On August 21, 1960, American professional engineer and bridge designer David Barnard Steinman died. Since childhood, he had loved bridges and the colossal integrated parts that support them. Steinman pursued the studies in mathematics related to bridge building with a doctoral thesis that became…
On July 30, 1920, Marie Tharp was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. A pioneering oceanographic cartographer, she mapped the ocean floor and co-discovered the Mid-Oceanic Ridges, along with her colleague Bruce Heezen, Columbia University’s team leader of ocean ridge mapping. As they worked down the…
On July 24, 1843, chemist, photographer, and astronomer Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney was born. Raised in a family and circle of friends all interested in photography, Abney, like many members of photographic clubs and societies, experimented with film and its chemistry. In at…
Wow! Some incredible Flyby! Have we been following this? You bet! THEN… keep current with great mission insights, video, and terrific special features of the New Horizons spacecraft on its New Horizons Mission page. WHERE is New Horizons right now?Check out NASA’s track of…
On June 26, 1824, British mathematician, physicist, and inventor Sir William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, was born. A student-researcher of many natural phenomena, Thomson spent his life learning and applying his knowledge and expertise to them all and, often, simultaneously. Lauded as a giant of…
On June 12, 1944, Big Bend National Park became a reality in Texas. An area of markedly contrasting elevations – from Rio Grande shoreline at 550 m (1800 ft) to Emory Peak at 12600 m (7,832 ft) – is home to many varied microclimates…
On June 7, 1909, American obstetric anesthesiologist Dr. Virginia Apgar was born in New Jersey. She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and effectively founded the field of neonatology. At a time when fetal monitors had not been invented, she…
On May 23, 1707, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist Carolus (Carl) Linnaeus was born. He laid the foundation for the modern scheme of taxonomy, the classification of plants and animals. When Linnaeus studied medicine, botany was an important part of medical studies because doctors…
On March 12, 1993, another great “Nor’easter” began and continued until the 15th – the Blizzard of 1993 or, as some have called it, “the Storm of the Century”. The storm moved from the Gulf of Mexico up into and finally blew itself out…
On February 28, 1956, physicist, astronomer, science educator-strategist Penny D. Sackett was born in Nebraska. Her studies have taken her from theoretical physics at the University of Pittsburgh to the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in the Netherlands to Director of the Australian National University’s Research…