TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 5 DECEMBER
On 5 Dec 1771, Giovanni Battista Morgani died, an Italian anatomist and pathologist who laid the foundations of pathological anatomy as an exact science. He is regarded as one of the Heroes of Medicine, and a short biography on his life and work was included in The Practitioner (1896).
On 5 Dec 1846, C.F. Schönbein of Switzerland obtained a U.S. patent for his invention of Gun Cotton, a substitute for gunpowder. You can read the chemistry he developed for it in his U.S. Patent 4,874.
Or, if you would rather read a patent about something more domestic, a well-known wrench design back to 1876, known by the name of its inventor on U.S. patent 184,993. He made the first practical pipe wrench. In 1869, he had whittled a model out of wood, which he showed to his boss at the Walworth Company. Even as a wooden pattern as a new type of pipe wrench, it was clearly superior to anything else in use at that time, and badly needed in the growing pipe industry. The inventor was diected to test one built in steel. That test convinced the company owner that the concept was sound. When the inventor obtained a patent, and offered to sell the patent for a small outright payment, the owner graciously advised him to accept royalties instead. The inventor thus earned far more in his lifetime.
On 5 Dec 1901, Werner Heisenberg was born, the German physicist famous for his Uncertainty Principle and other work including quantum mechanics and other topics in physics.Today's book pick is: Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg, by David C. Cassidy, who writes both a superb biography and a history of Quantum Mechanics for the non-specialist. Full of science and surprise, the story is vividly portrayed. The author's biographical survey is marked by comprehensiveness and accuracy, but he is also successful in recreating the personal drama of one of the greatest and most influential scientists of this century.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $34.65. Used from $5.93. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | Tapestries are made by many artisans working together. The contributions of separate workers cannot be discerned in the completed work, and the loose and false threads have been covered over. So it is in our picture of particle physics. — Sheldon Lee Glashow, American theoretical physicist (born 5 Dec 1932).  |
 | The basic idea is to shove all fundamental difficulties onto the neutron and to do quantum mechanics in the nucleus. — Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and philosopher (born 5 Dec 1901). |
 | Mathematics is like childhood diseases. The younger you get it, the better. — Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (born 5 Dec 1868). |
| 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 | |
 | Cecil Frank Powell, born 5 Dec 1903, was a British physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for 1950 for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes. This resulted in the discovery of the heavy subatomic particle originally theorized by Yukawa Hideki. Which sub-atomic particle predicted by Hideki was discovered with Powell's photographic method? |
| | Arnold Sommerfeld, born 5 Dec 1868, was a German physicist whose first work was on the theory of the gyroscope, but his significant work was a major contribution to the development of quantum theory. Using quantum theory, what phenomenon did he relate to the Bohr atomic model? |
| Deaths | |
 | Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (1892-1973) was a Scottish physicist whose early work (from 1917) was in the Meteorological Office, designing devices to locate thunderstorms, and investigating the ionosphere (a term he invented in 1926). His significant work in another field led to the development which played a vital role in the defence of Britain against German air raids in 1940. What was this vital development from his work? |
 | Hazel Bishop (1906-1998) was an American chemist and cosmetic executive who invented a lipstick formulation with a significant improvement, the result of a series of experiments in a kitchen she set up as her laboratory. It had a significant impact in the cosmetic business. What was the improvement she perfected? |
| Events | |
 | On 5 Dec of a certain year the first push button-controlled garage opened in Washington, DC. A single attendant, without entering a car, could automatically park or return an auto in less than a minute. What was this vital development from his work? |
 | On 5 Dec 1876, the first practical pipe wrench was patented. It is still known by the inventor's name. What is the name of the inventor and his wrench? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for December 4: a kitchen blender • John Tyndall • he observed how frog muscles twitched when they were touched by metal contacts • decade including the year 1998 • Jupiter.
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