Mar 29 2017
Science and Engineering in Manchester - A Proud History
The Observant Astronomer
1630 – The transit of Venus across the sun is observed and verified by William Crabtree1
The Industrial Revolution
1761 – England’s first ever canal, The Bridgewater, is built to help feed the industrial revolution with coal2
Atomic Theory
1808 – John Dalton introduces the world to Dalton Atomic Theory and his New System of Chemical Philosophy – a predecessor of modern chemistry3
Inter-City Travel
1830 – The Liverpool and Manchester railway, the first ever railway between two cities, is opened - connecting Liverpool Docks to Industrial Manchester4
1840 – One of the first nasty environmental effects of the Industrial Revolution is identified – Acid Rain5
Understanding Energy Transfer
1843 – The Laws of Thermodynamics become gospel when Joule presents his theory on the transfer of heat, allowing Mancunions to develop even more powerful machines6
1890 – Work on the 90-mile-long Thirlmere Aqueduct begins, which will deliver fresh water from the Lake District to a polluted Manchester7
The Nuclear Family
1897 –J. J. Thompson discovers the electron and proposes that atoms can be broken down into smaller units – an idea his student, Rutherford, finds extremely interesting…8
The Automotive Age Arrives
1904 – A chance meeting between Charles Rolls, a local car dealership owner, and Henry Royce, a successful engineer, leads to the creation of Rolls Royce and “the modern car”9
1909 – Hans Geiger invents the Geiger Tube, which allows nuclear radiation to be detected and measured10
1917 - Rutherford ‘splits the atom’ at the University of Manchester’s Physics Laboratory, allowing Bohr to establish nuclear atomic theory11
1932 - James Chadwick Discovers the Neutron, completing the original atomic family12
The Dawn of the Digital Age
1951 – Alan Turing, having played an instrumental part in breaking German ENIGMA codes during WW2, creates the Turing Test as a method of assessing Artificial Intelligence13
1945 – Work on the Jodrell Bank Radio-Telescope begins which is, at the time, the largest telescope on the planet14
1978 – The first-ever test tube baby, conceived via IVF treatment, is born at Oldham Hospital15
2004 – The two-dimensional wonder material Graphene is isolated, bringing a whole new dimension to nanoscience16
2010 – Manchester-based Brian Cox wins the Kelvin Medal for his outstanding work communicating the excitement of physics to the public17
2017 - Researchers at the University of Manchester’s Computer Science Department continue Turing’s legacy by demonstrating that supercomputers can be constructed using DNA18
What Next?
AZoNetwork connects over 75 Million scientists, researchers, and engineers with companies, products, and applications. This infographic marks the opening of the new company offices in Manchester city center. Go to AZoNetwork to find out more.
Sources and Further Reading