Science history Memes

Posts tagged with Science history

Chemistry Has Come A Long Way... But Maybe A Bit Too Far? 😂

Chemistry Has Come A Long Way... But Maybe A Bit Too Far? 😂
From fearless to fearful in just a century! The 1925 chemist (buff doge) casually mouth-pipetting sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) - an incredibly dangerous, highly corrosive acid that can dissolve metal and cause severe chemical burns. Meanwhile, the modern chemist (small doge) panics over a single drop of extremely dilute (0.00001M) acetic acid on their glove - basically vinegar so weak you could practically drink it. Safety standards have evolved from "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" to "help, I might have encountered a molecule!" The concentration difference is particularly hilarious - it's like being terrified of a water pistol after your grandpa swam with sharks.

From Renaissance Giants To Specialized Doges

From Renaissance Giants To Specialized Doges
Ever notice how science used to be a full-contact sport? Historical physicists were out there conquering multiple disciplines like it was nothing—inventing calculus over breakfast and revolutionizing theology before lunch. Meanwhile, modern physicists are so specialized they can visit their friend's lab and have a whole conversation without either person understanding what the other actually studies! Hyper-specialization has turned us from renaissance scholars into confused dogs nodding along while secretly thinking "I should probably know what a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is by now..." Newton would be so disappointed in us. But hey, at least we have memes!

The Plum Pudding Panic

The Plum Pudding Panic
The meme brilliantly plays on the word "atom" by creating a visual pun: "Atom" → "look inside" → plum + pudding, which references the obsolete "plum pudding model" of atomic structure proposed by J.J. Thomson in 1904. In this early atomic model, electrons were thought to be embedded throughout a positively charged substance like plums in a pudding. The cat's wide-eyed reaction perfectly captures how modern physicists feel about this hilariously outdated model that was disproven by Rutherford's gold foil experiment. Scientists abandoned this model over a century ago, but it remains a charming relic of scientific history that makes physics nerds snicker uncontrollably.

Archimedes' Death Ray: Parental Guidance Required

Archimedes' Death Ray: Parental Guidance Required
The devil's parenting standards are surprisingly strict when it comes to ancient weaponry. Archimedes, the OG mad scientist, allegedly created a death ray by positioning mirrors to focus sunlight onto enemy ships, setting them ablaze from a distance. The physics actually checks out—concentrated solar energy can indeed create enough heat to start fires. Modern attempts to recreate this have had mixed results, suggesting Archimedes might have been history's first "trust me bro" scientist. Still, gotta admire a man who looked at the sun and thought "hmm, how can I weaponize that?"

Darwin Vs. Lamarck: The Evolutionary Debate Smackdown

Darwin Vs. Lamarck: The Evolutionary Debate Smackdown
The ultimate evolutionary smackdown! On the left, we have Lamarck explaining his theory with the classic giraffe example - stretching their necks to reach leaves and somehow passing those stretched necks to their offspring. Meanwhile, Darwin is just sitting there with his magnificent beard, completely done with this pseudoscience nonsense. This is basically the 19th century equivalent of explaining to your uncle at Thanksgiving why his Facebook "research" doesn't actually disprove centuries of scientific consensus. Natural selection doesn't care about your feelings - it just quietly eliminates the genetically unfortunate while you're busy stretching your neck.

Thermodynamics: The Ultimate Academic Horror Story

Thermodynamics: The Ultimate Academic Horror Story
The most metal opening paragraph in science history! 🤘 Goodstein's textbook basically says "Two brilliant physicists who studied this stuff committed suicide... anyway, YOUR TURN NOW!" Talk about setting the mood for thermodynamics! It's like the academic version of a horror movie opening where everyone dies and then they cut to our unsuspecting protagonists. Statistical mechanics: so mind-bending it might just be the final boss of physics textbooks. Study with caution, my entropy-loving friends!

The Original Scientific Rebel

The Original Scientific Rebel
History's original "citation needed" moment. Galileo standing alone, surrounded by the Catholic Church, boldly declaring the Earth revolves around the Sun while everyone else clung to geocentrism. The man literally risked house arrest to say "actually, we're not the center of the universe." Medieval peer review was brutal - they didn't reject your paper, they rejected your entire existence.

Back Where We Started

Back Where We Started
The scientific circle of life is complete. Medieval alchemists spent centuries trying to turn lead into gold, then we developed proper chemistry, then nuclear physics, and now we're back to transmutation via particle accelerators. Except instead of getting rich, we're just spending billions to make a few atoms of something that disappears in microseconds. Progress?

Peas Be With You: Mendel's Genetic Mic Drop

Peas Be With You: Mendel's Genetic Mic Drop
While Darwin was busy sailing around on the Beagle getting seasick and everyone else was arguing about evolution, Gregor Mendel was in his garden making sweet genetic history with... PEAS! 🌱 That's right! The monk who cracked heredity wasn't sailing exotic seas or debating in fancy halls - he was just obsessively counting wrinkly vs. smooth peas like the absolute madlad he was! Darwin couldn't figure out how traits passed down, the Church was freaking out, other scientists were scratching their heads... and meanwhile Mendel's over there like "Hold my monastery brew, I've got some plant sex to document!" His work was so ahead of its time that nobody appreciated it until DECADES after his death. Talk about posthumous mic drop! 💥

The Pee-culiar Discovery Of Phosphorus

The Pee-culiar Discovery Of Phosphorus
Ever cornered someone at a party with your fascinating chemistry trivia? That's the vibe! In 1669, alchemist Hennig Brand boiled down massive amounts of urine looking for the philosopher's stone but instead discovered phosphorus—literally "light-bearer" in Greek. The poor man evaporated 1,500 gallons of pee thinking he'd make gold, and instead got a glowing element that spontaneously combusts in air! Next time your eyes glaze over when I'm mid-chemistry rant, remember: at least I'm not making you collect buckets of urine for my basement experiments... yet . *maniacal scientist laugh*

The Unit Of Disappointment

The Unit Of Disappointment
Imagine inventing a whole unit of measurement and your countrymen are like "nah, we'll stick with pounds, thanks." The look of disappointment is priceless! Sir Isaac Newton literally defined the laws of motion, gave us calculus, and revolutionized physics—yet the British stubbornly cling to their pound-force (lbf) with its ridiculous conversion factor (4.4482216152605 N). It's like naming a sandwich after Einstein but insisting on measuring its ingredients in medieval units. The imperial system is basically Newton's villain origin story.

Le Grand K: The Retired Weight Champion

Le Grand K: The Retired Weight Champion
Finding an outdated physics textbook that still defines the kilogram using Le Grand K is like discovering someone using a flip phone in 2024! For the uninitiated, Le Grand K was a literal platinum-iridium cylinder kept in a vault in France that defined THE EXACT MASS of one kilogram for over 130 years. In 2019, scientists finally replaced this physical object with a definition based on Planck's constant. Talk about a weight being lifted off that cylinder's shoulders! Now it can retire in peace while modern physics textbooks catch up... eventually... maybe... hopefully?