Science history Memes

Posts tagged with Science history

Name A Scientific Theory That Was Later Replaced
Science Scientists Academia
11 hours ago 2.8K views 0 shares
Name A Scientific Theory That Was Later Replaced
The ultimate scientific game show question nobody wants to answer honestly. From spontaneous generation to miasma theory, science history is basically a graveyard of ideas we were absolutely certain about until we weren't. The $500 answer: "What is phlogiston theory?" The $1000 answer: "What is luminiferous aether?" The $5000 answer: "What are humors?" Contestants sweating as they realize how many times we've collectively said "trust me bro, this definitely explains everything" only to be spectacularly wrong.

Newton's Earth-Shattering Obvious Discovery
Physics Scientists Science
14 hours ago 2.6K views 0 shares
Newton's Earth-Shattering Obvious Discovery
Newton's first law of motion basically says objects stay put unless something pushes them. Revolutionary? Not really. It's like "discovering" that water is wet or that pizza tastes good! Picture Newton having this MIND-BLOWING epiphany and just standing there with his arms outstretched like he's the messiah of the obvious. "EUREKA! If I don't touch it... IT DOESN'T MOVE!" *gasp* Someone give this man a medal for noticing what literally every rock has been doing since the beginning of time! 🤯

We've Been Lied To
Chemistry Science Scientists
19 hours ago 2.8K views 0 shares
We've Been Lied To
That moment when your childhood fantasy world crumbles faster than sodium in water! The four classical "elements" from ancient philosophy—earth, air, fire, and water—aren't actually elements at all! *twirls beaker dramatically* Turns out Mendeleev never reserved spots for "dragon breath" or "fairy dust" either! The periodic table only includes pure chemical elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon—not their rebellious combinations or mythological concepts. Your elementary school teacher has some explaining to do! Next you'll tell me alchemy isn't a valid college major! *frantically scribbles in lab notebook*

The Infinite Regression Of Smashing Things
Physics Science Research Academia
1 day ago 2.9K views 0 shares
The Infinite Regression Of Smashing Things
The endless regression of particle physics in one comic! Scientists start with "big rocks are fundamental" then smash them to find smaller rocks. Then those smaller rocks get smashed to find even tinier rocks. 10,000 iterations later, we're still asking what's truly fundamental while some grad student mutters "whatever was fundamental last week is a clerical error now." This perfectly captures the history of particle physics—from atoms to nuclei to quarks to... who knows what's next? The Large Hadron Collider is basically just a $10 billion rock-smashing machine where physicists keep finding increasingly bizarre subatomic particles and then arguing about whether they're "fundamental" until the next funding cycle.

Electrons Have Commitment Issues
Physics Science Chemistry Scientists
2 days ago 3.1K views 0 shares
Electrons Have Commitment Issues
Niels Bohr questioning his own model is peak scientific self-doubt. The electrons don't fall into the nucleus because they're in quantized energy states, not because they're making intelligent life choices. Quantum mechanics doesn't care about your logical expectations. Those electrons are just following the rules of physics while we're over here anthropomorphizing subatomic particles like they have a choice. Typical human behavior, expecting tiny negatively charged particles to understand gravity.

Newton's Overlooked Evidence
Physics Scientists Science
2 days ago 2.9K views 0 shares
Newton's Overlooked Evidence
The ultimate scientific facepalm moment! Isaac Newton, who formulated the laws of universal gravitation after allegedly watching an apple fall, somehow missed the daily demonstration of gravity happening in his own bathroom. Imagine being smart enough to revolutionize physics, calculus, and optics, but needing fruit-based inspiration when the evidence was literally streaming down in front of you multiple times a day. Next time you're in the bathroom, raise a toast to the greatest mind who somehow needed additional proof that things fall down!

The Original Power Couple Had Actual Power
Scientists Physics Chemistry Research Science
3 days ago 3.1K views 0 shares
The Original Power Couple Had Actual Power
Celebrity couples? Please. The Curies discovered radioactive elements AND remained happily married despite the fact that they were literally glowing at night from radiation exposure. Marie Curie won TWO Nobel Prizes when most women weren't allowed near a lab, while Pierre turned down solo recognition because he knew scientific partnerships trump fame. Their notebooks are still so radioactive today that you need protective gear to read them. Now THAT'S relationship goals - discovering elements that can kill you while simultaneously revolutionizing physics, chemistry, and medicine. Modern celebrities might have Instagram, but the Curies had polonium and radium.

The Greatest Data Loss In History
Academia Science Research
3 days ago 3.1K views 0 shares
The Greatest Data Loss In History
Nothing like losing centuries of knowledge to make you appreciate proper backup systems. The Library of Alexandria was basically ancient civilization's hard drive that crashed without a Time Machine backup. We'd probably have smartphones in the 1700s and be colonizing Mars by now if some folks hadn't decided book burning was the hottest trend of 48 BCE. Instead, humanity had to spend the next thousand years rediscovering that washing your hands is actually a good idea.

Long Live Wan Hu! Greatest Launch Of All Time
Astronomy Engineering Physics Science
5 days ago 4.1K views 0 shares
Long Live Wan Hu! Greatest Launch Of All Time
The original YOLO space program! Wan Hu's legendary 16th-century attempt to reach the moon with a chair strapped to 47 rockets is basically the medieval version of "hold my beer and watch this." His ambitious DIY spacecraft combined the structural integrity of IKEA furniture with the explosive power of a Michael Bay movie. Physics wasn't exactly on his side—turns out rocket science is actually rocket science! While NASA spends billions on safety protocols, this dude just said "bamboo chair + gunpowder = moon trip" and lit the fuse. The fact that we're still talking about his spectacular failure centuries later proves that epic fails in the name of science never go out of style. He may not have reached the moon, but he definitely reached legendary status!

Quantum Physics: The Ultimate Bad Hair Day
Physics Scientists Science
6 days ago 3.1K views 0 shares
Quantum Physics: The Ultimate Bad Hair Day
Poor Max Planck went from dapper young gentleman to wild-eyed quantum wizard in just 23 years! That's what happens when you start measuring things in absurdly tiny units and discover energy comes in discrete packets. One day you're combing your hair, the next you're too busy calculating the universal constant to remember what a comb even is! His transformation is the physical manifestation of the uncertainty principle - you can know where your sanity is OR where your hairbrush is, but never both simultaneously!

What Quantum Physics Does To A Man
Physics Science Scientists
6 days ago 3.4K views 0 shares
What Quantum Physics Does To A Man
The quantum transformation is real! Max Planck went from dapper young gentleman to wild-haired physicist after discovering quantum theory. Left photo: Planck in 1878, looking ready for a fancy dinner party. Right photo: Planck in 1901, post-quantum revelation, sporting that "I've seen the universe's source code and it broke me" look. That's what happens when you discover energy only comes in discrete packets called quanta and shatter 200+ years of classical physics. His hair literally became a superposition of combed and uncombed states simultaneously.

The Most Morbid Textbook Introduction Ever
Physics Academia Science Scientists
7 days ago 3.5K views 0 shares
The Most Morbid Textbook Introduction Ever
Nothing says "welcome to statistical mechanics" quite like casually mentioning that the pioneers of the field committed suicide! The textbook's subtle suggestion that studying this subject might drive you to a similar fate is just *chef's kiss* motivational. The author's "approach the subject cautiously" advice takes on a whole new meaning when it follows the highlighted obituaries. It's like saying "Here's a field so mentally taxing it literally killed its founders... anyway, let's start with perfect gas equations!" Pro tip: If your professor assigns this textbook, maybe check if they've included the campus counseling center number in the syllabus.