Editing 1937 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1937|science}}
{{Science year nav|1937}}

The year '''1937 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* June 8 – First total [[solar eclipse]] to exceed 7 minutes of totality in over 800 years; visible in the Pacific and Peru.

==Biology==
* September 27 – Last definite record of a [[Bali tiger]] shot.<ref>{{cite web|title=Death of a Bali Tiger|publisher=Save The Tiger Fund|url=http://www.savethetigerfund.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/Community/TigerSubspecies/Extinctsubspecies/Balitiger/default.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511161329/http://www.savethetigerfund.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/Community/TigerSubspecies/Extinctsubspecies/Balitiger/default.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-05-11|accessdate=2020-03-10}}</ref>
* Meredith Crawford first publishes results of the [[cooperative pulling paradigm]], with [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Crawford|first=Meredith P.|title=The Coöperative Solving of Problems by Young Chimpanzees|year=1937|publisher=Johns Hopkins Press|location=Baltimore, MD}}</ref>
* [[Jay Laurence Lush]] publishes the influential textbook ''Animal Breeding Plans'' in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1000&page=279|page=279|first=Arthur B.|last=Chapman|title=Jay Laurence Lush|journal=Biographical Memoirs|publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]]|location=United States|volume=57|year=1987|accessdate=2012-01-04}}</ref>
* The [[citric acid cycle]] is finally identified by [[Hans Adolf Krebs]].

==Chemistry==
* [[Carlo Perrier]] and [[Emilio Segrè]] at the [[University of Palermo]] confirm [[Discovery of the chemical elements|discovery of the chemical element]] which will become known as [[Technetium]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Heiserman|first=D. L.|year=1992|title=Exploring Chemical Elements and their Compounds|location=New York|publisher=TAB Books|isbn=978-0-8306-3018-9|chapter=Element 43: Technetium|page=[https://archive.org/details/exploringchemica01heis/page/164 164]|url=https://archive.org/details/exploringchemica01heis|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Nature's Building Blocks: an A-Z Guide to the Elements|last=Emsley|first=John|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-19-850340-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/naturesbuildingb0000emsl/page/424 424]|url=https://archive.org/details/naturesbuildingb0000emsl|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1038/159024a0|pmid=20279068|title=Technetium: the Element of Atomic Number 43|year=1947|last1=Perrier|first1=C.|last2=Segrè|first2=E.|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=159|issue=4027|page=24|bibcode = 1947Natur.159...24P |s2cid=4136886 }}</ref>
* The [[opioid]] [[Methadone]] is synthesized in Germany by scientists working at [[Hoechst AG]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=M.|last=Bockmuhl|title=Über eine neue Klasse von analgetisch wirkenden Verbindungen|journal=Ann. Chem.|page=561|volume=52|year=1948}}</ref>
* [[Otto Bayer]] and his coworkers at IG Farben in [[Leverkusen]], Germany, first make [[polyurethane]]s.

==Computer science==
* January –  [[Alan Turing]]'s [[1936 in science|1936]] paper "On Computable Numbers" first appears in print.<ref>{{cite journal|first=A. M.|last=Turing|title=On computable numbers, with an application to the ''Entscheidungsproblem''|journal=[[Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society]] |series=Series 2|volume=42|pages=230–265|year=1937|doi=10.1112/plms/s2-42.1.230|s2cid=73712 |url=http://www.abelard.org/turpap2/tp2-ie.asp|accessdate=2017-12-24|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Alonzo Church]]'s review of it in ''[[Journal of Symbolic Logic]]'' introduces the term [[Turing machine]].
* [[Claude Shannon]]'s Master's [[thesis]] at [[MIT]] demonstrates that electronic application of [[Boolean algebra]] could construct and resolve any logical numerical relationship.<ref>{{cite book|last=Poundstone|first=William|title=Fortune's Formula: the Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street|location=New York|publisher=Hill & Wang|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8090-4637-9|url=https://archive.org/details/fortunesformulau00poun}}</ref>
* [[Konrad Zuse]] submits [[patent]]s in [[Germany]] based on his [[Z1 (computer)|Z1 computer]] design anticipating [[von Neumann architecture]].

