European Pupils
Magazine
Emma Foster
Priestley College, Warrington, United Kingdom
foster.e@hotmail.com
What do I think made the most impact on
Science and Maths during the 20th Century?
There have been numerous important discoveries in
science and maths in the 20th century. For example,
scientists discovered that mitochondria were the
powerhouses of cells, Neils Bohr published a model
of atomic structure in 1913 and Albert Einstein’s
discovered the theory of relativity,
E = mc2 in 1905 [1] [A]. Science and maths work to-
gether in many aspects of life for example decision
making, hypothesis testing, medicines and research.
The following discoveries, both applications and
Scientists discovered that mitochondria
were the powerhouses of cells.
theories had a significant impact on science and
maths in the 20th century. I do not believe that any
of the achievements that were made in the 20th cen-
tury that had a significant impact on science and
maths can be considered as a unique achievement.
To support this idea I have searched many important
theories, discoveries, experiments and techniques
which have helped to improve our knowledge and
have made an important impact on today’s society
especially in education, medicine and business.
There are so many theorems and famous mathemati-
cians in the 20th century therefore; I am only go-
40
ing to concentrate on the great events in the areas
associated with computing and logic, made by peo-
ple like Hilbert, Gödel and Turing [6].
The discovery that atoms contained electrons origi-
nally came from Joseph John Thompson who
achieved his findings between 1856 and 1937. He
designed a model of an atom later named Thom-
son’s plum pudding model of the atom. This model
showed that inside an atom there are many electrons
with a negative charge and a spherical cloud with a
positive charge. He also identified that the negative
and positive charges within the atom cancel one an-
other out [4]. Henry Moseley and Ernest Ruther-
ford discovered that the nucleus of an atom con-
tained positively charged particles called protons
during their work from 1888 to 1915. Moseley stud-
ied an x-ray spectrum of elements and then mathe-
matically related the frequency of the x-ray to a
number called the atomic number. Rutherford’s cal-
culations showed that the charge on the nucleus was
positive. Also, in 1919, he conducted an experiment
whereby alpha parti-
cles were fired at hy-
drogen gas to produce
positive particles, later
called protons [4] .
James Chadwick,
whose discoveries took
place from 1891 to
1974, identified the
neutron. During that Thomson’s plum pudding
period he discovered model of the atom
that neutrons have no
charge and they have the same mass as a proton [4].
Neils Bohr’s research took place between the
years of 1885 and 1962. His scientific research
showed that electrons orbit the nucleus in energy
levels. Also, energy levels have a fixed energy
value meaning they are quantised. Neils Bohr’s
atomic structure model is still being studied in the
21st century and is an important aspect of chemistry
[4]. The findings of Joseph John Thompson,
 European Pupils
Magazine
Science and Maths
during the 20th Century
Henry Moseley and Ernest Rutherford, James N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) 2NH3 (g)
Chadwick and Neils Bohr together have helped to At the beginning of the 20th Century Germany
shape the classical model of atom. This knowledge needed to produce nitrogen compounds from nitro-
has led to the development of technologies such as gen gas in the air, however, nitrogen gas is ex-
mass spectrometry and infra-red spectrometry. It tremely inactive. Fritz Haber’s discovery was later
has also resulted in numerous medical break- developed in order to produce ammonia gas on an
throughs. industrial scale in 1913 by Carl Bosch, a chemical
James Watson engineer. Fritz Haber
and Francis Crick became the hero of the
established the agricultural world [4]. He
structure of DNA in also contributed to the
1953 with the help development of chlorine
of Rosalind gas and other lethal gases
Franklin’s x-ray which were both used as
diffraction studies. war weapons [4]. Chlorine
Their idea, the semi gas was first used by the
-conservative German army in April
method, proposed 1915 during WW1. In
that each new 1933 Haber was forced
molecule of DNA to leave Germany by the
contained one Nazis. Ironically he and
polynucleotide his family were later
Mass spectrometer
strand from the par- killed in concentration
ent and one new polynucleotide strand. The semi- camps in gas chambers which used the gases he had
conservative method involves all four nucleotides produced.
being present; both strands of the DNA acting as a The impact of Gödel's and Turing's break-
template and the hydrogen bonds between comple- throughs in the 1930's is best understood against
mentary bases being broken by the enzyme DNA
helicase. Energy is used to activate these nucleo-
tides and the nucleotides are joined together by the
enzyme DNA polymerase [3].
Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity is thought
to be one of the most significant scientific advances
of our time [6]. Einstein’s contribution was the rec-
ognition that the speed of light in a vacuum is con-
stant and an absolute boundary for motion [5]. The
famous equation, E = mc2 stating that energy is
equal to mass times the speed of light squared, was
derived by Einstein in 1905 [1]. The theory of rela-
tivity has allowed scientists to look at the total solar
eclipse for the first time and analyse starlight near
the edge of the sun. The theory of relativity has al-
lowed astronomers to look at objects travelling at
near light speed [B].
Fritz Haber made a breakthrough in 1909, when
he synthesised 100g of ammonia from nitrogen and
hydrogen gases using the following reaction: Haber process 3H + N  2NH
2 2 3
41
 European Pupils
Magazine
Science and Maths
during the 20th Century
the background of the mathematical ambitions de-
finitively expressed by David Hilbert in the 1920's.
[6] Hilbert formulated the Entscheidungsproblem
otherwise known as the decision problem in 1928.
Firstly, he stated that consistency needs to be con-
sidered and the set of axioms should be consistent.
Secondly he took under consideration completeness.
In theory all mathematical truths should be calcu-
lated from those axioms. Thirdly he examined deci-
dability - a clearly formulated procedure should be
used so that when given any statement of mathemat-
ics, it can be established within a finite time whether
or not that statement is followed by the given axi-
oms. Gödel’s incompleteness theorems were pub-
lished in a famous article in 1931. Gödel proved that
statements about mathematical relationships can be
encoded as statements within arithmetic [6]. Turing
later proved that Hilbert's theory was unsolvable
and that any consistent axiomatic theory to enable
the expression and proof of basic arithmetic propo-
sitions could be neither complete nor effectively
decidable [6].
Computers have developed dramatically since
their first appearances in the early 20th century. In
1936 Zonrad Zuse invented the first freely pro-
grammable computer [9]. The development of com-
puters continued to advance in the 1940s and 50s.
In addition, in 1962 the first computer game was
invented by Steve Russell and MIT called Space-
war. Also, in 1964 Douglas Engelbart established
Windows Mouse & Windows [9] The year 1979 saw
the first Word Processors [9]. In 1981 Microsoft
MS-DOS Computer Operating System now a
Zonrad Zuse invented the first
freely programmable computer
42
Penicillin
worldwide computer programme was established.
Finally, in the year 1985 Microsoft Windows began
to compete with Apple [9] [C].
Alexandra Fleming discovered penicillin in
1928. Later, Howards Florey and Boris Chain iso-
lated and purified the compound producing the first
antibiotic. Penicillin is now a very important medi-
cine that has successfully saved many lives and will
continue to do so in the future despite the fact that it
came as a complete accident when it was noticed
that mould killed a bacteria sample in a Petri dish.
The hormone insulin was discovered by Frederick
Banting [1]. Insulin is a naturally-secreted hor-
mone that the body cannot function correctly with-
out [2]. Insulin successfully helps to balance blood
sugar levels in diabetic patients allowing them to
live a normal healthy life. Before this discovery a
diagnosis of diabetes was a death sentence.
Electron microscopy was explored by Ernst
Ruska and Max Knoll in the 1930s. In 1931 they
created an electron microscope powerful enough to
view objects as small as the diameter of an atom [8].
It can magnify objects up to 1 million times their
actual size. However, this microscope cannot view
living specimen as they are unable to survive under
a high vacuum [8] [D].
