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| NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 8 | |
| 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. | |
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| Quotations for Today | |
| "Equations are just the boring part of mathematics. I attempt to see things in terms of geometry." - Stephen Hawking (born 8 Jan 1942) "There is a tendency in nature to the continued progression of certain classes of varieties further and further from the original type." - Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist, who independently devised a theory of natural selection (born 8 Jan 1823) "Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so." - Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician in quiz below (died 8 Jan 1642) | |
| QUIZ | |
| Births | |
| An English theoretical physicist, born 8 Jan 1942, holds the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, formerly held by Sir Isaac Newton (who became the second Lucasian Professor in 1669). He has made remarkable contributions to the field of cosmology (the study of the universe as a whole). He wrote the book A Brief History of Time. How many people have been Lucasian Professors? | |
| Johannes Fabricius, born 8 Jan 1587, was a Dutch astronomer who may have been the first observer of a certain feature of the sun, made at dawn on 9 Mar 1611. What feature of the sun is credited to Fabricius as the first observer? | |
| Deaths | |
| Eli Whitney (1765-1825) was an American inventor, mechanical engineer, and manufacturer who is best remembered as the inventor of a machine which greatly influenced agriculture in the southern USA. Another important accomplishment was to developing the concept of mass-production of interchangeable parts, applied in particular to the manufacture of muskets. What was his famous invention that influenced agriculture in the southern USA? | |
| An Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician (1564-1642) made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, and strength of materials and to the development of the scientific method. His formulation of (circular) inertia, the law of falling bodies, and parabolic trajectories marked the marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the study of motion. Can you name this very famous scientist? | |
| Events | |
| On 8 Jan 1889, Dr. Herman Hollerith received the first US patents for a tabulating machine that used combinations of holes in a punched card to carry information. The information contained on numerous cards could then be tallied by passing the cards through electrical counters operated by electromagnets. The punched card idea was later adopted for input devices for computers. What was the first major application of Hollerith's system? | |
| 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 January 8 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers. | |
| Fast answers for the previous newsletter for January 7: coordinating the railway spanning the Canadian continent; Nikola Tesla; a theoretical object that absorbs all radiation that falls on it; The English Channel between England and France. | |
| Feedback | |
| If you enjoy this newsletter, the website, or wish to offer encouragement or ideas, please write. |
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