2019 in review: science and technology
Science past. Science present. And science yet to come.Dec 29th 2019ONE OF THE year’s most significant scientific events was not an item of news, but an anniversary: 2019 was the 150th birthday of the periodic table of the elements. How the table was put together is a classic illustration of the mixture of inspiration and perspiration that drives science forward. The result should be part of the intellectual armamentarium of every educated person.Another anniversary, more recent, was the 50th of the first Apollo landing on the Moon. That raised thoughts about whether it is a good idea to go back to the Moon. Farther out in space, meanwhile, the study of exoplanets started to take on the characteristics of a true science, and the origin of many of the elements in the periodic table, in collisions between black holes and neutron stars, became clearer.Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address