Göttingen and Its Nobel Prize Winners
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Peter P. T. Sah and the Synthesis of Vitamin C in China and Europe
EASTM 20 (2003 ): 92-98 Peter P. T. Sah and the Synthesis of Vitamin C in China and Europe Zhang Li [Zhang Li is Associate Professor at the Institute for the History of Natural Sci ence, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She has published a number of articles on the history of modern chemistry of both the West and China and the social his tory of science in twentieth-century China, including studies on the influence of higher education reform on chemical education in the 1950s in China (1992) and the coordination between national needs and scientists' autonomy during 1949-/965 (2003). She recently received her doctoral degree in the Philosophy of Science from Peking University, completing a dissertation on the institution alization of science in the People's Republic of China. Her forthcoming book is called Gaofenzi kexue zai Zhongguo de jianli ( 1949-1965) r%'J 5t r f-4 ~ ft i:p 00 R"J ~ JI. (1949-1965) ( Institutionalization of Polymer Science in China(l949- /965) Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe 2003, ¥ff 1¥i : W J'.f: ¥!I.. W tB It& ffr±, 2003).J * * * The synthesis of vitamin C was one of the main scientific achievements in the 1930s. Many scientists in Europe made contributions to this field, especially Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986) from Hungary and Sir Walter Norman Ha worth ( 1883-1950) from England, both of whom won the Nobel Prize in 1937. In the same period, a Chinese chemist, Sa Bentie ~ :;$: ~ (1900-1986), better known outside China as Peter P. T. Sah, was also studying vitamin C. -
James Chadwick: Ahead of His Time
July 15, 2020 James Chadwick: ahead of his time Gerhard Ecker University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Wien, Austria Abstract James Chadwick is known for his discovery of the neutron. Many of his earlier findings and ideas in the context of weak and strong nuclear forces are much less known. This biographical sketch attempts to highlight the achievements of a scientist who paved the way for contemporary subatomic physics. arXiv:2007.06926v1 [physics.hist-ph] 14 Jul 2020 1 Early years James Chadwick was born on Oct. 20, 1891 in Bollington, Cheshire in the northwest of England, as the eldest son of John Joseph Chadwick and his wife Anne Mary. His father was a cotton spinner while his mother worked as a domestic servant. In 1895 the parents left Bollington to seek a better life in Manchester. James was left behind in the care of his grandparents, a parallel with his famous predecessor Isaac Newton who also grew up with his grandmother. It might be an interesting topic for sociologists of science to find out whether there is a correlation between children educated by their grandmothers and future scientific geniuses. James attended Bollington Cross School. He was very attached to his grandmother, much less to his parents. Nevertheless, he joined his parents in Manchester around 1902 but found it difficult to adjust to the new environment. The family felt they could not afford to send James to Manchester Grammar School although he had been offered a scholarship. Instead, he attended the less prestigious Central Grammar School where the teaching was actually very good, as Chadwick later emphasised. -
Einstein's Mistakes
Einstein’s Mistakes Einstein was the greatest genius of the Twentieth Century, but his discoveries were blighted with mistakes. The Human Failing of Genius. 1 PART 1 An evaluation of the man Here, Einstein grows up, his thinking evolves, and many quotations from him are listed. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Einstein at 14 Einstein at 26 Einstein at 42 3 Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Einstein at age 61 (1940) 4 Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Born in Ulm, Swabian region of Southern Germany. From a Jewish merchant family. Had a sister Maja. Family rejected Jewish customs. Did not inherit any mathematical talent. Inherited stubbornness, Inherited a roguish sense of humor, An inclination to mysticism, And a habit of grüblen or protracted, agonizing “brooding” over whatever was on its mind. Leading to the thought experiment. 5 Portrait in 1947 – age 68, and his habit of agonizing brooding over whatever was on its mind. He was in Princeton, NJ, USA. 6 Einstein the mystic •“Everyone who is seriously involved in pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man..” •“When I assess a theory, I ask myself, if I was God, would I have arranged the universe that way?” •His roguish sense of humor was always there. •When asked what will be his reactions to observational evidence against the bending of light predicted by his general theory of relativity, he said: •”Then I would feel sorry for the Good Lord. The theory is correct anyway.” 