| MAY 4 - BIRTHS | |
| D. Allan Bromley | |
(source) |
 Born 4
May 1926; died 10 Feb 2005.
David Allan Bromley was a Canadian-American nuclear physicist who was considered the "father of modern heavy ion science" for his pioneering experiments on both the structure and dynamics of atomic nuclei. He was a leader in developing particle accelerators detection systems and computer-based data acquisition and analysis systems. While at Atomic Energy of Canada (1955-60) he installed the first tandem Van Der Graaff accelerator. He was founder and director (1963-89) of the A.W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Yale University, which has produced more experimental nuclear physicists than any other facility. During this time he became active on numerous national and international science policy boards. From 1980-89, he was a member of the White House Science Council.« |
| Fritz von Opel | |
 |
Born 4
May 1899; died 8 Apr 1971.
German automotive industrialist who took part, with Max Valier and Friedrich Wilhelm Sander, in experiments with rocket propulsion for automobiles and aircraft. On 11 Apr 1928, at Berlin, they tested the first manned rocket automobile. On 30 Sep 1929, von Opel piloted the Opel Sander Rak.1, a glider powered with 16 rockets of 50 pounds of thrust each, and made successful flight of 75 seconds, covering almost 2 miles near Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, Von Opel as pilot. By sponsoring these early tests of rocket-powered transport, Opel popularized the idea of rocket propulsion in Germany. |
| Frank Conrad | |
Station 8XK, 1920 (source) |
Born 4
May 1874; died 11 Dec 1941.
American electrical engineer whose interest in radiotelephony led to the establishment of the first commercial radio station. Conrad worked for Westinghouse as assistant chief engineer at its East Pittsburgh Works and acquired over 200 patents in his lifetime. As an amateur, having built a transmitting station on the second floor of the garage behind his home in Wilkinsburg, Pa., when he substituted a phonograph for his microphone, he discovered a large audience of listeners who had built their own crystal radio sets and who, upon hearing the music, wrote or phoned requests for more music and news. When he became swamped with these requests, he decided to broadcast regular, scheduled programs to satisfy his listeners. He coined the term "broadcast." |
| William Kingdon Clifford | |
(source) |
Born 4
May 1845; died 3 Mar 1879.
British philosopher and mathematician who developed the theory of biquaternions (a generalization of the Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton's theory of quaternions) and then linked them with more general associative algebras. In 1870, he survived a shipwreck near Sicily while on an expedition to Italy to obtain scientific data from an eclipse. Influenced by the work of Riemann and Lobachevsky, Clifford studied non-euclidean geometry. In 1870 he wrote On the Space Theory of Matter in which he argued that energy and matter are simply different types of curvature of space. In this work he presented ideas which were to form a fundamental role in Einstein's general theory of relativity. |
| Thomas Henry Huxley | |
(source) |
Born 4
May 1825; died 29 Jun 1895.
