| DECEMBER 28 - BIRTHS | |
| Kary B(anks) Mullis | |
(source) |
 Born 28
Dec 1944
American biochemist, who invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 1983, for which he shared the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry (with Michael Smith). The PCR technique is simple, and within a few hours can make billions of copies of a specific stretch of DNA. It is a powerful aid in medical diagnosis of a bacterial or viral infection, able to use a very small sample of genetic material to identify the causative agent. PCR is valuable in genetics, and forensic science. With its use, genetic disorders can be identified from DNA samples. Using minute traces of tissue, PCR can yield sufficient DNA to identify parents and family kin, crime suspects, corpses, anthropological or ancient fossil remains. PCR is also a basic tool in gene sequencing.«  The
Polymerase Chain Reaction, by Kary B. Mullis, et al. |
| Maarten Schmidt | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1929
Dutch-born American astronomer who in 1963 discovered quasars (quasi-stellar objects). The hydrogen spectrum of these starlike objects shows a huge redshift, which indicates they are more distant than normal stars, travelling away at greater speed, and are among the oldest objects observed. In turn, this indicates they existed only when the universe was very young, and provides evidence against the steady state theory of Fred Hoyle. Schmidt is currently seeking to find the redshift above which there are no quasars, and he also studies x-ray and gamma ray sources.« |
| John von Neumann | |
(source) |
Born 3
Dec 1903; died 8 Feb 1957.
Hungarian-American mathematician who made important contributions in quantum physics, logic, meteorology, and computer science. He invented game theory, the branch of mathematics that analyses strategy and is now widely employed for military and economic purposes. During WW II, he studied the implosion method for bringing nuclear fuel to explosion and he participated in the development of the hydrogen bomb. He also set quantum theory upon a rigorous mathematical basis. In computer theory, von Neumann did much of the pioneering work in logical design, in the problem of obtaining reliable answers from a machine with unreliable components, the function of "memory," and machine imitation of "randomness." Image: Von Neumann with ENIAC computer. [This date of birth is given by the Encyclopedia Britannica; some other reference sources give 28 Dec 1903.] John
Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered...,
by Norman MacRae. |
| Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1898; died 19 Aug 1957.
Swedish-U.S. meteorologist who first explained the large-scale motions of the atmosphere in terms of fluid mechanics. His work contributed to developing meteorology as a science. Rossby first theorized about the existence of the jet stream in 1939, and that it governs the easterly movement of most weather. U.S. Army Air Corps pilots flying B-29 bombing missions across the Pacific Ocean during World War II proved the jet stream's existence. The pilots found that when they flew from east to west, they experienced slower arrival times and fuel shortage problems. When flying from west to east, however, they found the opposite to be true. Rossby created mathematical models (Rossby equations) for computerized weather prediction (1950).« |
| Alfred Sherwood Romer | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1894; died 5 Nov 1973.
U.S. paleontologist who studied the evolution of early vertebrates in biological terms of comparative anatomy and embryology. He researched muscle and limb evolution, the development and evolutionary history of cartilage and bone, and the structure and function of the nervous system. Further, he traced the basic structural and functional changes that took place during the evolution of fishes to primitive terrestrial vertebrates and from these to modern vertebrates. He linked the form and function of animals to their environment. Romer was one of the first vertebrate palaeontologists to defend the idea of continental drift, having found striking similarities between Permian reptiles in western Texas and in Czechoslovakia.« Vertebrate
Paleontology, by Alfred Sherwood Romer. |
| A(lfred) Irving Hallowell | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1892; died 10 Oct 1974.
American cultural anthropologist who was an authority on the Northern Ojibwa Indians. He used tests of perception, and particularly favoured the Rorschach ink blot test to assess individual Ojibwa personalities. Hallowell collected a series of 266 Rorschach records from various Ojibwa communities, and although he never prepared an over-all summary of the results in the form of a sketch of typical Ojibwa personality structures, he used the data in a number of papers. All of Hallowell's field work was undertaken among American Indians. He published many studies of the tribes and made important contributions to culture- and- personality theory. His book Culture and Experience appeared in 1955.« The
Ojibwa of Berens River, Manitoba: Ethnography into History,
by A. Irving Hallowell, et al. |
| Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1882; died 22 Nov 1944.
