1953 in science

none 1953 science 1953 The year 1953 involved numerous significant events in science and technology, including the first description of the DNA double helix, the discovery of neutrinos, and the release of the first polio vaccine. Biology February 15 – Linus Pauling proposes a DNA triple helix structure,A Proposed Structure For The Nucleic Acids Linus Pauling Robert B. Corey Robert Corey Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1953-02-15 39 2 84-97 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.39.2.84 which is rapidly shown to be incorrect. thumb|right|250px|25 April 1953: the DNA double helix is first formally described. February 28 – Francis Crick and James Watson enter The Eagle, Cambridge, for a pub lunch announcing "We have discovered the secret of life."James Watson The Double Helix 1968 April 25 – Francis Crick and James D. Watson of the U.K. Medical Research Council's Unit for Research on the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" in the British journal Nature.Watson J. D. Crick F. H. C. 1953 Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid 171 737–738 Nature 4356 10.1038/171737a0 13054692 1953Natur.171..737W 4253007 Their work is often ranked as one of the most dramatic biological discoveries of the 20th century, because of the structural beauty and functional logic of the DNA double helix.http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2932000/2932793.stm Scientists describe 'secret of life' BBC On This Day January 10, 2008 April 25, 1953 https://web.archive.org/web/20071222124939/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2932000/2932793.stm December 22, 2007 live In 1962, they will share the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Maurice Wilkins, who publishes X-ray crystallography results for DNA in the same issue of Nature in 1953.Wilkins, M. H. F. Alex Stokes Stokes, A. R. Herbert Wilson Wilson, H. R. http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/wilkins.pdf Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids 171 738–740 Nature 1953 March 1, 2011 10.1038/171738a0 13054693 4356 1953Natur.171..738W 4280080 The third related article published at the same time is by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, on "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate".Rosalind E. Franklin R. G. Gosling Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/franklingosling.pdf 171 740–741 Nature 1953 March 1, 2011 10.1038/171740a0 13054694 4356 1953Natur.171..740F 4268222Francis Crick (1916–2004) and James Watson (b. 1928) together discovered the double helix structure of DNA, the "blueprint of life." Surprisingly, when ... https://web.archive.org/web/20150407024345/http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/tp/10scientists.htm 2015-04-07 history1900s.about.com Chemistry May 15 – Stanley Miller publishes results from the Miller–Urey experiment in the journal Science. These surprise many chemists, by showing that organic molecules present in living organisms can form easily from simple inorganic chemicals.1680569 Stanley L. Miller 38897285 A Production of Amino Acids Under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions Science 117 1953 528–9 10.1126/science.117.3046.528 13056598 3046 1953Sci...117..528M Rudolph Pariser, Robert G. Parr and John Pople publish their computational quantum chemistry theory for approximating molecular orbitals.A Semi‐Empirical Theory of the Electronic Spectra and Electronic Structure of Complex Unsaturated Molecules. II Pariser R. Parr R. G. 1953 Journal of Chemical Physics 21 5 767 10.1063/1.1699030 1953JChPh..21..767P Electron interaction in unsaturated hydrocarbons Pople, J. A. 1953 Transactions of the Faraday Society 49 1375 10.1039/tf9534901375 Ziegler–Natta catalyst invented by Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta.Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology Wiley-VCH Giuliano Cecchin Giampiero Morini Fabrizio Piemontesi Ziegler–Natta Catalysts 2003 10.1002/0471238961.2609050703050303.a01 0471238961 Computer sciences October – UNIVAC 1103 launched. Tom Kilburn at the University of Manchester completes a device called MEG, which performs floating-point calculations. This machine evolves into the first transistorized computer, the Metro-Vickers MV950, ultimately leading to the mass production of computers. Alan Turing publishes an article describing the first 1,104 zeroes of the Riemann zeta-function, the culmination of fifteen years of work on how to use computers to tackle a fundamental problem in number theory.Alan M. Turing Some calculations of the Riemann zeta-function Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 1953 3 99–117 10.1112/plms/s3-3.1.99 Earth sciences Maurice Ewing and Bruce Heezen discover the deep canyon running along the center of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an important contribution to the theory of plate tectonics.Ewing, Maurice Heezen, Bruce C. Ericson, D. B. Northrop, John Dorman, James Exploration of the Northwest Atlantic Mid-ocean Canyon Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 64 865–868 10.1130/0016-7606(1953)64[865:EOTNAM]2.0.CO;2 7 0016-7606 1953GSAB...64..865E July 1953 