| NOVEMBER 28 - BIRTHS | |
| Russell Alan Hulse | |
(source) |
 Born 28
Nov 1950
American physicist who in 1993 shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with his former teacher, the astrophysicist Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., for their joint discovery of the first binary pulsar (1974). This is an astronomical system of two celestial bodies so close they are separated by only several times the distance between the moon and the earth. Their findings, first reported in 1978, constitute the first indirect proof of the existence of the gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity.  Booklist
for Pulsars |
| Carol Gilligan | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1936
American psychologist who is Harvard's first professor in Gender Studies (1997). Her research questions that most traditional theories of human psychological development studied boys and men. She developed a theory based on the experiences of girls and women. In psychological tests of moral judgment, for example, girls were often graded as deficient. But Gilligan demonstrated in her landmark 1982 book, In a Different Voice, was that was beacause girls place more emphasis on feelings and relationships than on objective standards of justice, and boys tend to do the opposite. Before she published her studies, researchers sometimes dropped women from their samples because the women's different responses complicated the research. Booklist
for Carol Gilligan |
| Claude Lévi-Strauss | |
(EB) |
Born 28
Nov 1908
French social anthropologist and leading exponent of structuralism, a name applied to the analysis of cultural systems (e.g., kinship and mythical systems) in terms of the structural relations among their elements. Lévi-Strauss regarded language as an essential common denominator underlying cultural phenomena, a view that forms the basis for his theories concerning the relationships of such societal elements as religion, myth, and kinship. His books include the two-volume Structural Anthropology (1958; 1973). Structuralism has influenced not only 20th-century social science but also the study of philosophy, comparative religion, literature, and film. Booklist
for Claude Levi-Strauss |
| Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1858; died 30 Sep 1940.
(Baronet) British metallurgist who developed manganese steel, an alloy of exceptional durability that found uses in the construction of railroad rails and rock-crushing machinery. Hadfield discovered manganese steel in 1882. It was hardened by quenching it in water from a temperature of a thousand degrees centigrade. The hard steel was to be used in the manufacture of tram wheels. He patented his work in 1883-4 but continued to carry out further experiments before publicising his findings in 1888, which were supported by a lecture tour. The first World War provided new markets for manganese steel: spur armour plate and shells, tank treads and soldier's helmets. By 1919, Hadfields Steel Foundry Co. Ltd. were Sheffield's biggest employers. |
| Gottlieb Haberlandt | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1854; died 30 Jan 1945.
Austrian botanist, pioneer in the development of physiological plant anatomy, and the first person to study plant tissue culture (1921). In Physiologische Pflanzenanatomie (1884; "Physiological Plant Anatomy") he distinguished 12 tissue systems based on function (mechanical, absorptive, photosynthetic, etc.) Although his system was not accepted by other botanists, the analysis of the relations between structure and environment has been useful in the study of plant adaptations to different habitats. In 1902, he released the hypothesis of "totipotency" - that even the smallest unit of a cell is capable of forming a complete plant in the future. In 1913, Haberlandt discovered that a compound found in phloem had the ability to stimulate cell division. Booklist
for Gottlieb Haberlandt |
| Dunkinfield Henry Scott | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1854; died 29 Jan 1934.
English paleobotanist and leading authority of his time on the structure of fossil plants, one of those who laid the foundations of paleobotany. After studying for his PhD (1882) under German botanist Julius Von Sachs at the University Würzburg, he returned to England and took up teaching. He conducted experiments in the Jodrell Laboratory in Kew Gardens, where he became its honorary keeper (1892-1906). In collaboration with W.C. Williamson, he wrote three papers on fossil-plant morphology (1894-95). Scott continued writing papers after Williamson's death and in which he described many otherwise unknown fossil plants. He wrote the classic Studies in Fossil Botany, which greatly popularized the subject. [Image: Lyginopteris bermudensiformis] |
| John Wesley Hyatt | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1837; died 10 May 1920.
U.S. inventor and pioneer of the plastics industry who discovered the process for making celluloid. His other inventions included a water-purification system, a sugar-cane mill, a machine for straightening steel rods, a multi-stitch sewing-machine, and a widely used roller bearing. In the 1860s he became interested in finding a substitute for the ivory used to make billiard balls. With his brother Isaac, he improved the techniques of molding pyroxylin (a partially nitrated cellulose) with camphor by dissolving in an alcohol and ether mixture to make it softer and more malleable. This he called "Celluloid," a name trademarked on 14 Jan 1873. It was the first synthetic plastic, for which he took out a patent in 1870. Later in life he had over 200 patents. |
| William Froude | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1810; died 4 May 1879.
