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Sakharov was a Soviet physicist who became, in the words of the Nobel Peace Committee, a spokesman for the conscience of mankind. He was fascinated by fundamental physics and cosmology, but first he spent two decades designing nuclear weapons. He came to be regarded as the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, contributing perhaps more than anyone else to the military might of the USSR. But gradually Sakharov became one of the regime’s most courageous critics, a defender of human rights and democracy.
Jesuit, born 1. May 1592 in Cologne, Germany visited China and worked for various Chinese Emperors as astronomer. He transferred some of the mathematics and astronomy knowledge of the West to China. He died 15. August 1666 in Peking. From November 1664 until 18 May 1665 he was in jail because of his religion and he survived because earthquakes and other catastrophical events occurred in China this year. He was released and in the same year rehabilitated by the new Emperor Kang-Hsi. Verbiest another astronomer and mathematician took care of the old Adam Schall until his death. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13520a.htm , The Mathematics of the Chinese Calendar
“I was born in Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.A. on May 5, 1921. My father had come from Europe a decade earlier. He left his home in Riga to study electrical engineering at Darmstadt, but arrived too late for the beginning of the term. Therefore, he went on to visit his brother in New York, and never returned either to Europe or to electrical engineering. My mother was a Canadian and, at her urging, the family moved to Toronto in 1924. I attended public schools there, Winchester elementary school, the Normal Model School attached to the teacher's college, and Vaughan Road Collegiate Institute (high school). As a boy, I was always interested in scientific things, electrical, mechanical or astronomical, and read nearly everything that the library could provide on these subjects. I intended to try to go to the University of Toronto to study radio engineering, and my parents encouraged me. Unfortunately my high school years, 1932 to 1937, were in the deepest part of the great economic depression. My father's salary as one of the many agents for a large insurance company could not cover the cost of a college education for my sister, Rosemary, and me. Indeed, at that time few high school graduates continued their education. Only three or four out of our high school class of sixty or so students were able to go to a university. There were, at that time, no scholarships in engineering, but we were both fortunate enough to win scholarships in the faculty of Arts of the University of Toronto. My sister's was for English literature, and mine was for mathematics and physics. Physics seemed pretty close to radio engineering, and so that was what I pursued. It now seems to me to have been a most fortunate chance, for I do not have the patience with design details that an engineer must have. Physics has given me a chance to concentrate on concepts and methods, and I have enjoyed it greatly. With jobs as scarce as they were in those years, we had to have some occupation in mind to justify college studies. A scientific career was something that few of us even dreamed possible, and nearly all of the entering class expected to teach high school mathematics or physics. However, before we graduated in 1941 Canada was at war, and all of us were involved in some way. I taught classes to armed service personnel at the University of Toronto until 1944, and then worked on microwave antenna development at a radar factory. In 1945, graduate studies could resume, and I returned to the University. It was by then badly depleted in staff and equipment by the effects of the depression and the war, but it did have a long tradition in optical spectroscopy. There were two highly creative physics professors working on spectroscopy, Malcolm F. Crawford and Harry L. Welsh. I took courses from both of them, and did my thesis research with Crawford. It was a very rewarding experience, for he gave the students good problems and the freedom to learn by making our own mistakes. Moreover, he was always willing to discuss physics, and even to speculate about where future advances might be found. A Carbide and Carbon Chemicals postdoctoral fellowship took me to Columbia University to work with Charles H. Townes. What a marvelous place Columbia was then, under I.I. Rabi's leadership! There were no less than eight future Nobel laureates in the physics department during my two years there. Working with Charles Townes was particularly stimulating. Not only was he the leader in research on microwave spectroscopy, but he was extraordinarily effective in getting the best from his students and colleagues. He would listen carefully to the confused beginnings of an idea, and join in developing whatever was worthwhile in it, without ever dominating the discussions. Best of all, he introduced me to his youngest sister, Aurelia, who became my wife in 1951. From 1951 to 1961, I was a physicist at Bell Telephone Laboratories. There my research was mostly on superconductivity, with some studies of nuclear quadrupole resonance. On weekends I worked with Charles Townes on our book Microwave Spectroscopy, which had been started while I was at Columbia and was published in 1955. In 1957 and 1958, while mainly still continuing experiments on superconductivity, I worked with Charles Townes to see what would be needed to extend the principles of the maser to much shorter wavelengths, to make an optical maser or, as it is now known, a laser. Thereupon, I began work on optical properties and spectra of solids which might be relevant to laser materials, and then on lasers. Since 1961, I have been a professor of physics at Stanford University and was chairman of the department of physics from 1966 to 1970. In 1978 I was appointed J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professor of Physics. Awards Stuart Ballantine Medal (1962); Thomas Young Medal and Prize (1963); Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Prize (1964); California Scientist of the Year (1973); Frederick Ives Medal (1976); Marconi International Fellowship (1977). Honorary doctorates from University of Ghent, Belgium (1968), University of Toronto, Canada (1970), University of Bradford, England (1970). Honorary professor, East China Normal University, Shanghai (1979). Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. President, Optical Society of America (1975) President, American Physical Society (1981) added in 1991): I retired from teaching and became Professor Emeritus in 1991. My wife died in an automobile accident in May, 1991. My daughter Helen is now Assistant Professor of French at the University of Wisconsin. From Helen and her sister Edith, I now have four grandchildren. “ From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1981-1990.
