This Day in Science History

yevaud · Sep 13, 2006

August 14 People Arthur Jeffrey Dempster Born 14 Aug 1886; died 11 Mar 1950. Canadian-American physicist who in 1918 built the first mass spectrometer (based on the invention of Francis W. Aston) and discovered isotope uranium-235 (1935). The mass spectrometer is an instrument that uses electric and magnetic fields to separate and measure a sample's atoms according to their mass and relative quantity. In 1935, he discovered that naturally occurring uranium, though mostly uranium-238, contained 0.7% U-235 (later used as the primary fuel in atomic bombs and reactors after Niels Bohr predicted it could be used to produce a chain reaction releasing huge amounts of nuclear fission energy). During WW II, Dempster worked with the secret Manhattan Project that developed the world's first nuclear weapons. Jean-Gaston Darboux Born 14 Aug 1842 French mathematician whose work on partial differential equations introduced a new method of integration (the Darboux integral) and contributed to infinitesimal geometry. He wrote a paper in 1870 on differential equations of the second order in which he presented the Darboux integral. In 1873, Darboux wrote a paper on cyclides and between 1887-96 he produced four volumes on infinitesimal geometry, including a discussion of one surface rolling on another surface. In particular he studied the geometrical configuration generated by points and lines which are fixed on the rolling surface. He also studied the problem of finding the shortest path between two points on a surface. John Jeremiah Bigbsy Born 14 Aug 1792; died 10 Feb 1881 English physician and geologist whose extensive geologic studies of Canada and New York revealed much of the structure of the underlying rock strata and uncovered many new species of prehistoric life. Hans Christian Oerst <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 13, 2006

August 15 People Leslie Comrie Born 15 Aug 1893; died 11 Dec 1950. Leslie (John) Comrie was a New Zealand astronomer and pioneer in the application of punched-card machinery to astronomical calculations. He joined HM Nautical Almanac Office (1926-36), where he replaced the use of logarithm tables with desk calculators and punched card machines for the production of astronomical and mathematical tables. This made scientific use of these machines, made originally for only business uses. In 1938, he founded the Scientific Computing Service Ltd., the first commercial calculating service in Great Britain, to further his ideas of mechanical computation for the preparation of mathematical tables. His use of card processing systems prepared the way for electronic computers. Louis DeBroglie Born 15 Aug 1892; died 19 Mar 1987. Louis Victor Pierre Raymond duc de Broglie was a French physicist best known for his research on quantum theory and for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons. De Broglie was of the French aristocracy - hence the title "duc" (Prince). In 1923, as part of his Ph.D. thesis, he argued that since light could be seen to behave under some conditions as particles (photoelectric effect) and other times as waves (diffraction), we should consider that matter has the same ambiguity of possessing both particle and wave properties. For this, he was awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize for Physics. Tor Bergeron Born 15 Aug 1891; died 13 Jun 1977. Tor Harold Percival Bergeron was a Swedish meteorologist best known for his work on cloud physics. He was the first meteorologist to take into account the upper atmospheric phenomena and their effect on climate. He demonstrated that raindrops can form in the upper parts of clouds, which contain little liquid water, through the growth of ice crystals <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 13, 2006

August 16 People Hugo Gernsback Born 16 Aug 1884; died 19 Aug 1967 American inventor (80 patents) and publisher who was largely responsible for the establishment of science fiction as an independent literary form. In 1926, Hugo Gernsback was the owner of a magazine called Modern Electrics. One day, he found that he had a blank spot in his publication, so he dashed off the first chapter of series called "Ralph 124C 41+." "Ralph" was an amazing success. The 12-part story was filled with all kinds of wild inventions unheard of in 1926, including television (he is credited with introducing this word), fluorescent lighting, juke boxes, solar energy, television, microfilm, vending machines, and a device we now call radar. Gabriel Lippmann Born 16 Aug 1845; died 13 Jul 1921. French physicist, born Hollerich, Luxembourg, who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1908 for producing the first colour photographic plate. Lippmann was a giant of his day in classical physics research, especially in optics and electricity. He worked in Berlin with the famed Hermann von Helmholtz before settling in Paris to head (in 1886) the Sorbonne's Laboratories of Physical Research until his death. His inventions include an instrument for precisely measuring minute differences in electrical power and the "coleostat" for steady, long-exposure sky photography. Pierre Mechain Born 16 Aug 1744; died 20 Sep 1804. Pierre (-François-André) Méchain was a French astronomer and hydrographer at the naval map archives in Paris recruited by Jean Delambre. He was a mathematical progidy. In 1790, they were chosen by the National Assembly to establish a decimal system of measurement based on the meter. Since this was defined to be one ten-millionth of the distance between the Earth's pole and the equator, Mechain led a survey of <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 13, 2006

