Newsletter for Wednesday 26 May.

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TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER • 26 MAY

Feature for Today

Book of the Day

On 26 May 1837, Washington Roebling was born, the son of John Roebling. Washington completed the Brooklyn Bridge designed and started by his father. Today's book pick is: , by This author is well qualified to write on this subject, as a bridge design engineer himself, known for his studies of airflow and wind velocity that helped make possible aerodynamically stable bridges. Steinman assisted in the design and construction of such projects as New York City’s Triborough and Hell Gate Arch Bridges, among others.

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

Quotations for Today

	As soon as we touch the complex processes that go on in a living thing, be it plant or animal, we are at once forced to use the methods of this science [chemistry]. No longer will the microscope, the kymograph, the scalpel avail for the complete solution of the problem. For the further analysis of these phenomena which are in flux and flow, the investigator must associate himself with those who have labored in fields where molecules and atoms, rather than multicellular tissues or even unicellular organisms, are the units of study. — John Jacob Abel, American biochemist and pharmacologist (died 26 May 1938).
	The scientist is not content to stop at the obvious. — Charles Mayo, American surgeon and philanthropist (died 26 May 1939).
	Disease may … be thought of as the negation of the normal. — William Thomas Councilman, American pathologist (died 26 May 1933).

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
	The first American woman to orbit the earth was born on 26 May 1951. She flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on 18 Jun 1983. Only two other women preceded her in space, both from the former Soviet Union. Accepted into the astronaut corps in 1978, she completed training as a mission specialist in 1979, and flew on two missions with Challenger, the second in 1984. She has a Ph.D. in physics, and was a member of the team chosen to investigate the 1986 explosion of Challenger. Can you name this astronaut?
	Heinrich Geissler was born 26 May 1815. He was a German glassblower for whom the Geissler (mercury) vacuum pump was named, which was capable of an unprecedented (1/100 mm of mercury) low vacuum. With this as a tool, he made another form equipment available to early physicists which was valuable to study the effect of electricity on gases. These produced more detailed studies of the structure of matter. What is the other equipment known with the Geissler name?
Deaths
	John Jacob Abel (1857-1938) was an American pharmacologist and physiological chemist who made important contributions to a modern understanding of the ductless, or endocrine, glands. In 1897 he reported the isolation of a derivative of epinephrine (adrenaline). Abel also investigated the functions of the kidney and devised a vividiffusion apparatus for removing toxins from the blood of living animals, an apparatus that is widely regarded as a forerunner of the artificial kidney. What other important human body substance did Abel isolate and crystallize in 1926?
	Ernest Solvay (1838-1922) was a Belgian industrial chemist who invented the Solvay Process (1863), a commercially viable process for producing a chemical widely used in the manufacture of such products as glass and soap. Solvay's successful design used an 80 foot tall high-efficiency carbonating tower in which ammoniated brine trickled down from above and carbon dioxide rose from the bottom. Plates and bubble caps helped create a larger surface over which the two could react. What is the useful product of this process?
Events
	On 26 May 1676, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek applied his hobby of making microscopes from his own handmade lenses to observe some water running off a roof during a heavy rainstorm. What did he find in the runoff water that was not present in pure rainwater?
	In 1931, a microfilm camera was patented by New York City banker, George McCarthy. He developed the first practical commercial microfilm use in the 1920's and was issued an earlier patent. For what application was this microfilm camera designed?

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 May 26 web page of Today in Science History. Or, try this link first for just the brief answers.

Fast answers for the previous newsletter for May 25: muon • Igor Sikorsky • Arizona • Albert Einstein • “...of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth”.

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