Mathematics Klaus Roth publishes a theorem regarded as a milestone in arithmetic combinatorics.Roth K. F. 10.1112/jlms/s1-28.1.104 Journal of the London Mathematical Society 0051853 104–109 2nd series On certain sets of integers 28 1953Chen William Vaughan Robert Bob Vaughan 2017-06-14 Klaus Friedrich Roth, 29 October 1925–10 November 2015 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 63 487–525 10.1098/rsbm.2017.0014 0080-4606 free Medicine and human sciences January 31 – Physicians at the University of Rochester, New York, use frontal lobe novocaine injections to relieve cancer pain, inspired by Dr. van Wagenen’s psychiatric trials predicting lobotomy success; 60% respond well and undergo surgery.New Pain-killing Methed Science News Letter - January 1953 (Vol 63 No 5) February 13 – Christine Jorgensen, the first widely known American transsexual, returns to New York after successful sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark. March 26 – Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine. May 6 – The first successful open heart surgery on a human utilizing a cardiopulmonary bypass pump ("heart-lung machine") is performed by John Gibbon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia when he repairs an atrial septal defect in 18-year-old Cecilia Bavolek.Cohn Lawrence H. Fifty years of open-heart surgery Circulation 107 17 2168–70 May 2003 12732590 10.1161/01.CIR.0000071746.50876.E2 http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=12732590 April 15, 2013 freeLevy Adam The heart of invention Knowable Magazine 12 January 2021 10.1146/knowable-011221-1 free https://knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2021/the-heart-invention 25 March 2022 subscription July 11 – Andrew Watt Kay publishes his augmented histamine test.Kay A. W. 1953 Effect of Large Doses of Histamine on Gastric Secretion of HCl British Medical Journal 2 4827 77–80 10.1136/bmj.2.4827.77 0959-8138 2028464 13051582 August 18 – The second of the controversial Kinsey Reports on human sexuality, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, is published in the United States. September 1 – American neurosurgeon William Beecher Scoville performs an experimental segmental resection on Henry Molaison ("H.M.") at Hartford Hospital (Connecticut) in an attempt to control his severe epilepsy, involving removal of most of H.M.'s medial temporal lobes on both hemispheres including the hippocampi, amygdalae and entorhinal cortex (the major sensory input to the hippocampi), and rendering him a continuing subject for the study of memory formation and cognitive neuropsychology.William Beecher Scoville Brenda Milner Brenda Milner 1957 Loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 20 11–21 13406589 497229 10.1136/jnnp.20.1.11 1 September 4 – The discovery of REM sleep is first published by researchers Eugene Aserinsky and Nathaniel Kleitman of the University of Chicago.Eugene Aserinsky Nathaniel Kleitman 43636051 Regularly Occurring Periods of Eye Motility, and Concomitant Phenomena, During Sleep Science 118 1953 273–274 1680525 10.1126/science.118.3062.273 13089671 3062 1953Sci...118..273A American scientist Winston Price isolates the first rhinovirus, the most prevalent cause of the common cold.Davison Nicola https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/oct/06/why-cant-we-cure-the-common-cold Why can't we cure the common cold? 2017-10-06 The Guardian 2020-02-20 London 0261-3077 Cincinnati psychiatrist Max Lurie and Harry Salzer coin the term antidepressant.Healy D. Weissman, M.M. The treatment of depression: bridging the 21st century https://books.google.com/books?id=LAmBVolIG5kC May 28, 2009 2001 American Psychiatric Pub 978-0-88048-397-1 10–11 The Antidepressant Drama https://books.google.com/books?id=LAmBVolIG5kC B. F. Skinner publishes the book Science and Human Behavior,Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Macmillan. 0-02-929040-6. a controversial attempt to apply the results of behavioral studies of laboratory animals to human psychology. Paleontology 20 November – Authorities at the Natural History Museum in London announce that the skull of Piltdown Man (allegedly an early human discovered in 1912) is a hoax.The Solution of the Piltdown Problem Weiner, J. S. Kenneth Oakley Oakley, K. P. Wilfrid Le Gros Clark Le Gros Clark, W. E. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology Series 2 3 141–6 1953-11-20Piltdown Man forgery The Times London 1953-11-21 6http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,823171,00.html End as a Man Time 1953-11-30 2010-11-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20101030234043/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C823171%2C00.html 2010-10-30 dead Penguin Pocket On This Day Penguin Reference Library 978-0-14-102715-9 2006 Photography 31 January – Kodak introduces enhanced Linagraph paper, circular neutral density wedges, ultra-pure hemin for research, and high-speed cameras capturing up to 3200 fps—advancing tools for laboratories and engineering analysis.Kodak reports to laboratories on Science News Letter - January 1953 (Vol 63 No 5) Physics Frederick Reines and Clyde Cowan perform the first neutrino detection experiments, constructing