Editing 1926 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1926|science}}
{{Science year nav|1926}}

The year '''1926 in science''' and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* March 16 – [[Robert H. Goddard|Robert Goddard]] launches the first liquid-fueled [[rocket]], at [[Auburn, Massachusetts]]. This is considered by some to be the start of the space age, although his rocket did not reach outer space.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Goddard launches space age with historic first 85 years ago today|url = http://www.clarku.edu/article/goddard-launches-space-age-historic-first-85-years-ago-today|access-date = 2022-08-09}}</ref>

==Biology==
* American [[microbiologist]] [[Selman Waksman]] publishes ''Enzymes''.
* ''[[The Quarterly Review of Biology]]'' is established by [[Raymond Pearl]] in the United States.

==Chemistry==
* [[Waldo Semon]] and the [[Goodrich Corporation|B.F. Goodrich]] Company develop a method of [[Plasticity (physics)|plasticizing]] [[polyvinyl chloride]], giving it commercial potential.
* Graham Edgar originates the [[octane rating]] system for automotive fuel.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Octane Scale|url=https://pslc.ws/macrog/exp/rubber/synth/octane.htm|publisher=Polymer Science Learning Center|accessdate=2023-10-11}}</ref>
* [[Phencyclidine]] ''(PCP, angel dust)'' is first synthesized.

==Earth sciences== 
* [[Vladimir Vernadsky]] popularises the concept of the [[biosphere]] in a book (in Russian) of this title.

==Exploration==
* May 12 – [[Roald Amundsen]], [[Umberto Nobile]] and crew fly over the [[North Pole]] in the [[Norge (airship)|airship ''Norge'']].

==Mathematics==
* [[Otakar Borůvka]] publishes [[Borůvka's algorithm]], introducing the [[greedy algorithm]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Borůvka|first=Otakar|year=1926|title=O jistém problému minimálním [About a certain minimal problem]|journal=Práce Mor. Přírodověd. Spol. V Brně III|volume=3|pages=37–58|language=Czech, German}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Borůvka|first=Otakar|year=1926|title=Příspěvek k řešení otázky ekonomické stavby elektrovodních sítí [Contribution to the solution of a problem of economical construction of electrical networks]|journal=Elektronický Obzor|volume=15|pages=153–4|language=Czech}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nešetřil|first1=Jaroslav|author1-link=Jaroslav Nešetřil|last2=Milková|first2=Eva|last3=Nešetřilová|first3=Helena|doi=10.1016/S0012-365X(00)00224-7|issue=1–3|journal=[[Discrete Mathematics (journal)|Discrete Mathematics]]|mr=1825599|pages=3–36|title=Otakar Borůvka on minimum spanning tree problem: translation of both the 1926 papers, comments, history|volume=233|year=2001|hdl=10338.dmlcz/500413|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=ekonomicke stavby|url=http://www.domy-drevostavby-na-klic.cz/technologie-ekonomicke-stavby/|publisher=www.domy-drevostavby-na-klic.cz|accessdate=20 January 2016}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* First vaccine for [[pertussis]].
* American [[biogerontologist]] [[Raymond Pearl]] publishes his book ''Alcohol and Longevity''<ref>{{cite book|first=Raymond|last=Pearl|year=1926|title=Alcohol and Longevity|url=https://archive.org/details/b2981635x|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=978-0-405-13615-3}}</ref> demonstrating that drinking [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] in [[alcohol consumption and health|moderation]] is associated with greater longevity than either abstaining or drinking heavily.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199655786|last=Boyle|first=Peter|author2=Boffetta, Paolo|author3=Lowenfels, Albert B.|author4=Burns, Harry|author5=Brawley, Otis|author6=Zatonski, Witold|author7= Rehm, Jürgen|title=Alcohol: Science, Policy and Public Health|year=2013|page=14}}</ref>
* Finnish physician [[Erik Adolf von Willebrand]] first describes ''Hereditär pseudohemofili'' ("Hereditary pseudohemophilia"),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Von Willebrand|first=E. A.|title=Hereditär pseudohemofili|journal=Finska Läkaresällskapets Handlingar|date=1926|volume=68|pages=87–112|language=Swedish}}</ref> later known as [[Von Willebrand disease]].
* German-Jewish dermatologist [[Walter Freudenthal]] gives the earliest clear [[histopathological]] description of keratoma senile ([[actinic keratosis]]), distinguishing it from verruca senilis ([[seborrheic keratosis]]), in [[Breslau]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Verruca senilis und Keratoma senile|journal=Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis|year=1926|volume=152|issue=2|pages=505–528|doi=10.1007/BF01828395|last1 = Freudenthal|first1 = Walter}}</ref>
* The description '[[glioblastoma]] multiforme' is introduced by [[Percival Bailey]] and [[Harvey Cushing]].<ref>Bailey; Cushing (1926). ''Tumors of the Glioma Group''. Philadelphia: Lippincott.</ref>

