---
title: "History of science"
chunk: 19/19
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:38:18.549055+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== 21st century ==
In the early 21st century, some concepts that originated in 20th century physics were proven. On 4 July 2012, physicists working at CERN's Large Hadron Collider announced that they had discovered a new subatomic particle greatly resembling the Higgs boson, confirmed as such by the following March. Gravitational waves were first detected by astronomers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory on 14 September 2015. One of the first direct images of a black hole, taken by the Event Horizon Telescope in April of 2017, was released to the public on April 10, 2019.
The Human Genome Project was declared complete in 2003. The CRISPR gene editing technique developed in 2012 allowed scientists to precisely and easily modify DNA in living organisms and led to the development of new medicine. Advances in synthetic biology with computer assistance led to the creation of artificial microbial life, such as JCVI-syn3.0 in 2016 and xenobots in 2020.
Positive psychology is a branch of psychology founded in 1998 by Martin Seligman that is concerned with the study of happiness, mental well-being, and positive human functioning, and is a reaction to 20th century psychology's emphasis on mental illness and dysfunction. Starting around 2011, a replication crisis affected some branches of the social sciences.

== See also ==

== References ==

=== Sources ===
Bruno, Leonard C. (1989). The Landmarks of Science. Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-2137-6.
Heilbron, John L., ed. (2003). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511229-0.
Needham, Joseph; Wang, Ling (1954). Introductory Orientations. Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.
Needham, Joseph (1986a). Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 3. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
Needham, Joseph (1986c). Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering. Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 4. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
Needham, Joseph; Robinson, Kenneth G.; Huang, Jen-Yü (2004). "General Conclusions and Reflections". Science and Chinese society. Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 7. Cambridge University Press.
Sambursky, Shmuel (1974). Physical Thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists: an anthology selected, introduced and edited by Shmuel Sambursky. Pica Press. p. 584. ISBN 978-0-87663-712-8.
Strathern, Paul (2023). The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare: How the Renaissance in Northern Europe Transformed the World. New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-63936-393-3.
Wootton, David (2015). The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution. New York: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-175952-9.

== Further reading ==

== External links ==

'What is the History of Science', British Academy
British Society for the History of Science
Fieser, James; Dowden, Bradley (eds.). "Scientific Change". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ISSN 2161-0002. OCLC 37741658.
The CNRS History of Science and Technology Research Center in Paris (France) (in French)
Henry Smith Williams, History of Science, Vols 1–4, online text
Digital Archives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Digital facsimiles of books from the History of Science Collection Archived 13 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Linda Hall Library Digital Collections
Division of History of Science and Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science
Giants of Science (website of the Institute of National Remembrance)
History of Science Digital Collection: Utah State University – Contains primary sources by such major figures in the history of scientific inquiry as Otto Brunfels, Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin, Carolus Linnaeus Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Jan Swammerdam, James Sowerby, Andreas Vesalius, and others.
History of Science Society ("HSS") Archived 15 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Inter-Divisional Teaching Commission (IDTC) of the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS) Archived 13 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine
International Academy of the History of Science
International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group
IsisCB Explore: History of Science Index An open access discovery tool
Museo Galileo – Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Archives
The official site of the Nobel Foundation. Features biographies and info on Nobel laureates
The Royal Society, trailblazing science from 1650 to date Archived 18 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine
The Vega Science Trust Free to view videos of scientists including Feynman, Perutz, Rotblat, Born and many Nobel Laureates.
A Century of Science in America: with special reference to the American Journal of Science, 1818-1918