the first neutrino detector (a cadmium-water target) and using the Hanford Site nuclear facility in Washington state as the neutrino source.F. Reines C. L. Jr. Cowan Detection of the Free Neutrino Physical Review 92 3 830–831 10.1103/PhysRev.92.830 1953PhRv...92..830R November 1953 free This work, first discussed with Enrico Fermi and others in 1951–2, leads to the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics. Enrico Fermi, John Pasta, Stanislaw Ulam, and Mary Tsingou conduct computer simulations of a vibrating string that included a non-linear term in what became known as the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou experiment. Charles Kittel publishes his influential textbook Introduction to Solid State Physics in the United States. Technology September 16 – Epic film The Robe is released in the United States as the first widescreen anamorphic format movie, filmed in CinemaScope. December 17 – The NTSC color television standard is agreed for the United States. J. C. Bamford of England introduce the backhoe loader. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory completes development of the SSM-A-17 Corporal I rocket. This is the first American surface-to-surface ballistic missile, powered by a liquid-fuelled motor utilizing nitric acid as the oxidizer. Events January 13 – "Doctors' plot": The state newspaper Pravda publishes an article alleging that many of the Soviet Union's top doctors are part of a major plot to poison the country's senior political and military leaders.20 July 1998 Doctors' Plot alleged conspiracy, Soviet Union [1953] https://www.britannica.com/event/Doctors-Plot live Encyclopædia Britannica https://web.archive.org/web/20150906021014/https://www.britannica.com/event/Doctors-Plot 2015-09-06 February 16 – The Pakistan Academy of Sciences is established. October 9 – As part of an extended series of publications on science, Pope Pius XII publishes "The Technician", which instructs scientists to restrict themselves to the study of physical matter and do nothing to undermine the idea of a non-material soul or a Superior Being. "The Technician" is delivered as a papal address on October 9. Rudolf Carnap publishes an article called "Testability and Meaning" in Readings in the Philosophy of Science, which moves away from the philosophical position of logical positivism with respect to science (particularly the heavily mathematical sciences, such as physics). Carnap instead emphasizes the idea that progress in science depends on the gradual accumulation of many small results that support human understanding of the world, a view more in line with Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophy and the biological sciences. Prizes Nobel Prize List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine List of Nobel laureates in Physics List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Hans Adolf Krebs and Fritz Albert Lipmann 1953 Nobel Prize in Physics: Frits Zernike 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Hermann Staudinger Births January 2 – Vincent Racaniello, American virologist. January 17 – Ingeborg Hochmair (née Desoyer), Austrian electrical engineer. January 21 – Paul Allen, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Microsoft (d. 2018). January 25 – Mark Walport, English medical scientist and Government Chief Scientific Adviser (United Kingdom). March 5 – Michel Devoret, French-born physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics. May 14 – Martin Page, English botanist. May 15 – Athene Donald (née Griffith), English experimental physicist. May 17 – Maria Petrou, Anglo-Greek artificial intelligence researcher (d. 2012).https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/9670656/Professor-Maria-Petrou.html Professor Maria Petrou The Daily Telegraph London 2012-11-11 2012-11-11 May 18 – David Deutsch, Israeli-born quantum physicist. August 16 – David Spiegelhalter, English statistician. August 24 – Georg Nagel, German biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/press-release/ 2026-10-05 NobelPrize.org en-US https://web.archive.org/web/20261005094452/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/press-release/ 2026-10-05 live December 1 – Victor Ambros, American developmental biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Debra Fischer, American astronomer. Pat Nuttall, British virologist and acarologist. Deaths January 16 – Solomon Carter Fuller, African American psychiatrist (b. 1872). February 25 – Sergei Winogradsky, Russian microbiologist (b. 1856). April 17 – Sven Gustaf Wingqvist, Swedish engineer, inventor and industrialist (b. 1876). April 22 – Jan Czochralski, Polish–German discoverer of the Czochralski process for growing crystals (b. 1885). August 15 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (b. 1875). September 28 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1889). September 30 – Lewis Fry Richardson, English mathematical physicist (b. 1881). October 30 – Alice Eastwood, Canadian American botanist (b. 1859). November 13 – Herbert E. Ives, American optical engineer (b. 1882). See also List of years in science 1953 in spaceflight References Category:20th century in science Category:1950s in science