Ampere,
Andre Marie (1775-1836):
Ampere, a teacher at Paris, has his permanent place in the
history of science because it was his name that was given to the unit by which
we measure electrical current. He had, of course, an interest in electricity;
in addition, Ampere made similar investigations as did Avogadro into
the nature of matter in its gaseous state.
Alfven,
Hannes Olof Gosta (1908- ):
What I know of Alfven is that he was born in Sweden in 1908;
and, while at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, in 1970, he won the
Nobel Prize in Physics "for fundamental work and discoveries in
magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma
physics." I first bumped into Alfven when I picked up a small paperback
book of his, which I very much enjoyed, Atom, Man, and the Universe,
The Long Chain of Complications (San Francisco: Freeman, 1969). It was
written simply and plainly for a general audience, and enables us "to view
ourselves both as a part of the atomic microcosm and as part of the universe
that dwarfs us."
Archimedes (287-212
B.C.).
Forever
to be known for the Archimedean principle: "a body plunged in a fluid
loses as much weight as ..."
Avogadro,
Armedeo (1776-1856):
The Italian scientist after which is named
the Avogadro's Law, viz, "equal volumes of different gases, pressure
and temperature being equal, contain the same number of molecules"; or,
"equal volumes of gases or vapors contain the same number of
molecules."
Bernoulli,
Daniel (1700-82):
Daniel Bernoulli was a member of a Swiss
family that had more than its share of mathematicians and scientists. Daniel's
father, Jean Bernoulli (1667-1748), was a professor at Groningen (1695) and
Basel (1705). Then there was Jean's brother, Jacques Bernoulli (1654-1705),
who, in 1698 published his work on differential calculus (he was the one who
first used the term integral). Certain of Jean's sons went on to teach
at a number of universities located throughout Europe. The son we concern
ourselves here with, is, Daniel Bernoulli. Daniel studied medicine and
mathematics, but, eventually settled into teaching physics at Basel. He
advanced our understanding of the physical world in a number of areas; but, it
is in the kinetic theory of gases for which he is most remembered,
particularly: the Bernoulli€™s principle. It might be simply stated, as
follows: "as the velocity of a fluid increases, its pressure
decreases." Thus it was Daniel Bernoulli who showed that "the total
energy in a steadily flowing fluid system is a constant along the flow path.
Because the total energy is constant, an increase in the fluid€™s speed must
therefore be matched by a decrease in its pressure." The Bernoulli€™s
principle explains why a fixed wing airplane, once its moving in the air, and,
because of the shape of the wing, will (usually) stay in the air. The Bernoulli€™s
principle might also be demonstrated by looking to a simple instrument to
measure wind velocity. The instrument, in its simplest form, is a tube with a
ball in it with the tube (the down side end) being closed and the other being
open. When the wind blows over the top of the tube, a slight vacuum is created
in the tube and the ball is sucked up. The stronger the wind, the greater the
suction and the further up the tube the ball will travel.
Bohr,
Niels Henrik David (1885-1962):
While at Copenhagen University, Bohr, in 1922, won the Nobel
Prize in Physics "for his services in the investigation of the structure
of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them."
Born,
Max (1882-1970):
While at Edinburgh University, Born, in 1954, won the Nobel
Prize in Physics "for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics,
especially for his statistical interpretation of the wave function."
Boyle,
Robert (1627-91):
Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish physicist and chemist. Often
referred to as the father of modern chemistry. It was Boyle who separated chemistry
from alchemy and gave the first precise definitions of a chemical element, a
chemical reaction, and chemical analysis. He invented a vacuum pump and used it
in the discovery of what has become known as Boyle's law. The principles of
Boyle's Law were published in 1662. It goes like this: the volume of a given
mass of gas (the temperature being constant) varies inversely as the pressure;
or, that the pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional. (On the
continent it is known as Marriott’s Law; see Edme
Marriott.)
Brahe,
Tycho (1546-1601):
Brache was the Danish astronomer who had rejected the Copernican theory in favor of that
of Ptolemy; and who, having moved to Germany had Johann
Kepler as an assistant.
Bruno, Giordano (1548-1600).
Cavendish, Henry (1731-1810).
Charles,
Jacques Alexander Caser (1746-1823):
The French scientist after which is named the Charles's
Law which made the connection that a rise in temperature expanded the
volume of gas. Charles was to become one of the first balloonists.
