Timeline

1900–1909 ∼ Quantum Theory, Aviation Science, Genetics, Statistics

German physicist Max Planck presents the quantum theory that speculates energy is emitted in pulses from heated objects in units he called quanta instead of being discharged continuously (1900) / Einstein theorizes that light is composed of particles he calls photons (1905) / Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents the first completely synthetic plastic, Bakelite (1907) / Albert A. Michelson becomes the first American scientist to win a Nobel Prize for his invention of the interferometer to measure stellar spaces (1907) / Hybrid corn is the most valuable U.S. crop, adding $1.6 billion to the economy (1908)

MILESTONES: About 20 percent of all children die before reaching age 5; less than half survive to age 60 (1900) • Color photo reproduction provides cheap, eye-catching images (1900) • Lee De Forest invents the vacuum tube, essential to the development of electronics (1906) • Indiana becomes the first state to pass sterilization laws of surgical implements; twenty-nine additional...