science newsletter: Newsletter for Monday 11 February

Newsletter - February 11 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER - 11 FEBRUARY

Feature for Today

On 11 Feb 1809, Robert Fulton patented his steamboat for the first time in the U.S., although he had already made his first successful steamboat trip on the Clermont between New York City and Albany in 1807. Others had harnessed the power of steam on land, but he applied it for propulsion of water transport of passengers. He opened up American rivers for two-way trips.

Fulton's steamboat was one of the most important inventions of his era. To learn more about what was involved in the way of financing, politics and patent litigation, read The First Steamboat.

Book of the Day

On 11 Feb 1898, Leo Szilard was born. Today's Science Store pick is Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard, the Man Behind the Bomb, by William Lanouette and Bela Silard. Szilard is known as a key contributor to the Manhattan project. The authors delve into the intriguing details of the ambitions, obsessions, and fears of an intensely adventurous life, and yet an enigmatic personality. The title refers to the shadows that obscured this curious physicist that have been cast by the monuments of the atomic age his work catalyzed: the Cold War, nuclear power and such icons as Robert Oppenheimer. Szilard was at the epicenter of the Manhattan Project, yet remained isolated from celebrity. This book casts light on the physicist's career and character that you may barely have known before, yet feel you must know, since his work and its consequences was so profound. Available Used from $7.00 (as of time of writing).
Yesterday's pick: The Eureka! Moment: 100 Key Scientific Discoveries of the 20th Century, by Rupert Lee. For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today
	"When a scientist says something, his colleagues must ask themselves only whether it is true. When a politician says something, his colleagues must first of all ask, 'Why does he say it?'" - Leo Szilard, physicist (born 11 Feb 1898).
	"Genius is two percent inspiration, ninety-eight percent perspiration. " - American inventor (see below) who developed electric power (born 11 Feb 1847).
	"If you don't work on important problems, it's not likely that you'll do important work." - Richard Hamming, American computer scientist and mathematician (born 11 Feb 1915).

QUIZ
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.
Births
	Leo Szilard, born 11 Feb 1898, was a naturalised American physicist who, with Enrico Fermi, designed the first nuclear reactor that sustained nuclear chain reaction (2 Dec 1942). *What was his nationality at birth?*
	An American inventor was born 11 Feb 1847, who, singly or jointly, held a world record 1,093 patents. In addition, he created the world's first industrial research laboratory. He showed an early curiosity for explanations of how everything worked and was especially interested in chemistry. He began selling newspapers on the railroad at age 12, and learned how to operate a telegraph. In 1868, his first invention was an electric vote-recording machine. *Can you name this inventor?*
Deaths
	Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault (1819-1868) was a French physicist who introduced and helped develop a technique of measuring the absolute velocity of light with extreme accuracy. Also, a certain pendulum experiment is still known by his name *What did his pendulum experiment prove?*
Events
	On 11 Feb of a certain year, the use of insulin to treat diabetes in a dog was announced in their first paper published on the subject by the Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best. *In what decade was this first paper on insulin published by Banting and Best?*
	On 11 Feb 1939, the journal Nature published a theoretical paper by Lise Meitner and Otto Fritsch, her nephew, explaining how, when a uranium nucleus was struck by neutrons, barium was produced. *What term was coined in their paper for this phenomenon?*

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 February 11 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for February 10: John Bardeen and William B. Shockley; saccharin; Nobel Prize for Physics; Niagara Falls, U.S.; haemophilia.

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