Timeline of fundamental physics discoveries

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This timeline lists significant discoveries in physics and the laws of nature, including experimental discoveries, theoretical proposals that were confirmed experimentally, and theories that have significantly influenced current thinking in modern physics. Such discoveries are often a multi-step, multi-person process. Multiple discovery sometimes occurs when multiple research groups discover the same phenomenon at about the same time, and scientific priority is often disputed. The listings below include some of the most significant people and ideas by date of publication or experiment.

Contents

Antiquity

Middle Ages

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of subatomic physics</span> Chronological listing of experiments and discoveries

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of field theory</span>

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