| NOVEMBER 29 - BIRTHS | |
| Richard Ewen Borcherds | |
(source) |
 Born 29
Nov 1959
British mathematician who won the Fields Medal in 1998 for his for his work in the fields of algebra and geometry, in particular for his proof of the so-called Moonshine conjecture. This conjecture had been formulated at the end of the '70s by the British mathematicians John Conway and Simon Norton and presents two mathematical structures in such an unexpected relationship that the experts gave it the name "Moonshine." In 1989, Borcherds was able to cast some more light on the mathematical background of this topic and to produce a proof for the conjecture. The Moonshine conjecture provides an interrelationship between the so-called "monster group" and elliptic functions. |
| Robert A. Swanson | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1947; died 30 Nov 1999.
American chemist who, at age 29, cofounded Genentech, Inc. (1976), a research-based company that pioneered the biotechnology industry. His cofounder, distinguished biochemist, Herbert Boyer, had developed one of the key techniques that opened up the possibility of the transfer of genes from one organism to another. Boyer was a pioneer using restriction enzymes to snip segments of DNA out of cells. In 1977, Genentech began mass- producing their first human protein by splicing a gene into bacteria. In 1978, Genentech created the first drug produced by genetic engineering, human-type insulin. It was also the first biotechnology company to sell its own drug, human growth hormone. |
| Yuan T. Lee | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1936
Taiwanese-American chemist who, with Dudley R. Herschbach and John C. Polanyi, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986 for his role in the development of chemical-reaction dynamics. As a postdoctoral researcher, Lee experimented with and further developed Herschbach's invention of the "crossed molecular beam technique". This studied reactions between molecules at low pressures by letting beams of molecules and/or atoms meet at one point in space. Lee extended Herschbach's technique, introducing mass spectroscopy to identify the products resulting from the reactions of oxygen and fluorine atoms with complex organic compounds. |
| Guido Pontecorvo | |
(source) |
Born 29 Nov 1907; died 24 Sep 1999.
Italian geneticist who discovered the process of genetic recombination in the common soil fungus Aspergillus, and as a result of the discovery of the parasexual cycle, the originator of genetical studies in many other fungi. This cycle gives rise to genetic reassortment by means other than sexual reproduction and its discovery provided a method of genetically analyzing asexual fungi. Pontecorvo also put forward the idea of the gene as a unit of function, a theory substantiated by Seymour Benzer in 1955. He made significant contributions to modern genetics in elucidating the divisibility of the gene by recombination, and in his later years in the application of parasexual techniques to mammalian cell cultures. [Image right: Aspergillus plate.] |
| António Egas Moniz | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1874; died 13 Dec 1955.
Portuguese neurologist and statesman who was the founder of modern psychosurgery. In the 1920s, he pioneered the technique of cerebral angiography, enabling X-ray examination of arteries in the brain. In the 1930s, he developed the original form of prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy), an operation for relieving severe symptoms of psychiatric illness. The operation consisted of inserting a sharp knife into the prefrontal lobe of the brain, roughly the area above and between the eyes; it required the minimum of equipment and lasted less than five minutes. For this development, he was awarded a share of the 1949 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Walter Hess. |
| Ernest Brown | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1866; died 22 July 1938.
Ernest (William) Brown was a British astronomer who devoted his career to the theory of the Moon's motion and constructing accurate lunar tables. His theory took account of "the gravitational action of every particle of matter which can have a sensible effect on the Moon's motion," some 1500 terms. He then determined the numerical values of the constants by analyzing 150 years of Greenwich observations, and computed tables accurate to 0.01 arcsec. After 30 years of work, Brown published his lunar tables Tables of the Motion of the Moon in 1919. In 1926 Brown published a paper in which he ascribed fluctuations in the Moon's motion to irregular changes in the Earth's period of rotation, which has subsequently proved correct. |
| Sir John Ambrose Fleming | |
(source) |
Born 29 Nov 1849; died 18 Apr 1945.
English engineer who made numerous contributions to electronics, photometry, electric measurements, and wireless telegraphy. In 1904, he discovered the one directional current effect between a positively biassed electrode, which he called the anode, and the heated filament in an evacuated glass tube; the electrons flowed from filament to anode only. Fleming called the device a diode because it contained two electrodes, the anode and the heated filament. He noted that when an alternating current was applied, only the positive halves of the waves were passed - that is, the wave was rectified (from a.c. to d.c.). It would also take a radio frequency wave and produce d.c.corresponding to the on and off of the Morse code transmitted signals. |
| Jean-Martin Charcot | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1825; died 16 Aug 1893.
