Newsletter for Thursday 25 June.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 25 JUNE

Feature for Today

On 25 Jun 1799, David Douglas was born, a Scottish biologist who brought back to Britain from his botanical expeditions abroad some 240 plant species. The familiar garden flower, the lupin, was established in Britain through his efforts.

In the book David Douglas, Botanist at Hawaii (1919), the compiler provided Extracts from A Brief Memoir of the Life of David Douglas by Sir William Jackson Hooker, which you may read for more information on the exploits of this remarkable botanist who accomplished so much in his short life.

Book of the Day

On 25 Jun 1799, David Douglas was born, the Scottish biologist whose name is remembered for the Douglas fir tree, one of 240 species of plants he established in Britain following botanical expeditions abroad. He died young and tragically - at age 35 he was gored to death by a wild bull already in the cattle trap into which he fell by accident. Today's book pick is: Traveler in a vanished landscape;: The life and times of David Douglas, by William Morwood.

It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $32.32. Used from $4.00. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	[Asteroids are] the vermin of the skies. — Walter Baade, German-American astronomer (died 25 Jun 1960).
	One should avoid carrying out an experiment requiring more than 10 per cent accuracy. — Walther Hermann Nernst, German physical chemist (born 25 Jun 1864).
	From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free. — Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French naval officer, oceanographer, marine biologist and ocean explorer (died 25 Jun 1997).

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
no image	Johannes Hans Daniel Jensen, born 25 Jun 1907, was a German physicist who proposed a theory for the structure of protons and neutrons within the nucleus which won him a share of the 1963 Nobel Prize in physics. What is the structure he proposed for the nucleus?
	On 25 Jun 1864, Walther Hermann Nernst was born, who was a German scientist who was one of the founders of modern physical chemistry. In 1906, Nernst showed that it is possible to determine the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction from thermal data, and in so doing he formulated what he himself called the third law of thermodynamics. This states that a certain quantity approaches zero as the temperature goes towards absolute zero. For this, he was awarded the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. What is this thermodynamic quantity?
Deaths
	Born on 11 Jun 1910, Jacques Yves Cousteau, French naval officer, oceanographer, marine biologist and ocean explorer, is famous for his extensive underseas investigations. He created his well-known research vessel Calypso by modifying a WWII mine-sweeper. Cousteau is remembered as a co-inventor (with with Emile Gagnan) of the aqualung which made SCUBA diving possible. In which decade was Cousteau’s invention patented?
	Sir John Boyd Orr (1880-1971) was a Scottish scientist and authority on nutrition. In 1936, he published a report, Food, Health and Income, a dietary survey by income groups made during 1935. It showed that the cost of a diet fulfilling basic nutritional requirements was beyond the means of half the British population and that 10 percent of the population was undernourished. Orr was director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (1945-48). He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1949 for his efforts to eliminate world hunger. Which category of the Nobel Prize was he awarded ?
Events
	In 1903, Marie Curie went before the examination committee for her Ph.D. How many years passed before she was awarded her first Nobel Prize?
	In 1997, the Russian space-station suffered a near-fatal mishap when a Progress ferry being docked via remote control accidentally rammed into the Spektr science module, putting a hole in the pressure vessel and damaging its solar arrays beyond use. To salvage the station, which consisted of a core, a connecting node, and five science modules, crew members severed electrical and data connections between Spektr and the rest of the station and then sealed off the module. They saved the station but What is the name of this space station?

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 June 25 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for June 24: tau • steady state • refrigerated railroad cars • Wernher von Braun • pediatrician and microbiologist who reduced infant death rates to 20% by devising a serum against the deadly influenzal meningitis, later mastering use of antibiotics against all the bacterial meningitides and then became a pioneer in microbial genetics • Samuel Clemens (the author known as Mark Twain) • the decade including the year 1963 • a strike of Taurid meteors, many of 1-ton size.

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