TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 16 APRIL
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.
On 16 Apr 1867, one of the two Wright brothers was born, who together invented the first successful powered airplane. Today's book 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.
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.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $16.95. Used from $1.28. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience. — Comte Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, French naturalist (died 16 Apr 1788).  |
 | There is no such thing as absolute truth and absolute falsehood. The scientific mind should never recognise the perfect truth or the perfect falsehood of any supposed theory or observation. It should carefully weigh the chances of truth and error and grade each in its proper position along the line joining absolute truth and absolute error. — Henry Augustus Rowland, American physicist (died 16 Apr 1901). |
| | As the ostensible effect of the heat … consists not in warming the surrounding bodies but in rendering the ice fluid, so, in the case of boiling, the heat absorbed does not warm surrounding bodies but converts the water into vapor. In both cases, considered as the cause of warmth, we do not perceive its presence: it is concealed, or latent, and I gave it the name of “latent heat.” — Joseph Black, Scottish chemist and physicist (born 16 Apr 1728). |
 | If the flap of a butterfly’s wings can be instrumental in generating a tornado, it can equally well be instrumental in preventing a tornado. — Edward Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (died 16 Apr 2008). |
| 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, who died on 16 Apt 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. What is the name of 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? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for April 15: Swiss • The Louvre Museum, Paris, France • limelight • Edison General Electric Company • 1,517.
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