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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> {{Year nav topic5|1955|science}} {{Science year nav|1955}} The year '''1955 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] included many events, some of which are listed below. ==Astronomy and space sciences== * January 8 – [[January 1955 lunar eclipse|Penumbral lunar eclipse]]. * June ** [[Fred Hoyle]] and [[Martin Schwarzschild]] describe the mechanism for the creation of [[red giant]] stars.<ref>{{cite journal|title=On the Evolution of Type II Stars|last1=Hoyle|first1=F.|last2=Schwarzschild|first2=M.|journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series|volume=2|pages=1–40|year=1955|doi=10.1086/190015|bibcode=1955ApJS....2....1H}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Hoyle & Schwarzschild's Analysis of the Evolution of Population II Stars|last=Burbidge|first=E. Margaret|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|volume=525C|page=639|year=1999|bibcode=1999ApJ...525C.639B}}</ref> ** The first evidence for existence of a [[magnetosphere of Jupiter]], a record of [[Decametre|decametric]] radio emission (DAM) with a spectrum extending up to 40 [[Hertz|MHz]], is published.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Burke|first1=B. F.|last2=Franklin|first2=K. L.|title=Observations of a variable radio source associated with the planet Jupiter|date=1955|volume=60|issue=2|pages=213–217|doi=10.1029/JZ060i002p00213|bibcode=1955JGR....60..213B|journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]]}}</ref> * June 5 – [[June 1955 lunar eclipse|Penumbral lunar eclipse]]. * June 20 – [[Solar eclipse of June 20, 1955|Total solar eclipse]] of 7 min 8 sec duration, the longest between the 11th and 22nd centuries, visible in [[Southeast Asia]]. During the entire Second Millennium, only seven such eclipses exceed seven minutes of totality. * August – The [[United States Department of Defense]] approves [[Project Vanguard]] to launch a satellite.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Popular Mechanics|title=Stand By Satellite For Take OffP|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA65|date=July 1957|publisher=Hearst Magazines|pages=65–69, 216}}</ref> * November 29 – [[November 1955 lunar eclipse|Partial lunar eclipse]]. * December 14 – [[Solar eclipse of December 14, 1955|Annular solar eclipse]]. * [[Jan Oort]] confirms that polarized light from the [[Crab Nebula]] is produced by [[synchrotron radiation]].<ref name=HMGST55>"1955". ''Houghton Mifflin Guide to Science & Technology''.</ref> ==Biochemistry== * February 26 – [[Rosalind Franklin]] publishes her observation that [[tobacco mosaic virus]] rods are all of identical length.<ref>{{cite journal|year=1955|last=Franklin|first=Rosalind E.|title=Structure of Tobacco Mosaic Virus|pmid=14356181|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=175|issue=4452|pages=379–381|doi=10.1038/175379a0|bibcode=1955Natur.175..379F|s2cid=1109700 }}</ref> * December 22 – [[Cytogeneticist]] [[Joe Hin Tjio]] working with [[Albert Levan]] at [[Lund University]] demonstrates that there are forty-six human [[chromosomes]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tjio|first1=J.-H.|last2=Levan|first2=A.|year=1956|title=The chromosome number of man|journal=[[Hereditas]]|volume=42|issue=1–2|pages=1–6|doi=10.1111/j.1601-5223.1956.tb03010.x|pmid=345813|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Peter S.|last=Harper|author-link=Peter Harper (geneticist)|title=The discovery of the human chromosome number in Lund, 1955–1956|url=http://www.genmedhist.info/Lund|journal=[[Human Genetics (journal)|Human Genetics]]|year=2006|volume=119|issue=1–2|pages=226–232|doi=10.1007/s00439-005-0121-x|pmid=16463025|s2cid=12237105 |access-date=2011-08-18|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * [[Edmond H. Fischer]] and [[Edwin G. Krebs]] discover reversible protein [[phosphorylation]].<ref name=HMGST55/> * [[Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat]] shows that a [[virus]] consists of an infective [[RNA]] core and a non-infective [[protein]] coat; and with [[Robley C. Williams]] assembles a functional [[tobacco mosaic virus]] from purified versions of these components.