Later, there was the so-called "second scientific revolution", which mainly refers to the modern physical system derived from relativity and quantum mechanics.
When technology reaches a critical point, basic science will usher in a big explosive development.
The emergence of key technologies is the premise of the outbreak of basic science.
Now there are two far-reaching scientific revolutions in history. These two eras are the golden ages of basic science.
Look at the first scientific revolution first.
When Copernicus put forward Heliocentrism, he observed with the naked eye and accumulated a lot of observation data. This has nothing to do with technological progress.
Galileo made the first astronomical telescope. This is the first time that human beings aim the camera at the starry sky! Great technological progress in the history of science! For the first time, the observation data far beyond the naked eye limit was obtained! Galileo found the most important observation data for Heliocentrism and continued to popularize Heliocentrism.
Then Tycho, Harley and others continued to observe with astronomical telescopes, and Tycho's student Kepler discovered Kepler's three laws according to the teacher's data.
In the end, Newton, with his extraordinary intelligence, synthesized all previous theories and data and discovered Newton's three laws and the law of universal gravitation.
Technological progress-astronomical telescope; Key data-planetary orbit data. This is the premise of the first scientific revolution.
The discovery of the telescope had no theoretical basis at first, which was completely accidental. But Galileo made an astronomical telescope with higher magnification, and later many scientists studied the optical theory and imaging law of the telescope. Geometric optics gradually formed. This is another typical technology-driven theory. Then, based on the theory of geometric optics, Newton made the first reflective telescope, which is also the first achromatic telescope. Here, theory promotes the further development of technology.
(Alas, Galileo and Newton are both geniuses of science and engineering! )
Look at the second scientific revolution.
/kloc-By the end of 0/9, the physical building had been built magnificently, with only two "dark clouds". (The first dark cloud mainly refers to the contradiction between Michelson-Morey experimental results and ether drift theory; The second kind of dark cloud mainly refers to the law of energy sharing in heat. The theoretical explanation of gas specific heat and potential radiation energy spectrum leads to different results from experiments, especially the "ultraviolet disaster" in blackbody radiation theory. )
The first person who broke the ultimate physics dream of19th century appeared. Michelson-Morey experiment enabled Einstein to confirm the "principle of constant speed of light". This is the first axiom and the basis of relativity. Later, Einstein successively established special relativity and general relativity.
Planck also successfully solved the "ultraviolet disaster" with Planck constant. Here, the quantization constant first appeared.
Later, it was found that the atomic spectrum was discrete, and then with the gradual improvement of experimental technology, the fine structure and ultra-fine structure of the spectrum were discovered one by one.
Then there are more and more researches on quantum physics. Then, Schrodinger and Heisenberg expressed wave mechanics and matrix mechanics respectively. At this point, quantum mechanics was established.
Technical progress-precision experimental tools: important data-Michelson-Morey experiment, spectral structure. This is the premise of the second scientific revolution.
The biggest difficulty of Michelson-Morey experiment is the precision of the instrument besides the clever design. So this experiment can only appear at the end of 19, but not at the end of 18. Spectral structure measurement technology also appeared at the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century. With the appearance of Michelson-Morey experiment and the accurate measurement of spectral structure, relativity and quantum mechanics are rapidly formed and a new physical system is rapidly established. Here, technology promotes theory. I have always believed that if this technological progress is one hundred years ahead of schedule, the second scientific revolution will be one hundred years ahead of schedule, so we will commemorate Einstein at the beginning of 19 century, not Einstein now.