science newsletter: Newsletter for Wednesday 16 January

Newsletter - January 16 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 16

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 16 Jan 1932, Dian Fossey was born, American zoologist famous for her daily study of the mountain forest gorillas. Today's Science Store pick is Gorillas in the Mist, by Dian Fossey, the riveting account of her thirteen years in a remote African rain forest with the great apes. Her extraordinary efforts to ensure the future of the rain forest and its remaining mountain gorillas are captured in her own words. Fossey discovered, despite their peaceable way of life, the gorillas had many enemies in the form of poachers who hunted them for their hands, skins, and heads to be sold to the tourist market. She was outspoken for the protection of the gorillas and the suppression of the poachers' black market. Although Fossey's work ended tragically in her murder, probably by poachers, this book remains an invaluable testament to one of the longest-running field studies of primates and reveals her undying passion for her subject. New $15.00, Price $10.20. Available Used from $3.76 (as of time of writing).
Yesterday's pick: Scientific Explanation: A Study of the Function of Theory, Probability and Law in Science. For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today

"I feel more comfortable with gorillas than people. I can anticipate what a gorilla's going to do, and they're purely motivated." - Dian Fossey (born 16 Jan 1932)

"I never got tired of watching the radar echo from an aircraft as it first appeared as a tiny blip in the noise on the cathode-ray tube, and then grew slowly into a big deflection as the aircraft came nearer. This strange new power to 'see' things at great distances, through clouds or darkness, was a magical extension of our senses. It gave me the same thrill that I felt in the early days of radio when I first heard a voice coming out of a horn..." - Robert Hanbury Brown, British astronomer who was a pioneer in radar and radio astronomy (died 16 Jan 2002)

Introducing his brother Édouard Michelin, French rubber company industrialist and engineer: "Here is the champagne. I am the bubbles." - André Michelin, creator of the Michelin guides, advertising and marketing for the Michelin company's products (born 16 Jan 1853)

QUIZ

Births

Dian Fossey, born 16 Jan 1932, was an American zoologist who became the world's leading authority on certain animals of central Africa. She set up the Karisoke Research Center. Living a solitary life for many years, she observed these animals' habits and gradually gained their acceptance.
In which African country did she carry out her research?

Deaths

An American physicist (1901-1967) invented a type of high-voltage electrostatic generator that serves as a type of particle accelerator. It uses the principle of electric fields that charges on a dome can leap off at points where the curvature is great. Thus, a dome of great radius will inhibit the electric discharge and create stored charge at a high voltage. This device has found widespread use not only in atomic research but also in medicine and industry.
Can you name this scientist?

Events

On 16 Jan of a certain year, two manned Soviet "Soyuz" spaceships (Soviet Soyuz 4 & Soyuz 5) became the first vehicles to dock in space and transfer personnel.
In which decade did this space docking take place?

On 16 Jan 1978, NASA named 35 candidates to fly on the space shuttle, including Guion S. Bluford Jr., who became America's first black astronaut in space and the person who became America's first woman in space.
Who was America's first woman in space?

On 16 Jan 1868, a patent for a refrigerator car, "ice box on wheels," was granted to William Davis, a food dealer in Detroit, Mich. (who also designed the first railroad refrigerated car).
What food was this dealer's specialty?

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 16 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 15: Edward Teller; mollusks; the decade including the year 1955; amplifying feeble electric currents; Elisha Otis.

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