7 Einstein: Mathematics •More quotations from Einstein: •“How it is possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience, fits so excellently the objects of physical reality?” •Questions asked by many people and Einstein: •“Is God a mathematician?” •His conclusion: •“ The Lord is cunning, but not malicious.” 8 Einstein the Stubborn Mystic “What interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world” Some broadcasters expunged the comment from the soundtrack because they thought it was blasphemous. -
ECE Illinois WINTER2005.Indd
Electrical and Computer Engineering Alumni News ECE Alumni Association newsletter University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Winter 2005-2006 Jack Kilby, 1923–2005 Volume XL Cancer claims Nobel laureate, ECE alumnus By Laura Schmitt and Jamie Hutchinson Inside this issue Microchip inventor and Nobel physics laureate DEPARTMENT HEAD’S Jack Kilby (BSEE ’47) died from cancer on MESSAGE June 22, 2005. He was 81. Kilby received the 2000 Nobel Prize in 2 Physics on December 10, 2001, in an award ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. Kilby was ROOM-TEMPERATURE LASER recognized for his part in the invention and 4 development of the integrated circuit, which he first demonstrated on September 12, 1958, while at Texas Instruments. At the Nobel awards ceremony, Royal Swedish Academy member Tord Claesen called that date “one of the most important birth dates in the history of technology.” A measure of Kilby’s importance can be seen in the praise that was lavished on him in death. Lengthy obituaries appeared in engi- Jack Kilby neering and science trade publications as well FEATURED ALUMNI CAREERS as in major newspapers worldwide, including where his interest in electricity and electron- the New York Times, Financial Times, and The ics blossomed at an early age. His father ran a 29 Economist. On June 24, ABC News honored power company that served a wide area in rural Kilby by naming him its Person of the Week. Kansas, and he used amateur radio to keep in Reporter Elizabeth Vargas introduced the contact with customers during emergencies. segment by noting that Kilby’s invention During an ice storm, the teenage Kilby saw “had a direct effect on billions of people in the firsthand how electronic technology could world,” despite his relative anonymity among positively impact people’s lives. -
Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus
Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus Name: Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus Lebensdaten: 25. Dezember 1876 - 9. Juni 1956 Adolf Windaus war ein deutscher Chemiker. Er untersuchte Naturstoffe, vor allem die biochemisch wichtigen Sterine und ihren Zusammenhang mit anderen Naturstoffen. Er entdeckte die chemische Verwandtschaft von Cholesterin und Gallensäure. Außerdem lieferte er Arbeiten über Vitamine, vor allem das Vitamin D. Zwischen 1927 und 1931 gelang ihm die Isolierung mehrerer D-Vitamine. Seine Forschungen bildeten die Grundlage für später von seinen Schülern durchgeführten Arbeiten über die menschlichen Sexualhormone. Für seine Verdienste um die Erforschung des Aufbaus der Sterine und ihres Zusammenhangs mit den Vitaminen wurde Adolf Windaus 1928 mit dem Nobelpreis für Chemie ausgezeichnet. Akademischer und beruflicher Werdegang Adolf Windaus begann 1895 ein Studium der Medizin an der Universität Freiburg. Er wechselte nach Berlin, wo er 1897 das Physikum bestand. 1899 wurde er in Freiburg mit einer Arbeit über Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Digitalisstoffe promoviert wurde. 1901 war er zunächst in Berlin als Assistent von Emil Fischer (Nobelpreis für Chemie 1902) tätig. Während dieser Zeit wandte er sich zunehmend chemischen Fragestellungen zu. Außerdem begann er mit seinen Forschungen zu den Sterinen. 1903 habilitierte er sich in Freiburg mit einer Arbeit über Cholesterin. 1906 erhielt er eine außerordentliche Professur an der Universität Göttingen. Im Anschluss wechselte er für zwei Jahre an die Universität Innsbruck, wo er eine außerordentliche Professur für angewandte medizinische Chemie erhielt. 1915 ging er zurück nach Göttingen, wo er als Nachfolger von Otto Wallach (Nobelpreis für Chemie 1910) Ordinarius für Chemie wurde. Dort blieb er bis zu seiner Emeritierung im Jahr 1944. -
Gã¼nther Ohloff ÂŒ Chemist & Pioneer in the Art
