~ Famous Scientists ~

[MysteRy]

Ukichiro Nakaya



For people in countries with snow, appreciating the beauty of each snowflake is one of the many wonders that nature can bring. Each with a unique pattern, nature never fails to come up with beauty even in the smallest of frozen things. Being small, delicate, and unique, it is hard to imagine how to replicate snowflakes. However, Ukichiro Nakaya found a way around this. He is known for having created the very first artificial snowflakes. Nakaya was a Japanese science essayist and a physicist who was also known for his works on glaciology as well as low-temperature sciences. When it came to snow and ice research his name would definitely ring a bell. Basically, he is known internationally for his scientific contributions.

Early Life and Educational Background

Born on the 4th of July in 1900, Dr. Nakaya was a native of Katayamazu, Ishikawa-ken now known as Kagashi which is located off the Sea of Japan. This is the same area depicted in the encyclopedic work called Hokuetsu Seppu which contains about 183 sketches of natural snowflakes. This work was published in 1837. This was known to be what inspired Nakaya’s life’s work.

Nakaya wrote in one of his works how his father had originally wanted him to become a potter and even sent him to live with one during his years in primary school. Although his father died while he was still in primary school, his very first scientific paper which was published in 1924 was about Kutani Porcelain. This work was written for the Physics Department of Tokyo Imperial University’s inaugural issue.

Nakaya’s inspiration for studying physics were Laplace and Kant, mainly their nebular hypotheses and his interest for physics began to take off when he was in high school. Hajime Tanabe, a Japanese philosopher who was from the Kyoto School also had an influence on Nakaya’s works later on.

He studied at Tokyo Imperial University and was under Torahiko Terada, a Japanese author and physicist, while he majored in experimental physics. Nakaya graduated in 1925 and received his Master of Science Degree that year.

After graduating, he became Terada’s research assistant not long after and they worked on their research at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research commonly known as RIKEN. There he studied about electrostatic discharge while also being one of the assistant professors at Tokyo University.

He furthered his education by engaging in more physics-related work at Kings College in London and was under the tutelage of Dr. O.W. Richardson for a year from 1928. During his time there, he studied about long-wavelength x-rays. In 1931, he acquired his Doctor of Science from Kyoto University. A year earlier, he had been appointed as the Professor of Physics at Hokkaido University in Sapporo and he was associated with the university for the rest of his life.

Research on Snowflakes

When Nakaya had the chance to take over the Hokkaido University Department of Physics, they had less than sufficient funding for research and scarce equipment too. What he did have was an unlimited supply of snow which has accumulated and was still falling because of the long winter and a microscope. This was what sparked his research on snowflakes.

He had over 3,000 microphotographs and from these, he was able to establish a kind of general classification of the natural snow crystals. It was in 1935 when he brought the Low Temperature Science Laboratory to life and this was where he realized his next step for his research—finding ways to create artificial snow crystals.

From his studies about snowflakes, he was able to develop the “Nakaya Diagram” and the convective snow-making apparatus which he used to make the very first artificial snow crystal in 1936. He used the Nakaya Diagram for determining the growing conditions for specific snow crystals, and based on the shape of the snowflakes, he also found out how he can determine different meteorological conditions of the atmosphere from where the crystal was formed.

Because of his work on snow crystals and low-temperature-related research, he was awarded the Japan Academy Prize in 1940. In 1954, his work on snowflakes was published in an illustrated book called the Snow Crystals. Today, this work serves as a classic reference when it comes to classifying snow based on their shapes and is used by both scientists and artists as well.

For two years though, Nakaya and his family had to live at a certain hot springs resort on the Izu Peninsula while he was recuperating from clonorchiasis. This happened from 1936 to 1938 and for two years he wasn’t as active in his scientific endeavors as before.

In the year 1952, Nakaya was invited to have his own research done at the U.S. Army Snow, Ice, and Permafrost Research Establishment and later on even after his research period was over, he frequently visited the United States to further his studies. He was very much engaged in his work and his studies even got him to places such as Mt. Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the Greenland Ice Cap, and the Ice Island. Because of his expertise and profound knowledge in snow crystals and low-temperature science, he was elected as the Vice President of the Commission on Snow and Ice of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics.

Legacy

Nakaya had been the author as well as co-author of many publications and scientific articles; this part of him was only a facet of his personality and many talents. He had also made non-fiction books, an inkling for people who knew him that during his earlier years he had been very interested in oil painting and had become very good in “Sumi-e” which is a kind of Japanese art which uses single brush strokes with just black ink.

In Japan, he was also known as a great essayist, a reputable critic on topics about natural science, and also a great photographer. He had also been recognized as one of Japan’s ten most distinguished men and in 1960. He received recognition for his many different talents and scientific contributions. Even today he is still remembered for all these contributions, and in true to his words “snow crystals are the hieroglyphs sent from the sky.”

[MysteRy]

Virginia Apgar

 

The American physician, Virginia Apgar is best known for developing the Apgar Newborn Scoring System (better known as the “Apgar Score”), a simple, quick method for judging newborn viability. The newborn’s appearance color, reflex irritability, muscle tone, and respiration are assessed one minute and five minutes after birth; low scores indicate possible health issues. The test has saved countless infants, laid the foundations of neonatology and caught potentially grave conditions. She was one of Columbia University’s first female M.D.s and one of the first American women to specialize in anesthesia.

Life and Career:

Apgar was born on 7 June 1909 in Westfield, New Jersey. Belonging to a family of amateur musicians, Apgar enjoyed playing violin and other instruments, and became a skilled musician.

A Mount Holyoke graduate, Apgar was one of a few women to complete her graduation during the 1930s from Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons (1933). In 1937 she successfully completed a residency in surgery at Columbia. However, she was dejected from practicing surgery by Dr. Allen Whipple, the chair of surgery at Columbia. She finished her training in anesthesia and returned to Columbia in 1938 as director of the newly formed division of anesthesia. In 1938 she accepted the position of the director of anesthesiology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center-the university’s first female department head. Also, she became Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons first professor of anesthesiology in 1949 (a post which she held until 1959), while she also did clinical and research work at the affiliated Sloane Hospital for Women.

