Today in History – April 25, 1925 – Florence Rena Sabin is the first woman elected to National Academy of Science. Dr. Florence Rena Sabin, Professor of Histology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School was also the first woman to be a full professor in that institution and also the first woman to be President of the American Association of Anatomists. She became a leader for her research in embryology and histolology (the study of tissues). The National Academy of Science tribute to Dr. Sabin recongizes that: By her example she did more than any other person to open the careers of scientific investigation in laboratories, medical schools, and hospitals to women.

I was interested in Dr. Rena Sabin as she started her academic career at Smith College, where I am now a second year student. After graduation in order to earn money for medical school, Dr. Sabin taught mathematics in Denver for two years. After that she served as an assistant in the Zoology Department at Smith College from 1895 to 1896.

Even in her retirement Dr. Florence Rena Sabin was a pioneer as a public health activist in Colorado and in 1951 received a Lasker Award for this work. It was during this period that she is known for one of her more famous quotes: The prohibition law, written for weaklings and derelicts, has divided the nation, like Gaul, into three parts — wets, drys, and hypocrites.

Check out the Engineering Pathway‘s many educational resources on women in medicine, women in science, women in engineering, women inventors and gender equity.

For a more in depth analysis of the issues associated with gender equity in our faculties and recommended solutions, read the Engineering Pathway’s “most commented” resource – the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report. My mother’s editorial on the report was published in ASEE Prism, November 2006, vol. 16 (3).

Also on this date in history in 1953, the DNA double helix was published in Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick and the integrated circuit was first patented by Robert Noyce in 1961. My mother’s blog on the Discovery of the Structure of DNA addresses Rosalind Frankin’s role in this discovery; she died before the Nobel Prize was awarded but is now recognized for her critical contributions.

Today in History – January 11, 1954 – Although radio weather broadcasts have been around since 1922, it was not until 1953 that BBC executives, gathered for a luncheon, introduced the idea of presenting a weather forecast on television. These BBC executives searched the Met Office and chose the 32-year-old George Cowling, a former Royal Air Force meteorologist, to take on this new idea. Cowling delivered the first televised weather forecast on January 11th, 1954 at 7:55 PM from BBC’s Lime Grove Studios. The broadcast lasted for only five minutes and cost 50 pounds to deliver, but it started a weather forecasting revolution. Today, the BBC’s Weather Center produces 100 forecasts each weekday, now with the help of modern computer, lighting, sound, and camera technology. This equipment was not available to Cowling, who relied on an easel to deliver his first broadcast.

Two months later RCA produced the first color television sets. See Lisa Huettel’s March 25 blog on this event.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the color television. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – December 24, 1979 – Launch of the Ariane rocket. In the 1970s, in the middle of the Cold War, the state of European aeronautics was in disarray. After Europa, Europe’s latest rocket, failed 11 times, many were skeptical that Europe could match the power that Russia and the USA had over outer space. However, in 1973, the French decided to take on the job that nobody else would by building the Ariane I, the 210,000 kg (462000 lb) rocket named after the character Ariadne from Greek mythology. Despite tremendous skepticism and several delays, the first launch of the Ariane Rocket on December 24th, 1979 was successful. Since then, the French company Arianespace continued to launch Ariane rockets from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying along numerous satellites for orbit.

Since its birth, the Ariane Rocket has had its setbacks, such as the booster failure in 2002 that led to the craft’s self-destruction three minutes into flight. However, such failures have not been able to undermine the Ariane Rocket’s reliability; Twenty-eight years later, after 5 versions and hundreds of liftoffs, the Ariane rocket continues to be one of the premier commercial satellite launching systems in the world today.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on rockets and aerospace engineering. For curricular resources, visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Also on this date in history in 1975, first radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California. This event at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory is acknowledged as the birth of nuclear medicine. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on nuclear medicine. For curricular resources, visit the Nuclear Engineering Education and Biomedical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – April 25, 1925 – Florence Rena Sabin is the first woman elected to National Academy of Science. Dr. Florence Rena Sabin, Professor of Histology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School was also the first woman to be a full professor in that institution and also the first woman to be President of the American Association of Anatomists. She became a leader for her research in embryology and histolology (the study of tissues). The National Academy of Science tribute to Dr. Sabin recongizes that: By her example she did more than any other person to open the careers of scientific investigation in laboratories, medical schools, and hospitals to women.

I was interested in Dr. Rena Sabin as she started her academic career at Smith College, where I am now a second year student. After graduation in order to earn money for medical school, Dr. Sabin taught mathematics in Denver for two years. After that she served as an assistant in the Zoology Department at Smith College from 1895 to 1896.

Even in her retirement Dr. Florence Rena Sabin was a pioneer as a public health activist in Colorado and in 1951 received a Lasker Award for this work. It was during this period that she is known for one of her more famous quotes: The prohibition law, written for weaklings and derelicts, has divided the nation, like Gaul, into three parts — wets, drys, and hypocrites.

Check out the Engineering Pathway‘s many educational resources on women in medicine, women in science, women in engineering, women inventors and gender equity.

For a more indepth analysis of the issues associated with gender equity in our faculties and recommended solutions, read the Engineering Pathway’s “most commented” resource – the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report. My mother’s editorial on the report was published in ASEE Prism, November 2006, vol. 16 (3).

