Editing 1900 in science

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{{Science year nav|1900}}

The year '''1900 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.
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[[1899 in science]]<br>
'''1900 in science'''<br>
[[1901 in science]]<br>
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The year '''1900 in [[science]] and [[technology]]'''.
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==Aeronautics==
* July 2 – The first [[rigid airship]] flight is made by the [[Zeppelin LZ1|LZ1]] designed by [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]].
* c. October 3 – The [[Wright brothers]] begin their first manned [[Glider (aircraft)|glider]] experimental flights at [[Kitty Hawk, North Carolina]]; their first few attempts fail.

==Chemistry==
* [[Moses Gomberg]] identifies the first [[Organic compound|organic]] [[Radical (chemistry)|radical]] (according to the modern definition), [[triphenylmethyl radical]].
* [[Johannes Rydberg]] refines the expression for observed [[hydrogen]] line wavelengths.

==Earth sciences==
* January 5 – Physicist Dr [[Henry Augustus Rowland|Henry A. Rowland]] of [[Johns Hopkins University]] in [[Baltimore]] announces his theory that the cause of [[Earth's magnetic field]] is its own rotation, based on experiments to produce [[magnetism]] by the rotation of a motor.<ref>{{cite news|title=Magnetism of the Earth|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 6, 1900|page=1}}</ref>
* [[Richard Dixon Oldham]] distinguishes between primary, secondary and tertiary [[waveform]]s as recorded by [[seismometer]]s.<ref>{{cite web|first=Andrew|last=Grout|title=Oldham, Richard Dixon (1858–1936)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37820|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/37820|accessdate=2011-10-20}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

==Exploration==
* American explorer [[Robert Peary]] first sights [[Kaffeklubben Island]], [[Extreme points of Earth|the northernmost point of land on Earth]].

==Genetics==
* [[Hugo de Vries]] publishes the results of his experiments in [[Mendelian inheritance]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Vries |first=H. |year=1900 |title=Sur la loi de disjonction des hybrides |trans-title=On the law of hybrid disjunction |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3581872 |journal=Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences |language=fr |location=Paris |volume=130 |pages=845–847}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Max Dehn]] introduces two examples of [[Dehn plane]] and the [[Dehn invariant]].
* [[David Hilbert]] states [[Hilbert's problems|his list of 23 problems]] which show where some further mathematical work is needed.
* [[Russell's paradox]] is first discovered by [[Ernst Zermelo]] but he does not publish it, and it is known only to [[David Hilbert|Hilbert]], [[Edmund Husserl|Husserl]] and other members of the [[University of Göttingen]].
* [[Gaston Tarry]] confirms [[Leonhard Euler|Euler]]'s conjecture that no 6×6 orthogonal [[Graeco-Latin square#Thirty-six officers problem|Graeco-Latin square]] is possible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://academic.scranton.edu/faculty/doughertys1/euler.htm |title=36 Officer Problem |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828085817/http://academic.scranton.edu/faculty/doughertys1/euler.htm |archivedate=2008-08-28 }}</ref>
* [[Alfred Young (mathematician)|Alfred Young]] introduces the [[Young tableau]].

== Medicine ==
* English surgeon and ophthalmologist [[Edward Treacher Collins]] describes the essential traits of [[Treacher Collins syndrome]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Treacher Collins|first=E.|year=1900|title=Cases with symmetrical congenital notches in the outer part of each lid and defective development of the malar bones|journal=Transactions of the Ophthalmological Societies of the United Kingdom|volume=20|pages=190–192}}</ref>
* German gynecologist [[Hermann Johannes Pfannenstiel]] publishes his description of the "[[Pfannenstiel incision]]", a transverse incision used in genitourinary surgery that continues to be widely used.

==Paleontology==
* [[Barnum Brown]] finds the first partial skeleton of ''[[Tyrannosaurus]] rex'' in eastern Wyoming.
* Dr. [[James K. Hampson]] identifies the [[Island 35 Mastodon]] skeleton in the [[Mississippi River]].

==Photography==
* [[Kodak]] introduce their first [[Brownie (camera)]].

