Aristotle

Aristotle (Physics)

Living in the same time period as Plato and Alexander. Aristotle helped lay the foundations for western civilisation through his wide range of intellectual and scientific studies.

Aristotle was one of the great polymaths of his time. He studied under Plato and therefore learnt much about the great philosophic traditions of Socrates. But, Aristotle was more than just a good student; he had an independent mind and was able to question many different things and sought to resolve difficult questions and previously unsolvable problems. He made studies in botany, physics, philosophy, logic, and was well known for being a powerful lecturer and debater. He was also regarded as a kindly man, compassionate to others.

In the field of physics, Aristotle’s ideas influenced much of the medieval period, and lasted into the European Renaissance. His ideas were later replaced by the physics of Isaac Newton.

Aristotle believed in the power of reason to illuminate the problems of man. He believed that man had the capacity for enlightenment through self inquiry and study. He believed that human goodness derived from rational thought. Aristotle was also a playwright and he described how the weakness of man – pride, anger, jealousy, could lead to his downfall.

Aristotle was also the teacher of the future Macedonian King – Alexander the Great. Aristotle taught the future king, political philosophy, history and ethics. Alexander the Great was to ignore much of Aristotle’s teachings such as the desirability of oligarchic leadership, but, his education by Aristotle must have left an abiding impression on the young prince.

Aristotle, was one of the few philosophers who strongly influenced later Christian writers such as Thomas Aquinas.

Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn (1879-1968) was a German Chemist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944 – for his work in discovering Nuclear Fission. He was a distinguished Chemist who worked in the pioneering fields of radio chemistry. After the Second World War, he was a campaigner against the use of nuclear weapons and became an influential scientific figure in West Germany.

Otto Hahn was born in Frankfurt on 8th March, 1879. From an early age, he took an interest in Chemistry, and was supported by his prosperous parents. He studied chemistry at the University of Marburg and earned his doctorate in 1901. After a years military service, he worked as an assistant at the University of Marburg, before travelling to London, England.

He went to the University College, London and worked under Sir William Ramsay. Hahn hope to improve his knowledge of chemistry and English to help his professional career. In early 1906, he visited Montreal, where he spent a brief but fruitful time with Ernest Rutherford, where they investigated alpha-rays of radio actinium.

In 1906, he returned to Germany where he collaborated with Emil Fischer at the University of Berlin. With just a basic chemistry laboratory, Hahn discovered Meothorium, and the mother substance of radium, ionium. This discovery later had a great practical use for radiation treatment.

In 1907, he began a long working relationship with the Jewish Austrian physicist, Lise Meitner. They remained life-long friends though she later criticised him for not doing enough to oppose the Nazi regime and their persecution of Jews. Though Hahn did help a few Jewish scientists, and played a role in helping Meitner herself to escape to Sweden in 1938, after the Anschluss forced her to flee.

In 1910, he was appointed professor at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry, where he became head of the radiochemistry department.

During the First World War, Hahn was conscripted into the German army and put to work on developing chemical warfare. He participated in developing and organising the use of poison gases, such as Chlorine and Mustard Gas on both the Western and Eastern fronts.

After the war, Hahn concentrated on the chemistry of radioactive elements. In 1921, with Lise Meitner, they made a very important discovery of Uranium Z – the first example of nuclear isomers. Although few paid much attention, this would prove very important in later nuclear physics.In 1936, he produced a book “Applied Radiochemistry” which became a very significant milestone in radiochemistry. 

During his time of internment, he was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize for Chemistry ‘for his discovery of the fission of heavy atomic nuclei’ He was unable to attend because of his internment in England. Some scientists have argued his colleague Meitner should have been awarded the prize jointly.

Hahn was shocked to learn that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan in 1945, to devastating effect. He felt guilty that he, in some way, may have been responsible for this great loss of life.

After the Second World War, he campaigned against the use of Nuclear weapons, and in 1955 initiated the Mainau Declaration which warned of the dangers of atomic weapons. He became a leading figure within post war FDR, and was a high profile critic of rearming West Germany with atomic weapons. His opposition to the nuclear arms race caused him to be nominated for the Nobel Peace prize.

In 1966, he was awarded the Enrico Fermi Prize – the only time it has been awarded to a non-American.

Between 1948 to 1960, Hahn was the founding President of the Max Planck society for the advancement of science. Otto Hahn died in West Germany on 28th July, 1968.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was an English Natural scientist who laid down a framework for the theory of evolution – showing how Man evolved from lower life forms. At the time, his research and publication led to bitter controversy, but his theory of evolution and natural selection became accepted within the scientific community.

Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He was born in to a wealthy and influential family. His grandfathers included – china manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood, and Erasmus Darwin, one of the leading intellectuals of 18th century England.

Darwin planned to study medicine at Edinburgh university, but later, at the instigation of his father, changed to studying Divinity at Christ’s College, Cambridge University. Darwin was not a great student, preferring to spend time in outdoor pursuits, he spent a lot of time examining natural science and beetle collecting. After gaining a passionate interest in natural science, Darwin was offered a place on the HMS Beagle to act as natural scientist on a voyage to the coast of South America.

At the time, religion was a powerful force in society, and most people took the Bible as the infallible, literal word of God. This included the belief that God created the world in seven days, and the world was only a few thousand years old. However, on the voyage, Darwin increasingly began to see evidence of life being much older. In particular Lyell’s ‘Principles of Geology’ suggested that fossils were evidence of animals living hundreds of thousands of years ago.

On the voyage, Darwin made copious notes about specimens he found on his voyages. In particular, at the Galapagos Islands 500 miles west of South American, Darwin was struck by how the Finch was different on each individual island. He noticed that the Finch had somehow adapted to the different aspects of the particular island.

Over the next 20 years, Darwin worked on the dilemma of how species evolve and can end up being quite different on different islands. Influenced by the work of Malthus, Darwin came up with a theory of natural selection and gradual evolution over time.

Darwin continued to refine his theory, and would intensively breed plants to work on his theories. However, realising how controversial his ideas were, Darwin delayed publishing them. It was not until learning that another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, had developed similar ideas, that Darwin was galvanised into publishing his own book.

In 1859, the ground-breaking ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’ was published. It immediately gained widespread interest and attention, leading to intense debate about the contention that man – by implication was descended from animals like the Ape.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie Biography

Marie Curie was a Polish scientist who won a Nobel prize in both Chemistry and Physics. She was the first female professor of the University of Paris, and made ground-breaking work in the field of Radioactivity.

“Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit.”

– Marie Curie

Short Bio Marie Curie

Marya Sklodovska was the youngest of 5 children, born in 1867, Warsaw Poland. She was brought up in a poor but well educated family. Marya excelled in her studies and won many prizes. At an early age she became committed to the ideal of Polish independence from Russia which was currently ruling Poland with an iron fist, and in particular making life difficult for intellectuals. She yearned to be able to teach fellow Polish woman who were mostly condemned to zero education.

Unusually for women at that time, Marya took an interest in Chemistry and Biology. Since opportunities in Poland for further study was limited, Marya went to Paris, where after working as a governess she was able to study at the Sorbonne, Paris. Struggling to learn in French, Marya threw herself into her studies, leading an ascetic life dedicated to studying. She went on to get a degree in Physics finish top in her school. She later got a degree in Maths, finishing second in her school year.

It was in Paris, that she met Pierre Curie, who was then chief of the laboratory at the school of Physics and Chemistry. He was a renowned Chemist, who had conducted many experiments on crystals and electronics. Pierre was smitten with the young Marya and asked her to marry him. The unromantic Marya initially refused, but, after persistence from Pierre she relented. The two would later become inseparable, until Pierre’s untimely death.

Marie Curie work on Radioactivity

Marie pursued studies in radioactivity. In 1898, this led to the discovery of two new elements. One of which she named polonium after her home country.

There then followed 4 years of extensive study into the properties of radium. Using dumped uranium tailings from a nearby mine, they were very slowly, and painstakingly, able to extract a decigram of radium.

Radium was discovered to have remarkable impacts. Marie actually suffered burns from the rays. It was from this discovery of radium and its properties that the science of radiation was able to develop. Using the properties of radium to burn away diseased cells in the body. Initially radiotherapy was called ‘currietherapy’

The Curries agreed to give away their secret freely; they did not wish to patent such a valuable element. The element was soon in high demand and it began industrial scale production.

For their discovery they were awarded the Davy Medal (Britain) and the Nobel Prize for physics in 1903.

In 1905, Pierre was killed in a road accident, leaving Marie to look after the laboratory and her 2 children.

In 1911 she was awarded a second Nobel prize in Chemistry for the discovery of actinium and further studies on radium and polonium.

The success of Marie Curie also brought considerable hostility, criticism and suspicion from a male dominated science world. She suffered from the malicious rumours and accusations that flew around.

The onset of World War I in 1914, led to Marie Curie dedicating her time to the installation of X ray machines in hospitals. Marie understood that x ray machines would easily be able to located shrapnel, enabling better treatment for soldiers. By, the end of the first world war, over a million soldiers had been examined by her X ray units.

Marie Curie died in 1934 from Cancer. It was an unfortunate side effect of her own ground-breaking studies into radiation which were to help so many people.