French founder (with Guillaume Duchenne) of modern neurology and one of France's greatest medical teachers and clinicians. Although he was a nineteenth century scientist, his influence carried on into the next century, especially in the work of some of his well-known students (Binet and Freud). In 1882, he established a neurological clinic at the Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, that was unique in Europe. He was first to describe the degeneration of ligaments and joint surfaces due to lack of use or control, now called Charcot's joint. He did research to determine the parts of the brain responsible for specific nerve functions and discovered the importance of small arteries in cerebral hemorrhage. |
| Christian Doppler | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1803; died 17 Mar 1853.
Austrian physicist who first described how the observed frequency of light and sound waves is affected by the relative motion of the source and the detector, known as the Doppler effect. In 1845, to test his hypothesis, Doppler used two sets of trumpeters: one set stationary at a train station and one set moving on an open train car, all holding the same note. As the train passed the station, it was obvious that the frequency of the notes from the two groups didn't match. Sound waves would have a higher frequency if the source was moving toward the observer and a lower freqency if the source was moving away from the observer. Edwin Hubble used the Doppler effect of light from distant stars to determine that the universe is expanding. |
| Pierre-André Latreille | |
(source) |
Born 29 Nov 1762; died 6 Feb 1833.
French zoologist and Roman Catholic priest (ordained 1786) who became the father of modern entomology. During the French Revolution he was imprisoned in Bordeaux. He made the acquaintance of a physician, a fellow-prisoner, who had obtained a specimen of the rare beetle, Necrobia ruficollis. It was through this discovery that Latreille became acquainted with the naturalist, Bory de Saint-Vincent, who obtained his release. He did not share Lamarck's evolutionary views, although he worked under him from 1805 at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. Latreille made the first detailed classification of crustaceans and insects. He used a "natural method" of classification combining the approaches of Linnaeus and Fabricius. [Image top right: Necrobia ruficollis] |
| John Ray | |
(source) |
Born 29
Nov 1627; died 17 Jan 1705.
Leading 17th-century English naturalist and botanist who contributed significantly to progress in taxonomy, and is often referred to as the father of natural history in Britain. He toured Europe with Francis Willoughby in search of specimens of flora and fauna. Ray was the first to classify flowering plants into monocotyledons and dicotyledons. Ray established the species as the basic taxonomic unit - his enduring legacy to botany. His major work was the three-volume Historia Plantarum (1686-1704). He also attempted to classify the animal kingdom. In 1693 he published a system based on a number of structural characters, including internal anatomy, which provided a more natural classification than those being produced by his contemporaries.  John
Ray: Naturalist: His Life and Works, by Charles E. Raven. |
|
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| NOVEMBER 29 - DEATHS | |
| Lewis Hastings Sarett | |
(source) |
 Died
29 Nov 1999 (born 22 Dec 1917)
American organic chemist who prepared a synthetic version of the hormone cortisone (1944) using a complicated 36-step process. He was a research scientist (1942-48) at Merck & Co., Inc. Four years later the Mayo Clinic demonstrated the efficacy of the product against rheumatoid arthritis. Cortisone also has wide-ranging applications in the treatment of allergies as well as inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. In 1949, Sarett and several collaborators initiated an alternative synthesis commencing with raw materials derivable from coal, air, lime, and water. This led to the first route independent of naturally occurring starting materials. Sarett was the 1975 recipient of the National Medal of Science.« |
| Jean Dieudonné | |
(source) |
Died
29 Nov 1992 (born 1 Jul 1906)
French mathematician and educator known for his writings on abstract algebra, functional analysis, topology, and his theory of Lie groups. Dieudonné was one of the two main contributors to the Bourbaki series of texts. He began his mathematical career working on the analysis of polynomials. He worked in a wide variety of mathematical areas including general topology, topological vector spaces, algebraic geometry, invariant theory and the classical groups. |
| Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff | |
(source) |
Died
29 Nov 1952 (born 21 Nov 1867)
Russian-born U.S. chemist who was one of the first to investigate high-pressure catalytic reactions of hydrocarbons and who developed a process for manufacturing high-octane gasoline. While studying in Munich (1897) Ipatieff achieved the synthesis of isoprene, the basic unit of the rubber molecule. Upon return to Russia he worked particularly on the use of high-pressure catalysis and of metallic oxides as catalysts. With these techniques, he helped to establish the petrochemical industry in both pre- and post-revolutionary Russia. Before WW I, he had synthesized isooctane, and had polymerized ethylene. After moving to the U.S. (1930), Ipatieff showed how to convert low-octane gasolines into high-octane by 'cracking' hydrocarbons at high temperatures. The
