b. November 27, 1848 and d. April 16, 1901

American scientist. Professor at Johns Hopkins University. His principal discoveries were the magnetic action due to electrical convection, the exact determination of the mechanical equivalent of heat, the discovery of concave gratings and the machine for ruling by which the analysis of the solar spectrum was revolutionized. By his diffraction gratings, ruled by a method of his own, to 30,000 lines to the inch on concave mirrors, he produced an image of the spectrum without the aid of lenses. Photographs of the solar spectrum made with these gratings surpass anything else produced. He showed that a moving charge of static electricity caused the same magnetic effect as a current.

Thy hand the magic sceptre holds,
Before which Monarchs kneel;
The power to unking kings, and make
Both thrones and empires reel.
For education buildeth mind,
Thought on thought the tower doth rise;
A workman thou; the architect,
And Master, in the skies!

—The Teacher: Abby Allin

1868, February—The siderostat, an apparatus for observing the light of stars in precisely the same way as the light of the sun may be studied in the camera obscura, was constructed by Leon Foucault.

b. November 27, 1701 and d. April 25, 1744

Swedish astronomer. In 1736 he was selected by the French government to assist in the measurement of the length of a degree in Lapland. He introduced in about 1742 the Centigrade or Celsius thermometer.

I can is a hero, the first in the field;
Tho’ others may falter he never will yield;
He makes the long marches, he strikes the last blow,
His charges is the whirlwind that scatters the foe.
How grandly and nobly he stands to his trust!
When roused at the call of a cause that is just!
He weds his strong will to the valor of youth,
And writes on his banner the watchword of truth.

—I Can and I Can’t: Macaulay

Macaulay 760—Astronomy and geography were cultivated by the Arabs.

1620—Cornelius Drebbel invented the alcohol thermometer.

1720—Gabriel D. Fahrenheit invented his thermometer.

1731—The pyrometer was invented by Musschenbroeck.

1835, March 12—Simon Newcomb was born. In 1861 he was professor of mathematics in the United States Navy and assigned to the United States Navy Observatory in Washington. He purchased the 26-inch equatorial telescope, supervised its erection, and planned the tower and dome in which it is mounted. He has written many memoirs and text books on mathematical and astronomical subjects.

b. ? 1704 and d. ? 1776

English mechanic and inventor of cast-steel. He was bred to a mechanical calling and became celebrated for his expertness in repairing clocks, in making and repairing locks, smoke-jacks, roasting-jacks and other articles requiring mechanical skill. He practiced surgery with dexterity. He introduced several improved tools but was much hindered by the inferior quality of the metal, and he then turned his attention to the making of a better kind of steel. His experiments extended over many years, and finally he invented the process of making cast-steel.

 Little thinking if we work our souls as nobly as our iron,
Or if angels will commend us at the goal of pilgimage.

—Mrs. Browning

 Draw thy fierce streams of blinding ore,
Smite on a thousand anvils, roar
Down to the harbor-bars;
Smoulder in smoky sunsets, flare
On rainy nights, while street and square
Lie empty to the stars.
From terrace proud to alley base,
I know thee as my mother’s face.

 —Glasgow: Alexander Smith

 The painful smith, with force of fervent heat,
The hardest iron soon doth mollifie,
That with his heavy sledge he can it beat,
And fashion to what he it list apply.

—Spenser