TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 28 SEPTEMBER
On 28 Sep 1852, Henri Moissan was born, a French chemist who was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of an element (in the quiz below).
To read such a historic accomplishment of a scientist in his own the words always has a particular interest no other biographer can offer.
You can read Moissan's description of the isolation of this element in a translation of a lecture by Henri Moissan delivered to the Royal Institution (28 May 1897).
On 28 Sep 1895, Louis Pasteur died, one of the most recognised names in science. With aspects of his life including research on stereochemistry, fermentation and pasteurisation, there is far more to know about this man than his famous work developing vaccines. Today's book pick is: Louis Pasteur, by Patrice Debré, who writes with the authority of someone who also is a distinguished French immunologist and physician. Written for the centenary of Pasteur's death, this book delivers an insightful, extensive, balanced, and detailed examination of Louis Pasteur's life, struggles, and contributions. Drawing heavily on Pasteur's own scientific notebooks and writings, Debré also presents a critical account of Pasteur's discoveries and the controversies they raised with other scientists and occasionally with his closest associates.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $29.76. Used from $3.14. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | Might one not say that in the chance combination of nature's production, since only those endowed with certain relations of suitability could survive, it is no cause for wonder that this suitability is found in all species that exist today? Chance, one might say, produced an innumerable multitude of individuals; a small number turned out to be constructed in such fashion that the parts of the animal could satisfy its needs; in another, infinitely greater number, there was neither suitability nor order: all of the later have perished; animals without a mouth could not live, others lacking organs for reproduction could not perpetuate themselves: the only ones to have remained are those in which were found order and suitability; and these species, which we see today, are only the smallest part of what blind fate produced. — Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, French mathematician, biologist, biologist, astronomer and astronomer (born 28 Sep 1698).  |
 | There is no such thing as a special category of science called applied science; there is science and its applications, which are related to one another as the fruit is related to the tree that has borne it. — Louis Pasteur, French chemist (died 28 Sep 1895). |
 | Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science. — Edwin Powell Hubble, American astronomer (died 28 Sep 1953). |
| 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 | |
 | An American electronics engineer, born 28 Sep 1925, pioneered the use of transistors in computers and later developed massive supercomputers to run business and government information networks. He was the preeminent designer of the large, high-speed computers known as supercomputers. Can you name this man? |
| | Henri Moissan, born 28 Sep 1852, was a French chemist who received the 1906 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of a certain highly reactive element, and the development of the Moissan electric furnace. What was the element he isolated and studied? |
| Deaths | |
| | An American astronomer (1889-1953) is considered the founder of extragalactic astronomy. His name is now remembered by the telescope named for him, and the Hubble Constant associated with his landmark discovery that is arguably the most important contribution to cosmology ever made. What was Hubble's great discovery? |
| | Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) is known as the founder of microbiology. His name remains associated with the process of pasteurisation. What is the process of pasteurisation? |
| Events | |
 | On 28 Sep 1969, a meteorite fell over Murchison, Australia of which only 100-kg has been recovered. An abundance of a certain type of chemical compounds found within this meteorite has led to intense study by researchers as to its origins. More than 92 such compounds have been identified within the Murchison meteorite to date. Of these, just nineteen are presently found on Earth, but the greater number remaining are new compounds not known to occur naturally on Earth. What type of chemical compounds of particular interest are these? |
 | In 1889, the third legal definition of the metre was adopted at the Paris General Conference. On an international prototype metre bar, the metre was defined as the distance measured at 0��°C between two inscribed lines. A hard, corrosion-resistant alloy was used to make the bar. Of what two metals was the alloy made? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for September 27: the decade including the year 1978 • synthesis of an organic compound from inorganic materials • the study of the origin, composition, structure, and alteration of rocks (and has nothing to do with petroleum except when the word stem petr- meaning rock is paired with oleum meaning oil) • decade including the year 1922 • S.S. Arctic.
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