Clerk-Maxwell,
James (1831-79):
Clerk-Maxwell was born in Edinburgh. As a boy of fifteen he
devised a method of drawing certain oval curves, a method which was written up
by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He attended Cambridge and graduated there as
second wrangler. He went into teaching physics; first at Aberdeen (1856) then
at London (1860). In 1871, Clerk-Maxwell came back to his Alma Mater,
Cambridge, there to become the first professor of experimental Physics. In
1873, he published his great work, Treatise on Electricity and
Magnetism. Clerk-Maxwell's greatest work was his initial contribution to
electromagnetic radiation.
Copernicus, Nicolas (1473-1543).
"Of
all discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the
human spirit than the doctrine of Copernicus."
Crick,
Francis Harry Compton (b.1916):
Crick was born in 1916, at Northampton, England. He studied
physics at University College, London, obtaining a science degree in 1937.
During the war he worked as a scientist for the British Admiralty. In 1947
Crick left the Admiralty and went off to Cambridge to study biology. In 1954,
he obtained a Ph.D.; his thesis was entitled "X-ray diffraction:
polypeptides and proteins." A critical influence in Crick's career was his
friendship, beginning in 1951, with James
Watson; this relationship, in 1953, led to the proposal of the
double-helical structure for DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid). In 1976, Crick
joined the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, where he became
involved in studies on how the brain functions. Crick came to believe that one
workings of the brain, as complicated as it surely is, is, however,
discoverable. Crick was to conclude that in time scientific models of
consciousness will come about. He writes in his 1994 book The
Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul, "Your joys
and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal
identity and free will, are in fact no more that the behavior of a vast
assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules."
Curie,
Pierre (1859-1906) & Marie (1867-1934):
The Curies, in 1903, won the Nobel Prize in Physics "in
recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint
researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri
Becquerel."
Darwin, Charles (1809-82):
Darwin
struck upon the theory of evolution, viz. that all things, reacting to natural
laws that we do not fully understand, have slowly evolved over an unimaginable
amount of time, into what they are today. This natural law is a process which
Darwin called natural selection. Darwin was to hit on a theory, highly
supported by real evidence, which meant that we no longer had to subscribe to
the notion that every species had been created, by some unknowable means,
whole, and then, to have come through the ages unchanged.
Davy,
Sir Humphry (1778-1829):
Davy's father was a woodcarver. At a young age, Davy was sent to
apprentice with a surgeon in his hometown, Penzance. Such an apprenticeship let
Davy to conduct chemical experiments and by nineteen years of age he was
carrying out some very serious chemical studies. By age 21 he wrote Researches,
Chemical, and Philosophical which led to his appointment to the Royal
Institution. During the early part of the 19th century, Davy was conducting
experiments which led to his conclusions that many common substances were
formed by the combination of oxygen and metals. This discovery further led Davy
to decompose certain substances, and, in the process was to discover metals not
commonly found in their pure state, such metals as: potassium, sodium, barium,
strontium, etc. In 1812, Davy was knighted. In 1815, Sir Humphry invented the
safety lamp, his most famous invention, which undoubtedly has saved numerous
lives of those who worked in the coal mines. During the last of his years, Sir
Humphry carried out studies in electromagnetism.
Dulong,
Pierre Louis (1785-1838):
The French chemist who, with Petit,
became known for the Dulong and Pettit’s Law (1819), viz., that
"all the chemical elements have approximately the same atomic heat";
or, "the same quantity of heat is needed to heat an atom of all simple
bodies to the same extent." In 1813, Dulong was to describe the explosive
properties of nitrogen trichloride.
Einstein, Albert (1879-1955):
Einstein
thought in another dimension, unknown and practicably unknowable to most of us.
We may have heard of his Theory of Relativity and his Electromagnetic
Theory of Light; but few of us will ever understand them.
Euclid:
Euclid was a Greek mathematician; he taught in Alexandria, circa
300 BC. There is evidence that he wrote a number of works, but they have been
lost to us. His work, Elements, however, was found, the Arabian
mathematicians having carefully preserved it for the rest of us, as western man
struggled through his dark ages; it was translated from Arabic into Latin, in
1482. The Elements is yet used today in schools, widely so, as
a fundamental text book in geometry.
