Newsletter for Monday 8 February.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 8 FEBRUARY

Feature for Today

On 8 Feb 1777, Bernard Courtois was born, who discovered—in fact, stumbled upon—a new element (though he lacked the resources to confirm his hunch.) The source was seaweed! Surely that must make you curious to know more! Read more about this fascinating piece of chemistry history in this article on Iodine.

Book of the Day

On 8 Feb 1906, Chester Carlson was born, American physicist who invented the dry copy process. Today's book pick is: Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg--Chester Carlson and the Birth of the Xerox Machine, by David Owen. Owen relates a life story with long, lonely efforts to find a way to reproduce documents, and the struggle to find a company willing to market his invention. After reading this narrative, full of interesting facts and anecdotes, you will never again look at your copier in a take-it-for-granted way.

It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $8.10. Used from $1.95. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)

Quotations for Today

	We may observe in some of the abrupt grounds we meet with, sections of great masses of strata, where it is as easy to read the history of the sea, as it is to read the history of Man in the archives of any nation. — Jean André Deluc, Swiss-English geologist and meteorologist (born 8 Feb 1727).
	There is no philosophy which is not founded upon knowledge of the phenomena, but it is absolutely necessary to be a mathematician to get any profit from this knowledge. — Daniel Bernoulli, French mathematician (born 8 Feb 1700).
	… on these expanded membranes [butterfly wings] Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of the modifications of species, so truly do all changes of the organisation register themselves thereon. Moreover, the same colour-patterns of the wings generally show, with great regularity, the degrees of blood-relationship of the species. As the laws of nature must be the same for all beings, the conclusions furnished by this group of insects must be applicable to the whole world. — H. W. Bates, English naturalist and explorer (born 8 Feb 1825).

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
	Chester Carlson, born 8 Feb 1906, invented a dry-copying process that found applications ranging from office copying to reproducing out-of-print books. In 1947 he sold the commercial rights for his invention to the Haloid Company, a small manufacturer of photographic paper, which later became known by another corporate name. What is the present name of the corporation that grew out of the Haloid Company?
	On 8 Feb 1825, Henri Giffard was born, a French engineer who built the first successful airship. On 24 Sep 1852, he travelled from Paris in his airship 28 km (17 miles) to Trappes, at a top speed of 8 km/hr (5 mph). His cigar-shaped balloon was driven by a large propeller. What did Giffard use to turn the propeller on this balloon trip?
Deaths
	Dennis Gabor (1900-1979) won the 1971 Nobel Prize for Physics for his invention of a a system of lensless, three-dimensional photography that has many applications (1947), which became commercially feasible after the invention of the laser. Can you name this specialized form of photography?
	Walther Bothe (1891-1957) was a German physicist who built Germany’s first cyclotron (1943). He observed a strange radiation emitted from beryllium when it was exposed to alpha particles, later identified by Chadwick. What was the emission from beryllium discovered by Bothe and Chadwick?
Events
	On 8 Feb 1672, a scientist read his first optics paper before the Royal Society, London. He had been elected only one month earlier, in recognition of his original design of the first reflecting telescope. Who was this scientist?
	On 8 Feb 1865, a 42-year-old scientist read his first paper to the Brünn Society for the study of Natural Sciences in Moravia. He described his investigations with pea plants. Although he sent 40 reprints of his article (1866) to prominent biologists, only one was interested enough to reply. It gained recognition only 18 years after his death. Who was this scientist?

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 February 8 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for February 7: nitrous oxide • John Deere • Model T Ford • wood • decade including the year 1931 • Monopoly.

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