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1873 in science
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<h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Jacobus_Henricus_van_%27t_Hoff/sLJDVXtg">Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff</a> and <a href="/facts/Joseph_Achille_Le_Bel/d3YUNw8J">Joseph Achille Le Bel</a>, working independently, develop a model of <a href="/facts/Chemical_bonds/ArNUMnIB">chemical bonding</a> that explains the chirality experiments of Pasteur and provides a physical cause for <a href="/facts/Optical_activity/XQ3q2R3R">optical activity</a> in chiral compounds<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li>The <a href="/facts/Austro-Hungarian_North_Pole_Expedition/VKojjePk">Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition</a> discovers <a href="/facts/Franz-Josef_Land/3vInE0uH">Franz-Josef Land</a></li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Charles_Hermite/kj1bGlMr">Charles Hermite</a> proves that the <a href="/facts/Mathematical_constant/rzqTX307">mathematical constant</a> <i><a href="/facts/E_(mathematical_constant)/coEtSBk8">e</a></i> is a <a href="/facts/Transcendental_number/IrB7JppM">transcendental number</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Henri_Brocard/J5pJ90Ms">Henri Brocard</a> introduces the <a href="/facts/Brocard_points/zMXWMQY8">Brocard points</a>, <a href="/facts/Brocard_triangle/2MNFy7cr">Brocard triangle</a> and <a href="/facts/Brocard_circle/I0bFT6En">Brocard circle</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="meteorology">Meteorology</h2> <ul><li>September 15 – agreement for establishment of the <a href="/facts/International_Meteorological_Organization/EPw8JX3W">International Meteorological Organization</a></li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li>February 20 – English electrical engineer <a href="/facts/Willoughby_Smith/Iah1seIX">Willoughby Smith</a> publishes his discovery of the <a href="/facts/Photoconductivity/kPVR5C44">photoconductivity</a> of the element <a href="/facts/Selenium/k975NApC">selenium</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>June 14 – <a href="/facts/Johannes_Diderik_van_der_Waals/WCbnoblK">Johannes Diderik van der Waals</a> defends his thesis, <i><a href="http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/exhibit/vanderwaals.htm">Over de Continuiteit van den Gas en Vloeistoftoestand</a></i> (On the continuity of the gaseous and liquid state) at <a href="/facts/Leiden_University/MqnmnTtF">Leiden University</a>; in this, he introduces the concepts of molecular volume and molecular attraction; gives a semi-quantitative description of the phenomena of <a href="/facts/Condensation/yvmkI08A">condensation</a> and critical temperatures; and derives the <a href="/facts/Van_der_Waals_equation/HTNIbJDn">van der Waals equation</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>September 22 – <a href="/facts/James_Clerk_Maxwell/jtYyze61">James Clerk Maxwell</a> delivers a discourse on <a href="/facts/Molecule/N9ljSfFq">molecules</a> to the <a href="/facts/British_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science/q1DLURYh">British Association for the Advancement of Science</a> meeting in Bradford<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>December – <a href="/facts/J._Willard_Gibbs/xyWwxQtA">J. Willard Gibbs</a> describes the principle of <a href="/facts/Gibbs_free_energy/bvenDuzh">Gibbs free energy</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>James Clerk Maxwell's <i><a href="/facts/A_Treatise_on_Electricity_and_Magnetism/IyYLluH3">A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism</a></i> first presents the <a href="/facts/Partial_differential_equations/DyPsBlv7">partial differential equations</a> known as <i><a href="/facts/Maxwell%27s_equations/LfJ1drHS">Maxwell's equations</a></i> which form the foundation of <a href="/facts/Classical_electrodynamics/vK0YI6dj">classical electrodynamics</a>, <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">optics</a> and <a href="/facts/Electric_circuit/zt94kTW0">electric circuits</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Frederick_Guthrie_(scientist)/aBIMWtSI">Frederick Guthrie</a> is the first to report observing <a href="/facts/Thermionic_emission/3oujvv1U">thermionic emission</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="physiology-and-medicine">Physiology and medicine</h2> <ul><li>June 18 – <a href="/facts/Alice_Vickery/EbIfN9yP">Alice Vickery</a> passes the <a href="/facts/Royal_Pharmaceutical_Society/G1qsrGhE">Royal Pharmaceutical Society</a>'s examination, becoming the first qualified female pharmacist in the United Kingdom<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mycobacterium_leprae/UlcawhX9">Mycobacterium leprae</a></i>, the causative agent of <a href="/facts/Leprosy/FSjTpMEB">leprosy</a>, is discovered by Norwegian <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> <a href="/facts/Gerhard_Armauer_Hansen/cFGRoLnV">Gerhard Armauer Hansen</a>. It is the first <a href="/facts/Bacterium/wC8xSCsU">bacterium</a> to be identified as <a href="/facts/Pathogenic_bacteria/X5QcVN5j">pathogenic</a> in humans<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></li> <li>English <a href="/facts/Allergist/UzcvA1V7">allergist</a> <a href="/facts/Charles_Harrison_Blackley/H30hxa48">Charles Harrison Blackley</a> publishes <i>Experimental Researches on the Causes and Nature of Catarrhus aestivus</i></li> <li><a href="/facts/Camillo_Golgi/Yq3cs6JY">Camillo Golgi</a> first publishes a demonstration of <a href="/facts/Golgi%27s_method/uaxLTbdd">Golgi's method</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>May 20 – <a href="/facts/Jacob_W._Davis/y4PLFVa7">Jacob W. Davis</a> and <a href="/facts/Levi_Strauss/VSelFWNw">Levi Strauss</a> receive United States <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent#139121</a> for using <a href="/facts/Copper/I8PEE8oX">copper</a> <a href="/facts/Rivets/bKANfJva">rivets</a> to strengthen the pockets of denim <a href="/facts/Jeans/RaMQVQ35">jeans</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Carl_von_Linde/MAvgBfTM">Carl von Linde</a> installs his first commercial refrigeration system, built by <a href="/facts/MAN_SE/8ucJBLId">Maschinenfabrik Augsburg</a> for the <a href="/facts/Spaten/h61bampH">Spaten</a> Brewery and using <a href="/facts/Dimethyl_ether/XSo4RBvc">dimethyl ether</a> as the refrigerant</li> <li><a href="/facts/Christopher_Miner_Spencer/9q6R8uTz">Christopher Miner Spencer</a> introduces the <a href="/facts/Automatic_lathe/nzp9brkS">fully automatic turret lathe</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Hermann_Helmholtz/oFISedae">Hermann Helmholtz</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wollaston_Medal/uVkuXBYJ">Wollaston Medal</a> for geology: <a href="/facts/Philip_de_Malpas_Grey_Egerton/1UnfXunl">Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton</a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>February 11 – <a href="/facts/Louis_Charles_Christopher_Krieger/loSQLxlj">Louis Charles Christopher Krieger</a> (died <a href="/facts/1940_in_science/e2fd7zbd">1940</a>), American <a href="/facts/Mycologist/rzC12BLF">mycologist</a></li> <li>February 12 – <a href="/facts/Barnum_Brown/aI9FmlhV">Barnum Brown</a> (died <a href="/facts/1963_in_science/xeeEuTmt">1963</a>), American <a href="/facts/Paleontologist/60n5yldd">paleontologist</a></li> <li>March 5 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Harrison_Montgomery,_Jr./YBhEwnab">Thomas Harrison Montgomery, Jr.</a> (died <a href="/facts/1912_in_science/ro3op4mA">1912</a>), American <a href="/facts/Zoologist/6Kj13mBt">zoologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Cell_biologist/kdIBGHub">cell biologist</a></li> <li>April 25 – <a href="/facts/F%C3%A9lix_d%27Herelle/6UHsbA9q">Félix d'Herelle</a> (died <a href="/facts/1949_in_science/hppNMvQT">1949</a>), French-Canadian <a href="/facts/Microbiologist/cqEyJwNK">microbiologist</a>, a co-discoverer of <a href="/facts/Bacteriophage/L2Ll0T3q">bacteriophages</a></li> <li>June 28 – <a href="/facts/Alexis_Carrel/0PDD4qo2">Alexis Carrel</a> (died <a href="/facts/1942_in_science/U4slv5ob">1942</a>), French surgeon, <a href="/facts/Biologist/yJJGXyKR">biologist</a> and winner of a <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a></li> <li>June 30 – <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Karl_Georg_Fedde/Q2Icbj5T">Friedrich Karl Georg Fedde</a> (died 1942), German <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a></li> <li>July 7 – <a href="/facts/S%C3%A1ndor_Ferenczi/5VAR11Fv">Sándor Ferenczi</a> (died <a href="/facts/1933_in_science/3R88mjlY">1933</a>), Hungarian <a href="/facts/Psychoanalysis/gYCbGpPv">psychoanalyst</a></li> <li>October 4 – <a href="/facts/Dimitrie_Pompeiu/9QRIueDR">Dimitrie Pompeiu</a> (died <a href="/facts/1954_in_science/zRkVrII3">1954</a>), Romanian <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a></li> <li>October 9 – <a href="/facts/Karl_Schwarzschild/u9KGeTey">Karl Schwarzschild</a> (died <a href="/facts/1916_in_science/bafd4Cjp">1916</a>), German <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a> and <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a></li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>January 27 – <a href="/facts/Adam_Sedgwick/3bc2ua7s">Adam Sedgwick</a> (born <a href="/facts/1785_in_science/GfLktnJv">1785</a>), English <a href="/facts/Geologist/vGc0tBHB">geologist</a></li> <li>February 1 – <a href="/facts/Matthew_Fontaine_Maury/6BP3PQAC">Matthew Fontaine Maury</a> (born <a href="/facts/1806_in_science/q3CoyVIt">1806</a>), American <a href="/facts/Oceanographer/LtrG6peD">oceanographer</a></li> <li>April 18 – <a href="/facts/Justus_von_Liebig/0vKzMlDA">Justus von Liebig</a> (born <a href="/facts/1803_in_science/Qbwd2cxM">1803</a>), German <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a></li> <li>March 10 – <a href="/facts/John_Torrey/g2hhfrLg">John Torrey</a> (born <a href="/facts/1796_in_science/Crrn5owT">1796</a>), American botanist</li> <li>March 30 – <a href="/facts/B%C3%A9n%C3%A9dict_Morel/Hpkq50pg">Bénédict Morel</a> (born <a href="/facts/1809_in_science/KNQ9jweB">1809</a>), French <a href="/facts/Psychiatrist/hS7EnAU6">psychiatrist</a></li> <li>September 15 – <a href="/facts/Alexei_Pavlovich_Fedchenko/LUA47Dxm">Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko</a> (born <a href="/facts/1844_in_science/Kt34sQQ5">1844</a>), Russian <a href="/facts/Naturalist/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a></li> <li>September 24 – <a href="/facts/John_Thurnam/tUD6He7m">John Thurnam</a> (born <a href="/facts/1810_in_science/11VgsmCn">1810</a>), English <a href="/facts/Psychiatrist/hS7EnAU6">psychiatrist</a> and <a href="/facts/Ethnologist/MJQ2vC0K">ethnologist</a></li> <li>October 17 – <a href="/facts/Robert_McClure/fvgv9Ed6">Robert McClure</a> (born 1807), British Arctic explorer</li> <li>December 14 – <a href="/facts/Louis_Agassiz/W3DJ3zFN">Louis Agassiz</a> (born <a href="/facts/1807_in_science/zND9k1K3">1807</a>), Swiss-American <a href="/facts/Zoologist/6Kj13mBt">zoologist</a> and geologist</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff". Science History Institute. June 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2018. <a href="https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/jacobus-henricus-van%E2%80%99t-hoff" target="_blank">https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/jacobus-henricus-van%E2%80%99t-hoff</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bowden, Mary Ellen (1997). "Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff". Chemical achievers : the human face of the chemical sciences. Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation. pp. 94–95. ISBN 9780941901123. <a href="9780941901123" target="_blank">9780941901123</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Etudes d'un nouveau cercle du plan du triangle". Paper to l'Association française pour l'avancement des sciences. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Guggenbuhl, Laura (December 1953). "Henri Brocard and the Geometry of the Triangle". The Mathematical Gazette. 37 (322). London: Mathematical Association: 241–243. doi:10.1017/S0025557200027558. JSTOR 3610034. <a href="/wiki/Laura_Guggenb%C3%BChl" target="_blank">/wiki/Laura_Guggenb%C3%BChl</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Effect of Light on Selenium During the Passage of an Electric Current". Nature. 7 (173): 303. 1873. Bibcode:1873Natur...7R.303.. doi:10.1038/007303e0. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2F007303e0" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1038%2F007303e0</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Clerk-Maxwell, J. (1874). "Van der Waals on the Continuity of the Gaseous and Liquid States" (PDF). Nature. 10 (259): 477–480. Bibcode:1874Natur..10..477C. doi:10.1038/010477a0. <a href="/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell" target="_blank">/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Clerk-Maxwell, J. (25 September 1873). "Molecules". Nature. 8 (204): 437–41. Bibcode:1873Natur...8..437.. doi:10.1038/008437a0. Also digitised at The Victorian Web. Archived 2012-02-23. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2F008437a0" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1038%2F008437a0</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Gibbs, J. W. (1873). "A Method of Geometrical Representation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Substances by Means of Surfaces". Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2: 382–404. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Richardson, Owen (1921). The emission of positive ions by hot metals. ISBN 978-1-929148-10-3. Retrieved 2009-07-11. <a href="978-1-929148-10-3" target="_blank">978-1-929148-10-3</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Alice Vickery". www.rpharms.com. Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2013-07-25. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160307083353/http://rpharms.com/women-pharmacists-before-the-20th-century/alice-vickery.asp" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160307083353/http://rpharms.com/women-pharmacists-before-the-20th-century/alice-vickery.asp</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Hansen, G. H. A. (1874). "Undersøgelser Angående Spedalskhedens Årsager" [Investigations concerning the etiology of leprosy]. Norsk Mag. Laegervidenskaben (in Norwegian). 4: 1–88. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Irgens, L. (2002). "The discovery of the leprosy bacillus". Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. 122 (7): 708–9. PMID 11998735. <a href="/wiki/PMID_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/PMID_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Finger, Stanley (1994). Origins of Neuroscience: a history of explorations into brain function. Oxford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780195146943. OCLC 27151391. In 1873, Golgi published the first brief but "adequate" picture of la reazione nera (the black reaction), which showed the whole nerve cell, including its cell body, axon, and branching dendrites. <a href="9780195146943" target="_blank">9780195146943</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Rolt, L. T. C. (1965). A Short History of Machine Tools. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 169. <a href="/wiki/L._T._C._Rolt" target="_blank">/wiki/L._T._C._Rolt</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>"Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 23 July 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>