Newsletter for Wednesday 20 January.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 20 JANUARY

Feature for Today

Book of the Day

On 20 Jan 1907, Agnes Mary Clerke was born, who was a diligent compiler of facts and published an exhaustive treatise, A Popular History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century. Today's book pick is: Agnes Mary Clerke Rise Astrophysics, by M. T. Brück, who paints a fascinating picture of the rich fabric of British astronomy and astrophysics at the end of the nineteenth century, including an extremely informative chapter on women in astronomy in the Victorian era. Clerke became the leading commentator on astronomy and astrophysics in the English-speaking world. As historian of astronomy in the last half of the 19th century, she chronicled the the rise of modern astrophysics with the development of larger and better telescopes, the use of photography in the mapping of the skies, and the invention of the spectroheliograph. From Cambridge University Press.

It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $36.55. Used from $38.04. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	I heard Professor Cannon lecture last night, going partly on your account. His subject was a physiological substitute for war—which is international sports and I suppose motorcycle races—to encourage the secretion of the adrenal glands! — James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (died 20 Jan 1944).
	Not one idiot in a thousand has been entirely refractory to treatment, not one in a hundred has not been made more happy and healthy; more than thirty per cent have been taught to conform to social and moral law, and rendered capable of order, of good feeling, and of working like the third of a man; more than forty per cent have become capable of the ordinary transactions of life under friendly control, of understanding moral and social abstractions, of working like two-thirds of a man. — Edouard Séguin, French-American psychiatrist (born 20 Jan 1812).
	What has been done is little—scarcely a beginning; yet it is much in comparison with the total blank of a century past. And our knowledge will, we are easily persuaded, appear in turn the merest ignorance to those who come after us. Yet it is not to be despised, since by it we reach up groping to touch the hem of the garment of the Most High. — Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomical writer (died 20 Jan 1907).

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
	On 20 Jan 1573, Simon Marius was born, a German astronomer who named the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1609. All four are named after mythological figures with whom Jupiter fell in love. He and Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei both claimed to have discovered them, about 1610, and it is likely both did so independently. What are the names of these four largest moons of Jupiter?
	An American astronaut, born 20 Jan 1930, set a record for extravehicular activity and was the second man to set foot on the Moon. Can you name this astronaut?
	Alexandre-Emile Beguyer de Chancourtois, born 20 Jan 1820, was a French geologist who was the first to arrange the chemical elements in a certain order (1862). He plotted them on the surface of a cylinder. The resulting helical curve brought closely related elements onto corresponding points above or below one another on the cylinder. Although significant, his publication was ignored by chemists as it was written in the language of geology. What characteristic did Chancourtois use to order the elements?
Deaths
	Zénobe-Théophile Gramme (1826-1901) was a Belgian-born French electrical engineer and inventor (1869) of the Gramme dynamo. It produced much higher voltages than other dynamos of the time and was the first high-voltage direct-current generator practical for mass production and distribution. What provided the power to turn the generator?
Events
	On 20 Jan of a certain year, the first U.S. patent for a roller coasting structure was issued to La Marcus Thompson of Coney Island, NY. In which decade was this patent issued?
	On 20 Jan 1998, American researchers announced they have cloned animals that may produce medicinal milk. They were cloned from fetal cells in which human genes were spliced into the animal DNA. Their goal was to turn the animals into drug factories, mass producing milk that contains human proteins important for treating human diseases. What animal was cloned in this way?

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 20 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 19: steel • Matthew Boulton • Germany • nicotine • decade including the year 1915 • Zeppelins.

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