English engineer and naval architect who influenced ship design by developing a method of studying scale models propelled through water and applying the information thus obtained to full-size ships. His first job was as a civil engineer, working for the British railway system. It was not until a few years later that Froude became a naval engineer. He discovered the laws by which the performance of a model in a towing-tank could be extrapolated to the full-size ship when both have the same geometrical shape. This laboratory work was of great concern to the British navy, to maximize the speed and efficiency of their ships. He developed the bilge keel and developed the Froude number as a measure of the effect of gravity on fluid motion. |
| John Lloyd Stephens | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1805; died 12 Oct 1852.
American traveler and archaeologist whose exploration of Maya ruins in Central America and Mexico (1839-40 and 1841-42) generated the archaeology of Middle America. In 1939, as a lawyer ostensibly on a mission for the U.S. State Department, Stephens went in search of Mayan ruins, which were then all but unknown. He was accompanied by architect Frederick Catherwood, whose meticulous drawings illustrate Stephens' subsequent books. In Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatán, Stephens described coming upon the ruined city of Copan, which he found so captivating that he promptly purchased the site. It is now owned by the Honduran government. Booklist
for John Lloyd Stephens |
| Nathaniel Bliss | |
(source) |
Born 28
Nov 1700; died 2 Sep 1764.
Britain's fourth Astronomer Royal, though only for the two years before his death. In 1736, Bliss became rector of St Ebbe's Oxford, and in 1742, he followed Halley as Savilian Professor of Geometry. Bliss occasionally assisted James Bradley, third A.R. In 1761, he made observations of the transit of Venus when Bradley was unable to do so due to poor health. Bliss succeeded Bradley in 1762. On 1 Apr 1764 Bliss published his observations of the annular eclipse visible from Greenwich. Besides his Observatory work, Bliss also worked for and with the Earl of Macclesfield, on astronomical problems. This work included making meridian observations of a comet approaching the Sun around 1744 at Shirburn Castle and at Greenwich. |
|
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| NOVEMBER 28 - DEATHS | |
| Choh-hao Li | |
(source) |
 Died
28 Nov 1987 (born 21 Apr 1913)
Chinese-American biochemist and experimental endocrinologist who with his co-workers isolated in pure form six of the eight hormones known to be secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. Located at the base of the brain, its homones govern reproduction, growth, maturation, and metabolism. Among the hormones Li isolated are ACTH (the adrenocorticotropic hormone and adrenal booster, used in the treatment of arthritis) and HGH (the human growth hormone or somatotropin, which is vital for human growth). He also discovered ß-endorphin, a naturally secreted painkiller (1976) and was first to synthesize the insulin-like growth factor 1, which promotes the growth of cartilage and bones. He was the first to synthesize HGH, in 1970. |
| Enrico Fermi | |
(source) |
Died
28 Nov 1954 (born 29 Sep 1901)
Italian-born American physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1938 as one of the chief architects of the nuclear age. He was the last of the double-threat physicists: a genius at creating both esoteric theories and elegant experiments. In 1933, he developed the theory of beta decay, postulating that the newly-discovered neutron decaying to a proton emits an electron and a particle he called a neutrino. Developing theory to explain this decay later resulted in finding the weak interaction force. He developed the mathematical statistics required to clarify a large class of subatomic phenomena, discovered neutron-induced radioactivity, and directed the first controlled chain reaction involving nuclear fission. Booklist
for Enrico Fermi Biographies |
| William McDougall | |
(source) |
Died
28 Nov 1938 (born 22 Jun 1871)
British-born U.S. psychologist influential in establishing experimental and physiological psychology. As one of the foremost psychologists of all English-speaking countries, he did much to stimulate widespread study of the basis of social behaviour. He contributed significantly to more branches and departments of psychology than anyone else writing in English. He was the exponent of hormic psychology, the central idea being that there is an end or purpose which goads us to action, without any real knowledge of its nature, and often without benefit or even thought of pleasure. Human progress can only be determined in terms of "horme" or "drive". He theorized that human behavior is determined by both instinctive and intentional strivings. Booklist
