| JUNE 15 - BIRTHS | |
| Herbert Alexander Simon | |
1978 (source) |
 Born 15
Jun 1916; died 9 Feb 2001.
American social scientist who was a pioneer of the development of computer artificial intelligence. In 1956, with his long-time colleague Allen Newell, Simon produced the computer program, The Logic Theorist, a computer program that could discover proofs of geometric theorems. It was the first computer program capable of thinking, and marked the beginning of what would become known as artificial intelligence. It proved many of the theorems of symbolic logic in Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica. He is further known for his contributions in fields including psychology, mathematics, statistics, and operations research, all of which he synthesized in a key theory for which he won the 1978 Nobel Prize for economics. 
"The
Sciences of the Artificial" by Herbert Alexander Simon |
| Thomas H. Weller | |
(source) |
Born 15
Jun 1915
Thomas Huckle Weller was an American physician and virologist who was the corecipient (with John Enders and Frederick Robbins) of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1954 for the successful cultivation of poliomyelitis virus in tissue cultures. This made it possible to study the virus "in the test tube," a procedure that led to the development of polio vaccines.  Growing
Pathogens in Tissue Cultures: Fifty Years in Academic Tropical Medicine...,
by Thomas Huckle Weller |
| Erik H. Erikson | |
(source) |
Born 15
Jun 1902; died 12 May 1994
Erik H(omburger) Erikson was a German-born psychoanalyst. He trained under Anna Freud (1927–33), specializing in child psychology, then emigrated to the U.S. He taught at Harvard, engaged in a variety of clinical work, and widened the scope of psychoanalytic theory to take greater account of social, cultural, and other environmental factors. In 1950, he profoundly influenced the study of human development with the publication of Childhood and Society, in which he divided human development, from infancy to old age, into a life cycle of eight stages. His later works dealt with ethical concerns in the modern world.
"The
Erik Erikson Reader" by Erik Erikson, et al. |
| Hubertus Strughold | |
(source) |
Born 15
Jun 1898; died 1987
German-American physiologist, known as the "father of space medicine." In the late 1920's, he began investigaing the physiological aspects of what he called the "vertical frontier" in Germany, when even simple aeromedicine was considered far-fetched. After WW II, the United States Air Force School of Aviation Medicine moved* Strughold to America. to join their staff. Among the fundamental studies initiated were those in acceleration, noise and vibration, atmospheric control, weightlessness and nutrition. He invented the space cabin simulator for testing human reactions in a manned satellite, and contributed enormously to such space-travel problems as weightlessness, visual disturbances, and disruption of normal time cycles. *The United States used Nazi scientists during the Cold War to beat the Russians in the space race. For that help, some Nazis avoided war crimes trials. During WW II, Strughold was the Nazi director of medical research for aviation, in Germany, and is said to have experimented on, tortured and killed Jews and Gypsies at the Dachau concentration camp. Prisoners were frozen to near death and rewarmed to see how quickly they would recover. |
| Georg Wüst | |
(source) |
Born 15
Jun 1890; died 8 Nov 1977.
Georg Adolf Otto Wüst was a German oceanographer who, by collecting and analyzing many systematic observations, developed the first essentially complete understanding of the physical structure and deep circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. He used the distribution of ocean properties to obtain clues about motions within the ocean. Wüst also invented the concept of the "core layer," the layer of water within the ocean that has the most extreme values with respect to one or more properties and therefore is the least mixed and thus shows the path of motion.
"Encyclopedia
of the Sea" by Richard Ellis |
| Juan José D'Elhuyar | |
(source) |
Born 15 Jun 1754; died 20 Sep 1796
Spanish chemist and mineralogist who, assisted his younger brother Faustus, separated tungsten metal from its wolframite ore (1783). Two years earlier, Swedish chemist Carl Scheele discovered tungstic acid, though did not isolate the elemental form, from a mineral known since about 1758 as tung sten (Swedish, heavy stone; which is now known as scheelite). The Elhuyar brothers, working at the Seminary of Bergara, succeeded in extracting the metal by reducing tungstic acid with charcoal. For the first time, Basque scientists entered the history of science. Each became a directorof a school of mines, but in different countries. Although Juan José discovered tungsten metal, Fausto became better known.« [Image right: wolframite] |
|
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 |
| JUNE 15 - DEATHS | |
| John Atanasoff | |
c. 1984 (source) |
 Died
15 Jun 1995 (born 4 Oct 1903)
John Vincent Atanasoff was a U.S. physicist who was belatedly credited (1973) with developing the first electronic digital computer. Built in 1937-42 at Iowa State University by Atanasoff and a graduate student, Clifford Berry, it introduced the ideas of binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, and logic circuits. These ideas were communicated from Atanasoff to John Mauchly, who used them in the design of the better-known ENIAC built and patented several years later. On 19 Oct 1973, a US Federal Judge signed his decision following a lengthy court trial which declared the ENIAC patent invalid and named Atanasoff the original inventor of the electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff- Berry Computer or the ABC.
