Disclaimers
- I am not trying to provide an academic report.
- This is simply for my own enjoyment, take from it what you please.
Our relationship to materials and matter goes back to the earliest days of mankind, and is inseparable from the human story. The ages of history are defined by humanity’s ability to control and manipulate the matter around them. Throughout the milenia, we have used materials to improve our condition. Our ability to do say may be the defining characteristic that sets us apart from other species.
It’s fascinating that so many advancements have occurred just within the last couple hundred of years. This is just a very small percentage of our timeline. Nearly 30,000 years passed between our first use of materials to the advent of electricity. The dramatic growth in the rate of development in the modern age makes this a very exciting time.
Pre-scientific Era đź—ż
In the earliest days, the use of materials was largely empirical, driven by trial and error. There was no understanding of the underlying atomic structure, or quantum behavior that we now know dictate material properties.
Paleolithic (28,000 - 12,000 BC)
In the Paleolithic era, we utilized sharp stone, flint, and wood, to protect ourselves from predators and the environment. This use of material gave us agency over our condition, and allowed the species to propagate.
Neolithic (10,000 - 3300 BC)
The Neolithic era brought the development of pottery, as well as early usage of glass production and metalworking.
Bronze Age (3300 - 1200 BC)
Copper is a soft metal, and can be bent and hammered into useful shapes. However, it was too soft for large scale usefulness. The development of metallurgy to combine copper and tin allowed the creation of a more sturdy and useful bronze. The earliest form of glass work has been dated within this time period, around 1600 BC.
Iron Age (1200 - 300 BC)
The development of iron and steel replaced bronze, as iron was more naturally abundant and could be made stronger and less brittle.
Magnetism (600 BC)
Iodestones containing magnetized pieces of magnetite were discovered to attract iron. The philosopher Thales of Miletus is thought to have been the first to scientifically discuss magnetism. This would later lead to the development of the compass, revolutionizing travel, and allowing humans to step foot out into the world beyond.
The word “magnet” comes from Iodestones found in Magnesia, Anatolia.
Electricity (600 BC)
Thales of Miletus made the first recorded observations that rubbing an amber rod creates static electricity. Humanity has just observed one of the fundamental forces of nature. Thales of Miletus believed the forces from the electricity were instead magnetic.
- Electricity was actually noticed some time before, dating back to 2750 BC, in electric fish such as eels.
- “Electron” comes from the Greek word for amber (elektron)
Atomism (400 BC)
Leucippus and Democritus postulate atomism, an early theory of atoms.
Optics (160)
Ptolemy tabulated angles of refraction for light traveling through different media
Porcelain (700)
Porcelain was invinted in the Tang dynasty, China.
Gun Powder (1000)
Gunpowder is developed in China
Birth of Science đź”
Around the 1600s, we start to see a systematic study of materials, and theories began to develop to understand how materials behave. This is the dawn of the scientific era, and would result in a rapid growth in our understanding of the universe.
Metallurgy (1540)
Vannoccio Biringuccio publishes first systematic book on metallurgy, the study of metallic elements and alloys.
Sphere packing (1611)
Johannes Kepler first postulates that no arrangement of equally sized spheres has a greater average density than that of cubic close packing and hexagonal close packing arrangements.
We now know the atoms of many crystalline materials form in cubic and hexagonal close packing arrangements.
Snell’s Law (1621)
Willebrord Snellius formulates a mathematical relationship for the angle between the direction light is traveling before and after entering a solid (reflection and refraction)
Hooke’s Law (1660)
Robert Hook derives an equation describing the behavior of springs (harmonic oscillator).
As any physicist will know, almost every system we know of has some connection to the behavior of a spring. There is a quote somewhere that says, “its all springs all the way down.” In fact, the interactions between nuclei in a material can be modeled as connected springs.
Newton’s Laws (1687)
Isaac Newton formulates his now famous laws of motion. This would be the beginning of a revolution in the understanding of how matter moves through space; marking a fundamental shift in how we approach the study of matter.
Crystallography (1781)
René Just Haüy discovers that crystals always cleave along crystallographic planes. He deduced that they must be periodic and composed of regular patterns of tiny molecules.
This understanding is still how modern research approaches the study of crystalline materials.
The Electric Era ⚡️
After Newton’s laws are formalized, the study of science shifts from empirical to more mathematical and theoretical. From the 1700s onward, humanity begins to harness the power of electricity. This is highlighted by the increasing understanding of electromagetism, pinpointed by the landmark theories of James Clerk Maxwell.