Scientists carried out experiments in the 1960s in
which dogs inhaled cigarette smoke. The dogs that
inhaled unfiltered smoke developed pulmonary dis-
ease and early signs of lung disease. From these
experiments many hypotheses could be tested and
one discovery was how smoking leads to the de-
 European Pupils
Magazine
Science and Maths
during the 20th Century
velopment of a tumour. Dr Barnett Rosenberg,
Professor of Biophysics and Chemistry at Michi-
gan State University investigated the effect of an
electric current on cells in 1965 [4]. He realised that
when an electric current was passing through the
cells, cell division in the bacteria stopped. In can-
cer patients, cell division becomes unregulated and
can lead to the formation of a tumour. However,
Rosenberg’s discovery of Z-platin can stop this
from occurring. Z-platin binds to the DNA found in
the nucleus which prevents the DNA from replicat-
ing and the cells from dividing [4] therefore, it stops
meiosis and mitosis and overall it can prevent the
spread of cancer.
Smallpox is the only major human disease that
has been eradicated. Smallpox epidemics inflicted
mankind throughout history and in 1967 between 10
-15 million cases were reported, of these 2 million
died and millions were left either blind, or disfigured
or both. Furthermore, there is no treatment for
smallpox once contracted; therefore, eradication
was extremely necessary. [7]The World Health As-
sembly requested that the WHO initiated a world-
wide smallpox eradication programme. The pro-
gramme remains one of the great achievements of
WHO [7]. This ensured that smallpox had been eradi-
cated worldwide and the return of the virus was
unlikely.
In 1975 Cesar Milstein and Georges Kohler
developed the technique of using antibodies pro-
duced by a mouse. These antibodies are grown out-
side of the body creating clones. These monoclonal
antibodies originate from animal tissue therefore,
they are modified to be suitable for humans, this is
called humanisation [3]. This discovery allows peo-
ple to take antibodies for particular diseases and
has, is and will continue to save lives.
In conclusion, my response to What do you
think made the most impact on science and maths
in the 20th century? is that there are hundreds of im-
portant developments in the 20th century. Overall,
the building of the National Health Service (NHS)
in 1948 has allowed medical research to help in
finding cures for cancer and has allowed the United
Kingdom to receive medical and dental care; Ein-
stein’s theory of relativity, E = mc2 [5] has allowed
the development of astronomy; Neils Bohr atomic
43
structure [1] has allowed the understanding of chem-
istry to advance: the work of Hilbert, Gödel and
Turing has helped problem solving in mathematics
to be understood [6]: the advancement of computers
[9] has allowed scientific and mathematic software
programmes to run which have helped improve
knowledge and has helped to save lives: the elec-
tron microscope has allowed the smallest of objects
to be seen [8] and the eradication of smallpox has
saved countless lives [7].
Bibliography
[1] Discovery Commu-
nications. (2010). 100
greatest discoveries.
Available: http://
science.discovery.com/
conver-
gence/100discoveries/
big100/biology.html.
Last accessed 30th
Albert Einstein March 2010.
[2] Diabetes.co.uk. (2010). Facts about insulin and
diabetes. Available www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/
insulin-facts.html. Last accessed 30th March 2010.
[3] Nelson Thornes (2008). AQA Biology. Chelten-
ham: Nelson Thornes Ltd. all.
[4] Lyn Nicholls (2008). AS Chemistry for AQA.
Hammersmith: Collins. All.
[5] All about science. (2002 - 10). Theory of Rela-
tivity. Available: www.allaboutscience.org/theory
-of-relativity.htm. Last accessed 3rd April 2010.
[6] Jon Millican. (2007). Hilbert, Gödel and Turing.
Available: www.philocomp.net/home/Hilbert.
Last accessed 7th April 2010
[7] WHO smallpox. (1989). The World Health Or-
ganization Smallpox Eradication Programme.
Available: http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/fis/courses/
lis2102/KO.WHO.case.html. Last accessed 13th
April 2010.
[8] Mary Bellis. (2000). History of electron micro-
scope. Available: http://inventors.about.com/od/
mstartinventions/a/microscope_2.htm. Last ac-
cessed 13th April 2010.
[9] Mary Bellis. (2000). The History of Computers.
Available: http://inventors.about.com/library/
blcoindex.htm. Last accessed 13th April 2010.