(1643–1727) with his important contributions to classical physics and mathematics (1809–82) whose
theory of evolution by natural selection is the foundation of modern biological sciences The United Kingdom led the
Industrial Revolution from the 18th century, and has continued to produce scientists and engineers credited with important advances. Some of the major theories, discoveries and applications advanced by people from the United Kingdom are given below. • The development of
empiricism and its role in
scientific method, by
Francis Bacon (1561–1626). • The
laws of motion and illumination of
gravity, by
physicist,
mathematician,
astronomer,
natural philosopher,
alchemist and
theologian,
Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727). • The discovery of
hydrogen, by
Henry Cavendish (1731–1810). • The
steam locomotive, by
Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) and
Andrew Vivian (1759–1842). • An early
electric motor, by
Michael Faraday (1771–1867), whose work made
electricity practical for technological applications. • The theory of
aerodynamics, by
Sir George Cayley (1773–1857). • The first public steam
railway, by
George Stephenson (1781–1848). • The
first commercial
electrical telegraph, co-invented by
Sir William Fothergill Cooke (1806–79) and
Charles Wheatstone (1802–75). • First tunnel under a navigable river, first all iron ship and first railway to run express services, contributed to by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–59). • Evolution by
natural selection, by
Charles Darwin (1809–82). • The invention of the
incandescent light bulb, by
Joseph Swan (1826–1914). • The discovery of
penicillin, by
biologist and
pharmacologist,
Sir Alexander Fleming (1881–1955). • The world's first working
television system, and
colour television, by
John Logie Baird (1888–1946). • The first meaningful synthesis of
quantum mechanics with
special relativity by
Paul Dirac (1902–84) in
the equation named after him, and his subsequent prediction of
antimatter. • The invention of the
jet engine, by
Frank Whittle (1907–96). • The invention of the
hovercraft, by
Christopher Cockerell (1910–99). • The
Bombe computer, developed by
Alan Turing (1912–54), was an early electromechanical
computer designed for code-breaking during World War II at Bletchley Park. • The structure of
DNA, by
Francis Crick (1916–2004) and others. • The theoretical breakthrough of the Higgs mechanism to explain
electroweak symmetry breaking and why some particles have mass, by
Peter Higgs (1929–2024). • Theories in
cosmology,
quantum gravity and
black holes, by
Stephen Hawking (1942–2018). ==Technology-based industries==