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100 Greatest Discoveries

All Episodes 2004 - 2005

  • Ended
  • #<Network:0x00007fcfa26203d0>
  • 2004-12-22T05:00:00Z
  • 45m
  • 6h 45m (9 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
  • thinkfilm
  • Documentary
Where would we be today if it weren't for the scientists of the past? From the miniature world of genetics to the vast expanse of space, review the greatest discoveries of all time across eight different scientific categories in this multi-part series. Join host Bill Nye as he recounts the 100 most important discoveries and explains how each one has had a hand in shaping the modern world. Watch his lively and dramatic accounts and learn how the great discoveries were made, how they impacted the development of scientific knowledge and how they touch our lives today.

9 episodes

Series Premiere

2004-12-22T05:00:00Z

1x01 Physics

Series Premiere

1x01 Physics

  • 2004-12-22T05:00:00Z45m

Thirteen discoveries that help explain why matter and energy behave as they do: -Galileo's law of falling bodies -Isaac Newton's conclusions of universal gravity -Newton's laws of motion -The second law of thermodynamics -Experiments in electromagnetism -Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and his equation E=mc2 -Quantum theory -Calculations on the nature of light -James Chadwick's discovery of the neutron -The development of superconductivity -Murray Gell-Mann's proposal of quarks -The discovery of the strong and weak nuclear forces

2004-12-29T05:00:00Z

1x02 Earth Sciences

1x02 Earth Sciences

  • 2004-12-29T05:00:00Z45m

Twelve landmark steps to understanding the Earth's structure: -Richard Oldham's theory of a liquid core -Inge Lehmann's conclusion that the core is solid iron -Alfred Wegener's premise of continental drift -Harry Hess's findings on seafloor spreading -Plate tectonics -Leon Teisserenc de Bort's discovery of atmospheric layers -The theory of global warming -Victor Hess's studies of cosmic rays -Bernard Brunhes's assertion of magnetic field reversal -Charles Lyell's ideas on geological change -Bertram Boltwood's formulas for radiometric dating -Milutin Milankovitch's ideas on periodic ice ages

2005-01-05T05:00:00Z

1x03 Medicine

1x03 Medicine

  • 2005-01-05T05:00:00Z45m

Thirteen achievements in medicine: Andreas Vesalius's anatomical charts -William Harvey's breakthrough on blood circulation -Karl Landsteiner's identification of blood groups -The development of anesthesia -Wilhelm Roentgen's discovery of X-rays -Louis Pasteur's establishment of bacteriology -Frederick Hopkins's recognition of the importance of vitamins -The discovery and isolation of penicillin -The development of sulfa drugs -Edward Jenner's invention of vaccine -The discoveries of insulin, oncogenes, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

2005-01-12T05:00:00Z

1x04 Astronomy

1x04 Astronomy

  • 2005-01-12T05:00:00Z45m

Thirteen crucial benchmarks in the history of what may be the oldest science: -Ancient awareness that the planets move -Copernican cosmology -Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion -Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons -Edmund Halley's comet prediction -William and Carolyn Herschel's galactic mapping -Einstein's General Theory of Relativity -Edwin Hubble's proof that the universe is expanding -Karl Jansky's discovery of galactic radio waves -Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson's detection of the cosmic microwave background -Observations of gamma ray bursts -The discovery of extrasolar planets -The "big rip" theory

Ten milestones that have helped to tell life's story: -Walter Alvarez's asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction -The first identification of dinosaur fossils Stanley Miller's simulation of the early atmosphere, leading to organic compound formation -Robert Ballard's discovery of hydrothermal vent ecosystems -Charles Walcott's analysis of the Burgess Shale -The Linnaean classification system -Darwin's theory of natural selection -Donald Johanson's "Lucy" -Mary Leakey's Laetoli footprints -And Michel Brunet's Toumai skull

2005-01-19T05:00:00Z

1x06 Chemistry

1x06 Chemistry

  • 2005-01-19T05:00:00Z45m

Thirteen building blocks in a science that may be the foundation of the modern world: -Joseph Priestly and Antoine Lavoisier's discovery of oxygen -John Dalton's atomic theory -Avogadro's Law -Friedrich Woehler's synthesis of urea -Friedrich Kekule's studies of molecular structure -Dmitry Mendeleyev's Periodic Table -Humphry Davy's electrolysis -J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron -Niels Bohr's model of atomic structure -Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunson's electromagnetic spectroscopy -Marie Curie's isolation of radioactive materials -John Wesley Hyatt and Leo Baekeland's invention of plastics -The discovery of fullerenes

2005-01-26T05:00:00Z

1x07 Biology

1x07 Biology

  • 2005-01-26T05:00:00Z45m

Thirteen breakthroughs in the science of living things: -Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of micro-organisms -Robert Brown's identification of cell nuclei -Carl Woese's Archaea classification -Walther Flemming and Eduard Strasburger's discovery of mitosis -August Weismann's conclusions on meiosis -Awareness of cell differentiation and stem cells -Pinpointing of mitochondria -Hans Krebs' citric acid cycle -The discoveries of neurotransmitters, hormones and photosynthesis -Arthur George Tansley's ideas on ecosystems -The centuries-long process of studying biodiversity

Season Finale

2005-02-02T05:00:00Z

1x08 Genetics

Season Finale

1x08 Genetics

  • 2005-02-02T05:00:00Z45m

Thirteen vital contributions to a field tht is now a cornerstone of the life sciences: -Gregor Mendel's rules of heredity -Thomas Hunt Morgan's detection of chromosomal gene location -George Beadle and Edward Tatum's "one gene, one enzyme" concept -Barbara McClintock's discovery of transposons -The acceptance of DNA as the basis of genetic information -James Watson and Francis Crick's double helix -Marshall Nirenberg's genetic code -The discoveries of RNA, restriction enzymes, RNA splicing, and RNA interference -Alec Jeffreys' DNA identification technique -The Human Genome Project.

2005-02-09T05:00:00Z

1x09 Top Ten

1x09 Top Ten

  • 2005-02-09T05:00:00Z45m

Ten revelations widely considered to be the most influential in science: -Isaac Newton's laws of motion -Robert Hooke's discovery of cells, coupled with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of protozoa -Alexander Fleming's detection and isolation of penicillin -Ignaz Semmelweiss's germ theory -Gregor Mendel's laws of heredity -Nicolaus Copernicus's conception of a heliocentric solar system -Dmitri Mendeleev's Periodic Table -Einstein's equation E=mc2, followed by his General Theory of Relativity -Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection

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