1985 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1985 in science and technology involved many significant events, listed below.
Environment
- May 16 – Scientists of the British Antarctic SurveyBritish Antarctic SurveyThe British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
announce discovery of the ozone holeOzone depletionOzone depletion describes two distinct but related phenomena observed since the late 1970s: a steady decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth's stratosphere , and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon...
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Exploration
- September 1 – The wreck of RMS TitanicThe wreck of RMS TitanicThe wreck of RMS Titanic was discovered on 1 September 1985, more than 73 years after its sinking on 15 April 1912, south of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic ocean, by a joint American-French expedition, led by oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel and Dr. Robert Ballard . The most notable discovery...
(19121912 in scienceThe year 1912 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* July 23 - Horace Donisthorpe first discovers Anergates atratulus in the New Forest, England.-Chemistry:...
) in the North Atlantic is located by a joint American-French expedition led by Dr. Robert BallardRobert BallardRobert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
(WHOIWoods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionThe Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
) and Jean-Louis MichelJean-Louis Michel (oceanographer)Jean-Louis Michel is a French oceanographer and engineer.He discovered subsea intervention in 1969 with the French Navy as an officer at the Groupe des Bathyscaphes headed by Captain Georges Houot. In 1985, Jean-Louis Michel led a team of French and American explorers who found the wreckage of the...
(IfremerIfremerIfremer, standing for French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea is an oceanographic institution in France.- Scope of works :...
) using side-scan sonarSide-scan sonarSide-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor...
from RV Knorr.
Mathematics
- September - Dennis SullivanDennis SullivanDennis Parnell Sullivan is an American mathematician. He is known for work in topology, both algebraic and geometric, and on dynamical systems. He holds the Albert Einstein Chair at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and is a professor at Stony Brook University.-Work in topology:He...
publishes proof of the No wandering domain theoremNo wandering domain theoremIn mathematics, the no-wandering-domain theorem is a result on dynamical systems, proven by Dennis Sullivan in 1985.The theorem states that a rational map f : Ĉ → Ĉ with deg ≥ 2 does not have a wandering domain, where Ĉ denotes the Riemann sphere...
. - December – Publication of the ATLAS of Finite GroupsATLAS of Finite GroupsThe ATLAS of Finite Groups, often simply known as the ATLAS, is a group theory book by John Horton Conway, Robert Turner Curtis, Simon Phillips Norton, Richard Alan Parker and Robert Arnott Wilson , published in December 1985 by Oxford University Press and reprinted with corrections in 2003...
.
Medicine
- February 19 – Artificial heartArtificial heartAn artificial heart is a mechanical device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used in order to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in case transplantation is impossible...
patient William SchroederWilliam J. SchroederWilliam J. Schroeder of Jasper, Indiana, was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart at the age of 52. On November 25 1984, Schroeder became the second human recipient of the Jarvik 7. The transplant was performed at Humana Heart Institute International in Louisville, Kentucky by Dr....
becomes the first such patient to leave hospital. - March 4 – The United States 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...
approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since this date for blood supply. - Publication of a classified bibliography of 3500 reports on controlled trials in perinatal medicine published since 1940.
- New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based neurologistNeurologistA neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
Oliver SacksOliver SacksOliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
publishes The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is a 1985 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks describing the case histories of some of his patients. The title of the book comes from the case study of a man with visual agnosia...
and Other Clinical Tales.
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...
– Klaus von KlitzingKlaus von KlitzingKlaus von Klitzing is a German physicist known for discovery of the integer quantum Hall Effect, for which he was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics....
– for his discovery of the quantizationQuantization (physics)In physics, quantization is the process of explaining a classical understanding of physical phenomena in terms of a newer understanding known as "quantum mechanics". It is a procedure for constructing a quantum field theory starting from a classical field theory. This is a generalization of the...
of electrical resistanceElectrical resistanceThe electrical resistance of an electrical element is the opposition to the passage of an electric current through that element; the inverse quantity is electrical conductance, the ease at which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with the mechanical... - 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,...
– Herbert A. HauptmanHerbert A. HauptmanHerbert Aaron Hauptman was an American mathematician and Nobel laureate. He pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the whole field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in determination of molecular structures of crystallized materials...