English astrophysicist, and mathematician known for his work on the motion, distribution, evolution and structure of stars. He also interpreted Einstein's general theory of relativity. He was one of the first to suggest (1917) conversion of matter into radiation powered the stars. In 1919, he led a solar eclipse expedition which confirmed the predicted bending of starlight by gravity. He developed an equation for radiation pressure. In 1924, he derived an important mass-luminosity relation. He also studied pulsations in Cepheid variables, and the very high densities of white dwarfs. He sought fundamental relationships between the prinicipal physical constants. Eddington wrote many books for the general reader, including Stars and Atoms.« The
Eddington Enigma, by David Evans, David S. Evans. |
| William Draper Harkins | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1873; died 7 Mar 1951.
American nuclear chemist who was one of the first to investigate the structure and fusion reactions of the nucleus. In 1920, Harkins predicted the existence of the neutron, subsequently discovered by Chadwick's experiment. He made pioneering studies of nuclear reactions with Wilson cloud chambers. In the early 1930's, (with M.D. Kamen) he built a cyclotron. Harkins demonstrated that in neutron bombardment reactions the first step in neutron capture is the formation of an "excited nucleus" of measurable lifetime, which subsequently splits into fragments. He also suggested that subatomic energy might provide enough energy to power the Sun over its lifetime.« |
| Sir Archibald Geikie | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1835; died 10 Nov 1924.
Scottish geologist who was the first to clearly and connectedly delineate the effects of glaciation in Scotland (1863). In 1867, he was appointed director of the new branch of the Geological Survey for Scotland until 1881 when he became director-general of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. In this latter position, he did much to encourage microscopic petrography. He prepared a geological map of Scotland (1892). Geike travelled throughout Europe and in western America. He found the canyons of the Colorado confirmed his long-standing fluvial theory of erosion. He also gained experience in volcanic geology. Among other books and texts, he published The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain (1897).« Landscape
in history, and other essays, by Archibald Geikie. |
| Carl Remigius Fresenius | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1818; died 11 Jun 1897.
German analytical chemist who devised a method for systematic identification and separation of individual metal and non-metal ions, selecting the most suitable reactions from the many that were known. The book he wrote expounding this system (Anleitung zur qualitativen chemischen Analyse, 1941) enjoyed great success. As it was the first to address this need, it became an enduring textbook. He followed this with a book on quantitative analysis (1846). Aged only 29, he founded the first chemical analysis and teaching laboratory, the Fresnius Training and Research Institute, in Wiesbaden, Germany. He founded the Zeitschrift für Analytische Chemie (Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 1862) which he edited until his death.« |
| Sir John Bennet Lawes | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1814; died 31 Aug 1900.
(1st Baronet) English agronomist who initiated the artificial fertiliser industry and founded the world's first agricultural research station. While a young man, he studied how manures improved growth of potted plants and crops. In 1842, having patented a method to make superphosphate by treating phosphate rock with sulphuric acid, he started the first artificial fertiliser factory. In 1843, Lawes opened the Rothamsted Experimental Station where he began a 57-yr collaboration with chemist Joseph Henry Gilbert. They developed modern scientific agriculture, researching animal nutrition with different fodders, and the effect on crop yields of inorganic and organic fertilisers. Some of their long-term field experiments continue to this day.« |
| John Stough Bobbs | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1809; died 12 Apr 1870.
American physician who performed the first U.S. gallstone operation in Indianapolis, Indiana, becoming known as "the father of cholecystotomy". The surgery was reported, 19-20 May 1868, to the Indiana State Medical Society of which he was president of the surgery section. Bobbs was a commissioner of the state's first hospital, the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. He was the state's first and most vocal advocate for a medical school, and he was founded the Indiana Medical college in 1869 (which was incorporated into the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1908). Earlier, he had served as state senator (1856-60). He was a civilian brigade surgeon during the Civil War.« |
| Thomas Henderson | |
(source) |
Born 28
Dec 1798; died 23 Nov 1844.
