Famous Female Scientists

  Famous Female Scientists

 These scientists are Caroline Herschel, Mary Anning, Ada Lovelace, Maria Mitchell, Mary Kingsley, Annie Cannon, Marie Curie, Louise Boyd, Gerty Cori, Irene Joliet-Curie, Helen Taussig, Margaret Mead, Barbara McClintock, Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, Ruth Wakefield, Grace Murray Hoppe, Rachel Carson, Chien-Shiung Wu, Mary Leakey, Gertrude Elion, Rosalind Franklin, Rosalyn Yalow, Stephanie Kwolek, Jewel Plummer Cobb, Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, Ada Yonath, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Ellen Ochoa.

• Caroline Herschel: – She was a German astronomer. She was the first woman to discover a comet and also to receive honorary membership into the Royal Society. In 1783, Caroline Herschel discovered an open cluster which is known as NGC 2360.
• Mary Anning: – She was an amateur paleontologist and a fossil collector. Anning is sometimes referred as ‘the greatest fossilist the world ever knew’.
• Ada Lovelace: – Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician. She is considered the first computer programmer. She is best known for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed general-purpose computer.
• Maria Mitchell: – She was the first professional female astronomer of America. She discovered a comet in 1847.
• Mary Kingsley: – She was an English explorer and scientific writer. Kingsley traveled throughout the West Africa.
• Annie Cannon: – Annie Cannon was an American astronomer. She studied bright southern hemisphere stars.
• Marie Curie: – Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Noble prize and the first scientist to win this in two different fields physics and chemistry. She discovered Polonium and Radium.
• Louise Boyd: – Louise Boyd was an American explorer. She made her first trip to arctic in 1926. In 1955, she became the first woman to charter a private plane and fly across the North Pole.
• Gerty Cori: – Gerty Cori was a biochemist. She was the first American woman to win a Noble prize in science. She has done some research work on the metabolic mechanism.
• Irene Joliet-Curie: – She was the daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie. Both her parents were scientists. She served as a nurse radiographer during the World War I.
• Helen Taussig: – She was an American cardiologist. She is also credited with the development of the first successful treatment of ‘blue baby’ syndrome.
• Margaret Mead: – Margaret Mead was an anthropologist. In 1979, she was awarded the highest civilian order of the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• Barbara McClintock: – She was an American scientist. She is best known for her discovery of mobile genetic elements. In 1983, she won the Noble Prize in Physiology.

Earth Facts

 Earth Facts

Our planet earth is the largest of all the terrestrial planets and the only planet in our solar system which is not named after Greek or Roman gods. The word earth came from an Anglo-Saxon word Erda that means ground or soil. It was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. It is the third planet from the sun. Once it was believed to be the centre of the universe. It is the only planet which is known to support life.

Quick Facts: –

• This planet is an oblate spheroid that is made up of Iron, Oxygen and Silicon.
• Around 70% of our planet‘s surface is covered with water.
• Our planet has a strong magnetic field that is created by its molten iron core.
• It is the only planet with plate tectonics and liquid water on the surface. These tectonic plates are responsible for everything like earthquake, mountain formation etc.
• Our planet’s atmosphere contains 21% of oxygen.
• It is the only planet to support life.
• Talc is the softest known mineral of the earth that is used for many purposes.
• The planet has one large satellite, moon.
• Some changes occur in the gravitational force across the earth’s surface.
• The unexplored ocean of our planet contains more than 20 million tons of gold.
• Our atmosphere is made up of five layers.
• The earth takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds to rotate on its axis.
• It is the densest planet of the entire solar system.
• Our planet has seasons because it tilts slightly while orbiting around the sun.
• The distance between earth and the Sun is around 93 million miles.
• Mount Chimborazo is the furthest away from the center of our planet.
• The earth seen from moon also goes through phases.
• Antarctica is the coldest and driest continent on the planet.

Halley’s Comet

  Halley’s Comet

A comet can be defined as a small solar system body, orbiting Sun. They are made up of dust, ice and small rocky particles. Halley’s Comet is the most famous as it is a periodic comet. It appears in about every 76 years. In 1986, it was the last time when this comet was here and now it will appear in 2061.

Quick Facts: –

• This comet is named after an English astronomer Edmund Halley.
• He concluded that comets orbits the Sun and discovered this comet’s period of orbit.
• Halley examined the reports that said a comet approached the earth in 1531, 1607, 1682.
• Halley’s Comet is known as a short term comet because the time taken in orbiting the Sun is less than 200 years.
• A specific portion of this comet has a glowing appearance that is known as a coma. This coma is visible only when the comet is close enough to Sun.
• Length of this comet is around 9 miles.
• The Oort cloud is the origin of Halley’s Comet.
• This comet is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old.
• It is the first periodic comet to be identified.
• The first recorded appearance of this comet was in 240 B. C. as found in the Chinese Records of the Grand Historian.
• The direction of this comet’s orbit is opposite to the direction of planetary orbits.
• American writer Mark Twain was born in 1835, they same year in which the Halley’s Comet appeared and he made a successful prediction that he will die with a Halley’s Comet. Same thing happened as he died in 1910.