English biologist who Huxley made his reputation as a marine biologist while a ship's surgeon. Later he turned to the study of fossils, especially of fishes and reptiles He is best known as the main advocate of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. In 1860, one year after The Origin of Species was published, Huxley debated with the bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, at the British Association for the Advancement of Science. During the discussion Wilberforce asked whether he traced his ancestry to the apes. Huxley's withering reply was that given the choice of a miserable ape and a man who could make such a remark at a serious scientific gathering, he would select the ape. Huxley coined the word agnostic to describe his own beliefs. |
| Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev | |
(source) |
Born 4
May 1821; died 26 Nov or 8 Dec 1894
Russian mathematician who founded the St. Petersburg mathematical school (sometimes called the Chebyshev school), who is remembered primarily for his work on the theory of prime numbers, including the determination of the number of primes not exceeding a given number. He wrote about many subjects, including the theory of congruences in 1849, probability theory, quadratic forms, orthogonal functions, the theory of integrals, the construction of maps, and the calculation of geometric volumes. Chebyshev was also interested in mechanics and studied the problems involved in converting rotary motion into rectilinear motion by mechanical coupling. The Chebyshev parallel motion is three linked bars approximating rectilinear motion. |
| Sir William Fothergill Cooke | |
(source) |
Born 4
May 1806; died 25 Jun 1879
English inventor who worked with Charles Wheatstone in developing electric telegraphy. Of the pair, Cooke contributed a superior business ability, whereas Wheatstone is generally considered the more important of the two in the history of the telegraph. After Cooke attended a demonstration of the use of wire in transmitting messages, he began his own experiments with telegraphy (1836) and formed a partnership with Wheatstone. Their first patent (1837) was impractical because of cost. They demonstrated their five-needle telegraph on 24 July 1837 when they ran a telegraph line along the railway track from Euston to Camden Town able to transmit and successfully receive a message. In 1845, they patented a single-needle electric telegraph. |
| Louis-Jacques Thenard | |
 |
Born 4
May 1777; died 21 Jun 1857
French chemist, teacher, and author of an influential four-volume text on basic chemical theory and practice (1813-16). In 1808, he was the first to isolate the element boron in collaboration with Gay-Lussac. His independent achievements included studies of esters (1807), the discovery of hydrogen peroxide (1818), and work in organophosphorus compounds. He also produced a pigment known as Thenard's blue, which is stable at high temperatures and so can be used in porcelain. |
| Jean-Charles de Borda | |
(source) |
Born 4
May 1733; died 20 Feb 1799.
French mathematician and nautical astronomer noted for his studies of fluid mechanics and his development of instruments for navigation and geodesy, the study of the size and shape of the Earth. Borda joined the navy, took part in several scientific voyages and played a role in the American War of Independence. He was one of the main driving forces in the introduction of the decimal system. Borda made good use of calculus and experiment to unify areas of physics. For his surveying, he also developed a series of trigonometric tables. In 1782, while in command of a flotilla of six French ships, he was captured by the British. Borda's health declined after his release. He is one of 72 scientists commemorated by plaques on the Eiffel tower. |
|
Sitewide search within all Today In Science History pages: Custom Quotations Search - custom search within only our quotations pages: Today in Science History Science Store Click here to browse a selection of Bargain Science and Nature Books |
| MAY 4 - DEATHS | |
| Anne Anastasi | |
(source) |
 Died
4 May 1 (born 19 Dec 1908)
American psychologist, known as the "test guru," for her pioneering development of psychometrics, the measurement and understanding of psychological traits. Her seminal work, Psychological Testing (1954), remains a classic text in the subject. In it, she drew attention to the ways in which trait development is influenced by education and heredity. She explored how variables in the measurement of those traits include differences in training, culture, and language. In 1972, she became the first woman to be elected president of the American Psychological Association in half a century. For her accomplishments, she was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1987.«  Psychological
Testing, by Anne Anastasi. |
| Maurice Ewing | |
(source) |
Died
4 May 1974 (born 12 May 1906)
(William) Maurice Ewing was a US geophysicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding of marine sediments and ocean basins. He worked in a range of subjects, making contributions to earthquake seismology, explosion seismology, marine acoustics, sedimentology, and tectonics. He adapted seismic exploration methods to use in the oceans; explicated a large segment of the earthquake seismogram, the coda; did studies of Earth's free oscillations; and described the ocean sound channel and the dispersion of sound in seawater. He also developed or greatly improved the bathythermograph, the piston corer, heat-flow probes, sonar, hydrophones, gravimeters and deep-sea cameras. |
| Edward Calvin Kendall | |
(source) |
Died
4 May 1972 (born 8 Mar 1886)