In 1949, Virginia Apgar came up with the Apgar Score System (presented in 1952 and published in 1953), which became popular in the United States and elsewhere. Before her discovery, babies at birth were assumed to be in good health unless they exhibited some obvious suffering or imperfection: needless to say, internal deficiencies (e.g., circulatory or respiratory) could be missed, resulting all too often in death. Because Apgar realized that “Birth is the most hazardous time of life,” she designed a system for quickly and accurately assessing a baby’s health in the crucial minutes after birth. While examining the system’s effectiveness, Apgar found out that cyclopropane as an anesthetic for the mother had a harmful effect on the infant, and due to which, its use in labor was put to an end.

In 1959, Apgar obtained a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins and also the executive position with the March of Dimes. In that capacity, she worked hard to improve the healthcare of infants and children. For the next 14 years, until her death, Apgar served as an activist, fund-raiser and an instructor. In 1995 she was introduced into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Agpar published sixty scientific papers. Her book Is My Baby All Right? (1972), co-written with Joan Beck became a popular parenting hardback.

Death:

Virginia Apgar died as an unmarried lady on August 7, 1974, at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. The Virginia Apgar Award is given every year by the American Academy of Pediatrics for stupendous contributions to the field of perinatal pediatrics.

[MysteRy]

Vladimir Vernadsky



Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky is a renowned Russian crystallographer, mineralogist, geochemist and geologist. He is best known today for his research on the noosphere and the way it affects the biosphere. He was also responsible for laying out the foundation for the study of geochemistry.

Early Life and Education

Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was born on March 12, 1863 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Coming from a line of Ukrainian Cossacks, his father was a professor in Kiev at the Moscow University, teaching political economy before deciding to move to Saint Petersburg. He was also the editor of the journal entitled “Economic Index”. His mother, on the other hand, was a noblewoman and the daughter of a general and was born and raised in Russia. His childhood was spent in Ukraine and he studied in Kharkov for a brief period of time. When they moved to Saint Petersburg, he continued his studies at the Saint Petersburg Grammar School. This is where he started developing an interest in science, specifically in natural sciences.

Vernadksy acknowledged being both a Ukrainian and a Russian and even learned a little of the Ukrainian language despite having lived longer in Russia. He did not believe in the independence that Ukraine had however, and remained loyal to the Russian state.

In 1885, Vernadsky earned his degree from Saint Petersburg University’s Department of Natural, Physical and Mathematical Faculty. He chose to specialize in mineralogy because he found great potential for more discoveries in this field. He trained under the famous V.V. Dokuchaev, who was known as the founder of soil science.

He pondered on the topic he was going to pursue for his doctorate study for some time. While he was doing this, he travelled to Naples and studied under Scacchi, a crystallographer. Scacchi’s senility hindered Vernadsky from gaining valuable knowledge, so he decided to go to Germany instead to train under Paul Groth. Groth had developed a piece of equipment that helped analyze the thermal, optical, electrical and magnetic properties of crystals and Vernadsky enjoyed learning using modern machinery. He was also able to use the physics lab of Professor Zonke, another expert who was working on crystallization. He defended his Doctorate study in 1885 and became a fellow in research at the mineralogy laboratory.

Notable Contributions

Vladimir Vernadsky presented his report on the “Paragenesis of Chemical Elements in the Earth’s Crust” in front of the 12th Congress of Medics and Natural Scientists. This study laid the foundation for what was later known as geochemistry. He pushed researchers to try using radioactive phenomenon in studying the history of chemical elements and in seeing the genetic relationships between these elements.

In 1909, Vernadsky established the Radium Commission. This was caused by his theory that radioactive substances are, in fact, important sources of energy. This means that they can also be used in creating a new set of chemical elements. He started collecting rock samples and mapped where deposits of radioactive substances can be found in great detail. After a year, the first geochemical laboratory was opened in Saint Petesrburg.

Vernadsky was the first person to make the concept of the noosphere more familiar. He also contributed to the idea of the biosphere as it is known today although it was Eduard Suess, an Austrian geologist whom Verdansky got the chance of meeting in 1911, who coined the term.

Basically, Vernadsky reasons that there is a certain succession by which the earth develops. Geosphere or inanimate matter comes first, followed by the biosphere or biological life. Then comes noosphere which comprises human consciousness and mental activity. Each of these relate to each other, with the emergence of biological life transforming the geosphere and the emergence of human consciousness transforming biological life. Both biological life and human cognition are seen as having a large impact on the evolution of the earth, a concept that is somehow parallel to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. But as with any discovery of the same nature, gaining acceptance for his concept was hard to achieve, especially in the West.

Other Contributions and Achievements

Vernadsky was among the first scientists who realized that the presence of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide is a direct product of biological processes. He also published some of his research in the 1920’s, stating that living organisms also have a big impact on how the planet evolves. This made him one of the pioneers that shaped environmental sciences.

In 1912, he was elected as an ordinary academician in the Saint Petersburg Academy of Science. In 1914, he headed the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology. He was among those who coordinated in developing the metal mining industry. In 1917, he started visualizing a new branch of science called biogeochemistry. He envisioned this branch of science to deal with living matter as an integral part of the biosphere.

Vernadsky founded the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in 1918 and became its first president. He also founded the National Library of the Ukrainian State and contributed greatly by sharing his knowledge to the Tavrida University in Crimea. Because of his great contribution, a main avenue in Tavrida National University was named after him. An avenue in Moscow also bears his name.

He moved to Simpheropol upon leaving Kiev and there worked as a mineralogy professor. He also became the head of Simperopol University until his dismissal in 1921 because of the unstable political situation.

Among Vernadsky’s notable published works is Geochemistry which was published in 1924 and released in Russia in 1927 as Essays on Geochemistry. He also worked with Marie Curie and published two of their works together, the Living Matter in Biosphere and Human Autotrophy.

Vladimir Vernadsky was one of the advisers for the Soviet atomic bomb project. He was among those who fought hard to make their voices heard, discussing how atomic energy can be exploited and how further research should be done about nuclear fission at his Radium Institute. However, Vernadsky died on January 6, 1945 even before his proposals for further research projects were pursued.

[MysteRy]

Walter Schottky



Walter Schottky is a famous name in the fields of electronics and physics. Today, a lot of devices used in these fields bear his name, and some scientific phenomena are also named after him. Two of the most famous are the Schottky effect, where there is an irregularity in thermion emissions when inside a vacuum tube, and the Schottky defect which describes a certain crystal lattice vacancy that results from the displacement of an ion to the surface of a crystal. He has made a significant number of contributions for solid-state physics and electronics and is also known as an inventor.

