Newsletter for Thursday 21 January.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 21 JANUARY

Feature for Today

Book of the Day

On 21 Jan 1742, John Fitch was born, American pioneer of steamboat transportation. Today's book pick is: Poor John Fitch: Inventor Of The Steamboat, by Thomas Boyd. Fitch made America’s first steamboat He was granted a U.S. patent on a steamboat design on 26 Aug 1791. Although capable of travelling a total of thousands of miles at 6 to 8 mph, his passenger line was not a commercial success. By 1798, broken by failure, an alcoholic, he died by suicide using opium pills. The sad story of John Fitch, his innovations, his life and times are described in this book. This pioneer's struggle for success and recognition is worth your attention. After all, does his name come to mind when you think about steamboats… or not? If not, this biography will fill an important gap in your knowledge of the beginning of industrial steam power in the U.S.

It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $30.52. Used from $30.46. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	A man who is all theory is like “a rudderless ship on a shoreless sea.” … Theories and speculations may be indulged in with safety only as long as they are based on facts that we can go back to at all times and know that we are on solid ground. — Elisha Gray, American inventor (died 21 Jan 1901).
	If you have an idea that you wish your audience to carry away, turn it upside down and inside out, rephrasing it from different angles. Remember that the form in which the thing may appear best to you may not impress half your audience. — Robert Harper, American botanist (born 21 Jan 1862).
	The day will come when some more powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention, but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do anything worthy of attention. — John Fitch, American inventor (born 21 Jan 1743).

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
	John Fitch, born 21 Jan 1743, was an American pioneer of steamboat transportation who produced the first serviceable steamboat. By the summer of 1790, Fitch used it in a successful passenger line between Philadelphia and Trenton. On his steamboat, Fitch used steam to power what mechanical form of propulsion through the water?
	On 21 Jan 1815, Horace Wells was born, an American dentist who pioneered in the use of surgical anesthesia. On 10 Dec 1844, Wells saw a travelling showman, Gardner Quincy Colton demonstrate the effects of a certain substance. Next day, Wells had Colton administer the substance to him while having a tooth extracted by an associate. This experiment was a success, and Wells adopted the substance in his dental practice. What substance did Horace Wells begin using as a new form of anesthesia for dentistry?
Deaths
	Elisha Gray (1835-1901) was an American scientist and innovator who accidentally created the first electronic musical instrument using his discovery of the basic single note oscillator and design of a simple loudspeaker device. He had other more useful inventions, including a telegraph printer and needle annuciator. He would have been known for a major invention, if he hadn't been beaten to the patent office by another inventor on the same day. What major invention could he not patent first?
	John Couch Adams (1819-1892) was a British mathematician and astronomer, one of two people who independently discovered the planet Neptune. What led him to this discovery?
Events
	On 21 Jan 1941, the commercial production of a metal first began in the U.S. at Freeport, Texas. The metal was extracted from seawater through an electrolytic process. Alloys made from this metal are used for certain structural components in aircraft and vehicles. What was the metal extracted from seawater?
	On 21 Jan of a certain year, the first atomic submarine, the U.S.S. Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Connecticut. All vessels previously known as “submarines” were in fact only submersible craft. Because of its nuclear power source, the Nautilus could stay submerged for months at a time, unlike diesel-fueled subs, whose engines required vast amounts of oxygen. In which decade was the first nuclear submarine launched?

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 21 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 20: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto • Edwin Aldrin • atomic weight • steam engine • decade including the year 1885 • calf.

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