Theory of Relativity:
Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity, which he published in 1905, explains the relationships between speed, time and distance. The complicated theory states that the speed of light always remains the same - 186,000 miles/second (300,000 km/second) regardless of how fast someone or something is moving towards or away from it. This theory became the foundation for much of modern science.

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Gravity:
Isaac Newton, an English mathematician and physicist, is often considered the greatest scientist of all time. Among his many discoveries, the most important is probably his law of universal gravitation. In 1664, Newton figured out that gravity was the force that draws objects towards each other. It explained why things fell down and why the planets orbit around the sun.​

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Evolution:
When Charles Darwin, the British naturalist, came up with the theory of evolution in 1859, he changed our idea of how life on earth developed. He argued that all organisms evolve, or change, slowly over time. These changes are adaptations that happen by chance, and allow a species to survive in its environment. If a species doesn't adapt, it may become extinct. He called this process 'natural selection', but it is often called 'the survival of the fittest'.

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Electricity:
If electricity makes life easier for us, you can thank Michael Faraday. He made two big discoveries that changed our lives. In 1821, he discovered that when a wire carrying an electric current is placed next to a single magnetic pole, the wire will rotate. This led to the development of the electric motor. Ten years later, he became the first person to produce an electric current by moving a wire through a magnetic field. Faraday's experiment created the first generator, the forerunner of the huge generators that produce our electricity today.

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Germ Theory:
Before French chemist Louis Pasteur began experimenting with bacteria in the 1860s, people did not know what caused disease. He not only discovered that disease came from micro-organisms, but he also realised that bacteria could be killed by heat and disinfectant. This idea caused doctors to wash their hands and sterilise their instruments, which has saved millions of lives. 

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Penicillin:
Antibiotics are powerful drugs that kill dangerous bacteria in our bodies that make us sick. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, which he grew in his laboratory using mould and fungi. Without antibiotics, infections like strep throat could be deadly.

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The Big Bang Theory:
Nobody knows exactly how the universe came into existence, but many scientists believe that it happened about 13.7 billion years ago with a massive explosion, called the Big Bang. in 1927, Georges Lemaitre proposed the Big Bang Theory of the universe. The theory says that all the matter in the universe was originally compressed into a tiny dot. In a fraction of a second, the dot expanded, and all the matter instantly filled what is now our universe. The event marked the beginning of time. 

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DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid):
In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick found the double helix structure of DNA. It's made up of two strands that twist around each other and have an almost endless variety of chemical patterns that create instructions for the human body to follow. Our genes are made of DNA and determine our hair and eye colour. In 1962, they were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work. The discovery has helped doctors understand diseases better, and may some day prevent illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

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Quantum Theory:
In 1922 Danish physicist Niels Bohr won the Nobel Prize for Physics for his research on the structure of the atom and for his work in the development of quantum theory. He proposed a theory for the hydrogen atom based on quantum theory that energy is transferred only in certain well defined quantities. Electrons should move around the nucleus but only in prescribed orbits. Although he helped to develop the atomic bomb, he also promoted the use of atomic power for peaceful purposes.

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The Periodic Table:
The Periodic Table is based on the 1869 Periodic Law proposed by Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev. He had noticed that, when arranged by atomic weight, the chemical elements lined up to form groups with similar properties. He was able to use this to predict the existence of undiscovered elements and note errors in atomic weights. In 1913, English scientist Henry Moseley confirmed that the table could be made more accurate by arranging the elements by atomic number (number of protons in an atom of the element).

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