Early Life and Personal Background

Born on the 23rd of July, 1886, in Zurich, Switzerland, Walter Hermann Schottky was the son of a mathematician named Friedrich Hermann Schottky who was known for working on abelian, elliptic, and the theta functions, and also for introducing Schottky’s theorem. Walter was one of two sons, and he had a sister. He was born 4 years after his father’s appointment at the University of Zurich as a professor of Mathematics. Schottky’s family had to return to Germany in the year 1892 when Friedrich Schottky was appointed with a position at the University of Marburg.

In 1904, he graduated in Berlin’s Steglitz Gymnasium. He was able to complete his B.S. degree in physics in 1908 at the Berlin University. Four years later, he was able to complete his doctorate degree also at the University of Berlin where he was under the instructions of Heinrich Rubens and Max Planck, two of the most notable names in physics during those years. Schottky’s thesis was called the Zur relativtheoretischen Energetik und Dynamik.

Career

After completing his education he taught physics as one of the professors in the University of Rostock Germany. He held this post from 1923 to 1927. Prior to his career as an academic instructor, Schottky spent his post-doctoral time at the University of Jena for two years from 1912-1914. He then held lectures at the University of Wurzburg from 1919-1923 before becoming a full professor at the University of Rostock.

After his career as a professor and a scholar, he worked as one of the industrial researchers at Siemens & Halske where he was given the chance to work in Berlin as well as Pretzfeld, the latter a rather obscure town in Bavaria where Siemens happened to have a research center. During his time there, he conducted his research on semiconductor physics which was also known back then as “dirty physics.” Unfortunately, there weren’t any products developed from his research then, but he also studied electronics where he was able to work with the vacuums which paved the way for his discoveries later on.

One of his inventions had been the ribbon microphone which he had co-invented with Erwin Gerlach. Their idea behind this invention was how a fine ribbon suspended by magnetic fields can come up with electric signals. The same concept was what led to the fruition of the ribbon loudspeaker which used the same idea but in reverse order. This invention, however, was not considered practical until high flux and permanent magnets were made more accessible in the latter years of 1930. His research on how noise comes from electron currents was also referred to as the Schrot effect, or literally, the small shot effect.

Probably one of the most noted scientific achievements or contributions by Schottky was his formula which helps compute for interaction energy between a certain point charge and another flat metal surface while the charge is at a certain distance from said surface. The interaction derived from this formula is known as the image PE or image potential energy. This work by Schottky was based on Lord Kelvin’s earlier works on thermodynamics. Today, the image PE which was determined by Schottky is now one of the standard components in models which show the barrier to motion that electrons approaching metal surfaces experience.

Apart from his contributions for scientific calculations and measurements, he also had other inventions aside from the ribbon microphone and loudspeaker. These inventions include the screen grid tube and the tetrode. He was also able to invent the screen grid tube in 1915. This was an evolution of the triode tube, and improvements in 1916 paved way to the development of the double-grid tube where the additional grid was able to reduce space charge. It was in 1919 when he was able to invent the tetrode which is known as the very first multigrid vacuum tube.

Because of his inventions, he was able to study electron transfers and he also had exposure and contributions to the development of semiconductor devices. Although he previously incorrectly suggested that field electron emission happens when a barrier is brought down to zero. The fact is that this effect is caused by wave-mechanical tunneling as explained by Nordheim and Fowler in the year 1928. Despite Schottky’s incorrect suggestion, the SN barrier has become the standard used for the tunneling barrier.

When the behavior of interfaces in semiconductor devices is studied closely, it has been discovered that they can be a special kind of diode which is known as the Schottky diode. The metal-semiconductor joint is called the Schottky contact.

Awards

In 1936, Schottky was awarded with the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society for being able to discover the Schrot effect in the thermionic emission. The award was also given for inventing the screen-grid tetrode and the method for wireless signal reception through a superheterodyne.

He also received the Werner von Siemens Ring in 1964 because of the many different physical manifestations that his work gave basis to, especially for appliances which had to use semiconductors and tube amplifiers.

Because of his contributions, the Walter Schottky Institute in Germany was named after him, and so is the Walter H. Schottky prize. He was able to publish two books namely Thermodynamik in 1929, and Physik der Glühelektroden, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft in 1928. He died in Pretzfeld, Germany on the fourth of March in 1976.

[MysteRy]

Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe



Throughout the years, there had been hundreds of brilliant minds toiling away and making breakthroughs in the field of physics. One such man was Walther Wilhelm Georg Booth, a German nuclear physicist. He was so brilliant and his work was so revolutionary that in 1954, he won and shared physics Nobel Prize with Max Born. He was quite the genius and he managed to accomplish a lot of things in the world of physics despite an illness which prevented him from doing certain things.

His Life and Career

Walther Booth was born on the 8th of January, 1891 to Charlotte Hartung and Fredrich Bothe. He was from Oranienberg, a place close to Berlin. Growing up he was a very bright boy. It was pretty obvious what his interests were because from 1908 to 1912 he was at the University of Berlin to study physics. While he was there, he learned from the brilliant Max Planck. He was a very good and driven student in the sense that he was able to get his doctorate degree before the war broke out in 1914. He got a job at Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt where he worked as a Professor Extraordinary from 1913 to 1930 which allowed him to stay in Berlin. He also became Professor of Physics as well as the Director of The Institute of Physics at the University of Giessen in the year 1930.

In 1934, he inherited the Director of Institute of Physics job at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research after Phillip Lenard left the job. By the time World War II had ended, the institute was used entirely for other purposes. Sensing that he was no longer needed for the new purpose, Bothe decided to return to the Physics Department in the University of Giessen. He held a teaching job until he had to cut back on the scope of his work because of an illness that had hampered him for a long time. It might have limited his scope of work but that didn’t mean he had plenty of downtime because he still made it a point to supervise work conducted at the Max Planck Institute’s Institute of Physics. He was awarded that Nobel Prize in 1954 but he was unable to get it himself since he was sidelined by his illness which turned out to be a circulatory disease. He continued his supervisory work until he died on the 8th of February, 1957 in Heidelberg.

High Points of His Career and Life

The work of Walther Bothe coincided at a time when there was a big boom in the massive field of nuclear physics and it has to be said that all his hard work and discoveries led to ground-breaking methods and new outlooks.

During World War I, he was taken captive by the Russians and was forced to spend time in Siberia during his captivity. Being the consummate scientist, he chose to spend that one year of captivity by learning how to speak and read Russian and studying maths. He didn’t stay there long since he was sent back to Germany in 1920, a year after he was taken captive.

