Newsletter for Saturday 16 May.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 16 MAY

Feature for Today

On 16 May 1828, Sir William Congreve died, the English artillery officer who invented a rocket (about 1804) for use in warfare that improved on simple black-powder rockets.

He was also inventive in other fields, as you may read in this Obituary of Sir William Congreve (1828).

Book of the Day

On 16 May 1943, during WW II, bombs invented by Dr Barnes Wallis were dropped in Germany. They had been designed for one particular purpose - breaching dams, to result in flooding industrial facilities. To be effective, Wallis came up with a very innovative method for delivering the bomb from an aircraft. Today's book pick is: The Dam Busters (Pan Grand Strategy), by Paul Brickhill. This books covers not only the scientific testing and technical problems that Wallis had to overcome, but also the human and military aspects of the bombing run.

It is available from Amazon, typically about Used from $0.39. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

no image	Nature has provided two great gifts: life and then the diversity of living things, jellyfish and humans, worms and crocodiles. I don't undervalue the investigation of commonalities but can't avoid the conclusion that diversity has been relatively neglected, especially as concerns the brain. — Theodore Holmes Bullock, American neuroscientist (born 16 May 1915).
no image	A fair number of people who go on to major in astronomy have decided on it certainly by the time they leave junior high, if not during junior high. I think it’s somewhat unusual that way. I think most children pick their field quite a bit later, but astronomy seems to catch early, and if it does, it sticks. — Nancy Roman, American astronomer (born 16 May 1925).
	To isolate mathematics from the practical demands of the sciences is to invite the sterility of a cow shut away from the bulls. — Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev, , Russian mathematician (born 16 May 1821).

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
	J. Georg Bednorz, born 16 May 1950, was a German physicist who (along with Karl Alex Müller) was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize for Physics for their joint discovery of superconductivity in certain substances. What was remarkable about the superconductivity in the substances studied by Bednorz?
	Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin, born 16 May 1763 was French chemist who discovered two metallic elements around 1797. Can you name either element?
Deaths
	This French mathematician (1768-1830), was known also as an Egyptologist and administrator, who exerted strong influence on mathematical physics through his Théorie analytique de la chaleur (1822; The Analytical Theory of Heat). He showed how the conduction of heat in solid bodies may be analyzed in terms of infinite mathematical series now called by his name. What is this series, or this mathematician’s name?
Events
	In 1971, the world’s first inter-collegiate race took place for canoes of a novel construction, by engineering students from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Purdue University. The design of the canoe was specified in a challenge given to his students by Clyde E. Kesler. It is now a race that takes place annually, organized by the American Society of Civil Engineers. What was the novel canoe construction specified in Kesler’s challenge?
	During WW II, in the evening of 16 May 1943, a RAF squadron took off, carrying “dambuster bombs” to destroy dams in the industrial area of Ruhr Valley, Germany. These unique bombs were invented by Dr. Barnes Wallis for the particular purpose of breaching dams. This required a very unusual mode for delivering the bombs to their target. They were dropped shortly after midnight on 17 May 1943. What was the special mode of delivery that Wallis designed for these dambuster bombs?
	On a certain 16 May, nicotine was declared to be addictive in ways similar to heroin and cocaine, in a report released by the U.S. Surgeon-General. In which decade was this Surgeon-General’s report made?

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 May 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 May 15: after Polonia, the Latin name for Poland, Marie Curie's homeland • pulse radar • bright points of light that appear around the edge of the moon during a solar eclipse • four million • Britain.

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