Italian astronomer, author, journalist - Hungary C347 Schiaparelli was born in Savigliano, Italy, in 1835, educated at Turin, and after studying at Berlin and Pulkova, rose to the directorship of the Brera Observatory in Milan. His great work forging a link between comets and meteors was carried out there. (Among other things, he showed that the August meteors, the Perseids, were debris thrown off from Comet Swift-Tuttle of 1862. He later showed that the Leonids - which may put on a spectacular display in November of this year - were debris thrown off from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Since this comet circles the Sun once every 33 years, when the Earth crosses the part of the comet's orbit soon after the comet itself has been there, spectacular showers of meteors have been seen, such as the great storms of 1833, 1866, and 1966. There's a good chance we may be in for another "meteor storm" this year.) Schiaparelli's career as a planetary observer did not begin until he was over forty, and awaited the hitherto optically-challenged Brera Observatory's acquisition of a decent telescope - an 8.6-inch (22-cm) aperture Merz refractor. The observatory had been founded in 1760 by Roger Boscovich, as part of the Jesuit college established in the old Spanish Palazzo of Brera. It is down the street from the famed opera house La Scala, and boasts its own art gallery founded by Napoleon. In 1877, Mars came to one of its very favorable oppositions - almost as good as that of 2003. In Washington, D.C., Asaph Hall discovered the two miniature moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Despite the grandness of the opportunity, Schiaparelli was a methodical man, and does not, at first, seem to have been particularly interested. He was busy doing routine work - measuring double stars. Then one night in August, while watching an eclipse of the Moon, he decided to turn his telescope on Mars. Eclipsed blood-red moon, and Mars, nearby, glowing like an ember in the sky. A dark, olive-skinned, bearded man, with sharp penetrating black eyes, turns the telescope toward Mars. His first vision is confused; "I must admit," Schiaparelli wrote, "on comparing the aspect of the planet with the recently published maps this first attempt did not seem very encouraging." But his interest had been stirred. He made a first sketch, then returned to the planet again a few nights later. The markings began, with practice, to gather into recognizable shapes. From the first look of a curiosity-seeker, Schiaparelli became a dedicated connoisseur of the Red Planet. He resolved to draw up a new, more accurate, map, on which he would introduce a nomenclature based on the geography and mythology of the classical world. He was a passionate classicist, immersed in the old literature. Such names as Syrtis Major, Chryse, Utopia, Elysium, and Tharsis, still in use today, were first introduced on this map. He also made out linear markings - *canali*, he called them, from the Italian word meaning grooves or channels (and, I hasten to add, not necessarily artificial). They extended between the dark patches which he regarded as water-filled seas. Schiaparelli also provided full descriptions of the chill Martian polar regions, comparing them with those of the Earth. Schiaparelli returned to his tower to observe Mars again at the oppositions of 1879, 1881, 1884, 1886, 1888, and 1890 - launching expedition after expedition, unfurling his telescopic sails upon the seas of interplanetary space. Schiaparelli, from his observatory in Milan, commenced the "first organized continuous enterprise" into the unknown world of Mars. He was in his day in the forefront of Martian research - and he knew it. He wrote to his friend, the Belgian astronomer Francois Terby, in 1886 that he had begun the exploration of "a New World, this world of Mars ... which we must conquer little by little. It will be a less difficult and bloody conquest than the exploits of Cortes and Pizarro. But there are, alas, no more than ten observers seriously occupied with it even during the most favorable periods of the oppositions."
Physicist Basil Schonland described as ‘South Africa’s scientist of the twentieth century’, made his name in the early part of the last century by unraveling the mysteries of lightning. Born and reared in Grahamstown, Schonland was a graduate of Rhodes and Cambridge universities. He later became Chancellor of Rhodes University. He did sterling scientific work during the Second World War and was later appointed by Prime Minister Jan Smuts as founding President of the CSIR (1945 – 1950). Sir Basil Schonland became Director (1958 – 1961) of the UK’s atomic energy research establishment at Harwell. He established his own research institute, the Bernard Price Institute of Geophysical Research, at the University of the Witwatersrand and played a key role in South Africa’s independent development of the radar during the war.
