Explore the Laws of Nature With This Physics Quiz

In 1964, theoretical physicist Peter Higgs proposed the existence of a Higgs boson particle, to explain why some particles have mass while some (such as photons) don’t. He theorized that after the Big Bang, particles passed through an invisible field, giving some particles mass. If the field existed, a boson particle would be left over, thus proving its existence. The Higgs boson particle was discovered in 2013 at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Scottish mathematician James Clerk Maxwell discovered how to combine electricity and magnetism in a phenomenon we now know as electromagnetism. In his 1864 paper “A dynamic theory of the electromagnetic field,” he showed that light propagates through space in both electric and magnetic waves. This was the first time someone had mathematically united three fields of physics: light, electricity, and magnetism.

In 1915, physicist Albert Einstein proposed general relativity, which theorized that the gravity of high-mass objects, such as the sun, can curve space. This phenomenon had yet to be proven. But during the total solar eclipse of 1919, astronomers observed that the sun’s gravity bent nearby starlight — just as Einstein predicted. The eclipse proved Einstein right and propelled him to world fame.

Galileo Galilei first proposed the principle of relativity in his 1632 book “Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.” He theorized that motion, without reference to an immovable object, is relative; only in comparison to other objects can we know something is moving. This concept paved the way for Albert Einstein to develop relative acceleration reference frames in his theory of special relativity in 1905.

In December 1938, Lise Meitner and her nephew, Otto Frisch, discovered nuclear fission when they split a uranium nucleus in two. Before then, physicists didn’t think splitting a nucleus was possible. Two other physicists who collaborated with Meitner published the discovery without her. As a result, one of those physicists, Otto Hahn, received the 1944 Nobel Prize in chemistry over Meitner.

For centuries, astronomers accepted that planets orbit in circles. But in 1609, German astronomer Johannes Kepler developed three laws of planetary motion — the first of which stated that planets move in an elliptical orbit around the sun. Kepler showed that an orbit has two points of focus, one in the center of the planet and the other in the center of the sun. When put into motion, the foci force the movement into an elliptical shape.

In the fifth century BCE, the Greeks laid the foundation for modern atomic theory. The philosopher Democritus, the main proponent of atomic theory, speculated that all matter is made from building blocks called “atomos,” or solid and indivisible particles. Modern atomic theory has proven that atoms exist but are indivisible, and can’t exist in a solid state because states of matter depend on the way atoms move.

In 1898, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie discovered the existence of radium. For their discovery, the Curies were awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 1903, making Marie Curie the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. In 1911, she was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry for isolating metallic radium, making her the only woman to receive two Nobel Prizes.

In 1687, Isaac Newton published what many scientists and historians consider the most important book in the history of science, known as “Principia.” In it, Newton lays out three laws of motion to explain how change in motion is related to force and mass. (For example, an object in motion will stay in motion, and for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). These laws apply to both planetary and terrestrial motion, making their application to science virtually endless.

In 1935, Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger created a thought experiment to illustrate the difficulty of quantum physics. Dubbed “Schrödinger’s Cat,” the experiment imagined a cat, a vial of poison, and a radioactive atom enclosed in a box. The atom can decay at any moment, breaking the vial and killing the cat. Since we don’t know when that moment is, the cat is both alive and dead according to quantum rules.