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1949 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy-and-space-exploration">Astronomy and space exploration</h2> <ul><li>January 26 – The <a href="/facts/Hale_Telescope/NNgtWTV9">Hale Telescope</a> at <a href="/facts/Palomar_Observatory/vRLjmDfr">Palomar Observatory</a> in California, the largest <a href="/facts/Aperture/8PV11GQm">aperture</a> optical telescope in the world for 28 years, sees <a href="/facts/First_light_(astronomy)/pHI5o0r0">first light</a>.</li> <li>June 14 – <a href="/facts/Albert_II_(monkey)/vUkn37bc">Albert II</a>, a <a href="/facts/Rhesus_monkey/TkffMX9v">rhesus monkey</a>, becomes the first <a href="/facts/Animals_in_space/JCHcht6C">mammal in space</a>, in a U.S.-launched <a href="/facts/V-2/8WHk8jsw">V-2</a> rocket, reaching an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) but dying on impact after a parachute failure.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Radiocarbon_dating/qjNglhKP">Radiocarbon dating</a> technique discovered by <a href="/facts/Willard_Libby/QaB6ISEN">Willard Libby</a> and his colleagues at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Chicago/z6zRMUmV">University of Chicago</a>—work for which Libby will receive the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a> in 1960.</li> <li>A group including <a href="/facts/Dorothy_Hodgkin/vjsD4zQS">Dorothy Hodgkin</a> publish the three-dimensional molecular structure of <a href="/facts/Penicillin/Abo8VQ3p">penicillin</a>, demonstrating that it contains a <a href="/facts/Beta-lactam/jasUACD2">β-lactam</a> ring.<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="computer-science">Computer science</h2> <ul><li>April – <a href="/facts/Manchester_Mark_1/S8wpt6U5">Manchester Mark 1</a> computer operable at the <a href="/facts/Victoria_University_of_Manchester/foAk3n6c">University of Manchester</a> in England.</li> <li>May 6 – <a href="/facts/EDSAC/nyK6xJ7B">EDSAC</a>, the first practicable <a href="/facts/Stored-program_computer/CwcIk5S8">stored-program computer</a>, runs its first program at <a href="/facts/University_of_Cambridge/0la7aX9o">University of Cambridge</a> in England, to calculate a table of squares.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="earth-sciences">Earth sciences</h2> <ul><li>August 5 – <a href="/facts/1949_Ambato_earthquake/2CsRCXbX">Ambato earthquake</a> in <a href="/facts/Ecuador/Tdv7czY4">Ecuador</a>, measuring 6.8 on the <a href="/facts/Richter_magnitude_scale/UDhqkAX1">Richter magnitude scale</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Patomskiy_crater/RKQf4SyG">Patomskiy crater</a> in Siberia is discovered by Russian geologist Vadim Kolpakov.</li></ul> <h2 id="history-of-science">History of science</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Herbert_Butterfield/0339Ahkq">Herbert Butterfield</a> publishes <i>The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/%C3%81kos_Cs%C3%A1sz%C3%A1r/qNxunBCS">Ákos Császár</a> discovers the <a href="/facts/Cs%C3%A1sz%C3%A1r_polyhedron/nWry5cBr">Császár polyhedron</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/D._R._Kaprekar/Hhp1g2S4">D. R. Kaprekar</a> discovers the convergence property of the number <a href="/facts/6174/qC5ludIx">6174</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>The use of <a href="/facts/Lithium_(medication)/G6Gy0nJU">lithium</a> salts to control mania is rediscovered by <a href="/facts/Australians/hCxBM7cd">Australian</a> psychiatrist <a href="/facts/John_Cade/xu7vj1e4">John Cade</a>, the first <a href="/facts/Mood_stabilizer/9sj4E0wx">mood stabilizer</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li>First implant of <a href="/facts/Intraocular_lens/cCpALNCV">intraocular lens</a>, by <a href="/facts/Harold_Ridley_(ophthalmologist)/csaaHDw5">Sir Harold Ridley</a></li> <li>First <a href="/facts/16PF_Questionnaire/WuW1xKz7">Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire</a>, a self-report <a href="/facts/Personality_test/elzLWUmX">personality test</a>, released.</li></ul> <h2 id="meteorology">Meteorology</h2> <ul><li>January 11 – <a href="/facts/Los_Angeles,_California/pyXpYEX9">Los Angeles, California</a> receives its first recorded <a href="/facts/Snow/HEFKcgIB">snowfall</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="philosophy">Philosophy</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Gilbert_Ryle/eLBe8IXB">Gilbert Ryle</a>'s book <i><a href="/facts/The_Concept_of_Mind/3mPdajxU">The Concept of Mind</a></i>, a founding document in the <a href="/facts/Philosophy_of_mind/o6yNRjwd">philosophy of mind</a>, is published.