| APRIL 5 - BIRTHS | |
| Ivar Giaever | |
(source) |
 Born 5
Apr 1929
Norwegian-born American physicist who, for his experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in superconductors, shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1973 with Leo Esaki and Brian Josephson for work in solid-state physics. Giaever demonstrated (1960) the tunneling of electrons through a sandwich with an extremely thin oxide layer surrounded with metal either in superconducting state on both sides or in superconducting state on one side and in normal state on the other side. This gave direct evidence for the so called energy gap in a superconductor (predicted by Bardeen et al., in 1972). Later, Giaever developed the method into a very powerful and accurate spectroscopy to study the detailed properties of superconductors.  The
Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists by
Istvan Hargittai, James D. Watson |
| Joseph Sobek | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1918; died 27 Mar 1998.
American inventor of racquetball who developed the sport (1950) to play at the Greenwich, Connecticut, YMCA. As a squash and tennis professional for seven years, he invented racquetball as an alternative indoor racquet sport. He drafted rules, drew a racquet design, which was created in 1951 by Magnan Racket Manufacturing Company. To promote his invention, he founded the Paddle Rackets Association with a group of players. He withdrew from active promotion as the sport quickly rose in popularity, as an athletic activity that was easy to learn, and needed no power or strength to enjoy. By the early 70's, there were court clubs in every state. There are now millions of players, and it is an Olympic sport.« |
| Hattie Elizabeth Alexander | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1901; died 24 Jun 1968.
American pediatrician and microbiologist whose groundbreaking work on influenzal meningitis significantly reduced infant death rates and advanced the field of microbiological genetics. She made a major contribution in her third published paper (1939), devising an anti-influenzal rabbit serum against H. influenzae type b, the causative organism of a then almost uniformly fatal meningitis in infants and children. Her antiserum reduced the mortality rate to 20 percent. When the advent of antibiotics made the antiserum obsolete, she quickly mastered their use against all the bacterial meningitides. Late in her career--the 1950s and 60s--she became a pioneer in microbial genetics. Over 30 years she published some 70 papers. |
| Alfred Blalock | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1899; died 15 Sep 1964.
American surgeon who, with pediatric cardiologist Helen B. Taussig, devised a surgical treatment for infants born with the condition known as the tetralogy of Fallot, or "blue baby" syndrome, which consists of a hole in the wall between the heart's two major chambers (ventricles). Earlier in his career he did pioneering work on the nature and treatment of hemorrhagic and traumatic shock. He demonstrated that surgical shock resulted primarily from the loss of blood, and he encouraged the use of plasma or whole-blood transfusions as treatment following the onset of shock. This early work on shock is credited with saving the lives of many casualties during WW II. By 29 Nov 1944, he made the first operation on a cyanotic infant with blue-baby syndrome. "Partners
of the Heart: Vivien Thomas and His Work With Alfred Blalock" by
Vivien T. Thomas |
| Lawrence Dale Bell | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1894; died 20 Oct 1956.
U.S. aircraft designer, founder of Bell Aircraft Co., whose experimental X-1 rocket-propelled airplane in 1947 was the first to break the sound barrier in level flight. This firm also produced such significant aviation contributions as the nation's first jet propelled airplane, the world's first commercial helicopter, the world's fastest and highest flying airplane, the Bell X-1A, and the first jet vertical take-off and landing plane. |
| Clarence E. McClung | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1870; died 17 Jan 1946.
Clarence Erwin McClung was an American geneticist and paleontologist who discovered the role of chromosomes in sex determination in a species of grasshopper. In a key paper, he reported that sperm exist in two forms, each with a different chromosome configuration. Thus, he was one of the first (1901) to deduce that chromosomes determine the sex of offspring. McClung also studied how the behaviour of chromosomes in the sex cells of different organisms affects their heredity. His theory was one of many that inspired scientists to pursue investigations such as the Human Genome Project, an attempt to map the structure and location of all human genes. He also published on Cretaceous fishes. [Note: This birth date is given by American Dictionary of Biography. However, Encyclopedia Britannica states 6 April 1870.] |
| W. Atlee Burpee | |
1911 cover (source) |
Born 5
Apr 1858; died 26 Nov 1915.
