Scientific Discovery
ARM processor architecture
Co-design of the original ARM processor architecture, which became one of the world's most widely used instruction-set architectures.
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Discoveries That Changed the World
Explore landmark breakthroughs and the remarkable women whose research reshaped science.
Discovery Archive
Breakthroughs from the Collection
58 of 58 discoveries
Scientific Discovery
Artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin for malaria
Discovery and development of artemisinin-based antimalarial treatments.
Scientific Discovery
BBC Micro
Co-design of the BBC Micro computer, influential in British computing education.
Scientific Discovery
Behavioural subtyping
Principles formalized in the Liskov substitution principle for reasoning about subtype correctness.
Scientific Discovery
Blalock-Taussig shunt
Development of a surgical shunt for children with cyanotic congenital heart disease.
Scientific Discovery
Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem and partial differential equations
Foundational work on existence results for solutions of systems of partial differential equations.
Scientific Discovery
Cepheid period-luminosity relationship
The relationship between a Cepheid variable star's pulsation period and intrinsic luminosity, known as Leavitt's Law.
Scientific Discovery
CfA2 Great Wall and large-scale structure mapping
Redshift-survey mapping that revealed enormous structures in the distribution of galaxies.
Scientific Discovery
Chimpanzee tool use and social behaviour
Field observations demonstrating tool use, meat-eating and complex social behaviour in wild chimpanzees.
Scientific Discovery
Chirped pulse amplification
A method for generating extremely intense ultrashort laser pulses without damaging the amplifying material.
Scientific Discovery
Chromosomal sex determination
Evidence that sex is determined by specific chromosomes, including the XY system.
Scientific Discovery
COBOL development and standardization
Foundational contributions to the development, adoption and standardization of the COBOL programming language.
Scientific Discovery
Compactly supported orthogonal wavelets
Development of compactly supported orthogonal wavelets with major applications in signal and image processing.
Scientific Discovery
Complete ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeleton discoveries
Discovery and preparation of landmark marine-reptile fossils that helped shape early palaeontology.
Scientific Discovery
Computer science education and access to computing
Pioneering work in computer science education and efforts to broaden access to computing.
Scientific Discovery
Data abstraction and the CLU programming language
Pioneering work on data abstraction embodied in the CLU programming language.
Scientific Discovery
Early computer compilers
Development of early compiler systems that helped establish automatic programming.
Scientific Discovery
ENIAC programming and documentation
Documentation and programming work on ENIAC that contributed to the transition toward stored-program computing.
Scientific Discovery
Environmental effects of synthetic pesticides
Scientific synthesis and public documentation of the ecological harms associated with widespread pesticide use.
Scientific Discovery
Experimental proof of parity violation
Experimental demonstration that parity symmetry is violated in weak nuclear interactions.
Scientific Discovery
First FORTRAN compiler
Contributions to the team that developed the first FORTRAN compiler at IBM.
Scientific Discovery
First published computer algorithm
An algorithm for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, widely regarded as the first published computer program.
Scientific Discovery
FORMAC
Development of FORMAC, an early programming language and system for symbolic mathematical manipulation.
Scientific Discovery
Foundational work in abstract algebra
Major advances in the structural foundations of modern abstract algebra.
Scientific Discovery
Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technology
Co-invention of a frequency-hopping communication system designed to resist interference and interception.
Scientific Discovery
Galaxy rotation evidence for dark matter
Galaxy rotation-curve observations providing strong evidence for large amounts of unseen matter.
Scientific Discovery
Grid cells
Co-discovery of grid cells, neurons involved in spatial positioning and navigation.
Scientific Discovery
Harvard stellar classification system
The stellar spectral classification sequence that became the foundation of modern stellar classification.
Scientific Discovery
Hilbert's Tenth Problem
Decisive contributions to the theory that led to the proof that no general algorithm can determine whether arbitrary Diophantine …
Scientific Discovery
Hydrogen and helium as the dominant elements in stars
Demonstration that stars are composed predominantly of hydrogen and helium.