August 17 People Walter Noddack Born 17 Aug 1893; died 7 Dec 1960. Walter Karl Friedrich Noddack was a German chemist who discovered the element rhenium (Jun 1925) in collaboration with his wife Ida Tacke. In 1922, he began a long search for undiscovered elements. After three years, the careful fractionation of certain ores yielded element 75, a rare heavy metallic element that resembles manganese. Named rhenium after the Rhine River, it was the last stable element to be discovered. Noddack is also remembered for arguing for a concept he called allgegenwartskonzentration or, literally, omnipresent concentration. This idea, reminiscent of Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, assumed that every mineral actually contained every element. The reason they could not all be detected was they existed in too small quantities. Pierre De Fermat Born 17 Aug 1601; died 12 Jan 1665. French mathematician, often called the founder of the modern theory of numbers. Together with Rene Descartes, Fermat was one of the two leading mathematicians of the first half of the 17th century. He anticipated differential calculus with his method of finding the greatest and least ordinates of curved lines. He proposed the famous Fermat's Last Theorem while studying the work of the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantus. He wrote in pencil in the margin, "I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain," that when the Pythagorean theorem is altered to read an + bn = cn, the new equation cannot be solved in integers for any value of n greater than 2. Robert Rowe Gilruth Died 17 Aug 2000 (born 8 Oct 1913) American aerospace scientist, engineer, and a pioneer of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. He developed the X-1, first plane to break the sound barrier. Gilruth directed Project M <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 13, 2006

