Editing Timeline of scientific experiments

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{More citations needed|date =March 2018}}

The timeline below shows the date of publication of major scientific [[experiments]]:

==5th century BC==
*430 BC - [[Empedocles]] proves that air is a material substance by submerging a [[water clock|clepsydra]] into the ocean.

==2nd century BC==
*240 BC - [[Archimedes]] devised a [[Archimedes' principle|principle]] which he later used to solve the riddle of the suspect crown.
*230 BC – [[Eratosthenes]] measures the Earth's circumference and diameter.

==10th century==
*[[Abu Bakr al-Razi]] (Rhazes) introduces [[Scientific control|controlled experiment]] into the field of [[Islamic medicine|medicine]] and carried out the first medical experiment in order to find the most hygienic place to build a [[Bimaristan|hospital]].

==11th century==
*1020 – [[Avicenna]] (Ibn Sina) introduces experimentation and [[Quantification (science)|quantification]] into the study of [[Islamic medicine|medicine]] and [[physiology]], including the introduction of [[Biomedical research|experimental medicine]] and [[clinical trials]], in ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]''.
*1021 – [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhacen) pioneers the experimental [[scientific method]] and [[experimental physics]] in his ''[[Book of Optics]]'', where he devises the first [[Islamic science|scientific]] experiments on [[optics]], including the first use of the [[camera obscura]] to prove that light travels in straight lines and the first experimental proof that [[visual perception]] is caused by light rays travelling to the eyes, which also marks the beginning of [[experimental psychology]] and [[psychophysics]].
*1030 – [[Al-Biruni]] conducts the first elaborate experiments related to [[Islamic astronomy|astronomical]] phenomena and introduces the experimental method into [[Physics in the medieval Islamic world#Mechanics|mechanics]].

==12th century==
*1121 – [[Al-Khazini]] makes extensive use of the experimental method to prove his theories on [[Physics in the medieval Islamic world#Mechanics|mechanics]] in ''The Book of the Balance of Wisdom''.
* [[Ibn Zuhr]] (Avenzoar) is the first physician to carry out human postmortem [[dissection]]s and [[autopsies]]. He proves that the [[List of skin diseases|skin disease]] [[scabies]] is caused by a [[parasite]], a discovery which upsets the [[Hippocratic]] and [[Galen]]ic theory of [[humorism]].

==13th century==
* 1200 – [[Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi]] observes and [[Physical examination|examine]]s a large number of [[skeleton]]s, and he discovered that [[Galen]] was incorrect regarding the formation of the bones of the lower [[jaw]] and [[sacrum]].
* 1242 – [[Ibn al-Nafis]] carries out [[autopsies]] which leads him to the discovery of [[pulmonary circulation]] and the [[circulatory system]].
*[[Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī]] provides the first correct explanation of the [[rainbow]] phenomenon and uses the experimental method to prove his theory.
* [[Albertus Magnus]] documents that [[nitric acid]] can dissolve [[silver]] and the resulting [[silver nitrate]] solution will blacken skin.

==16th century==

*1572 – [[Tycho Brahe]] observes the [[1572 supernova]], evidence against the [[Aristotelian physics|Aristotelian notion]] of an immutable heavenly sphere.

==17th century==
*1609 – [[Galileo Galilei]] observes [[Galilean moons|moons of Jupiter]] in support of the [[heliocentric model]].
*1638 – [[Galileo Galilei]] uses rolling balls to disprove the [[Aristotelian physics|Aristotelian theory]] of [[Motion (physics)|motion]].
*1665 – [[Robert Hooke]], using a [[microscope]], observes [[cell (biology)|cell]]s.
*1672 – [[Isaac Newton]] publishes the results of his [[Prism (optics)|Prism]] experiments, demonstrating the existence in white [[light]] of a mixture of distinct coloured [[ray (optics)|ray]]s. 
*1676 – [[Ole Rømer]] measures the [[speed of light]] for the first time.
*1687 – [[Isaac Newton]] publishes the [[thought experiment]] ''[[Newton's cannonball]]'', hypothesizes that the [[force]] of [[gravity]] is [[wikt:universal|universal]] and is the key force for [[planetary motion]].

==18th century==
*1747 – [[James Lind]]: Conducts one of the earliest European [[clinical trial]]s, showing that [[scurvy]] was cured by consuming fresh oranges and lemons, but not other tested acids or drinks.
*1774 – [[Charles Mason]]: Conducts an experiment near the Scottish mountain of Schiehallion that attempts to measure the mean density of the Earth for the first time. Known as the [[Schiehallion experiment]].
*1796 – [[Edward Jenner]]: tests the first [[vaccine]].
*1798 – [[Henry Cavendish]]: [[Torsion bar experiment]] to measure Newton's [[gravitational constant]].

