1904 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1904 in science
and technology
involved some significant events, listed below.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
involved some significant events, listed below.
Astronomy
- Edward Walter MaunderEdward Walter MaunderEdward Walter Maunder was an English astronomer best remembered for his study of sunspots and the solar magnetic cycle that led to his identification of the period from 1645 to 1715 that is now known as the Maunder Minimum....
plots the first sunspotSunspotSunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They are caused by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection by an effect comparable to the eddy current brake, forming areas of reduced surface temperature....
"butterfly diagramButterfly diagramIn the context of fast Fourier transform algorithms, a butterfly is a portion of the computation that combines the results of smaller discrete Fourier transforms into a larger DFT, or vice versa . The name "butterfly" comes from the shape of the data-flow diagram in the radix-2 case, as described...
". - The sixth moon of JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, later called HimaliaHimalia (moon)Himalia is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter, the sixth largest overall in size, and the fifth largest in mass. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 and is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus .- Discovery...
, discovered at Lick ObservatoryLick ObservatoryThe Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
.
Mathematics
- Henri PoincaréHenri PoincaréJules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science...
discovers the Poincaré spherePoincaré spherePoincaré sphere, often spelled Poincare sphere may refer to:* Poincaré sphere, in optics, is a graphical tool for visualizing different types of polarized light...
, leading him to formulate the Poincaré conjecturePoincaré conjectureIn mathematics, the Poincaré conjecture is a theorem about the characterization of the three-dimensional sphere , which is the hypersphere that bounds the unit ball in four-dimensional space...
. - Helge von KochHelge von KochNiels Fabian Helge von Koch was a Swedish mathematician who gave his name to the famous fractal known as the Koch snowflake, one of the earliest fractal curves to be described....
describes the "Koch snowflakeKoch snowflakeThe Koch snowflake is a mathematical curve and one of the earliest fractal curves to have been described...
", one of the earliest fractalFractalA fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
curveCurveIn mathematics, a curve is, generally speaking, an object similar to a line but which is not required to be straight...
s described. - Charles SpearmanCharles SpearmanCharles Edward Spearman, FRS was an English psychologist known for work in statistics, as a pioneer of factor analysis, and for Spearman's rank correlation coefficient...
develops his rank correlation coefficientSpearman's rank correlation coefficientIn statistics, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient or Spearman's rho, named after Charles Spearman and often denoted by the Greek letter \rho or as r_s, is a non-parametric measure of statistical dependence between two variables. It assesses how well the relationship between two variables can...
. - Ernst ZermeloErnst ZermeloErnst Friedrich Ferdinand Zermelo was a German mathematician, whose work has major implications for the foundations of mathematics and hence on philosophy. He is known for his role in developing Zermelo–Fraenkel axiomatic set theory and his proof of the well-ordering theorem.-Life:He graduated...
formulates the axiom of choice.
Medicine
- EpinephrineEpinephrineEpinephrine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In chemical terms, adrenaline is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines...
first artificially synthesized by Friedrich StolzFriedrich StolzFriedrich Stolz was a German chemist and, in 1904, the first person to artificially synthesize epinephrine .-References:...
. - Antoni LeśniowskiAntoni LesniowskiAntoni Leśniowski was a Polish surgeon, credited with publishing what may have been the earliest reports of the condition which later became known as Crohn’s disease....
presents to a meeting of the Warsaw Medical Society a surgical specimen of an inflammatory tumour of the terminal ileumTerminal ileumThe terminal ileum is the most distal part of the small intestine. It connects to the cecum, the pouch between the small and the large intestine, via the ileocecal valve.-Pathology of the terminal ileum:...
with a fistula to the ascending colon, consistent with what will later become known as Crohn's diseaseCrohn's diseaseCrohn's disease, also known as regional enteritis, is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms...
.
