Scientists and their Contribution

Today is the birthday of Raymond Davis, who was born in 1914 in Washington, DC. After working on radiochemistry for Monsanto, Davis joined the research staff at Brookhaven National Lab, where he supervisor famously told him "to find something interesting to work on." He decided to develop methods for detecting neutrinos via inverse beta decay. That line of research culminated in 1995 when his Homestake Experiment reported the detection of solar neutrinos at a rate 1/3 lower than expected (the discrepancy turned out to be due to neutrinos swapping flavors). Davis shared the 2002 physics Nobel for the discovery
 
urmiladuhan said:
Today is the birthday of Raymond Davis, who was born in 1914 in Washington, DC. After working on radiochemistry for Monsanto, Davis joined the research staff at Brookhaven National Lab, where he supervisor famously told him "to find something interesting to work on." He decided to develop methods for detecting neutrinos via inverse beta decay. That line of research culminated in 1995 when his Homestake Experiment reported the detection of solar neutrinos at a rate 1/3 lower than expected (the discrepancy turned out to be due to neutrinos swapping flavors). Davis shared the 2002 physics Nobel for the discovery
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Neutrino was first postulated by Pauli in 1930 and called it neutron. Another neutral, but massive particle was discovered by Chadwick in 1932 and he too called that particle neutron. Fermi, who was working on beta decay gave the name "neutrino" ( smaller neutron) to Pauli's hypothetical particle. large number of experiments were set up world over to detect neutrino, but without much success. Most experiments centered around neutrinos emitted from sun. Being neutral and almost zero mass particle, its extremely difficult to detect it. Indirect detection through conservation of momentum principle was done in bubble chamber experiments. Entire list of experiments is given here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_neutrino_experiments). Neutrino is most interesting particle and scientists are still working on it;

http://www.gizmag.com/fermilab-neutrino-beam/28967/

RK^2
 
Today is the birthday of Evangelista Torricelli, who was born in 1608 in Faenza, Italy. Torricelli is best known for inventing the mercury barometer, which revealed the fluctuating pressure of Earth's atmosphere. Although he couldn't prove it, he correctly hypothesized that winds are caused by temperature differences. Torricelli also devised a mathematical surface - Torricelli's trumpet or Gabriel's horn - whose volume is finite but whose surface area is infinite. You can "make" your own Torricelli trumpet by taking the curve y = 1/x, cutting off the front from x = 0 to a non-zero positive value of x, and then rotating the curve around the x-axis
 
urmiladuhan said:
Today is the birthday of Evangelista Torricelli, who was born in 1608 in Faenza, Italy. Torricelli is best known for inventing the mercury barometer, which revealed the fluctuating pressure of Earth's atmosphere. Although he couldn't prove it, he correctly hypothesized that winds are caused by temperature differences. Torricelli also devised a mathematical surface - Torricelli's trumpet or Gabriel's horn - whose volume is finite but whose surface area is infinite. You can "make" your own Torricelli trumpet by taking the curve y = 1/x, cutting off the front from x = 0 to a non-zero positive value of x, and then rotating the curve around the x-axis
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Very interesting concept indeed. I suppose it may only be theoretical concept. It is amazing to know such concepts could be worked out without applying calculus - from what I have read.
 
urmiladuhan said:
Very interesting concept indeed. I suppose it may only be theoretical concept. It is amazing to know such concepts could be worked out without applying calculus - from what I have read.
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Most interesting part is its theological angle according to which Archangel Gabriel as the angel blows the horn to announce Judgment Day. What a beautiful mathematical way of associating the divine, or infinite, with the finite (living being).

RK^2
 
rkumar said:
Most interesting part is its theological angle according to which Archangel Gabriel as the angel blows the horn to announce Judgment Day. What a beautiful mathematical way of associating the divine, or infinite, with the finite (living being).

RK^2
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The concept of God has been accepted by many scientists, the most famous one that comes to my mind is Albert Einstein, who famously said that "God does not play dice with the Universe" and that he (Einstein) is only interested in knowing the thoughts of God through his (Einstein's) work, and that if a theory is not beautiful, it is unlikely to be right, and that "God lies in details".

Gregor Mendel (the person who worked out two types of genes i.e., dominant and recessive through his work on peas) was a priest in Church/convent in Germany, I think. Yet these people thought outside the box of their religious teachings and came up with incredible ideas that were proved right.
 
urmiladuhan said:
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The concept of God has been accepted by many scientists, the most famous one that comes to my mind is Albert Einstein, who famously said that "God does not play dice with the Universe" and that he (Einstein) is only interested in knowing the thoughts of God through his (Einstein's) work, and that if a theory is not beautiful, it is unlikely to be right, and that "God lies in details".

