1949 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1949 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 and space exploration
- June 14 - Albert II, a Rhesus Monkey, becomes the first mammal in spaceAnimals in spaceAnimals in space originally only served to test the survivability of spaceflight, before manned space missions were attempted. Later, animals were also flown to investigate various biological processes and the effects microgravity and space flight might have on them...
, in a U.S.-launched V2 rocket, reaching an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) but dying on impact after a parachute failure.
Chemistry
- Radiocarbon datingRadiocarbon datingRadiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
technique discovered by Willard LibbyWillard LibbyWillard Frank Libby was an American physical chemist noted for his role in the 1949 development of radiocarbon dating, a process which revolutionized archaeology....
and his colleagues at the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
— work for which Libby will receive the 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...
in 1960.
Computer science
- April - Manchester Mark 1Manchester Mark 1The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester from the Small-Scale Experimental Machine or "Baby" . It was also called the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine, or MADM...
computer operable at the University of ManchesterUniversity of ManchesterThe University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
. - May 6 - EDSACEDSACElectronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator was an early British computer. The machine, having been inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England...
, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at Cambridge UniversityUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, to calculate a table of squares.
Earth sciences
- August 5 - Ambato earthquake1949 Ambato earthquakeThe 1949 Ambato earthquake was the largest earthquake in the Western Hemisphere in more than five years. On August 5, 1949, it struck Ecuador's Tungurahua Province southeast of its capital, Ambato, and killed 5,050 people. Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, it originated from a hypocenter ...
in EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, measuring 6.8 on the Richter magnitude scaleRichter magnitude scaleThe expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....
.
History of science
- Herbert ButterfieldHerbert ButterfieldSir Herbert Butterfield was a British historian and philosopher of history who is remembered chiefly for two books—a short volume early in his career entitled The Whig Interpretation of History and his Origins of Modern Science...
publishes The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800.
Medicine
- The use of lithium salts to control mania is rediscovered by Australian psychiatrist John CadeJohn CadeFor the former Maryland State Senator, see John A. CadeFor the Louisiana Republican state chairman, see John H. Cade, Jr.Dr John Frederick Joseph Cade AO was an Australian psychiatrist credited with discovering the effects of lithium carbonate as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar...
, the first mood stabilizerMood stabilizerA mood stabilizer is a psychiatric medication used to treat mood disorders characterized by intense and sustained mood shifts, typically bipolar disorder.-Uses:...
.
Physics
- Freeman DysonFreeman DysonFreeman John Dyson FRS is a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. Dyson is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
demonstrates the equivalence of the formulations of quantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved...
existing at this time, incidentally inventing the Dyson seriesDyson seriesIn scattering theory, the Dyson series, formulated by British-born American physicist Freeman Dyson, is a perturbative series, and each term is represented by Feynman diagrams. This series diverges asymptotically, but in quantum electrodynamics at the second order the difference from...
.
Zoology
- Konrad LorenzKonrad LorenzKonrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...
publishes King Solomon's RingKing Solomon's Ring (nonfiction)King Solomon's Ring is a zoological book for the general audience, written by the Austrian scientist Konrad Lorenz in 1949. The first English-language edition appeared in 1952....
(Er redete mit dem Vieh, den Vögeln und den Fischen).
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...
- Yukawa Hideki - 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,...
- William Francis Giauque - 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...
- Walter Rudolf HessWalter Rudolf HessWalter Rudolf Hess was a Swiss physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1949 for mapping the areas of the brain involved in the control of internal organs. He shared the prize with Egas Moniz....
, Antonio Caetano De Abreu Freire Egas Moniz
- Physics
Births
- January 25 - Paul NursePaul NurseSir Paul Maxime Nurse, PRS is a British geneticist and cell biologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Leland H. Hartwell and R...
, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or 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...
. - February 19 - Danielle Bunten BerryDanielle Bunten BerryDanielle Bunten Berry , born Daniel Paul Bunten, and also known as Dan Bunten, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E. , and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold.-Biography:Bunten was born in St Louis, Missouri, and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas as a...
(d. 19981998 in scienceThe year 1998 in science and technology involved many events, some of which are included below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* January–September – Cosmologists from the Supernova Cosmology Project led by Saul Perlmutter and the High-z Supernova Search Team led by Adam Riess and Brian...
), also known as Dan Bunten, software developer. - April 5 - Judith Resnik (d. 19861986 in scienceThe year 1986 in science and technology involved many significant events, some listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* January 24 – Voyager 2 space probe makes first encounter with Uranus....
), astronautAstronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
. - May 24 - Tomaž PisanskiTomaž PisanskiTomaž Pisanski is a Slovenian mathematician working mainly in graph theory.In 1980 he calculated the genus of the Cartesian product of any pair of connected, bipartite, d-valent graphs using a method that was later called the White-Pisanski method.In 1982 Vladimir Batagelj and Pisanski proved...
, mathematician.
Deaths
- August 5 - Ernest FourneauErnest FourneauErnest Fourneau was a French medicinal chemist, who played a major role in the discovery of synthetic local anesthetics, as well as in the synthesis of suramin...
(b. 18721872 in scienceThe year 1872 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Conservation:* March 1 - Yellowstone National Park is established in the United States, the world's first national park.-Mathematics:...
), medicinal chemistMedicinal chemistryMedicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry are disciplines at the intersection of chemistry, especially synthetic organic chemistry, and pharmacology and various other biological specialties, where it is involved with design, chemical synthesis and development for market of pharmaceutical...
.