TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 30 JANUARY
On 30 Jan 1958, the first two-way, moving sidewalk in an American airport was opened in the new terminal building at the city's new municipal airport, Love Field, in Dallas, Texas. Passenger conveyors traveling at the granny-friendly speed of one-and-a-half miles per hour assisted foot traffic for the long walk in each of three concourses from the terminal lobby to the plane ramps. The Today in Science History article on Moving Sidewalks describes it, but the startling fact that a toddler was crushed to death within two years of its operation grabs your attention. Reading how it happened, if you imagine the scene at incident you'll be horrifed. This fatal accident forced a design change to make the next generation of the equipment safer.
The idea of a horizontal people mover has an interesting history. It goes back to the previous century when the first moving sidewalk was featured at the Columbian Exposition, the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. That was followed by an ambitious installation of a moving sidewalk was at the Paris Exposition of 1900, which set a record that still stands for length and speed of operation. It was 2.1 miles long and connected the principal points of the exhibition.
On 30 Jan 1929, Roger N. Shepard was born, American psychologist whose work provided major new insights into the nature of mental processes. Today's book pick is: , by . As the author, Shepard introduces us to his drawings of visual tricks, discusses the origins of his scientific and artistic work, and shares his reflections on the nature of art, perception, and the mind.Until Shepard began publishing his imagery work in the 1970s, no one had objectively measured mental imagery. It was thought to be impossible. The scientific community has since taken notice.
Today, his work influences fields as diverse as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, and neuroscience. Shepard says his image orientation work has been used in a pilot aptitude test. The test accurately identifies trainees who are most likely to make pilot errors. His imaging methods were also used in the design of a computer-based diagnostic system for breast and prostate cancers. Joseph L. Young, the NSF program director who has overseen Shepard's NSF grants for more than 19 years, anticipates other practical benefits such as better organization of control rooms and cockpit displays, as well as more effective educational programs.
It is available from Amazon, typically about (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | We have really, that I know of, no philosophical basis for high and low. Moreover, the vegetable kingdom does not culminate, as the animal kingdom does. It is not a kingdom, but a common-wealth; a democracy, and therefore puzzling and unaccountable from the former point of view. — Asa Gray, American botanist (died 30 Jan 1888).  |
 | Science is a field which grows continuously with ever expanding frontiers. Further, it is truly international in scope. … Science is a collaborative effort. The combined results of several people working together is often much more effective than could be that of an individual scientist working alone. — John Bardeen, American physicist (died 30 Jan 1991). |
 | Until we consider animal life to be worthy of the consideration and reverence we bestow upon old books and pictures and historic monuments, there will always be the animal refugee living a precarious life on the edge of extermination, dependent for existence on the charity of a few human beings. — Gerald Malcolm Durrell, British conservationist (died 30 Jan 1995). |
| 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 | |
 | On 30 Jan 1889, Max Theiler was born, an American microbiologist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his research on a certain tropical disease. Theiler’s discovery that mice are susceptible to this disease facilitated research and eventual development of a vaccine against the disease in humans. What is the disease that Theiler researched? |
 | On 30 Jan 1925, Doug Engelbart was born, an American electrical engineer and inventor who developed the computer graphical user interface. He collaborated in the invention of joystick, track ball and light pen devices, but is best known for a device he made from a block of wood and two wheels. What is Engelbart's most famous creation? |
| Deaths | |
| | John Bardeen (1908-1991) was an American physicist who was cowinner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in both 1956 and again in 1972. The 1956 prize was shared for a co-invention he made with William B. Shockley and Walter H. Brattain. What was the invention made by the three winners of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics? |
 | Orville Wright (1871-1948) made the first ever manned powered flight in an aircraft that he and his brother Wilbur had designed and built together. Where did this first ever manned powered flight take place, and for about how many seconds? |
| Events | |
 | On 30 Jan of 1998, a new glue, Dermabond, able to replace painful stitches, won the unanimous vote of a medical advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration. Dermabond can seal off certain wounds quickly, without the need for painful shots, can hold a wound closed, sterile and flexible while it is healing. It is the chemical cousin of a certain glue used in households (which is too toxic for medical use). What is the name of the related household glue? |
 | On 30 Jan 1868, a book by Charles Darwin was published, a follow-up work, written in response to criticisms that his theory of evolution was unsubstantiated. Darwin here supports his views via analysis of various aspects of plant and animal life, including an inventory of varieties and their physical and behavioral characteristics, and an investigation of the impact of a species’ surrounding environment and the effect of both natural and forced changes in this environment. What was the name of the book? |
 | On 30 Jan 1790, the first of a new design of boat, the Original, was first tested at sea by its English builder, Henry Greathead of South Shields. The Original was 30ft long, twelve oars, self-righting, and had seven hundredweight of cork for buoyancy. What was the special use for this type of boat? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for January 29: electromagnetic force • comparison of mineral hardness • directly from nitrogen and hydrogen gases • manganese (from ferro-manganese, or spiegeleisen ore) • decade including the year 1896 • DDT • ice cream cone.
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