If one had to rate the greatest discoveries of all time, electricity would rank high on any list. Most of the modern world is powered by electricity. What would our lives be like without electricity? Just think of your own home; when the power goes out everything gets put on hold. Take people’s smart phones away and they don’t know what to do with themselves.
The application of electricity was the result of 3 centuries of investigation and experiments into the nature of electricity and magnetism. Understanding the relationship between the two forces and unifying them into a single force, called electromagnetism, proved to be a critical step. The unification of electricity and magnetism also established the existence of electromagnetic waves, the fundamental principle behind wireless technology.
Fascination and Curiosity
In the 1700s static electricity was a well-known phenomenon, and various devices were made to produce it. Electricity was poorly understood at first. Its main use was as an entertainment tool as it could create colorful sparks and move small objects. It was used in types of magic shows that were meant to delight crowds.
Over time the curious nature of electricity demanded an explanation, and a number of experimenters tried to find out. Where did electricity come from? Static electricity was observed to pass through people. Some animals were known to produce electric shocks. Therefore, was electricity intrinsic to life itself or were the living bodies a medium for carrying a fundamental force of nature?
In 1799, Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist and chemist showed that electricity could be generated artificially. He created the first battery by piling up metal plates, separated by cards dipped in dilute acid, and attaching both ends to wires. Metals have a unique quality where at the atomic level the electrons in the outer shells can be shared. Under the right conditions the electrons can flow from one atom to another. This produces an electric current.
The unit for measuring electric potential is named in Volta’s honor (the volt). Up until Volta’s pile, as it was called, electricity could only last for an instant. Now it could be stored in a battery, which opened the door for electricity to do useful work. But the road to inventing electrical technologies would be long and winding; the knowledge of electricity was still in its infancy.
The Insights of Faraday and Maxwell
Michael Faraday was a self-educated scientist, who is famous for his experiments with electricity and magnetism. His work would lead to unlocking the secrets of the two mysterious forces. Faraday picked up the work of Danish physicist, Hans Christian Orsted. In 1820, Orsted accidentally discovered that a current carrying wire caused a nearby magnetic needle to move. In other words, an electric field created a magnetic field.
Knowing that an electric current had an effect on magnets at a close distance; Faraday wondered if the experiment could be reversed. Could magnets generate electricity? Faraday set out to explore the relationship further, and in 1831 he discovered that a changing magnetic field caused an electric current in a nearby wire. The key insight was that electricity was produced when the magnetic field changed as it interacted with the wire. A stationary magnetic field and a wire did not induce a current. Therefore, a third variable was needed – motion. The motion of a magnetic field in relation to a wire generated the electricity.
This principle, known as electromagnetic induction, is responsible for powering all electric motors and generators. Electric power is generated by a changing magnetic field and its interaction with a coil of wire. The coil multiplies the amount of power generated, but operates under the same principle as Faraday’s experiment with a single wire.
Three decades later a Scottish physicist by the name of James Clerk Maxwell put the finishing touch on the unification of electricity and magnetism. By the time Maxwell came along it was well-established that there existed a connection between the two forces. The telegraph had been invented, the first long-distance communication device, which operated on the principle of electromagnetism. Maxwell’s great achievement came in 1862; he devised 4 simple equations that represented all the interactions between electricity and magnetism.
The original concept of two distinct forces was united under one theoretical framework. Electromagnetism became known as one of the 4 fundamental forces of nature recognized by modern physics; the other 3 being, the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force and gravity. In short, Faraday unified electricity and magnetism experimentally, and Maxwell unified them mathematically.
Fields, Waves and Light
With Maxwell’s equations came a new understanding of electromagnetism. Not only were the two forces unified, but the concepts of fields and waves would become extremely important. Modern physics would be transformed by the knowledge that energies could occupy regions of space and have noticeable effects. In This Explains Everything, physicist Lawrence Krauss writes:
“[Maxwell’s equations] established the physical reality of what was otherwise a figment of Faraday’s imagination: a field – that is, some quantity associated with every point in space and time.”
Maxwell realized that if a changing electric field created a magnetic field, and a changing magnetic field created an electric field, then the process would be continuous (a kind of chain reaction). The mutual interaction of electricity and magnetism would cause the field to oscillate. When an electromagnetic field oscillates it generates an electromagnetic wave, which has an independent existence and moves out from the source. Maxwell was able to calculate the speed at which electromagnetic waves propagate. It tuned out it was precisely the speed of light. Krauss writes about Maxwell’s conclusion:
“Thus he discovered that light is indeed a wave – but a wave of electric and magnetic fields that moves through space at a precise speed…”
Maxwell’s discovery of a constant speed of light was the starting point for Einstein’s revision of space and time – the theory of special relativity. A decade later Einstein formulated the theory of general relativity. It was then followed by quantum theory, and the age of modern physics was in full swing.
A World Beyond Imagination
The scientists and inventors of the 1700s and 1800s could not have imagined the modern world that resulted from their work. Electricity and information technology could not have been possible if not for a complete understanding of electromagnetism. It was the start of something big, and step by step new discoveries and inventions pushed the boundaries of progress. Many innovators took part in the quest. Our world has become brighter, smaller and faster.
I know I am dating myself; however, I grew up watching a black and white television. At first the TV only aired 2 channels, of which the signal was received by an antenna in the attic. There was no remote control back then, so we had to manually turn the dial to change the channel. In addition, someone had to walk up to the attic and turn the antenna around. Eventually, we upgraded by adding a second antenna (each pointing in a different direction) and running wires to a switch besides the TV. I guess that was progress back then. Nowadays people complain if the Wi-Fi is slow.