Washington Atlee Burpee was an American seedsman who founded the world's largest mail-order seed company. The Burpee company was founded in Philadelphia in 1876 by an 18 year-old with a passion for plants and animals and a mother willing to lend him $1000 dollars of “seed money” to get started in business. Within 25 years he had developed the largest, most progressive seed company in America. Much of his company's success resulted from his work in developing new hybrids and strains of flowers and vegetables. |
| Alpheus Hyatt | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1838; died 15 Jan 1902.
U.S. zoologist and paleontologist who studied invertebrate fossil records, the evolution of the cephalopods (a class of mollusks including squids and octopuses) and the development of primitive organisms. Along with E. Cope, he was the most prominent American neo-Lamarckian. Based on the analogy of ontogeny with phylogeny, Hyatt claimed that lineages, like individuals, had cycles of youth, old age, and death (extinction). Decline was programmed in. As maturity leads to old age, the best individuals die, leaving the worst to see the end. This idea became the bulwark of orthogenetic theories in the U.S. Hyatt was the founder and first editor of the American Naturalist, and first president of Woods Hole laboratory. |
| Sir Joseph Lister | |
 |
Born 5
Apr 1827; died 10 Feb 1912.
(Baron Lister of Lyme Regis ) British surgeon and medical scientist who was the founder of antiseptic medicine and a pioneer in preventive medicine. While his method, based on the use of antiseptics, is no longer employed, his principle - that bacteria must never gain entry to an operation wound - remains the basis of surgery to this day. "Germ
Theory & The Antiseptic Principle" (Great Minds Series)
by Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister |
| Matthias Jakob Schleiden | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1804; died 23 June 1881.
German botanist who first formulated the theory that plants are composed of cells. Instead of plant classification, Schleiden studied plant growth and structure under the microscope. This led to his Contributions to Phytogenesis (1838), which stated that the various structures of the plant are composed of cells or their derivatives. He thus formulated the cell theory for plants, which was later eleborated and extended to animals by the German physiologist Theodor Schwann. Schleiden recognized the significance of the cell nucleus and sensed its importance in cell division, although he thought (wrongly) that new cells were produced by budding from its surface. He was one of the first German biologists to accept Darwinism. |
| Félix Dujardin | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1801; died 8 Apr 1860.
French biologist and cytologist, noted for his studies in the classification of protozoans and invertebrates, animals he found in "infusoria" - mixtures of water and decaying matter. He was largely self-educated, yet in 1834 he was the first to propose that single-cell animals should be classified in a group by themselves that he called Rhizopoda, but now named protozoans. Dujardin's careful studies of flatworms gave a foundation for the future work of parasitologists. In 1835, he disproved Ehrenberg's theory that tiny animals have the same organs as large ones. Also in 1835, he was the first to describe protoplasm, the jellylike material in animal cells to which he applied the term sarcode (Gr. sari. flesh) to it. This substance was later found in living plant cells. |
| Vincenzo Viviani | |
(source) |
Born 5
Apr 1622; died 22 Sep 1703.
