1960 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1960 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
- March 14 - Jodrell Bank Observatory in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
makes radio contact with the U.S. Pioneer 5Pioneer 5Pioneer 5 was a spin-stabilized space probe in the NASA Pioneer program used to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth and Venus. It was launched on March 11, 1960 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17a at 13:00:00 UTC with an on-orbit dry mass of 43 kg...
probe over a distance of 407,000 miles (655,000 km). - April–July - Cornell University astronomer Frank DrakeFrank DrakeFrank Donald Drake PhD is an American astronomer and astrophysicist. He is most notable as one of the pioneers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, including the founding of SETI, mounting the first observational attempts at detecting extraterrestrial communications in 1961 in Project...
begins searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence with Project OzmaProject OzmaProject Ozma was a pioneering SETI experiment started in 1960 by Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia. The object of the experiment was to search for signs of life in distant solar systems through interstellar radio waves...
at the National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryNational Radio Astronomy ObservatoryThe National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc for the purpose of radio astronomy...
at Green Bank, West VirginiaGreen Bank, West VirginiaGreen Bank is a census-designated place in Pocahontas County in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands inside the Allegheny Mountain Range. Green Bank is located along WV 28. Green Bank is also close to the Snowshoe Mountain ski resort...
. - April 13 - The United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
launches navigation satellite Transit I-b. - May 15 - Sputnik program: The Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
launches Sputnik 4 into EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
orbit. - June 3 - British-born American theoretical physicist 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...
proposes the idea of Dyson sphereDyson sphereA Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
s. - August 12 - First experimental Project Echo passive communications satelliteCommunications satelliteA communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
goes into orbit. - August 19 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5Sputnik 5Korabl-Sputnik 2 , also known as Sputnik 5 in the West, was a Soviet artificial satellite, and the third test flight of the Vostok spacecraft. It was the first spaceflight to send animals into orbit and return them safely back to Earth...
with the dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s Belka and Strelka, forty miceMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, two ratRatRats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s and a variety of plantPlantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s. The spacecraft will return to earth the next day and all animals will be recovered safely. - DutchDutch peopleThe Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
Hans FreudenthalHans FreudenthalHans Freudenthal was a Dutch mathematician. He made substantial contributions to algebraic topology and also took an interest in literature, philosophy, history and mathematics education....
invents the artificial language LincosLincos (language)Lincos is an artificial language first described in 1960 by Dr. Hans Freudenthal in his book Lincos: Design of a Language for Cosmic Intercourse, Part 1. It is a language designed to be understandable by any possible intelligent extraterrestrial life form, for use in interstellar radio transmissions...
, intended for communication with extraterrestrial intelligenceCommunication with Extraterrestrial IntelligenceCommunication with extraterrestrial intelligence is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence that focuses on composing and deciphering messages that could theoretically be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment was the 1974 Arecibo message...
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Biology
- February 13
- Max PerutzMax PerutzMax Ferdinand Perutz, OM, CH, CBE, FRS was an Austrian-born British molecular biologist, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with John Kendrew, for their studies of the structures of hemoglobin and globular proteins...
publishes the structure of hemoglobinHemoglobinHemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
.. - John KendrewJohn KendrewSir John Cowdery Kendrew, CBE, FRS was an English biochemist and crystallographer who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Max Perutz; their group in the Cavendish Laboratory investigated the structure of heme-containing proteins.-Biography:He was born in Oxford, son of Wilford George...
publishes the structure of myoglobinMyoglobinMyoglobin is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells. The only time myoglobin is found in the...
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- Max Perutz
- July - Robert Burns WoodwardRobert Burns WoodwardRobert Burns Woodward was an American organic chemist, considered by many to be the preeminent organic chemist of the twentieth century...
publishes a total synthesis of chlorophyl. - Jacques Ruffié invents hemotyping.
- Juan Oro finds that concentrated solutions of ammonium cyanideAmmonium cyanideAmmonium cyanide is an unstable inorganic compound with the formula NH4CN.-Uses:Ammonium cyanide is generally used in organic synthesis. Being unstable, it is not shipped or sold commercially.-Preparation:...
in water can produce the nucleotideNucleotideNucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
adenineAdenineAdenine is a nucleobase with a variety of roles in biochemistry including cellular respiration, in the form of both the energy-rich adenosine triphosphate and the cofactors nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide , and protein synthesis, as a chemical component of DNA...