</li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Freeman_Dyson/kSRxTh2r">Freeman Dyson</a> demonstrates the equivalence of the formulations of <a href="/facts/Quantum_electrodynamics/zPteAr6G">quantum electrodynamics</a> existing at this time,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> incidentally inventing the <a href="/facts/Dyson_series/DwtUmokG">Dyson series</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>The <a href="/facts/Lanczos_tensor/oR2eKBa1">Lanczos tensor</a> is introduced in <a href="/facts/General_relativity/jVsoIg8X">general relativity</a> by <a href="/facts/Cornelius_Lanczos/FRqrbJIb">Cornelius Lanczos</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Pauli%E2%80%93Villars_regularization/tA0LjsDt">Pauli–Villars regularization</a> is first published.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="zoology">Zoology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/J._B._S._Haldane/sywPNzfh">J. B. S. Haldane</a> proposes the <a href="/facts/Darwin_(unit)/bm6VXXla">Darwin</a> as a unit of evolutionary change.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Konrad_Lorenz/gS57IPhS">Konrad Lorenz</a> publishes <i><a href="/facts/King_Solomon%27s_Ring_(nonfiction)/JomKukQM">King Solomon's Ring</a></i> (<i>Er redete mit dem Vieh, den Vögeln und den Fischen</i>).</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prizes</a> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Physics</a> – <a href="/facts/Hideki_Yukawa/Rz9vGmu3">Hideki Yukawa</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry/8Nb8Ajjy">Chemistry</a> – <a href="/facts/William_Francis_Giauque/UnoPyX47">William Francis Giauque</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Medicine</a> – <a href="/facts/Walter_Rudolf_Hess/cygN5HhR">Walter Rudolf Hess</a>, <a href="/facts/Antonio_Caetano_De_Abreu_Freire_Egas_Moniz/GtjesMjV">Antonio Caetano De Abreu Freire Egas Moniz</a></li></ul></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 25 – <a href="/facts/Paul_Nurse/z8lQdHxP">Paul Nurse</a>, <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> <a href="/facts/Cell_biologist/kdIBGHub">cell biologist</a>, winner of the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a>.</li> <li>February 1 – <a href="/facts/Alice_Alldredge/ANrfQf8S">Alice Alldredge</a>, <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australian</a>-born <a href="/facts/Oceanographer/LtrG6peD">oceanographer</a>.</li> <li>February 17 – <a href="/facts/Peter_Piot/CGKmSh2K">Peter Piot</a>, <a href="/facts/Belgians/xSmHFHch">Belgian</a> <a href="/facts/Microbiologist/cqEyJwNK">microbiologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Epidemiologist/wgTmxoMA">epidemiologist</a>.</li> <li>February 19 – <a href="/facts/Danielle_Bunten_Berry/mb4dENXz">Danielle Bunten Berry</a>, born Dan(iel Paul) Bunten (died <a href="/facts/1998_in_science/5r43b43U">1998</a>), <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> software developer.</li> <li>February 22 – <a href="/facts/Tullio_Pozzan/0HhjEypJ">Tullio Pozzan</a> (died <a href="/facts/2022_in_science/cqUnXMTh">2022</a>), Italian <a href="/facts/Biochemist/gAWNAY5v">biochemist</a>.</li> <li>March 28 – <a href="/facts/Michael_W._Young/KPC5XTp1">Michael W. Young</a>, American <a href="/facts/Geneticist/cCvzvuKU">geneticist</a> and <a href="/facts/Chronobiologist/wjHwfPuP">chronobiologist</a>, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.</li> <li>April 5 – <a href="/facts/Judith_Resnik/wz5AUc3r">Judith Resnik</a> (died <a href="/facts/1986_in_science/ywkYU3NA">1986</a>), American <a href="/facts/Astronaut/HB1bd6Lz">astronaut</a>.</li> <li>April 18 – <a href="/facts/Yasumasa_Kanada/PvICyyhH">Yasumasa Kanada</a>, <a href="/facts/Japanese_people/MSKDKv3J">Japanese</a> <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>.</li> <li>May 24 – <a href="/facts/Toma%C5%BE_Pisanski/cVNoaUGH">Tomaž Pisanski</a>, <a href="/facts/Slovenia/EcYU22W4">Slovenian</a> mathematician.</li> <li>May 26 – <a href="/facts/Ward_Cunningham/8SuK946v">Ward Cunningham</a>, American <a href="/facts/Computer_programmer/WGTS1Jv9">computer programmer</a>.</li> <li>June 2 – <a href="/facts/Heather_Couper/8DtCJLyx">Heather Couper</a> (died <a href="/facts/2020_in_science/t6HkpHEr">2020</a>), English <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>.</li> <li>July 23 – <a href="/facts/Andrew_Odlyzko/rBsYtPz5">Andrew Odlyzko</a>, Polish-born American mathematician.</li> <li>August 31 – <a href="/facts/H._David_Politzer/Xlo8AGLD">H. David Politzer</a>, American physicist, winner of the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Nobel Prize in Physics</a>.</li> <li>November 6 – <a href="/facts/John_Zarnecki/eC7LGMkC">John Zarnecki</a>, English space scientist</li> <li>November 24 – <a href="/facts/Sally_Davies_(doctor)/w52uVrVd">Sally Davies</a>, English <a href="/facts/Chief_Medical_Officer_(United_Kingdom)/yRKdBXTB">Chief Medical Officer</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Michael_Houghton_(virologist)/qKeEeApo">Michael Houghton</a>, British-born virologist, winner of the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>February 22 – <a href="/facts/F%C3%A9lix_d%27Herelle/6UHsbA9q">Félix d'Herelle</a> (died <a href="/facts/1873_in_science/Cz0weAdA">1873</a>), <a href="/facts/French-Canadian/CfYF8yXT">French-Canadian</a> <a href="/facts/Microbiologist/cqEyJwNK">microbiologist</a>, a co-discoverer of <a href="/facts/Bacteriophage/L2Ll0T3q">bacteriophages</a>.