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botany
Sir Ferdinand von Mueller – Government Botanist

Sir Ferdinand von Mueller – Government Botanist

Harald Sack
On June 30, 1825, German-Australian physician, geographer, and botanist Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller was born. Von Mueller migrated to Australia in 1848 for health reasons, and there became the country’s greatest 19th-century scientist as a great botanical collector and writer. His contributions covered a wide field of sciences such as geography, pharmacy, horticulture, agriculture, forestry, paleontology, and zoology. His activity as a botanist is shown by hundreds of Australian…
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astronomy
George Ellery Hale – Large Telescopes and the Spectroheliograph

George Ellery Hale – Large Telescopes and the Spectroheliograph

Tabea Tietz
On June 29, 1868, American solar astronomer George Ellery Hale was born. He is best known for his discovery of magnetic fields in sunspots, and as the leader or key figure in the planning or construction of several world-leading telescopes, including the 200-inch Hale reflecting telescope at Palomar Observatory. Like buried treasures, the outposts of the universe have beckoned to the adventurous from immemorial times. Princes and potentates, political or industrial, equally…
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mathematics
Henri Léon Lebesgue and the Theory of Integration

Henri Léon Lebesgue and the Theory of Integration

Harald Sack
On June 28, 1875, French mathematician Henri Léon Lebesgue was born. He is best known for his theory of integration, which was a generalization of the 17th century concept of integration, i.e. summing the area between an axis and the curve of a function defined for that axis. By extending the work of Camille Jordan and Émile Borel on the Riemann integral, Lebesgue provided a generalization that solved many of the difficulties…
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chemistry
James Smithson’s Last Will and its Remarkable Consequences

James Smithson’s Last Will and its Remarkable Consequences

Tabea Tietz
On June 27, 1829, English chemist and mineralogist James Smithson passed away, whose bequest of substantial funds in his will established the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge”, despite having never visited the United States. “I then bequeath the whole of my property … to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and…
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chemistry
Roy J. Plunkett and the Discovery of Teflon

Roy J. Plunkett and the Discovery of Teflon

Harald Sack
On June 26, 1910, American chemist Roy J. Plunkett was born. He is best knwon for his 1938 accidentally discovery of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), better known under the DuPont Co. trademark Teflon. PTFE is used as a non-stick coating for pans and other cookware as well as PTFE has one of the lowest coefficients of friction against any solid. Roy Plunkett – Becoming a Chemist Roy Plunkett was born in New Carlisle, as a…
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botany
The Douglas Fir and other Botanical Discoveries of David Douglas

The Douglas Fir and other Botanical Discoveries of David Douglas

Tabea Tietz
On June 25 1799, Scottish botanist David Douglas was born. Douglas was one of the most successful of the great 19th century plant collectors. Today, he is best known as the namesake of the Douglas fir. He worked as a gardener, and explored the Scottish Highlands, North America, and Hawaii, where he died. David Douglas – Youth and Education David Douglas was born in Scone, Perthshire, Scotland, the second son of John Douglas, a stonemason, and Jean…
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mathematics
Oswald Veblen and Foundations of modern Topology

Oswald Veblen and Foundations of modern Topology

Harald Sack
On June 24, 1880, American mathematician, geometer and topologist Oswald Veblen was born. Veblen‘s work found application in atomic physics and the theory of relativity. He proved the Jordan curve theorem in 1905 while this was long considered the first rigorous proof, many now also consider Jordan‘s original proof rigorous. “Mathematics is one of the essential emanations of the human spirit, a thing to be valued in and for itself, like art…
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geology
Nicholas Shackleton and Paleoclimatology

Nicholas Shackleton and Paleoclimatology

Tabea Tietz
On June 23, 1937, English geologist and paleoclimatologist Nicholas Shackleton was born. Shackleton was the son of the distinguished field geologist Robert Millner Shackleton and great-nephew of the explorer Ernest Shackleton.[4] He helped identify carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas and studied the ancient climate changes of the Quaternary period, the last 1.8 million years, during which there were periods building up massive ice sheets and mountain ice caps alternating with warm weather when…
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cinematography
Billy Wilder and Hollywood’s Golden Age

Billy Wilder and Hollywood’s Golden Age

Harald Sack
On June 22, 1906, Austrian-born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist and journalist Billy Wilder was born. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood‘s golden age. With The Apartment, Wilder became the first person to win Academy Awards as producer, director and screenwriter for the same film. “An actor entering through the door, you’ve got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you’ve got a…
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mathematics
Siméon Denis Poisson’s Contributions to Mathematics

Siméon Denis Poisson’s Contributions to Mathematics

Harald Sack
On June 21, 1781, French mathematician, geometer, and physicist Siméon Denis Poisson was born. He is known known for his work on definite integrals, advances in Fourier series, electromagnetic theory, and probability, esp. the eponymous Poisson series, the Poisson integral and the Poisson equation from potential theory. His works also included applications to electricity and magnetism, and astronomy. Simeon Denis Poisson – The Youth of a Mathematician Poisson was born in Pithiviers, Loiret,…
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