. - Four independent researchers (Sam Weiss, Jerard Hurwitz, Audrey Stevens and J. Bonner) discover the bacterial RNA polymeraseRNA polymeraseRNA polymerase is an enzyme that produces RNA. In cells, RNAP is needed for constructing RNA chains from DNA genes as templates, a process called transcription. RNA polymerase enzymes are essential to life and are found in all organisms and many viruses...
that regulates the polymerizationPolymerizationIn polymer chemistry, polymerization is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form three-dimensional networks or polymer chains...
of nucleotides under the control of DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
. - ClimatronClimatronThe Climatron is a greenhouse enclosed in a geodesic dome that is part of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Initiated by then Garden director Frits W. Went the dome is the world's first completely air-conditioned greenhouse and the first geodesic dome to be enclosed in rigid Plexiglass ...
geodesic domeGeodesic domeA geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure. When...
greenhouse opens at the Missouri Botanical GardenMissouri Botanical GardenThe Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist.-History:...
in St. LouisSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
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Computer science
- John McCarthyJohn McCarthy (computer scientist)John McCarthy was an American computer scientist and cognitive scientist. He coined the term "artificial intelligence" , invented the Lisp programming language and was highly influential in the early development of AI.McCarthy also influenced other areas of computing such as time sharing systems...
of MIT publishes the Lisp programming languageProgramming languageA programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
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Exploration
- January 23 - Jacques PiccardJacques PiccardJacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed underwater vehicles for studying ocean currents. He was one of only two people, along with Lt...
and Don WalshDon WalshDon Walsh is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste when it made a record maximum descent into the Mariana Trench on 23 January 1960, the deepest point of the world's ocean...
reach bottom in the Mariana TrenchMariana TrenchThe Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about long but has a mean width of only...
in United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
bathyscapheBathyscapheA bathyscaphe is a free-diving self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere, but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic bathysphere design....
TriesteBathyscaphe TriesteThe Trieste is a Swiss-designed, Italian-built deep-diving research bathyscaphe with a crew of two, which reached a record maximum depth of about , in the deepest known part of the Earth's oceans, the Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench near Guam, on January 23, 1960, crewed by Jacques Piccard ...
at a depth of 10,916 m. - May 10 - The nuclear submarine USS TritonUSS Triton (SSRN-586)USS Triton , a United States Navy nuclear-powered radar picket submarine, was the first vessel to execute a submerged circumnavigation of the Earth , doing so in early 1960. Triton accomplished this objective during her shakedown cruise while under the command of Captain Edward L. "Ned" Beach, Jr...
, under the command of Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr.Edward L. Beach, Jr.Edward Latimer Beach, Jr. was a highly-decorated United States Navy submarine officer and best-selling author....
, completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
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Mathematics
- Wacław Sierpiński proves the existence of Sierpinski numbers.
- In the classification of finite simple groupsClassification of finite simple groupsIn mathematics, the classification of the finite simple groups is a theorem stating that every finite simple group belongs to one of four categories described below. These groups can be seen as the basic building blocks of all finite groups, in much the same way as the prime numbers are the basic...
, Michio SuzukiMichio Suzukiwas a Japanese mathematician who studied group theory.-Biography:He was a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1953 to his death. He also had visiting positions at the University of Chicago , the Institute for Advanced Study , the University of Tokyo , and the...
and Rimhak ReeRimhak ReeRimhak Ree, also spelled Im-hak Ree , was a Korean Canadian mathematician. He contributed in the field of group theory, most notably with the concept of the Ree group in .-Early life:...
introduce Suzuki–Ree groups; and John G. ThompsonJohn G. ThompsonJohn Griggs Thompson is a mathematician at the University of Florida noted for his work in the field of finite groups. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970, the Wolf Prize in 1992 and the 2008 Abel Prize....
, Walter FeitWalter FeitWalter Feit was a Jewish Austrian-American mathematician who worked in finite group theory and representation theory....
and Marshall HallMarshall Hall (mathematician)Marshall Hall, Jr. was an American mathematician who made contributions to group theory and combinatorics.- Career :...
prove that a group with a fixed-point-free automorphism of prime order is nilpotent, and that all finite simple CN groupCN groupIn mathematics, in the area of algebra known as group theory, a more than fifty-year effort was made to answer a conjecture of : are all groups of odd order solvable? Progress was made by showing that CA-groups, groups in which the centralizer of a non-identity element is abelian, of odd order are...
s of odd order are cyclic.
