General

Leap Years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days (a tropical year) to circle once around the Sun. If we didn't add a day on February 29 nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days!

Biology

In 1947, the first closed-circuit broadcast of a surgical operation showed procedures to observers in classrooms. Dr. Alfred Blalock, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md., demonstrated two operations on the heart. Two more heart operations were also seen and one on nerves of the spine.

Earth Science

In 1924, Harlow Shapley wrote back in reply to the letter from Edwin Hubble which presented the measurement of 300,000 parsecs as the distance to the Andromeda nebula. That was the first proof that the nebula was far outside the Milky, in fact, a separate galaxy. When Shapley had debated Heber Curtis on 26 Apr 1920, he presented his firm, life-long conviction that all the Milky Way represented the known universe (and, for instance, the Andromeda nebula was part of the Milky Way.)  On receipt of the letter, Shapley told Payne-Gaposchkin and said “Here is the letter that has destroyed my universe.” In his reply, Shapley said sarcastically that Hubble's letter was “the most entertaining piece of literature I have seen for a long time.” Hubble sent more data in a paper to the AAS meeting, read on 1 Jan 1925.

Physics

In 1932, the neutron was discovered by Dr. James Chadwick.

Chemistry

In 1900, German chemist Felix Hoffmann was issued a U.S. patent for “Acetyl Salicylic Acid” (No. 644,077). It was assigned to the Farben-Fabriken of Elberfeld Company, of New York. Hoffmann had discovered the chemical compound on 10 Aug 1897 while a researcher at the Bayer Company. It was marketed as Apirin, the familiar pain reliever, which at the time was a trademarked name. It was first sold in Germany in powder form, from 1 May 1899, and later in the more convenient tablet form, from 1 Jan 1915.

Quote

Here is a quote for you and your students to consider.

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over? - John Wooden

Thank you for your continued support and please don't hesitate to contact me when I can be of assistance. If you know of any your colleagues who would also like to receive our "Science Newsletter" just have them contact me by email and I will be glad to add their name to our distribution list.

January Science Newsletter

We hope that you are successful in working with your students to keep them excited about the process of science. We know that in the middle of the school year it can get to be a real challenge to keep your students focused on all that you have to offer. I encourage you to keep up the good work. And don’t hesitate to contact Capital Microscope when you are looking for the perfect science equipment to make science the exciting, active process that we know it can be.

We have some terrific values on our website. Click here to go to our home page to find all the Special Offers shown on that page. For example the National EcoLine Handheld Digital USB Microscope is only $89. This handheld digital USB microscope can enhance students’ discovery process by letting them see things up close. It also allows the capture of images on your computer so you can use the images to further enhance your students’ understanding of science.

We also continue to have great pricing on all our Ohaus balances such as the Ohaus Scout Pro. It has a 400 g capacity with a precision of 0.1 g and is specially priced at only $127.40. You can also find more about all our balances on our website at Balances.

Now is also a good time to schedule my visit to your school to service your microscopes and balances. I can work within your budget to get your equipment in top shape so your students can perform well in the lab with minimal frustration. Go to our Microscope Service page on our website to find out exactly all that our service includes. Contact me directly to discuss how we can help you get your microscopes operating like new at an extremely reasonable cost. We also can adjust, calibrate, zero, and clean mechanical balances. This will help those weighing labs go much smoother for you students.

Quote

Here is a quote to help your students understand the importance of experimentation.

It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

January Science History Tidbits

General

In 1885, the first U.S. patent for a roller coasting structure was issued to La Marcus Thompson of Coney Island, NY. (No. 332,762). Coney Island, at the terminus of New York City's extensive trolley line, was already a popular amusement park in 1884, when Thompson opened a new attraction - the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway. For a five-cent ticket, passengers sat sideways in cars that by gravity descended the gentle waves of the 600-foot wooden mini-railway, reaching a top speed of six miles per hour. The enormously popular ride earned back Thompson's original $1,600 investment within three weeks. Within four years, he had built about 50 more across the nation and in Europe. On 22 Dec 1885, he patented the gravity switch-back railway.

Biology

In 1947, Stanford University reported the isolation of the polio virus, after three years of research funded by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The work was done by Drs Hubert S. Loring and C.E. Schwerdt of the Stanford Dept. of Chemistry. Laboratory tests and photographs showed it to be at least 80% pure, and that it could lead to producing an impurity-free vaccine for use against infantile paralysis. Other vaccines existing at the time had problems with large amounts of impurities. The virus was obtained by purification from ground-up brain and spinal cord of rats infected with the polio virus. Electron microscope photographs showed the virus as a spherical partical about 25 nanometers across.

