Sir Ronald Ross was a British medical doctor who made groundbreaking contributions to the field of medicine, particularly in the area of malaria research. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine…
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The forgotten saviour of humanity
With seminal research in bacteriology and epidemiology at the turn of the last century, first in Paris and then in India, Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine developed the world’s first vaccines against cholera and…
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Chuck Yeager: Breaking the sound barrier
Chuck Yeager, a US Air Force test pilot, became the first person to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947. Here’s a detailed account of his historic flight: Charles E “Chuck”…
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The saviour of mothers
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician who made a groundbreaking discovery about the importance of hand hygiene in the 19th century. Here is his story, a testament to the power of…
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Velcro – An idea that stuck
Velcro, the popular hook-and-loop fastening system, was invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral in the 1940s. Here’s the story behind its invention: De Mestral, an avid outdoorsman, went on a hunting…
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3D-printed bones for ear implants
Dr. Mashudu Tshifularo is a renowned South African otolaryngologist and educator who made history by leading the first team to use 3D-printed bones for reconstructive middle ear implants. Born on June 18,…
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Srinivasa Ramanujan: A self-taught genius in maths
Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught Indian mathematician, is renowned for his extraordinary contributions to number theory. Here’s a fascinating account of his journey: Ramanujan was born in 1887 in Erode, India. Growing up,…
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Kekulé’s dream
August Kekulé, a German organic chemist, is famous for his work on the structure of benzene. Here’s how he arrived at it: Kekulé was struggling to understand the structure of benzene, a…
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Is it crazy enough?
I have heard a true story, as told by Freeman Dyson… A few months ago, Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli believed that they had made an essential step forward in the direction…
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How Joseph Fourier discovered the greenhouse effect
That’s Maths: French physicist’s study of heat conduction led him to analyse why Earth was so warm. Joseph Fourier’s idea that the Earth’s atmosphere acts like an insulator is the first formulation…