On October 22, 1896, American biochemist and nutrition researcher, Charles Glen King was born. For about 200 years, limes and lemons and a few certain other foods were known to be effective in preventing and treating scurvy, a nutritional deficiency disease that, untreated, leads…
On October 18, 1616, English botanist and herbalist physician Nicholas Culpeper was born. Receiving early lessons in Latin and Greek, he read widely in his grandfather’s library. He learned about the application of medical plants from his grandmother. Culpeper attended Cambridge but discovered sports…
On October 9, 1876, the first two-way telephone conversation took place by wire, without the assistance of intermediary telephone operators, between Alexander Bell, a professor of vocal physiology at Boston University, and his assistant Thomas Watson, carpenter, machinist, and electric model maker. They spoke…
On September 13, 1851, American army physician Walter Reed was born. After completing his medical education and internship, He entered the U S Army Medical Corps. For almost two decades he practiced medicine while serving at frontier army stations. When he returned east, he…
On September 1, 1854, American scientific illustrator, conservationist, and educator Anna Botsford Comstock was born. She mastered wood engraving to illustrate articles on insects written by her husband, John Henry Comstock, an entomologist who taught at Cornell. She illustrated many books, some of which…
On April 23, 1775, Joseph Mallord William Turner was born. English landscape painter and skilled architectural draughtsman, he produced sketches and paintings that capture historical images of landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes. Attracted to qualities of light, Turner studied its effects on the subjects of…
April 22, Earth Day, is celebrated around the world as tens of millions of people make time to attend their environment. The United Nations calls this International Mother Earth Day because “Mother Earth” is a multi-national common expression used in most cultural references to…
On April 17, 1899, English entomologist Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth was born. He created a new science – the study of insect physiology – and researched extensively into the role of hormones in insect growth, metamorphosis, and reproduction. Wigglesworth detailed many physical mechanisms and…
On April 16, 1682, English mathematician and instrument maker John Hadley was born. He developed precision mirrors to improve the accuracy and power of the reflecting telescope. Until Hadley, telescopes used mirrors that were spherical in shape. These were often blurry and/or distorted the…
On March 14, 1854, German physician, biochemist and bacteriologist Dr. Paul Ehrlich was born. German universities teemed with brilliant doctor-scientist-researchers during Ehrlich’s time. He began as an assistant to bacteriologist Dr. Robert Koch, one of the founders of microbiology, who was only 10 years…