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Harald Sack

biology
Gideon Mantell and the Reconstruction of the Iguanodon

Gideon Mantell and the Reconstruction of the Iguanodon

Harald Sack
On February 3, 1790, English obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist Gideon Algernon Mantell was born. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of Iguanodon began the scientific study of dinosaurs. In 1822 he was responsible for the discovery of the first fossil teeth, and later much of the skeleton, of Iguanodon. Moreover, Mantell is also famous for his contributions on the Cretaceous of southern England. Well, the Cretaceous is a geologic period…
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mathematics
Lodovico Ferrari and the quartic equations

Lodovico Ferrari and the quartic equations

Harald Sack
On February 2, 1522, Italian mathematician Lodovico Ferrari was born, who was the first to find an algebraic solution to the biquadratic, or quartic equation. Lodovico Ferrari – Early Years Born in Bologna, Italy, Lodovico’s grandfather, Bartholomew Ferrari, was forced out of Milan to Bologna. Lodovico settled in Bologna, Italy and by chance, he was able to start his career as servant of one of the most famous mathematicians of the time,…
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mathematics
Sir George Stokes and Fluid Dynamics

Sir George Stokes and Fluid Dynamics

Harald Sack
On February 1, 1903, Irish mathematician, physicist, politician and theologian Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, passed away. Stokes made seminal contributions to fluid dynamics, optics, and mathematical physics including the first version of what is now known as Stokes’ theorem. “It is very difficult for us, placed as we have been from earliest childhood in a condition of training, to say what would have been our feelings had such training never…
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chemistry
Theodore William Richards and the Weight of Chemical Elements

Theodore William Richards and the Weight of Chemical Elements

Harald Sack
On January 31, 1868, American chemist Theodore William Richards was born. Richards was the first American scientist to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “in recognition of his accurate determinations of the atomic weight of a large number of chemical elements.” His work meticulously refined the classical gravimetric methods of analysis to better reduce the sources of error. Together with his co-workers, he was able to measure accurate values for atomic weight…
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physics
Abdus Salam’s Electroweak Unifying Theory

Abdus Salam’s Electroweak Unifying Theory

Harald Sack
On January 29, 1926, Pakistani theoretical physicist Mohammad Abdus Salam was born. Abdus Salam shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg for his contribution to the electroweak unification theory. “This in effect is, the faith of all physicists; the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze.” — Abdus Salam, Speech at the Nobel Banquet (10 December…
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medical science
Thomas Willis and the Anatomy of the Nervous System

Thomas Willis and the Anatomy of the Nervous System

Harald Sack
On January 27, 1620, English physician and founding member of the Royal Society Thomas Willis was born, who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology and psychiatry. A club of scientists including Robert Boyle, Christopher Wren and John Wilkins met in his rooms in Oxford, which later should become founding members of the Royal Society.[5,6] “But the office of the Cerebral seems to be for the animal Spirits to supply…
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biology
Theodosius Dobzhansky and the Unifying modern Evolutionary Synthesis

Theodosius Dobzhansky and the Unifying modern Evolutionary Synthesis

Harald Sack
On January 25, 1900, American geneticist and evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky was born. Dobzhansky was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the unifying modern evolutionary synthesis. He made the first significant synthesis of Charles Darwin‘s theory of evolution [6] with Gregor Mendel‘s theory of genetics in his book Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937). “[Evolution] is a general postulate to which all theories, all…
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physics
Paul Langevin and the Langevin Dynamics

Paul Langevin and the Langevin Dynamics

Harald Sack
On January 23, 1872, French physicist Paul Langevin was born. He is best known for having developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. Being a public opponent against fascism in the 1930s resulted in his arrest and consequently he was held under house arrest by the Vichy government for most of the war. Langevin was also the first to explain (1905) the effects of paramagnetism and diamagnetism (the weak attraction or repulsion…
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astronomy
Pierre Gassendi and his Trials to reconcile Epicurean Atomism with Christianity

Pierre Gassendi and his Trials to reconcile Epicurean Atomism with Christianity

Harald Sack
You have read the title? I guess, you might be scared now, but Pierre Gassendi was a decent fellow… On January 22, 1592, French philosopher, priest, scientist, astronomer, and mathematician. Pierre Gassendi was born. Gassendi revived Epicureanism as a substitute for Aristotelianism, attempting in the process to reconcile Atomism‘s mechanistic explanation of nature with Christian belief in immortality, free will, an infinite God, and creation.He clashed with his contemporary Descartes on the possibility…
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astronomy
John Couch Adams and the Discovery of Planet Neptune

John Couch Adams and the Discovery of Planet Neptune

Harald Sack
On January 21, 1821, English mathematician and astronomer John Couch Adams passed away. Adams most famous achievement was predicting the existence and position of Neptune, using only mathematics. The calculations were made to explain discrepancies with Uranus‘s orbit and the laws of Kepler and Newton. At the same time, but unknown to each other, the same calculations were made by Urbain Le Verrier.[5] Youth and Education John Couch Adams was born at…
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