# Greatest Scientific Breakthrough of the 20th Century



## skycloud86 (Jul 15, 2009)

In your opinion, what is the greatest scientific breakthrough of the 20th century, and why do you think it deserves such an accolade?


----------



## Raichan (Jul 15, 2010)

Twitter..?

HAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA

My God, that was funny. Just kidding.:crazy:



Space exploration and comet / meteor studies.


----------



## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

quantum mechanics and theory of relativity
with quantum mechanics being the most important , it was a revolution in science.
Max Planck in 1900 studied the black body radiation phenomenon and found out that classical physics could not explain it and that's how everything started...


----------



## noz (Dec 7, 2009)

i'd nominate the watson/crick discovery of the DNA double helix. forensics, countless medical therapies, farming and biology, genome sequencing.... all accelerated or made possible by that one little discovery. HUGE! does it rival QM in magnitude, though? if not, it at least must be mentioned.


----------



## xezene (Aug 7, 2010)

Relativity, which finally took Western thinking leaps and bounds forward. The other disciplines are still catching up, it was such a significant and profound breakthrough.


----------



## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

xezene said:


> Relativity, which finally took Western thinking leaps and bounds forward. The other disciplines are still catching up, it was such a significant and profound breakthrough.


nah, I disagree; relativity has little impact on scientific progression comparing to quantum mechanics which shaped the scientific world as we know it. From electron microscopes to laser technology, nuclear physics and many more.


----------



## TheSeer91 (Nov 2, 2010)

quantum mechanics


----------



## xezene (Aug 7, 2010)

Krou said:


> nah, I disagree; relativity has little impact on scientific progression comparing to quantum mechanics which shaped the scientific world as we know it. From electron microscopes to laser technology, nuclear physics and many more.


The concept of relativity basically helped psychology, sociology, and the entire cosmological view of the West become worthy of discussion, so while quantum mechanics is no doubt a big part, if you look at the impact that discovery had on the majority of the Western public, outside of the scientific community, it is small to negligible, whereas relativity is widely-known and very influential.


----------



## Sleeve Of Wizard (Nov 12, 2010)

I say DNA. I mean, come on, we cloned a sheep with it. From a practical standpoint, DNA has been used to solve countless crimes over the years. I admit that Relativity and QM have had a profound impact on the way we think and also influences what scientists now experiment with, but I think DNA has had more use to us up to this point in time.


----------



## Valdyr (May 25, 2010)

I'm casting yet another vote for Quantum Mechanics. From a purely intellectual standpoint, it revolutionized our understanding of the fundamental nature of reality. Practically speaking, quantum and quantum-like ideas inform contemporary computer science, economics, ecology, evolutionarily biology, and almost any other discipline where the mathematical analysis of complex and/or large-scale systems is involved.

Moving into the 21st century, its influence will only continue to increase with the advent of quantum computing, new cosmological models, and the emerging field of cognitive science. If the 20th century was the age of relativism, the 21st shall be one of probability.

All hail the wavefunction!


----------



## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Sleeve Of Wizard said:


> I say DNA. I mean, come on, we cloned a sheep with it. From a practical standpoint, DNA has been used to solve countless crimes over the years. I admit that Relativity and QM have had a profound impact on the way we think and also influences what scientists now experiment with, but I think DNA has had more use to us up to this point in time.


without electron microscopes DNA technology could never reach that far


----------



## sofort99 (Mar 27, 2010)

The transistor.

Almost everything in modern life is dependent on it.


----------



## PseudoSenator (Mar 7, 2010)

DNA and genome mapping. 

I'm sure this should be more of a top ten list.


----------



## Arbite (Dec 26, 2010)

Krou said:


> quantum mechanics and theory of relativity
> with quantum mechanics being the most important , it was a revolution in science.
> Max Planck in 1900 studied the black body radiation phenomenon and found out that classical physics could not explain it and that's how everything started...


I would actually disagree with those who believe relativity to be the greatest. The theory itself is a logical step forward if you impose a maximum speed limit on the universe, even Einstein considered his work on the photoelectric effe ct more groundbreaking than relativity. I say this reluctantly, purely because I believe relativity to be wonderfully magnificent in nature.

QM on the other hand required a massive leap in intuition. The theory itself is completely illogical, that the universe runs on what is essentially chance? And yet, time again it has stood the test of the ever cleverer experimental physicist, giving results that are accurate with predictions to an obscene number of significant figures.

Though, in my mind, the single greatest scientific breakthrough of the 20th century was the construction of the Saturn V rocket.


----------



## zwanglos (Jan 13, 2010)

The computer.

You're all using one.


----------



## prufrok (Nov 28, 2008)

I would definitely have to go with the internet. Already it is shaping our daily lives, and even our minds. Someone's even gone as far as to say that with Google there is no longer such a thing as forgetting. And--wonderfully? frighteningly?--they're probably right.


----------



## Nebuchadnezzar (Sep 19, 2010)

The computer, because the computer is the gateway to so many other discoveries and innovations. It has connected our world at an astounding rate, allowing ideas to quickly spread and grow: The computer has started a Digital Revolution (compared to the Industrial Revolution).



prufrok said:


> I would definitely have to go with the internet. Already it is shaping our daily lives, and even our minds. Someone's even gone as far as to say that with Google there is no longer such a thing as forgetting. And--wonderfully? frighteningly?--they're probably right.


Without the computer, there is no internet.


----------



## zwanglos (Jan 13, 2010)

We can endlessly harp on about how 'without the X, there would be no Y'. We should be discussing relative importance and its impact upon society, not what led to what.

Without the wheel, we wouldn't have cars...


----------



## Nebuchadnezzar (Sep 19, 2010)

zwanglos said:


> Without the wheel, we wouldn't have cars...


Or we could have skipped the car completely, and moved on to say...the hovercraft.


----------



## TheYellow (Oct 28, 2010)

Justin Bieber











No, but really I'd have to say the transistor as well


----------



## prufrok (Nov 28, 2008)

Nebuchadnezzar said:


> Without the computer, there is no internet.


I agree with other posters. It's good to acknowledge foundations for things, but I still think the internet is itself a sufficiently revolutionary invention that it deserves to be recognized on its own. But you're right, computers themselves have changed our lives, and we wouldn't have the internet without them.


----------



## RedPanda (Jun 16, 2010)

I would have to say the transistor is the most important invention of the 20th century. Without it, space vehicles, powerful computers, electron microscopes, particle accelerators and a whole host of other vital inventions would be impossible, or at least very, very difficult and impractical.


----------