August 18 People Bern Dibner Born 18 Aug 1897; died 6 Jan 1988 Ukrainian-American engineer and science historian. Dibner worked as an engineer during the electrification of Cuba. Realizing the need for improved methods of connecting electrical conductors, in 1924, he founded the Burndy Engineering Company. A few years later, he became interested in the history of Renaissance science. Subsequently, he began collecting books and everything he could find that was related to the history of science. This became a second career as a scholar that would run parallel with his life as a businessman. He wrote many books and pamphlets, on topics from the transport of ancient obelisks, to authorative biographies of many scientific pioneers, including Volta, inventor of the electric battery, and Roentgen, discoverer of the X ray. Brook Taylor Born 18 Aug 1685; died 29 Dec 1731 British mathematician, best known the Taylor's series, a method for expanding functions into infinite series. In 1708, Taylor produced a solution to the problem of the centre of oscillation. His Methodus incrementorum directa et inversa (1715; “Direct and Indirect Methods of Incrementation”) introduced what is now called the calculus of finite differences. Using this, he was the first to express mathematically the movement of a vibrating string on the basis of mechanical principles. Methodus also contained Taylor's theorem, later recognized (1772) by Lagrange as the basis of differential calculus. A gifted artist, Taylor also wrote on basic principles of perspective (1715) containing the first general treatment of the principle of vanishing points. Andre-Jacques Garnerin Died 18 Aug 1823 (born 31 Jan 1769) French aeronaut, the first person to use a parachute regularly and successfully. He perfected the parachute and made jumps from grea <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 19 People Story Musgrave Born 19 Aug 1935 American astronaut and physician who made six flights into space. After being selected as a NASA scientist-astronaut (1967) he completed astronaut academic training, worked on the design and development of the Skylab Program and Space Shuttle extravehicular activity equipment (including spacesuits, life support systems, airlocks, and manned maneuvering units). His first space flight began on 9 Apr 1983 with the maiden voyage of Space Shuttle Challenger, during which he and Don Peterson conducted the first Space Shuttle extravehicular activity to test the new space suits. They also tested the devices and procedures for construction and repair. He flew on five more Space Shuttle flights before retiring from NASA in Aug 1997. Philo T. Farnsworth Born 19 Aug 1906; died 11 Mar 1971 American pioneer in the development of electronic television, taking all of the moving parts out of television inventions. Farnsworth was a 15-year-old high school student when he designed his first television system. Six years later he obtained his first patent. In 1935 he demonstrated his complete television system. Farnsworth's basic television patents covered scanning, focusing, synchronizing, contrast, controls, and power. He also invented the first cold cathode ray tubes and the first simple electronic microscope. The Philco TV manufacturing was named after him. Orville Wright Born 19 Aug 1871; died 30 Jan 1948. American pioneer aviator, who with his brother, Wilbur, invented the first powered airplane, Flyer, capable of sustained, controlled flight (17 Dec 1903). At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville made the first ever manned powered flight, airborn for 12-sec. By 1905, they had improved the design, built and and made several long flights in Flyer III, which wa <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 20 People Valentin Petrovich Glushko Born 20 Aug 1908; died 10 Jan 1989 Soviet rocket scientist who was a pioneer developer of rocket engines (1946-74). From 1929, he worked in Leningrad in GDL - the Gas Dynamics Laboratory, the military rocket research organization, founded in 1921. He worked with renowned rocket designer Sergey Korolyov (1932-1966). In Aug 1957, they successfully launched the first intercontinental ballistic missile and in October of the same year, sent the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, into orbit. He became chief designer for the Soviet space program in 1974, helping to oversee development of the Mir space station. During his life, he designed the most succesessful rocket engines in the Soviet space program. Eduard Suess Born 20 Aug 1831; died 26 Apr 1914 Austrian geologist, born in England, who helped lay the basis for paleogeography and tectonics--i.e., the study of the architecture and evolution of the Earth's outer rocky shell. He was an authority on structural geology, especially of mountains, and postulated the existence of the giant land mass Gondwanaland. While he was a professor (1857–1901) at the Univ. of Vienna, he also served for more than 20 years in the Austrian parliament. His Austrian-born son, Hans Suess, became a geochemist who pioneered radiocarbon dating techniques and was a founding faculty member of the University of California, San Diego. Sir Fred Hoyle Died 20 Aug 2001 (born 24 June 1915) English mathematician and astronomer, best known as the foremost proponent and defender of the steady-state theory of the universe. This theory holds both that the universe is expanding and that matter is being continuously created to keep the mean density of matter in space constant. He became Britain's best-known astronomer in 1950 with his bro <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 21 People Edward Thomas Copson Born 21 Aug 1901; died 16 Feb 1980. Scottish mathematician known for his contributions to analysis and partial differential equations, especially as they apply to mathematical physics. Augustin-Louis Cauchy Born 21 Aug 1789; died 23 May 1857. (Baron) French mathematician who pioneered in analysis and the theory of substitution groups (groups whose elements are ordered sequences of a set of things). He was one of the greatest of modern mathematicians. Subrahmayan Chandrasekhar Died 21 Aug 1995 (born 19 Oct 1910) Indian-born U.S. astrophysicist who shared with William A. Fowler the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for formulating the currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars, work that subsequently led to the discovery of neutron stars and black holes. H.U. Sverdrup Died 21 Aug 1957 (born 15 Nov 1888) Harald Ulrik Sverdrup was a Norwegian meteorologist and oceanographer known for his studies of the physics, chemistry, and biology of the oceans. He explained the equatorial countercurrents and helped develop the method of predicting surf and breakers. As scientific director of Roald Amundsen's polar expedition on Maud (1918-1925), Sverdrup worked extensively on meteorology, magnetics, atmospheric electricity, physical oceanography, and tidal dynamics on the Siberian shelf, and even on the anthropology of Chukchi natives. In 1953, Sverdrup quantified the concept of "critical depth", explaining the onset of the spring phytoplankton bloom in newly stratified water columns. Events Mars Observer Lost In 1993, contact was lost with the Mars Observer spacecraft, following the pressurization of the rocket thruster <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 22 People Samuel Pierpoint Langley Born 22 Aug 1834; died 27 Feb 1906. American astronomer, physicist, and aeronautics pioneer who built the first heavier-than-air flying machine to achieve sustained flight. He launched his Aerodrome No.5 on 6 May 1896 using a spring-actuated catapult mounted on top of a houseboat on the Potomac River, near Quantico, Virginia. He also researched the relationship of solar phenomena to meteorology. James S. McDonnell Died 22 Aug 1980 (born 9 Apr 1899) James S. McDonnell was an American manufacturer of aircraft McDonnell started his first company in 1928, to build the single Doodlebug, but since it found no market, he spent the next 10 years working for several aircraft companies. Then he founded the St. Louis based McDonnell Aircraft Co.on 6 Jul 1939. Among his notable achievements were the production of the U.S. Navy's first carrier based jet fighter (1946), the FM-1; Mercury, America's first manned space craft to orbit the earth (1962), and the F-4 Phantom jet. Jacob Brownowski Died 22 Aug 1974 (born 18 Jan 1908) Polish-born British mathematician and man of letters who eloquently presented the case for the humanistic aspects of science. He is remembered as writer and presenter of the BBC television series, The Ascent of Man. Bronowski, who had a Ph.D. in algebraic geometry, spent WW II in Operations Research, and was an official observer of the after-effects of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings. After this experience, he turned to biology, to better understand the nature of violence. William Whiston Died 22 Aug 1752 (born 9 Dec 1667) Anglican priest and mathematician who sought to harmonize religion and science. Ordained in 1693, Whiston wrote A New Theory of the Earth (1696), in which he claimed that the b <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 23 People Sir Henry Tizard Born 23 Aug 1885; died 9 Oct 1959. Scientist and administrator. Around 1920, with David Pye, his work on aircraft fuels ultimately led to the octane rating system, which expresses the anti-knocking characteristics of the fuel. In the 1930-40's he advised the British government in the scientific aspects of air defence, particularly radar. He led a mission of leading British and Canadian scientists to the USA (29 Aug 1940) to brief official American representatives on devices under active development for war use and to enlist the support of American scientists. Thus began a close cooperation of Anglo-American scientists in such fields as aeronautics and rocketry. His influence probably made the difference between defeat or victory at the Battle of Britain in 1940. William Henry Eccles Born 23 Aug 1875; died 29 Apr 1966. British physicist who pioneered in the development of radio communication. Eccles was an early proponent of Oliver Heaviside's theory that an upper layer of the atmosphere reflects radio waves, thus enabling their transmission over long distances. He also suggested in 1912 that solar radiation accounted for the differences in wave propagation during the day and night. He experimented with detectors and amplifiers for radio reception, coined the term "diode," and studied atmospheric disturbances of radio reception. After WW I, he made many contributions to electronic circuit development*, including the Eccles-Jordan "flip-flop" patented in 1918 and used in binary counters (working with F.W. Jordan). Moritz Benedikt Cantor Born 23 Aug 1829; died 10 Apr 1920. German historian of mathematics, one of the greatest of the 19th century. He is best remembered for the four volume work Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Mathematik which traces the history o <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 24 People Rudolf Oskar Robin Williams Geiger Born 24 Aug 1894; died 1981. German meteorologist, one of the founders of microclimatology, the study of the climatic conditions within a few metres of the ground surface. His observations, made above grassy fields or areas of crops and below forest canopies, elucidated the complex and subtle interactions between vegetation and the heat, radiation, and water balances of the air and soil. Louis Essen Died 24 Aug 1997 (born 6 Sep 1908) English physicist who invented the quartz crystal ring clock and the first practical atomic clock. These devices were capable of measuring time more accurately than any previous clocks. He built a cesium-beam atomic clock, a device that ultimately changed the way time is measured. Each chemical element and compound absorbs and emits electromagnetic radiation at its own characteristic frequencies. These resonances are inherently stable over time and space. The cesium atom's natural frequency was formally recognized as the new international unit of time in 1967: the second was defined as exactly 9,192,631,770 oscillations or cycles of the cesium atom's resonant frequency, replacing the old second defined in terms of the Earth's motion. Harold Masursky Died 24 Aug 1990 (born 23 Dec 1923) American geologist and senior scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey's astrogeology branch supporting space exploration. Starting in the mid 1960s, he helped analyze the photographs from the Ranger, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor lunar missions. In mapping the moon, suitable landing spots were being sought for the unmanned Surveyor 5 spacecraft (1967) and the manned Apollo landings (1969-72). Masursky headed the group that interpreted television transmissions from Martian satellite Mariner 9 (1971), producing maps to plan the land <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 25 People John Ray Dunning Died 25 Aug 1975 (born 24 Sep 1907) John R(ay) Dunning was an American nuclear physicist whose experiments in nuclear fission helped lay the groundwork for the development of the atomic bomb. After the fission of the rare U235 uranium isotope was verified in an experiment using a microscopic quantity, (0.02 millionths of a gram), great difficulty remained in separating U235 from the more abundant U238. Dr. John R. Dunning led the research team at Columbia University which studied the gaseous diffusion method for uranium separation. This process was based on the slightly smaller size of the U235 isotope molecules. When pushed through a porous barrier, U235 would move through faster, and several repetitions would produce almost pure U235. Antoine-Henri Becquerel Died 25 Aug 1908 (born 15 Dec 1852) French physicist who discovered radioactivity through his investigations of uranium and other substances. In 1903 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie. His early researches were in optics, then in 1896 he accidentally discovered radioactivity in fluorescent salts of uranium. He left a plate in black paper next to some crystals in a drawer and some time later developed the plate. He found that this too was fogged, even though the crystals were not fluorescing - and that the salt gave off a penetrating radiation independently, without ultraviolet radiation. Three years later he showed that it consists of charged particles that are deflected by a magnetic field. Initially, the rays emitted by radioactive substances were named after him. Michael Faraday Died 25 Aug 1867 (born 22 Sep 1791) English physicist and chemist whose many experiments contributed greatly to the understanding of electromagnetism. Although one of the greatest experimenta <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 26 People Edward Witten Born 26 Aug 1951 American mathematical physicist who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1990 for his work in superstring theory. This is work in elementary particle theory, especially quantum field theory and string theory, and their mathematical implications. He elucidated the dynamics of strongly coupled supersymmetric field. The deep physical and mathematical consequences of the electric-magnetic duality thus exploited have broadened the scope of Mathematical Physics. He also received the Dirac Medal from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (1985) and the Dannie Heineman Prize from the American Physical Society (1998), among others. Jerome C. Hunsaker Born 26 Aug 1886; died 10 Sep 1984 American aeronautical engineer who made major innovations in the design of aircraft and lighter-than-air ships, seaplanes, and carrier-based aircraft. His career had spanned the entire existence of the aerospace industry, from the very beginnings of aeronautics to exploration of the solar system. He received his master's degree in naval architecture from M.I.T. in 1912. At about the same time seeing a flight by Bleriot around Boston harbour attracted him to the fledgling field of aeronautics. By 1916, he became MIT's first Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering. He designed the NC (Navy Curtiss) flying boat with the capability of crossing the Atlantic. It was the largest aircraft in the world at the time, with four engines and a crew of six. Johann Heinrich Lambert Born 26 Aug 1728; died 25 Sep 1777. Swiss-German mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and philosopher who provided the first rigorous proof that pi is irrational (cannot be expressed as the quotient of two integers). In 1766, Lambert wrote Theorie der Parallellinien, a study of the parallel postulate. By assumin <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 27 People Norman Foster Ramsey Born 27 Aug 1915 American physicist who received one-half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1989 for his development of a technique to induce atoms to shift from one specific energy level to another. (The other half of the prize was awarded to Wolfgang Paul and Hans Georg Dehmelt.) Ramsey's innovation was called the separated oscillatory fields method. Ernest Orlando Lawrence Died 27 Aug 1958 (born 8 Aug 1901 ) American physicist who was awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize for Physics for his invention of the cyclotron, the first device for the production of high energy particles. His first device, built in 1930 used a 10-cm magnet. He accelerated particles within a cyclinder at high vacuum between the poles of an electromagnetic to confine the beam to a spiral path, while a high A.C. voltage increased the particle energy. Larger models built later created 8 x 104 eV beams. By colliding particles with atomic nuclei, he produced new elements and artificial radioactivity. By 1940, he had created plutonium and neptunium. He extended the use of atomic radiation into the fields of biology and medicine. Element 103 was named Lawrencium as a tribute to him. John Hopkinson Died 27 Aug 1898 (born 27 Jul 1849) British physicist and electrical engineer who worked on the application of electricity and magnetism in devices like the dynamo and electromagnets. Hopkinson's law (the magnetic equivalent of Ohm's law) bears his name. In 1882, he patented his invention of the three-wire system (three phase) for electricity generation and distribution. He presented the principle the synchronous motors (1883), and designed electric generators with better efficiency. He also studied condensers and the phenomena of residual load. In his earlier career, he became (1872) engineering <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 28 People Andre-Eugene Blondel Born 28 Aug 1863; died 15 Nov 1938. French physicist known for his oscillograph and photometric units of measurement. As a professor of electrotechnology in Paris, in 1893, he invented the electromagnetic oscillograph, a device that allowed electrical researchers to observe the intensity of alternating currents. In 1894, he proposed the lumen and other new measurement units for use in photometry, based on the metre and the Violle candle. Endorsed in 1896 by the International Electrical Congress, his system is still in use with only minor modifications. Blondel was a pioneer in the high voltage long distance transport of electric power, and also contributed to developments in wireless telegraphy, acoustics, and mechanics. He proposed theories for induction motors and coupling of a.c. generators. William Bowie Died 28 Aug 1940 (born 6 May 1872) American geodesist who investigated isostasy, a principle that rationalizes the tendency of dense crustal rocks to cause topographic depressions and of light crustal rocks to cause topographic elevations. He made systematic observations of gravity anomalies on land and encouraged gravity surveys in the oceans. He found the anomalies correlated with topographic features and validated the isostasy phenomenon. With John F. Hayford, he computed tables of the depth of isostatic compensation (the surface above which the weight of the crust per unit area is equalized). Bowie felt that this zone would occur at a uniform depth as predicted by John Henry Pratt, rather than at the varying depth predicted by Sir George Airy. He wrote Isostasy (1927). Emile Haug Died 28 Aug 1927 (born 19 Jun 1861) Gustave-Émile Haug was a French geologist and paleontologist known for his contributions to the theory of geosynclines (trenches tha <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 29 People Christian Friedrich Schonbein Died 29 Aug 1868 (born 18 Oct 1799) German-Swiss chemist who discovered and named ozone (1840) and was the first to describe guncotton (nitrocellulose). He noted ozone appeared during thunderstorms and named the gas ozone for its peculiar smell (ozo is Greek for smell). Later experiments showed that sending an electric current through pure, dry oxygen (O2) creates ozone (O3). His discovery of the powerful explosive called cellulose nitrate, or gun cotton, was the result of a laboratory accident. One day in 1845 he spilled sulfuric and nitric acids and soaked it with a cotton apron. After the apron dried, it burst into flame - he had created nitrated cellulose. He found that cellulose nitrate could be molded and had some elastic properties. It eventually was used for smokeless gun powder. Jan Sniadecki Born in 1756 - Jan Śniadecki, Polish mathematician, philosopher and astronomer (d. 1830). Śniadecki published many works, including his observations on recently discovered planetoids. His O rachunku losów (On the Calculation of Chance, 1817), was a pioneering work on probability. Events Element 109 In 1982, an atom of a new element was made. It has been given the proposed name of Meitnerium, symbol Mt. Physicists at the Heavy Ion Research Laboratory, Darmstadt, West Germany made and identified element 109 by bombing a target of Bi-209 with accelerated nuclei of Fe-58. After a week of target bombardment a single fused nucleus was produced. The combined energy of two nuclei had to be sufficiently high so that the repulsive forces between the nuclei could be overcome. The team confirmed the existence of element 109 by four independent measurements. The nucleus started to decay 5 ms after striking the de <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 30 People E.M. Purcell Born 30 Aug 1912; died 7 Mar 1997. American physicist who shared, with Felix Bloch of the United States, the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1952 for his independent discovery (1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become widely used to study the molecular structure of pure materials and the composition of mixtures. The method detects and measures the magnetic fields of atomic nuclei. John W. Mauchly Born 30 Aug 1907; died 8 Jan 1980. American physicist and engineer, who with John P. Eckert invented (1946) the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the first general-purpose electronic computer. Mauchly initially conceived of the computer's architecture, and Eckert possessed the engineering skills to bring the idea to life. ENIAC was developed (1946) for the US Army Ordnance Department as what was probably the first general-purpose electronic computer. It was a vast machine, consuming 100 kW of electric power and containing 18,000 electronic valves. Their successful UNIVAC computer (1951) was the first commercial computer, and introduced magnetic tape for programming. Sir Ernest Rutherford Born 30 Aug 1871; died 19 Oct 1937. (baron) New Zealand-born British physicist who laid the groundwork for the development of nuclear physics. He worked under Sir J. J. Thomson at Cambridge University (1895-98). Then he collaborated with Frederick Soddy in studying radioactivity. In 1899 he discovered alpha particles and beta particles, followed by the discovery of gamma radiation the following year. In 1905, with Soddy, he announced that radioactive decay involves a series of transformations. In 1907, with Hans Geiger and E. Marsden, he devised the alpha-particle scattering experiment that led in 1911 to the di <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