==Meteorology==
* [[Wasaburo Oishi]] first describes the [[jet stream]].<ref>Ooishi, W. (1926). ''Raporto de la Aerologia Observatorio de Tateno'' (in Esperanto). Aerological Observatory Report 1, Central Meteorological Observatory, Japan. 213 pp.</ref>

==Paleontology==
* [[Gerhard Heilmann]] publishes ''[[The Origin of Birds]]'' (in English) on [[Origin of birds|bird evolution]].

==Physics==
* [[Wolfgang Pauli]] uses [[Werner Heisenberg]]'s [[Matrix mechanics|matrix theory]] of [[quantum mechanics]] to derive the observed spectrum of the [[hydrogen atom]].

==Technology==
* January 26 – Scottish inventor [[John Logie Baird]] demonstrates his pioneering greyscale [[mechanical television]] system (which he calls a "televisor") at his London laboratory for members of the [[Royal Institution]] and a reporter from ''[[The Times]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/baird_logie.shtml|title=BBC - History - John Logie Baird|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2019-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Hutchinson Factfinder|publisher=Helicon|year=1999|isbn=1-85986-000-1 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/baird-demonstrates-tv|title=Baird demonstrates TV|website=History com|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Logie-Baird|title=John Logie Baird {{!}} British inventor|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref>
* February – [[Hidetsugu Yagi]] and [[Shintaro Uda]] publish the first description of the [[Yagi–Uda antenna]].
* June 28 – A [[patent]] for an electric percussion [[Fuse (explosives)|fuse]] for explosive projectiles, invented by Herbert Rühlemann, is filed in Germany.
* July
** [[Alan Arnold Griffith|Alan A. Griffith]] publishes ''An Aerodynamic Theory of Turbine Design'', proposing an [[airfoil]] shape for [[turbine blade]]s.<ref>[[Royal Aircraft Establishment]], Farnborough, Report no. H 1111.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Alan Arnold Griffith. 1893–1963|first=A. A.|last=Rubbra|pages=117–136|journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume=10|year=1964|jstor=769315|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1964.0008}}</ref>
** [[Carl Zeiss]], [[Jena]], open a [[planetarium]] housed in a [[geodesic dome]] designed by [[Walther Bauersfeld]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.physics.princeton.edu/~trothman/domes.html |title=Photographs of the Zeiss Optical Company's first geodesic dome. |access-date=2011-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319084511/http://www.physics.princeton.edu/~trothman/domes.html |archive-date=2013-03-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* November 23 – The [[aerosol spray]] can is patented by [[Erik Rotheim]], a [[Norway|Norwegian]] chemical engineer.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bellis|first=Mary|url=http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/aerosol.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526093628/http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/aerosol.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 26, 2012|title=The History of Aerosol Spray Cans|work=About.com|accessdate=2011-06-27}}</ref>
* The [[Einstein refrigerator]] is invented by [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Leo Szilard]].
* [[Ulster]]-born engineer [[Harry Ferguson]] is granted a British patent for his 'Duplex' hitch linking [[tractor]] and [[plough]].
* German engineer [[Andreas Stihl]] patents and develops an electric [[chainsaw]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Reid|first1=Mark Collin|title=Timber!|journal=Canada's History|date=2017|volume=97|issue=5|pages=20–23}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Jean Baptiste Perrin]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Theodor Svedberg]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger]]<ref>{{cite web |title=These Nobel Prize Winners Weren't Always Noble |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/10/151005-nobel-laureates-forget-racist-sexist-science/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808155045/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/10/151005-nobel-laureates-forget-racist-sexist-science/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |website=National Geographic News |access-date=19 January 2021 |language=en |date=6 October 2015}}</ref>
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Frederick Hopkins]]
* [[Wollaston Medal]] for Geology: [[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]

