12 IMMIGRANTS WHO MADE AMERICAN SCIENCE GREAT

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12 IMMIGRANTS WHO MADE AMERICAN SCIENCE GREAT by Tristan Poehlmann www.12StoryLibrary.com

Copyright © 2019 by 12-Story Library, Mankato, MN 56003. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

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Photographs ©: Library of Congress, cover, 1; PD, 4; Wellcome Collection/CC4.0, 5; Time, Inc. UPI Photo Service/Newscom, 6; Al. Aumuller/Library of Congress, 7; Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo, 8; Smithsonian Institution Archives/PD, 9; PD, 9; Bettmann/Getty Images, 10; NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al., 11; Gjon Mili/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images, 12; Science Service (Smithsonian Institution)/CC, 13; ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo, 14; NASA, 15; PD, 16; NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, 17; Janwikifoto/CC3.0, 18; NASA’s Earth Observatory, 19; PD, 20; ilikestudio/Shutterstock.com, 21; Holger Motzkau/CC3.0, 22; vrx/Shutterstock.com, 23; US Department of Energy National Laboratory/University of California, 24; NASA, 25; Alchetron/CC3.0, 26; Fermilab, Reidar Hahn/PD, 27; Justinvasel/ CC4.0, 27; Smithsonian Institution/CC, 28; Rodarenas/CC4.0, 29

ISBN 978-1-63235-576-8 (hardcover) 978-1-63235-630-7 (paperback) 978-1-63235-691-8 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018937978

Printed in the United States of America Mankato, MN July 2018

About the Cover Nicola Tesla in 1890.

Access free, up-to-date content on this topic plus a full digital version of this book. Scan the QR code on page 31 or use your school’s login at 12StoryLibrary.com. Table of Contents

Nikola Tesla Lights Up the World...... 4

Albert Einstein Explains Space and Time...... 6

Maria Goeppert-Mayer Maps the Atomic Nucleus...... 8

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Discovers Black Holes...... 10

Chien-Shiung Wu Breaks a Law of Physics...... 12

Arno Allan Penzias Hears the Big Bang...... 14

Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann Grows Life from Rocks...... 16

Mario Molina Saves the Ozone Layer...... 18

Huda Akil Proves That Stress Changes the Brain...... 20

Aziz Sancar Decodes the Secrets of DNA Repair...... 22

Inez Fung Predicts Earth’s Climate Change...... 24

Mayly Sánchez Detects Invisible Particles...... 26

More Immigrants in History...... 28

Glossary...... 30

For More Information...... 31

Index...... 32

About the Author...... 32 1 Nikola Tesla Lights Up the World

what is now Croatia. Tesla’s family was Serbian. His father was a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church. His mother invented clever household tools.

Tesla studied math and physics in school. He learned engineering. In 1884, he immigrated to the United States. He began working for Thomas Edison. But Tesla disagreed with Edison’s ideas. Edison used direct current (DC) electricity. Tesla had an idea he believed would be more efficient.

In 1887, Tesla started his own company. He developed a system to generate alternating current The world runs on electricity (AC) electricity. In 1893, Tesla because of Nikola Tesla. He demonstrated his system at the invented the power system we use Chicago World’s Fair. The crowd was today. He also thought up wireless impressed. The invention brought communication. him money and respect. Tesla Tesla was born in 1856. He was hired to design a new power lived in the mountains of plant. It would generate power from 4 Tesla reading while his equipment produces alternating currents, June, 1901. Niagara Falls. Tesla’s ideas were ahead of his He designed time. He believed the world could be a system that connected wirelessly. He predicted worked perfectly. It many things about the future. produced enough electricity to light New York City. 112 THE MAD SCIENTIST Number of US patents People often found Tesla’s habits held by Nikola Tesla. odd. His meals had to be boiled. He • Tesla emigrated from washed his hands constantly. He Croatia in 1884 for a job. was very afraid of germs. But he • He was an electrical loved to feed the pigeons in New engineer and inventor. York City parks. He even took hurt • The power system he pigeons home. He nursed them developed is still used back to health. today. 5 2 Albert Einstein Explains Space and Time

to study electrical engineering. Einstein did not like school, but he was very curious. He taught himself math and physics. He passed his university exams despite not going to class.

In 1905, Einstein changed physics forever. He published a series of new ideas. One was the math equation E = mc2. It explained how matter is turned into energy. He also published his theory of special relativity. The theory came from Einstein’s thought experiments.

Einstein liked to picture his ideas in his mind. He could figure out In 1999, TIME magazine named whether or not they were right. One Albert Einstein Person of the thought experiment was about light Century. Einstein was a scientist speed. He pictured traveling on a whose ideas stunned the world. He wave of light. He realized something. changed how we think about the At light speed, time passes at a universe. different rate. Einstein discovered Einstein was born in Germany in that space and time depend on 1879. His family was Jewish. point of view. In 1921, he won the 6 Einstein’s father wanted him Nobel Prize in Physics. THINK ABOUT IT 4 Einstein’s thought experiments Number of physics were scientific tools. He was able papers Albert Einstein to imagine how light would travel published in 1905. through space. How would you • Einstein emigrated from prepare for your own thought Germany in 1933 to experiment? escape discrimination. • He was a physicist who helped create modern physics. In 1933, Adolf Hitler banned Jewish • He developed the theory professors from teaching. Einstein of relativity and the 2. lost his job. He immigrated to the math equation E = mc United States to continue his work. Einstein’s influence helped physics grow in America.

Einstein received his American citizenship in 1940. 7 Index

Akil, Huda, 20-21 Fung, Inez Payne-Gaposchkin, alien life, 17 Cecilia, 28 alternating current, 4-5 Goeppert-Mayer, Maria, Penzias, Arno Allan, 14- atomic nucleus, 8-9 8-9 15 Audubon, John James, physics, 4, 6-7, 8, 10-11, 28 Manhattan Project, 12 12-13, 14-15, 26 Molina, Mario, 18-19 Big Bang theory, 14-15 Muir, John, 29 radioactivity, 9, 12 biologist, 16-17 radio waves in space, 14 black holes, 10-11 neutrinos, 26-27 Nobel Prize, 7, 8-9, 10- Sancar, Aziz, 22-23 Chandrasekhar, 11, 12-13, 15, 18-19, Sánchez, Mayly, 26-27 Subrahmanyan, 10-11 23, 29 star collapse theory, chemistry, 14, 18, 23 nuclear technology, 12- 10-11 climate change, 24-25 13 Tesla, Nikola, 4-5 DNA, 22-23, 30 Ocampo-Friedmann, theory of relativity, 6-7 Roseli, 16-17 Einstein, Albert, 6-7, 31 Ochoa, Severo, 29 Wu, Chien-Shiung 12-13 electrical engineer, 5 ozone layer, 18-19 endorphins, 20-21 extreme environments, 16-17

About the Author READ MORE FROM Tristan Poehlmann is a freelance 12-STORY LIBRARY writer of educational nonfiction. Every 12-Story Library Book He holds a master’s degree in writing is available in many fomats. for children and young adults from For more information, visit Vermont College of Fine Arts. He lives 12StoryLibrary.com in the San Francisco Bay Area. 32

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Read all the books in A Nation of Immigrants

Immigrants have helped to shape every part of American life, from arts to sports, medicine to the military. In this inspiring series, you’ll meet more than 100 men and women who left their homes for many reasons. They brought their smarts, skills, and creativity to America and made it a better place.

A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS