Not a lot of information on Zhang Xiaowen at Wikipedia, but I share it here:
Zhang Xiaowen, b 1935, is a Chinese material scientist and educator. Zhang is former President of Tsinghua University.
Biography
Zhang was born in 1935 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Zhang graduated (B.S.) from the Department of Mechanical Manufacture of Tsinghua University in 1957.
From 1980 to 1985, Zhang was an associate professor at Tsinghua. From 1983 to 1984, she was a visiting scholar in the United States at Lehigh University then at the University of California, Berkeley. Zhang was promoted to professor at Tsinghua in 1985. Zhang was former head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University. Zhang was Vice-dean of Tsinghua's College of Science, then the Vice-president of Tsinghua University. Zhang was the President of Tsinghua from October 1988 to January 1994.
Zhang was also a former Vice-minister of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.
In 1995, Zhang received an honorary doctorate from the Osaka Institute of Technology, Japan.
Zhang was an expert on ceramic materials and chemical engineering. During his presidential office at Tsinghua, Zhang made significant contributions to the development of the university, and the university started readopting into a comprehensive university status instead of a technical institute.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Laura Bassi (1711-1778)
Biography from Wikipedia:
Laura Maria Caterina Bassi (31 October 1711 – 20 February 1778) was an Italian scientist, the first woman to officially teach at a university in Europe.
Biography
Born in Bologna into a wealthy family with a lawyer as a father, she was privately educated and tutored for seven years in her teens by Gaetano Tacconi. She came to the attention of Cardinal Prospero Lambertini who encouraged her in her scientific work.
She was appointed professor of anatomy in 1731 at the University of Bologna at the age of 21, was elected to the Academy of the Institute for Sciences in 1732 and the next year, in 1733, was given the chair of philosophy. Her teaching opportunities were restricted in her early years, giving only occasional lectures. In 1738 she married Giuseppe Veratti, a fellow academic with whom she had eight children (some sources say more). After this, she was able to lecture from home on a regular basis and successfully petitioned the University for more responsibility and a higher salary to allow her to purchase her own equipment.
She was mainly interested in Newtonian physics and taught courses on the subject for 28 years. She was one of the key figures in introducing Newton's ideas of physics and natural philosophy to Italy. She also carried out experiments of her own in all aspects of physics. In her lifetime she published 28 papers, the vast majority of these on physics and hydraulics, though she did not write any books.
In 1745 Lambertini (now Pope Benedict XIV) established an elite group of 25 scholars known as the Benedettini ('Benedictines', named after himself.) Bassi pressed hard to be appointed to this group, but there was a mixed reaction from the other academics with strong support from some but others taking a negative point of view. Ultimately Benedict did appoint her to the final position, the only woman in the group.
In 1776, at the age of 65, she was appointed to the chair in experimental physics by the Institute of Sciences, with her husband as a teaching assistant. Two years later she died having made physics into a lifelong career and broken a huge amount of ground for women in academic circles.
She was elected member of many literary societies and carried on an extensive correspondence with the most eminent European men of letters. She was well acquainted with classical literature, as well as with that of France and Italy.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Amanda Jones (1835-1914)
Amanda Jones (1835 – 1914) was an American woman scientist most noted for inventing a vacuum method of canning called the Jones Process.
Amanda Jones was born in East Bloomfield, New York, on October 19, 1835. Her family was not wealthy but valued education. They were very avid readers.
When Jones was eight years old, she believed that spirits helped her find a key she had lost, and thereafter she had an interest in Spiritualism. She had a dream three years later where her brother told her “When the time comes, I must go.” The family moved to Buffalo. During school, her brother died from a heart defect.
She contacted her brother and, from that point forward, believed spirit guides to be helping her make decisions. At age 15, she was a teacher and a high school student.
In the 1860s, Amanda Jones continued to publish poems. She then began working as an editor, and continued to consider herself in contact with spirits, who helped her make job decisions.
In 1872, she received a message from the spirits that told her to write to Cooley to find her destiny. She knew Cooley, but had no idea why she needed to write to him. Then the spirits suggested that canning could be done by removing the air and then replacing it with jelly or juice. She thought the idea sounded reasonable, but had never canned food in her life and had no knowledge of inventing. She contacted Cooley and they worked together to create the “Jones” process. They created the first model in 1873.
Amanda discovered that this method of canning added more flavor to the food, doesn’t remove any nutritional value, and it kills the bacteria by lack of oxygen instead of heat. Amanda Jones was asked to create a safe way to burn oil. Oil was becoming a valuable resource but it was very dangerous. If you burned oil to cook, you could get too little oil or too much. So, in 1880, she created the first automatic safety burner. She started the Women’s Canning and Preserving Company ten years later. The company allowed only women to join.
Three years later, they hired a group of men. The men took over the company and women were removed from the company. She died in 1914.
Amanda Jones was born in East Bloomfield, New York, on October 19, 1835. Her family was not wealthy but valued education. They were very avid readers.
When Jones was eight years old, she believed that spirits helped her find a key she had lost, and thereafter she had an interest in Spiritualism. She had a dream three years later where her brother told her “When the time comes, I must go.” The family moved to Buffalo. During school, her brother died from a heart defect.
She contacted her brother and, from that point forward, believed spirit guides to be helping her make decisions. At age 15, she was a teacher and a high school student.
In the 1860s, Amanda Jones continued to publish poems. She then began working as an editor, and continued to consider herself in contact with spirits, who helped her make job decisions.
In 1872, she received a message from the spirits that told her to write to Cooley to find her destiny. She knew Cooley, but had no idea why she needed to write to him. Then the spirits suggested that canning could be done by removing the air and then replacing it with jelly or juice. She thought the idea sounded reasonable, but had never canned food in her life and had no knowledge of inventing. She contacted Cooley and they worked together to create the “Jones” process. They created the first model in 1873.
Amanda discovered that this method of canning added more flavor to the food, doesn’t remove any nutritional value, and it kills the bacteria by lack of oxygen instead of heat. Amanda Jones was asked to create a safe way to burn oil. Oil was becoming a valuable resource but it was very dangerous. If you burned oil to cook, you could get too little oil or too much. So, in 1880, she created the first automatic safety burner. She started the Women’s Canning and Preserving Company ten years later. The company allowed only women to join.
Three years later, they hired a group of men. The men took over the company and women were removed from the company. She died in 1914.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Maria Klenova (1898-1976)
Maria Vasilyevna Klenova (Russian: Мари́я Васи́льевна Клёнова) (1898–1976) was a Russian and Soviet marine geologist and one of the founders of Russian marine science.[1]
Klenova studied to become a professor and later on worked as a member of the Council for Antarctic Research of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During that time she spent nearly thirty years researching in the Polar Regions and become the first woman scientist to do research in Antarctica, specifically at the ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) station at Macquarie Island.
Career
Klenova began her marine geology career in 1925 as a researcher aboard the Soviet research vessel Persey, attached to the Floating Marine Research Institute in the Barents Sea and the archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, and Franz Josef Land. In 1933 Klenova produced the first complete seabed map of the Barents Sea.
In 1949 Klenova became a senior research associate at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Her work included analyses of seabed geology in the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic, and in the Caspian, Barents and White Seas. In the austral summer of 1956 she traveled with a Soviet oceanographic team to map uncharted areas of the Antarctic coast.
The Klenova Valley (84°36′N 55°00′W / 84.6°N 55°W / 84.6; -55), an oceanographic valley discovered in 1981–1983 by the USSR Northern Fleet Hydrographic Expedition is named after her. Klenova crater on Venus is also named in her honor.
Contributions
Her contributions helped to create the first Antarctic atlas, a groundbreaking four-volume work published in the Soviet Union. Dr. Klenova spent most of her time making observations on board the Russian icebreakers Ob and Lena. Her group took oceanographic measurements in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.
Along with Klenova there were seven other women on board the Ob. At that time women were rarely allowed to venture on land and had to rely on their male colleagues to collect and bring back data samples. In between these two voyages she worked at Mirny, a Russian base on the Queen Mary Coast (which is shared by Australian and Polish Research Stations). On the way home Klenova went to Macquarie Island where she became the first female scientist ever to go ashore.
Klenova studied to become a professor and later on worked as a member of the Council for Antarctic Research of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During that time she spent nearly thirty years researching in the Polar Regions and become the first woman scientist to do research in Antarctica, specifically at the ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) station at Macquarie Island.
Career
Klenova began her marine geology career in 1925 as a researcher aboard the Soviet research vessel Persey, attached to the Floating Marine Research Institute in the Barents Sea and the archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, and Franz Josef Land. In 1933 Klenova produced the first complete seabed map of the Barents Sea.
In 1949 Klenova became a senior research associate at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Her work included analyses of seabed geology in the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic, and in the Caspian, Barents and White Seas. In the austral summer of 1956 she traveled with a Soviet oceanographic team to map uncharted areas of the Antarctic coast.