Faraday,
Michael (1791-1867):
Coming from a poor family, Faraday was apprenticed at the age of
fourteen to a bookbinder: "he was allowed to spend as much time reading
books as he did binding them." One of the books he found himself regularly
binding was the Encyclopedia Britannica. After six years of book binding, to
his very good fortune, Faraday, at the age of 21, was introduced to Sir
Humphrey Davy; he went and joined Davy at the Royal Institution as Davy's
personal assistant. (A story describing the relationship of Davy and Faraday would
prove to be a mighty interesting one.) At any rate, Faraday led a very
illustrious career as a scientist. (In those days they called themselves
natural philosophers; and indeed, Faraday was a philosopher: his researches are
pointed to as illustrative of the power of the inductive philosophy.) Though
there developed quite a dispute over the point, Faraday is generally credited
with the discovery of electromagnetic induction (1821), and described certain
elements and chemical compounds such as chlorine and benzene.
Fermi,
Fermi (1901-54):
While at Rome University, in 1938, Fermi won the Nobel Prize in
Physics "for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive
elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of
nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons."
Galen (c130-201):
Galen was a Greek physician. He was a careful dissector of
animals. He was a voluminous writer and gathered up all the medical knowledge
of his times. It is to Galen that we give credit of being, a physician who was
to first give a diagnosis by the taking of a person's pulse.
Galileo (1564-1642).
Galileo
-- astronomer, mathematician, and physicist -- dwelt, not on the useless
question, why do things happen? But, how do things happen?
Goethe,
Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832).
Though
a philosopher, Goethe was a scientist carrying out work in biology and in
optics. Goethe looked at things in a different manner, different than those
thinkers up to his time; "he always attempted to see the individual
phenomenon as part of an organic, developing whole ..."
Gould,
Stephen Jay:
Of course, one should read Prof. Gould's works, as
follows: Ever Since Darwin (1973), The Panda's Thumb (1980), Hen's
Teeth and Horse's Toes (1983), The Flamingo's Smile (1985),
Wonderful Life, and An Urchin in the Storm (1987). Gould's
publisher is Norton of New York. As will come as no surprise, Gould's
discipline is biology.
Halley, Edmund (1656-1742).
Harvey, William (1578-1657):
The
major difference between Harvey and his predecessors, was -- methodology.
Harvey determined to start out, so to speak, with a blank fact book and
distinguished it from his theory book. Nothing would go down in his fact book
unless tested and would readily remove it if it did not bear out on a re-test.
Hawking,
Stephen W.:
Haeckel,
Ernest (1834-1919):
Haeckel is known as "Germany's Darwin." He studied
medicine but ended up as a zoologist at the University of Jena, where he spent
his life's career. "Unlike the always cautious Darwin, who
did not speculate on the origin of life or the nature of reality, Haeckel never
hesitated boldly to consider the philosophical implications and theological
consequences of taking the fact of organic evolution seriously."
Like Thomas Huxley "Haeckel saw only quantitative, not
qualitative, differences between the living great apes and the rational human
animal." Haeckel made a major literary contribution, when, in 1899, he
brought out his book, The Riddle of the Universe; "In a
scathing attack on religious dogma, Haeckel examines, from a monistic
standpoint, the place of mankind within the dynamic, eternal, and infinite
universe." My copy is a recent print which was translated by Joseph McCabe
with intro by H. James Birx (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus, 1992).
Haldane,
J. B. S. (1892-1964):
A British biologist, in 1927, Haldane collaborated with J. S.
Huxley in the work Animal Biology. Haldane was asked
once whether, considering his lifelong study of this earth's life forms, if he
was able to conclude what the nature of the Creator might be; it is reported
(Stephen Jay Gould) that he replied, "An inordinate fondness for
beetles."
Herschel,
Sir William (1738-1822):
Born in Hanover, Herschel started out as an
oboist in the Hanoverian Guards band; and, as such, made a visit to England. Of
course, a fellow Hanoverian, George II (1683-1760) was on the throne of England
and Hanoverians were generally welcomed in England. Taking a position as an
organist and music teacher at Bath -- the center in England of all that was
socially correct -- Herschel was to make England his home. He developed an
interest in astronomy. He made, 1773-74, a reflecting telescope; and, then,
proceeded to discover the planet Uranus. In 1782, Herschel was appointed as
George III's private astronomer. Herschel "greatly added to our knowledge
of the solar system, of the milky way, and of the nebulae' he discovered,
besides Uranus and two of its satellites, two satellites of Saturn, the
rotation of Saturn's ring, the period of rotation of Saturn, and the motions of
the binary stars; and made a famous catalogue of double stars, etc." (Chambers.)
