science newsletter: Newsletter for Sunday 17 February

Newsletter - February 17 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER - 17 FEBRUARY

Feature for Today

On 17 Feb 1781, René Laënnec was born, a French physician who invented the use of a wooden cyclinder as an instrument for medical diagnosis, the nature of which is a question in the quiz below.

For a breezily written background to the life of René Laënnec, read this article. Therein you will be aware of the activities of his contemporaries, and how the French Revolution occurred during his youth.

Book of the Day

On 17 Feb 1858, Margaret Warner Morley was born, American biologist, educator, and writer, author of many works for children on nature and biology. Authoritative and entertaining, they were used as texts as in her time, nature study was being added to the school curriculum. Today's Science Store pick isThe Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley. This is one of her many works for children on nature and biology. As a teacher, she found there was little suitable material published on the subject, she began to write her own books, and also illustrated many them herself with accurate and detailed drawings. Price $22.99. Available Used from $9.97 (as of time of writing).

Booklist for Margaret Warner Morley.

Yesterday's pick: A Life of Sir Francis Galton: From African Exploration to the Birth of Eugenics.
For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today
	"Laennec—this Herschel of the human thorax." - Carl Pfeufer about René Laënnec, French physician (born 17 Feb 1781)
	"The theory of the earth is the science which describes and explains changes that the terrestrial globe has undergone from its beginning until today, and which allows the prediction of those it shall undergo in the future. The only way to understand these changes and their causes is to study the present-day state of the globe in order to gradually reconstruct its earlier stages, and to develop probable hypotheses on its future state. Therefore, the present state of the earth is the only solid base on which the theory can rely." - Horace Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and geologist (born 17 Feb 1740)
	"There is a single general space, a single vast immensity which we may freely call void: in it are unnumerable globes like this on which we live and grow, this space we declare to be infinite, since neither reason, convenience, sense-perception nor nature assign to it a limit." - Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher and astronomer (died 17 Feb 1600)

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
	Frederic Eugene Ives, born 17 Feb 1856, was an American photographer and inventor of a process to reproduce photographs on a printing press. Prior to this process, illustrations were reproduced from hand-engraved plates. In this way printers could reproduce line drawings but not the shades of gray in a photograph. *What process did Ives invent to print photographs?*
	René Laënnec, born 17 Feb 1781, was a French physician who invented the use of a foot-long wooden cylinder for medical diagnosis. *By what name is the modern version of this instrument known?*
Deaths
	Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890) was a U.S. inventor who developed the typewriter. A printer and newspaper editor by trade, he developed a page numbering machine in the mid-1800s. A friend suggested he modify the machine into a letter-printing device. Sholes patented the typewriter in 1868 and sold the rights to a manufacturer in 1873. Which well-known typewriter manufacturer bought the rights to Sholes' typewriter?
Events
	On 17 Feb of a certain year, the first public experimental demonstration of Baird colour television was transmitted from Crystal Palace to the Dominion Theatre, London. . *In which decade was this TV broadcast made?*
	On 17 Feb 1869, a scientist cancelled a planned visit to a factory and stayed at home working on the problem of how to arrange the chemical elements in a systematic way. To begin, he wrote each element and its chief properties on a separate card and arranged these in various patterns. Eventually he achieved a layout that suited him and copied it down on paper. These historic documents still exist, and mark the beginning of the form of the Periodic Table as commonly used today. *Can you name this scientist?*

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 17 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 16: ecology; fingerprints; so-called "weak" interactions; the decade including the year 1937; King Tutankhamen.

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