==19th century==
*1801 – [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]]: [[Young's interference experiment|double-slit experiment]] demonstrates the [[Wave theory of light#Wave theory|wave nature of light]].
*1820 – [[Hans Christian Ørsted]] discovers the connection between [[electricity]] and [[magnetism]].
*1843 – [[James Prescott Joule]] measures the equivalence between mechanical work and heat, resulting in the law of [[conservation of energy]].
*1845 – [[Christian Doppler]] demonstrates the [[Doppler shift]].
*1851 – [[Léon Foucault]] uses [[Foucault pendulum]] to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.
*1859 – [[Charles Darwin]] publishes [[The Origin of Species]] showing that evolution occurs by natural selection.
*1861 – [[Louis Pasteur]] disproves the theory of [[spontaneous generation]].
*1863 – [[Gregor Mendel]]'s [[pea]] plant experiments ([[Mendelian inheritance|Mendel's laws of inheritance]]).
*1887 – [[Heinrich Hertz]] discovers the [[photoelectric effect]].
*1887 – Michelson and Morley: [[Michelson–Morley experiment]], showing that the [[speed of light]] is invariant.
*1896 – [[Henri Becquerel]] discovers [[radioactivity]].
*1897 – [[J. J. Thomson]] discovers the [[electron]].

==20th century==
*1909 – [[Robert Millikan]]: [[oil-drop experiment]] which suggests that [[electric charge]] occurs as ''[[quantum|quanta]]'' (the [[electron]]).
*1911 – [[Ernest Rutherford]]'s [[Geiger–Marsden experiment|gold foil experiment]] determines that atoms are mostly empty space, and that the core of each [[atom]], which he named the atomic nucleus, is dense and positively charged<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hewitt|first1=Paul|title=Conceptual Physics|date=2010|publisher=Pearson|isbn=978-0-321-56809-0|page=567|edition=11}}</ref>
*1911 – [[Heike Kamerlingh Onnes]]: [[superconductivity]].
*1914 - [[James Franck]] and [[Gustav Ludwig Hertz]] conduct the [[Franck–Hertz experiment]] demonstrating quantization of atomic ionization energy.
*1919 – [[Arthur Eddington]]: Our sun as [[gravitational lens]], a proof of the [[theory of relativity]].
*1920 – [[Otto Stern]] and [[Walter Gerlach]] conduct the [[Stern–Gerlach experiment]], which demonstrates particle [[Spin (physics)|spin]].
*1920 – [[John B. Watson]] and [[Rosalie Rayner]] conduct the [[Little Albert experiment]].
*1928 – [[Griffith's experiment]] shows that living cells can be transformed via a [[transforming principle]], later discovered to be [[DNA]].
*1934 – [[Enrico Fermi]] splits the atom.
*1935 – [[Lady tasting tea]] experiment by [[Ronald A. Fisher]], foundational in [[statistical hypothesis testing]].
*1940 – [[Karl von Frisch]] decodes the "dance" [[honeybee]]s use to communicate the location of flowers.
*1944 – [[Barbara McClintock]] breeds [[maize]] plants for color, which leads to the discovery of [[transposon|jumping genes]].
*1947 – [[John Bardeen]] and [[Walter Brattain]] fabricate the first working [[transistor]].
*1951 – [[Solomon Asch]] shows how group pressure can persuade an individual to conform to an obviously wrong opinion.
*1952 – [[Alfred Hershey]] & [[Martha Chase]]: [[Hershey–Chase experiment]] proves that [[DNA]] is the hereditary material .
*1953 – [[Stanley L. Miller]] & [[Harold C. Urey]]: [[Miller–Urey experiment]] demonstrates that [[organic compound]]s can arise spontaneously from [[inorganic compound|inorganic ones]].
*1955 – [[Clyde L. Cowan]] and [[Frederick Reines]] confirm the existence of the [[neutrino]] in the [[neutrino experiment]].
*1958 – [[Meselson–Stahl experiment]] proves that [[DNA replication]] is [[semiconservative replication|semiconservative]].
*1960 – [[B. F. Skinner]]'s demonstrations of [[operant conditioning]].
*1961 – [[Crick, Brenner et al. experiment|Francis Crick, Sydney Brenner, Leslie Barnett and R.J. Watts-Tobin]] prove the triplet nature of the genetic code.
*1961 – [[Nirenberg and Matthaei experiment|Marshall W. Nirenberg and J. Heinrich Matthaei]] deciphered the first codon of the genetic code.
*1964 – [[Nirenberg and Leder experiment|Marshall W. Nirenberg and Philip Leder]] deciphered the rest of the genetic code. 
*1965 – [[Arno Penzias]] and [[Robert Woodrow Wilson|Robert Wilson]] find [[cosmic microwave background radiation]], evidence of the [[Big Bang]].
*1967 – [[Kerim Kerimov]] launches the [[Cosmos 186]] and [[Cosmos 188]] as experiments on automatic docking eventually leading to the development of [[space station]]s.
*1970 – [[Allan Gardner|Allan]] and [[Beatrix Gardner]] teach [[American Sign Language]] to the [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] [[Washoe (chimpanzee)|Washoe]].
*1974 – [[Stanley Milgram]] conducts the [[Milgram experiment]] on obedience to authority.
*1995 – [[Eric A. Cornell]] and [[Carl E. Wieman]] synthesize [[Bose–Einstein condensate]].

==See also==
*[[List of timelines]] of science and technology
*[[List of experiments]]
*[[Timeline of the history of the scientific method]]
*[[Timeline of scientific discoveries]]
*[[Timeline of historic inventions]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{HistOfScience}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Scientific Experiments}}
[[Category:Science timelines|Experiments]]