Italian mathematician, leading geometer of his time, who founded the Accademia del Cimento. As one of the first important scientific societies, this organization came before England's Royal Society. In 1639, at age 17, he became the student, secretary and assistant of Galileo (now blind) in Arcetri, until Galileo died in 1642. During his long career, Viviani published a number of books on mathematical and scientific subjects. He edited the first edition of Galileo's collected works (1655-1656), and worked tirelessly to have his master's memory rehabilitated. In 1660, together with Borelli, he measured the velocity of sound by timing the difference between the flash and the sound of a cannon. They obtained the value of 350 metres per second. |
|
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| APRIL 5 - DEATHS | |
| Sir Charles Frank | |
(source) |
 Died
5 Apr 1998 (born 6 Mar 1911)
English physicist and chemist whose work encompassed the physics of earthquakes, the growth of crystals (from diamonds to ice), the strength of polymers, and the molecular alignments within liquid crystals. During WW II, he worked for Scientific Intelligence at the Air Ministry. In 1946, at the University of Bristol, Frank looked into problems concerned with crystal growth and the plastic deformation of metallic crystals when mechanically loaded. His scientific fame was established by a decade bringing successes in applications of crystal-dislocation theory. This theoretical work has been the foundation of researches by scientists of all nationalities ever since, and continues to guide practice in the metallurgical and semiconductor industries. |
| André Tchelistcheff | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1994 (born 1901)
Russian-born U.S. enologist, was a pivotal figure in the revitalization of the California wine industry following Prohibition (1919-33) and used his Paris training in viticulture and wine making to pioneer such techniques as the cold fermentation (now widely used in producing white and rose wines) and the use of American oak barrels for aging. He developed frost-prevention techniques and helped curb vine disease in Napa Valley. Beside managing Beaulieu Vineyards in Napa for 35 years, Mr. Tchelistcheff operated a private wine laboratory in St. Helena for 15 years. He also assembled a fabled library of wine literature. |
| Alfred Henry Sturtevant | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1970 (born 21 Nov 1891)
American geneticist who in 1913 developed a technique for mapping the location of specific genes of the chromosomes in the fruit fly Drosophila. Sturtevant's method for "chromosome mapping", relies on the analysis of groups of linked genes. His paper, published in 1913, described the location of six sex-linked genes as deduced by the way in which they associate with each other: it is one of the classic papers in genetics. Sturtevant later discovered the so-called 'position effect', in which the expression of a gene depends on its position in relation to other genes. He also demonstrated that crossing over between chromosomes is prevented in regions where a part of the chromosome material is inserted the wrong way round. |
| Hermann Joseph Muller | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1967 (born 21 Dec 1890)
American geneticist who demonstrated that mutations and hereditary changes could be caused by X-rays striking the genes and chromosomes of living cells (first produced in the fruit fly Drosophila in 1927). His first task - to create procedures to exactly measure the mutation frequency - took several years. Then he investigated the effect of different agents on the frequency of mutations. He found that experiments could be arranged, for instance, so that nearly 100 per cent of the offspring of irradiated flies showed mutations. Thus a possibility had been created for the first time of influencing the hereditary mass itself artificially. Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1946.« |
| Hugh Robert Mill | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1950 (born 28 May 1861)
British geographer and meteorologist who exercised a great influence in the reform of geography teaching and on the development of meteorology as a science. As Royal Geographic Librarian he had a great influence on Scott and Shakleton and was involved with the exploration of the Antarctic, around 1901. He redefined geography, tracing its history from Aristotle and Ptolemy into the Middle Ages, the reawakening in the 16th century, the Oxford geographers, then Varenius and Newton and Immanuel Kant to modern times. He lectured on geography as a science and its mathematical principles, descriptive surveys and the importance of cartography. Shackleton:
The Polar Journeys by Ernest Henry Shackleton, with Introduction
by Hugh Robert Mill. |
| Robert Maillart | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1940 (born 6 Feb 1872)
Swiss bridge engineer whose radical use of reinforced concrete revolutionized masonry arch bridge design. Maillart utilized the structural strength and expressive potential of reinforced concrete to generate a modern form for his bridges. To avoid structural beams and arches, he established a structural form based on both flat and curved concrete slabs reinforced with steel. Using very simple construction concepts, Maillart produced major new forms, fundamentally radical ideas, such as: the open three-hinged, hollow-box arch, the mushroom slab, and the deck-stiffened arch. "Robert
Maillart : Builder, Designer, and Artist" by David P.