Edward Calvin Kendall was an American chemist who, with Philip S. Hench and Tadeus Reichstein, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for research on the structure and biological effects of adrenal cortex hormones. |
| Herbert Westren Turnbull | |
(source) |
Died
4 May 1961 (born 31 Aug 1885)
English mathematician who made extensive and notable contributions to the study of algebraic invariants and concomitants of quadratics. Turnbull was also interested in the history of mathematics, writing The Mathematical Discoveries of Newton (1945), and began work on the Correspondence of Isaac Newton. |
| Joseph Barrell | |
| Died
4 May 1919 (born 15 Dec 1869)
American geologist who extended ideas on sedimentary rocks made by marine sedimentation to modification by the action of rivers, winds, and ice. He proposed (1916) that the bright red colour of many Devonian rocks indicated an arid climate that baked them dry, like bricks. He suggested droughts caused lung-fish to evolve into air-breathing land vertebrates, including tetrapods. He applied the new science of radioactive dating in 1917 to recalculate Earth's age to a few billion years, at a time when many geologists still preferred an age of 100 million years. He also emphasized that geological processes vary in intensity in a cyclical rather than a uniform fashion, so current rates of geological change used in prior estimates were not reliable guides.« |
|
| Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers | |
(source) |
Died
4 May 1900 (born 14 Apr 1827)
English archaeologist often called the "father of British archaeology," who stressed the need for total excavation of sites, thorough stratigraphic observation and recording, and prompt and complete publication. Like Sir Flinders Petrie, Pitt-Rivers adopted a sociological approach to the study of excavated objects and emphasized the instructional value of common artifacts. His London home became so crowded with items such as skulls, stone implements, pottery and other works of art that he decided to open a public museum at Bethnal Green, which he arranged according to his evolutionary system. When his collection became too large for Bethnal Green, it was transferred to the University of Oxford, where it is seen today.  |
| William Froude | |
(source) |
Died
4 May 1879 (born 28 Nov 1810)
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-tankcould 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. |
| Ulisse Aldrovandi | |
| Died
4 May 1605 (born 11 Sep 1522)
Renaissance naturalist and physician noted for his systematic and accurate observations of animals, plants, and minerals. |
|
| MAY 4 - EVENTS | |
| First cloned mule | |
(source) |
In 2003, the first cloned equine, a mule foal was born
at the University of Idaho, U.S., named Idaho
Gem. Researchers cloned the mule using a cell from a mule fetus and
an egg from a horse. Mules are almost always sterile because donkeys have
62 chromosomes, horses have 64 and mules end up with 63. Equines such as
horses, donkeys and mules are difficult
to reproduce in the lab using in vitro fertilization and cloning. The cloning
success rate was low. Out of 307 attempts, there were 21 pregnancies and
three carried to full term. Idaho Gem was the first to be born; two others
followed in June and July.
The project's major sponsor was a mule racing enthusiast. Unable to breed
new animals from proven race stock, mule cloning is an option. |
| Magellan space probe | |
|
In 1989, the space probe Magellan
was carried in the cargo bay by the STS-30 Space Shuttle Atlantis
mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The space probe
was named after the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
This was the first planetary spacecraft to be released from a shuttle in
Earth orbit. It arrived at its planned polar orbit around Venus on 10 Aug
1990, which it circled once every 3-hr 15-min. As the planet rotated slowly
beneath it, Magellan collected radar images of the surface in strips
about 17-28 km (10-17 mi) wide and radioed back the information. Its mission
included taking other measurements. On 11
Oct 1994, it was directed towards the surface, collecting data until
it burned up in the atmosphere.« |
|
| Tallest building | |
(source) |
In 1973, the first building
over 1,400-ft topped out at 1,454-ft. (finished in 1974), took 3
years to build, and is 1,707-ft tall including its antennas. This, the
Sears Building in Chicago, Illinois, stands on Jackson Boulevard between
Adams and Franklin Streets. The Sears Tower was designed for more than
12,000 occupants. It took the title of tallest building from the 1,250-ft
Empire State Building of New York City which had been dedicated on 1 May
1931. |
| Galactic radio waves | |
(source) |
In 1933, the discovery of radio waves from the centre of the Milky Way
galaxy was by described by Karl Jansky in a paper he read to the International
Radio Union in Washington. The galactic radio waves were very low intensity,
short wavelength (14.6 m, frequency about 20 MHz) and required sensitive
apparatus for their detection. Their intensity varied regularly with the
time of day, and with the seasons. They came from an unchanging direction
in space, independent of terrestrial sources. He had conducted his research
on static hiss at the radio research department of Bell Telephone Labs,
Holmdel, N.J. The New York Times carried a front page report the
next day.« |
| Balloon ascent | |
|
In 1927, the first U.S. balloon flight ascent to exceed an altitude of
40,000-ft was made by Captain Hawthorne C. Gray of the U.S. Army Air Service,
over Scott Field, Illinois. The nearly 2-hour free flight reached an altitude
of 42,470-ft. The balloon had 80,000-cu.ft. capacity and used sand ballast.
