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Spotlight on the ‘70s

At Springer Nature we understand the continuing value of high quality research, whether it was conducted last year or 100 years ago. Researchers today are increasingly rediscovering the value of past research. It’s clear that it is as relevant today as it ever was, and will continue to shape the future. Tapping into the experience of previous generations of researchers can improve and accelerate research today.  

This is why Springer Nature has brought together 175 years of the most important research and discovery in the Springer Nature Journals and eBooks archives. The archives include over 2,400 journals and 120,000 books across all our brands - Springer, Nature Research, Palgrave Macmillan, Adis and Scientific American.

Highlighted '70s research across three important Global Grand Challenges

Climate Change

The '70s saw increased acknowledgment and research into the rapid and serious global change caused by humans and set the tone for ongoing research and collaboration that paved the way for further understanding of global warming. This helped lead to agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, and set the foundation for modern environmentalism. Here we touch on some research highlights from the 70s.

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Digitally Transformed World

Much of the technology and gadgets we use today come from the breakthroughs and inventions of the ‘70s. Highlights include: the invention of Ethernet, the very first email being sent; and personal computers, pocket calculators and video games available for personal consumption. 

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Global Health

The ‘70s saw the development of life changing first vaccines for many highly contagious viral diseases such as measles, mumps & meningitis; the official eradication of small pox; the world’s first test tube baby, prenatal DNA sequencing and many more medical discoveries and breakthroughs that inform medical research and procedures today.

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Research of the past informing breakthroughs of the future

Climate Change

1970: Earth Day - April 22 marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement

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1972: United Nations Conference on the Human Environment reports danger of rapid and serious global change caused by humans and calls for an organized research effort

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1977: Scientific opinion tends to converge on global warming, not cooling, as the chief climate risk in the next century

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Digitally Transformed World

1971: Ray Tomlinson sends the very first email to himself on ARPANET

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1973: Ethernet invented by Bob Metcalfe and David Boggs

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1976: Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs launch the Apple I: one of the world's first personal home computers

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Global Health

1970: Prenatal DNA sequencing: Screening for chromosomal abnormalities commenced in the 1970s and was initially restricted to women whose pregnancies were considered to be of increased risk

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1978: First test-tube baby is born in the U.K. on July 25

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1979: First vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, pneumonia & meningitis and eradication of small pox

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