Bothe and Geiger

After his stay in Siberia, he took the job offer at Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in Berlin. While he was there, he collaborated with H. Geiger (of Geiger counter fame). It was from the year 1923 to 1926 that he concentrated much of his work on the theory of light (theoretical and experimental). Together, Geiger and Bothe related the Compton Effect to the theory of Slater, Kramers, and Bohr and the results of their experiments and tests gave very strong support for the corpuscular light theory.

H.Geiger had a lot of influence in Bothe’s work. In 1924, Bothe talked about his cutting-edge method (that worked on the premise of coincidences) which allowed him to make many important discoveries. He stated that if a particle passed through a couple or more Geiger counters, the measured pulses that come from the counters would be very coincidental in timing. What followed is even more fascinating—the pulse from each counter would then be sent to a coincidence circuit which could measure pulses that had coincident times.

He perfected the method and it was so revolutionary and accurate that he even made use of it in his studies concerning the Compton Effect as well as other physics problems. Because of this partnership with Geiger, they managed to shed more light into ideas that were about the small angle scattering or rays of light. The summary of their work can be found published in 1926 and 33 in his Handbusch. In that study, Geiger and Bothe managed to establish the very foundations for modern methods that were developed simply to better analyse and understand the scatter process of light.

In 1927, he made other discoveries that were very important to the world of physics. In collaboration with Franz, he conducted studies focused on what happened to light elements when they were bombarded with alpha rays. He stated that the fission products such an action produced were then only seen as fiscillations. However, his work with Franz using a needle counter made it possible to count.

Other collaborations

Bothe had several other partners in his works and some of his partners are listed below:

• W. Kohlhorster in 1929 – Introducing an alternative method to be used for studying UV and cosmic rays.

• H. Becker in 1930 – Obtaining a never-before-seen form of radiation (this study led Sir James Chadwick to discover the neutron in 1932).

Personal Life

Bothe may have been a busy man but he did have a personal life. Despite his captivity in the hands of the Russians, he ended up marrying Barbara Below from Moscow and they had two children. He enjoyed vacationing in the mountains and would often come up with painted art works in a style all his own though he had a deep admiration for French impressionists. He was also a musician and he enjoyed listening to Beethoven and Bach.

[MysteRy]

Werner Heisenberg



Werner Heisenberg was a German physicist and philosopher who is noted for his crucial contributions to quantum mechanics. He devised a method to formulate quantum mechanics in terms of matrices, for which he was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize for Physics. Heisenberg is widely considered as one of the most influential figures in nuclear physics, particle physics and quantum field theory.

Early Life and Education:

Born in Würzburg, Germany in 1901, Werner Heisenberg’s father was a prominent secondary school teacher. Heisenberg went to the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, where he studied physics and mathematics from 1920 to 1923. He earned his doctorate in 1923.

Contributions and Achievements:

Werner Heisenberg ranks alongside Niels Bohr, Paul Dirac and Richard Feynman as far as his influence on contemporary physics is concerned. He was one of the most important figures in the development of quantum mechanics, and its modern interpretation.

Heisenberg formulated the quantum theory of ferromagnetism, the neutron-proton model of the nucleus, the S-matrix theory in particle scattering, and various other significant breakthroughs in quantum field theory and high-energy particle physics are associated with him. As a prolific author, Heisenberg wrote more than 600 original research papers, philosophical essays and explanations for general audiences. His work is still available in the nine volumes of the “Gesammelte Werke” (Collected Works).

Heisenberg is synonymous with the so-called uncertainty, or indeterminacy, principle of 1927, for one of the earliest breakthroughs to quantum mechanics in 1925, and for his suggestion of a unified field theory, the so-called “world formula”. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932 at the young age of 31.

Heisenberg stayed firmly in Germany during the worst years of the Hitler regime, heading Germany’s research effort on the applications of nuclear fission during World War II. He also played a vital role in the reconstruction of West German science after the war. Heisenberg’s role was crucial in the success of West Germany’s nuclear and high-energy physics research programs.

Later Life and Death:

In his later years, Werner Heisenberg assumed various influential positions in Germany and abroad, giving important lectures on theoretical physics and other subjects. He died of cancer of the kidneys and gall bladder on February 1, 1976. Heisenberg was 74 years old.

[MysteRy]

Wernher Von Braun



When it comes to the field of rocket science and space exploration, the name Wernher von Braun is one of great esteem. It was in the 1930s-1970s when he made significant contributions to rocket science and space exploration and these contributions made him an important man in history. So much was the importance of his contributions that the German scientist is often called as the “Father of Rocket Science.” First, his works were only noted in Germany, but after the World War II, he also began to be a prominent figure in the United States as well.

Early Life and Educational Background

Wernher von Braun was a part of an aristocratic family. His place of birth Wirsitz, and was the middle child in the brood of three. Magnus Freiherr von Braun, his father, was from an affluent family, and because of this, he and his father both had the title “Freiherr” which is equivalent to being a Baron. Magnus Freiherr von Braun was a conservative civil servant, and he was the Minister of Agriculture in the Federal Cabinet. Emmy von Quistorp, Wernher’s mother, can trace her family’s ancestry back to the medieval European royalties. It was his mother who had started his curiosity for knowing more about outer space.

After Wernher von Braun’s Lutheran confirmation, he received a telescope as a gift from his mother and it was then when he began to love astronomy. When his family transferred residence to Berlin, he had caused a great disruption in one of the crowded streets after having attached and set fire to fireworks on his toy wagon. He drew his inspiration from the speed records made by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier. Apart from his curiosity with fireworks, he was a talented musician who played pieces by masters such as Bach and Beethoven from his memory. He learned how to play both the piano and cello while he was young and though he originally wanted to be a composer, he was destined for greatness in another field.

In 1925 he began to attend a boarding school which was in Ettersburg Castle. During the early years, he wasn’t excelling in mathematics or physics but because of Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen or the book called By Rocket into Interplanetary Space which he acquired back then, he honed his skills in mathematics and physics because space travel was something which has always fascinated him.

He then joined the “Spaceflight Society” or Verein für Raumschiffahrt when he went attended Technische Hochschule Berlin. There he was able to have a hand in assisting Willy Ley in the tests he was conducting for liquid-fueled rockets. Because of this exposure, he believed that so much more would be needed to make space exploration come true and it prompted him to further his studies by entering Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in 1934 to have his post-graduate courses which earned him a degree in physics. While in the following years his work had been focused on military rockets, his real interest was for space travel.

