red
blood cells releases free he$oglobin into the bloodstrea$( which
can have fatal conse0uences" ?arl%andsteinerdiscoveredthatwhen
inco$patible types are $ixed( the red blood cells clu$p( andthat
this i$$unological reactionoccurs when the receiver of a blood
transfusion has antibodies against the donor blood cells" Ais work
$ade it possible to deter$ine blood type and allowed a way for
blood transfusions to be carried out $uch $ore safely" >or this
discovery he was awarded the Dobel Prile$ing recounted the
discovery of enicillinonthe$orningof >riday( Septe$ber ,*( 1928"
=t was a fortuitous accidentQ in his laboratory in the base$ent of
St" Mary2s Aospital in %ondon( >le$ing noticed a Petri dish
containing Staphylococcusplateculturehe$istakenlyleftopen(
wasconta$inatedbyblue!green$ould"1herewasa haloofinhibitedbacterial
growtharoundthe$ould" >le$ing concluded the $ould released a
substance reressingthegrowthandlysingthebacteria" Ae grew a pure
culture and discovered it was a %enicillium $ould( now known to be
%enicillium notatum" harles 1ho$( an A$erican specialist working at
the 7"S" Cepart$ent of Agriculture( was the acknowledged expert(
and >le$ing referred the $atter to hi$"
>le$ingcoinedtheter$GpenicillinGtodescribethe filtrateof
abrothcultureof the%enicillium$ould" Even in these early stages(
penicillin was found to be $osteffecti$eagainst
)ram-ositi$ebacteria( and ineffective against /ra$!negative
organis$s and fungi"=n the autu$n of1929( Aer$ann -ulius Oberth
conducted a static firing of his firstli#uid-fueled rocket motor(
whichhena$edthe'egeld(se" 1he engine was built in a workshop space
provided by the 4eich =nstitution of he$ical 1echnology" Ae was
helpedinthisexperi$ent byan)*yearoldstudent #ernher von Braun( who
would later beco$e a giant in both/er$anand A$ericanrocket
engineeringfro$ the );+'s onward"=n August1929L) *+,
-rafZeppelindeparted for a daringenterpriseQ acircumna$igationof
theglobe" 1he growing popularity of the Ggiant of the airG $ade it
easyforCr" AugoEckenertofindsponsors" Oneof these was the A$erican
press tycoon #illia$ 4andolph Aearst"-raf )eppelinflew to
>riedrichshafen( then 1okyo( %os Angeles( and back to %akehurst(
in ,) days 5 hours and &) $inutes"Page E of )'A Brief Overview
of Scientific Progress in the Modern Era=n1929Britishmotor $ehicle
roductionwas do$inatedbyMorris8foundedby #illia$Morrisin );)' in
Oxford9 and Austin 8founded by Aerbert
Austinin%ongbridgein);'5afterheleft #olseley9 which between the$
produced around 6'S of total 7? output" Singer 8oventry $otorcycle
$anufacturer startedbuildingcarsin);'59followedinthirdplace that
year with )5S of production"=n 19"1the ter$ GSuper o$puting
MachineG is used bytheDewRork#orldnewspaper todescribe the
ColumbiaDifference Tabulator( a one!of!a!kind special purpose
tabulator!based $achine $ade for the olu$bia StatisticalBureau(a
$achine so$assive it was nickna$ed GPackardG" Poly8$ethyl
$ethacrylate9 is a transparent ther$oplastic(
oftenusedasalightweight orshatter!resistant alternative to glass"
he$ically( it is the synthetic poly$er of $ethyl $ethacrylate" 1he
$aterial was developed in );,* in various laboratories( and was
first brought to $arket in 19"" by the 4oh$ and Aaas o$pany( under
the trade$ark
8le-iglas"1heBritishwerethefirsttofullyexploitradarasa defence
against aircraft attack" 1his was spurred on by fears that the
/er$ans were developing death rays" 1he Air Ministry asked British
scientists in19"4to investigate the possibility of propagating
electro$agnetic energy and the likely effect" >ollowing a study(
they concluded thata death ray was imractical but that detection of
aircraft aeared feasible" 4obert #atson #att2stea$de$onstratedto
hissuperiorsthecapabilitiesof aworkingprototype and then patented
the device" =t served as the basis for thehainAo$enetworkof radars
todefend/reat Britain"A$pheta$ine was first synthesiired o$bustion
Engine )*6, Micro Organis$s( Pasteuriirst 7nderground 4ailway)*6+
Electricity and Magnetis$(,' .ariables and E0uations )*65
4egenerative >urnace( heap Steel )*6E Antiseptic Surgery
Cyna$ite )*6; Periodic 1able of the Ele$ents )*E6 Otto =nternal
o$bustion Engine)**, S$okeless opper -acketed artridged Bullet )**+
/ra$ Staining Edison Effect )**E Electric #aves( #ireless
1elegraphy )**; Cai$ler!Maybach Auto$obile )*;' Punched ards Cata
Storage )*;) 1esla Experi$entsW )*;& hicago #orld >air )*;,
=ndustrial hloralkali Process )*;& Cefocused Microscope
=llu$ination )*;6 4Jntgen Ciagnostic =$aging )*;E Aspirin );''
Marie urie >aculty Me$ber 4adioactivity Ciesel Engine );') Au$an
Blood /roups( 1ransfusions );'& Ditrogen Based
>ertiliarbenQManagerial =ndustrial Enterprise );)5 /eneral
4elativity >okker E"= );,) 4CO );,& A$ylobarbitone
Anesthetic );,6 Aerodyna$ic 1heoryof 1urbine Cesign( 1urboprop );,E
Studio Sound >il$ 7ncertainty Principle #avefunction of an
Electron(Spin( Positron );,* Penicillin );,; ?egeldLse Keppelin
circu$navigationof the globe Morris( Austin( Singer );&)
Packard Cifference 1abulator );&& Plexiglass );&+
Ben