Newsletter for Thursday 20 September

 

 

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER - SEPTEMBER 20

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.

On 20 Sep 1965, Arthur Holmes died, the geologist who contributed greatly to dating the age of the Earth by measuring radioactive decay of elements in igneous rocks. Today's Science Store pick describes his life and important work in The Dating Game: One Man's Search for the Age of the Earth, by Cherry Lewis. He developed to his great vision for a geological timescale for fifty years despite scientific opposition, financial hardship and personal tragedy. Price $21.99. Yesterday's pick: The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up The World. For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today

"Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open" - British chemist in the quiz below. "I believe in man — in his strength, his possibilities, and his reason." - Gherman Titov, Russian cosmonaut (died 20 Sep 2000)

QUIZ

Births

David Marine, born 20 Sep 1888, was an American pathologist whose substantial research on the treatment of goiter with iodine very successfully reduced its incidence in the population.  What common food product was as a result fortified with iodine to prevent goitre?

A British chemist and physicist, born 20 Sep 1842, found his studies of low-temperature phenomena entailed making an insulating double-walled flask of his own design by creating a vacuum between the two silvered layers of steel or glass (1892). This flask that has been named for him led to the domestic Thermos bottle. Can you name this scientist?

Deaths

Ernest Goodpasture (1886-1960) was a research scientist, the founder of a particular vaccine. For what vaccine is he remembered?

Arthur Holmes (1890-1965) was an English geologist who developed the first quantitative time scale for geology based on measuring the radioactive constituents of rocks, and laid the foundation of isotope geology. His method determined the age of the earth reached beyond a billion years. What radioactive element did Holmes first utilize in determining the age of igneous rocks?

Events

On 20 Sep of a certain year, the first FORTRAN program was run, which became the dominating language for technical and scientific applications. In what decade did this program first run?

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 September 20 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for September 19: soap and detergent; Uranus; he decade containing the years 1934-38; the Iceman; Jacques Etienne Montgolfier.

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