<ref name=HMGST55/> * [[Avian influenza]] is confirmed to be caused by [[Influenza A virus]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schafer|first=W.|year=1955|title=Vergleichende sero-immunologische Untersuchungen über die Viren der Influenza und klassischen Geflügelpest|trans-title=Comparative sero-immunological studies on the viruses of influenza and classical avian influenza|journal=Zeitschrift für Naturforschung|volume=10|issue=2 |pages=81–91|doi=10.1515/znb-1955-0205|s2cid=94565421 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lycett |first=Samantha J. |last2=Duchatel |first2=Florian |last3=Digard |first3=Paul |date=2019-06-24 |title=A brief history of bird flu |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2018.0257 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=374 |issue=1775 |pages=20180257 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2018.0257 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=6553608 |pmid=31056053}}</ref> * [[Severo Ochoa]] develops [[enzyme]]s that cause [[nucleic acid]] bases to form RNA.<ref name=HMGST55/> * [[James F. Bonner]] and [[Paul Ts'o]] isolate [[mitochondria]] from cells.<ref name=HMGST55/> ==Chemistry== * January 11 – [[Lloyd Conover]] is granted a [[patent]] for [[tetracycline]] in the United States.<ref>Applied for in 1953. {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4_FZHmzjzwC&q=lloyd%20conover%20patented%201955&pg=PA227|title=Antimicrobial Drugs: Chronicle of a Twentieth Century Medical Triumph|first=David|last=Greenwood|date=21 February 2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199534845|via=Google Books}} {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HANBQAAQBAJ&q=lloyd%20conover&pg=PT42|title=God Is Here to Stay: Science, Evolution, and Belief in God|first1=Thomas R.|last1=McFaul|first2=Al|last2=Brunsting|year=2014|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781630871802|via=Google Books}}</ref> * February 19 – [[Mendelevium]] ([[atomic number]] 101) is first [[discovery of the chemical elements|synthesized]] by [[Albert Ghiorso]], [[Glenn T. Seaborg]], Gregory R. Choppin, Bernard G. Harvey, and Stanley G. Thompson (team leader) at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi= 10.1103/PhysRev.98.1518|title=New Element Mendelevium, Atomic Number 101|year=1955|last1=Ghiorso|first1=A.|last2=Harvey|first2=B.|last3=Choppin|first3=G.|last4=Thompson|first4=S.|last5=Seaborg|first5=G.|journal=[[Physical Review]]|volume=98|issue=5|pages=1518–19|bibcode = 1955PhRv...98.1518G |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc886797/|doi-access=free}}</ref> * August 20 – [[Dorothy Hodgkin]] and colleagues publish the structure of [[Vitamin B12|vitamin B<sub>12</sub>]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Hodgkin, Dorothy Crowfoot|author2=Pickworth, Jenny|author3=Robertson, John H.|author4=Trueblood, Kenneth N.|author5=Prosen, Richard J.|author6=White, John G.|title=Structure of Vitamin B<sub>12</sub>: The Crystal Structure of the Hexacarboxylic Acid derived from B<sub>12</sub> and the Molecular Structure of the Vitamin|journal=Nature|volume=176|issue=4477|year=1955|pages=325–8|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/176325a0|doi=10.1038/176325a0|pmid=13253565|bibcode = 1955Natur.176..325H|s2cid=4220926|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * [[Diquat]]'s properties as a contact [[herbicide]] are recognized at the [[Imperial Chemical Industries]] laboratories at [[Jealott's Hill]] in England.<ref>{{cite book|title=Jealott's Hill: Fifty years of Agricultural Research 1928-1978|editor-first=F. C.|editor-last=Peacock|last=Calderbank|first=A.|display-authors=etal|chapter=Chapter 9: Bipyridylium herbicides|pages=67–86|publisher=Imperial Chemical Industries|year=1978|isbn=0901747017|url=https://archive.org/details/jealottshillfift0000peac/page/1}}</ref> * Renewable [[ion-exchange resin]] cartridges for [[water softening]] and [[water purification|purification]] are used in a device by Walter F. Lorch.<ref name=HMGST55/> ==Climatology== * August 9 – [[Gilbert Plass]] submits his seminal article "The Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change".