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| Carl Sagan's COSMOS is one of the most influential science programs ever made.
Q. Does the moon have a dark side?
A. The moon does have a far side which is impossible to see from the earth, but it doesn't mean that it's always dark. Each side of the moon is dark for no longer than 15 days at a time.
Q. Where does sound come from?
A. The air is always filled with sound waves. All things give off vibrations, but some have a low frequency which most cannot hear. The reason: it may take 3 minutes to make a single vibration. They may be caused by earthquakes and storms.
Did You Know?
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
Coke-a-Cola was originally green.
Rubberbands last longer when refrigerated.
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Meitner, Lise: 1878-1968
Austrian physicist, assistant to Max Planck, and the professor who developed a mathematical theory for the splitting of uranium.
Lise Meitner was born in 1878 in Vienna, Austria. It was in Vienna that Meitner began her studies in nuclear physics. From 1908 to 1911, Meitner worked at the University of Berlin as an assistant to Max
Planck. Planck was the creator of quantum theory. During World War I, Meitner was a professor at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry. It was at this time that she began to win fame for her
studies of actinium, thorium, and radioactive radium. Meitner and Hahn discovered element 91 (radioactive protactinium) in 1917. British scientists, Frederick Soddy and John Cranston had discovered
this same element independently of Meitner's discovery, but in the same year.
In 1938 the German physical chemists, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, split the uranium atom. They accomplished this by bombarding uranium with neutrons, which produce barium. Their discovery
was only officially recognized when Meitner and Otto Frish announced their understanding of this work in 1939.
This experiment by Hahn and Strassmann, as well as the interpretation by Meitner and Frisch, were important turning points for development of the atomic bomb and other uses of nuclear energy.
Meitner developed the mathematical theory for explaining the process of splitting the uranium atom into two parts. This theory would calculate the energy to be released in nuclear fission.
In 1946 she became professor of physics at the Catholic University of America. In late 1946 Meitner returned to Europe to become a staff member at the University of Stockholm. Lise Meitner
died in 1968.
Further Study:
Main - Lise Meitner Online
Michelson, Albert Abraham: 1852-1931
An American physicist born in Germany who spent hours upon hours studying the problems of light for over 50 years. He won the 1907 Nobel Prize-the first time an American had won the Nobel Prize.
Michelson was born in Strelno, Germany in 1852. At the age of two his parents moved to the United States. He worked more than 50 years studying the problems encountered with light and spent
many years trying to determine the exact speed of light. He developed a new kind of interferometer (a measuring instrument) in 1880, and a second in 1920 which produced the first accurate
measurement of a star's diameter. The star chosen by Michelson for this experiemnt was Betelgeuse in Alpha Orionis. (Our sister site SpaceHike.com covers the stars, planets, and space articles.)In 1907 he received the Nobel prize in physics. Michelson was the first
American scientist to win this award.
Working with the chemist and physicist, Edward W. Morley, Michelson determined relative motions of the earth and the ether. This work provided the base for Einstein's theory of relativity work. He
also developed a standard unit of length. From an analysis of the spectrum lines of varying elements Michelson discovered that the red line of cadmium could be measured with precision. He also suggested
the use of this measurement as a standard unit of length. The International Committee on Weights and Measures adopted this standard unit in 1925. Michelson died in 1931.
Sources:
1. Editors. The World Book Encyclopedia. World Book-Childcraft International, Inc: Chicago. 1990
Further Study
Science in Poland - Albert Michelson
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