On October 13, 1820, geologist and paleontologist Sir John William Dawson was born in Nova Scotia. His interest in geology involved him in a life of fossil hunting. As a youngster he built up an assortment of shale layer fossils and traded with others…
On September 28, 1961, the San Diego Underwater Photographic Society had its organizational meeting. SDUPS is one of the oldest organizations dedicated to the techniques and art of underwater photography. Members include beginning underwater photographers to semi- and full-time professionals. They are committed to…
On September 26, 1774, Jonathan Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed was born in Massachusetts. A restless, wiry man with some apprenticeship in plant nursery craft, he had a talent for understanding what a tree required and a spiritual desire to live a simple, waste-free life.…
On September 23, 1791, German astronomer Johann Franz Encke was born in Hamburg. He studied mathematics and astronomy. The orbits of comets held great fascination for Encke. These couldn’t be seen for many decades at a time before they returned. Because these orbital periods…
On August 15, 1871, Sir Arthur George Tansley, was born. He grew from a field-tripping teenager on school nature outings to become one of England’s activist pioneers in the science of ecology. Following studies in botany, physiology, zoology, and geology at Trinity College, Cambridge,…
On August 8, 1863, American ornithologist and nature writer Florence Merriam Bailey was born into a family steeped in natural history. Her father, a friend of John Muir’s, encouraged her interests, as did her brother who became the first chief of the U.S. Biological…
On July 22, 1898, American aviator Wiley Hardeman Post was born. Wiley achieved his fame in what is often called the “Golden Age” of air racing, the 1930’s. First it was his win at the National Air Race Derby, from Los Angeles to Chicago.…
On July 15, 1943, British astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell was born. As a research student, Bell Burnell assisted in the physical construction and operation of a Cambridge university radio telescope, consisting of thousands of poles wired and cabled over several acres of land. Additionally,…
On July 6, 1785, botanist Sir William Jackson Hooker was born. Always interested in botany, he collected and organized plant specimens from his earliest years. With his discovery of a new moss, Hooker was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society and, at 21,…
Right to the Core On June 4, 1889, geophysicist and mathematician Beno Gutenberg was born and made the study of Earth’s interior his life’s work. He was the first to determine the radius of Earth’s core. Perhaps the most important information geologists gather about…