Science and technology

Science and technology
The Belle Époque was an era of great scientific and technological advancement in Europe and the world in general. Inventions that either are associated with this era or became generally common in this era include the perfection of lightly-sprung, noiseless carriages in a multitude of new fashionable forms, which were superseded towards the end of the era by the automobile, which was for its first decade a luxurious experiment for the well-heeled, The telephone joined the telegraph as a vehicle for rapid communication, and electric light began to supersede gas lighting. The phonograph and the cinématographe were embraced, though the aeroplane remained a fascinating experiment.

It was during this era that biologists and physicians finally came to understand the germ theory of disease, and the field of bacteriology was established. Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla and Niels Bohr initiated modern physics. To recognize many of the great advances made in science in this era, the Nobel Prizes were established for physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine.

The social sciences also flourished with the professionalization and modernization of research techniques for many disciplines, including history and political science. Georg Simmel, Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, along with American Thorstein Veblen, pioneered the field of academic sociology.