1879 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1879 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.
Biology
- Jean Henri FabreJean Henri FabreJean-Henri Casimir Fabre was a French entomologist and author.-Life:Fabre was born in Saint-Léons in Aveyron, France....
publishes the first of his Souvenirs entomologiques. - Heinrich Anton de Bary coins the term symbiosisSymbiosisSymbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...
in his monograph Die Erscheinung der Symbiose (Strasbourg).
Chemistry
- January 2 - Publication of first issue of Journal of the American Chemical SocietyJournal of the American Chemical SocietyThe Journal of the American Chemical Society is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry and the American Chemical Journal...
. - Per Teodor ClevePer Teodor ClevePer Teodor Cleve was a Swedish chemist and geologist.After graduating from the Stockholm Gymnasium in 1858, Cleve matriculated at Uppsala University in May 1858, where he received his PhD in 1863...
discovers the elements holmiumHolmiumHolmium is a chemical element with the symbol Ho and atomic number 67. Part of the lanthanide series, holmium is a rare earth element. Its oxide was first isolated from rare earth ores in 1878 and the element was named after the city of Stockholm....
and thuliumThuliumThulium is a chemical element that has the symbol Tm and atomic number 69. Thulium is the second least abundant of the lanthanides . It is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster...
. - Lars Fredrik NilsonLars Fredrik NilsonLars Fredrik Nilson was a Swedish chemist who discovered scandium in 1879.Nilson was born in Skönberga parish in Östergötland, Sweden. His father, Nikolaus, was a farmer. The family moved to Gotland when Lars Fredrik was young. After graduating from school, Lars Fredrik enrolled at Uppsala...
discovers the element scandiumScandiumScandium is a chemical element with symbol Sc and atomic number 21. A silvery-white metallic transition metal, it has historically been sometimes classified as a rare earth element, together with yttrium and the lanthanoids...
.
Earth sciences
- Vasily Dokuchaev introduces the concept of pedologyPedologyPedology may refer to:*Pedology *Pedology *Pediatrics...
, laying the foundations for the study of soil scienceSoil scienceSoil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.Sometimes terms which...
.
History of science
- Carl SchorlemmerCarl SchorlemmerCarl Schorlemmer FRS was a German chemist who did research on hydrocarbons and contributed to the study of the history of chemistry.- Life and work :...
publishes The Rise and Development of Organic Chemistry.
Medicine
- James Crichton-BrowneJames Crichton-BrowneSir James Crichton-Browne MD FRS was a leading British psychiatrist famous for studies on the relationship of mental illness to neurological damage and for the development of public health policies in relation to mental health...
publishes "On the weight of the brain and its component parts in the insane", a key paper in the neuropathologyNeuropathologyNeuropathology is the study of disease of nervous system tissue, usually in the form of either small surgical biopsies or whole autopsy brains. Neuropathology is a subspecialty of anatomic pathology, neurology, and neurosurgery...
of insanityInsanityInsanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
.
Psychology
- Wilhelm WundtWilhelm WundtWilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physician, psychologist, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. He is widely regarded as the "father of experimental psychology"...
creates the first laboratory of experimental psychology, at the University of LeipzigUniversity of LeipzigThe University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
.
Technology
- May 31 - Werner von Siemens demonstrates the first electric locomotiveElectric locomotiveAn electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
using an external power source at Berlin. - October 22 - Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
successfully tests a carbonCarbonCarbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
filament thread in an incandescent light bulbIncandescent light bulbThe incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process...
.
Births
- January 1 - Ernest JonesErnest JonesAlfred Ernest Jones was a British neurologist and psychoanalyst, and Sigmund Freud’s official biographer. Jones was the first English-speaking practitioner of psychoanalysis and became its leading exponent in the English-speaking world where, as President of both the British Psycho-Analytical...
(d. 19581958 in scienceThe year 1958 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* During International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered; and the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition discovers the subglacial Gamburtsev Mountain Range in Antarctica.-Astronomy and space...
), WelshWelsh peopleThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
psychoanalyst. - February 22 - J. N. Brønsted (d. 19471947 in scienceThe year 1947 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Anthropology:* August 7 - Thor Heyerdahl's balsa-wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 4300-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating that...
), physical chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. - March 8 - Otto HahnOtto HahnOtto Hahn FRS was a German chemist and Nobel laureate, a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and after World War II he became a passionate campaigner...
(d. 19681968 in scienceThe year 1968 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* Neutron stars; Thomas Gold explains the recently discovered radio pulsars as rapidly rotating neutron stars and subsequent observations confirm the suggestion.-Medicine:* January 2 - Dr...
), German 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...
who received the 1944 Nobel Prize in 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,...
. - March 14 - Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
(d. 19551955 in scienceThe year 1955 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed below.-Astronomy:* January 8 - Penumbral lunar eclipse....
), scientist and winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in 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...
. - May 28 - Milutin MilankovićMilutin MilankovicMilutin Milanković was a Serbian geophysicist and civil engineer, best known for his theory of ice ages, suggesting a relationship between Earth's long-term climate changes and periodic changes in its orbit, now known as Milankovitch cycles. Milanković gave two fundamental contributions to global...
(d. 19581958 in scienceThe year 1958 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* During International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered; and the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition discovers the subglacial Gamburtsev Mountain Range in Antarctica.-Astronomy and space...
), geophysicist.
Deaths
- March 3 - William Kingdon CliffordWilliam Kingdon CliffordWilliam Kingdon Clifford FRS was an English mathematician and philosopher. Building on the work of Hermann Grassmann, he introduced what is now termed geometric algebra, a special case of the Clifford algebra named in his honour, with interesting applications in contemporary mathematical physics...
(b. 18451845 in scienceThe year 1845 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* January 14 – Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin established and begins publishing Fortschritte der Physik and Verhandlungen....
), geometer. - April 16 - Peter KozlerPeter KozlerPeter Kozler or Kosler was a Slovene lawyer, geographer, cartographer, activist and manufacturer...
(b. 18241824 in scienceThe year 1824 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* January 8 - After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of the Royal Society with only one vote against him.-Astronomy:...
), geographerGeographerA geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and cartographer. - May 4 - William FroudeWilliam FroudeWilliam Froude was an English engineer, hydrodynamicist and naval architect. He was the first to formulate reliable laws for the resistance that water offers to ships and for predicting their stability....
(b. 18101810 in scienceThe year 1810 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.-Medicine:* John Haslam, resident apothecary at Bethlem Hospital in London, produces the book Illustrations of Madness: Exhibiting a Singular Case of Insanity, And a No Less Remarkable Difference in Medical...
), hydrodynamicist. - November 5 - James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
(b. 18311831 in scienceThe year 1831 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* January 7 - Great Comet of 1831 first observed by John Herapath....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and 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...
.