Newsletter for Sunday 19 July.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 19 JULY

Feature for Today

On 19 Jul 1806, Alexander Bache was born, an American physicist who was the second Superintendent of the Coast Survey. He estimated the Pacific Ocean depth based on the speed of a tidal wave, secured greater government support for science, and instituted steam boiler tests for boat engines. You can read his obituary by Benjamin Peirce from the Coast Survey Report for 1867 in this article.

Book of the Day

On 19 Jul 1921, Rosalyn Yalow was born, the second woman to win the Nobel Prize in medicine Today's book pick is: Rosalyn Yalow: Nobel Laureate: Her Life and Work in Medicine (Helix Books), by Eugene Straus, her longtime friend and colleague. He tells the story of a woman who prevailed against class and gender prejudice to reach the pinnacle of the science world. Yet, in her later years, after having won the Nobel Prize, she was suddenly felled by a stroke. At the first hospital, she was not recognized, and “dumped” as a charity case onto another hospital. Straus continues with an account of Yalow’s slow but ultimate triumph over crippling illness.

It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $15.99. Used from $4.48. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	Perhaps the earliest memories I have are of being a stubborn, determined child. Through the years my mother has told me that it was fortunate that I chose to do acceptable things, for if I had chosen otherwise no one could have deflected me from my path. ... The Chairman of the Physics Department, looking at this record, could only say 'That A- confirms that women do not do well at laboratory work'. But I was no longer a stubborn, determined child, but rather a stubborn, determined graduate student. The hard work and subtle discrimination were of no moment. — Rosalyn S. Yalow, American biophysicist (born 19 Jul 1921).
	I, however, believe that for the ripening of experience the light of an intelligent theory is required. People are amused by the witticism that the man with a theory forces from nature that answer to his question which he wishes to have but nature never answers unless she is questioned, or to speak more accurately, she is always talking to us and with a thousand tongues but we only catch the answer to our own question. — Friedrich Gustav Jacob de Henle, German pathologist and anatomist (born 19 Jul 1809).
	Worry affects circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system, and profoundly affects the heart. I have never known a man who died from overwork, but many who died from doubt. — Charles Mayo, American surgeon and philanthropist (born 19 Jul 1865).

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
	Rosalyn S. Yalow, born 19 Jul 1921, was an American medical physicist, joint recipient (with Andrew V. Schally and Roger Guillemin) of the 1977 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. What was her work that earned the Nobel Prize?
	Alexander Dallas Bache, born 19 Jul 1806, was an American physicist, Ben Franklin's great grandson who became Superintendent of the Coast Survey. Using data from a tidal wave that took 12 hours to cross the Pacific Ocean, and applying the fact that wave speeds depend on depth, he calculated the average depth of that ocean. He came within 20% of today's accepted value. What is the average depth of the Pacific Ocean, to the nearest half-mile?
Deaths
	Pierre-Joseph Pelletier (1788-1842) was a French chemist who helped found the chemistry of vegetable alkaloids such as chlorophyll, strychnine and caffeine. In 1823, using elementary closed-tube analyses in which the alkaloids were combusted, he discovered a certain element was present in these organic compounds, other than carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. What was the element discovered to be present?
Events
	On 19 Jul 1900, the first eight stations on a certain city's first underground railway. This line number 1 ran east-west through the city Ten more stations were opened in the following two months. The line was built close to the surface using the “cut and cover” method along existing streets. In which city was this subway opened?
	On 19 Jul 1837, the steamship S.S. Great Western, was launched at Bristol, the first of three ships, each of them the largest in the world when launched. The Great Western, a wooden steamer propelled by paddle wheels, crossed the Atlantic from Bristol to New York in 15 days. The successors were S.S. Great Britain (also launched 19 Jul, but in 1843) and S.S. Great Eastern (1858). What great British engineer designed these ships?

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 July 19 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for July 18: he wrote his observations down in letters to friends • Isaac Newton • a small capsule of his ashes were launched in a memorial capsule aboard Lunar Prospector to the moon • 62 • New York.

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