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mathematics
John Pell and the Obelus

John Pell and the Obelus

Tabea Tietz
On March 1, 1611, English mathematician John Pell was born. Pell introduced the division sign (obelus, ÷) into England. The obelus was first used by Johann Rahn (1622-1676) in 1659 in Teutsche Algebra. Rahn’s book was interpreted into English and published, with additions made by John Pell. John Pell – Early Years Pell was born in Southwick in Sussex, where his father of the same name, John Pell, was pastor and rector; his…
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general
Yovisto becomes SciHi – The Daily Blog on Science, Technology & Art in History

Yovisto becomes SciHi – The Daily Blog on Science, Technology & Art in History

Harald Sack
  Dear Readers, Followers, and Friends, For almost 5 years now, yovisto has maintained and hosted this daily blog on the history of science, technology, and art under its domain. From now on, the blog will continue under its own label “SciHi – The Daily Blog on Science, Technology & Art in History” under our new domain scihi.org. Of course, we will keep our affiliation with yovisto’s video search engine. Moreover, the…
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engineering
Henry Martyn Leland and his Motorcars

Henry Martyn Leland and his Motorcars

Harald Sack
On February 16, 1843, American machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entrepreneur Henry Martyn Leland was born. Leland founded Cadillac Motors (22 Aug 1902) to build the Cadillac, the first automobile with high-precision, fully-interchangable parts. During WW I, he formed a new company to manufactured aircraft engines, which after the war he produced a new automobile: the Lincoln. “Mr. Sloan, Cadillacs are made to run, not just to sell.”, Henry Martin Leland, cited in…
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computer science

Rolf Landauer and the Landauer Principle

Harald Sack
On February 4, 1927, German-American physicist Rolf William Landauer was born. Landauer made important contributions in diverse areas of the thermodynamics of information processing, condensed matter physics, and the conductivity of disordered media. He is probably best known for the formulation of the eponymous Landauer Principle concerning the energy used during a computer‘s operation. “We shall call a device logically irreversible if the output of a device does not uniquely define the…
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medical science
Elizabeth Blackwell M. D.

Elizabeth Blackwell M. D.

Tabea Tietz
On February 3, 1821, British-born physician Elizabeth Blackwell was born. Blackwell is notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, as well as the first woman on the UK Medical Register. She was the first woman to graduate from medical school, a pioneer in promoting the education of women in medicine in the United States, and a social and moral reformer in both the United States…
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archeology
Gertrude Caton Thompson and Prehistoric Egypt

Gertrude Caton Thompson and Prehistoric Egypt

Tabea Tietz
On February 1, 1888, English archaeologist Gertrude Caton Thompson was born. Thompson was an influential archaeologist at a time when participation by women in the discipline was rather uncommon working primarily in Egypt. She was able to distinguish two prehistoric cultures in the Al-Fayyum depression of Upper Egypt, the older dating to about 5000 BC and the younger to about 4500 BC. Archaeology with Flinders Petrie Gertrude Thompson traveled to Egypt with her…
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chemistry
Victor Moritz Goldschmidt and the Origins of Geochemistry

Victor Moritz Goldschmidt and the Origins of Geochemistry

Harald Sack
On January 27, 1888, Swiss-Norwegian geochemist, mineralogist and petrologist Victor Moritz Goldschmidt was born. Goldschmidt is considered (together with Vladimir Vernadsky) to be the founder of modern geochemistry and crystal chemistry, as well as the developer of the Goldschmidt Classification of elements. “Every beginning is hard. At most stopping is sometimes even harder.” – Victor Moritz Goldschmidt, as quoted in [9] Victor Moritz Goldschmidt’s Early Years Goldschmidt was born in Zürich, Switzerland,…
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physics
Hideki Yukawa and the Existence of Mesons

Hideki Yukawa and the Existence of Mesons

Harald Sack
On January 23, 1907, Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate Hideki Yukawa was born. Yukawa shared the 1949 Nobel Prize for Physics for “his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces.” “Reality is cruel. All of the naivete is going to be removed. Reality is always changing, and it is always unpredictable. All of the balance is going to be destroyed.”…
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medical science
Albert Neisser and the Causative Agent of Gonorrhea

Albert Neisser and the Causative Agent of Gonorrhea

Tabea Tietz
On January 22, 1855, German physician Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser was born. Neisser discovered the causative agent (pathogen) of gonorrhea, a strain of bacteria that was named in his honour (Neisseria gonorrhoeae). Youth and Education Albert Neisser was born the son of the Jewish physician Moritz Neisser (1820-1896), Privy Councillor in Breslau and Charlottenbrunn, and Louise Lossen (1819-1855), who came from an entrepreneurial family in Berlin. Since his mother died before he was…
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archeology
François Lenormant and the Akkadian Language

François Lenormant and the Akkadian Language

Harald Sack
On January 17, 1837, French assyriologist and archaeologist François Lenormant was born. Lenormant recognized, from cuneiform inscriptions, a language now known as Akkadian that proved valuable to the understanding of Mesopotamian civilization 3,000 years before the Christian era. François Lenormant – Youth and Education François Lenormant was born in Paris, France, to his father Charles Lenormant, who, distinguished as an archaeologist, numismatist and Egyptologist, was anxious that his son should follow in…
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