The Top Ten: Scientific Discoveries That Changed the World

There was a time when doctors couldn’t see inside your body to find out what was wrong with you. When X-rays were discovered the world changed for ever.

Now and again, a discovery or invention changes our world so completely that we can never again quite imagine it as it was before. From gravity to DNA, marvel at ten scientific discoveries that transformed our entire world. Anita Ganeri’s carefully selected and fascinating Top Ten ranges from the discovery of the Solar System to the invention of the vaccine, and from electromagnetism to nuclear power. They are discoveries chosen for their effect on our physical world and health, for their influence on our knowledge systems and worldview, and for the way they have changed scientific thought and practice. In a dramatically illustrated and fact-packed guide with plenty of supplementary information, the author explains why she has chosen these discoveries as the most significant in scientific history – and invites readers to create a Top Ten of their own.