TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 31 MARCH
On 31 Mar 1851, Leon Foucault demonstrated his now-famous pendulum experiment at the Pantheon of Paris at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been informed of Foucault’s recent discovery on 6 Jan 1851.
In January, he had installed a long pendulum with a heavy bob in his cellar in the Arras Street of Paris. It revealed that the Earth was rotating underneath the swinging pendulum.
His original announcement of his discovery was in a French journal, but you an read his original words, in translation, describing his experiment reprinted with an introduction in Physical Demonstration of the Earth’s Motion of Rotation, by Means of the Pendulum.
On 31 Mar 1840, Sir Benjamin Baker was born, an English civil engineer who was the chief designer of the railway bridge over the Firth of the Forth, Scotland. It was built over a century ago, and is still in use by the trains of today. His other projects were varied, including the first Hudson River Tunnel (USA), and parts of the London Underground system. But it is the Forth Railway Bridge that stands most visible, durable and still admired by engineers today as a groundbreaking accomplishment. Today's book pick is: 100 Years of the Forth Bridge, by . The chapters of the book were written contributed by various experts at the time of the 100th anniversary of the opening of the bridge. Each chapter is detailed and full of historical information. Discussion of the engineering challenges that were overcome to make this significant bridge possible. The reader will come to understand why this bridge still stands while more modern infrastructure is being torn down and replaced. And in contrast, the book covers some of the earlier failed designs. It makes a fascinating read.
It is available from Amazon, typically about Used from $5.35. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by the wave theory, and the devil runs it by quantum theory on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. — Sir Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and X-ray crystallographer (born 31 Mar 1890).  |
 | One may characterize physics as the doctrine of the repeatable, be it a succession in time or the co-existence in space. The validity of physical theorems is founded on this repeatability. — Friedrich Hund, German physicist (died 31 Mar 1997). |
 | I would think I knew nothing in physics if I could say only how things could be but, without demonstrating that they can’t be otherwise. — René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician (born 31 Mar 1596). |
| 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 | |
 | A German chemist was born on 31 Mar 1811, who, with Gustav Kirchhoff, in c.1859 observed that each element emits a light of characteristic wavelength. With this tool, he soon discovered two new elements: cesium and rubidium. He also made a number of improvements in chemical batteries. Yet is none of these accomplishments for which his name is most widely remembered. Instead, it is the device, named after him, which he originated for use in flame tests of various metals and salts because its nonluminous flame did not interfere with the colored flame given off by the test material. What is the name of this device? |
| | René Descartes, born 31 Mar of a certain year, was a French mathematician, scientist, and “the father of modern philosophy.” His name is remembered in Cartesian geometry. He also wrote a major treatise on physics, though he decided not to publish that work during his lifetime. In which century did he live most of his life? |
| Deaths | |
 | Charles Herbert Best (1899-1978) was an American physiologist who, with Sir Frederick Banting, was the first to obtain (1921) a certain pancreatic extract, valuable to treat a widespread medical condition. But because Best did not receive his medical degree until 1925, he did not share the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded to Banting and J.J.R. Macleod in 1923 for their role in the work. Best also discovered the vitamin choline and the enzyme histaminase. He was the first to introduce anticoagulants in treatment of thrombosis (blood clots). What was the pancreatic extract Best prepared with Banting? |
| Events | |
 | On 31 Mar 1966, the U.S.S.R. launched Luna 10, from an Earth orbiting platform. The scientific instruments on board included a gamma-ray spectrometer, triaxial magnetometer, and a meteorite detector. Other instruments investigated the solar-plasma and infrared emissions. Luna 10 transmitted the Internationale during the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. To what destination was Luna 10 launched? |
 | On 31 Mar of a certain year, Wabash, Indiana, became the first town in which electric lighting completely replaced gas lamps. Four 4,000 candle-power Brush arc lamps, suspended 50 feet above the business district were powered by a small dynamo connected to a threshing machine’s steam engine. In what decade were the streets of Wabash first lit by electricity? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for March 30: The university would not permit women to officially register • Fritz London • bromine • ether • Halley’s Comet.
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