Sources
September 29-October 12
Broken links repaired 2 October 2024.
50-year, 100-year, 150-year, etc. anniversaries appear in bold red.
See also Today in Science History by Ian Ellis.
September 29
September 30
- Antoine-Jerome Balard born 1802: discovered bromine (Br, element 35), hypochlorous acid, and dichlorine monoxide. (View the first sample of bromine isolated by Balard.)
- Johann Deisenhofer born 1943: three-dimensional structure of proteins involved in photosynthesis; Nobel Prize, 1988
- Hans Geiger born 1882: invented Geiger counter for detecting radiation; scattering of alpha particles in lab of Ernest Rutherford. (Read 1909, 1910, and 1913 papers.)
- Jean-Marie Lehn born 1939: three-dimensional stacked-layer polycyclic compounds; Nobel Prize, 1987
- Harry Mork, Arthur Little, and William Walker receive first US patent (709,922) for rayon (a name coined later for this "artificial silk" of cellulose acetate), 1902.
- William Morton uses ether in pulling a tooth of Eben Frost, 1846, the first published use of ether as an anaesthetic.
- Jean Perrin born 1870: research on cathode rays; Brownian movement as it relates to molecular reality; coined term "Avogadro constant"; Nobel Prize (physics), 1926.
- Louis Werner and Isadore Perlman reported isolating first quantity of a compound of curium (Cm, element 96) in 1947 at University of California, Berkeley.
October 1
October 2
- Walter Baird born 1908: analytical instrument maker.
- Alexis Thérèse Petit born 1791: specific heats of solids (law of Dulong and Petit)
- William Ramsay born 1852: co-discoverer of neon (Ne, element 10), argon (Ar, 18), krypton (Kr, 36), and xenon (Xe, 54); isolated helium (He, 2); made a place for the noble gases in the periodic table; study of radium emanation (radon) and its production of helium; Nobel Prize, 1904. (Read a prediction of the discovery of neon or an account of the discovery of argon by his collaborator, Lord Rayleigh or his Gases of the Atmosphere.)
- John Ross born 1926: kinetics and thermodynamics of nonlinear systems far from equilibrium; complex reaction mechanisms.
- Alexander Robertus Todd born 1907: nucleotides and coenzymes; Nobel Prize, 1957
October 3
October 4
October 5
October 5
October 6
October 7
October 8
October 9
- Announcement of the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry
- Hermann Emil Fischer born 1852: synthesis of sugars and their stereochemistry (Fischer projections), uric acid, caffeine, and other contributions to organic chemistry; Nobel Prize, 1902
- Max von Laue born 1879: X-rays and crystal structure (Laue method); Nobel prize (Physics), 1914. View chapters in Fifty Years of X-Ray Diffraction, edited by P. P. Ewald, describing Laue's discovery and subsequent developments of it, as well as biographical information on Laue.
- Pierre-Joseph Macquer born 1718: research on arsenates and platinum. View his Dictionary of Chemistry (1766, en français) [Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3] or read a couple of its entries or his Elémens de chymie pratique in English translation.
- Peter Mansfield born 1933: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to medical imaging; Nobel Prize (Medicine), 2003.
October 10
October 11
October 12
Principal Sources: Milestones in Chemistry Calendar, Copyright © 1996, remains the principal source of information; however, I have checked (and in some cases corrected) its birth dates. Chemical and Engineering News "Top 75" (75th anniversary issue, 1/12/98) and Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists edited by John Daintith et al. (Institute of Physics, 2nd ed, 1994) are other important sources. Women in Chemistry and Physics : a Biobibliographic Sourcebook, edited by Louise S. Grinstein, Rose K. Rose, and Miriam H. Rafailovich and Notable Women in the Physical Sciences edited by Benjamin F. and Barbara S. Shearer have helped me to add several women to the calendar. The Illustrated Almanac of Science, Technology, and Invention by Raymond L. Francis is the source of several entries. Thanks to all interested readers who have suggested events for inclusion; Lucio Gelmini has been particularly helpful in this regard.
Dates are given according to the Gregorian calendar to the extent I could find them. (Note: this applies particularly to 19th-century Russians.)
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