Herschel,
Sir John Frederick William (1792-1871):
This Herschel was to extend the astronomical
work of his father. He was educated at Eaton and St. John's, Cambridge. He was
to discover numerous nebulae and was one of the first to use photography in his
research.
Hertz,
Gustav Ludwig: (1887-1975):
While at Halle University, in 1925, Hertz won the Nobel Prize in
Physics "for his discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron
upon an atom."
Hipparchus (160-125
B.C.):
A Greek astronomer who carried out his
observations at Rhodes. "He discovered the precession of the equinoxes and
the eccentricity of the sun's path, determined the length of the solar year,
estimated the distances of the sun and moon from the earth, drew up a catalogue
of 1080 stars, fixed the geographical position of places by latitude and
longitude, and invented trigonometry." (Chambers.)
Hippocrates (c460-377B.C.):
Hippocrates, a Greek, is the most celebrated
physician of antiquity. He believed that "the four fluids or humors of the
body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) are the primary seats of
disease." But, it is the ethics of
Hippocrates to which, for many years, the medical doctor subscribed by the
taking of the Hippocrates Oath.
Hooke,
Robert (1635-1703):
Coming from the Isle of Wight, Hooke went to Oxford (Christ
Church). He was to be a student of Robert
Boyle's. In 1662, he became curator of experiments to the Royal Society
and, in 1677, its secretary. In 1665 he published Micrographia a
book on botany, chemistry, etc. Hooke anticipated the steam engine by
describing that bodies of material can be extended or compressed, depending on
their elasticity: Hooke's Law. It seems he realized that man might be able
to see beyond the edges if only he had better tools; he therefore set out to
invent them. To Hooke is contributed, in a material way, the invention of the
quadrant, Gregorian telescope, and microscope. It therefore should not come as
a surprise that many discoveries are contributed to Robert Hooke.
Huxley,
Sir Julian (1887-1975):
Humanist, atheist and science popularizer, Julian Huxley, a
Professor of Zoology, was the brother of Aldous
Huxley and grandson of Thomas H. Huxley. Among his
works by and about him: Essays of a Biologist (1923) (Pelican,
1939) Ants (1930) (New York, Cape & Ballou, 1932),
Evolution: The Modern Synthesis (London: Allen & Unwin, 1942), New
Bottles for New Wine(London: Chatto & Windus, 1957), Evolution
in Action (Signet, 1964), Evolutionary Humanism (Buffalo,
N.Y.: Prometheus, 1992), Memories I (1970) & Memories
II (1973) (New York: Harper & Row).
Huxley,
Thomas H. (1825-1895):
English biologist and teacher, Huxley was a defender of Darwin ("Darwin's
Bulldog"). "There are those who hold the name of Professor Huxley as
synonymous with irreverence and atheism. Plato's [work] was so
held, and Galileo's and Descartes', and Newton's,
and Faraday's. There can be no greater mistake. No man has greater
reverence for the Bible than Huxley. No one had more acquaintance with the text
of scripture. He believes there is definite government of the universe; that
pleasures and pains are distributed in accordance with law; and that the
certain proportion of evil woven up in the life even of worms will help the man
who thinks to bear his own share with courage." (Tyndall's Fragments,
advertisement.)
Huygens,
Christian (1629-93):
The Dutch physicist who was to make, in 1657, on the suggestion
of Galileo, the pendulum clock. In 1655, he
discovered the ring and fourth satellite of Saturn. Huygens had a particular
interest in the nature of light and was to propound a theory that it was
undulating, thus striking upon, "wave theory."
Kelvin,
William Thomson, Lord (1824-1907):
Lord Kelvin was a Scottish mathematician and physicist who are
noted for the early search carried out in static electricity and magnetic
phenomena. Kelvin's research in the transmission of electric current was to
lead to the laying down of submarine cables, the ultimate one being that laid
down on the floor of the Atlantic. (It was for this work that Kelvin was
knighted in 1866.) Lord Kelvin's work went beyond pure science; he built
instruments for his work shop, such as the ampere-meter, the volt-meter, and
the watt-meter.
Kepler,
Johann (1571-1630):
German astronomer and mathematics teacher. Kepler studied
under Tycho Brahe. Kepler was to formulate laws that
"formed the groundwork of Newton's discoveries,
and are the starting point of modern astronomy. It is for his "Third
Law" for which he is most known, viz., "the square of a planet's
periodic time is proportional to the cube of its mean distance from the
sun."
