Listicle
The passing of Jim Watson, co-discoverer of DNA structure, got me thinking about the other great discoveries of the 20th century. Without consulting Google AI, I came up with these:
General relativity
Plate tectonics
ABO histocompatibility blood types
Penicillin
Structure of DNA
Here’s what Google AI said:
“ . . . the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics, the unraveling of the structure of DNA, the development of vaccines, and the creation of the airplane, the internet, the computer, and the use of nuclear power. Other significant advancements were the harnessing of electricity, telephones, and the development of modern medicine, including transplants and chemotherapy.”
While vaccination has certainly been transformative, inoculation and vaccination for smallpox antedated the 20th century. And successful transplantation depends on histocompatibility matching.
Apart from DNA structure, Google AI’s list is about applications, not fundamental discoveries. That’s why general relativity and plate tectonics didn’t make the list, I guess.
General relativity
Plate tectonics
ABO histocompatibility blood types
Penicillin
Structure of DNA
Here’s what Google AI said:
“ . . . the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics, the unraveling of the structure of DNA, the development of vaccines, and the creation of the airplane, the internet, the computer, and the use of nuclear power. Other significant advancements were the harnessing of electricity, telephones, and the development of modern medicine, including transplants and chemotherapy.”
While vaccination has certainly been transformative, inoculation and vaccination for smallpox antedated the 20th century. And successful transplantation depends on histocompatibility matching.
Apart from DNA structure, Google AI’s list is about applications, not fundamental discoveries. That’s why general relativity and plate tectonics didn’t make the list, I guess.
Applications versus functional fundamental discoveries? I agree your best guess is correct. Can AI be creative?
The 20th century was rather amazing when one thinks about it. Scientific and philosophical explorations were unified on an empirical basis. I’ll throw in my fifty cents here:
Any such list has to include quantum mechanics. It and general relativity shattered classical physics.
Expand that understanding of blood types to include our much greater understanding of the still mysterious immune system.
There was Godel’s Theorem which caused a revolution in our understanding of mathematics.
The 20th century opened a whole new world for astronomy with radio astronomy, Xray astronomy, IR astronomy, gravitational wave astronomy and neutrino astronomy.
The moon landing, the analysis of the rocks returned and the various planetary probes brought the rest of the universe down to Earth in a visceral way.
It wasn’t just DNA. The entire vital principle was demolished. Biology is just about chemical machines.
Information theory changed a lot of thinking as did systems analysis.
I think we are just entering a golden age of materials science. It’s an almost invisible field, but theory and practice have opened whole new areas. Think about meta-materials, the multi-layer membranes in desalinization systems and batteries, new families of catalysts, solar power systems and so on. I think it is just coalescing. The 21st century may be its true golden era.
@Kaleberg,
Thanks.
A decade after the discovery of the double helix, the molecular biologist Gunther Stent wrote a cranky little book called “The Coming of the Golden Age: A View of the End of Progress.” He contended that the structure of DNA was the last major unsolved problem in science and all that remained was tidying up some minor stuff. Like you, I believe there is plenty of transformative discovery ahead. If humanity doesn’t destroy itself with anthropogenic climate change, with its associated plagues and climate wars.