, Jerome KarleJerome KarleJerome Karle, born Jerome Karfunkel is an American physical chemist. Jointly with Herbert A. Hauptman, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985, for the direct analysis of crystal structures using X-ray scattering techniques.-Early life and education:Karle was born in New York City on... - 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...
– Michael S. Brown, Joseph L. GoldsteinJoseph L. GoldsteinJoseph L. Goldstein from Kingstree, South Carolina is a Nobel Prize winning biochemist and geneticist, and a pioneer in the study of cholesterol metabolism.-Biography:...
- Physics
- Turing AwardTuring AwardThe Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
– Richard KarpRichard KarpRichard Manning Karp is a computer scientist and computational theorist at the University of California, Berkeley, notable for research in the theory of algorithms, for which he received a Turing Award in 1985, The Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science in 2004, and the Kyoto...
– for his work on computational complexityComputational ComplexityComputational Complexity may refer to:*Computational complexity theory*Computational Complexity...
theory
Deaths
- March 10 – C. B. van Niel (b. 18971897 in scienceThe year 1897 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert unifies the field of algebraic number theory with his treatise Zahlbericht.-Medicine:...
), Dutch American microbiologistMicrobiologistA microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
. - April 20 – Charles Richter (b. 19001900 in scienceThe year 1900 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Aeronautics:* July 2 - The first airship flight is made by the LZ1 designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin.-Chemistry:...
), AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
geophysicist and inventor. - July 20 – Bruno de FinettiBruno de FinettiBruno de Finetti was an Italian probabilist, statistician and actuary, noted for the "operational subjective" conception of probability...
(b. 19061906 in scienceThe year 1906 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Charles Barkla discovers that each element has a characteristic X-ray and that the degree of penetration of these X-rays is related to the atomic weight of the element.* Mikhail Tsvet first names the...
), ItalianItalian peopleThe Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
statisticianStatisticianA statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
. - September 6 – Rodney PorterRodney Robert PorterRodney Robert Porter, FRS was an English biochemist and Nobel laureate.Born in Newton-le-Willows, St Helens, Lancashire, England, Rodney Robert Porter received his Bachelors of Sciences degree from the University of Liverpool in 1939 for Biochemistry. He moved to the University of Cambridge where...
(b. 19171917 in scienceThe year 1917 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Awards:* Nobel Prize** Physics - Charles Glover Barkla** Chemistry - not awarded** Medicine - not awarded-Births:...
), EnglishEnglish peopleThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
biochemistBiochemistBiochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
, winner of the 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...
. - September 7 – George PólyaGeorge PólyaGeorge Pólya was a Hungarian mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental contributions to combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis and probability theory...
(b. 18871887 in scienceThe year 1887 in science and technology involved many significant events, listed below.-Events:* March 7 - North Carolina State University is established as North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts....
), Hungarian mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - September 10 – Ernst ÖpikErnst ÖpikErnst Julius Öpik was a noted Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist who spent the second half of his career at the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland.-Education:...
(b. 18931893 in scienceThe year 1893 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Henry Luke Bolley discovers a method of treating smut with formaldehyde.-Exploration:...
), EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n astronomerAstronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and astrophysicist. - October 22 – Thomas Townsend BrownThomas Townsend BrownThomas Townsend Brown was an American physicist.-Early and middle years:Brown was born in Zanesville, Ohio; his parents were Lewis K. and Mary Townsend Brown. In 1921, Brown discovered what was later called the Biefeld-Brown effect while experimenting with a Coolidge X-ray tube. This is a vacuum...
(b. 19051905 in scienceThe year 1905 in science and technology involved some significant events, particularly in physics, listed below.-Astronomy:* January 2 - Charles Dillon Perrine at Lick Observatory discovers Elara, one of Jupiter's natural satellites....
), American 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...
. - November 24 – László BíróLászló BíróLászló József Bíró was the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.Bíró was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1899. He presented the first production of the ball pen at the Budapest International Fair in 1931...
(b. 18991899 in scienceThe year 1899 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert publishes Grundlagen der Geometrie, proposing a formal set, Hilbert's axioms, to replace Euclid's elements....
), Hungarian inventor.