science newsletter: Newsletter for Sunday 3 February

Newsletter - February 3 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER - 3 FEBRUARY

Feature for Today

Elizabeth Blackwell, born 3 Feb 1821, is considered the first female doctor of medicine in modern times. She was the first woman to gain the M.D. degree in the United States.

It wasn't easy.

Medical schools were strongly opposed to admitting a woman wanting to be a doctor. But by a strange quirk of circumstances, she did finally get one to accept her. Today's feature is a letter written by one of her classmates recalling how it happened, what she went through in pursuing her education there, and some surprising details of the behaviour of the medical students of the mid-19th century.

It's fascinating reading. Here is the link for the first Medical Co-Education of the Sexes.

Book of the Day

On 3 Feb 1925, Oliver Heaviside died, English physicist who predicted the existence of the ionosphere. Today's Science Store pick is Oliver Heaviside: The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age, by by Paul J. Nahin. Heaviside was a pioneer of modern electrical theory, born into a low social class of Victorian England and who died in poverty as a recluse. Yet in his life, Heaviside made advances in mathematics, by introducing the operational calculus; in physics, where he formulated the modern-day expressions of Maxwell's Laws of electromagnetism; and in electrical engineering, through his duplex equations. This acclaimed biography is the only one devoted to Oliver Heaviside. New: $36.00. Save 16% Price $30.29. Available Used from $19.94 (as of time of writing).
Yesterday's pick: Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev: His Life and His Work. For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today
	"... labor-saving machinery in war is life-saving machinery. The quick-firing gun is the greatest life-saving instrument ever invented." - Hiram Maxim, American munitions inventor (born 3 Feb 1857) (source)
	"The best result of mathematics is to be able to do without it." - Oliver Heaviside, English physicist (died 3 Feb 1925) (source)
	"It is curious how often erroneous theories have had a beneficial effect for particular branches of science." - Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist (died 3 Feb 2005)

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
	Wilhelm Ludvig Johannsen, born 3 Feb 1857, was a Danish botanist and plant geneticist. In 1909, Johannsen proposed a name for that portion of a chromosome which controls a phenotype. What name did Johannsen propose for the portion of a chromosome that controls a phenotype?
	Hudson Maxim, born 3 Feb 1853, was an American inventor of explosives, much used in WW I. In his early career, a printing business at Pittsfield, Mass. (1883) he invented a method of color printing in newspapers. He turned to improving explosives and made the first smokeless powder in the U.S. It was adopted by the U.S. Army. In 1901, he invented a high explosive bursting powder 50% more powerful than dynamite. *What name did he give to the new explosive he invented in 1901?*
Deaths
	Oliver Heaviside, died 3 Feb 1925, was an English physicist. In 1902, (with Kennelly), he predicted that there should be an ionised layer in the upper atmosphere that would reflect radio waves. This ionised layer would be useful for long distance communication, allowing radio signals to travel to distant parts of the earth by bouncing off the underside of this layer. *In which theatre musical does the character Old Deuteronomy choose who will rise up to the Heaviside Layer?*
Events
	On 3 Feb 1966, three days after its takeoff, an unmanned Soviet spacecraft landed safely on the moon in the Ocean of Storms. It was the first ever soft landing on another celestial body, and opened the way for manned trips to the moon, by removing doubts lest the surface was an unsafe dusty quicksand. What was the name of this spacecraft?
	On 3 Feb 1879, the first practically usable incandescent filament electric light bulb was demonstrated to an audience of 700 by its inventor. Following his successful demonstration, he established the world's first electric light bulb factory. By 1881, his bulbs were used in the lighting of a theatre in front of an astonished audience. *Can you name this inventor?*

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 3 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 2: a rhythmic oscillation of water in a lake or a partially enclosed coastal inlet, such as a bay, gulf, or harbour; sulphuric acid; eka-aluminum; the decade including the year 1947; tetra-ethyl lead.

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