Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Dawn of a New Century -- Societal Context: Unrest at the Turn of the Century -- Architecture & Engineering -- Air-conditioning Improves Our Lives -- Steel and Construction of the Skyscraper -- Arts & Entertainment -- Caruso's Gramophone Recording -- Communication -- First Radio Transmission Across the Atlantic -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Second International Peace Conference of 1907 (Second Hague Conference) -- Environment -- Oil Exploration -- Food & Agriculture -- Upton Sinclair's The Jungle -- Medicine & Health -- The Royal Disease -- Transportation -- Wright Brothers' Flight -- Model T Ford -- Human Knowledge -- Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis -- North Pole Exploration -- The Teens -- Societal Context: Equality, Justice, and War -- Architecture & Engineering -- Panama Canal Opens -- Triangle Shirtwaist Fire -- Arts & Entertainment -- Edison's Talking Movies -- Communication -- Hello, San Francisco? It's New York Calling -- Defense & Diplomacy -- A New Poison -- Environment -- National Park Service Founded -- Food & Agriculture -- The Prohibition Movement -- Medicine & Health -- The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 -- Transportation -- The Titanic Sinks -- Human Knowledge -- The Quantum Atomic Model Is Born -- Wegener Proposes the Theory of Continental Drift -- The Twenties -- Societal Context: The Roarding Twenties -- Architecture & Engineering -- Holland Tunnel Constructed -- Arts & Entertainment -- Golden Age of Amusement Parks -- Communication -- The Birth of Television -- Environment -- The Battle of Blair Mountain -- Food & Agriculture -- Mechanical Food Preservation -- Medicine & Health -- The Power of Penicillin -- Transportation -- Traffic Lights Patented -- Antifreeze Keeps Motorists Moving -- Human Knowledge -- The Tomb of King Tutankhamen -- Mead Pens Coming of Age in Samoa -- Big Bang Theory -- The Thirties -- Societal Context: The Great Depression and Government Control -- Architecture & Engineering -- The Tennessee Valley Authority Formed -- Hoover Dam Constructed -- Arts & Entertainment -- The "Golden Era" of Radio -- Electric Guitars Appear on the Musical Scene -- Communication -- Signals from Space -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Jet Engine Developed -- Radar Technology Put in Place -- Environment -- Concerns over Air Pollution -- Food & Agriculture -- The Dust Bowl -- Medicine & Health -- Electron Microscope Invented -- The Eugenics Program -- Transportation -- The Hindenburg Crashes -- Human Knowledge -- Dobzhansky's Theories of Biology -- Exploring the Subatomic -- The Forties -- Societal Context: Devastation of Global War -- Architecture & Engineering -- Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster -- Arts & Entertainment -- Fire at the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub -- Communication -- Transistors Change the World of Communications -- Defense & Diplomacy -- The Manhattan Project -- Environment -- Rubber Shortages -- Food & Agriculture -- The Green Revolution -- Medicine & Health -- The Kinsey Report -- Dr. Spock's Baby Book -- Transportation -- Scuba Gear Opens the Oceans to Amateurs -- Human Knowledge -- DNA as Life's Blueprint -- The Fifties -- Societal Context: The Family and Progress -- Architecture & Engineering -- St. Lawrence Seaway Constructed -- Arts & Entertainment -- Rock-and-Roll Music Moves America's Teenagers -- Communication -- Sputnik Changes the Game -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Nuclear-powered Submarine Cruises the Depths -- Environment -- Bikini Atoll Falls Prey to Nuclear Testing -- Food & Agriculture -- The Birth of Fast Food -- Medicine & Health -- Polio Vaccine Brings Relief -- Transportation -- Highways to Cross the Country -- Human Knowledge -- Double Helix Unraveled -- The Sixties -- Societal Context: Pushing the Boundaries of Society -- Architecture & Engineering -- Versatile Laser Technology -- Arts & Entertainment -- "Beam Me Up, Scotty" -- Communication -- Integrated Circuits -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Helicopters in Vietnam -- Environment -- Alaskan Oil Discovered and Tapped -- Food & Agriculture -- Pesticide Use and Silent Spring -- Medicine & Health -- Birth Control Pill Approved for Use -- Transportation -- Moon Landing -- Human Knowledge -- A Mechanism for Continental Drift -- The Seventies -- Societal Context: Crisis Management -- Architecture & Engineering -- An Idea for Sustainable Development in California -- Arts & Entertainment -- Star Wars and Cinematic Special Effects -- Communication -- Microprocessors Invented -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Agent Orange Banned in Vietnam -- Environment -- Recycling Movement Gains Momentum -- Food & Agriculture -- The Controversy over Saccharin -- Medicine & Health -- "Test Tube Baby" Is Born -- Transportation -- Lessening the Environmental Impact of Automobiles -- Human Knowledge -- "Lucy" Fossil Found in Ethiopia -- The Eighties -- Societal Context: The "Me" Decade -- Architecture & Engineering -- Restoration of the Statue of Liberty -- Arts & Entertainment -- Video Games -- Communication -- Fax Machines -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Star Wars Missile Defense System -- Environment -- Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Accident -- Food & Agriculture -- The African Famine -- Medicine & Health -- The AIDS Crisis -- Transportation -- Space Transportation System: The Space Shuttle -- Human Knowledge -- Cold Fusion and the Nature of Science -- The Nineties -- Societal Context: Learning and Living Democracy -- Architecture & Engineering -- International Space Station -- Arts & Entertainment -- O. J. Simpson Trial -- Communication -- The Internet Connects the Globe -- Defense & Diplomacy -- Stealth Fighters in Desert Storm -- Environment -- Earth Summit Held in Rio de Janeiro -- Food & Agriculture -- Dolly the Sheep Is Introduced to the World -- Medicine & Health -- Cigarette Smoking Dangers Admitted -- Transportation -- Air Bags Required in Automobiles -- Human Knowledge -- Human Genome Project.

From the development of radio to the cloning of Dolly the sheep, science has influenced many of the most important events of the 20th century. Understanding the science is essential to understanding this history--but where to get started? This handy reference source provides students, parents, and teachers with the tools needed to understand how the concepts and principles from biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science have affected the social, cultural, and political events of the last one hundred years. Ideal for students preparing research papers in either science or social studies classes, this resource will also help teachers integrate science and social studies topics into the school curriculum.