Scottish astronomer, the first Scottish Astronomer Royal (1834), who was first to measure the parallax of a star (Alpha Centauri, observed at the Cape of Good Hope) in 1831-33, but delayed publication of his results until Jan 1839. By then, a few months earlier, both Friedrich Bessel and Friedrich Struve had been recognized as first for their measurements of stellar parallaxes. Alpha Centauri can be observed from the Cape, though not from Britain. It is now known to be the nearest star to the Sun, but is still so distant that its light takes 4.5 years to reach us. As Scottish Astronomer Royal in 1834, he worked diligently at the Edinburgh observatory for ten years, making over 60,000 observations of star positions before his death in 1844.« [Image: Memorial tablet at the City Observatory, Edinburgh. No proper portrait of him exists] Parallax
: The Race to Measure the Cosmos, by Alan W. Hirshfeld. |
| Joseph Arnold | |
| Born 28
Dec 1782; died Jul 1818.
English botanist who discovered the largest flower known while travelling as a naturalist to Sir Stamford Raffles. The Rafflesia arnoldi has neither leaves or branches, but the flower is a yard across. Its petals are one foot long and its nectarium contains 12 pints.« |
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| DECEMBER 28 - DEATHS | |
| Eldon W.Lyle | |
(source) |
 Died
28 Dec 1997 (born 5 Dec 1908)
American plant pathologist who was an expert on the diseases of roses. He lived in Tyler, Texas, and greatly assisted the city's rose-growing industry. His interest stretched over 50 years; his doctorate dissertation in 1937 was his first study on the control of black spot disease. He found that the chief source of black spot spores is from lesions on the canes, and not the black-spotted leaflets. When spraying for black spot, he found it was important to wet all the woody parts of the plant on a weekly basis. Affected leaflets, when left in place, in fact contributed to the food production of the rose plant. He also helped breed various rose varieties, investigated hybrids, genetic composition, cultural adaptation and the best use of fertilizers.« |
| Gustave Eiffel | |
(source) |
Died
28 Dec 1923 (born 15 Dec 1832)
French civil engineer who specialised in metal structures, known especially for the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He built his first of his iron bridges at Bordeaux (1858) and was among the first engineers to build bridge foundations using compressed-air caissons. His work includes designing the rotatable dome for Nice Observatory on the summit of Mont Gros (1886), and the framework for the Statue of Liberty now in New York Harbour. After building the Eiffel Tower (1887-9), which he used for scientific research on meteorology, aerodynamics and radio telegraphy, he also built the first aerodynamic laboratory at Auteuil, outside Paris, where he pursued his research work without interruption during WW I.« Eiffel:
The Genius Who Reinvented Himself, by David I. Harvie. |
| Johannes Robert Rydberg | |
(source) |
Died
28 Dec 1919 (born 8 Nov 1854)
Swedish physicist, known for the Rydberg constant in his empirical formula that related the wave numbers of the spectral lines of an element (1890). This formula expressed fundamental relationships in those lines, which he presumed were the result of the inner nature and structure of an element's atoms. In 1897, he suggested that an atomic number for each of the elements, rather than atomic weights, would be a better means for organizing the elements and their periodicity of their characteristics. His work did provided the basis for discovering the electron shell structure of the atom. It was later established that the integer number of positive charges on an element's nucleus (its number of protons) corresponded to his idea of atomic number.« |
| Horatio Hale | |
(source) |
Died
28 Dec 1896 (born 3 May 1817)
Horatio (Emmons) Hale was an American anthropologistwhose contributions to the science of ethnology, included his theory of the origin of the diversities of human languages and dialectsa theory suggested by his study of childlanguages (the languages invented by little children). He emphasized the importance of languages as tests of mental capacity and as criteria for the classification of human groups. Hale was the first to discover that the Tutelos of Virginia belonged to the Siouan family, and to identify the Cherokee as a member of the Iroquoian family of speech. He sailed with the scientific corps of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition (1838-42) collecting linguistic materials. He used the drift of the Polynesian tongue as a clue to the migration of this race.« The
Iroquois Book of Rites, by Horatio Hale. |
| Joseph Pitton de Tournefort | |
(source) |
Died 28 Dec 1708 (born 5 Jun 1656)
