| JANUARY 23 - BIRTHS | |
| John C. Polanyi | |
(source) |
 Born 23
Jan 1929
German-born Canadian chemist and educator who shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986 (with Dudley R. Herschbach and Yuan T. Lee) for contributions to the "development of a new field of research in chemistry - reaction dynamics." Polanyi was recognised his study of infrared chemiluminescence. In experiments on the reaction of atomic hydrogen and molecular chlorine he discovered the emission of a faint infrared light (chemiluminescence), which provided quantitative information on the vibrational and rotational energy released in chemical reactions. In 1960, he published a paper suggesting that the products of the hydrogen-chlorine reaction (and similar reactions) would act as a suitable medium for a chemical laser.« 
 The
Dangers of Nuclear War: A Pugwash Symposium, by Franklyn
Griffith and John C. Polanyi. |
| Sir James Lighthill | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1924; died 17 Jul 1998.
Sir Michael James Lighthill was a British mathematician who contributed to supersonic aerofoil theory and, aeroacoustics which became relevant in the design of the Concorde supersonic jet, and reduction of jet engine noise. Lighthill's eighth power law which states that the acoustic power radiated by a jet is proportional to the eighth power of the jet speed. His work in nonlinear acoutics found application in the lithotripsy machine used to break up kidney stones, the study of flood waves in rivers and road traffic flow. Lighthill also introduced the field of mathematical biofluiddynamics. Lighthill followed Paul Dirac as Lucasian professor of Mathematics (1969) and was succeeded by Stephen Hawking (1989).«
Waves
in Fluids, by James Lighthill. |
| Gertrude B. Elion | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1918; died 21 Feb 1999.
Gertrude Belle Elion was an American pharmacologist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988 (with George H. Hitchings and Sir James W. Black) for the development of drugs used to treat several major diseases. Research by Elion and Hitchings produced the first drugs specifically designed for cancer therapy, as well as drugs to combat rejection of transplanted organs, gout, malaria and bacterial and viral infections. These medications became well-proven in use over many years, and their drugs appeared on the World Health Organizations's list of so-called "Essential Drugs" as medicines which should be available worldwide to promote "Health for All." Elion held 45 patents.« |
| Hideki Yukawa | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1907; died 8 Sept 1981.
Japanese physicist who shared the 1949 Nobel Prize for Physics for "his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces." In his 1935 paper, On the Interaction of Elementary Particles*, he proposed a new field theory of nuclear forces that predicted the existence of the previously unknown meson. Mesons are particles heavier than electrons but lighter than protons. One type of meson was subsequently discovered in cosmic rays in 1937 by American physicists, encouraging him to further develop meson theory. From 1947, he worked mainly on the general theory of elementary particles in connection with the concept of the "non-local" field. He was the first Japanese Nobel Prize winner.«
*Proc.Phys.-Math. Soc.Japan,
17, p. 48.
Tabibito
(The Traveler), by Hideki Yukawa. |
| Paul Peter Ewald | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1888; died 22 Aug 1985.
German physicist and crystallographer whose theory of X-ray interference by crystals was the first detailed, rigorous theoretical explanation of the diffraction effects first observed in 1912 by his fellow physicist Max von Laue. |
| Alfredo Niceforo | |
| Born 23
Jan 1876; died 2 Mar 1960.
Italian sociologist, criminologist, and statistician who posited the theory that every person has a "deep ego" of antisocial, subconscious impulses that represent a throwback to precivilized existence. Accompanying this ego, and attempting to keep its latent delinquency in check, according to his concept, is a "superior ego" formed by man's social interaction. This theory, which he published in 1902, bears some resemblance to the discoveries of psychoanalysis that were being made about the same time. |
|
| Otto Diels | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1876; died 7 Mar 1954.
Otto Paul Hermann Diels was a German organic chemist who with Kurt Alder was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1950 for their joint work in developing a method of preparing cyclic organic compounds. His most important work concerned the diene synthesis, in which organic compounds with two carbon-to-carbon double bonds were used to effect syntheses of many cyclic organic substances under conditions that threw light on the molecular structure of the products obtained. This method was developed (1928) in collaboration with Kurt Alder, his student, and is known as the Diels-Alder reaction. Their work proved especially important in the production of synthetic rubber and plastics. |
| Paul Langevin | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1872; died 19 Dec 1946.
French physicist who was the first scientist to explain the effects of paramagnetism and diamagnetism (the weak attraction or repulsion of substances in a magnetic field), in 1905, using statistical mechanics. He further theorized how the effects could be explained by how electron charges behaved within the atom. He popularized Einstein's theories for the French public. During WW I, he began developing a source for high intensity ultrasonic waves, which made sonar detection of submarines possible. He created the ultrasound from piezoelectric crystals vibrated by high-frequency radio circuits. In WW II, he spoke out against the Nazis, for which he was arrested and imprisoned, though he managed to escaped and fled to Switzerland.« An
Introduction to Stochastic Processes in Physics: Containing "on the Theory
of Brownian Motion, by Paul Langevin," by Don S. Lemons. |
| David Hilbert | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1862; died 14 Feb 1943.