BIRTHDAY 65 CHIMIA 2004, 58, No. 1/2 Chimia 58 (2004) 65–66 © Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft ISSN 0009–4293 Günther Ohloff – Chemist & Pioneer in the Art of Perfumery On the Occasion of his 80th Birthday Wolfgang Giersch, Gerald Uhde, and Ferdinand Näf* Keywords: Ohloff, G. With a first degree in pharmacy, he then It was during this period that he devel- studied chemistry at the Technische Hoch- oped his research interests for the chemistry schule Dresden where he received his diplo- of perfumery extracts from animal sources, ma with a thesis entitled ‘Chemical Investi- in particular amber and musk type ingredi- gation of Turpentine Oil of Silvester Pine ents, and which led to Ambropur®, Lac- (Pinus Silvestris L.)’.After followed a Ph.D. toskaton® and Isobergamiat® as commer- in 1951 under Professor Heinrich Wienhaus cial products. for a dissertation entitled ‘The Condensa- Already during his early days as a phar- tion of Terpenes with Formaldehyde’. macist, and through his whole life he He then decided to move into industry: showed lively interest in the potential phys- Schimmel & Co, Miltitz near Leipzig, iological activities of odorants. In 1956 a which had been the largest perfume manu- study about the aphrodisiac effects of his facturer in the world up to World War I. Ambropur® was published [1]. One of the The exposure in his young days to the reported investigations concerned a 54 year constituents of essential oils, especially under old opera singer suffering from Parkinson’s Prof. Heinrich Wienhaus’ guidance, one of disease and a strongly impaired libido. Af- Prof. Otto Wallach’s last students, influenced ter Ambropur® had been administered to him throughout his scientific career. -
October 24–26, 2021 2
SCIENCE · INNOVATION · POLICIES WORLD HEALTH SUMMIT BERLIN, GERMANY & DIGITAL OCTOBER 24–26, 2021 2 “No-one is safe from COVID-19; “All countries have signed up to Universal no-one is safe until we are all Health Coverage by 2030. But we cannot safe from it. Even those who wait ten years. We need health systems conquer the virus within their that work, before we face an outbreak own borders remain prisoners of something more contagious than within these borders until it is COVID-19; more deadly; or both.” conquered everywhere.” ANTÓNIO GUTERRES Secretary-General, United Nations FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER Federal President, Germany “We firmly believe that the “All pulling together—this must rights of women and girls be the hallmark of the European are not negotiable.” Health Union. I believe this can NATALIA KANEM be a test case for true global Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) health compact. The need for leadership is clear and I believe the European Union must as- sume this responsibility.” “The lesson is clear: a strong health URSULA VON DER LEYEN system is a resilient health system. Health President, European Commission systems and preparedness are not only “Governments of countries an investment in the future, they are the that are doing well during foundation of our response today.” the pandemic have not TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) only shown political leader- ship, but also have listened “If we don’t address the concerns and to scientists and followed fears we will not do ourselves a favor. their recommendations.” In the end, it is about how technology SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN Chief Scientist, World Health can be advanced as well as how Organization (WHO) we can make healthcare more human.” BERND MONTAG President and CEO, Siemens Healthineers AG, Germany “The pandemic has brought to light the “Academic collabo ration is importance of digital technologies and in place and is really a how it can radically bridging partnership. -
Wolfgang Pauli Niels Bohr Paul Dirac Max Planck Richard Feynman
Wolfgang Pauli Niels Bohr Paul Dirac Max Planck Richard Feynman Louis de Broglie Norman Ramsey Willis Lamb Otto Stern Werner Heisenberg Walther Gerlach Ernest Rutherford Satyendranath Bose Max Born Erwin Schrödinger Eugene Wigner Arnold Sommerfeld Julian Schwinger David Bohm Enrico Fermi Albert Einstein Where discovery meets practice Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQ ST in Baden-Württemberg . Introduction “But I do not wish to be forced into abandoning strict These two quotes by Albert Einstein not only express his well more securely, develop new types of computer or construct highly causality without having defended it quite differently known aversion to quantum theory, they also come from two quite accurate measuring equipment. than I have so far. The idea that an electron exposed to a different periods of his life. The first is from a letter dated 19 April Thus quantum theory extends beyond