The Royal Society

Mathematician Martin Folkes was born today in 1690. He was a vice president of the Royal Society under Isaac Newton, and later its President. He seems to have held antiracist views, saying: ‘but we are all citizens of the world, and see different customs and tastes without dislike or prejudice, as we do different names and colours.’

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The Royal Society

On this day in 1671, astronomer Giovanni Cassini first observed Saturn’s moon Lapetus. Lapetus is a strange beast, with one light hemisphere and one dark hemisphere, and a huge equatorial ridge of some of the Solar System’s tallest mountains.

4 days ago | [YT] | 310

The Royal Society

Beebe Steven Lynk was one of the earliest black women chemists in the United States. In 1896 she authored a book, Advice to Colored Women, which reflected on how to raise the social and cultural status of African American women through education. In 1900, she and her husband founded the University of West Tennessee in Jackson.

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The Royal Society

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, born on this day in 1632, is widely considered to have discovered microbial life, including bacteria, using the microscopes he invented. 🦠 When he was finally convinced to study semen, he at first believed the sperm cells he found there to be tiny animals, just as he had found in water.

5 days ago | [YT] | 313

The Royal Society

Marianne North was a pioneering Victorian biologist and botanical artist. Her exposure to science at a very young age inspired her life-long passion for botany. Her talent gained the admiration of notable scientists, including Charles Darwin. She was born on this day. Watch a wonderful short film on Marianne from @KewGardens 🌵 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmF_6...

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5 days ago | [YT] | 191

The Royal Society

Tasked with overseeing the science of rationing during WW2, Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance put themselves on a diet of bread, cabbage and potatoes for several months to find out if rationing would affect their health. This damaged sculpture of Widdowson’s arm during self-experimentation is held at the Royal Society. She was born on this day in 1906. 🍞 https://youtu.be/S7ZNHQQ7ISY

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1 week ago | [YT] | 236

The Royal Society

Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul's cathedral, was born today in 1632. He was also an anatomist, astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He performed the first intravenous injection (getting a dog drunk in the process) and created a solid model of the Moon for King Charles II.💉🌑

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The Royal Society

Physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was born on this day in 1910. He was a physicist who studied stellar evolution and black holes. He was as proud of his teaching as his scientific achievements and was part of a scientists’ ‘beef’ with Arthur Eddington on the topic of white dwarfs. ☀️

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The Royal Society

Irish sailor Francis Crozier (born on this day in 1796) is familiar to fans of @BBC drama The Terror. He took part in six voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic, helping to discover the Ross Sea, Mount Erebus and making valuable magnetic and astronomical observations. A monument depicting Crozier (and three polar bears!) can be found in his hometown of Banbridge, County Down.

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The Royal Society

Naturalist, photographer and explorer Isabella Bird was born today in 1831. In a quest to find lands that would suit her poor health, she travelled in North Africa, the Middle East, America and Asia. After climbing two volcanoes in Hawaii, Bird covered over 800 miles in the Rocky Mountains, and threatened to sue the Times Newspaper for saying that she dressed like a man.

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