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W — Colton |
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 Good counsels observed are chains to grace. — Fuller
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 Vanity is so frequently the apparent motive of advice, that we, for the most part, summon our powers to oppose it without any very accurate inquiry whether it is right. — Dr. Johnson |
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It is not advice, but approval that we crave. — Boufflers |
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The greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel. — Bacon |
Today's Word –
SALUTARY
sal·u·tar·y adjective. 1. Effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial:
salutary advice. 2. Favorable to health; wholesome: a salutary climate. [Middle
English, from Old French salutaire, from Latin sal¿t³ris¿t³ris, from sal¿s, sal¿t-, health.]
From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough
of that spirit for every salutary purpose;
and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public
opinion to mitigate and assuage it.
WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, 1796 — Happy Birthday George!
Definitions from American Heritage Dictionary
Over the next several days the facts here on the DM will be about
Serendipitous Discoveries.
This is the first fact on this subject.
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SERENDIPITY 7
In 1859 the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered X rays. If you have been reading the DM over the past week you have probably guessed that the discovery of X rays was a result of serendipity. Rontgen was repeating experiments by other physicists in which electricity at high voltage was discharged through air or other gases in a partially evacuated glass tube. These experiments had been done previously by Sir William Crookes, Heinrich Hertz and Philipe Lenard. The earlier experiments demonstrated that "cathode rays" could pass through the air and even penetrate thin metallic foil. Tubes with aluminum windows were later used to pass rays out of the tube where they were detected by a light produced on a phosphorescent screen. The rays only traveled two or three centimeters through the air.Rontgen decided to see if he could detect "cathode rays" issuing from an evacuated all glass tube without an aluminum window. No one had observed cathode rays under these conditions. Rontgen thought this might be due to light from the cathode tube obscuring the dim light of the phosphorescence. He made a black cardboard cover for the tube. Then he darkened the room, turned on the power to the tube, to check if the cover for the tube effectively shielded light from escaping the tube. He was about to turn off the power to the tube and turn on the room lights when he saw a weak shimmering light more than a yard from the vacuum tube. At first he thought that the shield for the tube was not completely effective and expected that there was a hole in the cardboard tube. He checked and the cardboard sleeve effectively covered the vacuum tube. He turned on the power again and the light appeared in the same place - more than 3 feet from the well covered cathode tube. Lighting a match he hurried to the source of the light. He discovered that the source of the light was the little fluorescent screen that he planned to use as a detector near the cathode tube. |
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Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica | The New Shell Book of Firsts
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"Sources: | On This Day | Britannica |" |
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| "What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable." Joseph Addison |
TRUE FACT ... Humans begin laughing at two to three months of age. Six year olds laugh about 300 times per day, while adults laugh from 15 to 100 times per day. SOURCE: NYT, Dr. William F. Fry, Stanford University
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"The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad." -Salvador Dali |
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Have A Great Day Phillip Bower |
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