German mathematician who reduced geometry to a series of axioms and contributed substantially to the establishment of the formalistic foundations of mathematics. In his book, Foundations of Geometry, he presented the first complete set of xioms since Euclid. His work in 1909 on integral equations led to 20th-century research in functional analysis (in which functions are studied as groups.) Today Hilbert's name is often best remembered through the concept of Hilbert space in quantum physics, a space of infinite dimensions. |
| Andrija Mohorovicic | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1857; died 18 Dec 1936.
Croatian meteorologist and geophysicist who discovered the boundary between the Earth's crust and mantle, a boundary now named the Mohorovicic discontinuity. In 1901 he was appointed head of the complete meteorological service of Croatia and Slavonia, he gradually extended the activities of the observatory to other fields of geophysics: seismology, geomagnetism and gravitation. After the Pokuplje (Kupa Valley) earthquake of 8 Oct 1909, he analyzed the spreading of seismic waves with shallow depths through the Earth. From these, he was the first to establish, on the basis of seismic waves, a surface of velocity discontinuity separating the crust of the Earth from the mantle, now known as the Mohorovicic discontinuity. |
| Ernst Abbe | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1840; died 14 Jan 1905.
German physicist who made theoretical and technical innovations in optical theory. He improved microscope design, such as the use of a condenser lens to provide strong, even illumination (1870). His optical formula, now called the Abbe sine condition, applies to a lens to form a sharp, distortion-free image He invented the Abbe refractometer for determining the refractive index of substances. In 1866, he joined Carl Zeiss' optical works, later became his partner in the company, and in 1888 became the owner of the company upon Zeiss' death. Concurrently, he was appointed professor at the Univ. of Jena in 1870 and director of its astronomical and meteorological observatories in 1878. |
| Sir Alexander Cunningham | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1814; died 28 Nov 1893.
British army officer and archaeologist who excavated many sites in India, including Sarnath and Sanchi. He retired (1861) as a major general after 30 years of service with the Bengal engineers and then was the first director (1861–65, 1870–85) of the Indian Archaeological Survey. In the 13th century, India's flourishing network of temples and monasteries was wiped out by invading armies, overgrown by forests, buried in humus, and forgotten. When Cunningham made it his mission to locate and dig them up again, in many cases all he had to go on were the accounts written by Fa Hien and Huien Tsiang and the occasional tip of an Ashokan pillar protruding from the earth. He wrote about the tradition of Kangra plastic surgery operations. |
| Karl Karlovich Klaus | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1796; died 24 Mar 1864.
Russian chemist and biologist (of German origin) credited with the discovery of ruthenium (1844), which was the last dense, inert, platinum-like metal to be found. Klaus was noted for his researches on the platinum metals osmium, palladium, iridium, and rhodium, and it was in the course of investigating the waste residues of the platinum refinery in St. Petersburg that he discovered ruthenium. He named the element from Ruthenia, the Latin name for Russia. Klaus also investigated flora and fauna of Volga steppes. |
| Karl Adolf Agardh | |
(source) |
Born 23
Jan 1785; died 28 Jan 1859.
Swedish botanist and mathematician whose Synopsis alagarum Scandinaviae of 1817 presented a new systematic survey of all algae. Working with Schelling, whom he met at Karlsbad mineral springs, he studied the algae found in the hot springs. Algardh revealed the life cycle of these algae. Later, he expanded his field from taxonomy to writing on plant physiology and plant anatomy. He gave up this career when, in 1834, he was appointed the bishop in Karlstad.« |
| John Landen | |
 |
Born 23
Jan 1719; died 15 Jan 1790.
