Editing 1952 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1952|science}}
{{Science year nav|1952}}

The year '''1952 in science''' and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

==Biology==
* August 1 – Around 9 o'clock AM Pacific Time Zone, the [[San Benedicto rock wren]] goes [[extinct]] as [[San Benedicto Island|its island home]] is smothered in a massive [[volcanic]] eruption.
* August 14 – [[Alan Turing]]'s paper "[[The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis]]" is published, putting forward a [[Reaction–diffusion system|reaction–diffusion]] hypothesis of [[pattern formation]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Turing|first=A. M.|title=The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=237|issue=641|date=14 August 1952|pages=37–72|jstor=92463|doi=10.1098/rstb.1952.0012|bibcode=1952RSPTB.237...37T|doi-access=free}} Submitted November 1951.</ref> considered a seminal piece of work in [[morphogenesis]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Control Mechanism For Biological Pattern Formation Decoded|journal=ScienceDaily|date=30 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swintons.net/deodands/archives/000087.html |title=Turing's Last, Lost Work |publisher=Swintons |access-date=28 November 2011  |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030823032620/http://www.swintons.net/deodands/archives/000087.html |archive-date=23 August 2003 }} ()</ref>
* August 28 – [[Alan Lloyd Hodgkin|Alan Hodgkin]] and [[Andrew Huxley]] publish the [[Hodgkin–Huxley model]] of [[action potential]]s in [[neuron]]s of the [[squid giant axon]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hodgkin|first1=A. L.|last2=Huxley|first2=A. F.|year=1952|title=A Quantitative Description of Membrane Current and its Application to Conduction and Excitation in Nerve|journal=[[The Journal of Physiology]]|volume=117|pages=500–544|pmid=12991237|pmc=1392413|issue=4|doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1952.sp004764}}</ref>
* September 20 – Publication of the paper on the [[Hershey–Chase experiment]] showing conclusively that [[DNA]], not [[protein]], is the genetic material of [[bacteriophage]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hershey|first1=A. D.|first2=Martha|last2=Chase|title=Independent Functions of Viral Protein and Nucleic Acid in Growth of Bacteriophage |journal=[[The Journal of General Physiology]]|volume=36|issue=1|pages=39–56|year=1952|doi=10.1085/jgp.36.1.39|pmid=12981234|pmc=2147348}}</ref>
* October – Danish virologist [[Preben von Magnus]] publishes his observation of the [[von Magnus phenomenon]] producing [[defective interfering particle]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gard|first1=S.|last2=von Magnus|first2=P.|last3=Svedmyr|first3=A.|last4=Birch-Andersen|first4=A.|title=Studies on the sedimentation of influenza virus|journal=[[Archiv für die gesamte Virusforschung]]|year=1952|volume=4|issue=5|pages=591–611|doi=10.1007/BF01242026|pmid=14953289|s2cid=21838623}}</ref>
* Biochemists Jack Gross and [[Rosalind Pitt-Rivers]] discover the [[thyroid hormone]] [[triiodothyronine]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gross|first1=J.|last2=Pitt-Rivers|first2=R.|year=1952|title=The Identification of 3:5:3'-L-Triiodothyronine in Human Plasma|journal=[[The Lancet]]|volume=259|issue=6705|pages=439–441|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(52)91952-1|pmid=14898765}}</ref>
* The [[Braeburn]] apple [[cultivar]] is discovered as a [[chance seedling]] in New Zealand.
* Last confirmed sighting of the [[Caribbean monk seal]], at [[Serranilla Bank]], between [[Jamaica]] and [[Nicaragua]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Rice|first=D|title=Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis). In Seals. Proceedings of working meeting of seal specialists on threatened and depleted seals of the world, held under the auspices of the Survival Service Commission of the IUCN, 18–19 August|year=1973|publisher=Univ. Guelph, IUCN Publ, Suppl. paper|location=Ontario, Canada. Morges, Switzerland}}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] scientists L. V. Radushkevich and V. M. Lukyanovich publish images of [[carbon nanotube]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Радушкевич|first=Л. В.|year=1952|script-title=ru:О Структуре Углерода, Образующегося При Термическом Разложении Окиси Углерода На Железном Контакте|journal=Журнал Физической Химии|volume=26|pages=88–95|language=ru}}</ref>

==Computer science==
* The first [[autocode]] and its compiler are developed by [[Alick Glennie]] for the [[Manchester Mark 1]] computer, considered as the first working high-level [[compiler|compiled]] [[programming language]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Knuth|first1=Donald E.|last2=Pardo|first2=Luis Trabb|title=Early development of programming languages|journal=Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology|volume=7|pages=419–493}}</ref>

==History of science==
* Discovery by [[Derek J. de Solla Price]] of a lost medieval scientific work entitled ''Equatorie of the Planetis'', initially attributed to [[Geoffrey Chaucer]].

