Newsletter for Monday 25 January.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 25 JANUARY

Feature for Today

Book of the Day

On 25 Jan 1917, Ilya Prigogine was born, Russian-Belgian Nobel prize-winning physical chemist who sought a better understanding of time in the classical laws of physics. Today's book pick is: , by , who writes about time, the fundamental dimension of our existence, that has fascinated artists, philosophers, and scientists of every culture and every century. Common sense says time moves forward, never backward, from cradle to grave. Nevertheless, Einstein said that time is an illusion. Nature's laws, as he and Newton defined them, describe a timeless, deterministic universe within which we can make predictions with complete certainty. In effect, these great physicists contended that time is reversible and thus meaningless. This is an intellectually challenging book and although some sections are highly mathematical, most of the book is written in a natural style.

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

Quotations for Today

	Evolutionary plasticity can be purchased only at the ruthlessly dear price of continuously sacrificing some individuals to death from unfavourable mutations. Bemoaning this imperfection of nature has, however, no place in a scientific treatment of this subject. — Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian-American geneticist and evolutionist (born 25 Jan 1900).
no image	The patent system was established, I believe, to protect the lone inventor. In this it has not succeeded. … The patent system protects the institutions which favor invention — Ernst F.W. Alexanderson, Swedish-American electronics engineer and inventor (born 25 Jan 1878).
	The future is uncertain… but this uncertainty is at the very heart of human creativity. — Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian physical chemist (born 25 Jan 1917).

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
	William Shanks, born 25 Jan 1812, was an English mathematician who spent numerous years on a manual calculation. Shanks kept a boarding school at Houghton-le-Spring in a coal mining area near Durham. His calculation reached 707 places by 1873, a feat unchallenged until the use of electronic computers. What was the subject of his calculation?
	An Anglo-Irish chemist, born 25 Jan 1627, is noted for his pioneering experiments on the properties of gases and his espousal of a corpuscular view of matter that was a forerunner of the modern theory of chemical elements. One of the well-known gases laws is known by his name. Can you name this scientist?
Deaths
	Beno Gutenberg (1889-1960) was an American scientist who is noted for deriving information about the physical properties of the Earth's interior. What method did he use for his discoveries.
	Kiyoshi Shiga (1871-1957) was a Japanese bacteriologist who discovered (1897) a bacillus associated with an infection leading to diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and possible hospitalization. The disease was named after him. He also developed dysentery antiserum (1900). What is the name of the disease named after him?
Events
	On 25 Jan 1798, Benjamin Thompson presented a paper to the Royal Society, Enquiry concerning the Source of Heat which is excited by Friction, in which he presented the idea that heat represents a form of motion, as opposed to the prevailing idea of being a fluid. He had come to this conclusion from his observations of the mechanical production of a certain armament. What was the manufacturing operation he observed?

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 January 25 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for January 24: in a fraction separated from liquid air • they are almost identical • vitamin C • the low vacuum Geissler tube to study the effect of electricity on traces of gases therein • Voyager 2 • decade including the year 1848.

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