The Klenova Valley (84°36′N 55°00′W / 84.6°N 55°W / 84.6; -55), an oceanographic valley discovered in 1981–1983 by the USSR Northern Fleet Hydrographic Expedition is named after her. Klenova crater on Venus is also named in her honor.
Contributions
Her contributions helped to create the first Antarctic atlas, a groundbreaking four-volume work published in the Soviet Union. Dr. Klenova spent most of her time making observations on board the Russian icebreakers Ob and Lena. Her group took oceanographic measurements in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.
Along with Klenova there were seven other women on board the Ob. At that time women were rarely allowed to venture on land and had to rely on their male colleagues to collect and bring back data samples. In between these two voyages she worked at Mirny, a Russian base on the Queen Mary Coast (which is shared by Australian and Polish Research Stations). On the way home Klenova went to Macquarie Island where she became the first female scientist ever to go ashore.
Friday, November 5, 2010
May Somerville: 1780-1872
Biography from Wikipedia:
Mary Fairfax Somerville (26 December 1780 – 28 November 1872) was a Scottish science writer and polymath, at a time when women's participation in science was discouraged. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and was the second woman scientist to receive recognition in the United Kingdom after Caroline Herschel.
She was the daughter of Admiral Sir William George Fairfax, and was born at the manse of Jedburgh, in the Borders, the house of her mother's sister, wife of Dr Thomas Somerville (1741–1830), author of My Own Life and Times. In 1804 she married her distant cousin, the Russian Consul in London, Captain Samuel Greig, son of Admiral Samuel Greig. They had two children before Greig died in 1807, one of whom, Woronzow Greig became a barrister and scientist.
After the death of her husband, she inherited money which gave her the freedom to pursue intellectual interests. In 1812 she married another cousin, Dr William Somerville (1771–1860), inspector of the Army Medical Board, who encouraged and greatly aided her in the study of the physical sciences. They had a further four children.
During her marriage she made the acquaintance of the most eminent scientific men of the time, among whom her talents had attracted attention before she had acquired general fame, Laplace told her "There have been only three women who have understood me. These are yourself, Mrs Somerville, Caroline Herschel and a Mrs Grieg of whom I know nothing." (Of course, Somerville was first and third of these three.)
Having been requested by Lord Brougham to translate for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge the Mécanique Céleste of Laplace, she greatly popularized its form, and its publication in 1831, under the title of The Mechanism of the Heavens, at once made her famous. She stated "I translated Laplace's work from algebra into common language".
Her other works are the On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (1834), Physical Geography (1848), and Molecular and Microscopic Science (1869). In 1835, she and Caroline Herschel became the first women members of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1838 she and her husband went to Italy, where she spent much of the rest of her life.
Much of the popularity of her writings was due to her clear and crisp style and the underlying enthusiasm for her subject which pervaded them. From 1835 she received a pension of £300 from government. In 1869 she was awarded the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
She died at Naples on 28 November 1872, and is buried there in the English Cemetery, Naples. In the following year there appeared her autobiographical Personal Recollections, consisting of reminiscences written during her old age, and of great interest both for what they reveal of her own character and life and the glimpses they afford of the literary and scientific society of bygone times. She also invented the commonly used variables from algebraic math.
Legacy
Somerville College, Oxford, was named after Mary Somerville, as is Somerville House, Burntisland, where she lived for a time. The term "scientist" was coined by William Whewell in an 1834 review of her On the Connexion of the Sciences.
Somerville Island, a small island in Barrow Strait, Nunavut, was named after her by Sir William Edward Parry in 1819 during the first of the four Arctic expeditions under his command.
5771 Somerville (1987 ST1) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 21, 1987 by E. Bowell at Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, Arizona, and named for her.
Somerville crater is a small lunar crater in the eastern part of the Moon. It lies to the east of the prominent crater Langrenus, and was designated Langrenus J before being given her name by the International Astronomical Union. It is one of a handful of lunar craters named after a woman.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Mom-daughter dive team find golden bird worth $885,000
WOAI.com: Mom-daughter dive team find golden bird worth $885,000
Okay, these women are scuba divers, not scientists, nevertheless I thought their story was interesting and share it here:
FT. PIERCE, Florida (NBC News Channel) -- Bonnie Schubert and her 87-year old mother have hunted treasure along Florida's coast for decades.
Most days they wind up digging dozens of holes, diving in the murky water, and coming up with a fishing lure or a beer can.
"I spent a whole season and only came up with a musket ball," says Bonnie.
But one day this August, the Schuberts were diving near Frederick Douglass Beach when they made the find of their lives.
"The first thing that came into focus was the head of the bird and the wing...and it was something I never imagined...just didn't expect at all.." recalls Bonnie.
