TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 29 SEPTEMBER
On 29 Sep 1859, Hermann Biggs was born, the American physician who was New York City's Public Health Officer and pioneered the use of bacteriological studies in the field of public health for the prevention and control of contagious diseases.
Today, vaccinating a baby is routine to prevent a number of diseases, including diphtheria, polio and tetanus, because these can cause death. It was not always so. First a suitable vaccine had to be developed and manufactured. Then the population had to become involved in an broad immunization effort. For each of these, there needed to be pioneers. One such pioneer was Hermann Biggs, who more than a century ago, took on the task of improving the collective public health in New York City.
In The New Treatment of Diptheria, from The Century Magazine (Jan 1895), Biggs communicated to the general reader that “The new anti-toxine treatment of diphtheria promises to prove one of the most important developments of modern medicine.” In this article, you can read in his own words, how diphtheria antitoxin was being produced in the U.S. by the New York City Board of Health. In these early days of bacteriology, imagine how the magazine's readers may have reacted to such news, because they knew the deadly effects of diptheria as it occurred then. Then consider how the world has benefitted since then, and how routine such vaccinations have become.
On 29 Sep 1901, Enrico Fermi was born, one of the chief architects of the nuclear age. Today's book pick is: , by , who knew Fermi as a friend, having been his student, then his collaborator. Both became Nobel Prize winners. This well-researched biography of this brilliant master of physics and mathematics, presents a rich, well-rounded portrait of Fermi the scientist, his methods, intellectual history, and achievements. Fermi's classic experiments on artificial radioactivity eventually yielded the atomic pile, the first controlled nuclear power. As one of Time magazine's top 20 scientists, Fermi's work should be high on your reading list.
It is available from Amazon, typically about (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
| | Public health is purchasable. Within a few natural and important limitations any community can determine its own health. — Hermann M. Biggs, American physician (born 29 Sep 1859).  |
| | The human body is the only machine in which there are no spare parts. — Hermann M. Biggs, American physician (born 29 Sep 1859). |
| | Young man, if I could remember the names of these particles, I would have been a botanist. — Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist (born 29 Sep 1901). |
| | Some men said the atomic bomb should never have been built; researchers should have stopped working when they had realized that the bomb was feasible. Enrico did not think this would have been a sensible solution. It is no good trying to stop knowledge from going forward. Whatever Nature has in store for mankind, unpleasant as it may be, men must accept, for ignorance is never better than knowledge. Note: Although attributed as his viewpoint to Enrico Fermi, it is probably not a direct quote by him. — Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist (born 29 Sep 1901). |
| 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 | |
 | Paul MacCready, born 29 Sep 1925, is an American aerodynamicist who headed a team that designed and built both the first man-powered aircraft and the first solar-powered aircraft capable of sustained flights. On 23 Aug 1977, the man-powered aircraft successfully demonstrated sustained, maneuverable manpowered flight. Can you name this man-powered aircraft? |
| | Enrico Fermi, physicist, born 29 Sep 1901 was one of the chief architects of the nuclear age. Working in America, he discovered neutron-induced radioactivity, and directed the first controlled chain reaction involving nuclear fission. What was Fermi's nationality at the outbreak of World War II? |
| Deaths | |
 | Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) was a German thermal engineer who was also a distinguished connoisseur of the arts, a linguist, and a social theorist. For what invention is he best known? |
| no image | Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839) was a German mineralogist who devised a scale to compare mineral hardness, based on ten common or readily available minerals. Which minerals did Mohr select for the the least hard (1) and the most hard (10)? |
| Events | |
 | On 29 Sep 1891, a U.S. patent was issued to an inventor for a "Process of and Apparatus for Generating Electricity" and on 29 Sep 1914, a patent for a "Phonograph-Record" was granted to the same man. Who was this inventor? |
| | On 29 Sep 1954, with ratifications complete, an organization was founded to provide first class facilities to coordinate fundamental research in particle physics. What is this organization, and where is it located? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for September 28: Seymour R. Cray • fluorine • he provided the first evidence of the expansion of the universe • his method of killing harmful bacteria in a liquid (such as milk) by holding it for a suitable time at a given temperature • amino acids • platinum-iridium.
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