TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER • 26 AUGUST
There are two McCormicks who made significant contributions to improving the methods of agriculture. On 26 Aug 1784, Stephen McCormick was born, the American inventor and manufacturer of a cast iron plow with detachable components. He introduced the concept of replaceable and standardized parts. He was the cousin of Cyrus McCormick who invented the famous reaper.
For a quick biography, read this article on Stephen McCormick, and cast your mind back to the conditions of farming, and the difficulty of taming arable land at the beginning of the nineteenth century. When plows attempted to turn over the sod, the ground fought back and damaged the plows. By the time McCormick got involved with addressing the problem, the wooden plows of earlier times had been replaced by cast iron. But there was still a problem to be solved regarding maintenace.
Making parts replaceable through standardization — that was McCormick's important innovation. Eventually thousands of his horsedrawn plows were being manufactured.
Antoine Lavoisier, born 26 Aug 1743 is a giant in the history of chemistry. He revolutionized the field and created the first modern table of chemical elements. Yet despite his remarkable importance to modern chemistry, Lavoisier's scientific work was more a hobby than a profession! In fact, because he made his living during the day, his scientific work was relegated to early morning and after-dinner hours! If that was not your perception of such a productive scientist, you may want to read a biography of this remarkable man. Today's book pick is: Lavoisier: Chemist, Biologist, Economist (Chemical Sciences in Society), by Jean-Pierre Poirier who filled the need to write a complete biography of Lavoisier, with the goal of establishing the links between the multidisciplinary activities of his brilliant mind and grasping the logic of his life and death. The author understands chemistry as a research and development director in the R&D in the pharmaceutical industry. He he is a member of the Comite Lavoisier at the Paris Academy of Sciences.
It is available from Amazon, typically about New from $30.06. Used from $7.36. (As of earlier time of writing - subject to change.)
 | The self-same atoms which, chaotically dispersed, made the nebula, now, jammed and temporarily caught in peculiar positions, form our brains; and the “evolution” of brains, if understood, would be simply the account of how the atoms came to be so caught and jammed. — William James, American psychologist and philosopher (died 26 Aug 1910).  |
 | The impossibility of separating the nomenclature of a science from the science itself, is owing to this, that every branch of physical science must consist of three things; the series of facts which are the objects of the science, the ideas which represent these facts, and the words by which these ideas are expressed. Like three impressions of the same seal, the word ought to produce the idea, and the idea to be a picture of the fact. — Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, French chemist (born 26 Aug 1743). |
 | Tiny ferryboats they were, each laden with its little electric charge, unloading their etheric cargo at the opposite electrode and retracing their journeyings, or caught by a cohesive force, building up little bridges, or trees with quaint and beautiful patterns. Describing the flow of electrons between electrodes in a vacuum tube. — Lee De Forest, American inventor (born 26 Aug 1873). |
| 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 | |
 | Albert Bruce Sabin, born 26 Aug 1906 was a Polish-American physician and microbiologist best known for developing an oral vaccine (1955), which was administered to millions of children in Europe, Africa, and the Americas beginning in the late 1950s. For what disease was his vaccine developed? |
 | Joseph-Michel, one of two brothers who were pioneers in ballooning, was born 26 Aug 1740. In the span of one year after releasing their test balloon, the brothers had enabled the first manned balloon flight in the world. What is the brothers' family name? |
| | On 26 Aug 1743, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was born a French scientist who is known as the “father of modern chemistry.” In 1778, he found that air consists of a mixture of two gases which he called oxygen and nitrogen. Lavoisier discovered the law of conservation of mass, and he also devised the modern method of naming compounds, which replaced the older nonsystematic method. What were the circumstances of his death? |
| Deaths | |
 | An aviator who was a WWI pilot (1902-1974) was the first to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Paris, on 20-21 May 1927. Can you name this person? |
 | A Dutch scientist, microscopist and zoologist (1632-1723) was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa. His researches on lower animals refuted the doctrine of spontaneous generation, and his observations helped lay the foundations for the sciences of bacteriology and protozoology. Can you name this man? |
| Events | |
 | On 26 Aug 1895, electricity was first transmitted commercially from the first large-scale utilization of hydroelectricity in the U.S. What was the source of this water power? |
 | On 26 Aug until 28 Aug in 1883, the eruption of an island volcano in the Dutch Indies produced violent explosions that destroyed two thirds of the island. It produced tidal waves as far away as Cape Horn, and possibly England. An estimated 36,000 died. What is the name of this volcano? In which country? |
Fast answers for the previous newsletter for August 25: Frederick Chapman Robbins = virologist; Sir Hans Adolf Krebs = Krebs cycle of the oxidation process within the cell; Theodor Kocher = thyroid gland • Antoine-Henri Becquerel • Uranus • Michael Faraday • thousands • decade of 1973.
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