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May 2 in Physics History

Physics history will help you to develop a better understanding of the physics world!

birthdays & deaths

Explore all birthdays & deaths of physicists occurred on this day with their short biography!

physics Events

Know all important discoveries made by physicists & events happened on this day with complete information!

May 2 in Physics History - Births – Physicists born on May 2

Heinrich Gustav Magnus (2 May 1802 - 4 Apr 1870)

He was a German physicist and chemist who discovered the first of the platino-ammonium compounds. He also worked on electrolysis, expansion of gases, absorption of gases by blood, and much more. He represented Prussia at a conference to introduce a uniform metric system of weights. He discovered the Magnus effect which is the lift force produced by a rotating cylinder.

Robert W. Wood (2 May 1868 - 11 Aug 1955)

He was an American physicist who was the first to observe the phenomenon of field emission in which charged particles are emitted from conductors in an electric field. He photographed the reflection of sound waves in the air, invented an improved diffraction grating, and was the first to photograph ultraviolet fluorescence. He also researched spectroscopy.

Henrik Steffens (2 May 1773 - 13 Feb 1845)

He was a physicist and a philosopher who liked using scientific facts as a basis for the construction of metaphysical conclusions. He worked as a professor of mineralogy and physics at Halle and also at Breslau respectively.

May 2 in Physics History - Deaths – Physicists died on May 2

Johann Palisa (6 Dec 1848 - 2 May 1925)

He was an Austrian astronomer who discovered 122 asteroids all without using photography. To observe the total solar eclipse in 1883, he joined the expedition of the French Academy. During his observations, he collected insects for the Natural History Museum in Vienna. He is known to be the most successful visual discoverer in the history of minor planet research. He also made catalogs that contained positions of more than 4,700 stars.

May 2 in Physics History - Events – Physics Events of May 2

No Physics Events Happened on May 2

April 12 in Physics History

Physics history will help you to develop a better understanding of the physics world!

birthdays & deaths

Explore all birthdays & deaths of physicists occurred on this day with their short biography!

physics Events

Know all important discoveries made by physicists & events happened on this day with complete information!

April 12 in Physics History - Births – Physicists born on April 12

Edward Walter Maunder (12 Apr 1851 - 21 Mar 1928)

He was an English astronomer who first started the British Civil Services Commission examination for the post of photographic and spectroscopic assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. He worked at the observatory for the next forty years measuring the sunspots and checking historic records. He found a lack of reports on sunspots from 1645 to 1715. Instead of questioning this, he started researching and found that there are indeed decades-long times when the sun has very few sunspots. Now we call these periods as Maunder minima.

Ferdinand von Lindemann (12 Apr 1852 - 6 Mar 1939)

He was a German mathematician who proved that π is not a solution to any algebraic equation with a rational coefficient. This explained the insoluble natural or classical Greek mathematical problem of constructing a square with the same area as a given circle using a ruler and compasses alone. He discussed Hermite’s methods that he used to prove that ‘e’ is transcendental. He extended Hermite’s results in 1882 to show that π was also transcendental.

April 12 in Physics History - Deaths – Physicists died on April 12

Charles Messier (26 Jun 1730 - 12 Apr 1817)

He was a French astronomer who first compiled a systematic catalog of “M objects” and discovered 15 comets. His catalog contained nebulae, 103-star clusters, and galaxies. He concluded the alphanumeric names for objects like M1, M2, etc.

Geoffrey F. Chew (5 Jun 1924 - 12 Apr 2019)

He was an American physicist who led the group of S-matrix theorists researching the strong interaction and the bootstrap principle. He was a graduate student of Enrico Fermi. His group calculated the interactions of bound-states without assuming that there is a point-particle field theory underneath.

Igor Tamm (8 Jul 1895 - 12 Apr 1971)

He was a Soviet physicist who shared the Noble Prize with Pavel A  Cherenkov, and Ilya M. Frank for physics for his works in explaining Cherenkov radiation. He developed the theoretical interpretation of the Cherenkov effect which states that the radiation of electrons moves faster than the speed of light through matter. He also developed a method for studying the interaction of nuclear particles and contributed towards the methods for the control of thermonuclear reactions.

April 12 in Physics History - Events – Physics Events of April 12

First Man To Orbit The Earth

On this day, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961. The control of the spacecraft was locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. It had a radio, television, and life-supporting equipment. He ejected and made a planned descent landing with his parachute but the Soviet Union denied this to save its reputation. After 7 years, he died in a plane crash.

The First Yo-Yo Toy In Space

The first yo-yo toy was taken into space in the Space Shuttle Discovery mission 51-D in 1985. With this yellow plastic Duncan Imperial yo-yo, other toys were exhibited during a time in orbit. Astronauts did the tricks with toys but the yo-yo sleeper trick couldn’t work without normal gravity. While spinning, the gyroscope showed exceptional stability. The flywheel slowed without normal gravity.

Space Shuttle Columbia Was Launched

Columbia, the American Space Shuttle was launched into space in 1981. John W. Young was the mission commander.