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geology
Beno Gutenberg and the Earth’s Interior

Beno Gutenberg and the Earth’s Interior

Harald Sack
On June 4, 1889, German-American seismologist Beno Gutenberg was born. Gutenberg is noted for his analyses of earthquake waves and the information they furnish about the physical properties of the Earth’s interior. He was a colleague and mentor of Charles Francis Richter at the California Institute of Technology and Richter’s collaborator in developing the Richter magnitude scale for measuring an earthquake’s magnitude. Beno Gutenberg – Early Years Beno Gutenberg was born in…
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geology
Clair Cameron Patterson and the exact Age of the Earth

Clair Cameron Patterson and the exact Age of the Earth

Harald Sack
On June 2, 1922, American geochemist Clair Cameron Patterson was born. Patterson developed the uranium–lead dating method into lead–lead dating and, by using lead isotopic data from the Canyon Diablo meteorite, he calculated an age for the Earth of 4.55 billion years; a figure far more accurate than those that existed at the time and one that has remained largely unchanged since 1956. Youth and Education Clair Patterson was born in Mitchellville,…
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psychology
Hugo Münsterberg and Applied Psychology

Hugo Münsterberg and Applied Psychology

Tabea Tietz
On June 1, 1863, German-American psychologist Hugo Münsterberg was born. Münsterberg was one of the pioneers in applied psychology, extending his research and theories to Industrial/Organizational, legal, medical, clinical, educational and business settings. He was a forerunner in the field of behaviorism: in theoretical psychology, his “action theory” defined attention in terms of the openness of the nerve paths to the muscles of adjustment. The Birth of Forensic Psychology Hugo Münsterberg highly…
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physics
Chien-Shiung Wu and the Conservation of Parity

Chien-Shiung Wu and the Conservation of Parity

Harald Sack
On May 31, 1912, Chinese-American experimental physicist Chien-Shiung Wu was born. Wu is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which contradicted the hypothetical law of conservation of parity. This discovery resulted in her colleagues Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang winning the 1957 Nobel Prize in physics, and also earned Wu the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie. “… it is…
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biology
Sir David Bruce and the Discovery of the Causative Agent of Malta Fever

Sir David Bruce and the Discovery of the Causative Agent of Malta Fever

Harald Sack
On May 29, 1855, Scottish pathologist and microbiologist Sir David Bruce was born. Bruce investigated Malta fever (later called brucellosis in his honour) and African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in animals). He discovered the first protozoan parasite transmitted by insects, which was later named Trypanosoma brucei after him. David Bruce – From Australia back to Scotland David Bruce was born in Melbourne, Australia, to David Bruce, a Scottish engineer…
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meteorology
Sir Francis Beaufort and the Wind Scale

Sir Francis Beaufort and the Wind Scale

Harald Sack
On May 27, 1774, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy Sir Francis Beaufort was born. Beaufort was the creator of the Beaufort Scale for indicating wind force. In 1806, British Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort devised a simple scale that coastal observers could use to report the state of the sea to the Admiralty. Francis Beaufort – Early Years Francis Beaufort was born at Navan, County Meath, Ireland, the son of…
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biology
Robert Yerkes – From Eugenics to Psychobiology

Robert Yerkes – From Eugenics to Psychobiology

Tabea Tietz
On May 26, 1876, American psychologist, ethologist, eugenicist and primatologist Robert Mearns Yerkes was born. Yerkes is known for his work in intelligence testing and in the field of comparative psychology. He is referred to as a principal developer of comparative (animal) psychology in the U.S. and pioneered in the study both of human and primate intelligence and of the social behavior of gorillas and chimpanzees. Robert Yerkes – Early Years Robert…
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politics
The Case of the Chief of the General Staff Alfred Redl

The Case of the Chief of the General Staff Alfred Redl

Harald Sack
On May 25, 1913, officer of the Imperial Austrian army Alfred Redl committed suicide. Redl, who rose to head the counter-intelligence efforts of Austria-Hungary, was one of the leading figures of pre-World War I espionage. His term in office was marked by innovation, and he used advanced technology, for the time, to ensnare foreign intelligence agents. But he was himself a paid spy for the Russians. Claims that Redl also worked for the…
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medical science
Helen Taussig – the Founder of Pediatric Cardiology

Helen Taussig – the Founder of Pediatric Cardiology

Tabea Tietz
On May 24, 1898, American cardiologist Helen Brooke Taussig was born. Taussig is often referred to as the founder of the field of pediatric cardiology. Notably, she is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the lives of children born with Tetralogy of Fallot (the most common cause of blue baby syndrome). This concept was applied in practice as a procedure known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt. Helen Taussig…
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physics
John Bardeen and his two Nobel Prizes in Physics

John Bardeen and his two Nobel Prizes in Physics

Tabea Tietz
On May 23, 1908, American physicist and electrical engineer John Bardeen was born. Bardeen is the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor;[6] and again in 1972 with Leon N Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a fundamental theory of conventional superconductivity known as the BCS theory theory. “Science is a field which grows continuously…
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