Science and technology in the United Kingdom
Science and technology in the United Kingdom has a long history, producing many important figures and developments in the field. Major theorists from the
Important advances made by British people
England and Scotland were leading centres of the Scientific Revolution from the 17th century[1] and the United Kingdom led the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century,[2] and has continued to produce scientists and engineers credited with important advances.[3] Some of the major theories, discoveries and applications advanced by people from the United Kingdom are given below.
- The development of empiricism and its role in scientific method, by Francis Bacon (1561–1626).[4]
- The gravity, by physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian, Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727).[5]
- The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish (1731–1810).[6]
- The steam locomotive, by Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) and Andrew Vivian (1759–1842).[7]
- An early electric motor, by Michael Faraday (1771–1867), who largely made electricity viable for use in technology.[8]
- The theory of aerodynamics, by Sir George Cayley (1773–1857).[9]
- The first public steam railway, by George Stephenson (1781–1848).[10]
- The first commercial electrical telegraph, co-invented by Sir William Fothergill Cooke (1806–79) and Charles Wheatstone (1802–75).[11][12]
- First tunnel under a navigable river, first all iron ship and first railway to run express services, contributed to by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–59).[13]
- Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin (1809–82).[14]
- The invention of the incandescent light bulb, by Joseph Swan (1826–1914).[8]
- The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79).[15]
- The first practical telephone, patented by Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922).[note 2][16]
- The discovery of penicillin, by biologist and pharmacologist, Sir Alexander Fleming (1881–1955).[17]
- The world's first working television system, and colour television, by John Logie Baird (1888–1946).[18][19]
- The first meaningful synthesis of quantum mechanics with special relativity by Paul Dirac (1902–84) in the equation named after him, and his subsequent prediction of antimatter.[20]
- The invention of the jet engine, by Frank Whittle (1907–96).[21]
- The invention of the hovercraft, by Christopher Cockerell (1910–99).[22]
- The colossus computer, by Alan Turing (1912–54), an early digital computer (a code breaker in WWII made in Bletchley Park).[21]
- The structure of DNA, by Francis Crick (1916–2004) and others.[23]
- The theoretical breakthrough of the Higgs mechanism to explain electroweak symmetry breaking and why some particles have mass, by Peter Higgs (1929–).[24]
- Theories in black holes, by Stephen Hawking (1942–2018).[25]
- The invention of the World Wide Web, by Tim Berners-Lee (1955–).[26]
Technology-based industries
The United Kingdom plays a leading part in the
The UK is one of only 3 nations with $1trillion technology industry.
Scientific research
Scientific research and development remains important in British universities, with many establishing
Britain was one of the largest recipients of research funding from the European Union. From 2007 to 2013, the UK received €8.8 billion out of a total of €107 billion expenditure on research, development and innovation in EU Member States, associated and third countries. At the time, this represented the fourth largest share in the EU.[34] The European Research Council granted 79 projects funding in the UK in 2017, more than any other EU country.[35][36] The United Kingdom was ranked fourth in the Global Innovation Index 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.[37]
See also
- Government Office for Science
- Internet in the United Kingdom
- List of exports of the United Kingdom
- Manufacturing in the United Kingdom
- Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
Notes
- ^ Watt steam engine image: located in the lobby of into the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineers of the UPM (Madrid)
- ^ Alexander Graham Bell, born and raised in Scotland, made a number of inventions as a British citizen, notably the telephone in 1876; he did not become an American citizen until 1882, and then spent the remaining years of his life predominately living in Canada at a summer residence.
References
- ISBN 0-521-34804-8, p. 248.
- ^ "European Countries – United Kingdom". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- ^ E. E. Reynolds and N. H. Brasher, Britain in the Twentieth Century, 1900–1964 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), p. 336.
- ISBN 9780912050447. p. 192.
- ISBN 0-486-42551-7, p. 207.
- ISBN 0-87169-220-1.
- ISBN 0-521-73165-8, pp. 33–6.
- ^ ISBN 1-4022-0009-9, p. 238.
- ^ Ackroyd, J.A.D. Sir George Cayley, the father of Aeronautics Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 56 (2), 167–181 (2002). Retrieved: 29 May 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-297-76934-7.
- ^ Hubbard, Geoffrey (1965) Cooke and Wheatstone and the Invention of the Electric Telegraph, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London p. 78
- ^ The electric telegraph, forerunner of the internet, celebrates 170 years BT Group Connected Earth Online Museum - Retrieved March 2010
- ISBN 0-7478-0758-2.
- ^ ISBN 0-237-53195-X, p. 46.
- ISBN 0-237-53195-X, p. 30.
- S2CID 4072391.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst B. Chain, Sir Howard Florey", Nobelprize.org, archived from the original on 23 June 2011.
- ^ "John Logie Baird (1888–1946)", BBC History, archived from the original on 21 June 2011.
- ^ The World's First High Definition Colour Television System McLean, p. 196.
- The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ ISBN 1-59884-302-8, p. 121.
- ^ "Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell" Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Hovercraft Museum, retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ISBN 0-237-53195-X, p. 56.
- ^ Griffiths, Martin (20070501) physicsworld.com The Tale of the Blog's Boson Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ISBN 0-237-53195-X, p. 16.
- ^ webfoundation.org/.../history-of-the-web
- ^ "IMS Health" (PDF), IMS Health, archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2011.
- ^ "The Pharmaceutical sector in the UK", The National Archives, 8 August 2007, archived from the original on 7 August 2007.
- ^ "Automotive industry", Department of Business Innovation and Skills, archived from the original on 2 July 2011.
- ^ "UK tech firms smash venture capital funding record". London & Partners. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ISBN 0-415-10015-1, pp. 98–100.
- ISBN 978-0-85403-890-9, archived(PDF) from the original on 23 June 2011.
- ^ MacLeod, Donald (March 21, 2006). "Britain Second in World Research Rankings". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 14, 2006.
- ^ "How much research funding does the UK get from the EU and how does this compare with other countries?". Royal Society. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ "Boost for hopes of post-Brexit co-operation as EU awards Britain more research grants than anywhere else". The Telegraph. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ "ERC Starting Grants 2017" (PDF). European Research Council. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- doi:10.34667/tind.46596. Retrieved 2022-11-16.; "Global Innovation Index 2021". World Intellectual Property Organization. United Nations. Retrieved 5 March 2022.; "Release of the Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation?". World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved 2 September 2021.; "Global Innovation Index 2019". World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved 2 September 2021.; "RTD – Item". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2 September 2021.