Kline,
Morris (1908- ):
Kline was a professor of New York University; his work, a most
enjoyable read, is Mathematics and the Search for Knowledge (Oxford
University Press, 1985). Also, a larger and more technical work, Mathematical
Thought from Ancient to Modern Times (1972), in three volumes (Oxford
University, 1990).
Leakey,
Louis Semour Bazett (1903-72):
Louis Leakey was the British anthropologist, who, in East
Africa, was to discover the fossilized remains of a number of
"pre-men." For an enjoyable read and, an insight in the work of the
Leakey family; read Richard E. Leakey's book, The Making of Mankind (1981)
(New York: Dutton, 1981).
Leslie,
Sir John (1766-1832):
Sir John was a Professor of Natural Philosophy (as Science was
known in those days) in the University of Edinburgh. In 1805 he obtained the
chair of mathematics. Involved in experimental research, Sir John, in 1804,
wrote Inquiry into Heat, and, in 1810, he "succeeded in
freezing water under the air pump." He invented such instruments as the
differential thermometer, the hygrometer, the photometer, the pyros cope, the atmometer,
and the aethrioscope. Sir John travelled both on the continent and in America
and, apparently, he had an interest in the frigid parts of our northern
hemisphere.
Lorenz,
Conrad (1903- ):
Austrian ethologist (study of animal behavior under natural
conditions), proponent of Darwin's theories, Nobel Prize winner in 1973,
Lorenz "displays style, humor, an engaging personality, and an awareness
of deep issues of epistemology and society."
Lyell,
Sir Charles (1797-1875):
Lyell was a Scottish geologist. He was born at Kennedy,
Fortfarshire. He graduated from Oxford (Exeter College). While he studied law
and was called to the bar, Lyell turned from the law and spent his life in
geological investigations. His great work, Principles of Geology; or
Modern Changes of the Earth and Its Inhabitants was first published in
January, 1830. Chambers writes that Lyell's Principles of
Geology "may be ranked next after Darwin's The
Origin of Species among the books which exercised the most powerful
influence on scientific thought in the 19th century." (In spite preeminent
scientific thinking, Lyell went to his grave a hold out against the notion of
human evolution.) By way of commentary and in connection on this short note on
Lyell: In the early 19th century there broke out a geological dispute between
the Neptunian’s and Vulcanists. The larger schools, the Neptunian’s were of the
view that granite had crystallized from a universal ocean that covered the
earth in its original chaotic state; on the other hand the Vulcanists were
convinced that granite was of volcanic origin. This became a very bitter
conflict between the rival sects. How to resolve it? Not by vicious attacks on
one and other. What a new generation of earth historians determined was that,
instead of engaging in fruitless argument over 'fanciful' theories, geology
could have no proper business but to go out and find facts - specimens, for
example, and fossils and geological formations. Such an approach, as was
carried out by Lyell, resulted in a new view, an "uniformitarian
view," according to which the geographical record is an accumulation of
ordinary and observable natural processes acting over a very long time.
Marriott,
Edme (1620-84):
Marriott was a French physicist who
"wrote on percussion, air and its pressure, the movements of fluid bodies
and of pendulums, colors, etc." (Chambers.)
Mendel,
Gregor Johann (1822-84):
Mendel was an Austrian biologist, who, through his remarkable
researches on hybridity in plants, established that there does exist, in living
things, dominant and recessive characters (Mendelian Law). "His principle
of factorial inheritance and the quantitative investigation of single
characters have been the basis of modern genetics." (Chambers.)
From this theory of heredity came the theory of organic evolution, which in
turn led to an understanding of "the language of the bees, the homing of
birds and the behavior of apes, - leading towards a comprehensive picture of
the evolution, the individual development, and the working of mind." (Sir
Julian Huxley, New Bottles, preface.]
Michelson,
Albert Abraham (1852-1931):
Born in Germany, Michelson was to come to
American, and, by 1892, had settled into an academic life at the University of
Chicago as a professor of Physics. He was to become the first American
scientist to win a Nobel Prize. Michelson invented the interferometer, being an
instrument to measure the interference of waves (e.g. of light) from a common
source. Chambers reports that it was Michelson's work that set Einstein out
on his work which developed into the theory of relativity.
Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727).
Newton
was a mathematician and natural philosopher (physicist). Newton's principle
achievement was that he went beyond the theoretical; he did experimental work.
Though he built on the work of Copernicus, Kepler,
and Galileo; it is to Newton to whom we point as the person
primarily responsible for the mechanistic theory which accounts for the
perceivable universe.