<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change|first=Gilbert N.|last=Plass|journal=Tellus|volume=8|issue=2|pages=140–54 |doi=10.1111/j.2153-3490.1956.tb01206.x |date=May 1956|bibcode=1956Tell....8..140P}}</ref> ==Computer science== * October 2 (11:45 p.m.) – The [[ENIAC]] computer is deactivated at [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]], [[Maryland]], having been in continuous operation since [[1947 in science|1947]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Martin H.|last=Weik|year=1961|url=http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/comphist/eniac-story.html|title=The ENIAC Story|publisher=Ftp.arl.mil|access-date=2011-08-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814181522/http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/comphist/eniac-story.html|archive-date=2011-08-14}}</ref> * Former [[Luftwaffe]] [[flying ace]] [[Ulrich Steinhilper]], a German IBM [[typewriter]] salesman, coins and popularizes the term "''Textverarbeitung''" ("[[word processing]]").<ref>{{cite book|title=Overload! How Too Much Information is Hazardous to your Organization|last=Spira|first=Jonathan B.|year=2011|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1118064177|page=51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eC016EMcTmoC&q=Ulrich+Steinhilper+%22word+processing%22&pg=PA51|access-date=2013-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology|last=Reilly|first=Edwin D.|year=2013|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-1573565219|page=274|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTYPKxug49IC&q=Ulrich+Steinhilper+word+processor&pg=PA274|access-date=2013-06-08}}</ref> * [[Maurice Wilkes]] publishes a description of [[microprogramming]] in ''[[IEEE Spectrum|Electrical Engineering]]''.{{cn|date=May 2021}} * [[RAND]] publishes ''[[A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates]]''. ==Earth sciences== * [[Americans|American]] [[geophysicist]] [[Clair Patterson|Clair Cameron Patterson]] presents his result for the [[age of the Earth]] using [[lead]] [[Isotope|isotopic]] data from the [[Canyon Diablo (meteorite)|Canyon Diablo meteorite]] – 4.55 billion years (± 70 million).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Patterson|first=C.|year=1956|title=Age of meteorites and the Earth|journal=[[Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta]]|volume=10|pages=230–237|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(56)90036-9|bibcode=1956GeCoA..10..230P|issue=4}}</ref><ref name=SYbY55>{{cite book|chapter=1955|editor=Winston, Robert|editor-link=Robert Winston|title=Science Year by Year|location=London|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4093-1613-8}}</ref> ==History of science and technology== * October – The term "[[Industrial archaeology]]" is popularised.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Michael|last=Rix|author-link=Michael Rix (academic)|title=Industrial Archaeology|journal=The Amateur Historian|volume=2|issue=8|date=October 1955|pages=225–9}}</ref> ==Mathematics== * July – Statistician [[David Cox (statistician)|David Cox]] publishes the [[Cox process]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cox|first=D. R.|title=Some Statistical Methods Connected with Series of Events|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Statistical Society]]|volume=17|issue=2|pages=129–164|doi=10.1111/j.2517-6161.1955.tb00188.x|year=1955}}</ref> * In the [[classification of finite simple groups]], the [[Brauer–Fowler theorem]] is published<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brauer|first1=R.|author1-link=Richard Brauer|last2=Fowler|first2=K. A.|s2cid=48846261|title=On groups of even order|jstor=1970080|mr=0074414|year=1955|journal=Annals of Mathematics|series=2nd series|issn=0003-486X|volume=62|issue=3|pages=565–583|doi=10.2307/1970080}}</ref> and [[Claude Chevalley]] introduces [[Group of Lie type#Chevalley groups|Chevalley groups]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chevalley|first=Claude|title=Sur certains groupes simples|doi=10.2748/tmj/1178245104|mr=0073602|year=1955|journal=Tohoku Mathematical Journal|series=2nd series|issn=0040-8735|volume=7|issue=1–2|pages=14–66|doi-access=free}}</ref> * [[Gilbert–Shannon–Reeds model]] for [[probability distribution]] of [[riffle shuffle permutation]]s in [[shuffling]] [[playing card]]s reported.