French botanist and physician, whose pioneering systematic approach to botany included creating a system of plant classification that used the "genus" in the modern sense. On scientific expeditions, he collected many plant species from Greece, Asia Minor, and the Pyrenees. In Élémens de botanique (1694), he arranged the petal-bearing plants into classes based on the form of the corolla, then into families based on the position of the corolla, and finally into genera as defined by the character of the fruit and seed. His system was used through the 18th century, elaborated by others such as Linnæus, but superceded as research advanced. Tournefort did not use a microscope and did no research on plant structure, function or reproduction.« [Image right: (source)] |
| Francesco Maria Grimaldi | |
(source) |
Died
28 Dec 1663 (born 2 Apr 1618)
Italian mathematician and physicist who studied the diffraction of light. He observed the image on a screen in a darkened room of a tiny beam of sunlight after it passed pass through a fine screen (or a slit, edge of a screen, wire, hair, fabric or bird feather). The image had iridescent fringes, and deviated from a normal geometrical shadow. He coined the name diffraction for this change of trajectory of the light passing near opaque objects (though, more specifically, it may have been interferences with two close sources that he observed). This provided evidence for later physicists to support the wave theory of light. With Riccioli, he investigated the object in free fall (1640-50), and found that distance of fall was proportional to the square of the time taken.«  |
| DECEMBER 28 - EVENTS | |
| Galileo satellite launched | |
In 2005, the first in a network of satellites, named Galileo, was launched
by a consortium of European goverments and companies. By 2011, Galileo
will consist of 30 satellites providing worldwide coverage as an alternative
to the U.S. monopoly with its Global Positioning System (GPS). At a cost
of $4 billion, it's Europe's biggest-ever space project, with one-third
contributed by governments and the balance from eight companies. Since
the American GPS is controlled by the military, the European satellite
network is designed to ensure independance for civilian use, but also offer
more precision for a paid service. Customers are expected to include service
for small airports, transportation, and mobile phone manufacturers to build
in navigation capabilities.« |
|
| Elizabeth Jordan Carr | |
4-cell embryo (source) |
In 1981, the first American "test tube" baby conceived through in vitro
fertilization was born on this morning, a 5-lb 12-oz girl, at Norfolk General
Hospital. The term "in vitro" is Latin for "in glass," because conception
takes place in a laboratory dish. The U.S. procedure was performed by the
Howard and Georgeanna Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine, which
now draws patients from around the world with its advanced and comprehensive
treatment of reproductive disorders, male and female. In vitro fertilization
was a medical breakthrough
because it helped doctors overcome intractable problems with a woman's
fallopian tubes or a man's sperm count. The world's first "test-tube" baby,
Louise
Brown, was born in England, on 25 July 1978. |
| Beryllium bombarded by alpha rays | |
 |
In 1931, Irene Joliot-Curie reported
her study of the unusually penetrating radiation released when beryllium
was bombarded by alpha particles seen by the German physicists, Walter
Bothe and H. Becker in 1930. Joliot-Curie (daughter of Marie and Pierre
Curie) agreed with them that the radiation was energetic gamma rays. She
further discovered that if the emitted radiation passed through paraffin
(or other hydrogen containing materials), large numbers of protons were
released. Since this was, in fact, a previously unknown result for gamma
rays, she lacked an explanation. It was to be the experiments of James
Chadwick performed during 7-17 Feb that would discover the radiation
was in fact new particles - neutrons.« [Image:
alpha particle striking a beryllium nucleus creates a carbon nucleus with
the release of a neutron] |
| Wireless relays weather reports | |
|
In 1904, the first weather reports relayed by wireless telegraphy were
published in London.* |
|
| Lumieres' first public performance | |
(source) |
In 1895, the brothers Auguste
and Louis Lumière presented
their motion-picture films in their first public performance, at the Salon
Indien of the Grand Café, 14 Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. An
earlier private first screening on 22
Mar 1895 showed their first film,
La Sortie des ouvriers de l'usine
Lumière. This film
was shot specially for the occasion. It shows workers leaving the Lumières'
own factory in Lyon, which made all kinds of photographic products. The
workers streamed out, most on foot, some on bicycles, followed by those
with cars.« |
| Dewar lectures | |
 |
In 1893, Professor James Dewar gave six well-illustrated lectures on "Air
gaseous and liquid," at the Royal Institution, London, 28 Dec 1893 - 9
Jan 1894. Some of the air in the room was liquified in the presence of
the audience and it remained so for some time, when enclosed in a vacuum
jacket. Again, 1 Apr 1898. [*
p.30] |
| Dishwasher patent | |
(USPTO) |
In 1886, the first U.S. patent for a commercially successful dishwasher
was issued to Josephine Garis Cochrane (No.
