The 1910s Science and Technology: Overview

The 1910s was notable for groundbreaking scientific research and startling discoveries that improved the general quality of life at the time and led to then-unimagined technological advances later in the twentieth century. Astronomers explored the skies in order to understand the nature of the universe. The world's largest telescope was constructed, allowing astronomers the opportunity to view several hundred million stars. The first synthetically produced plastic was invented and was commercially marketed in 1917. People thought of new uses for electricity. Improvements in the content of fertilizer modernized the farming industry. Geologists speculated on the origins of the Earth. In the biological sciences, researchers explored the composition of genes and how they are related to heredity. Electric refrigerators were marketed, which revolutionized the manner in which food was stored and preserved at the home. The link between food content and disease was acknowledged, and new laws and codes were passed to ensure that better-preserved edibles would be sold and consumed.

The decade saw the beginnings of commercial aviation. Airplane distance and speed records were established, and cross-country and transcontinental air flights were completed. Automobile manufacturing was becoming one of America's premier industries; the Ford Motor Company's Model T was the car of choice for drivers. In 1913, Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in his manufacturing plants, which resulted in a significant increase in auto production. Among the decade's innovations were the all-steel automobile body, front-mounted engine, and electric starter. Electric and steam-powered cars also were marketed, while trucks began replacing horse-drawn vehicles as a primary mode for transporting goods on roadways. Rapid advances were made in radio technology, including the amplification of radio waves and the invention of an efficient radio receiver.

A series of lectures presented in the United States by Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud led to an increased interest in psychoanalysis (a form of psychiatric examination that involves dream interpretation and an understanding of the ego, id, and superego). Meanwhile, physicists explored the nature of matter and the composition of the atom. German-born physicist Albert Einstein shook the physics community in 1916 with his groundbreaking general theory of relativity. In the simplest terms, this theory states that the nature of one entity is dependent on that of another.

Science and technology were not the exclusive domains of male pioneers. Among the women who made headlines with their accomplishments were airplane pilots Harriet Quimby and Ruth Law, astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, and biological scientist Louise Pearce.

As World War I (1914–18) raged through a good portion of the decade, science and invention helped to modernize the ways in which armies battled. Before the war, sonar (a mechanism that detected the presence of submerged objects) was employed to detect schools of fish. During the war, it was used to note the presence of enemy submarines. Among the tools of war invented or developed during the decade were lightweight machine guns, incendiary bombs, artillery shells, short- and long-range listening devices, flamethrowers, tanks, sea mines, and poison gases. Airplanes were commissioned to carry bombs. Some of the war's most celebrated combatants were pilots, whose participation in air battles made them instant heroes. Such uses of science and technology on the battlefield serve to illustrate that not all technological innovations are employed for the purpose of peace, prosperity, and advancing civilization.