Newsletter for Friday 2 October.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 2 OCTOBER

Feature for Today

On 2 Oct 1937, films of moving X-ray images showing movement of organs of the human body were displayed at the American Roentgen Ray Society convention in New York City. Moving X-ray images on a fluorescent screen were captured with a 16-mm home movie camera. The doctors that made the films had reported their technique at the previous year's convention in 1936. You can read more about how the films were made in this article on X-ray Movies.

Book of the Day

On 2 Oct 1852, Sir William Ramsay was born, discoverer of the noble gases. Today's book pick is: The Noble Gases (Science & Discovery Series), by Asimov, a very readable gem of information on these almost inert gases. Did you know that a supply of one of these inert gases comes out of the ground from gas wells, mixed in with the natural gas, and the supply will run out like a fossil fuel? Meanwhile, that noble gas has been stockpiled as a strategic reserve. Asimov is always engaging. Your webmaster greatly enjoyed learning much from this book, heartily recommends it, and rates it a “don't miss!” This is a book every chemist, student and teacher should read. Long out of print, it can still be grabbed as a used copy.

It is available from Amazon, typically about Used from $11.08. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of the conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true or not. The importance of the strength of our conviction is only to provide a proportionally strong incentive to find out if the hypothesis will stand up to critical examination. — Sir Peter B. Medawar, English immunologist and author (died 2 Oct 1987).
	Connaître, découvrir, communiquer—telle est, au fond, notre honorable destinée. To get to know, to discover, to publish—this is the destiny of a scientist. — François Arago, French physicist and astronomer (died 2 Oct 1853).
	One of the earliest questions asked by an intelligent child is: “What is this made of?” “What is that made of?” And the answer is generally more or less satisfactory. For example, if the question relates to butter, the reply may be, “From cream.” It may be explained, besides, that when cream is beaten up, or churned, the butter separates, leaving skim-milk behind. But the question has not been answered. The child may ask, “Was the butter in the milk before it was churned? or has it been made out of the milk by the churning?” Possibly the person to whom the question is addressed may know that the milk contained the butter in the state of fine globules, and that the process of churning breaks up the globules, and causes them to stick together. The original question has not really been answered; and indeed it is not an easy one to reply to. Precisely such questions suggested themselves to the people of old, and they led to many speculations. — Sir William Ramsay, Scottish chemist (born 2 Oct 1852).

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
	Sir William Ramsay, born 2 Oct 1852, was a Scottish chemist who discovered three so-called “inert gases” and co-discovered a fourth. He was the Nobel laureate of 1904 “in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air, and his determination of their place in the periodic system.” Can you name the four “inert gases” referred to above?
	On 2 Oct 1901, Charles Stark Draper was born, an American aeronautical engineer, who designed navigational and guidance systems for ships, airplanes, and missiles from World War II through the Cold War. He incorporated a device that stabilized and balanced gunsights and bombsights. Use of this device was later expanded to an inertial guidance system for launching long-range missiles. What device did Draper built into gunsights, bombsights and missiles?
Deaths
	Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) was a physical chemist best known for his theory that electrolytes, certain substances that dissolve in water to yield a solution that conducts electricity, are separated, or dissociated, into electrically charged particles, or ions, even when there is no current flowing through the solution. What was his nationality?
	Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804) was a French military engineer who invented the world's first fuel-propelled vehicle, a gun tractor commissioned by the French government. The following year he produced the first mechanically driven “horseless carriage.” What form of power propelled the Cugnot vehicles?
Events
	On 2 Oct 1836, Charles Darwin returned from his voyage on the HMS Beagle to the Pacific which led to the publication of his book, Origin of Species. How many years passed between this return and the book's publication?
	On 2 Oct of a certain year, the Atomicron, the first atomic clock, was unveiled at the Overseas Press Club in New York City. What was the decade in which this atomic clock was thus displayed?

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 October 2 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for October 1: from biology; the splitting of a cell • Jimmy Carter • Homo habilis • Aegean • decade containing the year 1969 • $825 • a comet.

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