August 31 People Robert Hanbury Brown Born 31 Aug 1916; 16 Jan 2002. British astronomer who was a pioneer in radar and observational astronomy. During and after WW II he worked with R.A. Watson-Watt and then E.G. Bowen to develop radar for uses in aerial combat. In the 1950s he applied this experience to radio astronomy, developing radio-telescope technology at Jodrell Bank Observatory and mapping stellar radio sources. He designed a radio interferometer capable of resolving radio stars while eliminating atmospheric distortion from the image (1952). With R.Q. Twiss, Brown applied this method to measuring the angular size of bright visible stars, thus developing the technique of intensity interferometry. They set up an intensity interferometer at Narrabri in New South Wales, Australia, for measurements of hot stars. Sir Bernard Lovell Born 31 Aug 1913 Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell was an English radio astronomer who established and directed (1951-81) Jodrell Bank Experimental Station, Cheshire, England, with (then) the world's largest steerable radiotelescope, now named after him Prior to WW II, he worked at Manchester University on cosmic ray research. During the war, he helped develop aircraft onboard radar systems. After the war, to escape interference to radar equipment from city trams, he moved his research to the University's more remote Jodrell Bank property. In 1946, he showed that radar echoes could detect optically invisible daytime meteor showers. He gained funding to build the 250-ft-diam. telescope. When completed in 1957, it was able to track the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. Herman Von Helmholtz Born 31 Aug 1821; died 8 Sep 1894. Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a German scientist who made fundamental contributions to physiology, optics, electrodynami <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