==Mathematics==
* [[John Forbes Nash, Jr.]] produces groundbreaking work in the area of real [[algebraic geometry]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=J. F.|last=Nash|title=Real algebraic manifolds|journal=[[Annals of Mathematics]]|year=1952|pages=405–21|volume=56|issue=3|mr=0050928|doi=10.2307/1969649|jstor=1969649}}.</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Proceedings|author=International Congress of Mathematicians|location=Providence|publisher=American Mathematical Society|year=1952|volume=2|pages=516–17}}</ref>
* The [[Bradley–Terry model]] in [[probability theory]] is presented.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.2307/2334029| jstor = 2334029| title = Rank Analysis of Incomplete Block Designs: I. The Method of Paired Comparisons| journal = Biometrika| volume = 39| issue = 3/4| pages = 324| year = 1952| last1 = Bradley | first1 = Ralph Allan | last2 = Terry | first2 = Milton E. }}</ref>

==Medicine==
* February 6 – A [[mechanical heart]] is used for the first time in a human patient, in the United States.<ref name="GMNext">{{cite web|url=https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/1952,_The_First_Mechanical_Heart_Pump |title=The First Mechanical Heart Pump |publisher=GeneralMotors.com |access-date=2009-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711102803/http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/1952%2C_The_First_Mechanical_Heart_Pump |archive-date=July 11, 2011 }}</ref>
* March 1 – The [[British Psychological Society]] is founded. 
* September 2 – The first successful operation to correct a [[cardiac shunt]] ("hole in the heart") is performed by Drs F. John Lewis and [[C. Walton Lillehei]] on a 5-year-old girl in the United States utilising the induced [[hypothermia]] technique developed by [[Wilfred Gordon Bigelow|Wilfred Gordon "Bill" Bigelow]].
* November – [[Royal College of General Practitioners]] established in the United Kingdom.
* November 20 – The first successful sex reassignment surgery is performed in [[Copenhagen]], making George Jorgensen Jr. become [[Christine Jorgensen]].
* December 14 – The first successful surgical separation of [[conjoined twins]] is conducted in Mount Sinai Hospital, [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]].
* December – [[Robert Gwyn Macfarlane]] and colleagues publish the first identification of [[Haemophilia B]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Biggs, R. |author2=Douglas, A. S. |author3=MacFarlane, R. G. |author4=Dacie, J. V. |author5=Pitney, W. R. |author6=Merskey, C. |author7=O'Brien, J. R. |title=Christmas disease: a condition previously mistaken for haemophilia|journal=[[British Medical Journal]]|volume=2|issue=4799|pages=1378–82|year=1952|pmid=12997790|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4799.1378|pmc=2022306}}</ref>
* American obstetrical [[anesthesiologist]] Dr. [[Virginia Apgar]] devises the [[Apgar score]] as a simple replicable method of quickly and summarily assessing the health of babies immediately after [[childbirth]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Apgar|first=Virginia|url=http://apgar.net/virginia/Apgar_Paper.html|title=A proposal for a new method of evaluation of the newborn infant|journal= Current Researches in Anesthesia & Analgesia|year=1953|volume=32|issue=4|pages=260–267|pmid=13083014 |access-date=2013-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130123020/http://apgar.net/virginia/Apgar_Paper.html|archive-date=2012-11-30|url-status=dead|doi=10.1213/00000539-195301000-00041}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Finster|first1=M.|last2=Wood|first2=M.|s2cid=19697516|title=The Apgar score has survived the test of time|journal=Anesthesiology|date=May 2005|volume=102|issue=4|pages=855–857|pmid=15791116|doi=10.1097/00000542-200504000-00022|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* American orthopedic surgeon Armin Klein publishes [[Klein's line]] as a diagnostic tool.
* [[Jean Delay]], head of psychiatry at Sainte-Anne Hospital, Paris, with Jean-François Buisson, reports the [[antidepressant]] effect of [[isoniazid]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Healy|first=David|title=The Psychopharmacologists: Interviews|year=1996|publisher=Chapman and Hall|location=London|isbn=978-1-86036-008-4|page=8}}</ref>

