Author Archives

Tabea Tietz

Samuel Alderson and the Crash Test Dummies

Samuel Alderson and the Crash Test Dummies

On October 21, 1914, US-american engineer Samuel W. Alderson was born. He is best known for his development of the crash test dummy, a device that, during the last half of the twentieth century, was widely used by automobile manufacturers to test the reliability of automobile seat belts and other safety protocols. Samuel Alderson Education Samuel W. Alderson attended several colleges including Reed College, California Institute of Technology, and the University of…
Read more
Nicholas Culpeper and the Complete Herbs of England

Nicholas Culpeper and the Complete Herbs of England

On October 18, 1616, English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer Nicholas Culpeper was born. Culpeper spent the greater part of his life in the English outdoors cataloging hundreds of medicinal herbs. Thus, he is best known for his publication of Complete Herbal (1653), a comprehensive listing of English medicinal herbs and their uses, which still is in print today. “I cannot build my faith upon Author’s words, nor believe a thing because they…
Read more
Socrates – Enigmatic Founding Figure of Western Philosophy

Socrates – Enigmatic Founding Figure of Western Philosophy

Socrates was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He remains an enigmatic figure in philosophy, because he did not leave us a single line of text. He is known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon. Nevertheless, you might consider his importance in the fact that all Greek philosophers are categorized in philosophers before…
Read more
Albrecht von Haller – Father of Modern Physiology

Albrecht von Haller – Father of Modern Physiology

On October 16, 1708, Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet Albrecht von Haller was born. He made prolific contributions to physiology, anatomy, botany, embryology, poetry, and scientific bibliography. Moreover, he is often referred to as the “Father of modern Physiology“. Albrecht von Haller – Youth and Education Albrecht von Haller came from a Bernese patrician family, which had belonged to the Burgerschaft of the city of Bern since 1548. His parents were Niklaus…
Read more
Peter Barlow and the Barlow Lenses

Peter Barlow and the Barlow Lenses

On October 13, 1776, British mathematician and physicist Peter Barlow was born. As a mathematician, he produced important mathematical tables. However, he is still renown today for his development of two varieties of achromatic (non-color-distorting) telescope lenses, the so-called Barlow lenses. “Opinions derived from long experience are exceedingly valuable, and outweigh all others, while they are consistent with facts and with each other; but they are worse than useless when they lead, as in…
Read more
Henry Cavendish and the Weight of the Earth

Henry Cavendish and the Weight of the Earth

On October 10, 1731, British natural philosopher Henry Cavendish was born. A scientist as well as an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist, Cavendish is noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called “inflammable air“. Most notably, he determined the mass and density of the Earth. Henry Cavendish Henry Cavendish was born in Nice and attended a private school near London. He enrolled the University of Cambridge, but left without…
Read more
Thales of Miletus – (possibly) the Father of Greek Mathematics

Thales of Miletus – (possibly) the Father of Greek Mathematics

For today’s blog post, there is no birthday of a popular scientist. Moreover, we want to tackle famous people in the history of science, who don’t have a known birthday. This of course holds for many philosophers, mathematicians, or natural scientists of Antiquity or early Middle Ages. Today, we want to start with the father of ancient Greek mathematics, Thales of Miletus. According to Bertrand Russel, Western philosophy (as well as mathematics)…
Read more
Sir Patrick Manson – The Father of Tropical Medicine

Sir Patrick Manson – The Father of Tropical Medicine

On October 3, 1844, Scottish physician Sir Patrick Manson was born. He made important discoveries in parasitology, and was the founder of the field of tropical medicine. He was the first to identify an insect for the spread of infection. Patrick Manson – Becoming a Physician Patrick Manson was the son of a bank branch manager and grew up in the north-east of Scotland, in the county of Aberdeenshire. He studied medicine at…
Read more
Fritz Kahn and the Mensch Maschine

Fritz Kahn and the Mensch Maschine

On September 29, 1888, German Jewish physician Fritz Kahn was born. He is best known for his publication of popular science books and especially for his illustrations, which pioneered infographics. Fritz Kahn – Becoming a Physician Fritz Kahn was born in Halle, Germany and grew up with Jewish orthodox traditions and a decent education. In his early years, the Kahn family relocated several times and even lived in the United States for quite a while…
Read more
Balboa and the Discovery of the Southern Ocean

Balboa and the Discovery of the Southern Ocean

On September 25, 1513, Spanish conquistador and explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa discovered the legendary Southern Ocean, having crossed the Isthmus of Panama facing the Pacific Ocean. Núñez de Balboa – Early Years Núñez de Balboa came from an impoverished Galician noble family. Like many adventurers, news of the land discovered by Columbus in 1492, with its wealth of gold, prompted him to make the journey to the New World. In 1500, as…
Read more
Relation Browser
Timeline
0 Recommended Articles:
0 Recommended Articles: