1935 in science explained

The year 1935 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

Astronomy

• May 14 – Opening of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
• October 3 – Opening of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.

Chemistry

• February 28–March 1 – Working with polyamides to develop a viable new fiber for chemical company DuPont, American chemist Gérard Berchet working under the direction of Wallace Carothers first synthesizes the synthetic polymer nylon at Wilmington, Delaware.^[1]
• April 13 – Dorothy Hodgkin publishes her first solo paper, on the methodology of X-ray crystallography of insulin.^[2]
• Vitamin E is first isolated in a pure form by Gladys Anderson Emerson at the University of California, Berkeley.
• Eastman Kodak first market Kodachrome subtractive color reversal film as 16 mm movie film.^{[3] [4]} It has been invented by two professional musicians, Leopold Godowsky Jr. and Leopold Mannes.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Ecology

• English botanist Arthur Tansley introduces the concept of the ecosystem.^{[8] [9]}

Geology

• Charles Richter and Beno Gutenberg develop the Richter magnitude scale for quantifying earthquakes.

History of science and technology

• American bacteriologist Hans Zinsser publishes Rats, lice and history: being a study in biography, which... deals with the life history of typhus fever.^[10]
• Cornish Engines Preservation Committee formed to conserve the Levant Mine beam engine in Cornwall, England.

Mathematics

• April 19 – Alonzo Church presents his paper "An unsolvable problem of elementary number theory", introducing his theorem on the Entscheidungsproblem, to the American Mathematical Society.^[11]
• Octav Onicescu and Gheorghe Mihoc develop the notion of the "chain with complete links" in probability theory.^[12]
• George Pólya develops counting techniques for graphs as algebra.^[13]
• George K. Zipf proposes Zipf's law on probability distribution.^[14]

Pharmacology

• January 2 – IG Farben are granted a patent in Germany for the medical application of the first sulfonamide prodrug, Sulfonamidochrysoidine (KI-730; marketed as Prontosil). In February, Gerhard Domagk and others publish (in Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift) the first clinical results on its properties as an antibiotic, the first commercially available; and in November a team directed by Ernest Fourneau at the Pasteur Institute identify sulfanilamide as the active component.^[15]

Physics

• January 8 – A.C. Hardy patents the spectrophotometer.
• February 26 – Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Wilkins first demonstrate the reflection of radio waves from an aircraft, near Daventry in England;^[16] on June 17, the first radio detection of an aircraft by ground-based radar is made at Orford Ness.
• Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen publish a paper arguing that quantum mechanics is not a complete physical theory (the EPR paradox).^[17] Discussion of this introduces the 'Schrödinger's cat' thought experiment.^[18]
• Jacques Yvon introduces S-particle distribution functions in classical statistical mechanics;^[19] they will later be included in the BBGKY hierarchy.

Physiology and medicine

• January 28 – Iceland becomes the first country to legalize abortion on medical grounds.
• May – The hormone testosterone is first isolated and named by a team at Organon in the Netherlands led by German scientist Ernst Laqueur.^[20] In August, the chemical synthesis of testosterone from cholesterol is achieved by Adolf Butenandt and Günther Hanisch.^[21] A week later, the Ciba group in Zurich, Leopold Ruzicka and A. Wettstein, publish their synthesis of the hormone.^[22]
• Ladislas J. Meduna discovers metrazol shock therapy.
• First vaccine for yellow fever.
• German physician Karl Matthes develops the first two-wavelength ear O₂ saturation meter.^[23]

Technology

• January 24 – The first beer can is sold in Richmond, Virginia, United States, by the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company.^[24]
• June 12 – Conrad Bahr and George Pfefferle file a United States patent for an adjustable ratcheting torque wrench.^[25]
• July 16 – The world's first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City to a design by Holger George Thuesen and Gerald A. Hale patented by Carl Magee.^{[26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]}
• November 6
  • Edwin H. Armstrong presents his paper on FM broadcasting, "A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation", to the New York section of the Institute of Radio Engineers.
  • First flight of the Hawker Hurricane British fighter aircraft, designed by Sydney Camm.
• Callender-Hamilton bridge patented by A. M. Hamilton.
• Helical lobe rotary-screw compressor patented by Alf Lysholm of Ljungstroms Angturbin in Sweden.

Events

• September 16–21 – First Congress for the Unity of Science is held at the Sorbonne.^[34]

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics – James Chadwick
  • Chemistry – Frédéric Joliot, Irène Joliot-Curie
  • Medicine – Hans Spemann

Births

• January 26 – Andrew J. Stofan, American astronautical engineer.
• January 29 – Roger Payne (died 2023), American biologist and zoologist.^[35]
• February 15 – Roger B. Chaffee (died in accident 1967), American astronaut.^[36]
• February 27 – Anne Treisman, née Taylor (died 2018), English-born psychologist.
• April 11 – Kazys Almenas (died 2017), Lithuanian physicist, engineer and publisher.
• April 25 – Jim Peebles, Canadian-born theoretical cosmologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.^[37]
• June 1 – Jacqueline Naze Tjøtta (died 2017), French-born mathematician.^{[38] [39]}
• June 14 – Louise Hay, née Schmir (died 1989), French-born American mathematician.
• June 25 – Charles Sheffield (died 2002), English-born science fiction author and physicist.
• June 30 – Animesh Chakravorty, Bengali Indian academic, chemistry professor.
• July 2 – Sergei Khrushchev, Soviet, Russian and American control engineer (died 2020).^[40]
• July 7 – H. Franklin Bunn, American physician, hematologist and biochemist.
• July 12 – Satoshi Ōmura, Japanese biochemist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.^[41]
• July 14 – Ei-ichi Negishi, Japanese chemist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.^[42]
• August 3 – Georgy Shonin (died 1997), Ukrainian cosmonaut.
• August 26 – Karen Spärck Jones (died 2007), English computer scientist.
• September 11 – Gherman Titov (died 2000), Soviet cosmonaut.
• September 12 – Harvey J. Alter, American virologist, winner of the Nobel Prize.
• September 19 – Milan Antal (died 1999), Slovak astronomer
• October 23 – JacSue Kehoe, American neuroscientist
• October 26 – Ora Mendelsohn Rosen (died 1990), American biomedical researcher.
• October 31 – Ronald Graham (died 2020), American mathematician.
• November 11 – Magdi Yacoub, Egyptian-born cardiothoracic surgeon.
• November 20 – Michael F. Ashby, English materials engineer.
• December 27 – Stephan Tanneberger (died 2018), German oncologist, chemist.

Deaths

• February 15 – Bohuslav Brauner, Czech chemist (born 1855)^[43]
• March 7 – Mary Gage Day, American physician (born 1857)^[44]
• March 12 – Mihajlo Pupin (born 1858), Serbian American physicist.
• March 16 – John Macleod (born 1876), Scottish physician and physiologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.^[45]
• May 12 – Abraham Groves (born 1847), Canadian surgeon.
• May 21 – Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist (born 1848)^[46]
• July 3 – André Citroën (born 1878), French automobile manufacturer.^[47]
• August 21 – Kintarô Okamura (born 1867), Japanese phycologist.
• September 19 – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (born 1857)^[48]
• September 28 – W. K. Dickson (born 1860), British cinematographic pioneer.^[49]
• December 4 – Charles Richet (born 1850), French physiologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.^[50]
• November 6 – Henry Fairfield Osborn (born 1857), American paleontologist.
• November 21 – Agnes Pockels (born 1862), German chemist.^[51]
• December 10 – Sir John Carden, 6th Baronet (born 1892), English tank and vehicle designer (died in 1935 SABENA Savoia-Marchetti S.73 crash).
• December 12 – Charles Loomis Dana (born 1852), American neurologist.
• December 13 – Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1871)^[52]

Notes and References

1. Web site: the history of nylon . L. . Trossarelli . Club Alpino Italiano, Centro Studi Materiali e Tecniche . 2010 . 2012-02-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425044410/http://www.caimateriali.org/index.php?id=32 . 2012-04-25 . live .
2. D.. Hodgkin. X-ray single crystal photographs of insulin. Nature. London. 135. 1935. 3415. 591–2. 10.1038/135591a0. 1935Natur.135..591C. 4121225. free.
3. Color Movies Easy To Make With Aid Of New Film. Popular Mechanics. June 1935. Hearst Magazines.
4. News: Range of Color: Kodachrome Basin Lives up to Name it Got by Accident . Carma . Wadley . . 1999-06-25 . 2012-01-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100813100543/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/704234/Range-of-color-Kodachrome-Basin-lives-up-to-name-it-got-by-accident.html . August 13, 2010 .
5. News: Kodak to Take Kodachrome Away. Robert. Tomsho. The Wall Street Journal. 2009-06-23. B6. 2012-01-20.
6. Web site: Leopold Godowsky, Jr . Invent.org . 2012-01-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111210164914/http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/233.html . 2011-12-10 .
7. Web site: Leopold Mannes . Invent.org . 2012-01-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111210165936/http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/223.html . 2011-12-10 .
8. 10.2307/1930070. Tansley. A. G.. 1935. The use and abuse of vegetational terms and concepts. Ecology. 16. 3. 284–307. 1930070.
9. The term ecosystem was coined by Arthur Roy Clapham at Tansley's request. Willis. A. J.. 1997. The Ecosystem: An Evolving Concept Viewed Historically. Functional Ecology. 11. 2. 268–271. 10.1111/j.1365-2435.1997.00081.x.
10. Web site: This Day in Science History – September 4 – Hans Zinsser. Anne Marie. Helmenstine. https://web.archive.org/web/20120302172130/http://chemistry.about.com/b/2011/09/03/this-day-in-science-history-september-4-hans-zinsser.htm. 2012-03-02. About.com. 2011-09-03. 2011-10-26.
11. American Journal of Mathematics 58 (1935) pp. 345–363.
12. Romanian Inventions. The Reminder. 46. June 1983. 7 (supplement).
13. Book: Crilly, Tony. 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London. Quercus. 2007. 978-1-84724-008-8. 117.
14. Book: Zipf, George K.. 1935. The Psychobiology of Language. Houghton-Mifflin.
15. Book: Lesch, J. E.. The first miracle drugs: how the sulfa drugs transformed medicine. 82–86. New York. Oxford University Press. 2007. 978-0-19-518775-5.
16. Web site: IET. Passive Covert Radar – Watson-Watt's Daventry Experiment Revisited. 2011-06-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20110513210855/http://tv.theiet.org/technology/communications/219.cfm. 13 May 2011. live. Magazines. Hearst. June 1935.
17. Web site: "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?" . 2011-04-10 . 2006-02-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060208145129/http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v47/i10/p777_1 . dead .
18. Erwin Schrödinger. Erwin. Schrödinger. Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik. The present situation in quantum mechanics. . November 1935. 10.1007/BF01491891. 23. 49. 807–812. 1935NW.....23..807S. 206795705.
19. Book: Yvon, J.. 1935. Theorie Statistique des Fluides et l'Equation et l'Equation d'État. Actes scientifique et industrie, 203. Paris. Hermann.
20. David K. G.. Dingemanse, E.. Freud, J. L.. Über krystallinisches mannliches Hormon aus Hoden (Testosteron) wirksamer als aus harn oder aus Cholesterin bereitetes Androsteron. On crystalline male hormone from testicles (testosterone) effective as from urine or from cholesterol. de. Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie. 233. 5–6. 281–83. May 1935. 10.1515/bchm2.1935.233.5-6.281.
21. Butenandt. A.. Hanisch. G.. Ũber die Umwandlung des Dehydroandrosterons in Androstenol-(17)-one-(3) (Testosterone): um Weg zur Darstellung des Testosterons auf Cholesterin (Vorlauf Mitteilung). The conversion of dehydroandrosterone into androstenol-(17)-one-3 (testosterone): a method for the production of testosterone from cholesterol (preliminary communication). Chemische Berichte. 1935. 68. 9. 1859–62. de. 10.1002/cber.19350680937.
22. Ruzicka. L.. Wettstein. A.. Ũber die kristallinische Herstellung des Testikelhormons, Testosteron (Androsten-3-ol-17-ol). The crystalline production of the testicle hormone, testosterone (Androsten-3-ol-17-ol). Helvetica Chimica Acta. 1935. 18. 1264–75. de. 10.1002/hlca.193501801176.
23. Matthes. K.. Untersuchungen über die Sauerstoffsättigung des menschlichen Arterienblutes. Studies on the Oxygen Saturation of Arterial Human Blood. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology. 179. 6. 698–711. 10.1007/BF01862691. 1935. 24678464.
24. Maxwell. D. B. S.. Beer Cans: A Guide for the Archaeologist. Historical Archaeology. 1993. 27. 1. 95–113. 10.1007/BF03373561. 25616219. 160267011.
25. US. 2074079. Torque measuring wrench. 1937-03-16. Charles, Bahr Conrad & Pfefferle, George H..
26. United States patent #2,118,318 for a "coin controlled parking meter" filed 13 May 1935.
27. Web site: Inglewood Did Not Invent The Parking Meter . . 2012-02-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120314022517/http://www.cityofinglewood.org/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=466 . 2012-03-14 . dead .
28. Web site: POM Parking Meters. 2012-02-17.
29. Coin-in-Slot Parking Meter Brings Revenue to City. Popular Mechanics. October 1935. 519. Magazines. Hearst.
30. 70 Years Ago – Tick Tick Tick. Smithsonian . 18 . May 2008.
31. News: When Parallel Parking Was New and Meters Seemed Un-American. Crossen. Cynthia. The Wall Street Journal. 2007-07-30. 2012-02-17.
32. [History (U.S. TV channel)|The History Channel]
33. News: Chan. Sewell. New York Retires Last Mechanical Parking Meter. The New York Times. 2006-12-20. 2012-02-17.
34. Book: Stadler. Friedrich. The Vienna Circle: studies in the origins, development, and influence of logical empiricism. 2015. 2001. Vienna Circle Institute library. 4. Abridged and revised. Springer Verlag. Cham. 10.1007/978-3-319-16561-5. 9783319165608. 911018849.
35. Book: Roger Searle Payne. The Acoustical Location of Prey by the Barn Owl (Tyto Alba).. 1962. Cornell University, Feb..
36. Web site: Roger B. Chaffee American astronaut . Encyclopædia Britannica . 19 January 2021 .
37. Web site: James Peebles. Nobel Prize. August 5, 2021.
38. Encyclopedia: 1973. Tjøtta, Jacqueline Andrée Naze. Hvem er hvem?. Steenstrup, Bjørn. Aschehoug. Oslo. 564. no. 2017-04-09.
39. News: Nekrolog: Jacqueline Andreè Naze Tjøtta. Aftenposten. Jarle. Berntsen. Per. Lunde. no. 2017-03-16. 2017-04-09.
40. Book: S. Gerovitch. Voices of the Soviet Space Program: Cosmonauts, Soldiers, and Engineers Who Took the USSR into Space. 16 December 2014. Palgrave Macmillan US. 978-1-137-48179-5. 81.
41. Book: Heterocycles. 2006. Sendai Institute of Heterocyclic Chemistry. 7.
42. Book: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Reports of the President and of the Treasurer. 1987. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 77.
43. Book: Collection des travaux chimiques de Tchécoslovaquie. 1935. Tiskárna "Politika". 51.
44. Book: Leonard, John W.. Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. 235. Public domain. 1914. American commonwealth Company.
45. Book: Aberdeen University Review. 1989. Aberdeen University Press. 290.
46. Hall . A. D. . Hugo de Vries. 1848-1935 . 10.1098/rsbm.1935.0002 . . 1 . 4 . 371–373 . 1935 . free .
47. Book: Reynolds, John . André Citroën : the man and the motor cars . Alan Sutton . Stroud . 1996 . 9780750912587 . 203.
48. Book: Dan Golenpaul. Information Please Almanac, Atlas and Yearbook. 1990. Doubleday. 978-0-395-51177-0. 358.
49. Spehr . Paul C. . Dickson, William Kennedy Laurie . 2011 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/46453 . 21 April 2021.
50. Book: Leroy, Francis . A century of Nobel Prizes recipients: chemistry, physics, and medicine . Marcel Dekker . New York . 2003 . 9780824708764 . 243.
51. Book: Creese, Mary . Ladies in the laboratory II : West European women in science, 1800-1900 : a survey of their contributions to research . Scarecrow Press . Lanham, Md . 2004 . 9780810849792 . 148.
52. Book: Academic American Encyclopedia. 1993. Grolier. 978-0-7172-2047-2. 363.