"The
First Electronic Computer: The Atanasoff Story" by Alice
R. Burks, Arthur W. Burks |
| Wendell Meredith Stanley | |
(source) |
Died
15 Jun 1971 (born 16 Aug 1904)
American biochemist who in 1946 received (with John Northrop and James Sumner) the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work in the purification and crystallization of viruses, thus demonstrating their molecular structure. Impressed by John Northrop's success in crystallizing proteins, Northrop applied those techniques to his extracts of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). By 1935, he had obtained thin rodlike crystals of the virus and demonstrated that TMV still retained its infectivity after crystallization. At first, some scientists were skeptical - thinking that viruses, being similar to conventional living organisms could not exist in crystalline form. During WW II, he worked on isolating the influenza virus and prepared a vaccine against it.
"Viruses
and the nature of life" by Wendell M. Stanley and Evans
G. Valens |
| Eduardo Torroja (y Miret) | |
(source) |
Died 15 Jun 1961 (born 27 Aug 1899)
Spanish engineer who pioneered the architectural use of concrete-shell structures. With José Maria Aguirre he founded (1934) an institute to "encourage progress in all areas of construction, sponsoring and disseminating scientific research and studying methods to improve construction techniques in whatsoever respect." He developed new uses and building techniques for reinforced concrete. Examples of his designs include the 156-ft (48 m) diameter shell of the Algeciras market (1933), and the 73-ft (22-m) cantilevered roof of the Madrid hippodrome (1935). From the 1920s to the 1960s, he designed some of Spain's finest bridges, aqueducts, churches and stadiums.« [Image right: cantilevered roof of the Madrid hippodrome]
Philosophy
of structures, by Eduardo Torroja Miret. |
| Charles Francis Brush | |
(source) |
Died
15 Jun 1929 (born 17 Mar 1849)
U.S. inventor and industrialist who devised an electric arc lamp and a generator that produced a variable voltage controlled by the load and a constant current. It was adopted throughout the United States and abroad during the 1880's. The arc light preceded Edison's incandescent light bulb in commercial use and was suited to applications where a bright light was needed, such as street lights and lighting in commercial and public buildings. He assembled his first dynamo in the summer of 1876, resulting in a patent for his Improvement in Magneto-Electric Machines, issued 24 Apr 1877 (US No. 189997). He then developed an arc light that was regulated by a combination of electrical and mechanical means limited by a "ring clutch". |
| William Le Baron Jenney | |
(source) |
Died 15 Jun 1907 (born 25 Sep 1832)
American civil engineer and architect whose technical innovations were of primary importance in the development of the skyscraper. During the Civil War he served as an engineering officer. By 1868 he was a practicing architect who had designed a Swiss Chalet style home with an innovative open floor plan, years before Frank Lloyd Wright worked with the concept. He also made a name for himself as a town planner. However, Jenney's greatest fame came from his large commercial buildings. His Home Insurance Building [above] in Chicago was one of the first buildings to use a metal skeleton for support, which became the standard for American skyscraper design. (source)
"The
Sky's the Limit: A Century of Chicago Skyscrapers" by
Pauline A. Saliga (Editor) |
| Carl Wernicke | |
(source) |
Died
15 Jun 1905 (born 15 May 1848)
German neurologist who related nerve diseases to specific areas of the brain. Interested in psychiatry, traditionally he studied anatomy initially and neuropathology later. He published a small volume on aphasias (disorders interfering with the ability to communicate in speech or writing) which vaulted him into international fame. In it was precise pathoanatomic analysis paralleling the clinical picture. He is best known for his work on sensory aphasia and poliomyelitis hemorrhagia superior. Both of these descriptions bear his name, as well as a form of encephalopathy induced by thiamine deficiency. He wrote books on the disorders of the internal capsule and textbooks on diseases of the nervous system. Wernicke died in a road accident. |
| Joseph Dixon | |
(source) |
Died
15 Jun 1869 (born 18 Jan 1799)
American inventor and manufacturer who pioneered in the industrial use of graphite and many other innovations. As a printer and a photographer, he designed a mirror into a camera that was the forerunner of the viewfinder, patented a double-crank steam engine, evolved a method of printing banknotes to foil counterfeiters, and patented a new method for tunneling under water. As a manufacturer and entrepreneur, Joseph Dixon produced the first pencil made in the U.S. and was responsible for the development of the graphite industry there. When he died, the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company was the largest manufacturer of graphite products in the world. Listed among his friends were such great American inventors as Fulton, Morse, and Bell.
