science newsletter: Newsletter for Saturday 22 December

Σάββατο 22 Δεκεμβρίου 2012

Newsletter for Saturday 22 December

Newsletter - December 22 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 22

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 22 Dec 1887, Srinavasa Ramanujan was born in India, a remarkably gifted mathematician, who died at age 32, leaving rich lode of original mathematics that is still being mined today. He has since beome a folk hero in his native country. Today's Science Store pick is The Man Who Knew Infinity, by Robert Kanigel, whose biography traces Ramanujan as a self-taught mathematical prodigy whose prowess was recognised and fostered by eminient English mathematician G. H. Hardy, after which his work was brought to the attention of the world.
Yesterday's pick: Fly: The Unsung Hero of Twentieth-Century Science. For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today

Replying to G.H. Hardy's comment that the taxi he'd just taken had the dull number of 1729. Ramanujan immediately replied: "No, it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different way, the two ways being: 1³+12³and 9³+10³." - Srinavasa Ramanujan (born 22 Dec 1887)

"Let us turn elsewhere, to the wasps and bees, who unquestionably
come first in the laying up of a heritage for their offspring.
Whether the treasure hoarded for the benefit of the sons be a pot
of honey or a bag of game, the father never takes the smallest part
in the work. He does not so much as give a sweep of the broom when
it comes to tidying the outside of the dwelling. To do nothing is
his invariable rule. The bringing up of the family, therefore,
however expensive it may be in certain cases, has not given rise to
the instinct of paternity." - Jean Henri Fabre, French entomologist (born 23 Dec 1823)

"There is no fundamental difference in the ways of thinking of primitive and civilized man. A close connection between race and personality has never been established." - Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist (died 22 Dec 1942)

QUIZ

Births

Grote Reber, born 22 Dec 1911, was a U.S. astronomer and engineer who built the first of a new type of telescope and was largely responsible for the early development of a new branch of astronomy, opening an entirely new research front in the study of the universe.
What type of new telescope did he build?

Deaths

William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) was a British scientist whose original powder-metallurgy techniques served as a model for the modern industrial processing of platinum, tungsten, molybdenum, and other transition metals. His studies of platinum also resulted in his discovery of two related elements.
What were the two elements he discovered?

Events

On 22 Dec of a certain year, the first string of Christmas Tree lights was created by Thomas Edison's associate, Edward H. Johnson. He decorated a Christmas tree at his home. Previously, trees were decorated with wax candles from the early days of the Christmas tree tradition.
In which decade was this first string of Christmas lights created?

On 22 Dec 1885, the first U.S. patent for a switchback railway was issued to L.A. Thompson. It began in 1884, when La Marcus Thompson, the "Father of the Gravity Ride," opened a 600-foot switchback railway. With a top speed of six miles per hour, Thompson's ride was little more than a leisurely, gravity-powered tour of the beach.
Where did Thompson open his first switchback railway?

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 December 22 web page of Today in Science History.

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

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for December 21: Brownian motion; steel railroad rails; the decade containing the year 1933; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

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