Oppenheimer,
J. Robert (1904-67):
Oppenheimer was born in New York and studied
at Harvard and at universities, both in England (Cambridge) and on the continent.
Becoming a university professor in California, he studied
"electron-positron pairs, cosmic ray theory and worked on deuteron
reactions." During the war years he was chosen to head up the American
effort to bring into being an earth bound thermonuclear explosion, which of
course, with the assistance of a number of brilliant scientists in the area,
such as Edward Teller, was
to come about; and which, contributed to the bringing about the end of world
war. In 1945, Oppenheimer, wondering and bothered by his work, resigned from
the Los Alamos Laboratory. He was to argue, in respect to atomic energy, there
should be joint control (United States and Russia). He fell out of favor, and,
in 1953, "he was suspended from secret nuclear research by a security board
review board."
Pascal,
Blaise (1623-62):
Pascal was a French mathematician and man-of-letters. Pascal's
mother died early and he was left, at the age of seven, to be with his father
and his sister, Jacqueline (Jacqueline was to enter a Jansenist convent.) His
father, high up in the French judiciary, undertook to personally see to his
son's education. Pascal, even as a beginning youth, was a brilliant light in
the intellectual community as then existed in France; many could not believe
that such brilliant insights could come from such a mere youth. Up through the
years, until 1654, Pascal divided his life between mathematics and the social
life of Paris. Pascal was credited with the invention of the barometer and
certain mathematical formulations which "heralded the invention of the
differential calculus." It was, in 1654, that Pascal was to have mental
crises and broke completely with his circle, and, claiming to have had
religious revelations, went to join and live with his sister in the religious
community in which she had belonged. He was to continue with his writing, but
it now took a distinct religious tone; often, given his position as a
Jansenist, a faction of the Roman Catholic Church, against the position and the
teachings of the Jesuits."
Planck,
Max (1858-1947):
Max Planck, born in Kiel, Germany, at the tender age of 16,
entered the University of Munich; there he studied physics. In later life he
gave his reason for choosing physics: "The outside world is something
independent from man, something absolute, and the quest for the laws which
apply to this absolute appeared to me as the most sublime scientific pursuit in
life." At the age of 21 years, Planck received a doctorate; his thesis
being on the second law of thermodynamics. He then went on to teach, first at
the University of Munich (1880), then University of Berlin (1889) where he
stayed for 38 years until he retired in 1927. It was in 1900 that Planck set
out a formula now known as Planck's radiation formula, which formula, effectively
renounced classical physics and introduced the quanta of energy. At first the
theory met resistance, but, due to the successful work of Niels
Bohr, the theory was to become generally accepted. Planck received
the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918. (Interestingly, we read where Planck
remained in Germany during World War II during which time he was to suffer from
personal tragedy: his son, Erwin, was executed for plotting to assassinate
Hitler; his house in Berlin was burned down in an air raid; and, in 1945,
another son was executed after he was declared to be guilty of complicity in a
plot to kill Hitler.)
Petit,
Alexis ThÃrèse (1791-1820):
Priestley,
Joseph (1733-1804):
Priestley was an English Presbyterian minister
and chemist. He was, we see in Chambers, "a pioneer in the
chemistry of gases, and one of the discovers of oxygen." He met Benjamin
Franklin who was to supply Priestley with books which assisted him in the
writing of, in 1767, The History of Electricity. In 1772 he was
appointed to the French Academy of Sciences; and, in 1780, the St. Petersburg
Academy. Priestley, as a minister (dissenting) was much concerned with the
human condition and what if any steps that might be taken to relieve suffering,
and, was to express his views in his writings: he wrote a reply to Burke's Reflections
on the French Revolution.
Ptolemy (90-168):
Roentgen
(Roentgen), Wilhelm Conrad (1845-1923):
While at Munich University, in 1901, Roentgen won
the first Nobel Prize in Physics "in recognition of the extraordinary
services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently
named after him."
Rosse,
William Parsons, Third Earl of ... (1800-67):
Born in York, Rosse was to attend Magdalene College, Oxford.
"He experimented in fluid lenses, and made great improvements in casting
specula for the reflecting telescope." Rosse was to pay a £30,000, a huge
sum for the day, to build a 58 foot long reflecting telescope in the park of his
home in Ireland, Birr castle.
Rutherford, Ernest (1871-1937).
Rutherford
was the greatest of the pioneers of subatomic physics; he "led us to the
confines of knowledge in respect of the ultimate structure and constitution of
matter."
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