Career

His career can be divided into two main timelines; one where he worked for the Nazis, and the other when he was working for the United States. While working for the Nazis, Wernher von Braun became known as the leader of the “rocket team” who had developed the V-2 missile used by the Nazis in the World War II. Scholars still have discussions about his involvement in the manufacturing of these ballistic missiles which were supposedly products of forced labor in the factory known as Mittelwerk.

The V-2 first flew in October of 1942. However, in 1945, it became clear to Wernher von Braun how Germany wouldn’t win against the Allied forces and this made him begin his plans for where he would be after the war. Before the Allies captured their V-2 rocket complex, it was von Braun who had planned his surrender along with 500 rocket scientists he had been working with on the project. He had also surrendered test vehicles as well as plans for other rockets to the Americans.

Despite his involvement with the Nazis and the manufacturing of ballistic missiles used in the World War II, Wernher von Braun along with the other rocket specialists he had made to surrender had careers when they worked for the United States. It was in June 1945 when he along with this other specialists was transferred to America, but it was only in October of the same year when they were announced in public. The U.S. Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency had first made sure to bleach their records of involvement with the Nazis before allowing them to work for the United States.

He worked in alliance with the United States army for 15 years for the country’s development of ballistic missiles. He was a major part of a military operation which was known as the Project Paperclip, and along with other members of what used to be his “rocket team,” they worked in Fort Bliss, Texas. The rockets they built for the United States army were launched at the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico, and in 1950, this same team of rocket scientists moved somewhere near Alabama to the Redstone Arsenal.

Around ten years later, the rocket development team lead by Wernher von Braun was transferred to what was then the just established NASA. There, they had received the mandate to create giant Saturn rockets. He then became the director of the Marshall Space Flight Center of NASA.

Other than being the brains behind the development of rockets which had helped the Americans reach the Moon, he was also the leading spokesman of the United States for space exploration matters in the 1950s. Twenty years later, NASA then asked him to transfer to Washington, DC for planning efforts for their agency. He did so, leaving his home which was in Alabama but his time there in Washington had been short as he retired two years later. He then spent his last years working for the Fairchild Industries of Germantown, Maryland. In June 16, 1977 he died at the age of 65 in Alexandria, Virginia.

[MysteRy]

Wilbur and Orville Wright



Wilbur and Orville Wright established a marvelous legacy in the history of world, alongside the greatest American inventors, with the invention of the first successful, fully powered and heavier-than-air flying machine. The airplane, which was created in Dayton, Ohio and made operational at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, virtually kicked off the aerial age. The invention is considered as one of the most important events in the 20th century.

Early Life:

The Wright brothers belonged to the deep mid-western America. Various generations on both sides of the family had been erstwhile colonists on the Ohio and Indiana frontier. Milton Wright, the dad, was an itinerant minister, who served as a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. His job meant that the family saw many church posts across the place. Susan, the mom, had been a member of the United Brethren, and an intelligent, shy person.

Contributions and Legacy:

The Wrights brothers began experimenting in aeronautics in 1899 as they mastered their skills by 1905. In these six years, with brilliant originality, they determined the necessary elements of the problem, conceptualized creative technical solutions, and created practical mechanical design tools with constituents that resulted in an executable aircraft. The effors meant much more than merely coaxing a machine off the ground.

They laid down the fundamental principles of aircraft design that are still relevant to this day. After introducing the invention to the public in the United States and Europe in 1908, they gained international fame and recognition. The Wright Company started manufacturing airplanes for sale and created wealth that far exceeded anybody’s imaginations. The contemporary experimenters and aviators responsively overtook and surpassed their designs, but it was Wilbur and Orville Wright who made the landmark discovery that made them immortal in history.

Air transportation and military aviation have had an indeterminable economic, geopolitical, and cultural impact in the entire world.

Personal Life and Death:

The Wright brothers never got married. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid. He was only 45 years old. Orville Wright died of a heart attack at 77.

[MysteRy]

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen



Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (a.k.a., Roentgen) (1845-1923), the first Nobel winner in Physics, was the first to produce X-rays, known originally as Röntgen rays.  The facts of his early biography offer hope for those who fail in their initial educational efforts.  A childhood act of solidarity excluded him from many subsequent schools.  However, he went on not only to complete his education but to achieve a full professorship.  His discovery of the effect of the invisible but powerful rays that revealed the bones inside bodies has made possible many elements of modern medicine.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was the child of a Dutch mother and a German father.  Although born in Germany, his family, which was Catholic moved to Holland, which is largely Protestant.  As a teenager, he made the judgment error of refusing to squeal on a schoolmate who had drawn a rude picture of an instructor. This act of defiance caused his expulsion and his exclusion from other gymnasia, not only in the Netherlands but in his father’s nation of Germany as well.

Education:

Somehow in spite of apparently universal blacklisting, he managed to gain admission to the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, by entry exam.  He studied mechanical engineering, and went on to the University of Zurich for his PhD.  He went on to teach physics at a number of universities.  He even considered an offer from Columbia University, an institution with a history of offering lecterns to brilliant émigrés. However, World War I broke out and he ended up remaining in Munich for the remainder of his professional career.

Research:

For decades, he had been studying the effects of electrical charge on the response and appearance of vacuum tubes.  The science of electricity was still relatively new, and there remained much to understand.  His set-ups used relatively simple components by today’s standards.

He conducted a series of experiments in 1895 in which he connected a type of vacuum tube (visualize a light bulb on steroids) called a Hittorf-Crookes tube to an early and very powerful electrostatic charge generator known as a Ruhmkorff coil, similar to what sparks a car motor to start.  He was trying to reproduce a fluorescent effect observed with another type of vacuum tube called a Lenard tube.   The filament inside produced a stream of electrons which was well-known, called a cathode ray.    To his surprise, this produced fluorescence on a screen coated with a compound called barium platinocyanide, several feet away.  This suggested to him that a hitherto unknown, and entirely invisible, effect was being produced.  We know now that the cathode ray had excited the atoms of the aluminum to produce X-rays, which in turn excited the atoms of the barium (an element which fluoresces readily)

He also discovered that when his hand passed between the electrically charged vacuum tube and the barium platinocyanide coated screen, he saw his bones.  He reproduced this phenomenon with his wife, causing horror.
After secretly confirming his findings, he published an article titled, “On A New Kind Of Rays” (Über eine neue Art von Strahlen).  This revelation and its nearly immediate application to all sorts of medical imaging earned him an honorary medical degree.  His Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901.