for William McDougall |
| Johann Wilhelm Hittorf | |
(source) |
Died
28 Nov 1914 (born 27 Mar 1824)
German physicist who was a pioneer in electrochemical research. His early investigations were on the allotropes (different physical forms) of phosphorus and selenium. He was the first to compute the electricity- carrying capacity of charged atoms and molecules (ions), an important factor in understanding electrochemical reactions. He investigated the migration of ions during electrolysis (1853-59), developed expressions for and measured transport numbers. In 1869, he published his laws governing the migration of ions. For his studies of electrical phenomena in rarefied gases, the Hittorf tube has been named for him. Hittorf determined a number of properties of cathode rays, including (before Crookes) the deflection of the rays by a magnet. |
| Sir Charles Thomas Newton | |
 |
Died
28 Nov 1894 (born 16 Sep 1816)
British archaeologist who excavated sites in southwestern Turkey and disinterred the remains of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (at present-day Bodrum, Turkey). Newton joined staff of British Museum in 1840. He helped to establish systematic methods for archaeology. As the first keeper (curator) of Greek and Roman antiquities at the British Museum (1861-85), London, he greatly enriched its collection by making outstanding acquisitions. Along with the chief remains from Halicarnassus, he brought to the museum the bronze Delphian serpent from Istanbul, a sculpture of the Greek goddess Demeter, the colossal lion from Cnidus, and statues from the road to Didyma (Branchidae). Booklist
for Charles Thomas Newton |
| Sir Alexander Cunningham | |
(source) |
Died
28 Nov 1893 (born 23 Jan 1814)
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 Ernst von Baer | |
(EB) |
Died
28 Nov 1876 (born 29 Feb 1792)
Prussian-Estonian embryologist who discovered the mammalian egg (1827) and the notochord. He established the new science of comparative embryology alongside comparative anatomy with the publication of two landmark volumes (in 1828 and 1837) covering the range of existing knowledge of the prebirth developments of vertebrates. He showed that mammalian eggs were not the follicles of the ovary but microscopic particles inside the follicles. He described the development of the embryo from layers of tissue, which he called germ layers, and demonstrated similarities in the embryos of different species of vertebrates. He was also a pioneer in geography, ethnology, and physical anthropology. 
Booklist
for Karl Ernst von Baer |
| NOVEMBER 28 - EVENTS | |
| Pulsar | |
(source) |
In 1967, the first pulsating radio source (pulsar)
was detected
by an alert graduate student, Jocelyn
Bell, then working under the direction of Prof. A. Hewish at the Mullard
Radio Astronomy Observatory, Cambridge, England. They were using a special
radio
telescope, a large array of 2,048 aerials covering an area of 4.4 acres.
The discovery of these fascinating objects opened new horizons in studies
as diverse as quantum-degenerate fluids, relativistic gravity and interstellar
magnetic fields. Under extraordinary physical conditions, radiation is
generated and appears pulsed with a clock-like precision synchronously
with the pulsar rotational period. These periods range from 1.57 milliseconds
to 5.1 sec.
Booklist
for Pulsars |
| Mariner 4 | |
(NASA) |
In 1964, Mariner 4 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Making
its Mars fly-by on 14 Jul 1965, this was the
first satellite
to transmit a close-up photograph of Mars. Flying as close as 9,846 km
(6,118 miles), Mariner 4 revealed Mars to have a cratered, rust-colored
surface, with signs on some parts of the planet that liquid water had once
etched its way into the soil. It had various field and particle sensors
and detectors, and a television camera, which took 22 television pictures
covering about 1% of the planet. Initially stored on a 4-track tape recorder,
these pictures took four days to transmit to Earth, showing the geologic
and atmospheric processes at work on the planet over the eons. It continued
in solar orbit for about 3 years.
Booklist
for Space Mariner |
| Polaroid Land Camera | |
(source) |
In 1948, the Polaroid Land Camera first went on sale, at a Boston department
store. The 40 series,
model 95 roll film camera
went on sale for $89.75. This first model was sold through 1953, and was
the first commercially successful self-deleveloping camera system. A sepia-coloured
photograph took about one minute to produce. Edwin H. Land had previously
demonstrated
his invention of instant photography at a meeting of the Optical Society
of America on 2 Feb 1947. His first commercial success came in 1939 with
his invention of Polaroid filters for lenses in products such as ski goggles,
sunglasses and slip-on sunglasses for optical glasses.
