The Geminids
On December 14, 2016, the Geminids meteor shower is on schedule! This extended meteor shower is visible to night sky observers around the world for about two weeks from its annual “return” to Earth’s point of view. Unlike other meteor showers that have been…
Magnetic Attraction
On December 13, 1805, Johann von Lamont [John Lamont] was born in Scotland. From his twelfth year, he was educated in Bavaria where he was schooled in maths and sciences. Lamont spent vacations assisting at the Royal Observatory at Bogenhausen (Munich). These interests led…
Solar Queen
On December 12, 1900, biophysicist and solar power pioneer Mária Telkes was born in Hungary. She built her first laboratory at ten years of age. Visiting the U.S.A., she worked with surgeon George Crile, co-founder of the Cleveland Clinic, to investigate the energy produced…
Petrified Forest National Park
On December 9, 1962, Petrified Forest National Park was established in Arizona. Erosion- and weather-sculpted badlands, buttes, and mesas add their own surprising layers of colour from sedimentary iron and sulfate minerals in painting the desert biomes at the north end of this national…
It’s Brilliant Being Green
On December 8, 1730, Dutch physician and scientist Jan Ingen-Housz was born. A talented, successful, and pro-active doctor who moved to England to learn smallpox inoculation. Ingen-Housz worked on English patients and was so skilled, he was invited to inoculate the Hapsburgs in Austria…
Deadly Smog
On December 5, 1952, a blanket of smog built up over the City of London, England. Smog, a word combination of smoke + fog, is a regrettable feature in modern cities. Although London had a history of famous fogs and smogs, these were especially…
Environment Chemist
On December 3, 1842, environmental chemist Ellen Swallow Richards was born. Attracted to chemistry at Vassar, she applied for job as a professional chemist but was persuaded to apply to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she became the first woman accepted at this…
Science Commentator
On November 25, 1913, American physician, researcher, and essayist Lewis Thomas was born. A man of intriguing insights, he added to his wisdom from views, opinions, and related experiences in science and medicine at Princeton, Harvard, and Tulane. He served as Dean of Yale…
Fungus Among Us!
On November 23, 1898, American biochemist Rachel Fuller Brown was born. Most famously, she worked through research and production projects with microbiologist and bacteriologist Elizabeth Lee Hazen for the New York State Department of Health; Brown in Albany and Hazen in New York City.…
A Most Polished View
On November 15, 1738, musician, composer, optics pioneer, and astronomer Frederick William Herschel was born. An oboe (cello, violin, harpsichord, organ…) player so passionate about astronomy when he discovered the discipline that he hooked his sister and brother into a suite of activities that…