Unlike the bios of some other radiation pioneers, his does not end with him giving his life for his seminal work, since he used lead shielding.  He did, however, die of intestinal carcinoma.

[MysteRy]

Wilhelm Ostwald



Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, more commonly known as Wilhelm Ostwald, was an eminent Russian-German chemist and philosopher who was a key figure in the development of physical chemistry as a recognized branch of chemistry. He won the 1909 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his groundbreaking research on chemical equilibria, chemical reaction velocities and catalysis.

Early Life and Education:

Born of German parents in Riga, Latvia in 1853, Wilhelm Ostwald received his early education at the city’s Realgymnasium, where he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics and natural history, while learning various languages such as French, English, Latin and Russian. His father wanted him to become an engineer but Ostwald had already developed an interest in chemistry.

After entering the Dorpat Landesuniversitiit in 1872, Ostwald studied physics under Arthur von Oettingen and chemistry under Karl Schmidt and Johann Lemberg. He received his Candidat in 1875, after writing an essay on the mass action of water. Oettingen consequently took him in as a helper in the physical laboratory. Ostwald received his master’s degree after analyzing the chemical affinity by physical means. He began to give lectures on physical chemistry at the University, and continued his research on affinity, while refining the scientific methods related to the process.

Ostwald earned a doctorate in 1878 and became Schmidt’s assistant in 1879.

Contributions and Achievements:

Wilhelm Ostwald came back to Riga in 1881 to join the Polytechnicum as the Professor of Chemistry, where he soon became a popular teacher and a creative researcher. He worked on two projects that gained him worldwide acclaim; “Lehrbuch Der Allgemeinen Chemie” and “Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie”. His works massively promoted the growing field of physical chemistry.

Ostwald went to Leipzig in 1887, where he assumed the chair of physical chemistry. There he carried out groundbreaking research on catalysis, while promoting the works of Arrhenius and van’t Hoff. He made Leipzig a world center for the study of physical chemistry. Moreover, he extensively studied and made important findings regarding energetics. Ostwald spent almost two decades at Leipzig.

Later Life and Death:

Wilhelm Ostwald went into semi-retirement in 1894, choosing to continue only as a research professor. He started focusing more towards “Naturphilosophie” and kept himself away from research in chemistry. He finally announced full retirement in 1906 and moved to his estate at Grossbothen, in Saxony, where he spent his last years as an independent scholar and freethinker, exploring the fields of energetics, scientific methodology, monism and pacifism and internationalism. He also developed a new physical theory of colors.

In 1909 he won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Ostwald died at “Landhans Energie” in 1932, after a short illness. He was 78 years old.

[MysteRy]

Wilhelm Röntgen



The German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was the first person to systematically produce and detect electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as x-rays or Röntgen rays. His discovery of x-rays was a great revolution in the fields of physics and medicine and electrified the general public. It also earned him the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1896 and the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. He is also known for his discoveries in mechanics, heat, and electricity.

Early Life and Career:

Röntgen was born on March 27, 1845, at Lennep in the Lower Rhine Province of Germany. He was the only child of a merchant and cloth manufacturer. Röntgen was brought up in Netherlands after he and his family moved to Apeldoorn in 1848. Here he first received his early education at the Institute of Martinus Herman van Doorn, a boarding school and in 1861 attended the Utrecht Technical School. Unfortunately in 1863 he was expelled unfairly from his school after being accused of a prank another student had committed. Even though Röntgen did not seem to be especially gifted in his schoolwork, he was good at building mechanical objects, a talent that enabled him to build many of his own experimental devices in his later life.

He then entered the University of Utrecht in 1865 to study physics without having the necessary credentials required for a regular student. In 1869, he earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Zurich. Here he attended lectures by the noted physicist Rudolf Julius Emmanuel Clausius and also worked in the laboratory of Kundt. As soon as he completed his graduation he was appointed assistant to Kundt and went with him to Würzburg in the same year, and three years later to Strasbourg.

In 1874 he was appointed as a lecturer at Strasbourg University and in 1875 served as a professor in the Academy of Agriculture at Hohenheim in Württemberg. In 1876 he returned to Strasbourg as Professor of Physics. Three years later he accepted the invitation to the Chair of Physics in the University of Giessen. In 1888, he obtained the same position at the University of Würzburg, and in 1900 at the University of Munich. Even though he accepted an appointment at Columbia University in New York City but due to the occurrence of World War I, Röntgen changed his plans and remained in Munich for the rest of his career.

Discovery of X-rays:

During 1895 Röntgen carried out his investigations on the phenomenon of cathode rays. Accidently he put a piece of cardboard covered with fluorescent mineral near the experimental set and noticed it glowing in the dark when the source of cathode rays was turned on. Roentgen immediately initiated an experiment aimed at investigation of the phenomenon.

He found that that if vacuum tube, used for experiments with cathode rays, was covered tightly with thin, black cardboard and placed in a darkened room, bright glow was observed during each discharge on a screen covered with fluorescent barium platinum cyanide (placed near the device). He realised that the fluorescence was caused by an agent which could infiltrate from within the vacuum tube through dark cardboard (impermeable to visible or ultraviolet radiation) to the outside of the set. He termed this agent as x-rays.

Death:

Röntgen died at Munich on February 10, 1923, from carcinoma of the intestine.

[MysteRy]

Wilhelm Wundt



Wilhelm Wundt was a German physiologist and psychologist, who is widely credited as the founder of experimental psychology. Wundt is also acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential psychologists of all time.

Early Life and Education:

Born at Neckarau, Baden in 1832, Wilhelm Wundt was the son of a Lutheran minister. Wundt received a medical degree at the University of Heidelberg in 1856. He also attended the Universities of Tübingen and Berlin.

Contributions and Achievements:

After teaching physiology at the University of Heidelberg, Wilhelm Wundt joined Hermann von Helmholtz as an assistant in 1858. During this time, he wrote “Beiträge zur Theorie der Sinneswahrnehmung” (Contributions to the Theory of Sense Perception). As one of the early pioneers of scientific psychology, Wundt introduced the usage of experimental methods in psychology, therefore minimizing the role of rational analysis.

