Today in Science

March 12th

1824 - Birth of Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist

1838 - Birth of William Perkin, English chemist

1863 - Birth of Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist

1907 - Birth of Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer

1925 - Birth of Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist, Nobel laureate

1991 - Death of Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

More like this

February 22nd
March 4th 1675 - John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England.
January 23rd
March 11th 1811 - Birth of Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician

John,

Readers may be interested to know that Dorrit Hoffleit, shown in your list as born this day in 1907, is still flourishing. This being so, she celebrates her 100th birthday today!

The American Association of Variable Star Observers has published a biography : http://www.aavso.org/store/st_dorrit.shtml

Peter

By Peter Hornby (not verified) on 12 Mar 2007 #permalink

Further to my previous comment, I'm sad to report that Dorrit Hoffleit passed away on April 9, 2007, at the age of 100, having celebrated her 100th birthday on March 12.

Peter

By Peyer Hornby (not verified) on 11 Apr 2007 #permalink