==Births==
* January 11 – [[Lev Dyomin]] (died [[1998 in science|1998]]), Soviet Russian cosmonaut.
* January 29 – [[Abdus Salam]] (died [[1996 in science|1996]]), Punjabi theoretical physicist.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kibble|first1=T. W. B.|title=Muhammad Abdus Salam, K. B. E.. 29 January 1926-21 November 1996|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume=44|pages=387–401|language=en|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1998.0025|date=1 November 1998|doi-access=}}</ref>
* February – [[David Medved]] (died [[2009 in science|2009]]), American physicist.
* March 7 – [[Margaret Weston]] (died [[2021 in science|2021]]), English electrical engineer and Director of the [[Science Museum, London]].
* April 3 – [[Gus Grissom]] (died [[1967 in science|1967]]), American [[astronaut]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Virgil I. Grissom {{!}} American astronaut |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virgil-I-Grissom |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=19 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
* May 1 – [[Eva Siracká]] (died [[2023 in science|2023]]), Slovak physician
* May 8 – [[David Attenborough]], [[English people|English]] broadcaster and naturalist.
* May 17 – [[Franz Sondheimer]] (died [[1981 in science|1981]]), German-born British chemist
* June 19 – [[Erna Schneider Hoover]], American computer technologist.
* June 23 – [[Lawson Soulsby]] (died [[2017 in science|2017]]), English [[parasitologist]].
* July 27 – [[W. David Kingery]] (died [[2000 in science|2000]]), American [[materials scientist]] specializing in [[ceramic materials]].
* July 31 
** [[Bernard Nathanson]] (died [[2011 in science|2011]]), American medical doctor and activist.
** [[Hilary Putnam]] (died [[2016 in science|2016]]), American philosopher, mathematician and computer scientist.
* August 11 – [[Aaron Klug|Sir Aaron Klug]] (died [[2018 in science|2018]]), Lithuanian-born British biophysicist and chemist.
* August 19 – [[George Daniels (watchmaker)|George Daniels]] (died [[2011 in science|2011]]), English horologist.
* September 4 – [[George William Gray]] (died [[2013 in science|2013]]), Scottish [[chemist]], discoverer of stable [[liquid crystal]] materials leading to the development of [[liquid-crystal display]]s.
* September 7 – [[Donald Pinkel]] (died [[2022 in science|2022]]), American [[pediatric]] [[hematologist]] and [[oncologist]].
* September 15 – [[Jean-Pierre Serre]], French [[mathematician]].
* October 2 – [[Michio Suzuki (mathematician)|Michio Suzuki]] (died [[1998 in science|1998]]), Japanese mathematician.
* October 12 – [[Ruth L. Kirschstein]] (died [[2009 in science|2009]]), American [[pathologist]] and science administrator at the [[National Institutes of Health]].
* October 31 – [[Narinder Singh Kapany]] (died [[2020 in science|2020]]), Punjabi-born physicist.
* November 29 – [[Dilhan Eryurt]] (died [[2012 in science|2012]]), Turkish astrophysicist.
* December 10 – [[Neena Schwartz]] (died [[2018 in science|2018]]), American [[endocrinologist]].

==Deaths==
* March 5 – [[Clément Ader]] (born [[1841 in science|1841]]), French [[engineer]] and [[inventor]], [[airplane]] pioneer.
* April 11 – [[Luther Burbank]] (born [[1849 in science|1849]]), American [[plant breeder]].
* May 8 – [[Stephen Paget]] (born [[1855 in science|1855]]), English surgeon.
* July 21 – [[Washington Roebling]] (born [[1837 in science|1837]]), American [[civil engineer]].
* September 23 – [[Paul Kammerer]] (born [[1880 in science|1880]]), Austrian [[Lamarckism|Lamarckian]] [[biologist]] ([[suicide]]).
* October 7 – [[Emil Kraepelin]] (born [[1856 in science|1856]]), German [[psychiatrist]].
* October 10 – [[Clara H. Hasse]] (born [[1880 in science|1880]]), American botanist.
* October 19 – [[Victor Babeș]] (born [[1854 in science|1854]]), Romanian physician and [[bacteriologist]].
* November 26 – [[John Browning]] (born [[1855 in science|1855]]), American firearms designer.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

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[[Category:1926 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1920s in science]]