They discovered a 22-carat solid gold bird, a relic which they believe dates back to the lost Spanish Fleet of 1715. The fleet of Spanish galleons wrecked near Ft. Pierce, littering the ocean floor with what divers believe to be millions of dollars in gold and jewels.
"It's truly been amazing. It's not something we could have ever predicted," said Brent Brisbane, a principal with 1715 Fleet-Queen's Jewels, LLC, the corporation that holds the rights to treasure hunting in the region.
Brisbane asked a local historian to study the relic and learned it is a "Pelican in her Piety," a symbol of Christ.
"It's a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ that the mother pelican would beat her breast and draw blood when times are bad," said Bonnie Schubert.
The golden bird is missing a wing and no one knows what it once held in its center, which is now a small square opening. Brisbane had the item appraised by Dubose and Sons Jewelers in Vero Beach.
"They came back with an appraisal of $885,000," said Brisbane.
Brisbane's teams have had a bountiful summer, uncovering dozens of gold and silver coins and a bronze canon from the wreck sites, but he says Bonnie and Jo's golden bird is clearly the biggest prize of all.
"Bonnie and Jo are amazing. This is a male-dominated industry and to have these two ladies come up with what is truly one of the top 5 artifacts ever found from the 1715 fleet is just incredible," he said.
Dividing the spoils could be the tricky part. As contractors, Bonnie and Jo typically get half of what they find. Brisbane, who holds the rights to treasure hunting in region, gives 20% to the state of Florida.
If the state decides it wants the golden bird, then Brisbane says there may be some "treasure trading" to make it all come out right.
Okay, these women are scuba divers, not scientists, nevertheless I thought their story was interesting and share it here:
FT. PIERCE, Florida (NBC News Channel) -- Bonnie Schubert and her 87-year old mother have hunted treasure along Florida's coast for decades.
Most days they wind up digging dozens of holes, diving in the murky water, and coming up with a fishing lure or a beer can.
"I spent a whole season and only came up with a musket ball," says Bonnie.
But one day this August, the Schuberts were diving near Frederick Douglass Beach when they made the find of their lives.
"The first thing that came into focus was the head of the bird and the wing...and it was something I never imagined...just didn't expect at all.." recalls Bonnie.
They discovered a 22-carat solid gold bird, a relic which they believe dates back to the lost Spanish Fleet of 1715. The fleet of Spanish galleons wrecked near Ft. Pierce, littering the ocean floor with what divers believe to be millions of dollars in gold and jewels.
"It's truly been amazing. It's not something we could have ever predicted," said Brent Brisbane, a principal with 1715 Fleet-Queen's Jewels, LLC, the corporation that holds the rights to treasure hunting in the region.
Brisbane asked a local historian to study the relic and learned it is a "Pelican in her Piety," a symbol of Christ.
"It's a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ that the mother pelican would beat her breast and draw blood when times are bad," said Bonnie Schubert.
The golden bird is missing a wing and no one knows what it once held in its center, which is now a small square opening. Brisbane had the item appraised by Dubose and Sons Jewelers in Vero Beach.
"They came back with an appraisal of $885,000," said Brisbane.
Brisbane's teams have had a bountiful summer, uncovering dozens of gold and silver coins and a bronze canon from the wreck sites, but he says Bonnie and Jo's golden bird is clearly the biggest prize of all.
"Bonnie and Jo are amazing. This is a male-dominated industry and to have these two ladies come up with what is truly one of the top 5 artifacts ever found from the 1715 fleet is just incredible," he said.
Dividing the spoils could be the tricky part. As contractors, Bonnie and Jo typically get half of what they find. Brisbane, who holds the rights to treasure hunting in region, gives 20% to the state of Florida.
If the state decides it wants the golden bird, then Brisbane says there may be some "treasure trading" to make it all come out right.
Space science vocabulary
Burnout
The point when combustion ceases in a rocket engine.
Capsule
A small pressurized cabin with an acceptable environment, usually for containing a person or animal for extremely high-altitude flights, orbital space flight, or emergency escape.
Cavitation
The rapid formation and collapse of vapor pockets in a flowing liquid under very low pressures; a frequent cause of serious structural damage to rocket components.
The point when combustion ceases in a rocket engine.
Capsule
A small pressurized cabin with an acceptable environment, usually for containing a person or animal for extremely high-altitude flights, orbital space flight, or emergency escape.
Cavitation
The rapid formation and collapse of vapor pockets in a flowing liquid under very low pressures; a frequent cause of serious structural damage to rocket components.
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