Earth Science

In 1610, Galileo dated his first letter describing telescopic observations in which he saw the moon's cratered surface using his twenty-powered spyglass. He wrote, “... it is seen that the Moon is most evidently not at all of an even, smooth, and regular surface, as a great many people believe of it and of the other heavenly bodies, but on the contrary it is rough and unequal. In short it is shown to be such that sane reasoning cannot conclude otherwise than that it is full of prominences and cavities similar, but much larger, to the mountains and valleys spread over the Earth's surface.” Galileo went on to describe the phenomena in considerable detail, rehearsing, as it were, the observations and conclusions he was to publish more elaborately a few months later in Sidereus Nuncius.

Physics

In 1919, Professor Ernest Rutherford succeeded in splitting the atom. By bombarding nitrogen atoms with alpha particles emitted by radioactive materials he transmuted the nitrogen atoms into oxygen.

Chemistry

In 1833, Robert Kane, a 24-year-old Irish chemist, published a paper in which he was the first to propose the existence of the -C2H5 ethyl radical (Dublin Journal of Medical and Chemical Sciences, which he founded). His idea was initially "a subject of amusement and ridicule among the chemical circles" of Dublin. A year later, when similar ideas were proposed by Justus Liebig, the authority of that great German chemist gave credibility to the concept, and Kane eventually received the credit for it. By the age of 22, he had already written a book, Elements of Practical Pharmacy, and was a professor of chemistry at Dublin's Apothecaries' Hall. His research spanned inorganic, organic, physical, biological and applied chemistry.

Its that time of year again. Don't forget about the scientist in your life when you're shopping for holiday gifts. Capital Microscope is here to help with selected microscope packages. Check them out! And don't forget to order soon so Santa can get them under the tree in time.

December Science Newsletter

All of us at Capital Microscope know that all the teachers and students are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas season. As you, your students, and parents are looking for science related gifts we have some great value suggestions on our website. Click on Holiday Gift Ideas to find some great gift suggestions at a great value.

Whether it is balances, safety equipment, microscopes, or instructional materials you can be assured that we have the latest products at the best price with the personal support to help you find exactly what you need to continue bringing the excitement of science to your students. You can find all our products with details at our Capital Microscope Website. If you have a particular item in mind and would like to find what we have to offer, use our "search:" box at the top of the home page. This will guide you to our many products. And I am always available by email or phone when you need advice on the best fit for you science laboratory needs.

We service all brands and types of microscopes at a cost that can fit within your budget. Don't let a poorly operating microscope spoil the experience of your students. Call me now to arrange a visit to you school to take care of your microscopes. Click here for complete information concerning our service. Contact me by email to get your school on our service calendar. We also can adjust, calibrate, zero, and clean mechanical balances. This will help those weighing labs go much smoother for you students.

Quote

Here is a quote that reflects the spirit of the holiday season. I hope you and your students enjoy it.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge - Thomas Carlyle

December Science Fun Facts

General

In 1911, at Stockholm, Sweden, Marie Curie became the first person to be awarded a second Nobel prize. She had isolated radium by electrolyzing molten radium chloride. At the negative electrode the radium formed an amalgam with mercury. Heating the amalgam in a silica tube filled with nitrogen at low pressure boiled away the mercury, leaving pure white deposits of radium. This second prize was for her individual achievements in Chemistry, whereas her first prize (1903) was a collaborative effort with her husband, Pierre, and Henri Becquerel in Physics for her contributions in the discovery of radium and polonium

Biology

In 1967, the first synthesis of biologically active DNA in a test tube was announced at a press conference by Arthur Kornberg who had worked with Mehran Goulian at Stanford and Robert L. Sinsheimer of MIT. Kornberg chose to replicate the relatively simple DNA chain of the Phi X174 virus, which infects bacteria (a bacteriophage). It has a single strand of DNA only about 5500 nucleotide building blocks long, and with about 11 genes, it was easier to purify without breaking it up. Having isolated the Phi X174 DNA, they used the DNA from E. coli, a common bacterium in the human intestine that could copy a DNA template from any organism. The viral DNA template thus copied was found to be able to infect bacteria - it was error-free, active DNA.