<ref>{{citation|first=E.|last=Gilbert|author-link=Edgar Gilbert|title=Theory of shuffling|series=Technical memorandum|publisher=[[Bell Labs]].|year=1955}}</ref> * [[Peter Hilton]] starts work with [[Beno Eckmann]] and [[Karol Borsuk]] on what becomes known as [[Eckmann-Hilton duality]] for the [[homotopy category]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Deformation Theory of Pseufogroup Structures|journal=Canadian Mathematical Bulletin|date=1967|publisher=Canadian Mathematical Society|page=764|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMqkjq1z7dMC&pg=PA764}}</ref> a key driver in [[homological algebra]]. * [[Klaus Roth]] publishes [[Roth's theorem]] on the [[Diophantine approximation]] of [[algebraic number]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Roth|first=K. F.|title=Rational approximations to algebraic numbers|doi=10.1112/S0025579300000644|year=1955|journal=[[Mathematika]]|issn=0025-5793|volume=2|pages=1–20, 168|mr=0072182}}</ref> * The [[Modularity theorem|Taniyama–Shimura conjecture]] is first stated by [[Yutaka Taniyama]] at an international symposium in Japan.<ref>{{citation|last=Taniyama|first=Yutaka|journal=Sugaku|volume=7|page=269|year=1956|title=Problem 12|language=ja}}</ref> ==Pharmacology== * The first [[benzodiazepine]], [[chlordiazepoxide]] (Librium), is synthesized by [[Leo Sternbach]] at [[Hoffmann-La Roche]], although its properties are not recognized at this time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shorter|first=Edward|title=A Historical Dictionary of Psychiatry|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|chapter=Benzodiazepines|pages=41–42|isbn=978-0-19-517668-1}}</ref> ==Physics== * February – [[Harold Hopkins (physicist)|Harold Hopkins]] and [[Narinder Singh Kapany]] publish a key paper in the development of [[optical fiber]] technology.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=H. H.|last1=Hopkins|first2=N. S.|last2=Kapany|title=Transparent fibres for the transmission of optical images|journal=[[Optica Acta]]|volume=1|issue=4|pages=164–170|doi=10.1080/713818685|bibcode = 1955AcOpt...1..164H |year=1955}}</ref> * March – [[Joseph Rotblat]] publishes his conclusions that contamination caused by [[nuclear fallout]] after the U.S. [[Castle Bravo]] [[hydrogen bomb]] test at [[Bikini Atoll]] is greater than officially stated.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Joseph|last=Rotblat|title=The Hydrogen-Uranium Bomb|journal=Atomic Scientists Journal|volume=4|page=224|date=March 1955}}</ref> * October – [[Ultra high frequency]] AN/FPS-31 [[early warning radar]] developed by [[Lincoln Laboratory]] begins operation on Jug Handle Hill at [[West Bath, Maine]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Early-Warning Radars (part 3)|url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/earlywarningradars3.html|publisher=Lincoln Laboratory|access-date=2013-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312152819/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/earlywarningradars3.html|archive-date=2013-03-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> * October 11 – [[Erwin Müller]] and Kanwar Bahadur are the first people to observe individual [[atom]]s, using Müller's [[field ion microscope]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Müller|first1=Erwin W.|last2=Bahadur|first2=Kanwar|year=1956|title=Field Ionization of gases at a metal surface and the resolution of the field ion microscope|journal=[[Physical Review]]|volume=102|issue=3 |pages=624–631|doi=10.1103/physrev.102.624|bibcode=1956PhRv..102..624M}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Mitch|last=Jacoby|url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/8348atoms.html|title=Atomic Imaging Turns 50|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|volume=83|issue=48|pages=13–16|date=2008-11-28}}</ref> * November 29 – The [[nuclear reactor core]] of [[Experimental Breeder Reactor I]] near [[Arco, Idaho]], suffers a partial [[Nuclear meltdown|meltdown]] during a coolant flow test.