I believe many friends know that the first industrial revolution of mankind started in the 18th century. Although it has only been less than three centuries from the 18th century to the current 21st century, human science and technology have made brilliant achievements.
Some people may think that from the 18th century to the present, some great scientists will appear in every century and put forward some great scientific theories. The reason why human science and technology can develop so fast is mainly because there have been some great scientists who can lead human science and technology, and they have put forward some great scientific theories. Under the guidance of these great theories, human science and technology have made technological leaps again and again.
Do these great scientists and great scientific theories appear on average in every century? The answer is no. From the 17th century, some great scientists and great scientific theories began to appear. For example, Newton’s classical mechanics was proposed in the 17th century, and it was the emergence of classical mechanics that accelerated the entry of human civilization into industry. The pace of the times.
In less than three centuries from the industrial age to the present, the 20th century, that is, the last century, should have made the greatest contribution to human science and technology. More precisely, it was the first fifth of the last century, that is, before 1920. We can cite some examples. For example, Einstein put forward the special theory of relativity in 1905, and in 1915 he put forward the general theory of relativity.
And Rutherford’s major breakthrough in atomic structure, that is, at this time, it laid the foundation of nuclear physics. In addition, quantum mechanics, the focus of our current research by scientists, was also proposed by scientists in the first 20 years of the last century. There are also many great scientists and great theories, which were also put forward in the first 20 years of the last century. It can be seen that the first 20 years of the 20th century are the golden age since the Industrial Revolution.
In addition to these, many great scientific conjectures were born in the last century, such as the gravitational wave conjecture, the wormhole conjecture, the gravitational lens conjecture, the Higgs boson conjecture, the black hole conjecture, etc., and these conjectures In this century, except for wormholes that have not been proven, everything else has been scientifically proven.
After reading the glory of the first 20 years of the last century, let’s look at the first 20 years of the 21st century. What great scientific theories have emerged for mankind? It is estimated that we can’t think of it. Whether it is gravitational waves, Higgs bosons or quantum mechanics, they are all things proposed by scientists in the last century. In the 21st century, we are only testing the theories of the past.
At this time, many people will have such a doubt: Why has one fifth of the 21st century passed, and there has not been a great scientist comparable to Newton and Einstein? There is no great scientific theory yet? Could it be that human wisdom has degraded?
A scientist once put forward the view that the basic science of mankind has not made substantial breakthroughs in the past 100 years, and the development of human civilization has encountered shackles. If this shackle cannot be broken through, human civilization will be trapped on the earth forever, and we must understand that with the continuous increase of the population and the continuous depletion of resources, if human civilization cannot truly get rid of the shackles of the earth, what awaits humanity. It may be the end of civilization.
So has the development of science and technology of mankind in the past 100 years really been fettered? From the current perspective, this is indeed the case. We have also made some simple introductions. You can find that the basic sciences that appeared in the history of human science were basically born before the 1920s. From the 1920s to the present, the basic sciences have basically been verified, based on the great theories put forward by scientists more than 100 years ago.
Although only one-fifth of the 21st century has passed, we can see that the technology of human civilization has undergone earth-shaking changes, and new technologies appear almost every day. But if we observe carefully, you will find that no matter how powerful these technologies are, they have not escaped the framework of some basic scientific theories put forward by scientists 100 years ago.
Why can’t the first fifth of the 21st century give birth to such a glorious scientific era as the first 20 years of the last century? In this regard, different people may have different opinions. Some people think that it is because entering the 21st century has not yet born a great scientist who can lead the direction of human science. This is indeed a fact. The reason why the last century was a glorious era of science was because of the birth of a great Einstein and other great scientists, such as Tesla, who had nearly 2,000 inventions in his lifetime. .
A great scientist plays a role in the development of human science. This cannot be compensated by the number of scientists. Quality and quantity are always two things, and no amount of quantity can match the real quality. Let’s compare the current domestically-produced cars with those of foreign famous brands. No matter how large the quantity we produce, we can’t compare with the quality of others. Therefore, quality is the eternal truth.
Others believe that there were so many great theories in the early 20th century because of the relatively low requirements for observation technology at that time. For example: The theory of relativity and quantum mechanics were born in the 20th century, and it was only because of the super-intelligence of scientists. The more important reason is that the observation technology at that time advanced by leaps and bounds. First of all, on a small scale, scientists can use the most crude “bumps” to discover physical phenomena in the microscopic world.
The birth of the theory of relativity is also because humans can begin to capture “high-speed phenomena” and phenomena under strong gravitational fields, which makes the birth of the theory of relativity possible. In a word, those basic theories in the past are supported by the improvement of observation technology. It is because of the improvement of observation technology, and those basic theories do not require very high observation technology, so those great ideas are proposed. .
In the 21st century, many cutting-edge sciences want to propose and require more powerful observation techniques. For example, string theory is a hypothesis proposed in the 21st century, but because we can’t experimentally verify its right or wrong, it’s just a hypothesis. Whether the hypothesis is correct or not is still unknown.
This view tells us that the reason why there will be no great scientists and great scientific theories from the 21st century to the present is mainly because there is not enough powerful observation technology to carry out experimental demonstrations. This conclusion seems to have some truth, but under careful analysis, it will be found to be grossly wrong.
The emergence of any great scientific theory does not rely on machines to realize it, nor does it rely on some so-called observation techniques. Rather, it relies on the bold conjectures of scientists to be able to form a conjecture of the Pegasus starry sky in their own minds. This conjecture is not a wild imagination without any scientific basis, but can be supplemented with specific formulas or other data.
If it is just a wild conjecture without formulas or other data to support it, it is just a hypothesis. For example, string theory has no specific formulas and data to support it, so it is only a hypothesis at present, and a scientific theory has not yet been formed. However, in the first 20 years of the last century, the scientific theories put forward by great scientists were supported by formulas and data, so the theory of relativity became a great scientific theory.
Newton’s classical mechanics is also supported by specific formulas and data, so it has become a great scientific theory. Although these theories could indeed be demonstrated through experiments at the time, first of all, a great theory must be put forward. This is the most difficult and precious. Without these great theories, no amount of powerful observation technology is useful.
Observation tools from the 21st century to the present are fundamentally different from those of the 1920s. The two are not at the same level. But can we rely on these powerful observation tools to derive some great scientific theories? The answer is no, because no one can really think of which scientific theories may be great and correct, and can be experimentally demonstrated by modern observation tools.
In addition to Einstein’s greatness, he put forward the theory of relativity that was completely subverted in the eyes of people at the time. Such a theory was not accepted by people at that time. And Einstein didn’t just put forward a wild theory of relativity, he also supplemented the relevant formulas and data, which is the most powerful thing. It is not difficult to put forward the scientific theory of Tianma Xingkong, but the difficulty is to put forward the corresponding formula or data.
Only with formulas and data, can observation tools be used to verify, so as to verify whether this theory is correct. If you just put forward some scientific theories about the sky and stars, I believe that not only scientists can do it, but many people estimate that they can also put forward some ideas that completely subvert people’s cognition.
But the subversion theory we put forward can only be a conjecture, and there is no way to put forward corresponding formulas and data, such as the theory of human souls, we can also put forward hypotheses, conjecture that the soul is real, but we cannot put forward more specific It’s just a conjecture and hypothesis that cannot be verified with observation tools.
It can be seen from this that the absence of great scientific theories from the 21st century to the present does not mean that the observation tools are not advanced enough. The main reason is that no great scientist like Einstein was born. Only the birth of such a great scientist can truly lead human civilization into a new chapter. At that time, mankind was a starry civilization, completely free from the shackles of the earth. We look forward to this day.