</li> <li>April 28 – <a href="/facts/Robert_Robertson_(chemist)/getEej8z">Robert Robertson</a> (born <a href="/facts/1869_in_science/CYwoS0jj">1869</a>), British chemist.</li> <li>May 27 <ul><li><a href="/facts/%C3%86gidius_Elling/WlbmwkjT">Ægidius Elling</a> (born <a href="/facts/1861_in_science/k7NHyVFh">1861</a>), <a href="/facts/Norwegians/K7PdhVMG">Norwegian</a> <a href="/facts/Gas_turbine/JJJNwXrG">gas turbine</a> pioneer.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Martin_Knudsen/PnXesqYF">Martin Knudsen</a> (born <a href="/facts/1871_in_science/JxgmMrur">1871</a>), <a href="/facts/Danes/bUt1hyMQ">Danish</a> physicist.</li></ul></li> <li>August 5 – <a href="/facts/Ernest_Fourneau/kjQPRmwj">Ernest Fourneau</a> (born <a href="/facts/1872_in_science/FKlXmmJ5">1872</a>), <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> <a href="/facts/Medicinal_chemistry/SLNHz1hb">medicinal chemist</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Crowfoot, D.; Bunn, Charles W.; Rogers-Low, Barbara W.; Turner-Jones, Annette (1949). "X-ray crystallographic investigation of the structure of penicillin". In Clarke, H. T.; Johnson, J. R.; Robinson, R. (eds.). Chemistry of Penicillin. Princeton University Press. pp. 310–367. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Glusker, Jenny P. (1994). "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994)". Protein Science. 3 (12): 2465–2469. doi:10.1002/pro.5560031233. PMC 2142778. PMID 7757003. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2142778" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2142778</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Pioneer computer to be rebuilt". Cam. 62: 5. 2011. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Today in Earthquake History: August 5". United States Geological Survey. 2009-12-18. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-19. <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?month=8&day=5&submit=View+Date" target="_blank">https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?month=8&day=5&submit=View+Date</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Cade, J. F. J. (1949). "Lithium salts in the treatment of psychotic excitement" (PDF). Medical Journal of Australia. 2 (10): 349–52. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.06241.x. PMC 2560740. PMID 18142718. Retrieved 6 June 2011. <a href="https://www.who.int/docstore/bulletin/pdf/2000/issue4/classics.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.who.int/docstore/bulletin/pdf/2000/issue4/classics.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Dyson, F. J. (1949). "The radiation theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger, and Feynman". Physical Review. 75 (3): 486–502. Bibcode:1949PhRv...75..486D. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.75.486. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRev.75.486" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRev.75.486</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Dyson, F. J. (1949). "The S matrix in quantum electrodynamics". Physical Review. 75 (11): 1736–1755. Bibcode:1949PhRv...75.1736D. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.75.1736. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Lanczos, Cornelius (1949). "Lagrangian Multiplier and Riemannian Spaces" (PDF). Reviews of Modern Physics. 21 (3): 497–502. Bibcode:1949RvMP...21..497L. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.21.497. <a href="https://cds.cern.ch/record/1062657/files/RevModPhys.21.497.pdf" target="_blank">https://cds.cern.ch/record/1062657/files/RevModPhys.21.497.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Pauli, W.; Villars, F. (1949). "On the Invariant Regularization in Relativistic Quantum Theory". Reviews of Modern Physics. 21 (3): 434–444. Bibcode:1949RvMP...21..434P. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.21.434. <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Pauli" target="_blank">/wiki/Wolfgang_Pauli</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Haldane, J. B. S. (1949). "Suggestions as to quantitative measurement of rates of evolution". Evolution. 3 (1): 51–56. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1949.tb00004.x. JSTOR 2405451. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1558-5646.1949.tb00004.x" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1558-5646.1949.tb00004.x</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>