==Exploration==
* [[British Graham Land Expedition]] (1934–1937) concludes its work, having determined that [[Graham Land]] is an integral part of the [[Antarctic Peninsula]] and not an independent [[archipelago]].<ref>{{cite web|title=British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37|url=http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources/expeditions/bgl/#s6|publisher=[[Scott Polar Research Institute]]|location=Cambridge|date=2011-03-31|accessdate=2013-08-13}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Bruno de Finetti]] publishes "La Prévision: ses lois logiques, ses sources subjectives" in ''[[Annales Henri Poincaré|Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincaré]]'', his most influential treatment of [[de Finetti's theorem|his theorem]] on exchangeable sequences of [[random variable]]s.<ref>{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Crilly|title=50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know|location=London|publisher=Quercus|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84724-008-8|page=128}}</ref>
* [[Hans Freudenthal]] proves the [[Freudenthal suspension theorem]] in [[homotopy]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/1969855|first=George W.|last=Whitehead|authorlink=George W. Whitehead|title=On the Freudenthal Theorems|journal=[[Annals of Mathematics]]|volume=57|issue=2|year=1953|pages=209–228|jstor=1969855|mr=0055683}}</ref>
* [[Goldberg polyhedron]] first described.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A class of multi-symmetric polyhedra|first=Michael|last=Goldberg|journal=[[Tohoku Mathematical Journal]]|year=1937|volume=43 |pages=104–108 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/tmj1911/43/0/43_0_104/_article}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* November 2 – English chemist [[Montague Phillips (chemist)|Montague Phillips]] at [[May & Baker]] synthesises [[sulphapyridine]] (M&B 693), an early [[antibiotic]] which immediately enters animal trials with [[Middlesex Hospital]] pathologist [[Lionel Whitby]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lesch |first=John |title=The First Miracle Drugs |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-518775-5 |edition=Illustrated |chapter=Chapter 7}}</ref>
* First [[typhus vaccine]] by [[Rudolf Weigl]], [[Ludwik Fleck]] and [[Hans Zinsser]]; [[influenza vaccine]] by Anatol Smorodintsev.<ref>{{cite book|author=Plotkin, S. L.; S. A.|chapter=A short history of vaccination|title=Vaccines|editor=Plotkin, Stanley A.; Orenstein, Walter A.; Offit, Paul A.|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|year=2008|page=8}}</ref>
* [[Both respirator]] designed in Australia.
* Italian psychiatrist [[Amarro Fiamberti]] is the first to document a transorbital approach to the brain, which becomes the basis for the controversial medical procedure of [[transorbital lobotomy]].
* Publication in the [[United Kingdom]] of Dr [[A. J. Cronin]]'s novel ''[[The Citadel (novel)|The Citadel]]'', promoting the cause of socialised medicine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.60yearsofnhsscotland.co.uk/history/birth-of-nhs-scotland/an-expectant-public.html|title=An expectant public|work=60 years of NHS Scotland|year=2008|accessdate=2011-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928015840/http://www.60yearsofnhsscotland.co.uk/history/birth-of-nhs-scotland/an-expectant-public.html|archive-date=2008-09-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Physics==
* January – [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Nathan Rosen]] publish a paper denying that [[gravitational wave]]s can exist.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Einstein|first1=Albert|last2=Rosen|first2=Nathan|date=January 1937|title=On gravitational waves|journal=[[Journal of the Franklin Institute]]|location=United States|volume=223|issue=1|pages=43–54|doi=10.1016/s0016-0032(37)90583-0|issn=0016-0032}}</ref>
* [[Eugene Wigner]] introduces the term ''[[isospin]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|first=E.|last=Wigner|year=1937|title=On the Consequences of the Symmetry of the Nuclear Hamiltonian on the Spectroscopy of Nuclei|journal=[[Physical Review]]|volume=51|pages=106–119|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.51.106|bibcode=1937PhRv...51..106W|issue=2}}</ref>

==Technology==
* February – [[Hans von Ohain]] begins ground-testing a [[turbojet]] engine.
* April 12 – [[Frank Whittle]] ground-tests the first [[jet engine]] designed to power an aircraft, at [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby, England]].
* May 28 – [[Rocker Shovel Loader]] patent applied for in the United States.
* June 5 – [[Alan Blumlein]] is granted a [[patent]] for an [[ultra-linear]] amplifier.<ref>{{cite patent|GB|496883|title=Improvements in or relating to thermionic valve amplifying circuits}}</ref>
* December 13 – Tomlinson Moseley files the first patent for an [[electric toothbrush]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Electric toothbrush|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US2196667A/en|website=Google Patents|access-date=2024-08-26|date=1937-12-13}}</ref>
* [[Alec Reeves]] invents [[pulse-code modulation]].

