science newsletter: Newsletter for Monday 16 April

Newsletter - April 16 - Today in Science History

TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER - 16 APRIL

Feature for Today

On 16 Apr 1728, Joseph Black was born, the Scottish chemist and physicist who investigated the gas known as "fixed air," and identified latent ("hidden") heat required for the change of state of a substance when it melts or vaporizes.

With the advent of steam engines, the latent heat of steam became particularly significant when considering the efficiency of such machines.

This article from Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen (1837) gives some of his own description of his discoveries, and the biographical remarks of others about him as a person.

Book of the Day

On 16 Apr 1867, one of the two Wright brothers was born, who together invented the first successful powered airplane. Today's Science Store pick is To Conquer the Air : The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight, by James Tobin, who gives their inspiring story its definitive telling. As Tobin relates, the Wrights' 1903 triumph at Kitty Hawk, however hallowed in American lore, was ill-reported and disbelieved. So, while the two brothers struggled to transform their delicate contraption into a practical airplane, others moved to overtake them as the leading pioneers of flight. With an historian's accuracy, Tobin captures the interplay of remarkable personalities, in an extraordinarily well-written and deeply nuanced work. However much you thought you knew about the Wright Brother's remarkable story, you will learn more from this book. New $~~28.95~~, Save 4% Price $27.75. Also available Used from $0.61. (as of time of writing).

For picks from earlier newsletters, see the Today in Science Science Store home page.

Quotations for Today
	"There have been only three epoch-making mathematicians, Archimedes, Newton, and Eisenstein." - about Ferdinand Gotthold Max Eisenstein (born 16 Apr 1823)(image left), attributed to Carl Friedrich Gauss.
	"The opinion I formed from attentive observation of the facts and phenomena, is as follows. When ice, for example, or any other solid substance, is changing into a fluid by heat, I am of opinion that it receives a much greater quantity of heat than that what is perceptible in it immediately after by the thermometer. A great quantity of heat enters into it, on this occasion, without making it apparently warmer, when tried by that instrument. This heat, however, must be thrown into it, in order to give it the form of a fluid; and I affirm, that this great addition of heat is the principal, and most immediate cause of the fluidity induced. And, on the other hand, when we deprive such a body of its fluidity again, by a diminution of its heat, a very great quantity of heat comes out of it, while it is assuming a solid form, the loss of which heat is not to be perceived by the common manner of using the thermometer. The apparent heat of the body, as measured by that instrument, is not diminished, or not in proportion to the loss of heat which the body actually gives out on this occasion; and it appears from a number of facts, that the state of solidity cannot be induced without the abstraction of this great quantity of heat. And this confirms the opinion, that this quantity of heat, absorbed, and, as it were, concealed in the composition of fluids, is the most necessary and immediate cause of their fluidity." Describing his discovery of latent heat. - Joseph Black, Scottish chemist (born 16 Apr 1728)
	"Science, for me, gives a partial explanation of life. In so far as it goes, it is based on fact, experience and experiment. Your theories are those which you and many other people find easiest and pleasantest to believe, but, so far as I can see, they have no foundation other than they lead to a pleasant view of life ... I agree that faith is essential to success in life ... but I do not accept your definition of faith, i.e. belief in life after death. In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success and that success in our aims (the improvement of the lot of mankind, present and future) is worth attaining ... I maintain that faith in this world is perfectly possible without faith in another world." - Rosalind Franklin, English physical chemist and X-ray crystallographer (died 16 Apr 1958)

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
	An aviation pioneer, born 16 Apr 1867, with his brother Orville Wright, invented the airplane that achieved the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight in 1903. *What* is this aviation pioneer's first name?
	Joseph Black, born 16 Apr 1728, was a British chemist and physicist best known for the rediscovery of the gas known as "fixed air", the concept of latent heat, and the discovery of the bicarbonates. *What gas was known as "fixed air"?*
Deaths
	A British scientist (1920-1958) contributed to the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), but she died before a Nobel Prize was awarded to others who worked on determining the structure of DNA. *Can you name this scientist?*
Events
	On 16 Apr 1943, the hallucinogenic effect of the drug LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, was first observed. Swiss chemist, Albert Hoffman found the drug affected his nervous system such that he became dizzy with hallucinations. How was the drug introduced to his body?
	On 16 Apr 1813, for the first time in the U.S., a requirement for standardization in factory production became part of a federal government contract to Col. Simeon North, which specified interchangeable parts. The contract was for 20,000 items. For what item with interchangeable parts was the U.S. government contract issued?

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 April 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 April 15: Leonardo Da Vinci; the decade including the year 1964; limelight; General Electric Company (GE); the decade including the year 1923.

Feedback