the field of physics into other 1924 to Max Born regarding the latter’s statistical interpretation of areas, e.g. mathematics, engineering, chemistry, and even biology. beam freely chooses the moment and direction in which quantum mechanics. The second is from Einstein’s last lecture as Let us look at a few examples which illustrate this. The field of crypt it wants to move is unbearable to me. If that is the case, part of a series of classes by the American physicist John Archibald ography uses number theory, which constitutes a subdiscipline of then I would rather be a cobbler or a casino employee Wheeler in 1954 at Princeton. pure mathematics. Producing a quantum computer with new types than a physicist.” The realization that, in the quantum world, objects only exist when of gates on the basis of the superposition principle from quantum they are measured – and this is what is behind the moon/mouse mechanics requires the involvement of engineering. -
Sir Charles Sherrington'sthe Integrative Action of the Nervous System: a Centenary Appreciation
doi:10.1093/brain/awm022 Brain (2007), 130, 887^894 OCCASIONAL PAPER Sir Charles Sherrington’sThe integrative action of the nervous system: a centenary appreciation Robert E. Burke Formerly Chief of the Laboratory of Neural Control, National Institute of Neurological Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA Present address: P.O. Box 1722, El Prado, NM 87529,USA E-mail: [email protected] In 1906 Sir Charles Sherrington published The Integrative Action of the Nervous System, which was a collection of ten lectures delivered two years before at Yale University in the United States. In this monograph Sherrington summarized two decades of painstaking experimental observations and his incisive interpretation of them. It settled the then-current debate between the ‘‘Reticular Theory’’ versus ‘‘Neuron Doctrine’’ ideas about the fundamental nature of the nervous system in mammals in favor of the latter, and it changed forever the way in which subsequent generations have viewed the organization of the central nervous system. Sherrington’s magnum opus contains basic concepts and even terminology that are now second nature to every student of the subject. This brief article reviews the historical context in which the book was written, summarizes its content, and considers its impact on Neurology and Neuroscience. Keywords: Neuron Doctrine; spinal reflexes; reflex coordination; control of movement; nervous system organization Introduction The first decade of the 20th century saw two momentous The Silliman lectures events for science. The year 1905 was Albert Einstein’s Sherrington’s 1906 monograph, published simultaneously in ‘miraculous year’ during which three of his most celebrated London, New Haven and New York, was based on a series papers in theoretical physics appeared. -
Bringing out the Dead Alison Abbott Reviews the Story of How a DNA Forensics Team Cracked a Grisly Puzzle
BOOKS & ARTS COMMENT DADO RUVIC/REUTERS/CORBIS DADO A forensics specialist from the International Commission on Missing Persons examines human remains from a mass grave in Tomašica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. FORENSIC SCIENCE Bringing out the dead Alison Abbott reviews the story of how a DNA forensics team cracked a grisly puzzle. uring nine sweltering days in July Bosnia’s Million Bones tells the story of how locating, storing, pre- 1995, Bosnian Serb soldiers slaugh- innovative DNA forensic science solved the paring and analysing tered about 7,000 Muslim men and grisly conundrum of identifying each bone the million or more Dboys from Srebrenica in Bosnia. They took so that grieving families might find some bones. It was in large them to several different locations and shot closure. part possible because them, or blew them up with hand grenades. This is an important book: it illustrates the during those fate- They then scooped up the bodies with bull- unspeakable horrors of a complex war whose ful days in July 1995, dozers and heavy earth-moving equipment, causes have always been hard for outsiders to aerial reconnais- and dumped them into mass graves. comprehend. The author, a British journalist, sance missions by the Bosnia’s Million It was the single most inhuman massacre has the advantage of on-the-ground knowl- Bones: Solving the United States and the of the Bosnian war, which erupted after the edge of the war and of the International World’s Greatest North Atlantic Treaty break-up of Yugoslavia and lasted from 1992 Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), an Forensic Puzzle Organization had to 1995, leaving some 100,000 dead. -
Is It Time for a New Paradigm in Physics?
