TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 17 AUGUST
On 17 Aug 1798, Thomas Hodgkin was born, who described (1832) the disease known by his name—Hodgkin's Disease. He was the most prominent British pathologist of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine. As a social activist, he advocated an end to the exploitation of child labour and the freeing of slaves.
In a lecture he gave somewhat before 1830—getting on for two centuries ago, he demonstrated his early insights for occupational health. We might claim to be appalled by the environmental conditions and disregard for workers' health of that era, until we consider the child labour and sweat-shop clothing factories that so sadly remain in various less-developed parts of the world, and where protections of law are inadequate. Hodgkin laments that in his time, the consumers of fashion supported and encouraged the evil inhumanity of such manufacturing regimes. Such concern sadly still rings as true nearly two centuries later.
As you read this excerpt from the lecture, as later published in The Means of Promoting and Preserving Health (1835), you will sense his passionate feelings against child labour, especially as chimney sweeps. You will also find he had a keen sense of the need for attention to occupational health in a broad selection of trades.
On 17 Aug 1601, Pierre de Fermat was born. Together with Rene Descartes, Fermat was one of the leading mathematicians of the first half of the 17th century, who anticipated differential calculus with his method of finding the greatest and least ordinates of curved lines. The recent proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem by Andrew Wiles brought to public attention the enigmatic problem-solver Pierre de Fermat, who centuries ago stated his famous conjecture in a margin of a book, writing that he did not have enough room to show his “truly marvelous demonstration.” Today's book pick is: The Mathematical Career of Pierre de Fermat, 1601-1665, by Michael Sean Mahoney. In one of the first full-length investigations of Fermat’s life and work, Michael Sean Mahoney provides rare insight into the mathematical genius of a hobbyist who never sought to publish his work, yet who ranked with his contemporaries Pascal and Descartes in shaping the course of modern mathematics. Although the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem stimulates a new interest in this mathematician, this book is directed towards the history and the transition of mathematics as a science in the 17th century.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $89.14. Used from $19.49. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
| no image | In geology we cannot dispense with conjectures: [but] because we are condemned to dream let us ensure that our dreams are like those of sane men—e.g. that they have their foundations in truth—and are not like the dreams of the sick, formed by strange combinations of phantasms, contrary to nature and therefore incredible. — Scipione Breislak, Italian geologist (born 17 Aug 1750).  |
 | Every time we get slapped down, we can say, “Thank you Mother Nature,” because it means we’re about to learn something important. — John N. Bahcall, American astrophysicist (died 17 Aug 2005). |
 | To divide a cube into two other cubes, a fourth power, or in general any power whatever into two powers of the same denomination above the second is impossible, and I have assuredly found an admirable proof of this, but the margin is too narrow to contain it. — Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician (born 17 Aug 1601). |
| 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 | |
 | Hazel Bishop, born 17 Aug 1906, was a chemist and cosmetic executive who made an indelible mark on the cosmetics industry by inventing a new lipstick. In 1949, after a long series of home experiments, in a kitchen fitted out as a laboratory, she perfected her new lipstick, and began its manufacture and marketing the following year. What was new about this lipstick? |
| | Thomas Hodgkin, born 17 Aug 1798, was an English physician who early described (1832) the disease that bears his name. He was the most prominent British pathologist of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine. He devoted much of his life to philanthropic causes such as the relief of suffering in under-developed countries and the freeing of slaves. What is affected in Hodkin's Disease? Deaths |
| Deaths | |
 | Robert Rowe Gilruth (1913-2000) was an American aerospace scientist, engineer, and a pioneer of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. He developed the X-1 plane. Gilruth directed Project Mercury, the initial program for achieving manned space flight. Under his leadership, the first American astronaut orbited the Earth only a little over 3 years after NASA was created. What was the X-1 plane first to accomplish? |
 | Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) who British manufacturer and engineer who financed and introduced the steam engine. After meeting the inventor of a practical steam engine, he became fascinated by the development of steam power and produced steam engines which sold all over the world. In 1786, Boulton established the first steam powered coining presses at his mint at Soho, Birmingham. Who was the inventor with whom Boulton made the steam engine widely available to power the Industrial Revolution? |
| Events | |
 | On 17 Aug of a certain year, the first pedestrian to be knocked down and killed by a motor vehicle in Britain was Mrs Bridget Driscoll of Croydon, Surrey, who was hit by a car travelling at 4 mph. In what decade did this accident happen? |
| | On 17 Aug 1877, Asaph Hall discovered a second of Mars. He had discovered the first moon of Mars, Deimos, just five days earlier. Can you name this second-discovered moon of Mars? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for August 16: first colour photographic plate • to establish a basis for the unit of length in the metric system • helium • spectrum analysis to identify new elements • 31.3 km, 16.04 miles • Siam.
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