TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 18 APRIL
On 18 Apr 1873, Justus von Liebig died. Some readers may recall his name attached to the Liebig Condenser used in a distillation apparatus, but may otherwise be unaware of the many contributions this German chemist made in diverse fields.
He was also a great communicator for science to the public. The book of his first series of Familiar Letters on Chemistry met with rapid sales, going through two editions in England, a reprinting in America, and a translation into Italian.
From his follow-up second series, you can read an example of his popular writing on this chapter on the Nature of Decay. You may be startled to learn of the outcome of the discovery of the nature of decay of human remains at the Cemetery of the Innocents at Paris. But Liebig’s application of chemistry to the manufacture of beer and wine will be of more conventional interest.
On 18 Apr 1873, the German chemist Justus von Liebig died. He was not only a founding father of organic chemistry, but is notable as an influential teacher. He transformed scientific education, medical practice and agriculture. Today's book pick is: Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper (Cambridge Science Biographies), by William H. Brock, who provides a definitive biography of one of the most important figures in the history of chemistry. Chapters on farming, food chemistry, and the chemistry of sewage reveal a now little-known side of this remarkable researcher who understood the civic importance of his science in the modern world.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $54.33. Used from $61.39. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | So the horns of the stag are sharp to offend his adversary, but are branched for the purpose of parrying or receiving the thrusts of horns similar to his own, and have therefore been formed for the purpose of combating other stags for the exclusive possession of the females; who are observed, like the ladies in the times of chivalry, to attend to the car of the victor... The final cause of this contest amongst the males seems to be, that the strongest and most active animal should propagate the species, which should thence become improved. — Erasmus Darwin, English physician, poet, philosopher, botanist and naturalist (died 18 Apr 1802).  |
 | I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy. — Albert Einstein, German-American physicist (died 18 Apr 1955). |
| | A time will come, when fields will be manured with a solution of glass (silicate of potash), with the ashes of burnt straw, and with the salts of phosphoric acid, prepared in chemical manufactories, exactly as at present medicines are given for fever and goitre. — Justus von Liebig, German chemist (died 18 Apr 1873). |
 | Science is the systematic classification of experience. — George Henry Lewes, English philosopher and naturalist (born 18 Apr 1817). |
| 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 | |
 | Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, born 18 Apr 1838, was a French chemist who used spectroscopy to search minerals for new elements. The elements he found include samarium (1880), and dysprosium (1886). Another was the eka-aluminium predicted by Mendeleev between aluminium and indium. Boisbaudran named this new element in honour of France. What is the name Boisbaudran gave to eka-aluminium? |
| Deaths | |
 | Sir John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945) was an English engineer who made numerous contributions to electronics. In 1904, he built an evacuated glass tube with a heated filament (cathode) and another electrode (anode). When the anode was positively biased, he discovered a one-way current as the electrons flowed only from filament to anode. What name did Fleming give this device? |
| | Albert Einstein, who died on 18 Apr 1955, was a German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Yet the Nobel Prize for Physics he was awarded in 1921 was for his earlier explanation of something quite different. For the explanation of what phenomenon was Eistein's Nobel Prize awarded? |
| | Erasmus Darwin, who died on 18 Apr 1802, was a prominent English physician, poet, philosopher, and naturalist. He formulated one of the first formal theories on evolution, with ideas about how competition and sexual selection could cause changes in species. Though Erasmus Darwin did not come up with the concept of natural selection, that approach came from Charles Darwin, a member of his family. What family relationship did Erasmus Darwin have to Charles Darwin? |
| Events | |
 | On 18 Apr 1950, an aircraft made a flight from Toronto, Canada, to New York City, which was the first of its kind for an international passenger flight. What about this aircraft made it the first of its kind for an international passenger flight? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for April 17: seas or maria • Love waves - a major type of earthquake waves propagated between the crust and underlying mantle • Benjamin Franklin • Surveyor 7 • the decade including the year 1964.
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