Week 7 - Entering the Atomic Age Flashcards
Identify the periodization and major developments of the Atomic Age. 1850s-1900
-early development of the field of atomic energy, which focused on the study of matter and energy. This field of inquiry accelerated from the 1820s to the 1830s
-Developments of Big Science (application of scientific inquiry to national agendas i.e. US, UK, Germany) -> institutionalism (formation of institutionalized science through scholarly institutions, partnerships between governments)
-formation of military industrial complex
-Ede and Cormack position the 19th century (1800s) as entering Atomic Age: work of scientists confirms the existence of atoms and molecules
-popularization of science on new scales ->
-Mastering electricity and magnetism (many utilitarian applications): One of the most important factors in social transformation (Ede and Cormack)
-Thermodynamics, Kinetic energy, physical chemistry, electromagnetism
->science becoming increasingly specialized during this period
-By 1900: physical science was defined by the study of matter and the study of energy.
-Continuation of Newtonian impulse to unify and synthesize nature into universal laws.
-“…end of the nineteenth century was for many a time of great excitement and accomplishment. New inventions were appearing so quickly it was hard to keep up. Railways crossed the continents, steamships ruled the oceans, and telegraph wires connected the civilized world. Photography gave us images, and the phonograph recorded sounds that seemed to offer the chance to transcend old barriers of space, time, and class.” (Ede & Cormack, pp. 268).
Identify and recognize Rontgen’s contribution to the study of radiation and development of the x-ray.
- 1890s: Röntgen’s first x-ray machine: Photography is an example of a commercial invention brought into a lab as a tool for science
Identify the central hallmarks of the Atomic Age, including the significant scientific discoveries of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
-new developments and discoveries in the study of matter and energy, including research that explored the nature of the atom, radiation, uranium, plutonium, electromagnetism and magnetism, kinetic energy and thermodynamics;
-the growth of institutionalized science and a move away from the kind of personal patronage to fund science that was a standard economic model of the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. This led to the establishment of educational and research institutions in places like Britain, France, and Germany;
-increased scientific specialization, including the emergence of new subdisciplines, including organic and inorganic chemistry;
-new applications for science to technological and industrial infrastructure.
Identify the timeline of Marie Curie’s (1867-1934) life and the significance of she and Pierre Curie’s discoveries
Identify and describe the restrictions and limitations that Marie Curie faced.
List the awards of Marie Curie.
-Marie Curie began her work on radioactivity in the 1890s.
-Instrumental in under-standing radioactivity, discovering new elements, and the structure of matter.
-One of the few women allowed into the male-dominated world of science.
- enrolled in secret university
- moved to Paris and got a physics and math degree
-The first female Nobel winner and the first female professor at the Sorbonne.
-Rejected for membership in the Académie des Sciences (1911). -> lead up to suffragette movement
Summarize, describe, and explain women’s roles in scientific thinking and technological change leading into the twentieth century.
Identify of women’s participation in scientific fields change across time and space, and if so, how and why.
- Ede and Cormack: “Across time and space, women in science have faced possibility and restriction, which was influenced by their social class, education, race/ethnicity, national origin, and their age and marriage status”
Identify the timeline of Einstein’s life, including his scientific accomplishments, their implications and his awards in the field of physics and astronomy.
- born in Ulm, Germany on 14 March 1879
- pioneer of theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, and often referred to as the father of theoretical of relativity. His formula, E = mc2, is the world’s most noted scientific equation, rendering his name synonymous with genius
- Einstein had a miracle year (annus mirabilis) in 1905, when, at the age of twenty-six, he earned a PhD from the University of Zurich and published his first works on light and relatively. These writings garnered significant attention from the scientific community, and elevated him to a distinguished position in the field of physics, and something of a scientific celebrity
- Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the photoelectric effect
- left Europe in the 1930s during Hitler’s rise to power in Germany
- unified theory of everything, remains a source of inspiration and motivation for contemporary scientists, who continue to advance his theories and ideas
-proposing that it was not only waves but particles. The second conclusively proved the existence of molecules as well as atoms. The third—his special theory of relativity—established that time and space are not absolute. Lastly, his most famous equation, E=mc2, determined that there is equivalence between mass and energy
on advice to American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Einstein joined with other scientists to caution against the threat and use of atomic weapons. These warnings encouraged the Manhattan Project, an American research and development project undertaken during the Second World War (1939-1945) that ultimately led to the first functional atomic bomb through atomic fission
Cultural Significance and Scientific Impact of Albert Einstein
-Einstein is responsible for proving that time is relative and absolute time does not exist. This was the basis of his special theory of relativity.
-Einstein’s theories and equations in the field of physics reoriented people’s understanding of three-dimensional space and linear time.
-Time magazine proclaimed Einstein, “the smartest man of the twentieth century,” and also named him the Person of the Century.
-With his theories, Einstein upended more than three centuries of cultural patterns premised on scientific thought that was established, in large part, by Sir Isaac Newton.
-Einstein’s theories shattered stable conceptions of law, order, and time by establishing, and proving, that everything was relative. In addition to reshaping scientific certainty, his work coincided with an era of intense social and cultural change that questioned absolute conventions and encouraged nonconformity. This was reflected in art, music, literature and popular culture.
-Einstein authored scientific and non-scientific works, publishing approximately 450 original works across his career.
Identify the circumstances that brought the 1893 World’s Fair to Chicago.
-fairs and expositions were a way for everyday people to see emergent technologies and feel ‘modern’,
-fairs and expositions acted as a site of national might and imperial display,
-fairs and expositions reproduced imperial nostalgia and racist hierarchies,
-fairs and expositions highlighted the application of big, or institutional science to the architectural and design landscape,
-fairs and expositions illustrated the power of science and technology in altering the natural landscape.