September 1 People Dirk Brouwer Born 1 Sep 1902; died 31 Jan 1966 Dutch-born U.S. astronomer and geophysicist known for his achievements in celestial mechanics, especially for his pioneering application of high-speed digital computers for astronomical computations. While still a student he determined the mass of Titan from its influence on other Saturnian moons. Brouwer developed general methods for finding orbits and computing errors and applied these methods to comets, asteroids, and planets. He computed the orbits of the first artificial satellites and from them obtained increased knowledge of the figure of the earth. His book, Methods of Celestial Mechanics, taught a generation of celestial mechanicians. He also redetermined astronomical constants. Francis William Aston Born 1 Sep 1877; died 20 Nov 1945 British physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1922 for his development of the mass spectrograph, a device that separates atoms or molecular fragments of different mass and measures those masses with remarkable accuracy. Aston used the mass spectograph to discover a large number of nuclides, or nuclear species. Luis W. Alvarez Died 1 Sep 1988 (born 13 June 1911) American experimental physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968 for work that included the discovery of many resonance particles (subatomic particles having extremely short lifetimes and occurring only in high-energy nuclear collisions). Alvarez invented a radio distance and direction indicator. During World War II, he designed a landing system for aircrafts and a radar system for locating planes. He participated in the development of the atomic bomb at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M. (1944-45). He suggested the technique for detonating the implosion type of atomic bomb. Late <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