Billington |
| Victor Hensen | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1924 (born 10 Feb 1835)
German physiologist who first used the name plankton to describe the organisms that live suspended in the sea (and in bodies of freshwater) and are important because practically all animal life in the sea is dependent on them, directly or indirectly. He developed the equipment and methods suitable for the study of plankton and led the world's first "Plankton Expedition." As a physiologist, he named the cells of Henson and Canal of Henson found in the inner ear. |
| (5th) Earl of Carnarvon | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1923 (born 26 Jun 1866)
The 5th Earl of Carnarvon (George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert) was a British egyptologist. He first dabbled in archaeology as a small boy, digging in the park at his ancestral home, Highclere Castle. Sent to Egypt for health reasons, he found a new fascination in the relics of the past. He funded and participated in excavations from 1907, until his association with Howard Carter and the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb on 27 Nov 1922. 
"The
Tomb of Tut.Ankh.Amen: Discovered by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard
Carter: The Annexe and Treasury" by Howard Carter |
| Hans Buchner | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1902 (born 16 Dec 1850)
German bacteriologist who discovered gamma globulins, natural bactericides carried in the blood, while making immunological studies in1886-90. He also devised methods of studying anaerobic bacteria. In 1891, Buchner proposed the existence of antibacterial proteins in blood serum which he called "alexines". This began a protracted debate with Metchnikoff, who championed a cellular theory of immunity. In 1893, he proposed that antitoxin formed directly from the toxin itself. With his brother, Eduard, in 1897, Hans demonstrated that completely dead yeast juice could ferment sugar, forming carbon dioxide and alcohol, exactly as the intact cells would have done. This presaged the description of enzyme activity. |
| Joseph Bertrand | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1900 (born 11 Mar 1822)
Joseph(-Louis-François) Bertrand was a French mathematician and educator remembered for his elegant applications of differential equations to analytical mechanics, particularly in thermodynamics, and for his work on statistical probability and the theory of curves and surfaces. In 1845 Bertrand conjectured that there is at least one prime between n and (2n-2) for every n>3, as proved five years later by Chebyshev. In 1855 he translated Gauss's work on the theory of errors and the method of least squares into French. He wrote a number of notes on the reduction of data from observations. |
| Thomas Hodgkin | |
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1866 (born 17 Aug 1798)
English physician who early described (1832) the malignant disease of lymph tissue that bears his name. He was the most prominent British pathologist of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine. At Guy's Hospital, he was responsible for the introduction of the systematic arrangement of pathological and anatomical specimens for teaching purposes. In a strange contrast to his great popularity, above all in London, stands the fact that Hodgkin was denied a professional advancement. More and more disappointed by medicine he became an Oriental traveller, making important contributions. He devoted much of his life to philanthropic causes such as the relief of suffering in under-developed countries and the freeing of slaves. "Thomas
Hodgkin: Morbid Anatomist & Social Activist" by Louis
Rosenfeld |
| William Brouncker | |
(source) |
Died 5 Apr 1684 (born 1620)
Irish mathematician, educated at Oxford, who was a founder and first president of the Royal Society, London. He is known for his work on continued fractions and calculating logarithms by infinite series. In 1655 he gave a continued fraction expansion of 4/  . He also
produced several solutions for the Diophantine equation ax2+1=y2,
and a solution for the quadrature of a rectangular hyperbola. He was one
of the dozen scientists at the 28 Nov 1660 meeting in Gresham
College, London, that constituted the Society for the Promoting of
Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning to promote experimental philosophy.
