215
Advances in science
Benjamin Franklin.
Inventions
Inventions and
discoveries have changed
the course of our history.
Paper
(50
BCE
) This was
invented in China, but kept
secret for many years.
Compass
(1190) The
magnetic compass was
first used by the Chinese.
Parachute
(1783) The first
one flew centuries after
Leonardo made his drawings.
Wheel
(3,500
BCE
) The first
known wheel was used in
Mesopotamia.
Colour photo
(1861)
First produced by physicist
James Clerk Maxwell.
Steam train
(1829) The
earliest successful model
reached 48 kph (30 mph).
Benjamin Franklin
(1706–1790)
American scientist Benjamin
Franklin experimented with
lightning and electricity.
His work in the 1700s laid
the foundations for today’s
electrical world.
More than 2,000 years
ago, Greek thinker Aristotle
recommended that people
look at nature, and carry
out experiments to
test ideas.
D
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1700
1800
Franklin risked his life flying a kite in a storm.
A kite helped
Benjamin Franklin
learn about
lightning and
electricity.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
(1845–1923)
Röntgen discovered
electromagnetic rays
(known today as x-rays)
on November 8th, 1895.
His important
discovery earned
him the first
Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1901.
William Herschel
(1738–1822)
Herschel is well
known for his work
in astronomy (he
first identified the
planet Uranus).
He also discovered
infrared radiation
– this technology is used today for
wireless communications, night vision,
weather forecasting, and astronomy.
Louis Pasteur
(1822–1895)
Best known
for discovering
pasteurization
(a process that
uses heat to destroy bacteria
in food, particularly milk),
Pasteur also discovered that
some diseases were caused
by germs. He encouraged
hospitals to be very clean
to stop germs spreading.
X-rays allow doctors to
look inside the human body.