September 2 People Christa McAuliffe Born 2 Sep 1948; died 28 Jan 1986. Astronaut, first teacher in space, who died on the Challenger Space Shuttle when 73 seconds into its 10th launch, Challenger (STS-51L) exploded in midair, killing its crew of seven. Space shuttle flights were suspended until 1988. An independent U.S. commission blamed the disaster on unusually cold temperatures that morning and the failure of the O-rings, a set of gaskets in the rocket boosters. Nikolay Aleksandrovich Kozyreb Born 2 Sep 1908 Russian astronomer who claimed to have discovered volcano-like activity on the Moon. His sightings of apparent gaseous emissions from the lunar surface challenged the long-held theory that the Moon is a dead and inert celestial body. For years, amateur astronomers have reported seeing strange colors on the moon, especially in the Alphonsus and Aristarchus regions. These types of observations gained credibility when on 13 Nov 1958, Kozyrev saw a brightening at the central peak in the crater Alphonsus. He photographed its spectrum, which showed carbon-vapor emissions. Sir William Roawn Hamilton Died 2 Sep 1865 (born 4 Aug 1805) Irish mathematician in the fields of optics, geometrics, and classical mechanics. By age 12, Hamilton had already learned fourteen languages when he met the American, Zerah Colburn, who could perform amazing mental arithmetical feats, and they joined in competitions. It appears that losing to Colburn sparked Hamilton's interest in mathematics. At 15, he began studied the works of LaPlace and Newton so by age 17 had become the greatest living mathematician. He contributed to the development of optics, dynamics, and algebra. His invention of the calculus of quaternions enabled a three-dimensional algebra or geometry which provided a basis for the later develo <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