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Story of the Borax Nuclear Reactor and the EBR-I Meltdown|first=Ray|last=Haroldsen|isbn=978-1-56684-706-3}}</ref> * [[Emmett Leith]]'s work on [[synthetic-aperture radar]] leads to the development of [[holography]].<ref name=HMGST55/> * Existence of the [[antiproton]] is experimentally confirmed by [[University of California, Berkeley]], [[physicist]]s [[Emilio Segrè]] and [[Owen Chamberlain]]. * [[Enrico Fermi]], [[John Pasta]], Stanisław Ulam and [[Mary Tsingou]] numerically study a nonlinear spring model of heat conduction and discover solitary wave type behavior. * [[Murray Gell-Mann]] and [[Abraham Pais]] investigate neutral [[kaon]] mixing.<ref name=HMGST55/> * [[Luis Walter Alvarez]] develops the design of a [[liquid hydrogen]] [[bubble chamber]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Alvarez|first=L. W.|year=1987|title=Alvarez: Adventures of a Physicist|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|isbn=0-465-00115-7|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0465001165|pages=185–9}}</ref> * [[University of Liverpool]] [[cyclotron]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Science Places Liverpool|url=http://www.scienceplaces.org/liverpool/liverpool_list.html|year=2008|access-date=2011-03-20}}</ref> and [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] [[synchrotron]] begin operation. ==Physiology and medicine== * April 12 – The [[Jonas Salk|Salk]] [[polio vaccine]], having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the [[Food and Drug Administration (United States)|Food and Drug Administration]].<ref>[http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/tp/10scientists.htm Franklin D. Roosevelt is one of the most famous polio victims.) By the early 1950s, polio epidemics had been increasing in severity ...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407024345/http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/tp/10scientists.htm |date=2015-04-07 }} ''history1900s.about.com''</ref> * December 24 – [[Henry K. Beecher]] publishes a paper indicating the powerful effect of [[placebo]]s on patient outcomes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Beecher|first=Henry K.|title=The Powerful Placebo|journal=[[Journal of the American Medical Association]]|volume=159|year=1955|pages=1602–1606|issue=17|doi=10.1001/jama.1955.02960340022006|pmid=13271123}}</ref> * Outbreak of "Royal Free disease" or "benign myalgic encephalomyelitis", strongly resembling what will later be known as [[chronic fatigue syndrome]], among staff at the [[Royal Free Hospital]] in [[London]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Acheson|first=E. D.|title=The clinical syndrome variously called benign myalgic encephalomyelitis, Iceland disease and epidemic neurоmyasthaenia|journal=[[The American Journal of Medicine]]|volume=26|issue=4|pages=569–95|year=1959|pmid=13637100|url=http://www.meresearch.org.uk/information/keypubs/Acheson_AmJMed.pdf|doi=10.1016/0002-9343(59)90280-3|access-date=2011-07-29|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721231159/http://www.meresearch.org.uk/information/keypubs/Acheson_AmJMed.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-21|citeseerx=10.1.1.534.4761}}</ref> * G. I. M. Swyer first describes [[XY gonadal dysgenesis]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Banoth, M.; Naru, R. R.; Inamdar, M. B.; Chowhan, A. K.|title=Familial Swyer syndrome: a rare genetic entity|journal=Gynecological Endocrinology|volume=34|issue=5|pages=389–393|year=2018|pmid=29069951|doi=10.1080/09513590.2017.1393662|s2cid=4452231}}</ref> * First reported [[mitral valve replacement]], by Judson Chesterman of [[Sheffield]] (England).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.textbookofcardiology.org/wiki/Historical_timeline:_1852-1967|title=Historical timeline: 1852-1967|work=Textbook of Cardiology|accessdate=2022-10-27}}</ref> * [[Hemolytic–uremic syndrome]] is first described by Conrad Gasser. ==Technology== * January 5 – [[Strömsund Bridge]] in [[Sweden]] completed, the first significant [[cable-stayed]] bridge of the modern era.