life of a chemist: Memoirs of Vladimir N. Ipatieff, by
Vladimir N. Ipatieff. |
| Dallas Lore Sharp | |
 |
Died
29 Nov 1929 (born 13 Dec 1870)
American professor of English who was among the most popular nature writers of his time. His essays familiarized his readers with the natural world on their doorstep in the local woods and fields. In 1901 he published his first book, Wild Life Near Home. Rather than expansive vistas of the wilderness, Sharp wrote in the small-scale about flora and fauna of the back yard and pasture, such as the pines, persimmon, bees, chipmunks, muskrat and chick-a-dee. He urged people to take an interest in conservation, as in his bookThe Lay of the Land. Some of his books sold over one hundred thousand copies. He wrote many essays for popular magzines such as Atlantic Monthly. He died of a brain tumour with more than 20 books to his credit.« |
| Alfred Brandt | |
(source) |
Died
29 Nov 1899 (born 3 Sep 1846)
German civil engineer who was primarily responsible for the successful driving of the 12.5 mile (20-km) Simplon Tunnel, largest of the great Alpine tunnels. He first saw the difficulties of tunnel construction as a young railroad engineer during the construction of the St. Gotthard Tunnel (Italy-Switzerland). That work used a pneumatic drill and blasting. Brandt designed an hydraulic drill which was used successfully to build the Arlberg Tunnel (Austria-Switzerland). Commissioned to dig the Simplon Tunnel, he innovated by driving two separate tunnels 55-ft (17-m) apart, connected by crosshatches to provide for ventilation, temperature control and a circuit for debris-removal trains. He died early in the project, from the strain of overworking himself. [Image: Simplon Tunnel during construction, model] |
| John Wyatt | |
(source) |
Died
29 Nov 1766 (born Apr 1700)
English inventor of machines for making files and rolling lead, with commercial support from the Birmingham inventor Lewis Paul. Wyatt invented and perfected the compound-lever weighing machine. After 1744, machines for weighing up to 5 tons were set up in several cities. He also engaged in road construction, bridge building, water-powered engines and canals. Wyatt contributed to the development of a powered machine for cotton spinning by rollers. This, first patented in 1738, was almost certainly Paul's idea, with Wyatt providing the technical skill. The principle was to draw the fibres through sets of rollers turning at different speeds. It had limited success for a time but was superseded by Richard Arkwright's water frame in the 1770s. [Image: detail from patent showing the rollers, spindle and bobbin] |
| NOVEMBER 29 - EVENTS | |
| Concorde | |
(source) |
In 1962, the British Aircraft Corporation and the leading French airline
company, Sud Aviation, agree to jointly design and manufacture a 100-seat
supersonic passenger airliner. Two months later, in Jan 1963, a BAC executive
came up with the name "Concord" by looking through a thesaurus. The adopted
name, "Concorde,"
reflected the French spelling of the word. In May 1963, it was jointly
decided that Concorde components would be single sourced, but that there
would be two assembly lines, one in England at Filton and one in France
at Toulouse. The UK was to manufacture 60 per cent of the engine and 40
per cent of the airframe. By the end of the decade, the first Concorde
had broken the sound barrier 1 Oct
1969). [Image: a production
Concorde being assembled at Filton in 1973] |
| Animal astronaut | |
(source) |
In 1961, the first U.S. satellite carrying an animal was launched by Mercury-Atlas
5 from Cape Canaveral. The passenger was Enos, a five-year-old chimpanzee,
on a 2-orbit ride for 3-hr 20 min. The test was the prelude to John Glenn's
orbital space flight. Enos experienced up to 7.6-G accelerative force during
the launch. During the flight, Enos carried out the lever-pulling
performance and psychological tests that he had trained on for the past
16-months. Enos performed
the tasks well, and received a limited number of shocks for incorrect answers.
Even when the input device failed and Enos received consecutive shocks
even if the correct answer was given, the frustrated chimpanzee continued
to give answers until the end of the flight. [Image:
Enos wearing space suit and lying in Flight Couch] |
| Underground atom bomb test | |
(source) |
In 1951, the first U.S. underground atom bomb test - designed "Uncle" -
was detonated. The low-yield 1.2 kt bomb was buried 17-ft sub-surface at
Frenchman Flat, a 123-square-mile (320-sq.km.) dry lake bed at the Nevada
Test Site (NTS). It was witnessed by members of Congress and military officers.
The explosion, part of Operation Buster-Jangle,
caused a hole 800-ft in diameter and 100-ft deep. Since WW II, five U.S.
nuclear weapons tests had been conducted at distant islands in the Pacific
Ocean. To reduce the extensive logistic effort, time and cost previously
involved, testing was begun within the U.S. Although NTS originally was
selected by criteria for atmospheric tests, it subsequently also was used
for underground tests. |
| Rescue winch | |
(source) |
In 1945, a Sikorsky R5 helicopter performed the first rescue
from a sinking civilian vessel and the first use of a rescue winch. Besieged
by a violent storm, an oil barge had grounded on Penfield Reef, off the
coast at Fairfield, Connecticut in Long Island Sound. Two men stranded
on the oil barge were in peril of being washed overboard. No boats could
reach the reef because they would be hurled onto the rocks by the waves.
