Newsletter for Thursday 6 August.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 6 AUGUST

Feature for Today

On 6 Aug 1753, Professor Georg Richmann of St. Petersburg, Moscow, was in his house, preparing an experiment with lightning. One year after Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment, Richmann ran a wire from the top of his house down into a room and attached it to an iron bar suspended above “the electric needle” and a bowl of water partly filled with iron filings.

Franklin learned of the outcome of the experiment by letter, and published it in the Pennsylvania Gazette, and thus it entered history. If you don't know the notable outcome, you can read a summary of the observed results in The Lightning Experiment of Georg Richmann.

Book of the Day

On 6 Aug 2012, Sir Bernard Lovell died, leaving a legacy of an important radio telescope observatory known as Jodrell Bank. He needed persistence for raising the funds necessary, but by 1957, it was one of the few stations able to track the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. Today's book pick is: The story of Jodrell Bank, by Bernard Lovell. It is always a pleasure to read in his own words the accomplishments of a man that through thick and thin produced a body of work, and a legacy, for which he worked so hard.

It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $84.84. Used from $3.73. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	Never to have seen anything but the temperate zone is to have lived on the fringe of the world. Between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer live the majority of all the plant species, the vast majority of the insects, most of the strange ... quadrupeds, all of the great and most of the poisonous snakes and large lizards, most of the brilliantly colored sea fishes, and the strangest and most gorgeously plumaged of the birds. — David Fairchild, American botanist and plant explorer (died 6 Aug 1954).
	For the birth of something new, there has to be a happening. Newton saw an apple fall; James Watt watched a kettle boil; Roentgen fogged some photographic plates. And these people knew enough to translate ordinary happenings into something new... — Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist (born 6 Aug 1881).
	A study of history shows that civilizations that abandon the quest for knowledge are doomed to disintegration. — Sir Bernard Lovell, English radio astronomer and physicist (died 6 Aug 2012).

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
	Jon Postel, born 6 Aug 1943, was an American computer scientist who in the late 1960s was a graduate student developing the ARPANET for use by the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Later, he played a pivotal role in creating and administering the Internet. What internal aspect of the Internet did he create?
	Sir Alexander Fleming, born 6 Aug 1881, was a Scottish bacteriologist. In 1928, while working on influenza virus, he observed that mould had developed accidently on a staphylococcus culture plate and that the mould had created a bacteria-free circle around itself. He experimented further and he found that a mould culture prevented growth of staphylococci, even when diluted 800 times. The active substance initiated the highly effective practice of antibiotic therapy for infectious diseases. What name did he give the active substance?
Deaths
	Joseph-Achille Le Bel (1847-1930) was a French chemist who was the first to present a theory on the relationship between molecules and how they absorb or reflect light. For his contribution explaining optical activity he is regarded as the cofounder of stereochemistry, with J. H. van't Hoff. How did his theory explain optical activity?
	Johann Von Lamont (1805-1879) was a Scottish physicist and astronomer, noted for discovering that the magnetic field of the Earth fluctuates with a period of a number of years. What is the number of years in this period of fluctuation?
Events
	On 6 Aug 1996, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin announced the (possible) discovery of evidence of a primitive life form on Mars. No, not a green alien. What was the evidence that suggested a lifeform?
	On 6 Aug 1945, during World War II, an atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, by the Americans. Can you name the city that was bombed?
	On 6 Aug of a certain year, the electric chair was used for the first time (to execute the murderer, William Kemmler, in New York). What was the decade of this first execution by the electric chair.

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 August 6 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for August 5: Gemini 8 to make the first physical joining of two orbiting spacecraft. • a tusklike growth on his face, which was also disfigured by tumours • coal mines • motorized bicycles, mopeds, motor bikes • quasi-stellar radio source.

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