Schrödinger Erwin (1887-1961) Austria
A 1979 series of Vatican stamps honors this Italian Jesuit astronomer. The three instruments perfected by Secchi are shown in the stamps: the meteorograph, the spectroscope and the telescope. Astronomers call him "the Father of Astrophysics. Angelo Secchi, S.J. was born in Reggio, Italy and died in Rome. He was a physicist and mathematician with remarkable ability and passion for astronomy. Angelo worked in stellar spectroscopy, made the first systematic spectroscopic survey of the heavens, pioneered in classifying stars by their four spectral types, studied sunspots, solar prominences, photographed solar corona during the eclipse in 1860, invented the heliospectroscope, star spectroscope, telespectroscope and meteorograph. He also studied double stars, weather forecasting and terrestrial magnetism. He became director of the Vatican Observatory at the age of 32 and dedicated himself energetically to the task. Sabino Maffeo S.J. tells the story of his tenure at the Vatican Observatory. (See Maffeo S.J. Sabino, In the Service of the Popes Translation by George V. Coyne, S.J. Pg. 13-15. Angelo Secchi was particularly attracted to astrophysics, a courageous choice in a time when this field was little developed. Nevertheless, he did not neglect other areas of astronomy. He also had regular teaching assignments in astronomy and physics at the Gregorian University, and had many other chores t keep him busy. He observed double stars, nebulae, planets and comets. He discovered three comets in the years 1852-1853. He studied terrestrial magnetism and meteorology; he was in charge of setting up a new triangulation base on the Via Appia; he went to various cities to repair or install new water systems; he established lighthouses in the ports of the Papal States; and he even had to look after the positioning of solar clocks. In addition to his great works on the sun, on the fixed stars, and on the unity of physical forces, he published about 730 small papers in various scientific journals. Angelo had a particular interest in the sun: its innumerable facets attracted his attention right up to the time of his death. He kept a daily record of the number of sunspots, and of their appearance and movement; at the eyepiece of his telescope, he drew pictures of the most interesting spots. Using a new technique for observing solar prominences outside of eclipse, Angelo found the connection between prominences and sunspots. His magnificent drawings of the huge red hydrogen jets extending from the solar surface in stupendous and ever changing shapes, have become classics of astronomical literature.
Physician, physicist, mathematician, designed a reactive water engine - the so-called Segner wheel
Samanta Chandra Sekhar was born on 13th December, 1835 corresponding to Pausha Krishna Astami of the Saka year 1957 in the royal family of the erstwhile princely state Khandpara in Orissa. It was then one of the twenty-six princely states called Gadajat ruled by a dynastic king, enjoying some degree of autonomy under the British rule. This kingdom, with an area of 244 square miles only, was founded in 1599 and was being ruled at the time of Samanta, by his nephew, the eleventh king named Natabar Singh Mardaraj. Samanta's father Shyamabandhu, and mother Bishnumali, were a very pious couple. They had nine daughters and one son before the birth of Chandra Sekhar. Since two daughters and the only son then had died in infancy, they had named Chandra Sekhar as Pathani Samanta also, who is popularly known in Orissa by that name.
English astronomer - Christmas Isl. 85
Born: 24 March 1835 in St Peter (near Klagenfurt), Austria
He was a Slovak astronomer. Stefanik studied at university in Prague, then in Zurich where he got a universal astronomical knowledge. In Slovakia he could not find a job so he went to France. Later he became a director of observatory on the highest mountain in Europe - Mont Blanc. French astronomical company awarded him Janssen medal.
A Chinese astronomer and Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty, Zhang Sui (683-727), was the first to describe proper stellar motion, or the apparent motion of stars across the plane of the sky relative to more distant stars. In Western astronomy, Edmond Halley is credited with this discovery in 1718 for some stars from Ptolemy's catalogue.
February 1898- Leo Szilard, a father of the Atomic Age, is born in Budapest, the son of an engineer. Szilard was a physicist in Germany until the Nazis took power, after which he went to Vienna, then England, and finally to the United States. At Columbia University he was part of the group that urged Franklin Roosevelt in a famous 1939 letter to build an atomic bomb. At the University of Chicago he collaborated with Enrico Fermi to build the first-ever nuclear reactor. He was also a key scientist in the Manhattan Project that built the first atomic weapons. After World War II Szilard devoted himself to curbing nuclear weapons and using nuclear power peacefully. On February 11, 1998, the 100th anniversary of his birth, Hungary issued a postage stamp honoring Leo Szilard. The stamp combines a free interpretation of Szilard's face with designs representing his contributions to nuclear energy and information theory. Szilárd clarified the connection between the role played by reason in producing information and the second main tenet of energetics, one of the points of departure to informatics and brain research, in an essay called Reducing entropy in thermodynamic systems upon the impact of intelligent creatures (1926). He discovered the possibility of nuclear chain reactions and proved the case for neutron multiplication for uranium fission. Enrico Fermi and Szilárd were in charge of planning and putting into practice the first atomic pile. The names of both scientists are featured an the patent of the nuclear reactor. 'I believe that a single man is capable of changing the course of history. I dedicate this book to the memory of a man who never yearned for power, nor did he attain it, but who started the atomic age,’ writes Teller in a book dedicated to the memory of Leo Szilárd. (Better the Shield than the Sword)
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