Booklist
for Polaroid History |
| Mud rain | |
|
In 1930, after a sandstorm in Morocco, a mud
rain fell in Paris and all over northern France. Yellow
sand fell in Spain. |
|
| Skywriting | |
(source) |
In 1922, the first skywriting
in the U.S. was demonstrated over Times Square, New York City, by Capt.
Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force. Flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet,
he wrote letters in white smoke a half-mile high. The smoke was formed
by oil, controlled by levers, dropped on the plane's hot exhaust pipe.
The message in the
sky was, Hello, U.S.A. Call Vanderbilt 7200. (Turner first used
skywriting for advertising for a newspaper's name, Daily Mail,over
England in May 1922.) In New York, Major Jack Savage was trying to sell
this advertising idea to a skeptical George W. Hill, head of the American
Tobacco Co. Savage had invited Hill to the Vanderbilt Hotel. Hill was convinced
by the 47,000 telephone calls in less than 3 hours. |
| First U.S. auto race | |
1893 Duryea |
In 1895, James Frank Duryea won the first American Automobile Race in Chicago,
sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald. With his brother Charles,
Duryea invented the first automobile that was actually built and operated
in the United States. On the day of the race, at 8:55 a.m., six "motocycles"
left Chicago's Jackson Park for a 54 mile
race
to Evanston, Illinois and back through the snow. Duryea's Number 5 won
the race in just over 10 hours averaging about 7.3 mph and was awarded
a prize of $2,000. Following their victory in the race, the Duryeas
manufactured thirteen copies of the Chicago car, and J. Frank Duryea developed
the "Stevens-Duryea," an expensive limousine, which remained in production
into the 1920s.
 Carriages
Without Horses: J. Frank Duryea and the Birth of the American Automobile
Industry, by Richard P. Scharchburg.
Booklist
for Duryea Automobiles |
| Edison applies for first patent | |
(USPTO) |
In 1868, Thomas Edison of Boston, Mass.,
applied for his first patent. It was for an "electrographic vote
recorder." The device was the first of its kind, and would enable a legislator
to register a vote either for or against an issue by turning a switch to
the right or left. His application was executed on 13 Nov 1868 and issued
by the U.S. Patent Office on 1 Jun
1869 (No. 90646).
Booklist
for Thomas Edison |
| Powder metallurgy | |
(source) |
In 1828, the Bakerian Lecture at the Royal Society in London, was presented
by William Hyde Wollaston wherein
he described the method of powder metallurgy he had devised in 1805 to
produce platinum
from its ore. This provided the means to produce the metal in a malleable
and ductile form, though he had kept the process a commercial secret, and
had made a comfortable living providing the metal in a useful form. He
took a uniform powder after carefully removing impurities, compressed it
in a powerful toggle press, dried it, and forged it at high heat. Now in
ill-health, he ceased business operations and was making the process public.
His paper won him the Royal Medal of the Society. He died the following
month, on 22 Dec 1828.«
Booklist
for William Hyde Wollaston |
| Royal Society | |
|
In 1660, a meeting of a dozen scientists in Gresham
College, London, constituted the Society for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical
Experimental Learning to promote experimental philosophy. Robert
Hooke's first publication
was a pamphlet on capillary action, which he read
here to the Society on 10 Apr 1661. The Society subsequently petitioned
King Charles II to recognise it and to make a royal grant of incorporation.
The Royal Charter, which was passed by the Great Seal on 15 Jul 1662, created
the Royal Society
of London. Gresham College is named after Sir Thomas Gresham (son of Sir
Richard Gresham, Lord Mayor 1537/38) who conceived the idea of building
an Exchange modelled on the Antwerp Bourse.«
Booklist
for Royal Society History |
|
| Theoretical comet and the Great Flood | |
|
In 2348 BC, a supposed comet under divine guidance passed near Earth, causing
the Great Flood, in the opinion of Anglican priest and mathematician, William
Whiston. In his time, the water composition of comets was known. He
said the forty days of rain resulted from the Earth's travel through the
comet's tail. The body's gravity stretched and cracked the earth's brittle
crust, and waters arose from the "fountains of the great deep." He explained
this in his popular treatise New Theory of the Earth (1696), describing
the Book of Genesis in terms of physics based on the Principia written
by his mentor, Isaac Newton. Whiston succeeded
Newton and became the third Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge
University (May 1702).«
William
Whiston: Honest Newtonian, by James E. Force. |