Vigier IOP Publishing IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1251 (2019) 012024 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1251/1/012024 Is it time for a new paradigm in physics? Shukri Klinaku University of Prishtina Sheshi Nëna Terezë, Prishtina, Kosovo [email protected] Abstract. The fact that the two main pillars of modern Physics are incompatible with each other; the fact that some unsolved problems have accumulated in Physics; and, in particular, the fact that Physics has been invaded by weird concepts (as if we were in the Middle Ages); these facts are quite sufficient to confirm the need for a new paradigm in Physics. But the conclusion that a new paradigm is needed is not sufficient, without an answer to the question: is there sufficient sources and resources to construct a new paradigm in Physics? I consider that the answer to this question is also yes. Today, Physics has sufficient material in experimental facts, theoretical achievements and human and technological potential. So, there is the need and opportunity for a new paradigm in Physics. The core of the new paradigm of Physics would be the nature of matter. According to this new paradigm, Physics should give up on wave-particle dualism, should redefine waves, and should end the mystery about light and its privilege in Physics. The consequences of this would make Physics more understandable, and - more importantly - would make it capable of solving current problems and opening up new perspectives in exploring nature and the universe. 1. Introduction Quantum Physics and the theory of relativity are the ‘two main pillars’ of modern Physics. -
Peptide Chemistry up to Its Present State
Appendix In this Appendix biographical sketches are compiled of many scientists who have made notable contributions to the development of peptide chemistry up to its present state. We have tried to consider names mainly connected with important events during the earlier periods of peptide history, but could not include all authors mentioned in the text of this book. This is particularly true for the more recent decades when the number of peptide chemists and biologists increased to such an extent that their enumeration would have gone beyond the scope of this Appendix. 250 Appendix Plate 8. Emil Abderhalden (1877-1950), Photo Plate 9. S. Akabori Leopoldina, Halle J Plate 10. Ernst Bayer Plate 11. Karel Blaha (1926-1988) Appendix 251 Plate 12. Max Brenner Plate 13. Hans Brockmann (1903-1988) Plate 14. Victor Bruckner (1900- 1980) Plate 15. Pehr V. Edman (1916- 1977) 252 Appendix Plate 16. Lyman C. Craig (1906-1974) Plate 17. Vittorio Erspamer Plate 18. Joseph S. Fruton, Biochemist and Historian Appendix 253 Plate 19. Rolf Geiger (1923-1988) Plate 20. Wolfgang Konig Plate 21. Dorothy Hodgkins Plate. 22. Franz Hofmeister (1850-1922), (Fischer, biograph. Lexikon) 254 Appendix Plate 23. The picture shows the late Professor 1.E. Jorpes (r.j and Professor V. Mutt during their favorite pastime in the archipelago on the Baltic near Stockholm Plate 24. Ephraim Katchalski (Katzir) Plate 25. Abraham Patchornik Appendix 255 Plate 26. P.G. Katsoyannis Plate 27. George W. Kenner (1922-1978) Plate 28. Edger Lederer (1908- 1988) Plate 29. Hennann Leuchs (1879-1945) 256 Appendix Plate 30. Choh Hao Li (1913-1987) Plate 31.