Editing Belgium (section)

=== Science and technology ===
{{further|Science and technology in Brussels|Science and technology in Flanders|Science and technology in Wallonia}}
[[File:mercator.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gerardus Mercator]]]]

Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century [[Early Modern]] flourishing of Western Europe included [[cartography|cartographer]] [[Gerardus Mercator]], [[anatomy|anatomist]] [[Andreas Vesalius]], [[herbalist]] [[Rembert Dodoens]]<ref name="dQGxf">{{cite web|title=Rembert Dodoens: iets over zijn leven en werk—Dodoens' werken|date=20 December 2005|work=Plantaardigheden—Project Rembert Dodoens (Rembertus Dodonaeus)|language=nl|quote=het Cruijdeboeck, dat in 1554 verscheen. Dit meesterwerk was na de bijbel in die tijd het meest vertaalde boek. Het werd gedurende meer dan een eeuw steeds weer heruitgegeven en gedurende meer dan twee eeuwen was het het meest gebruikte handboek over kruiden in West-Europa. Het is een werk van wereldfaam en grote wetenschappelijke waarde. De nieuwe gedachten die Dodoens erin neerlegde, werden de bouwstenen voor de botanici en medici van latere generaties. ''(...&nbsp;the Cruijdeboeck, published in 1554. This masterpiece was, after the Bible, the most translated book in that time. It continued to be republished for more than a century and for more than two centuries it was the mostly used referential about herbs. It is a work with world fame and great scientific value. The new thoughts written down by Dodoens, became the building bricks for botanists and physicians of later generations.)''|publisher=Stichting Kruidenhoeve/Plantaardigheden|location=Balkbrug|url=http://plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm#dodoens|access-date=17 May 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610070835/http://www.plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm|archive-date= 10 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kXPyM">{{cite web|title=Simon Stevin|last1=O'Connor|first1=J. J.|last2=Robertson|first2=E. F.|website=MacTutor History of Mathematics|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland|year=2004|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html|quote=Although he did not invent decimals (they had been used by the Arabs and the Chinese long before Stevin's time) he did introduce their use in mathematics in Europe.|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609192011/http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html|archive-date=9 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="hV1er">{{cite journal|title=Abstract (*)|journal=American Journal of Nephrology|volume=19|issue=2|pages=282–289|quote=The importance of A. Vesalius' publication'' 'de humani corporis fabrica libri septem' ''cannot be overestimated.|doi=10.1159/000013462|pmid=10213829|year=1999|last1=De Broe|first1=Marc E.|last2=De Weerdt|first2=Dirk L.|last3=Ysebaert|first3=Dirk K.|last4=Vercauteren|first4=Sven R.|last5=De Greef|first5=Kathleen E.|last6=De Broe|first6=Luc C.|doi-access=free}} (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by{{cite journal|title=The Low Countries – 16th/17th century|last1=De Broe|first1=Marc E.|last2=De Weerdt|first2=Dirk L.|last3=Ysebaert|first3=Dirk K.|last4=Vercauteren|first4=Sven R.|last5=De Greef|first5=Kathleen E.|last6=De Broe|first6=Luc C.|journal=American Journal of Nephrology|year=1999|volume=19|issue=2|pages=282–9|pmid=10213829|doi=10.1159/000013462|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="vjZwZ">{{cite web|title='A Day Without Yesterday': Georges Lemaitre & the Big Bang|date=24 March 2000|pages=18–19|author=Midbon, Mark|publisher=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]], republished: Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC)|url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html|access-date=7 June 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070706021420/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html|archive-date= 6 July 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[mathematician]] [[Simon Stevin]] among the most influential scientists.<ref name="jnhYL">{{cite book|title=The Fair Face of Flanders|author=Carson, Patricia|page=136|isbn=978-90-209-4385-6|publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij|year=1969}}</ref>

Chemist [[Ernest Solvay]]<ref name="zHHZT">{{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424|url-access=registration|page=1135|author=Day, Lance|editor1=Lance Day|editor2=Ian McNeil|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-02829-2}}</ref> and engineer [[Zenobe Gramme]] (École industrielle de Liège)<ref name="ec0kr">{{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/523 523]|author=Woodward, Gordon|editor1=Lance Day|editor2=Ian McNeil|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-02829-2}}</ref> gave their names to the [[Solvay process]] and the [[Gramme dynamo]], respectively, in the 1860s. [[Bakelite]] was developed in 1907–1909 by [[Leo Baekeland]]. Ernest Solvay also acted as a major philanthropist and gave his name to the [[Solvay Institute of Sociology]], the [[Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management]] and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the [[Université libre de Bruxelles]]. In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the [[Solvay Conference]]s on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry.<ref name="VJ9RO">{{cite book|title=Cultures of Creativity: the Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize|author=Larsson, Ulf|page=211|isbn=978-0-88135-288-7|publisher=Science History Publications|year=2001}}</ref> A major contribution to fundamental science was also due to a Belgian, [[Monsignor]] [[Georges Lemaître]] ([[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Louvain]]), who is credited with proposing the [[Big Bang]] theory of the origin of the universe in 1927.<ref name="Eq42c">{{cite web|title=Georges Lemaître, Father of the Big Bang|url=http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html|publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]]|year=2000|access-date=9 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117044852/http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

Three [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine]] were awarded to Belgians: [[Jules Bordet]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919, [[Corneille Heymans]] ([[University of Ghent]]) in 1938 and [[Albert Claude]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) together with [[Christian de Duve]] ([[Université catholique de Louvain]]) in 1974. [[François Englert]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 2013. [[Ilya Prigogine]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1977.<ref name="dXPik">{{cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1977/|publisher=Nobelprize.org|access-date=9 December 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101203102528/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1977/|archive-date= 3 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Two Belgian mathematicians have been awarded the [[Fields Medal]]: [[Pierre Deligne]] in 1978 and [[Jean Bourgain]] in 1994.<ref name="AdIxU">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Deligne|title=Pierre Deligne}} (Retrieved 10 November 2011)</ref><ref name="zjTQ6">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Bourgain|title=Jean Bourgain}} (Retrieved 10 November 2011)</ref> Belgium was ranked 24th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |year=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |page=18 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2}}</ref>