September 3 People Carl Favid Anderson Born 3 Sep 1905; died 11 Jan 1991. American physicist who, with Victor Francis Hess of Austria, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1936 for his discovery of the positron, or positive electron, the first known particle of antimatter. He examined the photographs of cosmic rays taken as they passed through a Wilson cloud chamber in a strong magnetic field. Besides the curved paths of negative electrons, he found also paths deviating in the opposite direction, corresponding to positively charged particles - yet having the the same mass as an electron! Previously, Dirac had predicted such particles by theoretical solution to electromagnetic field equations. Anderson has now found the existance of positron. Harold DeForest Arnold Born 3 Sep 1883; died 10 Jul 1933. American physicist whose research led to the development of long-distance telephony and radio communication. He worked at Western Electric on thermionic tubes, which amplified radio and telephone signals, leading to transcontinental telephony (July 1914). Even before the transcontinental line was completed, Arnold was directing work on the development of new higher power tubes to extend telephone service by radio to other continents. The first transcontinental demonstration of radio telephone (29 Sep 1915) was transmitted from New York City to Arlington, Virginia, then to San Francisco and Honolulu. Arnold later became the first director of research at Bell Telephone Labs (1925 to his death in 1933). Fredrik Stormer Born 3 Sep 1874; died 13 Aug 1957. Fredrik (Carl Mülertz) Størmer was a geophysicist and mathematician who developed a mathematical theory of auroral phenomena. An aurora is the light emitted by energetic protons and electrons at the top of Earth's atmosphere when they come in contact <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

