Scientists

Not many remember this rather obscure US Stamp commemorating Josiah Willard Gibbs that was part of a series of stamps on American Scientists (Scott 3907):



But an interesting article on him was just posted this past weekend at this link:

http://wamc.org/post/david-nighting...bs-1839-1903

Þorvaldur Thoroddsen (1855-1921) was an Icelandic geologist, geographer, and professor who in 1901 published a comprehensive geological map of Iceland based on his own studies. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Thoroddsen, designed and engraved by Eugène Lacaque, and issued by Iceland on December 12, 1977, Scott No. 504, Facit No. 565, plus an image of a photograph of Þorvaldur Thoroddsen which was the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Changeable chap: Happy Birthday to Frederick Soddy FRS (1877-1956), an English radiochemist who explained, along with Ernest Rutherford, that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements, now known to involve nuclear reactions, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Soddy and depicting the Radcliffe Camera, built in 1737-1749 as the University of Oxford's science library, designed by Lennart Forsberg, engraved by Arne Wallhorn, and issued by Sweden on November 24, 1981, Scott No. 1389, Facit No. 1194, plus a photo of Frederick Soddy which was probably a model for this stamp's design, and a photo of the Radcliffe Camera.

- nethryk

Elementary wizard: Happy Birthday to Fritz Pregl (1869-1930), a Slovenian and Austrian chemist and physician who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1923 for making important contributions to quantitative organic microanalysis. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Pregl, designed by Otto Stefferl, engraved by Alfred Nefe, and issued by Austria on December 12, 1973, Scott No. 978, plus an image of a photograph of Fritz Pregel which was the model for this stamp's design. Note the slightly misplaced chin dimple on the stamp.

- nethryk

A real swinger: Happy Birthday to Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819-1868), a French physicist best known for his demonstration of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of the Earth's rotation. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Léon Foucault, designed and engraved by René Cottet, and issued by France on February 15, 1958, Scott No. 871, Y&T No. 1148, plus an image of a photograph of the scientist which was the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Can you dig it? Happy Birthday to Karl von Terzaghi (1883-1963), an Austrian civil engineer and geologist who has been called the "father of soil mechanics." Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Dr. Terzaghi, designed by Adalbert Pilch, engraved by Kurt Leitgeb, and issued by Austria on October 3, 1983 to commemorate the scientist's birth centenary, Scott No. 1255, plus a photograph of Karl von Terzaghi which may have been the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Fever reliever: Happy Birthday to Adolfo Lutz (1855-1940), a Brazilian physician called "the father of tropical medicine and medical zoology" in Brazil, and a pioneer epidemiologist and researcher in infectious diseases. Here is an image of an engraved stamp featuring a portrait of Dr. Lutz and depicting a microscope, printed on granite paper, and issued by Brazil on December 18, 1955 to commemorate the scientist's birth centenary, Scott No. 830, plus a photograph of Adolfo Lutz.

- nethryk

Vive la différence: Sofia ("Sonya") Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (1850-1891) was a Russian mathematician who made important contributions to analysis, differential equations and mechanics. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Kovalevskaya, designed by Russian artist Vladimir Zavialov, printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on August 15, 1951, Scott No. 1570, Zagorski No. 1548, plus an image of a photograph of Sonya Kovalevskaya which may have been the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Strictly organic: Happy Birthday to Japanese biochemist and industrialist Jokichi Takamine (1854-1922). In 1887, Dr. Takamine founded the Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company, where he later isolated the enzyme takadiastase, an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of starch. In 1901, he also isolated and purified the hormone adrenaline (now called epinephrine). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Dr. Takamine and depicting a molecular model of epinephrine, printed by photogravure, and issued by Japan on February 23, 2004, Scott No. 2879d, plus the photo of Jokichi Takamine which was used in the design of this stamp.

- nethryk

Tissue issues: Happy Birthday to Marie François Xavier Bichat (1771-1802), a French anatomist and physiologist who has been called "the father of modern histology and descriptive anatomy." Here is an image of a semi-postal (charity) stamp featuring a portrait of the scientist, designed by Albert Decaris, engraved by Pierre Munier, and issued by France on June 13, 1959, Scott No. B334, Y&T No. 1211, plus an image of another portrait of Dr. Bichat. Note: The lit and extinguished torches in the stamp's design may allude to Bichat's famous definition of life as "those set of functions which resist death."

- nethryk

"Di-" Happy Birthdays to two notable chemists!

- nethryk

Steady Eddie: Claude Louis Berthollet (1748-1822) was a Savoyard-French chemist who made contributions to theory of chemical equilibria via the mechanism of reverse chemical reactions, and to modern chemical nomenclature. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the scientist, designed and engraved by Jacques Combet, and issued by France on February 15, 1958, Scott No. 872, Y&T No. 1149, plus an image of a formal portrait of Berthollet which may have been the model (in mirror-image) for this stamp's design.


Gassy guy: Fritz Haber (1868-1934) was a German chemist of Jewish origin who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development of a process for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Notoriously, Haber is also remembered to history as the "father of chemical warfare" for his years of pioneering work developing and weaponizing chlorine and other poisonous gases during World War I, as well as his founding chairmanship of the Degesch Corporation, which later produced the hydrogen cyanide-based Zyklon B gas used to kill millions in the gas chambers of the Holocaust. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Haber and depicting the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology where he worked, designed by Swedish graphic artist Lennart Forsberg, engraved by Arne Wallhorn, and issued by Sweden on November 14, 1978, Scott No. 1271, Facit No. 1068, plus a photograph of Fritz Haber which was probably a model for this stamp's design.

Happy Birthday to French physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836), one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, and for whom the ampere, a unit of measurement of electric current, is named. Here is an image of an airmail stamp honoring the scientist, designed by Pierre Béquet, engraved by Claude Haley, and issued for use in Afars and Issas on July 24, 1975, Scott No. C92, plus an image of an engraved portrait of (a slightly more hirsute) André-Marie Ampère.

- nethryk

We named our dog after Ampere, but we call him Amp the Scamp for short. Hubby and I were both industrial electricians, so all our dogs get named after pioneers in the field. Our female schnauzer is named Tesla, Tes for short.

Wavelength wizard: Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Spanish spectroscopist Miguel Antonio Catalán Sañudo (1894-1957), and an atomic diagram and the spectrum of the chemical element manganese, combined engraved by Alfredo de Oro Sanz and lithography, and issued by Spain on May 5, 1994 as a EUROPA stamp commemorating the scientist's birth centenary, Scott No. 2779, Edifil No. 3302, plus an image of a photo of Miguel A. Catalán which was surely a model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Persecuted polymath: Happy Birthday to Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Viscount of Pastrana (1771-1816), a Neogranadine (now Colombian) scientist, journalist, and politician who is considered a hero and martyr of the Revolution and Independence of Colombia (he was executed by firing squad for his revolutionary activities). Tadeo's principal scientific interests were zoology and botany, and the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, an institution dedicated to the sciences, was founded in his honor. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the scientist and a diagram of a flower, designed by T.N. Molina, printed by lithography (Thomas De La Rue de Colombia, S.A.), and issued by Colombia on January 18, 1967, Scott No. 764, plus an image of a miniature portrait of Jorge Tadeo Lozano by Victor Moscoso.

- nethryk