==Physics==
* April 26 – [[Guglielmo Marconi]] patents the [[LC circuit|tuned circuit]].
* 6-10 August The first [[International Congress of Physics]] is held in Paris<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Poskett |first=James |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Horizons/6m8XEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22International+Congress+of+Physics%22+lebedev&pg=PT160&printsec=frontcover |title=Horizons: A Global History of Science |date=2022-03-24 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-241-39411-3 |language=en}}</ref>
** [[Pyotr Lebedev]] presents first experimental evidence of [[radiation pressure]] during the conference<ref name=":0" />
* October 7 – [[Max Planck]] hosts fellow physicist [[Heinrich Rubens]] for tea and considers news that Rubens' experiments have contradicted Planck's theories. Later this evening, Planck reviews and refines his calculations to what will be announced on October 19 as [[Planck's law]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Edward G.|last=Steward|title=Quantum Mechanics: Its Early Development and the Road to Entanglement|publisher=Imperial College Press|location=London|year=2008|pages=36–42}}</ref>
* October 19 – [[Max Planck]] first states [[Planck's law]] of [[black-body radiation]] to a meeting of the [[German Physical Society]] in Berlin, marking the birth of modern [[quantum mechanics]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Planck|first1=M.|year=1900|title=Über eine Verbesserung der Wien'schen Spectralgleichung|url=https://archive.org/stream/verhandlungende01goog#page/n212/mode/2up|journal=[[Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft]]|volume=2|pages=202–204}} Translated in {{cite book|last1=ter Haar|first1=D.|author-link=Dirk ter Haar|year=1967|chapter=On an Improvement of Wien's Equation for the Spectrum|url=http://www.ffn.ub.es/luisnavarro/nuevo_maletin/Planck%20%281900%29,%20Improvement%20of%20Wien%27s.pdf|title=The Old Quantum Theory|publisher=Pergamon Press|pages=79–81|lccn=66029628}}</ref>
* December 14 – Max Planck restates his law, utilising the [[Planck postulate]], at a meeting of the German Physical Society.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Planck|first1=M.|year=1900|url=https://archive.org/stream/verhandlungende01goog#page/n247/mode/2up|title=Zur Theorie des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum|journal=Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft|volume=2|pages=237–245}} Translated in {{cite book|last1=ter Haar|first1=D.|year=1967|url=http://www.ffn.ub.es/luisnavarro/nuevo_maletin/Planck%20%281900%29,%20Distribution%20Law.pdf|title=The Old Quantum Theory|publisher=Pergamon Press|page=82|lccn=66029628}}</ref>
* December 23 – [[Reginald Fessenden]], experimenting with a high-frequency spark transmitter, successfully transmits speech over a distance of about 1.6 kilometers (one mile), from [[Cobb Island, Maryland]], which appears to have been the first audio radio transmission.
* [[Gamma ray]]s discovered by [[Paul Ulrich Villard|Paul Villard]] while studying [[uranium]] decay.

==Physiology==
* [[Karl Landsteiner]] makes the first discovery of [[blood type]]s, identifying the [[ABO blood group system]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Landsteiner|first=K.|title=Zur Kenntnis der antifermentativen, lytischen und agglutinierenden Wirkungen des Blutserums und der Lymphe|journal=[[Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie]]|year=1900|volume=27|pages=357–62}}</ref>
* [[Carl Rasch (physician)|Carl Rasch]] coins the term '[[polymorphous light eruption]]'.
* [[Takamine Jōkichi|Jōkichi Takamine]] and Keizo Uenaka discover [[adrenaline]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Yamashima|first=T.|title=Jokichi Takamine (1854–1922), the samurai chemist, and his work on adrenalin|journal=Journal of Medical Biography|volume=11|issue=2|pages=95–102|year=2003|pmid=12717538|doi=10.1177/096777200301100211}}</ref>

==Zoology==
* [[Richard J. Ussher]] and [[Robert Warren (ornithologist)|Robert Warren]] publish ''The Birds of Ireland''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ussher |first=Richard John |url=http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/49473 |title=The birds of Ireland; an account of the distribution, migrations and habits of birds as observed in Ireland, with all additions to the Irish list |last2=Warren |first2=Robert |date=1900 |publisher=Gurney and Jackson (successors to Mr. Van Voorst) |location=London |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.49473}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Marcellin Berthelot]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=23 July 2020 }}</ref>

