http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1687
Here are some one liners...
Doctor Mom Helps Discover Scabies -- Scabies (a skin disease) is well known but its cause (mites) is documented this year. Apparently Mothers have known for some time though.
Isaac Newton's Scientific Revolution -- His famous Principia is published this year. The Laws of Motion will change everything. I talk about the egos that get hurt by Newton, and I make a bad math pun.
Doctor Mom Helps Discover Scabies
Scabies has been a well known disease for centuries but its cause has been a mystery. The word itself comes from the Latin word for "scratching." A rash appears on the skin with small bumps that itch terribly. It is best known as a disease of children but almost anyone can get it. This year Dr. Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo notices that mothers help their children with the itching by using a fine needle to break the skin and squeeze out a small globule of fluid. These mothers then crush the globule with their fingernail as if they are killing a flea so the Doctor takes a closer look at the globule under a microscope. He is surprised to see a six-legged insect with two horns. It is a mite. He sees these little mites eating their way into the skin. Looking more carefully, he realizes that they are also depositing small eggs under the skin. He becomes one of the first doctors to discover the exact cause of a disease... right after Doctor Mom. [1] [2] [3]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
FYI, dogs and coyotes get a similar skin disease called mange. Fortunately, the mange mite does not reproduce under human skin. It can cause some itching though. The scabies rash is an allergic reaction to the mites that bore under the skin. They spread under crowded conditions such as in daycare, school, old folks homes or your own home. It is one of the first things doctors look for in children after lice. For treatment, there are some over-the-counter soaps and lotions that contain a pesticide for scabies mites but these are considered a second-line choice. The first-line choices are all prescription drugs and lotions. I want to avoid giving medical advice, so I'm leaving it there. Check with your doctor for specific advice. [4] [5]
FYI, dogs and coyotes get a similar skin disease called mange. Fortunately, the mange mite does not reproduce under human skin. It can cause some itching though. The scabies rash is an allergic reaction to the mites that bore under the skin. They spread under crowded conditions such as in daycare, school, old folks homes or your own home. It is one of the first things doctors look for in children after lice. For treatment, there are some over-the-counter soaps and lotions that contain a pesticide for scabies mites but these are considered a second-line choice. The first-line choices are all prescription drugs and lotions. I want to avoid giving medical advice, so I'm leaving it there. Check with your doctor for specific advice. [4] [5]
Isaac Newton's Scientific Revolution
It is the science of the forces of nature. Newton is pushing scientific thought in new directions and he is not the only one, but he is the one who will get most of the credit after he publishes his Principia this year. He is talking about large bodies in motion such as planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the tides, Earth's bulge and comets in orbit. Beginning with a few assumptions called the Laws of Motion, Newton builds a universe. He also covers fluidics and the speed of sound. He gets help from Edmund Halley, the fellow with the comet, who edits Principia, and makes corrections to the text. By changing everything, Issac Newton is going to make some smart people very angry. In these days, there is something essential to have when explaining the workings of the universe. You need an ego the size of the cosmos. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
OK. Let's talk about some of the egos that Newton stepped on. Robert Hooke was very angry with Newton, probably because Hooke was working on the idea of gravitation and the motion of planets as well. When scientists talk to each other, they spark new ideas. That is why they have conferences and that is why the "Royal Society for the Improving of Natural Knowledge" was formed. Certainly Hooke benefited from that process of sharing ideas when he developed the Inverse Square Law. Newton thought that Hooke stole that idea, but Halley saw it in a kinder light. As president of the Royal Society, Newton was in a position to destroy some of Hooke's work. Did he? He probably did. Newton also developed a system of mathematics called calculus. A fellow named Leibniz did the same, so they fought over the credit for the rest of their lives. In the modern day, calculus is considered a creation in parallel by Newton and Leibniz, but Leibniz is given the majority of the credit because his notation scheme makes the use of calculus more intuitive. And then Newton declared that we would never develop a clock accurate enough for navigation at sea. Years later he was proven very, very wrong. Isaac Newton was brilliant, but he had his limits. (In case you were wondering... that was a calculus pun.) In the year 1687, the idea of intellectual property was a joke. [11] [12] [13]
OK. Let's talk about some of the egos that Newton stepped on. Robert Hooke was very angry with Newton, probably because Hooke was working on the idea of gravitation and the motion of planets as well. When scientists talk to each other, they spark new ideas. That is why they have conferences and that is why the "Royal Society for the Improving of Natural Knowledge" was formed. Certainly Hooke benefited from that process of sharing ideas when he developed the Inverse Square Law. Newton thought that Hooke stole that idea, but Halley saw it in a kinder light. As president of the Royal Society, Newton was in a position to destroy some of Hooke's work. Did he? He probably did. Newton also developed a system of mathematics called calculus. A fellow named Leibniz did the same, so they fought over the credit for the rest of their lives. In the modern day, calculus is considered a creation in parallel by Newton and Leibniz, but Leibniz is given the majority of the credit because his notation scheme makes the use of calculus more intuitive. And then Newton declared that we would never develop a clock accurate enough for navigation at sea. Years later he was proven very, very wrong. Isaac Newton was brilliant, but he had his limits. (In case you were wondering... that was a calculus pun.) In the year 1687, the idea of intellectual property was a joke. [11] [12] [13]
This Year on Wikipedia
Year 1687, Wikipedia.
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