Medicine
- April 15 - William C. Chardack implants the first fixed-rate cardiac pacemakerArtificial pacemakerA pacemaker is a medical device that uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart...
with mercury batteryMercury batteryA mercury battery is a non-rechargeable electrochemical battery, a primary cell. Due to the content of mercury, and the resulting environmental concerns, the sale of mercury batteries is banned in many countries. Both ANSI and IEC have withdrawn standards for mercury batteries...
, designed by Wilson GreatbatchWilson GreatbatchWilson Greatbatch was an American engineer and inventor whois most widely known as the inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker...
. - May 9 - The U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
announces that it will approve birth controlBirth controlBirth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
as an additional indicationIndication (medicine)In medicine, an indication is a valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery. The opposite of indication is contraindication.-Drugs:...
for SearleG. D. Searle & CompanyG.D. Searle & Company or just Searle was a company focusing on life sciences, specifically pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and animal health. It is now part of Pfizer.- History :...
's EnovidEnovidEnovid or Enavid was the first combined oral contraceptive pill . Developed by G. D. Searle & Company, it was first made available in the U.S. in 1957. Initially Enovid was marketed only for the treatment of menstrual disorders. On May 9, 1960 the U.S...
, making it the world's first approved combined oral contraceptive pill. - June 6 - The American Heart AssociationAmerican Heart AssociationThe American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas...
announces a strong statistical association between heavy cigarette smoking and coronary heart disease.
Paleontology
- November 4 - OH 7OH 7OH 7 , also nicknamed "Johnny's Child", is the type specimen of Homo habilis. The fossils were discovered on November 4, 1960 in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, by Jonathan and Mary Leakey...
, first fragments of Homo habilisHomo habilisHomo habilis is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately at the beginning of the Pleistocene period. The discovery and description of this species is credited to both Mary and Louis Leakey, who found fossils in Tanzania, East Africa, between 1962 and 1964. Homo habilis Homo...
, discovered by Jonathan LeakeyJonathan LeakeyJonathan Harry Erskine Leakey is a businessman and former palaeoanthropologist. He is the first son of famed anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey....
at Olduvai GorgeOlduvai GorgeThe Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches through eastern Africa. It is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about long. It is located 45 km from the Laetoli archaeological site...
, TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
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Physics
- March 22 - Arthur Leonard SchawlowArthur Leonard SchawlowArthur Leonard Schawlow was an American physicist. He is best remembered for his work on lasers, for which he shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn.-Biography:...
and Charles Hard TownesCharles Hard TownesCharles Hard Townes is an American Nobel Prize-winning physicist and educator. Townes is known for his work on the theory and application of the maser, on which he got the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics connected with both maser and laser devices. He shared the Nobel...
receive the first patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for a laserLaserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
. - May 16 - Theodore Maiman demonstrates the first working laserLaserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
, a ruby laserRuby laserA ruby laser is a solid-state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium. The first working laser was a ruby laser made by Theodore H. "Ted" Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories on May 16, 1960....
, at Hughes Research LaboratoriesHughes Research LaboratoriesHRL Laboratories , was the research arm of the Hughes Aircraft Company. Its dedicated research center was established in 1960 in Malibu...
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Births
- May 3 - Jaron LanierJaron LanierJaron Zepel Lanier is an American computer scientist, best known for popularizing the term virtual reality .A pioneer in the field of VR, Lanier and Thomas G. Zimmerman left Atari in 1985 to found VPL Research, Inc., the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves...
, AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer scientistComputer scientistA computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
. - October 18 - Craig MelloCraig MelloCraig Cameron Mello is a Portuguese-American biologist and Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Andrew Z. Fire, for the discovery of RNA interference...
, American biologistBiologistA biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
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Deaths
- May 8 - 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....
(b. 19041904 in scienceThe year 1904 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* Edward Walter Maunder plots the first sunspot "butterfly diagram".* The sixth moon of Jupiter, later called Himalia, discovered at Lick Observatory....
), BritishBritish peopleThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - June 17 - Harold GilliesHarold GilliesSir Harold Delf Gillies was a New Zealand-born, and later London based, otolaryngologist who is widely considered as the father of plastic surgery.-Personal life:Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand...
(b. 18821882 in scienceThe year 1882 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Robert Koch isolates the Tuberculosis bacillus.* Élie Metchnikoff discovers phagocytosis.-Chemistry:...
), plastic surgeon.