<ref>{{cite web|title=Strömsund Bridge (1955)|work=Structurae|url=http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0000070|access-date=2010-10-02}}</ref> * July 17 – The first atomic-generated electrical power is sold commercially, partially powering [[Arco, Idaho]], from the U.S. [[National Reactor Testing Station]]; on July 18, [[Schenectady, New York]], receives power from a prototype nuclear submarine reactor at [[Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory]].<ref name=HMGST55/> * August 24 – The first accurate [[atomic clock]], a [[caesium standard]] based on a certain transition of the [[caesium-133]] atom, is built by [[Louis Essen]] with J. V. L. Parry at the [[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)]].<ref name=SYbY55/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Essen|first1=L.|last2=Parry|first2=J. V. L.|date=13 August 1955|title=An Atomic Standard of Frequency and Time Interval: A Cæsium Resonator|journal=Nature|volume=176|issue=4476|pages=280–2|doi=10.1038/176280a0|bibcode = 1955Natur.176..280E |s2cid=4191481}}</ref> * December 12 – [[Christopher Cockerell]] is granted a United Kingdom patent for his design of [[hovercraft]]. * [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[electrical engineer]] [[George de Mestral]] is granted a patent for the [[Velcro]] fabric hook-and-loop fastener.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stephens|first=Thomas|title=How a Swiss invention hooked the world|publisher=swissinfo.ch|date=2007-01-04|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/search/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=st&sid=7402384|access-date=2011-12-16}}</ref> * [[Tappan (brand)|Tappan]] introduce the first domestic [[microwave oven]], in the United States.<ref name=HMGST55/> * [[Americans|American]] electrical engineer [[Eugene Polley]] invents the [[Zenith Electronics|Zenith]] Flash-Matic, the first wireless television [[remote control]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Inventor of the TV remote control dies|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-inventor-of-the-tv-remote-control-dies-20120522,0,2561385.story|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=2012-05-22|access-date=2012-05-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523062717/http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-inventor-of-the-tv-remote-control-dies-20120522,0,2561385.story|archive-date=2012-05-23|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18164200|title=TV remote control inventor Eugene Polley dies at 96|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2012-05-22|access-date=2012-05-23}}</ref> ==Zoology== * French zoologist [[Bernard Heuvelmans]] publishes ''[[On the Track of Unknown Animals]]'' (''Sur la piste des bêtes ignorées''), pioneering the [[pseudoscientific]] field of [[cryptozoology]]. ==Events== * July 9 – [[Russell–Einstein Manifesto]] issued in London by [[Bertrand Russell]] with the signatures of the late [[Albert Einstein]], [[Max Born]] and other prominent scientists drawing the attention of world political leaders to the dangers posed by [[nuclear weapon]]s. ==Publications== * [[Eugene Garfield]] proposes the concept of [[citation index]]ing for scientific literature.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Garfield |first=Eugene |title=Citation indexes for science: a new dimension in documentation through association of ideas |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=122 |issue=3159 |pages=108–111 |date=15 July 1955 |url=http://scimaps.org/static/docs/Garfield1955cit.pdf |access-date=2011-07-29 |doi=10.1126/science.122.3159.108 |bibcode=1955Sci...122..108G |pmid=14385826 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ==Awards== * [[Nobel Prize]]s ** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Willis Eugene Lamb]], [[Polykarp Kusch]] ** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Vincent du Vigneaud]] ** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell]] * [[Copley Medal]] ([[Royal Society]] of London) – [[Ronald Fisher]] * [[Wollaston Medal]] ([[Geological Society of London]]) – [[A. E. Trueman]] ==Births== [[File:Steve Jobs and Bill Gates (522695099).jpg|thumb|350px|[[Steve Jobs]] and [[Bill Gates]]]] * January 1 – [[Simon Schaffer]], English historian of science. * January 6 – [[Susan B. Horwitz]] (died [[2014 in science|2014]]), American computer scientist and academic. * January 17 – [[Katalin Karikó]], Hungarian-born biochemist, winner of the 2023 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]].