Because of trouble resulting in a descent that was too rapid, Gray parachuted
out at 8,900-ft. Because Gray was not in command of the landing, the ascent
did not make an official record. |
|
| Acetylene | |
|
In 1892, a process for commercial production of acetylene was made by Thomas.L.
Wilson in Spray, N.C., though it happened by accident. His experiment to
produce metallic calcium by fusing lime and coal tar in an electric furnace
was unsuccessful, and the slaglike waste product was dumped in a nearby
stream. The water reacted with the slag and liberated a gas, recognized
to be acetylene gas, which was previously known, but had only been made
on a laboratory scale. Now Thomas Wilson, of the Wilson Aluminum Company
had a method for production of acetylene on a commercial scale. Acetylene
has an important use in welding applications. |
|
| Graphophone | |
|
In 1886, a three patents for recording and reproducing speech and other
sounds relating to a phonograph disk record was issued to Chichester Bell
and Charles S. Tainter (No. 341,212-4). Alexander Graham Bell was a joint
patentee on two of them. From these designs, Bell & Tainter manufactured
the first practical phonograph. |
|
| Lightning photograph | |
| In
1884, the first photograph of a lightning flash made in the U.S. was made
by
W. C. Gurley of the Marietta Observatory, Ohio. The flash was about 3 miles
away. |
|
| Offshore oil-drill rig patent | |
|
In 1869, the first U.S. patent for an offshore oil-drill rig was issued
to T.F. Rowland for his "submarine drilling apparatus" (No. 89,794). |
|
| N.Y. State entomologist | |
(source) |
In 1854, Asa Fitch became the first state entomologist
in the U.S. when he was appointed in New York state by the executive committee
of the N.Y. State Agricultural Society. His work was funded by an appropriation
made by the N.Y. state legislature on 15 Apr 1854, and was designated to
examine and describe the insects of the state, particularly those that
damaged vegetation. In this position Fitch helped define the role for the
scientist in solving public problems, such as crop damage caused by insects.
His first report, concerning
insects affecting fruit, was published the following year in the Society's
Journal. His annual reports became standard reading for entomologists and
agriculturists. |
| Bridge | |
|
In 1845, erection of the first U.S. iron truss bridge with parallel chords
and open web was completed. Work on erecting the 34-ft span began the previous
night using trusses that had been manufactured between Jan and Mar 1845
at Pottstown, Penn. The bridge carried tracks for the main line of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company until 1901. It was a half-mile
east of the Flat Rock Tunnel, north of West Manayunk station. |
|
| American Academy of Arts and Sciences | |
(source) |
In 1780, the first U.S. national arts and science society
was incorporated. It was chartered
in Boston, Mass. "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to
advance the interest, dignity, honor and happiness of a free, independent
and virtuous people." The first society president was James Bowdoin (1780-90).
The original incorporators were later joined by Benjamin Franklin, George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Bulfinch, Alexander Hamilton, John
Quincy Adams, and others. [Image:
The Minerva Seal of the society] |