355,139). Developed over a number of years, aher hand-operated
machine
provided "a continuous stream of either soap-suds or clear hot water" which
was "supplied to a crate holding the racks or cages containing the dishes
while the crate is rotated so as to bring the greater portion thereof under
the action of the water." The company she founded to market the dishwasher
to hotels and restaurants was purchased in the 1920's by the Hobart Corporation.
They introduced the "KitchenAid" brand name that is known today (1949).
The first U.S. patent for a dishwasher was issued 14
May 1850 to Joel Houghton. « |
| Tay Bridge collapse | |
(source) |
In 1879, at about 7:15 pm, as a train crossed the Tay
Bridge during a gale, the central navigation spans collapsed.
The locomotive and six carriages of pasengers fell into the Firth of Tay
at Dundee, killing over 80 people, with no survivors. The Tay bridge, then
the longest bridge in the world, had 85 spans and was nearly 2 miles long.
The collapse
of the bridge, opened only 19 months before, shocked the Victorian engineering
profession and general public. The Court of Inquiry concluded
that inadequate design and construction led to insufficient cross bracing
to withstand the gale force winds. The designer, Sir
Thomas Bouch, died only ten months after the disaster. To date, it
remains the worst structural engineering failure in the British Isles.«
[Image:
collapsed span in water beside broken columns after the collapse of the
Tay Bridge.]
Beautiful
Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster,
by Peter R. Lewis. |
| Chewing gum patented | |
Collecting chicle sap (source) |
In 1869, William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, was issued the first
U.S. patent for chewing gum (No.
98,304), made of "the combination of rubber with other articles
adapted to the formation of an acceptable chewing gum", but he never commercially
produced gum. That was done
by Thomas Adams of Staten Island, N.Y., who knew that chicle
could be chewed. His first experiments to vulcanize chicle for use as a
rubber substitute were unsuccessful until he boiled a small batch of chicle
in his kitchen and created the first chicle-based chewing gum. Testing
sales at a local store, he found people liked his gum.
In 1871, Adams patented a gum-producing machine so he could increase production.
Great
American Chewing Gum Book, by Robert Hendrickson. |
| Dry-cleaning | |
|
In 1849, it is said that dry-cleaning was accidentally discovered when
M. Jolly-Bellin, a tailor, upset a lamp containing turpentine
oil on his tablecloth and noticed it had a cleaning effect. He opened the
very first dry cleaning shop called "Teinturerie Jolly Bellin" on rue Saint
Martin in Paris in 1825. Another story
says that by accident the owner of a textile dye works in 1848 found that
the liquid from an oil lamp could dissolve fat. While different stories
reportedly tell of its origin, one thing in common is that fabric was accidentally
saturated with a volatile liquid and, by surprise, the material appeared
clean after it dried. One such tale
tells about a French sailor who accidentally fell into a vat of turpentine
and when his soiled uniform dried, it was clean. |
|
