science newsletter: Newsletter for Wednesday 6 June

Τετάρτη 6 Ιουνίου 2012

Newsletter for Wednesday 6 June

Newsletter - June 6 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER - 6 JUNE

Feature for Today

On 6 Jun In 1639, the first record of the establishment of a gunpowder mill in the American colonies was an order from the General Court of Massachusetts granting 500 acres of land at Pecoit, Mass.

Since Jamestown was settled (1607) and the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth (1620), firearms and gunpowder were brought from England - an uncertain supply. When the colonialists turned to producing gunpowder for themselves, the General Court encouraged homespun production efforts.

In this short article on Colonial Powder Mills, you can read about the first gunpowder mills in America.

Book of the Day

On 6 Jun 1683, the general public were admitted for the first time to the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford. This was the first public museum to open in Britain, and perhaps in the world. Today's book pick is The Ashmolean Museum: A Brief History of the Museum and Its Collections, by Arthur MacGregor, who is an author of numerous works on the history of museums. The Ashmolean was founded as a model scientific institution combining a function as a repository for rare or curious materials and also was a research institute and educational academy. However, the role of the museum has evolved over the centuries to concentrate on art and antiquities. New $22.67. Also available Used from $19.99 (as of time of writing).

For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today
	"Complexes are psychic contents which are outside the control of the conscious mind. They have been split off from consciousness and lead a separate existence in the unconscious, being at all times ready to hinder or to reinforce the conscious intentions." - Swiss psychologist Hin the quiz below (died 6 Jun 1961)

QUIZ
Before you look at today's web page, see if you can answer some of these questions about the events that happened on this day. Some of the names are very familiar. Others will likely stump you. Tickle your curiosity with these questions, then check your answers on today's web page.
Births
	Richard E. Smalley, born 6 Jun 1943, shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Robert F. Curl, Jr., and Sir Harold W. Kroto for their joint 1985 discovery of the molecule carbon₆₀. *What is this called?*
	Andrea Cesalpino, born 6 Jun 1519, was an Italian physician who sought a philosophical and theoretical approach to plant classification based on unified and coherent principles rather than on alphabetical sequence or medicinal properties. *What plant features did he use for his classification?*
Deaths
	A Swiss psychologist, born 6 Jun 1961, met and collaborated with Freud, but then developed his own theories, which he called "analytical psychology." He proposed and developed the concepts of the extroverted and introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. *Can you name this psychologist?*
Events
	On a certain 6 Jun, the first American patent for an electric iron was issued to Henry Seely of New York City. In what decade was the first American patent for an electric iron was issued?
	On 6 Jun 1942, the first parachute jump in the U.S. using a parachute made of a new material was made by Adeline Gray. Parachutes were tested with dead weights until she became the first human to test a parachute made with this new material. What was this new material?

Answers

When you have your answers ready to all the questions above, you'll find all the information to check them, and more, on the June 6 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for June 5: holography; Neptune; the thickness of the Earth's crust; AIDS; Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier; Apple II.

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