TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 11 SEPTEMBER
Be sure to read today's feature — it is truly remarkable! It describes the social contract for the workers at the Carl Zeiss Works. It was made in 1896, more than a century ago. It's jaw-dropping! If only all companies treated their workers the same way now.
Carl Zeiss, born 11 Sep 1816, established a business making high-quality optical instruments at a time that demand was increasing in science and medicine. As his business grew, he formed a partnership with Ernst Abbe, an able scientist, inventor and remarkable business organizer. When Carl Zeiss died in 1888, Abbe acquired sole control.
Here is the jaw-dropping part. Abbe wanted the fine industry Zeiss and he had built to continue and thrive after them. So, he created a remarkable foundation to which he transferred ownership of the business. The provisions of the foundation had the workers in mind. No high officials could earn more than ten times the average worker's wage. A 40-hours work week. Overtime pay. Paid vacations. Medical care. Profit sharing. Pension. A sick fund. And more! Astonishingly visionary for over a century ago. And the company thrived.
For more details, read A Factory That Owns Itself from The World's Work (1912).
(Isn't it a travesty that teenagers, and many elders too, know the names of countless sportsmen and bands, but not physicists who have made their lives so much better?)
Please use your mail reader reply, or website feedback menu button, to write your suggestions, and why. Thank you.
On 11 Sep 1999, California registered that state's first fatality from stings of a swarm of Africanized “killer” bees. Originally hybridized in Brazil in the 1950s, the killer bees had migrated north through Mexico. They were first seen in the U.S. in Texas some years before they migrated further north into California, invading other states on the way, where they caused several deaths. Today's book pick is: Killer Bees: The Africanized Honey Bee in the Americas, by Mark L. Winston who writes with the authority of his own field experiences in French Guiana and Venezuela, combined with the research of others. The author gives scientific comparisons of African and European honeybees to illustrate how these insects are adapted to survive under different environmental conditions. The legendary aggressiveness of these bees is an evolutionary adaptation to their original homeland, Africa, where honeybees are under constant threat from predators, including the honey badger. Within this context the nature of the “killer bee” becomes clear, meeting the author's goal of educating the public rather than scaring them. This accurate book reviews the biology and expected impact of the Africanized bee. It dispells a lot of myths and explains a lot of truths, without sensationalism, and is directed at a general audience. The story deals with the study of the nature of the bees, and does not cover the details of their state by state invasion of the U.S.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $57.50. Used from $7.92. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | I hope when I get to Heaven I shall not find the women playing second fiddle. (Shortly before her death) — Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer (born 11 Sep 1847).  |
 | We have already considered with disfavour the possibility of the universe having been planned by a biologist or an engineer; from the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician. — Sir James Jeans, English physicist, astronomer and mathematician (born 11 Sep 1877). |
| no image | [The] weakness of biological balance studies has aptly been illustrated by comparison with the working of a slot machine. A penny brings forth one package of chewing gum; two pennies bring forth two. Interpreted according to the reasoning of balance physiology, the first observation is an indication of the conversion of copper into gum; the second constitutes proof. [Co-author with David Rittenberg (1906-70).] — Rudolf Schoenheimer, German-American biochemist (died 11 Sep 1941). |
| 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 | |
| | Sir James Jeans, born 11 Sep 1877, was an English physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who was the first to propose a certain theory explaining the present state of the universe. What was his theory? |
| | Carl Zeiss, born 11 Sep 1816, was a German industrialist who met the needs of scientists for fine instruments of a certain kind. What type of instruments established his worldwide reputation? |
| Deaths | |
 | Norman L. Bowen (1887-1956) was a Canadian geologist who was one of the most important pioneers in the field of experimental petrology. What is petrology? |
| Events | |
 | On 11 Sep 1999, an 83-year-old man died, the first fatality in California from Africanized “killer” bees. Two weeks earlier he had been stung over 50 times, causing cardiac arrest and resulting in the use of a respirator in an unsuccessful attempt to save his life. “Killer bees” first arrived in Texas some years before. The killer bees spread north at a rate of how many miles per year? |
 | In 1831, Charles Darwin and travelled from London to Plymouth with Captain Robert Fitzroy to see his ship. This was Darwin's first sight of the vessel on which he would sail for a voyage of discovery leading to his famous theory of evolution. What was the name of the ship? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for September 10: plasticized PVC (vinyl) • the change in the wavelength of X rays when they collide with electrons in metals • diffraction • steady state theory, whereby the universe is ever-expanding, but new matter is continually created from energy, keeping the density constant • Lincoln Highway • the decade including 1984.
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