Also on this date in history in 1953, the DNA double helix was published in Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick and the integrated circuit was first patented by Robert Noyce in 1961.

Today in History – January 11, 1954 – Although radio weather broadcasts have been around since 1922, it was not until 1953 that BBC executives, gathered for a luncheon, introduced the idea of presenting a weather forecast on television. These BBC executives searched the Met Office and chose the 32-year-old George Cowling, a former Royal Air Force meteorologist, to take on this new idea. Cowling delivered the first televised weather forecast on January 11th, 1954 at 7:55 PM from BBC’s Lime Grove Studios. The broadcast lasted for only five minutes and cost 50 pounds to deliver, but it started a weather forecasting revolution. Today, the BBC’s Weather Center produces 100 forecasts each weekday, now with the help of modern computer, lighting, sound, and camera technology. This equipment was not available to Cowling, who relied on an easel to deliver his first broadcast.

Two months later RCA produced the first color television sets. See Lisa Huettel’s March 25 blog on this event.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the color television. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – December 24, 1979 – Launch of the Ariane rocket. In the 1970s, in the middle of the Cold War, the state of European aeronautics was in disarray. After Europa, Europe’s latest rocket, failed 11 times, many were skeptical that Europe could match the power that Russia and the USA had over outer space. However, in 1973, the French decided to take on the job that nobody else would by building the Ariane I, the 210,000 kg (462000 lb) rocket named after the character Ariadne from Greek mythology. Despite tremendous skepticism and several delays, the first launch of the Ariane Rocket on December 24th, 1979 was successful. Since then, the French company Arianespace continued to launch Ariane rockets from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying along numerous satellites for orbit.

Since its birth, the Ariane Rocket has had its setbacks, such as the booster failure in 2002 that led to the craft’s self-destruction three minutes into flight. However, such failures have not been able to undermine the Ariane Rocket’s reliability; Twenty-eight years later, after 5 versions and hundreds of liftoffs, the Ariane rocket continues to be one of the premier commercial satellite launching systems in the world today.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on rockets and aerospace engineering. For curricular resources, visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Also on this date in history in 1975, first radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California. This event at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory is acknowledged as the birth of nuclear medicine. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on nuclear medicine. For curricular resources, visit the Nuclear Engineering Education and Biomedical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – April 25, 1925 – Florence Rena Sabin is the first woman elected to National Academy of Science. Dr. Florence Rena Sabin, Professor of Histology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School was also the first woman to be a full professor in that institution and also the first woman to be President of the American Association of Anatomists. She became a leader for her research in embryology and histolology (the study of tissues). The National Academy of Science tribute to Dr. Sabin recongizes that: By her example she did more than any other person to open the careers of scientific investigation in laboratories, medical schools, and hospitals to women.

I was interested in Dr. Rena Sabin as she started her academic career at Smith College, where I am now a first year student. After graduation in order to earn money for medical school, Dr. Sabin taught mathematics in Denver for two years. After that she served as an assistant in the Zoology Department at Smith College from 1895 to 1896.

Even in her retirement Dr. Florence Rena Sabin was a pioneer as a public health activist in Colorado and in 1951 received a Lasker Award for this work. It was during this period that she is known for one of her more famous quotes: The prohibition law, written for weaklings and derelicts, has divided the nation, like Gaul, into three parts — wets, drys, and hypocrites.

Check out the Engineering Pathway‘s many educational resources on women in medicine, women in science, women in engineering, women inventors and gender equity.

For a more indepth analysis of the issues associated with gender equity in our faculties and recommended solutions, read the Engineering Pathway’s “most commented” resource – the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report. My mother’s editorial on the report was published in ASEE Prism, November 2006, vol. 16 (3).

Also on this date in history in 1953, the DNA double helix was published in Nature by James Watson and Francis Crick and the integrated circuit was first patented by Robert Noyce in 1961.

Today in History – December 24, 1979 – Launch of the Ariane rocket. In the 1970s, in the middle of the Cold War, the state of European aeronautics was in disarray. After Europa, Europe’s latest rocket, failed 11 times, many were skeptical that Europe could match the power that Russia and the USA had over outer space. However, in 1973, the French decided to take on the job that nobody else would by building the Ariane I, the 210,000 kg (462000 lb) rocket named after the character Ariadne from Greek mythology. Despite tremendous skepticism and several delays, the first launch of the Ariane Rocket on December 24th, 1979 was successful. Since then, the French company Arianespace continued to launch Ariane rockets from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying along numerous satellites for orbit.

Since its birth, the Ariane Rocket has had its setbacks, such as the booster failure in 2002 that led to the craft’s self-destruction three minutes into flight. However, such failures have not been able to undermine the Ariane Rocket’s reliability; Twenty-eight years later, after 5 versions and hundreds of liftoffs, the Ariane rocket continues to be one of the premier commercial satellite launching systems in the world today.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on rockets and aerospace engineering. For curricular resources, visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Also on this date in history in 1975, first radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California. This event at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory is acknowledged as the birth of nuclear medicine. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on nuclear medicine. For curricular resources, visit the Nuclear Engineering Education and Biomedical Engineering Education community sites.