Earth Science

In 1995, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter and entered orbit after 6 years years of travel including a flyby of Venus and two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida. The orbiter had also carried an atmospheric probe with scientific instruments, which it had released from the main spacecraft in Jul 1995, five months before reaching Jupiter Galileo then spent a further 8 years examining Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. In 1994, the Galileo orbiter was present to watch the fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crash into Jupiter. Its mission was concluded 21 Sep 2003 by sending the orbiter into Jupiter's atmosphere at a speed of nearly 50 km/sec, destroying it to avoid any chance of it contaminating local moons with bacteria from Earth.

Physics

In 1900, German physicist Max Planck made public his ideas on quantum physics at a meeting of the German Physics Society, revolutionizing scientists' understanding of physics. Planck demonstrated that in certain situations energy exhibits characteristics of physical matter, something unthinkable at the time. He suggested the explanation energy exists in discrete packets, which he called "quanta."

Chemistry

In 1933, Rutherford suggested the names diplogen for the newly discovered heavy hydrogen isotope and diplon for its nucleus. He presented these ideas in the Discussion on Heavy Hydrogen at the Royal Society. For ordinary hydrogen, the lightest of the atoms, having a nuclues of a sole proton, he coined a related name: haplogen. (Greek: haploos, single; diploos, double.) In 1931, Harold Urey had discovered small quantities of atoms of heavy hydrogen wherever ordinary hydrogen occurred. The mass of its nucleus was double that of ordinary hydrogen. This hydrogen-2 is now called deuterium, as named by Urey (Greek: deuteros, second). Its nucleus, named a deuteron, has a neutron in addition to a proton.

November Science History Tidbits

General

In 1869, the first issue was published of the journal Nature, edited by astronomer Sir Norman Lockyer. The first issue included articles on astronomy, plants, moths, science teaching in schools, an obituary for Thomas Graham, paleontology and meeting notices. Nature remains one of the most popular and well respected science journals in the world, printing research articles from across a wide range of scientific fields.

Biology

In 1939, a rabbit conceived by artificial impregnation, was the first such animal in the U.S. to be displayed. The event was the 12th Annual Graduate Fortnight at the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Gregory Pincus, an American biologist, had removed an egg from the ovary of a female rabbit and fertilized it with a salt solution. The egg was then transferred to the uterus of a second rabbit, which functioned an "incubator." The young rabbit was born in Oct 1939. Dr. Pincus, of Clark University conducted his experiments at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. In the same year, Pincus and colleagues were the first to show how oocytes of various animals would undergo maturation if released from their follicle and cultured in vitro.

Earth Science

In 1572, a supernova was first noted by Wolfgang Schuler of Wittenberg (?-1575) in the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia but was seen by many observers throughout Europe and in the Far East. It appeared as a new star, adjacent to the fainter star seen just northwest of the middle of the "W." Tycho Brahe first noticed this new star on 11 Nov 1572, and he began to meticulously record its appearance. Although he was not the first to see it, he gained fame from his book Stella Nova (Latin: "new star"). For two weeks it was brighter than any other star in the sky and visible in daytime. By month's end, it began to fade and change colour, from bright white to yellow and orange to faint reddish light. It was visible to the naked eye for about 16 months until Mar 1574.

Physics

In 1845, Michael Faraday, working in his laboratory at the Royal Institution, hung a piece of heavy glass between the poles of an electro-magnet and observed that the glass aligned itself across the lines of force of the magnet. He further experimented on many other substances, with similar results, a phenomena that he named diamagnetism. These investigations showed Faraday that magnetism was inherent within matter. This led to his lecture "Thoughts on Ray-vibrations" in April 1846, which he expanded in the following years into his field theory of electro-magnetism. This was the progenitor for mathematical descriptions formed by Thomson, and especially for the seminal work of James Clerk Maxwell.

Chemistry

In 1931, The DuPont Company, of Wilmington, Delaware, announced the first synthetic rubber this day. It was known as DuPrene, now renamed neoprene. Many scientists were trying to make natural rubber in the 1920s and 30s. One of the Carothers team, Gerard Berchet, happened to leave a sample of vinyl acetylene in a jar with hydrochloric acid (HCl) for about five weeks. Then another member of team, Arnold M. Collins happened to look in that jar and found a rubbery white material. The HCl had reacted with the vinylacetylene, making chloroprene, which then polymerized to become polychloroprene. The new rubber was expensive, but resisted oil and gasoline, which natural rubber didn't. It was the first good synthetic rubber.