An attempt by men on a small surf boat to get a breeches buoy to the men
on the barge had also failed. It was a short flight from the Sikorsky factory
in Connecticut. The R5 helicopter, the second helicopter designed by Igor
Sikorsky for the military, had a crew of two seated in tandem for improved
observational capability. |
| Blue baby operation | |
(source) |
In 1944, the first "blue baby" operation
was performed
successfully at Johns Hopkins University by Dr.
Alfred Blalock and pediatric cardiologist Helen
B. Taussig. He devised the first subclavian-pulmonary artery anastomosis
operation
on the cyanotic ("blue-baby") infant which had a hole in the wall between
the heart's two major chambers (ventricles). The Blalock-Taussig shunt
procedure joined an artery leaving the heart to an artery leading to the
lungs, in an attempt to give the blood a second chance at oxygenation.
Thousands of cyanotic children have been helped by the same operation until
later surgeries repair the defect itself.« [Image:
the Blalock-Taussig shunt shown after surgery on the heart .]
"Partners
of the Heart: Vivien Thomas and His Work With Alfred Blalock" by
Vivien T. Thomas |
| Electric card dealer | |
(source) |
In 1932, a U.S. patent was issued for the first card game table with an
automatic dealing device, to Laurens
Hammond of Chicago, Ill. (No. 1,889,729), who later invented the Hammond
organ. When cards were played in a recessed tray, four shuffled 13-card
bridge hands were delivered to the players. A rotatary mechanism
built within the square game table had an arm with a rubber tip to pick
up and carry cards from the deck to the player. The destination hand was
controlled by a serrated wheel with varied notch depths in 52 positions.
A deal took about one minute. Marketed for a few years from 1932, the invention
was an attempt to diversify Hammond's declining clock business
during the depression-era, but sold poorly.« [Image:
dealing mechanism shown with table top removed.] |
| Traffic signal | |
(USPTO) |
In 1910, the first U.S. patent for a traffic signal was issued to Ernest
E. Sirrine for a "Street Traffic System" (No. 976,939). Sign arms were
mounted crosswise on a post at a road intersection, rotating to showing
"Stop" and "Proceed" signs alternately in each direction. The motor that
turned the sign operate automatically or controlled by a policeman at the
side of the road. Additional signs at intersections on parallel streets
could be wired to operate simultaneously. The signs were on glass panels
to be illuminated by electric lights behind them. M.H. Flaherty had filed
a different design seven months earlier, but its patent was issued later
as No. 991,964 on 9 May 1911.« |
| Edison phonograph | |
(source) |
In 1877, Thomas Edison demonstrated his hand-cranked phonograph
that recorded sound onto tinfoil cylinders.*
Although 12 Aug 1877, is often given as the date of this invention,
it may have been only at the stage of a sketch,
since Edison did not file for the patent until 24 Dec 1877. The idea came
to Edison while working on a telegraph transmitter, when he noted that
when the the tape of the machine was played at high speed, it gave off
a noise resembling spoken words. After experimenting with a needle attached
to the diaphragm of a telephone receiver to prick paper tape to record
a message, his idea evolved to using a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder.« |
| Steam printing | |
|
In 1814, The Times in London became the first newpaper to be printed
by steam power. Its hand presses were replaced by new machines invented
by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer. The replacement of hand presses
by the new technology meant that for the first time it became possible
to produce newspapers on a scale that could meet public demand. |
|
| Iodine discovery announced | |
(source) |
In 1813, a new substance - iodine - was announced
at the French Institute by Nicolas Clément, in the name of its discoverer,
Bernard Courtois. In 1811, Courtois had observed violet crystals with a
metallic lustre that condensed from the vapour rising from the mother liquor
of seaweed ash being leeched in sulphuric acid at his family's saltpetre
business in Dijon. Although he made a preliminary investigation of this
substance, he lacked the resources to fully research it. For this he turned
to C.B. Desormes and Nicolas
Clément. They suspected the substance was similar to chlorine,
but confirmation of its nature as an element was made independently by
Joseph-Louis
Gay-Lussac, who named it iode, and Humphry
Davy (1814).
[Ref: Clément,
N., Découverte d'une Substance Nouvelle dans l'Vareck par M.B. Courtois.
Ann.
Chim., 88, 304-310, 1813.] [Image: iodine crystals deposited from vapour
on a col glass surface.] |
| Royal College of Physicians, Scotland | |
|
In 1681, the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, Scotland, was granted
its charter by King Charles II. |
|
