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Edward Barnard and His Love for Celestial Photography

Edward Barnard and His Love for Celestial Photography

On December 16, 1856, American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard was born. Barnard is best known for his discovery of the high proper motion of Barnard’s Star in 1916, which is named in his honor. He also pioneered in celestial photography, specializing in wide-field photography. Early Life Edward Barnard was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Reuben Barnard and Elizabeth Jane née Haywood. His father died before his birth, and the son grew…
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Robert Noyce – the “Mayor of Silicon Valley”

Robert Noyce – the “Mayor of Silicon Valley”

On December 12, 1926, American engineer and inventor Robert Noyce was born. Nicknamed “the Mayor of Silicon Valley,” Noyce co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He is credited along with Jack Kilby with the realization of the first integrated circuit or microchip that fueled the personal computer revolution. “Innovation is everything. When you’re on the forefront, you can see what the next innovation needs to be. When you’re behind, you…
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Eli Whitney – The Invention of the Cotton Gin and the Antebellum South

Eli Whitney – The Invention of the Cotton Gin and the Antebellum South

On December 8, 1765, American inventor Eli Whitney was born. Whitney is best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney’s invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States. “As Arkwright and Whitney were the demi-gods of cotton, so prolific Time will yet…
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Thomas Bartholin and the Lymphatic System

Thomas Bartholin and the Lymphatic System

On December 4, 1680, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian Thomas Bartholin passed away. Bartholin was first to describe fully the entire human lymphatic system (1652), an early defender of Harvey’s discovery of the circulation of blood, and he is known for his advancements of the theory of refrigeration anesthesia, being the first to describe it scientifically.[2] The Lymphatic System Already in the 5th century BC, Hippocrates was one of the first persons to…
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Heinrich Barkhausen and the Barkhausen Effect

Heinrich Barkhausen and the Barkhausen Effect

On December 2, 1881, German physicist Heinrich Barkhausen was born. Barkhausen discovered the Barkhausen effect (1919), a principle concerning changes in the magnetic properties of metal. With K. Kurz, he invented the Barkhausen-Kurz oscillator, the first vacuum tube electronic oscillator to use electron transit-time effects. Heinrich Barkhausen – Early Years Heinrich Barkhausen came from a respected Bremen middle-class family. He showed interest in technology and natural sciences in his early youth, whereupon his…
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Sir William Henry Flower on Mammals and the Human Brain

Sir William Henry Flower on Mammals and the Human Brain

On November 30, 1831, English comparative anatomist and surgeon William Henry Flower was born. Flower became a leading authority on mammals, and especially on the primate brain. He supported Thomas Henry Huxley in an important controversy with Richard Owen [3] about the human brain, and eventually succeeded Owen as Director of the Natural History Museum. “[There is an] immense advantage to be gained by ample space and appropriate surroundings in aiding the formation…
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The Discovery of the Taung Child

The Discovery of the Taung Child

On November 28, 1924, workers at the Buxton Limeworks near Taung, South Africa, showed a fossilised primate skull to Raymond Dart, an Australian anatomist and anthropologist, who described it as a new species in the journal Nature in 1925. The fossil was soon nicknamed the Taung Child and the new species was named Australopithecus africanus – the “southern ape from Africa” – and described by Dart as “an extinct race of apes…
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Veerabhadran Ramanathan and the Brown Clouds

Veerabhadran Ramanathan and the Brown Clouds

On November 24, 1944, Indian atmospheric scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan was born. He has contributed to many areas of the atmospheric sciences including developments to general circulation models, atmospheric chemistry, and radiative transfer. But, he is best known for his 1999 discovery of the “Asian Brown Cloud” – wandering layers of air pollution as wide as a continent and deeper than the Grand Canyon. Veerabhadran Ramanathan – Background Ramanathan was born in Chennai, India.…
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Elmer McCollum and the Discovery of Vitamins

Elmer McCollum and the Discovery of Vitamins

On November 15, 1967, American biochemist Elmer McCollum passed away. McCollum is known for his work on the influence of diet on health. Together with Marguerite Davis McCollum discovered the first vitamin, named A, in 1913. He also helped to discover vitamin B and vitamin D and worked out the effect of trace elements in the diet. Elmer McCollum – Youth hand Family Background Elmer McCollum was born on March 3, 1879,…
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C. V. Raman and the Raman Effect

C. V. Raman and the Raman Effect

On November 7 1888, Indian physicist and Nobel Laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born. Raman carried out ground-breaking work in the field of light scattering, which earned him the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics. He discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength. This phenomenon, subsequently known as Raman scattering, results from the Raman effect. C.V. Raman – Early Years C. V. Raman was…
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