science newsletter: Newsletter for Saturday 9 February

Newsletter - February 9 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER - 9 FEBRUARY

Feature for Today

On 9 Feb 1871, Howard Ricketts lived but 39 years, dying of typhus, the disease he was investigating at the time. But in a career so tragically cut short, he had already made valuable contributions to medical science, and his earlier work on the mode of transmission of another disease (you'll name it in a question below) remains a significant reason to know his name. If you don't, or to know more, read a summary of his life in this Memorial Address. Or, read one of his articles on Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Book of the Day

In the year the U.S. Weather Bureau (later named the Weather Service) was created, it was authorized by Congress on 9 Feb. Today's Science Store pick is Storm Watchers: The Turbulent History of Weather Prediction from Franklin's Kite to El Nino, by John D. Cox. One of the chapters describes the contributions of Cleveland Abbe, who was America's first official meteorologist at the newly created U.S. Weather Bureau. But the author also also introduces the pioneering scientists from the age when meteorology was considered one step removed from sorcery to the modern-day wizardry of supercomputers, as he takes the reader on a fascinating journey through time to show the evolution of weather forecasting. New $~~32.50~~, Save 29%, Price: $23.15. Available Used from $0.01 (as of time of writing).

BONUS PICK: Today, the Science Store also calls out one of the most used books on your webmaster's bookshelf - Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, by Isaac Asimov. It should be on your bookshelf, too, or in your classroom. The lives of persons that are part of science history are summarized by Asimov is his familiar, engagingly readable way. Being organized in chronological order, it is possible to grasp some of the flow of the development of science through time, especially since the author includes remarks linking how the work of a scientist was relevant to those who followed. Available Used from $6.62 (as of time of writing).
Yesterday's pick: Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg - Chester Carlson.... For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today
	"A patient about to undergo a heart valve replacement asked Shumway, "How long will the new valve last?" Shumway's reply, "It is guaranteed for life!" - Norman E. Shumway, American surgeon and pioneer in heart transplant surgery (born 9 Feb 1923)
	"... the scientific attitude implies what I call the postulate of objectivity - that is to say, the fundamental postulate that there is no plan, that there is no intention in the universe. Now, this is basically incompatible with virtually all the religious or metaphysical systems whatever, all of which try to show that there is some sort of harmony between man and the universe and that man is a product - predictable if not indispensable - of the evolution of the universe." - Jacques Monod, French biochemist (born 9 Feb 1910)
	"The human being striving for rationality and restricted within the limits of his knowledge has developed some working procedures that partially overcome these difficulties. These procedures consist in assuming that he can isolate from the rest of the world a closed system containing a limited number of variables and a limited range of consequences." - Herbert Simon, American social scientist (died 9 Feb 2001) (source)

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
	Alec Zino, born on 9 Feb 1916, was a Portuguese ornithologist and conservationist who gave his name to Europe's rarest breeding bird, which he studied and protected on his native island of Madeira, south-west of Portugal, where this small black and white seabird breeds. *What breed of bird is known by Zeno's name?*
	Howard T. Ricketts, born 9 Feb 1871, was the American pathologist who discovered that a certain disease is spread by cattle ticks and caused by a blood-borne "bipolar bacillus." *What is the name of this disease that Ricketts studied?*
Deaths
	Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811) was a British astronomer who made accurate measurements of the transit of Venus on the island of St Helena in 1761. In 1764 he went on a voyage to Barbados for a different purpose. In 1774, he used a plumb line beside a Scottish mountain to determine the Earth's density. *What was the purpose on his voyage to Barbados?*
Events
	On 9 Feb of a certain year, the U.S. Weather Bureau (later named the Weather Service) was authorized by Congress, and placed under the direction of the Signal Service. Cleveland Abbe, who had inaugurated a private weather reporting and warning service at Cincinnati (issuing weather reports or bulletins since the previous year) subsequently took a major role in the operation of the U.S. Weather Bureau, and was the first U.S. meterologist. *In which decade was the Weather Bureau authorized?*
	On 9 Feb 1875, the first train passed through the nearly 5-mile Hoosac Tunnel on the railroad line between Boston and Albany through the Berkshires. It had taken several failed attempts, 200 lives and 20 years to complete the tunnel. Blasting began in 1851, using gunpowder. By 1866, two new tunnelling tools - the compressed air drill and different explosive - were used in the Hoosac for the first time. *What was the explosive first used in the Hoosac Tunnel in 1866?*

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

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for February 8: Xerox; iodine; holography; neutrons; one ton.

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