After succeeding Helmholtz, he investigated the immediate experiences of consciousness, such as sensations, ideas and feelings, and wrote “Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie” (Principles of Physiological Psychology), which still remains one of the most influential works in the history of psychology. It also explored the fundamental concepts related to apperception (conscious perception) and introspection (conscious examination of conscious experience).

During his tenure as professor at the University of Leipzig in 1879, Wundt built the first psychological laboratory ever. He also published the first journal of psychology, “Philosophische Studien” (Philosophical Studies) in 1881. Some of his later works also included “Grundriss der Psychologie” (1896) and “Völkerpsychologie” (1900–20).

Later Life and Death:

Wilhelm Wundt died on August 31, 1920 in Grossbothen, Germany. He was 88 years old.

[MysteRy]

Willard Frank Libby



Willard Frank Libby (1908-1980), a Nobel Prize laureate and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient was a pioneer in the use of differential decay of the Carbon 14 Isotope for dating organic materials; what we now call radiocarbon dating.  He addressed this scientific puzzle after developing a gaseous diffusion enrichment process for uranium-235.  His work also involved the identification, separation, and control of ‘heavy water’ containing deuterium and tritium, both isotopes of Hydrogen.  These processeswere important to the building of the Hiroshima bomb. Through his post-war appointment to the Atomic Energy Commission, he embraced the cause of peaceful nuclear use.

War:

His bio begins in Colorado.  He studied chemistry at Berkeley, teaching there until 1941.  He worked initially to develop Geiger counters for the detection of background radiation from soils and rock formations; what homeowners call radon gas. His Guggenheim post-doctoral fellowship took him to Princeton,but with the outbreak of WW II hostilities, he was recruited into the Manhattan project at Columbia University, a massive mobilization of top scientists to develop an atomic weapon.Libby’s biography must record his innovation in techniques used to separate and concentrate uranium isotopes through gaseous diffusion.

Peace:

Post-war, he taught at the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago.  He made the connection between the amounts of tritium, an unstable isotope of Hydrogen, in water, and the action of cosmic ray bombardment in the highest levels of the atmosphere.  Only trace quantities of tritium are found in any body of water, but once the water is isolated from the atmosphere, it no longer acquires new tritium molecules.  This observation led to pioneering techniques for dating water bodies, and identifying different currents of water in the ocean.

This line of research also led him to discover that the bodies of all organisms, whether plant or animal, absorbed trace amounts of the Carbon 14 isotope only during life.  He reasoned that the steady radioactive decay of this other unstable isotope could provide a way to measure the time elapsed since death.  The technique of documenting the degree of decay of the Carbon isotope, C14, in dead tissues, immediately proved useful.  This technology has been immensely helpful to many branches of science, especially archeology and paleontology.  Its value to science was recognized in the Nobel Prize he received in 1960.

Libby believed fully in the possibilities and promises of atomic science, and carried this message for the Eisenhower administration into the media and on the lecture circuit.  Libby’s advocacy for atoms for peace while with the Atomic Energy Commission did, however, put him publicly at odds with some other noted scientists, for example, Linus Pauling, who believed that all testing should cease immediately.

Libby put his belief in the survivability of nuclear attack into practice in the construction of his home fallout shelter, which famously burnt immediately upon completion.  His enthusiasm occasionally could lead to nearly laughable missteps; for example, he counseled the residents of a rural town with one solitary through-road to flee to the countryside in case of attack.  Since this course of action would have been a virtual guarantee of traffic gridlock, and starvation or dehydration would unavoidably await anyone attempting this strategy, his audience took his advice with the proverbial grain of salt.

No such silliness detracts from the facts of his contribution to every discipline that deals with time – radiocarbon dating assures him a place in the pantheon of the greats.

[MysteRy]

William Bayliss



An English physiologist, William Bayliss was the co-discoverer of the peptide hormone called secretin which he and Ernest Starling jointly researched about. Together with Starling, Bayliss also discovered the peristaltic or the movements and contractions inside the digestive tract which moves food from one place to another. Apart from these discoveries, Bayliss is also a notable name for research in the fields of physical chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology.

Early Life and Educational Background

William Bayliss was born William MaddockBayliss on the second of May in 1860 in Butcroft, Wednesbury. His parents were Jane Maddock and Moses Bayliss who was a manufacturer of screw bolts. He had no siblings and was named after a paternal uncle who happened to be the man who founded the ironworks in Wolverhampton’s Cable Street. Later in his life, William joined this firm along with one other person and the firm was then known as Bayliss, Jones and Bayliss.

Growing up in Wolverhampton, he got his initial education in Mowbray House School. Later on, he became the apprentice of a doctor in the Wolverhampton Hospital—this was done to hopefully rouse his interest in medicine which somehow succeeded in the long run despite a slight change of course. He was not able to complete his apprenticeship and he took a different road when he went to the University College London in 1881. Four years later, he attended Wadham College in Oxford. During his time there, he worked on getting his degree in the School of Natural Science or Physiology. Back then, this was a blooming field which a lot of scientific minds began to take interest in. After finishing his degree, he took a teaching post in the University College London from 1888-1912. It was when he was working there that he made his grand discovery.

Career and Scientific Endeavors

Ernest Henry Starling, another notable name which almost always pops up along with Bayliss’s, was also a physiologist who worked at the University College London. Together, he and Bayliss discovered the occurence when food touches the small intestine. These physiologists were able to determine how secretin, a chemical substance—more specificallya hormone–is secreted. This substance is then carried by the blood to the pancreas. There it would stimulate pancreatic juice secretion. Pancreatic juices are the most important ones when it comes to digestion, and this hormone is what triggers the pancreatic juice secretion.

Secretin, the substance they discovered, was the very first hormone identified. Bayliss and Starling coined the term “hormone” from the Greek phrase “I arouse” or “I excite” because of its effects on another organ. Because of their breakthrough, a whole new field of medical and scientific research was opened. So much was the importance of their discovery that the “Bayliss Clubs” in America are named after William Bayliss. These clubs were formed to help raise more awareness on life in general and how chemistry is also a factor at play in it.

Despite the positive contributions they had, there was also some controversy surrounding their work. Their tandem worked on animal experiments which led to the 1903 Brown Dog Affair. Stephen Coleridge who was then the Secretary of the National Anti-Vivesection Society addressed the Society that a certain brown dog was vivesected at the University College London and the procedure was done by Bayliss. As a counter move, Bayliss sued Coleridge and he won. After this incident, he donated no less than £2,000 to the college for the damages the incident incurred, especially on the physiological research department. After then, Bayliss distanced from the issue and even wrote several articles which were about the humane and proper treatment of animals. Come 1912, Bayliss was appointed as the Professor of General Physiology at University College London.

