Template:Selected anniversaries/March 20: Difference between revisions
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||Walter Maurice Elsasser (b. March 20, 1904) was a German-born American physicist considered a "father" of the presently accepted dynamo theory as an explanation of the Earth's magnetism. He proposed that this magnetic field resulted from electric currents induced in the fluid outer core of the Earth. Pic. | ||Walter Maurice Elsasser (b. March 20, 1904) was a German-born American physicist considered a "father" of the presently accepted dynamo theory as an explanation of the Earth's magnetism. He proposed that this magnetic field resulted from electric currents induced in the fluid outer core of the Earth. Pic. | ||
||1904: B. F. Skinner born ... psychologist whose pioneering work in experimental psychology promoted behaviorism, shaping behavior through positive and negative reinforcement and demonstrated operant conditioning. The “Skinner box” he used in experiments from 1930 remains famous. To investigate the learning processes of animals, he observed their behaviour in a simple box with a lever which, when activated by the animal, would give a reward (or punishment). The reward, such as pellets of food or water, acts as a primary reinforcer. He observed the behaviour of animals adapted to utilize the opportunity for a reward. He extended his theories to the behaviour of humans, as a form of social engineering. Pic. | |||
File:Einstein drumming.jpg|link=Albert Einstein|1914: Jazz drummer and theoretical physicist [[Albert Einstein]] develops a new drum fill which anticipates his general theory of relativity. | File:Einstein drumming.jpg|link=Albert Einstein|1914: Jazz drummer and theoretical physicist [[Albert Einstein]] develops a new drum fill which anticipates his general theory of relativity. | ||
Revision as of 16:49, 15 August 2018
1726/27: Isaac Newton dies. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution.
1877: Mathematician and logician Ernst Schröder systematizes various systems of formal logic in a successful effort to prevent crimes against mathematical constants.
1878: Physician and physicist Julius Robert von Mayer dies. In 1842, Mayer described the vital chemical process now referred to as oxidation as the primary source of energy for any living creature. His achievements were overlooked and priority for the discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat was attributed to James Joule in the following year.
1914: Jazz drummer and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein develops a new drum fill which anticipates his general theory of relativity.
1915: Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
- Probability Theory rough draft excerpt.jpg
1961: Early rough draft of Probability Theory unexpectedly reveals "at least fifty kilobytes" of encrypted data.
- C. Wright Mills.jpg
1962: Sociologist and author C. Wright Mills dies. He was published widely in popular and intellectual journals, advocating public and political engagement over disinterested observation.
2017: Ursa Nano is declared Picture of the Day.