The Society received a Royal Charter, passed by the Great Seal on 15 Jul
1662, creating the Royal
Society of London.« |
| John Winthrop, Jr. | |
Thm.jpg)
(source) |
Died
5 Apr 1676 (born c.1605)
English colonial governor of Connecticut (later a state of the U.S.) for the periods 1657-58 and 1659-76. Because of his scientific interests in chemistry and medicine, he was made a member of the Royal Society (1663) during a stay back in England - and became the first member resident in America. He established iron, lead and salt works, but they did not prosper. In astronomy, he predicted a fifth satellite of Jupiter, although instruments the time were not powerful enough to confirm his theory. In a letter to the Royal Society, he wrote what he had heard* in midsummer 1670 about a hill near Wells, Maine, that had leapt from its original location and fallen upside down into the Kennebunk River, blocking its waters.« |
| APRIL 5 - EVENTS | |
| Blood research | |
In 1973, Washington: Scientists produce human blood cells in living mouse.* |
|
| Driverless trains | |
(source) |
In 1964, driverless trains first ran on the London Underground. Now, on
the Victoria Line, once the Train Operator has closed the train doors and
pressed the start buttons, the trains run automatically to the next station,
responding to coded impulses transmitted through the track. The Victoria
Line was the first new deep-level Underground line to be built across central
London since the "tube boom" of 1905-07. It links Walthamstow in north
east London with Brixton in south London. The line opened in stages between
1968 and 1971 penetrating areas of north and south London not previously
served by the Underground
"London
Under London" by Richard Trench, Ellis Hillman |
| Robert Oppenheimer | |
 |
In 1963, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission gave the Fermi Award to J. Robert
Oppenheimer for research in nuclear energy*.
Oppenheimer
was the chief scientist of the Manhattan Project during WWII that created
the atomic bomb. Later, he opposed the more destructive hydrogen bomb development
and his security clearance was revoked (1954). Nine years later, a wiser
U.S. government awarded Oppenheimer the prestigious Fermi Award, "For contributions
to theoretical physics as a teacher and originator of ideas, and for leadership
of the Los Alamos Laboratory and the atomic energy program during critical
years." The actual presentation
of the medal and $50,000 was made 2 Dec 1963 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. |
| Soviet H-bomb | |
|
In 1957, the Soviets tested another H-bomb to warn Western Europe against
nuclear war.* |
|
| Lung removal | |
(source) |
In 1933, the first operation
to remove a lung was performed*
at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri by Dr. Evarts Ambrose Graham.
He was operating on a fellow physician with lung cancer. Until then, removal
of a lobe of a lung was occasionally done to treat lung cancer, if the
tumour was limited to one lobe. When exploration revealed this patient's
cancer involved more than one lobe, he removed the entire lung. Seven ribs
were removed to permit the soft tissues of the chest wall to fill the resulting
cavity. The patient recovered and was cured of the disease. This was a
triumph for the era that electrified the surgical world. Graham
devoted many years to the study of lung cancer and its link to cigarette
smoking. |
| Balloon tyres | |
(source) |
In 1923, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, began the first
regular production of balloon tyres for commercial use. These were large-section,
thin-walled tyres with a small bead. Earlier, occasional production had
been used for experimental or special purposes.*Firestone
low-pressure balloon tyres developed in 1932 revolutionised work on the
farm.
A wider contact area gave balloon tyres a more comfortable ride and reduced
the danger of high-pressure blowouts. Now the pounding and vibration of
a steel-wheeled tractor could be replaced with pnematic tyres with better
grip, less vibration, more comfort, and lower fuel consumption. This created
a new worldwide market in agricultural and earth-moving tyres.
"Uncommon
Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis
Carrel, and Charles Lindbergh" by James Newton |
| Neurological research | |
(source) |
In 1909, the first U.S. institute
for research in nervous diseases was incorporated - The Neurological Institute
of New York - which opened its hospital on 1 Oct 1909. Its first superintendent
was Alexander H Candlish.*
While the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Queens Square and the
Salpêtrière were well known in Europe, there were no similar
institutions in the U.S. at that time which had special wards for patients
with neurological disorders. The Institute was established
as the first specialty hospital in the nation devoted entirely to the study
and treatment of the nervous system. Early consultants included such founders
of American neurology as: Charles A. Dana, Bernard Sachs, Pearce Bailey,
and Joseph Collins. |
| U.S. begins shift to metric measures | |
(source) |
In 1893, Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, then Superintendent
of Weights and Measures, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury,
decided
that the International Meter and Kilogram would in the future be regarded
as the fundamental standards of length and mass in the United States, both
for metric and customary weights and measures. This decision, which has
come to be known as "The Mendenhall Order," was first published as Bulletin
No. 26 of the Coast and Geodetic Survey under the title Fundamental Standards
of Length and Mass. The Mendenhall Order initiated a departure from
the previous policy of attempting to maintain our standards of length and
mass to be identical with those of Great Britain. |
| Gold leaf | |
(USPTO) |
In 1892, a U.S. patent was issued for packaging decorative gold leaf in
roll form to Walter H. Coe of Providence, R.I. (No. 472,252).
