1949 in science
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| 1949 in science |
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| Terrestrial environment |
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The year 1949 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
- January 26 – The Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California, the largest aperture optical telescope in the world for 28 years, sees first light.
- June 14 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey, becomes the first mammal in space, in a U.S.-launched V-2 rocket, reaching an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) but dying on impact after a parachute failure.
Chemistry
- Radiocarbon dating technique discovered by Willard Libby and his colleagues at the University of Chicago—work for which Libby will receive the Nobel Prize in 1960.
- A group including Dorothy Hodgkin publish the three-dimensional molecular structure of penicillin, demonstrating that it contains a β-lactam ring.[1][2]
Computer science
- April – Manchester Mark 1 computer operable at the University of Manchester in England.
- May 6 – EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at University of Cambridge in England, to calculate a table of squares.[3]
Earth sciences
- August 5 – Ambato earthquake in Ecuador, measuring 6.8 on the Richter magnitude scale.[4]
- Patomskiy crater in Siberia is discovered by Russian geologist Vadim Kolpakov.
History of science
- Herbert Butterfield publishes The Origins of Modern Science, 1300–1800.
Mathematics
- Ákos Császár discovers the Császár polyhedron.
- D. R. Kaprekar discovers the convergence property of the number 6174.
Medicine
- The use of lithium salts to control mania is rediscovered by Australian psychiatrist John Cade, the first mood stabilizer.[5]
- First implant of intraocular lens, by Sir Harold Ridley
- First Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, a self-report personality test, released.
Meteorology
- January 11 – Los Angeles receives its first recorded snowfall.
Philosophy
- Gilbert Ryle's book The Concept of Mind, a founding document in the philosophy of mind, is published.
Physics
- Freeman Dyson demonstrates the equivalence of the formulations of quantum electrodynamics existing at this time,[6] incidentally inventing the Dyson series.[7]
- The Lanczos tensor is introduced in general relativity by Cornelius Lanczos.[8]
- Pauli–Villars regularization is first published.[9]
Zoology
- J. B. S. Haldane proposes the Darwin as a unit of evolutionary change.[10]
- Konrad Lorenz publishes King Solomon's Ring (Er redete mit dem Vieh, den Vögeln und den Fischen).