1920 in science

none 1920 science 1920 The year 1920 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below. Astronomy and space science January 13 – The New York Times ridicules rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard, stating that spaceflight is impossible. In 1969, with Apollo 11 on its way to the Moon, the newspaper will publicly retract this position.https://www.astronauticsnow.com/history/goddard/index.html Robert H. Goddard Story astronauticsnow 2019-07-19 December 13 – The red giant star Betelgeuse is the first to have its diameter determined by an optical astronomical interferometer, the Michelson stellar interferometer on Mount Wilson Observatory's reflector telescope.Michelson Albert Abraham Pease Francis G. Measurement of the diameter of alpha Orionis with the interferometer Astrophysical Journal 1921 53 5 249–59 PDF 10.1086/142603 1921ApJ....53..249M Biology Andrew Douglass proposes dendrochronology dating. Approximate date – The HIV pandemic almost certainly originates in Léopoldville, modern-day Kinshasa, the capital of the Belgian Congo.Based on its genetic history. HIV pandemic's origins located https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-10-03-hiv-pandemics-origins-located# University of Oxford 2014-10-03 2014-10-05 Chemistry July 15 – F. W. Aston shows that the molar mass of chlorine (35.45) is a weighted average of the almost integral masses for the two isotopes 35Cl and 37Cl.10.1038/105617a0 Isotopes and Atomic Weights 1920 Aston F. W. Nature 105 2646 617–619 4267919 https://zenodo.org/record/1531300 2023-04-25 History of science and technology September 10 – Newcomen Society founded in the United Kingdom for the study of the history of engineering and technology.Russell Ben A curator at the height of his power: H. W. Dickinson... and the Newcomen Society, 1919–1930 International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology 93 2023 1–15 Medicine October 31 – Dr. Frederick Banting of Ontario first records his insight on how to isolate insulin for the treatment of diabetes;September 2020 working with Charles Best, the first successful human trial of insulin will occur 15 months later. Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt first describes some of the symptoms of what will become known as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Hydrocodone, a narcotic analgesic closely related to codeine, is first synthesized in Germany by Carl Mannich and Helene Löwenheim.Mannich C. Löwenheim Helene Ueber zwei neue Reduktionsprodukte des Kodeins Archiv der Pharmazie 1920 258 2–4 295–316 10.1002/ardp.19202580218 https://zenodo.org/record/1424591 Black Cross Nurses founded in the United States. Meteorology Milutin Milanković proposes that long term climatic cycles may be due to changes in the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit and changes in the Earth's obliquity ("Milankovitch cycles").Théorie mathématique des phénomènes thermiques produits par la radiation solaire (Paris). Physics Megh Nad Saha states his ionization equation. Albert Einstein delivers his Leiden Lecture. Ernest Rutherford predicts the existence of the neutron. James Jeans discovers that the dynamical constants of motion determine the distribution function for a system of particles. Publication of Alan A. Griffith's analysis of the process of brittle fracture.The Phenomenon of Rupture and Flow in Solids 91192 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A221 582–593 163–98 February 1920 10.1098/rsta.1921.0006 1921RSPTA.221..163G Griffith A. A. 2027/uiug.30112007702761 free Psychology American psychologist Edward Thorndike names the halo effect and first provides empirical evidence that it is a specific cognitive bias.Thorndike Edward L. A constant error in psychological ratings Journal of Applied Psychology 1920 4 1 25–29 10.1037/h0071663 https://zenodo.org/record/1429134 ZenodoLonge Jacqueline The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology 2016 507–509 American psychologist John B. Watson conducts the Little Albert experiment in classical conditioning. Technology July 25 – The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast is made.What happened on July 25 Dates in History http://www.datesinhistory.com/jul25.php 2012-01-09 September 29 – First domestic radio sets come to stores in the United States – a Westinghouse radio costs $10. April 2015 October – Young Russian physicist Lev Sergeyevich Termen first develops the electronic musical instrument which will become the Theremin.Glinsky Albert Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage Urbana University of Illinois Press 2000 0-252-02582-2 26 https://archive.org/details/thereminethermus00glin registration 2012-01-09 Events April 26 – Emil Racoviță establishes the world's first institute for the academic study of speleology at the Upper Dacia University in Cluj (Romania). Publication in Prague of Karel Čapek's drama R.U.R: Rossum's Universal Robots, introducing the word Robot to the world.Isaac Asimov Asimov Isaac The Vocabulary of Science Fiction Asimov's Science Fiction September 1979http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html Dominik Zunt 2004 Who did actually invent the word "robot" and what does it mean? Karel Čapek (1890–1938) 2011-12-06 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120204135259/http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html 2012-02-04 Births January 20 – John Maynard Smith, British theoretical evolutionary biologist and geneticist (died 2004). February 7 – An Wang, Chinese-born computer engineer (died 1990). February 3 – Henry Heimlich, American thoracic surgeon (died 2016). March 11 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017). March 15 – E. Donnall Thomas, American physician, Nobel Prize laureate. March 22 – Katsuko Saruhashi Japanese geochemist (died 2007). March 23 – Barbara Low, English-born biochemist (died 2019). April 6 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012) April 9 – Alex Moulton, English mechanical engineer and inventor (died 2012). May 12 – Tang Dingyuan, Chinese physicist (died 2019). June 17 – François Jacob, French biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013). July 10 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2006). July 11 – David Challinor, American biologist, naturalist and scientific administrator at the Smithsonian Institution (died 2008). July 25 – Rosalind Franklin, English crystallographer (died 1958). July 30 – Marie Tharp, American geologist (died 2006). August 15 – Eleonore Trefftz, German molecular and nuclear physicist (died 2017). August 22 – Denton Cooley, American cardiac surgeon (died 2016). September 29 – Peter D. Mitchell, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992). October 29 – Baruj Benacerraf, Venezuelan immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011). November 13 – Abraham Lilienfeld, American epidemiologist (died 1984). December 6 – George Porter, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002). Deaths January 3 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (born 1888). January 6 – Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen, Danish mathematician (born 1839). March 13 – Charles Lapworth, English geologist (born 1842). March 26 – William Chester Minor, American surgeon (born 1834). March 31 – Paul Bachmann, German mathematician (born 1837). April 3 – Mary Katharine Brandegee, American botanist (born 1844). April 8 – John Brashear, American astronomer (born 1840). April 9 – Moritz Cantor, German historian of mathematics (born 1829). April 26 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (born 1887). June 20 Marie Adolphe Carnot, French chemist and mining engineer (born 1839). John Grigg, New Zealand astronomer (born 1838). August 10 – Ádám Politzer, Hungarian otologist (born 1835). August 12 – Hermann Struve, Russian-born astronomer (born 1854). August 16 – Norman Lockyer, English astronomer (born 1836). August 31 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physiologist and psychologist (born 1832). October 17 – Reginald Farrer, English botanist (born 1880). November 4 – Ludwig Struve, Russian astronomer (born 1858). December 3 – William de Wiveleslie Abney, English astronomer and photographer (born 1843). References Category:20th century in science Category:1920s in science