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Clinton Joseph Davisson]], [[George Paget Thomson]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Walter Haworth]], [[Paul Karrer]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Albert Szent-Györgyi|Albert von Szent-Györgyi Nagyrapolt]]
* [[Copley Medal]] – [[Henry Hallett Dale|Henry Dale]]
* [[Wollaston Medal|Wollaston Medal for geology]] – [[Waldemar Lindgren]]

==Births==
* January 14 – [[Leo Kadanoff]], American physicist (died [[2015 in science|2015]])
* January 26 – [[Igor Aleksander]], Croatian computer scientist.
* February 18 – [[Chen Chuangtian]] (died [[2018 in science|2018]]), [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[materials scientist]].
* March 16 – [[Amos Tversky]] (died [[1996 in science|1996]]), [[Jewish American]] [[Cognitive psychology|cognitive]] and [[Mathematical psychology|mathematical psychologist]], recipient of the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]].
* April 17 – [[Don Buchla]] (died [[2016 in science|2016]]), [[Americans|American]] electronic engineer, pioneer of sound [[synthesizer]]s.
* May 9 – [[Alison Jolly]] (died [[2014 in science|2014]]), American [[primatologist]].
* May 13 – [[Trevor Baylis]] (died [[2018 in science|2018]]), [[English people|English]] inventor.
* June 8 – [[Bruce McCandless II]] (died [[2017 in science|2017]]), American [[astronaut]].
* June 9  – [[Harald Rosenthal]], German biologist
* June 11 – [[David Mumford]], American [[mathematician]].
* June 21 – [[Averil Mansfield]], English [[vascular surgeon]].
* June 23 – [[Nicholas Shackleton]] (died [[2006 in science|2006]]), English Quaternary geologist and paleoclimatologist, recipient of the [[Vetlesen Prize]].
* June 26 – [[Robert Coleman Richardson]] (died [[2013 in science|2013]]), American [[Experimental physics|experimental physicist]], recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].
* July 1 – [[Lydia Makhubu]], Swazi chemist.
* July 19 – [[Bibb Latané]], American [[social psychologist]].
* July 26 – [[Ernest Vinberg]] (died [[2020 in science|2020]]), Russian mathematician.
* August 2 – [[Coenraad Bron]], Dutch computer scientist (d. [[2006]])
* September 8 – [[Edna Adan Ismail]], [[Somalis|Somali]] pioneer of [[pediatrics]].
* December 26 – [[John Horton Conway]], English-born mathematician (d. [[2020 in science|2020]])

==Deaths==
* January 28 – [[Arthur Pollen]] (born [[1866 in science|1866]]), [[English people|English]] [[inventor]].
* January 29 – [[Aleen Cust]] (born [[1868 in science|1868]]), [[Irish people|Irish]] [[veterinary surgeon]].
* February 5 – [[Lou Andreas-Salomé]] (born [[1861 in science|1861]]), [[Germans|German]] [[psychoanalyst]].
* May 28 – [[Alfred Adler]] (born [[1870 in science|1870]]), [[Austria]]n [[psychotherapist]].
* June 11 – [[R. J. Mitchell]] (born [[1895 in science|1895]]), English [[aeronautical engineer]].
* July 20 – [[Guglielmo Marconi]] (born [[1874 in science|1874]]), [[Italians|Italian]] inventor.
* July 30 – [[Victor Despeignes]] (born 1866), [[French people|French]] pioneer of [[radiation oncology]].
* October 16 – [[William Sealy Gosset]] (born [[1876 in science|1876]]), English [[statistician]].
* October 19 – [[Ernest Rutherford]] (born [[1871 in science|1871]]), New Zealand-born British physicist and laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
* November 23 – [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]] (born [[1858 in science|1858]]), [[Bengalis|Bengali]] [[physicist]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1937 In Science}}
[[Category:1937 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1930s in science]]