"The
Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance" by Henry
Petroski |
| Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier | |
| Died
15 Jun 1785 (baptised 30 Mar 1754)
French physicist and aeronaut who, with Marquis Francois Laurant d'Arlandes, became the first men to fly. Their hot-air balloon, built by the Montgolfier brothers, lifted off from La Muettte, a royal palace in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. They flew nearly 6 miles in 25 mins, reaching an altitude of around 300-ft. King Louis XVI, who offered to send two prisoners for the test flight, but Rozier wanted to deny criminals the glory of being the first men to go into the atmosphere. Rozier died in attempt to cross English Channel in an apparatus composed of two balloons, one filled with hydrogen and the other with warm air. Thus, he was also the first man to die in an air crash.« |
|
| JUNE 15 - EVENTS | |
(source) |
In 1990, the first use of bioremediation in open waters was to treat
an oil slick from the supertanker Mega Borg following an explosion
and fire on 8 Jun 1990. The incident
occurred 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston, releasing 5.1
million gallons of oil, during "lightering" operations. "Lightering" transfers
a portion of a ship's petroleum cargo to smaller, shallower draft ships
for transport into shallow water ports. The bioremediation tests were conducted
on Jun 15 and 18 with the distribution of 100-lbAE BioSea Process, developed
by Alpha Environmental, Inc. which contained oil-metabolizing bacteria
and nutrients. The results of the tests were inconclusive. |
| Transatlantic plane flight | |
(source) |
In 1919, Capt. John Alcock (pilot) and Lt. Arthur W. Browne (navigator)
successfully completed the first, non-stop, transatlantic, airplane flight.
They flew from Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland in 16 hr 12 min and won
the prize offered by the London Daily Mail. Their aircraft was a
Vickers Vimy (which was originally designed as a bomber to be used
during WW I.) They faced many problems. Their radio broke down shortly
after take off. Fog and drizzle prevented the fliers from seeing anything
for much of the journey. They aimed to land in a green field but instead
it turned out to be a bog. The plane suffered
some damage when it hit the ground and sank into the bog. Both Alcock and
Brown came away unhurt. |
| First U.S. safety razor patent | |
(USPTO) |
In 1880, the first U.S. patent for a safety razor was issued to brothers
Frederick and Otto Kampfe of New York, who made and sold
their invention (No. 228,904). Their patent described their razor to be
"simple and durable in construction, of small first cost, compact in form,
and adapted to be used without soiling the fingers of the user." The design
was a "hollow metallic blade holder with... handle and a flat plate...,
to which the blade is attached by clips and a pivoted catch, said plate
having bars or teeth at its lower edge." Its lower plate was formed to
be a receptacle for the hair and soap removed during the shaving operation.
The blade was removeable and would be put in a separate holder to enable
sharpening as needed. Two decades later, King
Camp Gillette invented the disposable safety razor blade.« |
| Celluloid | |
(source) |
In 1869, John Wesley Hyatt and Isaiah
Hyatt were issued a U.S. patent
for the first plastic, which they called "Improved Method of Making Solid
Collodion" (No. 91,341). In their method, soluble cotton, pyroxyline, or
prepared cellulose was placed into a strong cylinder or suitably-shaped
mold. Then "the employment of a very small quantity of ether or other appropriate
solvent, and dissolving pyroxyline therewith, under a heavy pressure, so
that a comparatively hard and solid product is obtained, with great economy
of solvents and saving of time." A filler may be mixed with the pyroxyline
such as ivory-dust, bone-dust, asbestos, flake-white, or any other desirable
substance, according to the nature of the product required.«  |
| First U.S. gallstone operation | |
(source) |
In 1867, the first U.S. gallstone operation was performed
by Dr. John Stough Bobbs, known as
"the father of cholecystotomy" in Indianapolis, Indiana. While operating
on his patient, Mary E. Wiggins (Mrs. Z. Burnsworth)*
for a suspected ovarian cyst, he found the gall bladder was inflamed and
containing structures like "several solid ordinary rifle bullets." He opened
the sac, removed multiple gallstones but left the gall bladder in place
after closing the defect (cholecystostomy).
The patient recovered and outlived Dr. Bobbs. The first account of gallstones
had been given as early as 1420 by a Florentine pathologist Antonio Benevieni,
in a woman who died with abdominal pain. Jean-Louis Petit performed gall
bladder surgery in Europe in 1743.« |
| Vulcanized rubber | |
(source) |
In 1844, Charles Goodyear received
another patent (U.S. No. 3,633)
for "An Improvement in India-Rubber Fabrics." This way of processing
india-rubber added white lead to the sulphur and heating method he patented
24 Feb 1839. He had spent several years, since going bankrupt in hardware,
trying to improve natural rubber, which became sticky in summer heat and
brittle in the winter. He had experimented
to coat it with a powder to make it less sticky when he accidentally dropped
a mixture of natural rubber and powdered sulphur on a hot stove in Woburn,
Massachusetts. The heat completed the process. Despite the value of his
inventions, he died in poverty in 1860. (His earliest patent,
17 Jun 1837 used metallic solutions.)
Trials
of an Inventor: Life and Discoveries of Charles Goodyear,
by Bradford Peirce |
| Lightning experiment | |
 |
In 1752, Ben Franklin's kite-flying experiment
proved lightning and electricity were related while flying a kite with
a key attatched. In Sep 1752, he equipped his house with a lightning rod,
connecting it to bells that ring when rod is electrified. He explained
how to perform a kite experiment in the 19 Oct 1752 issue of the Pennsylvania
Gazette. He had earlier proposed use of lightning rods to protect houses
in a 2 Mar 1750 letter to Collinson and in the same year, on 29 Jul
1750, he devised an experiment involving a sentry-box with a pointed rod
on its roof, to be erected on hilltop or in church steeple, with rod attached
to a Leyden jar which would collect the electrical charge, and thus prove
lightning to be a form of electricity. |
