Timeline Study Guide

At the end of the nineteenth century, scientists believe they have drawn an accurate picture of the physical world. A few irregularities are discovered in the final decade of the century, yet physicists believe existing theoretical models will soon explain these irregularities. "No one would have predicted that within five years their complacent view of the world would be shockingly upended, producing an entirely new conception of the universe and entirely new technologies that would transform daily life in the twentieth century in unimaginable ways." (pg. vii) Scientists in 1899 would not have believed that a century later such scientific impossibilities such as satellites, antibiotics, space travel, cell phones, and women's voting rights would exist. (read more)