Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
08 December 2010
Science Timeline Part One
12,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE
Domestication of animals to smelting iron
The word “science” comes from the Latin scire, meaning “to know.” In its broadest sense, science means the uncovering a deep knowledge of any subject. Here, we are concerned the more common use of the word science; that is the study of the physical world.
Pure and Applied Science
There are many branches of this type of science – chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, etc. And, almost all scientific exploration falls into one of two categories. Pure science is the pursuit of knowledge of a subject for its own sake; applied science means putting the findings of pure science to practical use.
For example, pure scientific research unravelled the mystery of how the atom is constructed; applied scientists used that knowledge to develop nuclear fission and its application in generating energy.
Technology Springs from Science
Allied to science is technology; the building of machines and tools that take advantage of scientific discoveries.
Since the beginning of time, scientists have built on the discoveries made earlier. Which begs the question of what was the first discovery that started everything?
Well, that’s pretty much anybody’s guess. Was it an ancient fur-
But, we do know that 2.5 million years ago someone in Africa discovered that by bashing
one piece of flint against another you could create a sharp edge. The first technology
was born in the form of stone tools.
Change did not come quickly back then, and the next big breakthrough was two million years in the making. About 500,000 BC, we find the first archeological evidence that humans had discovered how to use and control fire.
The first use of counting for which evidence has been found dates to 30,000 BCE. A wolf’s leg bone dug up in France has 55 cuts on it, arranged in groups of five. It’s not known what the marks represented.
By the time humans had settled between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is today Iraq (about 10,000 years ago) scientific inquiry was nicely started.
On a clay tablet, the annual accounts for a Mesopotamian farm have been drawn up.
This dates from 2040 BCE.
The Mesopotamian (the word is Greek for “between the rivers”) culture made observations of the planets and stars. They recorded chemical substances, disease symptoms, and a variety of mathematical tables.
They could solve quadratic equations and had developed a measurement system based on the number 60 by about 1800 BCE.
Sixty was used because it can be evenly divided by so many other numbers – 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, and 30. This cut down the number of fractions, something that gave the ancients a lot of trouble. Some remnants of this system remain; sixty minutes in an hour, and sixty seconds in a minute.
To the south and west, the folks in the Nile Valley could figure out the volume of a pyramid, knew about irrigation, and had invented a calendar.
Greek Civilization
The Greeks kicked scientific research up several notches.
Thales of Miletus (left) lived from about 636 BCE to 546 BCE; to live 90 years was
a major accomplishment back then, but Thales is credited with even more important
feats.
However, nothing of what he wrote has survived, so it’s a tricky business separating the many myths about him from the facts. He is said to have predicted an eclipse of the Sun in 585 BCE, and to be the first person to ponder on what the Universe is made of.
Thales came up with the idea that all matter was fundamentally water. If something did not seem to be water then, he said, it originated in water or was modified by it.
Okay, so he got that wrong, but he started a line of enquiry that would come up with increasingly accurate answers over the years. Thales is called the first known Greek philosopher and scientist. It was his inquiring mind that triggered an explosion of discovery.
By about 500 BCE, Pythagoras had developed many principles of mathematics that were to become the foundation of scientific investigation.
His scholars put forward the notion that Earth was a sphere, moving in orbit around
the Sun. The astronomer Aristarchus of Samos also bought into the idea of a heliocentric
(sun-
There is evidence that ancient Hindu philosophers in India had come to the same conclusion perhaps 500 years earlier.
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About 12,000 BCE
The domestication of animals (first dogs, then goats) means that humans no longer have to follow migrating herds.
About 8000 BCE
The cultivation of wheat and barley provides a more reliable food source than wild
berries, roots, leaves, etc.
About 7000 BCE
By firing clay vessels, pottery is created. Cooking methods change and the storage of important items such as water, flour, olive oil, etc. is possible.
About 6000 BCE
Fibres from flax are twisted together to form cords. Many cords, laced together, make nets for fishing. Finer cords, woven together, form cloth.
About 5500 BCE
People started building walled communities.
About 5000 BCE
The use of irrigation greatly expands the amount of land suitable for agriculture.
About 4000 BCE
The refining of metal from ore is discovered, probably by accident. Perhaps, a fire is built over a deposit of copper ore. Under the heat of the fire, the carbon in wood and in the ore combine with oxygen to form carbon dioxide gas. The gas would escape leaving metallic copper behind. Someone poking about in the ashes later might notice reddish globules and put two and two together; heat plus a certain kind of rock produce a useful substance – copper. At first, copper is only used decoratively because of its softness. But, the principle of metallurgy had been discovered and could be applied to other ores.
About 3500 BCE
The Sumerians invent the wheel. It’s made up from two or three wooden segments that
are shaped with a rounded edge. Held together by wooden struts, the wheel rotates
on a pole through its centre. Experts believe the wheel was only invented once and
spread from Sumer, in modern-
About 3500 BCE
The introduction of the plow in Sumer improves the cultivation of soil and increases crop yields.
About 3500 BCE
The first writing develops in Sumer. This is of monumental importance because it allows the discoveries of one generation to be accurately recorded and passed on to the next.
About 3000 BCE
People in southwestern Asia probably invent the abacus to make calculations. There
is some debate about who first came up with the principle that the position of a
counter determines its value. It is an early forerunner of the computer, and, even
today, a skilled abacus operator can multiply and divide just as quickly as someone
with a hand-
1700 BCE
An Egyptian document shows people had developed some understanding of the brain’s role in controlling the movement of limbs.
1000 BCE
Through trial and error, iron is smelted from ore using charcoal fires. This metal is in great demand because it is harder and holds a sharp edge longer than any metal currently in use.
In 1960, a Belgian geologist was working in what is now the DRC Congo near the Ugandan
border. At a place called Ishango, he found an animal bone with score marks engraved
on it. In the tip of the bone a sharp piece of quartz had been attached.
The bone, from a baboon’s leg, has been dated to about 20,000 years ago, but the
notches in it are a matter of debate. Some scientists say it is early evidence of
a society that developed a counting system, others say it relates to charting a six-