Physics
- Vacuum tubeVacuum tubeIn electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
invented by John Ambrose FlemingJohn Ambrose FlemingSir John Ambrose Fleming was an English electrical engineer and physicist. He is known for inventing the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, the diode, then called the kenotron in 1904. He is also famous for the left hand rule...
. - James H. JeansJames Hopwood JeansSir James Hopwood Jeans OM FRS MA DSc ScD LLD was an English physicist, astronomer and mathematician.-Background:...
's The Dynamical Theory of Gases is published in CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. - J. J. ThomsonJ. J. ThomsonSir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
proposes the plum pudding modelPlum pudding modelThe plum pudding model of the atom by J. J. Thomson, who discovered the electron in 1897, was proposed in 1904 before the discovery of the atomic nucleus. In this model, the atom is composed of electrons The plum pudding model of the atom by J. J. Thomson, who discovered the electron in 1897, was...
for the atomAtomThe atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
. - Hantaro Nagaoka develops the Saturnian model for the atom.
Technology
- The HeckelphoneHeckelphoneThe heckelphone is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons. Introduced in 1904, it is similar to the oboe but pitched an octave lower.-General characteristics:...
variety of oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
is invented by Wilhelm HeckelWilhelm HeckelWilhelm Heckel GmbH is a manufacturer of woodwind instruments based in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is best known for its bassoons, which are considered some of the finest available....
and his sons.
Awards
- Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
s- PhysicsNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
- John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh - ChemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
- Sir William RamsayWilliam RamsaySir William Ramsay was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" .-Early years:Ramsay was born in Glasgow on 2... - MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
- Ivan PavlovIvan PavlovIvan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....
- Physics
Births
- January 26 - Ancel KeysAncel KeysAncel Benjamin Keys was an American scientist who studied the influence of diet on health. In particular, he hypothesized that different kinds of dietary fat had different effects on health....
, (d. 20042004 in scienceThe year 2004 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Anthropology:*October 27 - Remains of a previously unknown species of human is discovered in Indonesia...
) nutritionistNutritionistA nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical...
. - March 20 - B. F. SkinnerB. F. SkinnerBurrhus Frederic Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, baseball enthusiast, social philosopher and poet...
(d. 19901990 in scienceThe year 1990 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy and space exploration:* April 24 – The Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.-Computer science:...
), behavioral psychologistPsychologistPsychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
. - April 22 - Robert OppenheimerRobert OppenheimerJulius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi, he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first...
(d. 19671967 in scienceThe year 1967 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:*January 27 - Apollo 1 destroyed in a fire on the launch pad.*January 27 - The USA, Soviet Union and UK sign the Outer Space Treaty....
), physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. - July 5 - Ernst MayrErnst MayrErnst Walter Mayr was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist...
(d. 20052005 in scienceThe year 2005 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* April 8 – Total solar eclipse*February 23 – Astronomers announce the discovery of a galaxy, VIRGOHI21, that consists almost entirely of dark matter...
), evolutionary biologist. - August 28 - Secondo CampiniSecondo CampiniSecondo Campini was an Italian engineer and one of the pioneers of the jet engine.Campini was born at Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. In 1931 he wrote a proposal for the Italian Air Ministry on the value of jet propulsion and in 1932 demonstrated a jet-powered boat in Venice...
(d. 19801980 in scienceThe year 1980 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* November 12 – Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn when it flies within of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high...
), ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
jetJet engineA jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
pioneer. - November 11 - J. H. C. WhiteheadJ. H. C. WhiteheadJohn Henry Constantine Whitehead FRS , known as Henry, was a British mathematician and was one of the founders of homotopy theory. He was born in Chennai , in India, and died in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1960....
(d. 19601960 in scienceThe year 1960 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* March 14 - Jodrell Bank Observatory in England makes radio contact with the U.S...
), BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
.
Deaths
- May 10 - Henry Morton StanleyHenry Morton StanleySir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...
(b. 18411841 in scienceThe year 1841 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Rev. Miles Joseph Berkeley demonstrates that Phytophthora infestans is a fungal infection....
), explorer, journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
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