I am amazed at all the electronic gadgets we have today, and all they can do. They work on principles that take advantage of things we can’t even see. How can electrons moving through wires light our homes and power computers? How can waves traveling through space carry information that can be converted to video and audio? Plus, most of the time, the signal is perfectly clear. When I consider that it took 3 centuries of inventions to get to this point, I am not going to get upset over a slow WiFi; I am just grateful it works at all.
References: Edge Foundation Inc., This Explains Everything (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013), 335, 336.
In Our Time: Science, Michael Faraday, Dec. 24, 2015.
In Our Time: Science, The Invention of Radio, July 3, 2013.
In Our Time: Science, Maxwell, Oct 1, 2003
Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity — Jim Al-Khalili BBC Horizon, Published on May 26, 2015.
On June 26, 2000, U.S. President 
In a way, the human genome is simple in its design, yet incredibly complex in length of code and number of functions. The fundamental unit of the genome is DNA, coded information like letters of the alphabet. Certain sections make up genes; these are like words or sentences. The genes are strung together in chromosomes, which is comparable to chapters in a book. The genome is everything, the whole book. The function of genes is to encode for making proteins. Therefore, genes encode messages (carried by a messenger molecule called RNA) to build proteins. The proteins perform the actual tasks encoded by the genes.
Of all the so-called big questions, perhaps none inspires more curiosity than the following: Is there life elsewhere in the universe? The question leads to many other questions, speculations, possibilities and impossibilities. In recent years science has made tremendous progress towards understanding the universe, both in what is out there and how it came to be. The number of stars and galaxies is enormous, and we now know that many stars have planetary systems (nearly 2000 exoplanets have been discovered). Some planets outside our solar system are believed to be earth-like, in size, composition and location in relation to their host star.
Numerous unmanned space probes have explored our Solar System. The firsts space probes to visit other planets were launched in the sixties, even before the first lunar landing. By the seventies probes were reaching the outer planets, and in 2015, New Horizons made its historic Pluto flyby (the farthest planet when I was in school). Several rovers have landed on Mars, transmitting images and analyzing soil samples (the first successful mission was in 1976). Presently, the rovers Opportunity and Curiosity are still operating on Mars.
The space probes Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have completed their missions exploring the planets, and have left the Solar System (speeding away indefinitely). They all contain time capsules, with information about humans and our location in the universe. Incidentally, the well-known image of the pale blue dot was taken by Voyager 1 as it left our Solar System; a snapshot of the earth from 6 billion miles away.
It is possible that aliens have already discovered the Earth; they may even have tried to communicate with us. Some people believe that aliens have visited the Earth, but for a logically minded person the stories are far-fetched. From a scientific perspective, there is no evidence to support such claims. Everything scientists know about space travel makes alien visitations practically impossible. The distances are simply too great; it would take hundreds of generations to make the voyage (unless aliens have lifespans of a 1,000 years or use teleportation and wormholes, though we shouldn’t believe everything we see in Star Trek).
On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 Saturn V rocket escaped from Earth’s gravity and headed towards the moon. The astronauts on board were 
After a day and a half inside the Lunar Module the carbon dioxide levels became a chief concern. The Lunar Module was not equipped to handle a third astronaut for an extended period of time. Mission Control had to solve the problem by figuring out how to adapt the lithium hydroxide canisters from the Command Module to the Lunar Module. These canisters removed carbon dioxide from the spacecraft but the square canisters from the Command Module were not compatible with the round openings in the Lunar Module. From the ground the crew was instructed to use plastic bags, cardboard and tape to fit the Command Module canisters to the Lunar Module system. It worked and a potentially fatal problem was averted.
When word was finally received from the crew, Mission Control erupted in celebration. On April 17 the Command Module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean; at last they were home. Although Apollo 13 did not achieve what it initially set out to do, it did test Mission Control and three astronauts to their limit. Ironically, what could be viewed as a failed mission, turned out to be arguably Apollo’s finest hour.
Several missions were necessary before any attempt could be made at landing a man on the surface of the moon. Apollo 4 through 6 (Apollo never flew any spaceship with the name Apollo 2 or 3) were unmanned missions for the purpose of testing the Saturn V launch vehicle. The first manned Apollo mission was Apollo 7 which propelled the Saturn V into earth’s orbit for a few rotations before re-entry.
Perhaps the highlight of Apollo 8 was captured in a now famous photograph. This picture is normally referred to as “earthrise.” It was taken on December 24, 1968 by crew member
Six hours after landing Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. With his first step he spoke to the world, “one small step for (a) man one giant leap for mankind.” Buzz Aldrin would join him several minutes later. Armstrong and Aldrin spent about 2 and a half hours on the moon (outside the spacecraft). Once both were back in the Lunar Module, all that remained was to return home safely.
Apollo went on to land 5 more missions on the moon. But by Apollo 17 (the final Apollo mission) the luster was gone. Considering the exorbitant cost of the program and the lack of practicality of moon missions, Apollo was terminated. Some could argue that from a practical stand point, going to the moon did not accomplish very much. Could the money spent on Apollo have been used for better means? Did the U.S. go to the moon simply for political reasons, because of a so-called space race with the Soviet Union?
THE LANDSCAPE OF REALITY 