Scientists, Inventors And Techno Wizards

[gcreptile 10,966]

Elias Burstein, pioneer in the development of silicon semiconductors, dead at 99:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/25/science/elias-burstein-dies-physicist.html

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Dr. David Jones, who died July 19 at 79, at times described himself as a fraud, charlatan and “court jester in the palace of science.” But the inventions that he outlined in his columns, often written under the pen name Daedalus, were informed by a doctorate in organic chemistry and a life spent in joyful pursuit of scientific progress.  Beginning in 1964, he wrote weekly pieces for the London-based New Scientist magazine. He later contributed to the publication Nature, Britain’s Guardian newspaper, and to television programs in England and Germany before retiring in the early 2000s.

 

Dunno who he is, figured some of you might.  Sounds like he was interesting enough.

SC

[gcreptile 10,966]

Murray Peshkin, one of the last survivors from the Manhattan Project, dead at 92:

 

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjxgzz/one-of-the-last-remaining-manhattan-project-scientist-has-died

 

Trying to find the last ones..... A Robert Carter might be a candidate:

http://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/robert-carter

[Death Impends 7,962]

My old people longlist has two Manhattan Project related names on it (don't have Carter... gonna have to add him), 95-year old Ed Westcott, who was one of the few photographers of the Manhattan Project, and 92-year-old Nobel physicist Roy J. Glauber.

 

I'm amused by this part of Glauber's Wiki:

 

Quote

For many years before winning his Nobel Prize, Glauber was familiar to audiences of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremonies, where he took a bow each year as "Keeper of the Broom," sweeping the stage clean of the paper airplanes that have traditionally been thrown during the event. He missed the 2005 event, though, as he was being awarded his real Nobel Prize for Physics.

 

 

[Death Impends 7,962]

Wait... just did some category searching on Wiki. Found another four:

 

Lilli Hornig

Geoffrey Chew

Dieter Gruen

Isabella Karle

[gcreptile 10,966]

Fantastic list of people.... Lilli Hornig, feminist AND nuclear scientist...Guardian Obit guaranteed.

[drol 11,927]

Belgian-born American chemist Gilbert Stork died on October the 21st, aged 95. A great name in organic synthesis, expecially in stereoselectivity.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

16 hours ago, drol said:

Belgian-born American chemist Gilbert Stork died on October the 21st, aged 95. A great name in organic synthesis, expecially in stereoselectivity.

Not sure if these are related, but when I was 7 and my younger sister arrived on the scene, I was told the Stork brought it.  
SC

[Death Impends 7,962]

On 9/27/2017 at 16:29, Death Impends said:

Wait... just did some category searching on Wiki. Found another four:

 

Lilli Hornig

Geoffrey Chew

Dieter Gruen

Isabella Karle

 

Already half of these people are dead, first Karle from a few weeks back and now Lilli Hornig has followed suit.

 

(incidentally re Isabella Karle, she'd currently be a rare instance of a name who lost out on the Indy not being a QO, had she been picked on the DDP. The Independent gave her an obit, but nothing else in the UK)

[gcreptile 10,966]

1 minute ago, Death Impends said:

 

Already half of these people are dead, first Karle from a few weeks back and now Lilli Hornig has followed suit.

Hm, Karle would have been a rare Independent-only QO. Let's see if Hornig gets that Guardian obit I predicted.

[YoungWillz 21,033]

On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2010 at 21:58, thefunkyfaz said:

The legendary Professor Heinz Wolff is now 82, although recent photos show him looking not much older than he did in his Great Egg Race days. So not really a contender for a year or two yet (even though The Sun erroneously published his obit a few years back...)

They can now publish Heinz Wolff's Obituary: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Professor-Heinz-Wolff-scientist-and-TV-presenter-dies-aged-89

 

RIP. I Loved The Great Egg Race.

[Grim Up North 3,725]

1 hour ago, YoungWillz said:

They can now publish Heinz Wolff's Obituary: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Professor-Heinz-Wolff-scientist-and-TV-presenter-dies-aged-89

 

RIP. I Loved The Great Egg Race.

