James Hutton - The Great Observer - This Doc Rocks

MAY 2013

James Hutton was born in Edinburgh Scotland, in 1726 and died in 1797.  He was interested in Mathematics and Chemistry from a young age.  At age 17 he apprenticed with a lawyer (I guess he wanted to try something else) but was more interested in doing chemical experiments thus became a physician’s assistant.  Eventually he earned a Doctor of Medicine degree at Leyden in 1749.  After getting his degree, Hutton moved to Berwickshire farms, inherited from his father in 1713, where he performed more chemical experiments and introduced new farming practices.  It is here that he became interested in studying the earth.

In 1768 Hutton moved back to Edinburgh and began making some of the most profound hypotheses of Earth’s structure using his extraordinary observational powers.  He described the formation of sedimentary rock and deduced how granite penetrations in metamorphic schist were younger and intruded into it in a molten state.  He also came up with the Theory of Uniformitarianism - geological forces at work in the present day are the same as those that operated in the past.  Proposed internal heat and pressure within Earth formed igneous rocks, causes stratified layers to be tilted, and made mountains rise.  Hutton made numerous other contributions in in the fields of geology, meteorology, and the development of evolution among others.  Of course not everybody was not on board with his thinking especially since he described an Earth that far older than the 6,000 year old Earth as described by Bishop Ussher.

sources:

wikipedia: Hutton

Profile: Hutton

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!

In the Northern Hemisphere the winter solstice occurs when the Sun is at its greatest distance from the earth's equator and falls on either December 21 or 22 when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn.  The summer solstice occurs on June either June 20 or 21 when the sun shines directly the tropic of Cancer.  In the Southern Hemisphere the solstices are reversed.

The winter solstice also represents the shortest day of the year while the summer solstice represent the longest day of the year.  Many cultures and religions have festivals, celebrations, and gatherings around this time of year.  Keeping track of the time of year is not a new invention as it was extremely important for crop production and such.  Many archaeological sites are identified with keeping track of the summer and winter solstice.  One of the most famous being Stonehenge in England.

sources:
wikipedia
infoplease

It's Newton!

DECEMBER 2012

You knew Isaac Newton had to show up sooner or later so I figured December would be good since he was born on Christmas Day in 1642 (or was he?) according to the calendar used in England at the time.  England had not adopted the Gregorian calendar yet which would list his birthday as January 4, 1643.  Newton was born in Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire county in England and is arguably the most influential scientist the who ever lived.  In his 1687 book the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion know known as Newton's Three Laws.  In the field of optics he built the first built the first working reflecting telescope and discovered white light to be combination of the many colors of visible spectrum.  In the field of mathematics, he along with  Gottfried Leibniz, is credited for the discovery of differential and integral calculus.

In the later years, Newton became a member of Parliament and also secured a post at the  Royal Mint.  In 1699 he became Master of the Mint and held on to this position until his death.  He took this position very seriously as counterfeiting was considered high treason punishable by hanging and then being drawn and quartered.  Newton was made president of the  Royal Society in 1703 and knighted in 1705.  He died in London in 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

sources:
wikipedia: Isaac Newton