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The Murder-Suicide of Heinrich von Kleist
21. November 2017 Harald Sack
On November 21, 1811, German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist Heinrich von Kleist committed suicide. Kleist stood as an outsider in the literary life of his time beyond the established camps and the literary eras of Weimar classical and romanticism. He is best known for the "historical knight play" Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, his comedy plays Der zerbrochne Krug and Amphitryon, the tragedy Penthesilea as well as his novels…
Earnest A. Hooton and Physical Anthropology
20. November 2017 Tabea Tietz
On November 20, 1887, Jewish-American physical anthropologist Earnest Hooton was born. Hooton investigated human evolution and racial differentiation, classified and described human populations, and examined the relationship between personality and physical type, particularly with respect to criminal behaviour. Education and Academic Career Earnest Albert Hooton was born in Clemansville, Wisconsin, USA. He was educated at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where heearned his BA in 1907. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to…
Russian Polymath Mikhail Lomonosov
On November 19, 1711, Russian polymath, scientist and writer Mikhail Lomonosov was born. Lomonosov made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the Law of Mass Conservation in chemical reactions. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art, philology, optical devices and others. Lomonosov was also a poet and influenced the formation of the modern Russian literary language. Family Background…
George Kistiakowsky – From the Manhattan Project to a Nuclear Weapons Ban
On November 18, 1900, Ukrainian-American physical chemist George Kistiakowsky was born. Kistiakowsky worked on developing the first atomic bomb but later advocated banning nuclear weapons. In the Manhattan project, he was in charge of X Division, which was responsible for the development of the explosive lenses necessary for an implosion-type nuclear weapon. Education and Academic Career George Bogdanovich Kistiakowsky went to the Russian Revolution in 1917 in Kiev and Moscow in private schools. However,…
Alain-René Lesage and The Devil upon Two Sticks
On November 17, 1747, French novelist and playwright Alain-René Lesage passed away. Lesage is best known for his comic novel The Devil upon Two Sticks (1707, Le Diable boiteux), his comedy Turcaret (1709), and his picaresque novel Gil Blas (1715–1735). Youth and Education Lesage was born in Sarzeau, a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France, located on the Rhuys peninsula between the Gulf of Morbihan and the Atlantic…
Venera 3 and the Soviet Venera Space Probe Program
On November 16, 1965, Soviet spacecraft Venera 3 was launched. The Venera program space probe was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. It possibly crashed on Venus on 1 March 1966, possibly making Venera 3 the first space probe to hit the surface of another planet. The Venera Series Space Probes The Venera series space probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and…
August Krogh and the Capillary Motor Regulation Mechanism
On November 15, 1874, Danish zoophysiologist August Krogh was born. Krogh contributed a number of fundamental discoveries within several fields of physiology, and is famous for developing the Krogh Principle, which states that "for such a large number of problems there will be some animal of choice, or a few such animals, on which it can be most conveniently studied." In 1920 August Krogh was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for…
Auguste Laurent and Organic Chemistry
On November 14, 1807, French chemist Auguste Laurent was born. Laurent developed organic chemistry as a distinct science. For a while, he assisted Jean Dumas, and extended his work, understanding organic compounds as derivatives of hydrocarbon molecules. He devised a systematic nomenclature for organic chemistry based on structural grouping of atoms within molecules to determine how the molecules combine in organic reactions. Youth and Education Auguste Laurent was born in the district…
Heinrich Hertz and the Successful Transmission of Electromagnetic Waves
On November 13, 1886, German physicist Heinrich Hertz succeeded to transmit electromagnetic waves from a sender to a receiver in Karlsruhe. Hertz conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves theorized by James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light.[4] The unit of frequency – cycle per second – was named the "hertz" in his honor. "The rigour of science requires that we distinguish well the undraped figure of Nature itself from the gay-coloured…
John William Strutt and the Rayleigh Scattering
On November 12, 1842, English physicist John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh was born. Rayleigh with William Ramsay, discovered argon, an achievement for which he earned the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904. He also discovered the phenomenon now called Rayleigh scattering, which can be used to explain why the sky is blue, and predicted the existence of the surface waves now known as Rayleigh waves. Education and the Theory of Sound…
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