RIP. Me too.

[Youwanticewiththat 611]

Me three.

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

He was very helpful in people thinking of scientits are normal professionals and not eccentric crackpots.

[charon 4,943]

I like how he coined the term bioengineering back in 1954.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Damn near 'Ironic Deaths'.....Stuart Wenham, who invented groundbreaking technology that significantly increased the efficiency of solar panels while cutting their cost, died on Saturday from malignant melanoma, age 60.

Solar power.....melanoma..... I mean cmon.  Had to see that one coming.
SC

[bladan 293]

15 hours ago, Sir Creep said:

Damn near 'Ironic Deaths'.....Stuart Wenham, who invented groundbreaking technology that significantly increased the efficiency of solar panels while cutting their cost, died on Saturday from malignant melanoma, age 60.

Solar power.....melanoma..... I mean cmon.  Had to see that one coming.
SC

He died on Saturday – day of Saturn, the planet of darkness which is the enemy of Sun and solar power

two days after Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice

[Thatcher 2,386]

Thomas Bopp, American astronomer who co-discovered Comet Hale-Bopp, has died aged 68.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

15 hours ago, Thatcher said:

Thomas Bopp, American astronomer who co-discovered Comet Hale-Bopp, has reportedly died aged 68.

Presuming it's true, quite a tough 24 hours for astronomy with John Young and Bopp dying. 

[CaptainChorizo 1,977]

I think he is more famous for the song Hanson wrote about him 20 years ago

[drol 11,927]

It seems it's true, but no obit came out yet.

[gcreptile 10,966]

Yevgeny Avrorin has died at 85.

 

Who was he? Well, it depends...

 

The Russians say he was a "theoretical physicist":

http://tass.com/society/984273

 

The Americans and the Daily Mail say he was a "top nuclear weapons designer":

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-5250607/Top-Russian-nuclear-weapons-designer-Avrorin-dies-85.html

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/01/09/world/europe/ap-eu-russia-obit-avrorin.html

[drol 11,927]

I'd like to remember three scientists who died this month and did not get the coverage they deserve.

 

Joseph Polchinski died on February the 2nd aged 62 in Santa Barbara, CA. Cause of death was cancer. He was one of the world's most prominent string theorist and an expert of quantum physics. His amazing theories on wormholes are hardly verifiable so he'd never really had the chance to get a Nobel Prize. Anyway he was a well respected and beloved figure in the scientific community.

 

Alan Baker, British mathematician, died on February the 4th after suffering a major stroke, aged 78. He won Fields medal, which is considered the Nobel Prize for Maths, in 1970. His works on Diophantine equations and Gelfond-Schneider theorem are indeed remarkable.

 

Astrophysicst Donald Lynden-Bell died on February the 5h, aged 82, due to complications from a stroke. He theorized that galaxies contain supermassive black holes at their centers, which are the sources of qasar energy. Again. this theories are hardly verifiable, so no chance of Nobel Prize for Donald, but he won many awards, including prestigious Eddington Medal in 1984.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

It gives me great pleasure to introduce a man with a touch of irony, as he  will now be placed inside his invention:

 

Robert “Blake” Whisenant Sr., 88, inventor of the EarthBox, a member of the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame, and a humanitarian, died after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease on Wednesday.

Mr. Whisenant operated a 1,600-acre farm with a cherry tomato packing house and was one of the first in the state to use laser sorting, according to his FL Agric Hall of Fame nomination in 2014. He was also chairman and part-owner of Harllee Packing House.  He patented his Earthbox invention, a container gardening system that reduced water and fertilizer needs, and is used internationally.
SC

[Ulitzer95 12,584]

On 1/6/2018 at 22:12, Thatcher said:

Thomas Bopp, American astronomer who co-discovered Comet Hale-Bopp, has died aged 68.

Telegraph obituary