Bayliss had a very productive scientific career and his tandem discovery with Ernest Starling wasn’t the end of his scientific contributions which are remembered to this day. He also engaged himself in the study about saline injections which helped counter shock which patients tend to experience after surgery. Because of the findings in this work of his, he eventually proposed using gum-saline injections. These injections had been used for shock caused by major wounds and had saved many lives during the First World War.

Three years after he was appointed as the Professor of General Physiology, Bayliss’s classic publication called the “Principles of General Physiology” was made public. During his lifetime, his famous publication had four editions. There came a point when he became too ill to make the revisions himself and since each chapter required professional attention, no other person was quite able to make a revision as detailed as the previous ones were for the lack of thorough knowledge in the fields that Bayliss himself opened.

Two years before he died, Sir William Bayliss was knighted after which he lived in Hampstead and continued working as the director of their family business which his uncle started.

Personal Life and Later Years

His collaborations with Ernest Starling weren’t all about science. In fact, they left a different kind of legacy when it came to their personal lives. Bayliss’s children had been born by Starling’s sister named Gertrude. Together, they had a daughter and three sons. Leonard Ernest Bayliss followed the footsteps of his father and also became a physiologist and studied under the wing of Starling at the University College London.

Bayliss and his wife took part in the social setup of the people around them. This was why they had mutual interests and spent efforts on improving the working conditions of those in Cable Street where the family business was located. The people from the area knew of the couple’s hospitality and Bayliss kept an interesting scientific aura inside their home all the time. According to varied accounts, Bayliss was a gentle and honest man who was very approachable. It was also said that he was a man who always esteemed other people more highly than he did himself.

In 1924, Bayliss died in London. Several years later in 1979, the Bayliss and Starling Society was established and the main purpose of the society was focused on central and autonomic peptide functions.

[MysteRy]

William Buckland



William Buckland is more properly known as the Rev. Dr. William Buckland. He was a theologian hailing from England and later on he became the dean of none other than Westminster. Apart from his career and service as a well-respected theologian, he was not just a man of God but a man of science as well. He had been a palaeontologist and geologist, and these fields of specialization lead to his detailed documentation of the dinosaur fossil now known as the “megalosaurus.” He had been a proponent of what is known as the “Gap Theory” which was, in a way, a theory that reconciled biblical accounts of creation with the scientific discoveries made by modern man.

Early Life and Educational Background

He was born in Axminster, Devon, on the 12th of March in 1784. He was the eldest son of then Rector of Templeton and Trusham Charles Buckland, and Elizabeth Buckland. It is said that William Buckland’s interest in fossils had been tapped by his birthplace’s proximity to quarries in Axminster which was then bountiful with fossil remains. His father had a keen interest in the development of roads and William Buckland was often taken on trips near the quarries which is why he had become so familiar with such scenes.

Initially, he had been home schooled and it was his father who had been teaching him. In 1797, however, he was entered to Blundell’s school which was in Tiverton to receive a more comprehensive education which would prepare him for his days in the university. A year after his time in Blundell’s, he was moved to St. Mary’s College in Winchester where he was able to progress academically while still being able to retain his love for natural science and history.

After some coaching from his uncle, William Buckland won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College in 1801, and this was where he began his Oxford career. Three years later, he had obtained his BA degree through his scholarship and had also taken pupils to teach. He had never neglected his studies, but he was also able to make time for furthering his knowledge on scientific matters by attending lectures on geology given by John Kidd, as well as anatomy lectures given by Christopher Pegge. In 1808, William Buckland obtained his MA, became a fellow in the college he attended, and was even ordained as a priest that same year.

Career

During the years 1808 to 1812, William Buckland went on numerous geological excursions on horseback to different parts of Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland. He had taken his favourite black mare on his journeys and examined sections of strata. He even took home specimen for research purposes during those excursions.

John Kidd resigned from his post as the Reader of Mineralogy, and it was William Buckland who became his successor. He had a colourful personality which he let shine during his lectures, and that gained him even more students. Apart from being a well-loved lecturer of mineralogy, he had also contributed as a curator of sorts of the Old Ashmolean building. He even added his private collection of fossils and rocks which he had kept in his old room back in Corpus Christi College.

In 1818, he was able to persuade the Prince Regent to bestow him a second reading, and it was Geology. During that time, his studies had kept him very busy and he was involved in justifying the inclusion of geology while keeping in line with the biblical accounts of Creation as well as the Noachian flood. During his days, fossils of animals were believed to be from the great deluge and he had spent a lot of time understanding the timeline between the great flood and the existence of the animals whose fossils he had been examining.

On January 18, 1823, William Buckland discovered a skeleton which he had then named as the “Red Lady of Paviland” since the remains were found in the Paviland Cave. The name was because he had first thought that the remains had been that of a prostitute in the area, and his discovery had been the oldest and most anatomically modern found in the U.K. While he had discovered the strata in the same area where bones of mammoths and other extinct animals had been, Buckland had shared his views with Georges Cuvier who also believed that there were no humans who lived the same time as extinct animals did. He then came to the conclusion that the skeleton had probably been buried in a grave made by earlier people. Years later and after carbon-data tests, the “Red Lady of Paviland” was proven to be a male from around 33,000 years ago.

There was a time when Buckland had taken great interest in the theory of Louis Agassiz and in 1938, he had a trip to Switzerland to meet Agassiz himself. In 1840, these two scientists found evidence of former glaciation. In the same year, Buckland became the Geological Society’s president once more and despite the hostile reaction to the theory he had proposed, he had already been convinced that glaciation was the origin of many of the surface deposits which were in Britain then.

Personal Life

In December of 1825 when he had also accepted the Stoke of Charity in Hampshire, he married Mary Morland. While she had been only 28 then, she already had her own collection of fossils and had even contributed to the works of both Buckland and Cuvier. They had a shared passion for geology, and even their honeymoon tour had destinations only geology lovers would plan on going to. They had nine children, but only 5 survived to adulthood.

In 1850, he was afflicted with a disease which had greatly disabled him and lead to his death six years later. From post-mortem findings, there was a tubercular infection which spread to his brain. Interestingly, the plot which had been reserved for his grave had a Jurassic limestone which needed to be blown up before proper excavation could be done and this was seen as a kid of final jest from the geologist.