History of science Memes

Posts tagged with History of science

Nolan's Oppenheimer Prequel: The Alexandria Cut

Nolan's Oppenheimer Prequel: The Alexandria Cut
This meme is playing with the homophone pronunciation of historical figures' names and Christopher Nolan's cinematic style! Just like Nolan's "Oppenheimer" dramatized the father of the atomic bomb, this imagines his next epic about ancient scientists with a star-studded cast: • "Heron" (sounds like actor Aaron) - The Greek inventor who created the first steam engine prototype • "Ptolemy" (sounds like Timothée) - The astronomer who created geocentric model of the universe • "Hypatia" (sounds like... well, no one) - The brilliant female mathematician and philosopher tragically murdered • "Archimedes" (in his bathtub scene, naturally) - The "Eureka!" guy discovering buoyancy principles Honestly, would watch this 3-hour historical science epic with minimal dialogue and Hans Zimmer's BWAAAAM soundtrack in IMAX.

Math Bros To The Rescue: Saving Ramanujan One Protein Bar At A Time

Math Bros To The Rescue: Saving Ramanujan One Protein Bar At A Time
The time travel gender divide strikes again! While girls might use a time machine for family tree exploration, math bros have their priorities straight—helping legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan survive longer! Ramanujan was a self-taught Indian math genius who died at just 32 from tuberculosis and malnutrition after studying at Cambridge. The meme shows someone traveling back in time to give him protein-rich food with the message "Cambridge canteen sucks for vegetarians." It's basically the mathematical equivalent of going back to save your favorite band's lead singer. Who needs family reunions when you could help the guy who discovered infinite mathematical formulas live long enough to discover even more?

It Was Always Called Science

It Was Always Called Science
That moment when you realize your entire field was just rebranded. Before Newton, Galileo, and the gang showed up with their fancy experiments and math, people were already trying to figure out how nature worked—they just called it "natural philosophy." Same product, better packaging. Modern scientists are basically philosophers with cooler equipment and grant proposals.

Such A Shame: Newton's Publishing Predicament

Such A Shame: Newton's Publishing Predicament
Newton's face says it all! The meme plays on the prestigious scientific journal "Nature" and Sir Isaac Newton's connection to it. The journal wasn't named after him, but rather the natural world he studied so meticulously. Meanwhile, poor Cell Press journals (like "Cell" and "Neuron") are named after microscopic biological structures. Imagine revolutionizing physics, mathematics, and optics only to have your legacy be "Newton: The Journal of Tiny Membrane-Bound Organelles." His disapproving expression is basically the 17th century version of an eye-roll at academic publishing puns. The gravity of this situation is clearly pulling his patience downward at 9.8 m/s²!

Physics Was Almost Completed In The 1880s

Physics Was Almost Completed In The 1880s
The 1880s physicist: "We've figured out all of physics with these beautiful classical mechanics equations!" *One tiny ultraviolet catastrophe has entered the chat* This is the ultimate physics hubris smackdown! Late 19th century physicists genuinely believed they had nearly completed physics, with just a few "minor details" to iron out. Then came the ultraviolet catastrophe - where classical theory predicted infinite energy at short wavelengths (which would literally cook us all). This single spectral anomaly led to quantum mechanics, relativity, and completely revolutionized our understanding of reality. Talk about being humbled by a graph!

Friedrich Wöhler's Epic Chemistry Mic Drop

Friedrich Wöhler's Epic Chemistry Mic Drop
That moment when you synthesize urea from inorganic compounds and single-handedly demolish vitalism theory. Wöhler basically looked at the entire scientific establishment and said, "Your belief that organic compounds require a 'vital force' from living organisms? I just made that in a test tube." Revolutionary doesn't even begin to cover it. The face says it all—scientific mic drop of the 19th century.

The Great Academic Shrinkage

The Great Academic Shrinkage
The academic evolution is REAL, folks! Back in ye olden days, scholars were absolute units who casually revolutionized multiple fields before breakfast. "Oh, I just invented calculus while thinking about apples. NBD." Meanwhile, modern academics are hyper-specialized creatures defending tiny research territories like it's the last crumb at a conference buffet. "Please don't ask me about wheat prices in 1877—that's outside my scope!" The narrowing of expertise isn't just a trend—it's practically a survival mechanism in today's publish-or-perish academic thunderdome! The confidence-to-knowledge ratio has completely flipped, and honestly? It's hilariously tragic.

Rip Those Symbols

Rip Those Symbols
Poor John Dalton thought he was revolutionizing chemistry with his element symbols, only to have Berzelius swoop in with a better system! In 1803, Dalton created circular symbols for elements in his atomic theory work, feeling super proud. Then Jöns Jacob Berzelius came along in 1813 with those one or two-letter abbreviations we all know today (H, O, Na, etc.) and BOOM—Dalton's symbols became chemistry's equivalent of Betamax tapes. Chemistry's greatest ghosting story! The scientific equivalent of spending hours on your outfit only to have someone else show up in something way cooler. 💔

Euler: The Mathematical Overachiever

Euler: The Mathematical Overachiever
The look of pure panic when you realize Leonhard Euler was basically the Thomas Edison of mathematics. The quiz question is hilariously impossible because Euler had his brilliant fingers in everything - fluid mechanics, continuum mechanics, and even laid groundwork for Lagrangian mechanics. Meanwhile, F=ma is Newton's second law, making it the only correct answer despite being the most basic formula on the board. That's the mathematical equivalent of asking "which of these isn't a Beatles song?" and including "Happy Birthday." The man invented so many formulas they ran out of letters and started using other alphabets. Some mathematicians just publish papers; Euler published entire branches of mathematics.

Euler: The Mathematical Wrecking Ball

Euler: The Mathematical Wrecking Ball
Leonhard Euler was the original mathematical wrecking ball! The meme perfectly captures how this 18th-century genius would just DEMOLISH entire mathematical fields with his brilliance. The moment any new area of math or physics dared to exist, Euler would crash through like that demon boar, leaving broken formulas and shattered theorems everywhere! The man literally has SEVEN fundamental constants named after him. Talk about leaving your mark! He was basically mathematics' first rockstar, but instead of trashing hotel rooms, he trashed unsolved problems. 😂

Looking Up The History Of Anything In Math And Physics Named After Someone Else

Looking Up The History Of Anything In Math And Physics Named After Someone Else
The mathematical version of the Wild West standoff! Dig into the history of any mathematical theorem or physical law, and you'll inevitably find that either Euler or Gauss probably did it first. These two were basically the mathematical equivalent of that kid who raises their hand for every question in class. The creepy face just captures that moment when you realize your "new discovery" was actually solved by one of these guys 200+ years ago. Gauss casually invented entire fields of mathematics before breakfast, while Euler was so prolific that mathematicians started naming things after the second person who discovered them just to give others a chance.

If I Have Seen Further, It's By Process Of Elimination

If I Have Seen Further, It's By Process Of Elimination
Newton's famous quote "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" gets a hilariously literal interpretation here. The comic explores all possible permutations of this metaphor - from a giant standing on Newton's shoulders (crushing him), to Newton giving a giant a shoulder to cry on (awkward), to Newton being a giant himself (nope), until finally landing on the correct interpretation: Newton intellectually standing on the achievements of his predecessors. Scientific progress in stick figure form - the peer review would be merciless.