British mathematician who made important contributions on elliptic integrals. As a trained surveyor and land agent (1762-88), Landen's interest in mathematics was for leisure. He sent his results on making the differential calculus into a purely algebraic theory to the Royal Society, and also wrote on dynamics, and summation of series. Landen devised an important transformation, known by his name, giving a relation between elliptic functions which expresses a hyperbolic arc in terms of two elliptic ones. He also solved the problem of the spinning top and explained Newton's error in calculating the precession. Landen was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1766. He corrected Stewart's result on the Sun-Earth distance (1771). |
|
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| JANUARY 23 - DEATHS | |
| Wilhelm Koppers | |
(source) |
 Died
23 Jan 1961 (born 8 Feb 1886)
Roman Catholic priest and cultural anthropologist who advocated a comparative, historical approach to understanding cultural phenomena and whose investigations of hunting and food-gathering tribes produced theories on the origin and development of society. |
| Johann Lukas Schönlein | |
1860 (source) |
Died
23 Jan 1864 (born 30 Nov 1793)
German physician whose attempts to establish medicine as a natural science helped create modern methods for the teaching and practice of clinical medicine. Schönlein was the first to use the microscope in conjunction with urine and blood analyses to diagnose disease. He coined the term hemophilia (1828), was the first to describe purpura rheumatica (1837, hence called Schönlein's disease) and discovered fungus causing favus (1839). |
| Johann Wilhelm Ritter | |
(source) |
Died
23 Jan 1810 (born 16 Dec 1776)
German physicist who discovered the ultraviolet region of the spectrum (1801) and thus helped broaden man's view beyond the narrow region of visible light to encompass the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the shortest gamma rays to the longest radio waves. After studying Herschel's discovery of infrared radiation, he observed the effects of solar radiation on silver salts and deduced the existence of radiation outside the visible spectrum. He also made contributions to spectroscopy and the study of electricity. |
| Claude Chappe | |
(source) |
Died 23 Jan 1805 (born 25 Dec 1763)
French engineer who invented the semaphore visual telegraph. He began experimenting in 1790, trying various types of telegraph. An early trial used telescopes, synchronised pendulum clocks and a large white board, painted black on the back, with which he succeeded in sending a message a few sentences long across a 16km (10mi) distance. To simplify construction, yet still easily visible to read from far away, he changed to using his semaphore telegraph in 1793. Smaller indicators were pivoted at each end of large horizontal member. The two indicators could each be rotated to stand in any of eight equally spaced positions. By setting them at different orientations, a set of corresponding codes was used to send a message.« |
| William Caslon | |
(source) |
Died
23 Jan 1766 (born 1692)
English typefounder who designed (1720-26) the typeface that bears his name. He was apprenticed at age 13 to a London engraver of gunlocks and barrels. He went into business for himself in 1716, engraving the tools and stamps used by bookbinders, and later cutting type punches. In 1720, Caslon set up a type foundry and created his typeface (inspired by earlier Dutch designs) that became the most widely used of the 18th century. It was also extremely popular in what were then the American colonies, and was used for the first official printings of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. His work helped to modernize the book, making it a separate creation rather than a printed imitation of the old hand-produced book. |
| Giambattista Vico | |
|
(source) |
Died
23 Jan 1744 (born 23 Jun 1668)
Italian philosopher of cultural history and law, who is recognized today as a forerunner of cultural anthropology, or ethnology. He attempted, especially in his major work, the Scienza nuova (1725; "New Science"), to bring about the convergence of history, from the one side, and the more systematic social sciences, from the other, so that their interpenetration could form a single science of humanity. |
| JANUARY 23 - EVENTS | |
| Voyager airplane | |
 |
In 1988, the experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan
and Jeana Yeager, completed the first nonstop, around the world flight
without refueling. They landed it safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California. |
| Animal-to-human heart transplant | |
(source) |
In 1964, the first animal to human heart transplant was made. Dr. James
Hardy at the University of Mississippi transplanted the heart of a chimpanzee
(named Bino) into the chest of Boyd Rush (age 68) in a last-ditch effort
to save the man's life because no human was heart available. The newly-transplanted
heart beat on its own; but it was too small to maintain independent circulation
and Rush died after 90 minutes. Hardy had to endure some severe criticism.
(This was three years before Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful
human heart transplant). Hardy also made the first human lung transplant
in 1963 and a double-lung transplant that left the heart in place in 1987. |
| Ocean depth record | |
(source) |
In 1960, a specially constructed bathyscaphe,
the Trieste, descended
35,810 feet in the Pacific Ocean into Challenger
Deep. This, the deepest point known to exist on earth, is in the Marianas
Trench near the island of Guam. The Trieste cabin was a six-foot
diameter steel capsule weighing 14 tons engineered by Swiss scientist Auguste
Piccard to withstand the 16,000 lbs/sq.in. water pressure at that depth.
Jacques Piccard (Auguste's son) and Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh made the
five-hour
descent,
setting a deep-diving record. Through their window, they saw a foot-long
fish, and thus answered the question of biologists who long wondered whether
life could exist at such depths of the ocean. The record has stood unchallenged
for 40 years since their historic dive. |
| Pluto photographed | |
(source) |
In 1930, Clyde Tombaugh photographed
the planet Pluto, the only planet discovered
in the twentieth century, after a systematic search
instigated by the predictions of other astronomers. Tombaugh was 24 years
of age when he made this discovery at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff,
Ariz. |
| Marie Curie loses membership | |
 |
In 1911, Marie Curie's nomination to the French Academy of Sciences, having
already won one Nobel Prize, is nevertheless voted down by the Academy's
all-male membership. She went on to win a second Nobel Prize. |
| X-rays | |
|
In 1896, Wilhelm Roentgen first made a public lecture-demonstration of
his X-ray device, in Würzburg, Germany. |
|
| Envelope machine patent | |
(source) |
In 1849, the first U.S. patent for an envelope-making machine
was issued to Jesse K. Park and Cornelius S. Watson of New York City (No.
6055). It was never used commercially, as it was shortly superceded by
patents on improved machines by other inventors. It was treadle-operated
and its mechanism included a stamper rod, gumming apparatus and folding
apparatus. The patent model still exists in the collection of the National
Postal Museum.« |