The W.H. Coe Mfg. Co. of the same city manufactured the gold leaf in rolls
67 feet in length in widths between 1/16 to 3-1/4 inches wide. The foil
thickness was 1/250,000 inch, and was packaged on a backing material of
the same width, for uses such as bookbinding. As compared to the previous
use of leaves of gold foil, this packaging method allowed correctly precut
widths to be matched to the application with correct lengths without need
for overlapping pieces. The spool was designed to press the ribbon down
on the part to be gilded as the ribbon was unwound. Thus waste was much
reduced. |
| Faraday Lecture | |
Helmholtz |
In 1881, Hermann von Helmholtz presented The Faraday Lecture before the
Fellows of the Chemical Society in London. His topic
was The Modern Development of Faraday's Conception of Electricity. Helmholtz
recognized Faraday as being the person who most advanced the general scientific
method, saying "His principal aim was to express in his new conceptions
only facts, with the least possible use of hypothetical substances and
forces."
"Science
and Culture: Popular and Philosophical Essays" by Hermann
Von Helmholtz |
| Centrifugal creamer | |
(USTPO) |
In 1881, a centrifugal separator, was patented by Edwin J. Houston and
Elihu Thomson (No. 239,659).
A vessel spins inside a case that receives the lighter components separated
"by the action of centrifugal force," while heavier components drain through
an opening in the same tubular shaft by which the vessel is rotated. The
separating vessel is swelled at the bottom, such as the frustrum of a cone,
and fitted with a horizontal deflecting plate a short distance above the
bottom which extends to a short distance from the side. The liquid to be
separated is supplied through a central feedtube, enabling continous operation.
The patent suggested various uses, including separating milk and cream
or clearing muddy water for paper making. |
| File factory | |
(USTPO) |
In 1864, a U.S. patent for a machine for cutting files was issued to William
Nicholson of Providence, R.I. (No. 42,216).
This machine was put to use in the first successful U.S. file factory,
the Nicholson
File Company (1864). Prior to the Civil War, Nicholson
had a machine tool business, at which time he developed his ideas on machine
file making and built his first file cutting machine. He went to Europe,
which at that time supplied most of the files used in America, and studied
this industries, including the manufacture and treatment of steel. He opened
his plant with the hope of developing to a production of 300 dozen files
per day. The goal was not easily met, until he proved the quality of his
files matched those made by hand. |
| Cider mill | |
 |
In 1806, Isaac Quintard of Stanfield, Conn., received a U.S. patent for
his apple cider and bark mill.*Apples
are processed to extract the juice. The fresh juice is known in the U.S.
as sweet apple cider. It can be preserved in wooden barrels where it ferments,
transforming it into what is then called hard cider, a tangy alcoholic
drink. Hard
cider was a very popular drink for the first colonists in the U.S.
Everybody put away a barrel of cider for the wintertime. It was equal to
beer up until the time of prohibition. When prohibition ended, peoples'
tastes had changed, and cider popularity declined.
"Cider,
Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own" by
Ben Watson |
| British Museum | |
(source) |
In 1753, the British Museum was
founded
by an Act of Parliament granting £20,000 to purchase the 50,000 volume
library of Sir Hans Sloane and his vast collection of 69,352 items of nature
and art. Sloane was a prominent London physician who made the collection
available in his will at much below its intrinsic value. Montagu House,
Bloomsbury, was purchased in 1754 by the government to house this and other
collections. Since it opened, on 15
Jan 1759, the Museum
has been collecting, conserving and studying millions of artefacts. The
British Museum established
its Research Laboratory in 1920 with the appointment of Dr Alexander Scott
as its first scientist.« |
