1949 in science
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The year 1949 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
Contents |
[edit] Astronomy and space exploration
- June 14 - Albert II, a Rhesus Monkey, becomes the first mammal in space, in a U.S.-launched V2 rocket, reaching an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) but dying on impact after a parachute failure.
[edit] Chemistry
- Radiocarbon dating technique discovered by Willard Libby and his colleagues at the University of Chicago — work for which Libby will receive the Nobel prize in 1960.
- A group including Dorothy Hodgkin publish the three-dimensional molecular structure of penicillin, demonstrating that it contains a β-lactam ring.[1][2]
[edit] Computer science
- April - Manchester Mark 1 computer operable at the University of Manchester.
- May 6 - EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at Cambridge University, to calculate a table of squares.[3]
[edit] Earth sciences
- August 5 - Ambato earthquake in Ecuador, measuring 6.8 on the Richter magnitude scale.[4]
[edit] History of science
- Herbert Butterfield publishes The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800.
[edit] Medicine
- The use of lithium salts to control mania is rediscovered by Australian psychiatrist John Cade, the first mood stabilizer.[5]
[edit] Meteorology
- January 11 - Los Angeles, California receives its first recorded snowfall.
[edit] Physics
- Freeman Dyson demonstrates the equivalence of the formulations of quantum electrodynamics existing at this time,[6] incidentally inventing the Dyson series.[7]
[edit] Zoology
- Konrad Lorenz publishes King Solomon's Ring (Er redete mit dem Vieh, den Vögeln und den Fischen).
[edit] Awards
[edit] Births
- January 25 - Paul Nurse, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- February 19 - Danielle Bunten Berry (died 1998), also known as Dan Bunten, software developer.
- April 5 - Judith Resnik (died 1986), astronaut.
- May 24 - Tomaž Pisanski, mathematician.
- May 26 - Ward Cunningham, computer programmer.
[edit] Deaths
- May 27 - Ægidius Elling (born 1861), Norwegian gas turbine pioneer.
- August 5 - Ernest Fourneau (born 1872), French medicinal chemist.
[edit] Reference
- ^ Crowfoot, D.; Bunn, Charles W.; Rogers-Low, Barbara W.; Turner-Jones, Annette (1949). "X-ray crystallographic investigation of the structure of penicillin". In Clarke, H. T.; Johnson, J. R.; Robinson, R. (ed). Chemistry of Penicillin. Princeton University Press. pp. 310–367.
- ^ Glusker, Jenny P. (1994). "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994)". Protein Science 3: 2465–2469. doi:10.1002.2/pro.5560031233. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2142778/pdf/7757003.pdf. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ "Pioneer computer to be rebuilt". Cam 62: 5. Lent 2011.
- ^ "Today in Earthquake History: August 5". United States Geological Survey. 2009-12-18. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?month=8&day=5&submit=View+Date. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
- ^ Cade, J. F. J. (1949). "Lithium salts in the treatment of psychotic excitement" (PDF). Medical Journal of Australia 2 (10): 349–52. PMID 18142718. http://www.who.int/docstore/bulletin/pdf/2000/issue4/classics.pdf.
- ^ Dyson, F. J. (1949). "The radiation theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger, and Feynman". Physical Review 75 (3): 486–502. Bibcode 1949PhRv...75..486D. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.75.486.
- ^ Dyson, F. J. (1949). "The S matrix in quantum electrodynamics". Physical Review 75 (11): 1736–1755. Bibcode 1949PhRv...75.1736D. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.75.1736.