Scientific Discovery
Inverse document frequency
A statistical weighting idea that became foundational to information retrieval and search ranking.
Scientific Discovery
Kovalevskaya top
A major integrable case in the mathematical theory of rotating rigid bodies.
Scientific Discovery
Liquid-crystalline polymer solution leading to Kevlar
Discovery of an unusual liquid-crystalline polymer solution that led to the high-strength fibre Kevlar.
Scientific Discovery
Methods for electrical power-transmission analysis
Graphical and mathematical methods for solving complex alternating-current power-transmission problems.
Scientific Discovery
Modern professional nursing
Reforms that helped establish modern professional nursing practice and hospital care.
Scientific Discovery
Modified nucleosides for therapeutic mRNA
Nucleoside-base modifications that reduced unwanted immune activation and enabled effective mRNA-based vaccines.
Scientific Discovery
Molecular structures of penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin
Determination of major biomolecular structures using X-ray crystallography.
Scientific Discovery
Nerve growth factor
Discovery and characterization of nerve growth factor, a protein essential to the growth and survival of certain neurons.
Scientific Discovery
Noether's theorem
The theorem connecting continuous symmetries of physical systems with conservation laws.
Scientific Discovery
Nuclear shell model
Development of the nuclear shell model explaining nuclear structure and magic numbers.
Scientific Discovery
Odorant receptors and olfactory coding
Discovery of odorant receptors and key principles explaining how the olfactory system distinguishes smells.
Scientific Discovery
Optimizing compiler techniques
Foundational methods for program analysis and compiler optimization for high-performance and parallel computing.
Scientific Discovery
Orbital trajectory and launch-window calculations
Mathematical trajectory, launch-window and orbital calculations supporting NASA's Mercury and Apollo missions.
Scientific Discovery
Partial differential equations and fluid dynamics
Fundamental advances in the mathematical theory of partial differential equations, especially equations describing fluid flow.
Scientific Discovery
Programmable computation
The early concept that a general-purpose calculating machine could manipulate symbols according to instructions.
Scientific Discovery
Radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium
Pioneering research on radioactivity, including the discovery of the elements polonium and radium.
Scientific Discovery
Radioimmunoassay
A highly sensitive technique for measuring very small concentrations of hormones and other biological substances.
Scientific Discovery
Rational drug design
Systematic development of drugs by targeting specific biochemical processes rather than relying only on trial and error.
Scientific Discovery
Solar thermal energy systems
Pioneering work on solar heating, thermal storage, desalination and solar cooking.
Scientific Discovery
Spanning Tree Protocol
A network protocol that prevents bridging loops and enables reliable Ethernet networks.
Scientific Discovery
Statistical visualization for public health
Use of statistical polar-area diagrams and quantitative evidence to communicate mortality and public-health patterns.
Scientific Discovery
Structural research on plant viruses
X-ray diffraction research that advanced understanding of plant-virus structure.
Scientific Discovery
Supermassive compact object at the Milky Way's centre
Long-term stellar-orbit observations demonstrating the presence of a supermassive compact object at the Galactic Centre.
Scientific Discovery
The Ball Method for Hansen's disease
An injectable chaulmoogra-oil treatment developed for Hansen's disease.
Scientific Discovery
Theoretical explanation of nuclear fission
Physical interpretation explaining how atomic nuclei can split and release large amounts of energy.
Scientific Discovery
Transposons
Discovery of mobile genetic elements, often called "jumping genes."
Scientific Discovery
VLSI design methodology
Co-development of influential methods that transformed very-large-scale integrated circuit design and its teaching.
Scientific Discovery
X-ray diffraction evidence for DNA structure
X-ray diffraction work, including Photo 51, that provided crucial evidence for determining DNA's structure.
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Across Time
Discoveries Through the Collection
Before 1800Early foundations
1800sIndustrial science
1900–1949Modern breakthroughs
1950–1999New technologies
2000s+Contemporary science
Featured Discovery
ARM processor architecture
Co-design of the original ARM processor architecture, which became one of the world's most widely used instruction-set architectures.
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