September 4 People Louis Latimer Born 4 Sep 1848; died 11 Dec 1928. Lewis Howard Latimer was a Black-American inventor who contributed to electrical technology. After joining a Boston firm of patent solicitors as an office boy, he taught himself drafting and eventually rose in the mid-1870's to the position of chief draftman. Meanwhile, he was issued his first patent for his invention of a water-closet for railroad cars. In 1880, he moved to be draftsman and private secretary to Hiram Stevens Maxim of the U.S. Lighting Co. where he took charge of the installation of commercial incandescent lighting systems. He patented his carbon filament lamp improvements and other inventions. By 1883, he was working for the Edison Electric Light Co., where his expertise with patents was recognised with a position with its new legal department in 1889. William John McGee Died 4 Sep 1912 (born 17 Apr 1853) American geologist, hydrologist, archaeologist who was noted for his pioneer studies documenting the occurrence of waves of invasions and recessions of ice sheets in North America, thus establishing the complexity of the Great Ice Age. He worked in a number of governmental capacities, including as a director in the U.S. Geological Survey, and was a founder and president of the National Geographic Society. While on the staff of the Bureau of Soils, he organized the landmarkConference of Governors on Conservation of Natural Resources (13-15 May 1908) and has been called the "chief theorist of the conservation movement." As an anthropologist he studied the American Indians and wrote The Seri Indians (1898). Cesar-Francoise Cassini de Thury Died 4 Sep 1784 (born 17 June 1714) French astronomer and geodesist (Cassini III), who continued surveying work he began while assisting his father, Jacques Cassini (Cassi <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

September 5 People Viktor Ambartsumian Born 5 Sep 1908; died 12 Aug 1996. Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian was a Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist who founded the school of theoretical astrophysics in the Soviet Union. Most of his research was devoted to invariance principles applied to the theory of radiative transfer, inverse problems of astrophysics, and the empirical approach to the problems of the origin and evolution of stars and galaxies. He was first to suggest that T Tauri stars are very young and to propose that nearby stellar associations are expanding. He also showed that evolutionary processes such as mass loss are occurring in galaxies. He worked on radio galaxies and active galactic nuclei. Bruce Medal winner in 1960. Frank Jewett Born 5 Sep 1879; died 18 Nov 1949. Frank Baldwin Jewett was the U.S. electrical engineer who directed research as the first president of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., (1925-40). Jewett believed that the best science and technology result from bringing together and nurturing the best minds. Under his tenure Bell Labs laid the foundation for a new scientific discipline, radio astronomy, and transformed movies by synchronizing sound to pictures. Bell Labs was the first to transmit television over a long distance in the U.S. and designed the first electrical digital computer. Bell Labs won its first Nobel Prize in physics for fundamental work demonstrating the wave nature of matter. Eugen Goldstein Born 5 Sep 1850; died 25 Dec 1930 German physicist who discovered and named canal rays (1886) which emerge through holes in the anodes of low-pressure electrical discharge tubes (later shown to be positively charged particles). Earlier, he coined the term "cathode ray" (1876) emitted from a cathode. He was the first to see that they could cast a <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

yevaud · Sep 14, 2006

September 6 People Louis Essen Born 6 Sep 1908; died 24 Aug 1997 English physicist who invented the quartz crystal ring clock and the first practical atomic clock. These devices were capable of measuring time more accurately than any previous clocks. He built a cesium-beam atomic clock, a device that ultimately changed the way time is measured. Each chemical element and compound absorbs and emits electromagnetic radiation at its own characteristic frequencies. These resonances are inherently stable over time and space. The cesium atom's natural frequency was formally recognized as the new international unit of time in 1967: the second was defined as exactly 9,192,631,770 oscillations or cycles of the cesium atom's resonant frequency, replacing the old second defined in terms of the Earth's motion. Ernst Weber Born 6 Sep 1901; died 16 Feb 1996. Austrian-born American electrical engineer who contributed to the development of microwave technology, applied in radar and communications systems. During WWII, he led researchers solving the problems of accurately measuring very high frequency microwaves, essential for the calibration of radar. (This involved learning how to coat glass tubes with a very thin layer of conducting metal, which Weber derived from the ancient skill of decorating chinaware with gold and silver, followed by success using a mixture of platinum and palladium.). The team created other designs and production techniques that helped the overall development of radar during the war. His expertise later guided the growth of the Polytechnic Institute in New York City. Walter Robert Dornberger Born 6 Sep 1895; died 27 Jun 1980. German-American engineer who successfully a series of designs of rockets culminating in becoming commander of the entire Nazi guided missile program aand respo <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

astromarks · Sep 17, 2006

Amateur astronomers can have fun reproducing their experiments.

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