The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, are often depicted as lone geniuses, secretly assembling the first successful powered aircraft far from civilization at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There is a germ of truth in the popular story, but only a germ. The brothers succeeded while so many other experimenters failed not because…

Relates the story of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen and presents one view of the extent to which the discovery of the x-ray was an accident. Reconstructs the sequence of events that led to the discovery and includes photographs of the lab where he worked and replicas of apparatus used. (GS)

The history of science is replete with instances of disappointed, disgruntled, and frustrated scientists who have felt and complained that their ideas have been stolen or ignored until someone else came up with the same. Conversations have been recorded, correspondence uncovered, and public debates conducted on questions of priority. (Author/TS)

Summarizes Charles Wheatstone's 1843 paper introducing the Wheatstone bridge and the rheostat. (SL)

Summarizes research done on the resting and action potential of nerve impulses, electrical excitation of nerve cells, electrical properties of Nitella, and temperature effects on action potential. (GS)

Discusses a number of possible explanations for the Christmas Star as described in the Bible. (SL)

Provides a chronicle of the work of Miss Leavitt in the field of variable stars during the early part of the 20th century. (CP)

Describes the various attempts, efforts and experiments that were carried out by the leading investigators in the field in their search for electromagnetic induction phenomena. (GA)

Describes the reception accorded to John Tyndall in 1872-1873 in America. Tyndall, called the Apostle of Science, delivered a series of lectures on light with fascinating demonstrations in several cities during his visit. Press coverage and public reaction were overwhelming. Tyndall left the money earned from his lectures in a trust which is still…

Inquires into the individual names and dates which are associated with the various perfect gas laws on the basis of published and historically researched works. Indicates the presence of eight features in giving a scientist credit for a scientific discovery. (CC)

Describes the discoveries and achievements in the field of nuclear physics before 1932. Particular emphasis is given to Ernest Rutherford, Francis Aston, and the Cavendish Laboratory. (TS)

Describes the scientific work of several women, including Marie Curie, Lise Meitner, Ida Noddack, Irene Curie, Marguerite Perey, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Maria Mayer. Discusses the connections between their discoveries. Thirty-six references are listed. (YP)

Describes the discovery and characteristics of superconductors. Discusses some experiments on the levitation of a magnet over a superconductor. (YP)

Describes the organization and completion of a scientific field trip for a group of high school physics students that was organized primarily around a study of the Manhattan Project. The group visited the Trinity site, Los Alamos, several museums, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array. Contact information for the various…