science newsletter: Newsletter for Saturday 24 November

Newsletter - November 24 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 24

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 24 Nov 1859, Charles Darwin published his most famous work. Today's Science Store pick is Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Read his groundbreaking ideas in his own words. There is nothing out-of-date in his pains-taking elucidation of his ideas. Without the modern knowledge of DNA or plate tectonics, he foresaw how the environment and crossbreeding would have an effect on natural selection. His priceless insight can be read inexpensively! New $9.99.
Yesterday's pick: Parallax: The Race to Measure the Cosmos. For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today

"It is often said that all the conditions for the first production of a living organism are now present, which could have ever been present. But if (and oh! what a big if!) we could conceive in some warm pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity, &c., present, that a proteine compound was chemically formed ready to undergo still more complex changes, at the present day such matter would be instantly devoured or absorbed, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed. (1871) - Charles Darwin, who published his Origin Of Species book on 24 Nov 1859.

"The progress of science has always been the result of a close interplay between our concepts of the universe and our observations ofn nature. The former can only evolve out of the latter and yet the latter is also conditioned greatly by the former. Thus, in our exploration of nature, the interplay between our concepts and our observations may sometime lead to toally unexpected aspects among already familiar phenomena." - Tsung-Dao Lee Chinese-born American Nobel prize-winning physicist (born 24 Nov 1926)

"Nevertheless, if I have at times been able to make original contributions in the accelerator field, I cannot help feeling that to a certain extent my slightly amateur approach in physics, combined with much practical experience, was an asset." - Simon van der Meer (born 24 Nov 1925)

"As time goes on and the development of the flying machine proceeds at the present rate I see no reason why a missile should not be dropped from an aeroplane at an altitude of one mile and strike the object aimed at with fairly certain precision." (New York Times, 1910) - Hiram Maxim (died 24 Nov 1916)

QUIZ

Births

Simon van der Meer, born 24 Nov 1925, is a Dutch engineer and physicist who (with Italian physicist Carlo Rubbia) discovered two new subatomic particles by colliding protons and antiprotons. These particles transmit the weak nuclear force, one of four fundamental forces in nature.
What are these two particles named?

Deaths

Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916) was an American-born prolific inventor. His first patent was for a hair-curling iron (1866), followed by a device for generating illuminating gas and a locomotive headlight. He held hundreds of patents in the U.S. and Great Britain.
For what invention, which carries his name, is he best known?

Events

On 24 Nov of a certain year, first U.S. patent for barbed wire was issued to Joseph F. Glidden, who manufactured it with barbs cut from sheet metal and inserted between two twisted wires. Glidden's barbed wire opened the plains to large-scale farming, and closed the open range, bringing the era of the cowboy and the round-up to an end.
In what decade was this patent issued?

On 24 Nov 1909, the Wright brothers formed a million-dollar corporation for the commercial manufacture of airplanes.
What are the first names of the two Wright brothers?

On 24 Nov 1859, Charles Darwin's book, Origin of Species, was published in England to great acclaim. This book is unquestionably one of the most influential in the history of science.
What is the longer title of this book?

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 November 24 web page of Today in Science History.

Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for November 23: X-ray photographic techniques; Johannes Diederik van der Waals; the law did not correctly predict the positions of the later discoveries of Neptune or Pluto; the decade containing the year 1889; 60.

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