Gregor Mendel (the person who worked out two types of genes i.e., dominant and recessive through his work on peas) was a priest in Church/convent in Germany, I think. Yet these people thought outside the box of their religious teachings and came up with incredible ideas that were proved right.
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Yes Indeed. Latest such confession is "God Particle". Long before Einstein, Swami Vivekananda spoke of mass energy concept during his famous Chicago speech. Nature's play at matter energy interface is really fascinating.

RK^2
 
urmiladuhan said:
So far it is only on the basis of physical features of the rock (fusion crust and thumb like surface prints) that it is being termed a meteorite. I suppose there are more rigorous tests.
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Correct. Meteorites are very different than other similar looking rocks on Earth. While in space, Meteorites are exposed to intense cosmic rays and that changes their composition for trapped rare gases. Composition of these gases is studied by mass-spectrometry. Through rare gas isotropic ratio studies one can find a lot about the age and trajectory of these meteorites.

RK^2
 
I am so happy to read this :)

One of the first women to earn a PhD in computer sciences and the very first woman to receive one in the US was a nun. Her name was Mary Kenneth Keller and she helped in the development of the computer language BASIC at Dartmouth College. Keller founded the Computer Science Department at Iowa's Clarke College and established a master’s degree program for computer application in education.
 
urmiladuhan said:
I am so happy to read this :)

One of the first women to earn a PhD in computer sciences and the very first woman to receive one in the US was a nun. Her name was Mary Kenneth Keller and she helped in the development of the computer language BASIC at Dartmouth College. Keller founded the Computer Science Department at Iowa's Clarke College and established a master’s degree program for computer application in education.
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Ever heard of Grace Hopper ? She was the real mother of computer science.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

RK^2
 
I recognised her once I saw her photo in the link you provided. Yes, a very inspiring woman! I read somewhere that it was due to world war that many women got executive, senior research positions, as men were engaged with war efforts. During these times, many women got opportunities to work on machines, computer languages etc and thus new inventions were done by them.


rkumar said:
Ever heard of Grace Hopper ? She was the real mother of computer science.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

RK^2
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urmiladuhan said:
I recognised her once I saw her photo in the link you provided. Yes, a very inspiring woman! I read somewhere that it was due to world war that many women got executive, senior research positions, as men were engaged with war efforts. During these times, many women got opportunities to work on machines, computer languages etc and thus new inventions were done by them.
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There are some records in Science which only a woman holds and no man has been able to surpass that. Marie Curie is the one who got Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics both. Not only that, her daughter and husband too got the Noble Prize. This is one family which holds the record of entire family getting the noble prize. I am very doubtful that Marie Curie's record will ever be broken. There is an interesting connection India had with Curie. Bollywood actress Leela Naidu's father Dr Ramaiah Naidu, worked with Marie Curie on Radium. Dr Naidu was the Physicist who joined Tata memorial Hospital in Mumbai and started the Radium treatment for Ca cervix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattipati_Ramaiah_Naidu).

RK^2
 
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Interesting!

Madam Curie was a very hard working woman. I have read her biography. Her husband died an accidental death in the early years of her marriage and she was left to raise 2 daughters alone, while working long hours in the laboratory. Her husband was also her work companion in the laboratory. Madam Curie was a strong woman. She continued her work and the work that she did after her husbands death was awarded Nobel Prize. Great woman indeed!

rkumar said:
There are some records in Science which only a woman holds and no man has been able to surpass that. Marie Curie is the one who got Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics both. Not only that, her daughter and husband too got the Noble Prize. This is one family which holds the record of entire family getting the noble prize. I am very doubtful that Marie Curie's record will ever be broken. There is an interesting connection India had with Curie. Bollywood actress Leela Naidu's father Dr Ramaiah Naidu, worked with Marie Curie on Radium. Dr Naidu was the Physicist who joined Tata memorial Hospital in Mumbai and started the Radium treatment for Ca cervix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattipati_Ramaiah_Naidu).

RK^2
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rkumar said:
There are some records in Science which only a woman holds and no man has been able to surpass that. Marie Curie is the one who got Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics both. Not only that, her daughter and husband too got the Noble Prize. This is one family which holds the record of entire family getting the noble prize. I am very doubtful that Marie Curie's record will ever be broken. There is an interesting connection India had with Curie. Bollywood actress Leela Naidu's father Dr Ramaiah Naidu, worked with Marie Curie on Radium. Dr Naidu was the Physicist who joined Tata memorial Hospital in Mumbai and started the Radium treatment for Ca cervix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattipati_Ramaiah_Naidu).

RK^2
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Very enlightening post for which you deserve our thanks.
 
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