<ref>{{cite news|first=James|last=Gallagher|title=Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66983060|date=2023-10-02|accessdate=2023-10-02}}</ref> * January 24 – [[Alan Sokal]], American [[mathematical physicist]] and proponent of [[scientific objectivity]]. * February 3 – [[Sue Ion]], born Susan Burrows, English [[nuclear scientist]]. * February 24 – [[Steve Jobs]] (died [[2011 in science|2011]]), American computing entrepreneur. * April 11 – [[Piers Sellers]] (died [[2016 in science|2016]]), English-born astronaut and climate scientist. * April 20 – [[Svante Pääbo]], Swedish [[Extended evolutionary synthesis|evolutionary geneticist]], winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. * April 30 – [[Francis Muguet]] (died [[2009 in science|2009]]), French [[chemist]] and advocate of [[open access]] to information. * May 30 – [[Jacqueline McGlade]], British-born marine biologist and pioneer of [[environmental informatics]]. * June 8 – [[Tim Berners-Lee]], English creator of the [[World Wide Web]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tim Berners-Lee {{!}} Biography, Education, Internet, Contributions, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Berners-Lee |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=29 March 2023 |language=en |archive-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315031626/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Berners-Lee |url-status=live}}</ref> * June 11 – [[Duncan Steel]], English/Australasian [[Space science|space scientist]]. * October 2 – [[Nancy Rothwell]], English [[physiologist]]. * October 28 – [[Bill Gates]], American software designer and entrepreneur. * November 4 – [[David Julius]], American physiologist, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. * December 22 – [[Thomas C. Südhof]], German-born [[biochemist]], winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. * [[Luis Álvarez-Gaumé]], Spanish theoretical physicist. ==Deaths== * February 2 – [[Oswald Avery]] (born [[1877 in science|1877]]), Canadian-American [[bacteriologist]]. * March 11 – Sir [[Alexander Fleming]] (born [[1881 in science|1881]]), British bacteriologist, winner of the 1945 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]. * March 15 – [[Michele Besso]] (born [[1873 in science|1873]]), Swiss engineer, confidant of Einstein. * April 10 – [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]], [[Society of Jesus|SJ]] (born 1881), French-born [[paleontologist]] and [[philosopher]]. * April 17 – [[Eduard Pernkopf]] (born [[1888 in science|1888]]), Austrian [[anatomist]]. * April 18 – [[Albert Einstein]] (born [[1879 in science|1879]]), German-born theoretical physicist, winner of the 1921 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]. * April 20 – [[Tirukkannapuram Vijayaraghavan]] (born [[1902 in science|1902]]), [[Indian people|Indian]] mathematician. * June 12 – [[Redcliffe N. Salaman]] (born [[1874 in science|1874]]), English [[botanist]]. * July 21 – [[John Brian Christopherson|J. B. Christopherson]] (born [[1868 in science|1868]]), English [[physician]]. * August 11 – [[Robert W. Wood]] (born 1868), American optical [[physicist]]. * August 12 – [[James B. Sumner]] (born [[1887 in science|1887]]), American biochemist, winner of the 1946 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]. * November 25 – Sir [[Arthur Tansley]] (born [[1871 in science|1871]]), English botanist and [[ecologist]]. * December 13 – [[Antonio Egas Moniz]] (born 1874), Portuguese [[neurologist]], winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:1955 In Science}} [[Category:1955 in science| ]] [[Category:20th century in science]] [[Category:1950s in science]]
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