==Births==
* January 2 – [[Una Ledingham]] (died [[1965 in science|1965]]), English physician specialising in [[diabetes mellitus and pregnancy]].<ref name=BDWS>{{cite book|title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00ogil_0|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Routledge|location=New York}}</ref>
* March 4 – [[Heinrich Willi]] (died [[1971 in science|1971]]), Swiss [[pediatrician]].
* March 8 – [[Howard H. Aiken]] (died [[1973 in science|1973]]), American computing pioneer.
* March 19 – [[Frédéric Joliot]] (died [[1958 in science|1958]]), French [[physicist]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1935 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1935/joliot-fred/facts/ |website=NobelPrize.org |access-date=2 January 2022}}</ref>
* March 20 – [[Amelia Chopitea Villa]] (died [[1942 in science|1942]]), Bolivia's first female physician.
* April 3 – [[Albert Ingham]] (died [[1967 in science|1967]]), English [[mathematician]].
* April 25 – [[Wolfgang Pauli]] (died [[1958 in science|1958]]), Austrian-born physicist.
* April 26 – [[Charles Richter]] (died [[1985 in science|1985]]), American [[geophysicist]] and [[inventor]].
* April 28 – [[Jan Oort]] (died [[1992 in science|1992]]), Dutch [[astronomer]].
* May 5 – [[Helen Redfield]] (died [[1988 in science|1988]]), American [[geneticist]].<ref name=BDWS/>
* May 6 – [[Zheng Ji (biochemist)|Zheng Ji]] (died [[2010 in science|2010]]), Chinese biochemist and [[nutritionist]].
* May 10 – [[Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin]] (died [[1979 in science|1979]]), English-born American astronomer and astrophysicist.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers|date=2007|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780387304007|location=New York}}</ref>
* May 22 – [[Honor Fell]] (died [[1986 in science|1986]]), English biologist.
* June 3 – [[Leo Picard]] (died [[1997 in science|1997]]), German-born Israeli geologist.
* June 24 – [[Wilhelm Cauer]] (killed [[1945 in science|1945]]), German mathematician and [[electronic engineer]].
* June 25 
** [[Zinaida Aksentyeva]] (died [[1969 in science|1969]]), Ukrainian/Soviet astronomer.
** [[Philip D'Arcy Hart]] (died [[2006 in science|2006]]), English medical researcher, pioneer in tuberculosis treatment.
* June 30 – [[James Stagg]] (died [[1975 in science|1975]]) Scottish [[meteorologist]].
* July 9 – [[Frances McConnell-Mills]], born Frances Mary McConnell (died [[1975 in science|1975]]), American [[toxicologist]].
* August 25 – [[Hans Adolf Krebs]] (died [[1981 in science|1981]]), German-born [[medical doctor]] and [[biochemist]].
* August 26 – [[Hellmuth Walter]] (died [[1980 in science|1980]]), German-born [[engineer]] and inventor.
* October 2 – [[Isabella Forshall]] (died [[1989 in science|1989]]), English [[pediatric surgeon]].
* November 5 – [[Ethelwynn Trewavas]] (died [[1993 in science|1993]]), English [[ichthyologist]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ethelwynn-trewavas-1462529.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ethelwynn-trewavas-1462529.html |archive-date=2022-05-01 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: Ethelwynn Trewavas|date=1993-08-21|work=[[The Independent]]|location=London|accessdate=2017-10-22}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* November 21 – [[Bettina Warburg]] (died [[1990 in science|1990]]), German-born American psychiatrist.
* November 26 – [[Anna Maurizio]] (died [[1993 in science|1993]]), Swiss biologist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/maurizio-anna-1900-1993|title=Maurizio, Anna (1900–1993) {{!}} Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary|website=encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=2017-10-22|archive-date=October 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023011417/http://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/maurizio-anna-1900-1993|url-status=live}}</ref>
* December 9 – [[Joseph Needham]] (died [[1995 in science|1995]]), English biochemist and writer on the [[history of science and technology in China]].
* December 12 – [[Mária Telkes]] (died [[1995 in science|1995]]), Hungarian-American scientist and inventor.
* December 17 – [[Mary Cartwright]] (died [[1998 in science|1998]]), English mathematician, one of the first people to analyze a dynamical system with chaos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Obits/Cartwright.html|title=Mary Cartwright Times obituary|website=www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk|accessdate=2017-10-20}}</ref>
* [[Robina Addis]] (died [[1986 in science|1986]]), English psychiatric social worker.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wellcomelibrary.org/collections/digital-collections/mental-healthcare/robina-addis/|title=Robina Addis|publisher=[[Wellcome Library]]|accessdate=2019-03-16}}</ref>
* [[Margaret Altmann]] (died [[1984 in science|1984]]), German-American biologist.<ref>{{Cite book|title=American women of science since 1900|last=Wayne|first=Tiffany K.|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598841589|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|pages=189|oclc=702118874}}</ref>
* [[Ernest Gibbins]] (killed [[1942 in science|1942]]), English [[entomologist]].

==Deaths==
* January 13 – [[Peter Waage]] (born [[1833 in science|1833]]), Norwegian [[chemist]].
* January 22 – [[David E. Hughes]] (born [[1831 in science|1831]]), British-American [[inventor]].
* March 6 – [[Gottlieb Daimler]] (born [[1834 in science|1834]]), German [[engineer]], [[automotive]] pioneer.
* March 10 – [[George James Symons]] (born [[1838 in science|1838]]), English [[meteorologist]].
* April 1 – [[George Jackson Mivart]] (born [[1827 in science|1827]]), English [[biologist]].
* August 4 – [[Étienne Lenoir]] (born [[1822 in science|1822]]), Belgian [[mechanical engineer]].
* August 31 – [[John Bennet Lawes]] (born [[1814 in science|1814]]), English agricultural scientist.
* September 4 – [[Charles Harrison Blackley]] (born [[1820 in science|1820]]), English [[allergist]].
* October 16 – [[Henry Acland]] (born [[1815 in science|1815]]), English [[physician]].
* October 29 – [[Bruno Abakanowicz]] (born [[1852 in science|1852]]), Polish mathematician, inventor and electrical engineer.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1900 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1900s in science]]