The Battery (1800)
The first electric battery is developed by Alessandro Volta
Ohm’s Law (1827)
Georg Ohm publishes the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance of a material:
Light and Magnets (1845)
Michael Faraday studies the interaction of light and magnetic fields with matter.
Crystal Lattices (1850)
Auguste Bravais enumerates the possible arrangements of crystal lattices.
This enumeration still stands today as a pivotal component of condensed matter research.
Maxwell’s Equations (1861)
James Clerk Maxwell summarizes the fundamental equations of electromagnetism into a cohesive theory unifying electricity, magnetism, and light.
This is a landmark in physics, and would set the stage for future discoveries by Einstein to revolutionize how we see the universe. Einstein would later remark, “I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell.” Perhaps no earlier theory has shared the remarkable symmetry and mathematical beauty of Maxwell’s equations.
Hall Effect (1879)
Edwin Hall discovers what is now known as the “Hall effect,” observing that electrons are deflected to the edges of a material in the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to their direction of travel.
This would be a foundational experiment for the later observations of the quantum Hall effect in the 1980s. The quantum Hall effect would start the revolution of topological materials.
Photoelectric Effect (1887)
Heinrich Hertz discovers the photoelectric effect, the emission of electrons from a material caused by shining light onto it.
This experiment was later explained by Einstein and would win him the Nobel Prize.
The Electron (1897)
J. J. Thompson discovers the a “corpuscle” of charge 1000 times smaller than the atom. This would later be termed the “electron.”
Perhaps the most important particle in all of condensed matter physics.
Quantum and Relativistic Era 🌀
The beginning of the 20th century marks the beginning of the “quantum and relativistic era.” It was during the early years of the century that observations were made that defied expectations and would require a radical new way of looking at the world to explain them. Not only this, but Albert Einstein would propose a theory that revolutionized the understanding of space and time itself. Along with the theories of Newton and Maxwell, quantum mechanics and relativity would eventually define entire domains of physics.
Blackbody Radiation (1900)
Max Planck uses quantum theory for the first time to solve the “ultraviolet catastrophe” in blackbody radiation. This is where the now famous Planck’s constant first appears.
Einstein’s annus mirabilis papers (1905)
In a single year, Einstein publishes his papers on special relativity revolutionizing the understanding of space and time, the photoelectric effect ushering in the era of quantum mechanics, Brownian motion proving the existence of atoms, and the mass energy equivalence leading to the discovery of nuclear power.
Relativity has fairly little overlap with materials research. It appears in some places, but the particles are not moving fast enough for special relativity to have a major effect.
Superconductivity (1911)
Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity in cryogenically cooled Mercury. Upon cooling below temperatures of 4 Kelvin, he observed the resistance drops to zero, showing a perfect conductor of electricity.
4 Kelvin is very cold. In Farenheit it is -452.4°F and in Celsius is -269.15°C. The cosmic microwave background temperature of space is ~2.7 K — so 4 K is only slightly warmer than the emptiness of the universe.
de Broglie Waves (1923)
Louis de Broglie postulates that matter may behave as waves and particles depending on how one observes them. This is the beginning of the theory of quantum mechanics.
Schrödinger’s Equation (1926)
Erwin Schrödinger uses de Broglie’s theory to formulate the now famous Schrödinger wave equation dictating how the wave evolves in space and time. This marks the recognized “birth” of quantum mechanics.
It’s amusing to think that quantum mechanics was being developed at the same time as people were doing the Charleston.
Bloch’s Theorem (1929)
Felix Bloch derives the mathematical form of the electron wave in a periodic crystal, a fundamental result in modern solid state research.
Landau Theory of Symmetry (1937)
Lev Landau describes a theory of phase transitions of matter in terms of symmetries and order parameters. This changes our understanding of phases of matter.
Graphene (1947)
Graphene is first theorized as a single sheet of atoms in Graphite. This material would later become a fascinating domain of research, with interesting electronic properties.
The Silicon Era đź’»
The silicon era would be the furnace for many of the technological advancements that we rely on so heavily today. At this point in time, quantum mechanics begins to see real world applications, and would be used to predict material properties. One of the consequences of this would become the band theory description of materials, which would lead to the development of the semiconductor, and is still a cornerstone to modern condensed matter research.