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The 19th century was an age of reason and discovery when many long-held theories were overturned as scientific advances enabled an ever-closer analysis and record of life and matter. Here are just some of the century’s scientific landmarks.

1803 - 1808 John Dalton develops his atomic theory, publishing New System of Chemical Philosophy. Dalton’s theory stipulated that all gases were made up of atoms, the heavier the gas, the heavier were its atoms, and that atoms of one type were attracted to one another. According to Dalton, chemical reactions separated or reunited these elementary particles, no new matter was created or destroyed.

1809

Lamarck publishes La Philosophie Zoologique

1815 - 1822

Lamarck publishes L’Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres in seven volumes. His work is important in the development of theories of evolution.

1831

Creation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

1837 - 1838

Physicist Michael Faraday undertakes ground-breaking research into electromagnetics and the theory of electricity.

1848

Creation of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

1779 - 1848

Jöns Jakob Bezelius devises a shorthand for chemistry, whereby the atom of each element is represented by the first letter(s) of its name.

1776 - 1856

Amedeo Avogadro’s research into atomics leads to the coining of the term ‘molecule’, used now to designate a group of atoms.

1850

In the second half of the 19th century the improvement of microscopes enabled the development of cellular theory (by which all tissues, organs, living matter are shown to be made up of cells) and the eventual discovery of the ‘chromosome’.

1859

Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
appears at the end of November. All copies of the first edition are sold on the day of publication.

1861

Pasteur publishes Mémoire sur les animalcules vivant sans oxygène libre et déterminant des fermentations, following research into the existence of micro-organisms in the air. The German scientist, Ferdinand Cohn, coins the term of ‘bacillus’ or “germ” for these micro-organisms. Pasteur’s work leads to the development of pasteurisation (by heating milk to 65 degrees any germs present are destroyed and the milk will not turn sour) as well as the discovery of vaccinations against certain bacterial infections.

1867

Lister’s work on asepsis leads to the discovery that a vaporised solution of carbolic acid can destroy bacteria in the air, without damaging body tissues. The use of this technique in operating theatres leads to a significant drop in post-operatory death due to infection.

1873

James Clerck Maxwell publishes his famous Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism.

1818 - 1889

James Joule develops a modern theory of heat.

1825 - 1893

Jean Martin Charcot, founds the famous ‘Ecole de neurologie de la Salpêtrière’. His classes are followed by Freud amongst others. He demonstrates the link, by lesions, of certain parts of the brain and motor difficulties, as well as developing the use of hypnotism.

1910

Sigmund Freud founds the International Pyschoanalytical Association.