==Physics==
* November 1 – [[Nuclear testing]]: [[Operation Ivy]] – The United States successfully detonates the first [[hydrogen bomb|hydrogen device]], codenamed "[[Ivy Mike]]" ["m" for megaton], at [[Eniwetok]] island in the [[Bikini Atoll]] located in the Pacific Ocean.<ref name="Factmonster">{{cite web|url=http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0824719.html|title=Hydrogen Bomb|publisher=The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia|access-date=2009-12-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115033200/http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0824719.html| archive-date=15 January 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> The elements [[einsteinium]] and [[fermium]] are discovered in the fallout.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Albert|last=Ghiorso|author-link=Albert Ghiorso|year=2003|title=Einsteinium and Fermium|journal=[[Chemical & Engineering News]]|url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/80th/einsteiniumfermium.html|volume=81|issue=36|pages=174–175|access-date=2012-02-08|doi=10.1021/cen-v081n036.p174}}</ref>
* [[Geoffrey Dummer]] proposes the [[integrated circuit]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hutchinson Factfinder|publisher=Helicon|year=1999|isbn=978-1-85986-000-7}}</ref>

==Technology==
* September 30 – The [[Cinerama]] [[widescreen]] film system, developed by [[Fred Waller]], debuts with the movie ''[[This Is Cinerama]]'' at the [[Broadway Theatre (53rd Street)|Broadway Theatre]] in New York City.
* October 7 – The [[barcode]] is [[patent]]ed in the United States by [[Norman Joseph Woodland|Norman J. Woodland]] and [[Bernard Silver]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Woodland |first1=Norman J. |last2=Bernard |first2=Silver |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US2612994 |title=Classifying Apparatus And Method |id=U.S. Patent 2,612,994 }}</ref> though it does not make its first appearance in an American shop until [[1974 in science|1974]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19849141|title=Barcode birthday: 60 years since patent|first=Zoe|last=Kleinman|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2012-10-07|access-date=2013-06-17}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Felix Bloch]], [[Edward Mills Purcell]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Archer John Porter Martin]], [[Richard Laurence Millington Synge]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Selman Abraham Waksman]]

==Births==
* February 2 – [[Ralph Merkle]], [[Americans|American]] computer scientist, co-inventor of [[public-key cryptography]].
* February 15 – [[Frances Ashcroft]], [[English people|English]] [[geneticist]].
* February 19 – [[Marcia McNutt]], American [[geophysicist]], science editor, and president of the [[National Academy of Sciences]].
* February 28 – [[Simon P. Norton]] (died [[2019 in science|2019]]), English [[mathematician]], co-discoverer of '[[monstrous moonshine]]'.
* March 24 – [[Reinhard Genzel]], [[Germans|German]] [[astrophysicist]], [[Nobel Prize in Physics]], co-discovererer of [[black hole]]s.
* March 26 – [[Gary Ruvkun]], American [[molecular biologist]], [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]].
* July 15 – [[Ann Dowling]], English mechanical engineer.
* August 14 – [[Peter Fonagy]], Hungarian-born British psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist.
* August 25 – [[Charles M. Rice]], American [[virologist]], [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]], co-discovererer of the [[hepatitis C virus]].
* [[Venki Ramakrishnan]], Indian-born American-British structural biologist.

==Deaths==
* March 5 – [[Charles Scott Sherrington|Sir Charles Sherrington]] (born [[1857 in science|1857]]), English [[neurophysiologist]] and [[bacteriologist]], [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] 1932.
* April 2 – [[Bernard Lyot]] (born [[1897 in science|1897]]), French astronomer.
* April 8 – [[Tadeusz Estreicher]] (born [[1871 in science|1871]]), Polish chemist.
* June 17 – [[Jack Parsons (rocket engineer)|Jack Parsons]] (born [[1914 in science|1914]]), American rocket engineer and occultist.
* September 5 – [[Hermann Stieve]] (born [[1886 in science|1886]]), [[Germans|German]] [[anatomist]] and [[histologist]].
* November 2 – [[Chaim Weizmann]] (born [[1874 in science|1874]]), Belarusian-born [[chemist]], first [[President of Israel]].
* November 24 – [[André Rochon-Duvigneaud]] (born [[1863 in science|1863]]), French [[ophthalmologist]].
* December 4 – [[Karen Horney]] (born [[1885 in science|1885]]), German American [[psychoanalyst]].
* December 19 – [[Charles Close|Colonel Sir Charles Arden-Close]] (born [[1865 in science|1865]]), British [[cartographer]].

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1952 In Science}}
[[Category:1952 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1950s in science]]