Editing 1956 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1956|science}}
{{Science year nav|1956}}

The year '''1956 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Biology==
* March – [[Denham Harman]] proposes the [[free-radical theory of aging]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Harman|first=Denham|title=Aging: a theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry|journal=[[Journal of Gerontology]]|volume=11|issue=3|year=1956|pages=298–300|pmid=13332224|doi=10.1093/geronj/11.3.298|citeseerx=10.1.1.663.3809}}</ref>
* [[Wesley K. Whitten]] reports developing eight-cell mouse [[ovum|ova]] to [[blastocyst]] stage ''[[in vitro]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Culture of Tubal Mouse Ova|first=W. K.|last=Whitten|doi=10.1038/177096a0|pmid=13288608|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=14 January 1956|volume=177|issue=4498|page=96|bibcode=1956Natur.177...96W|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* July 14 – Second part of the publication of [[Dorothy Hodgkin]]'s description of the structure of [[Vitamin B12|Vitamin B<sub>12</sub>]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hodgkin, Dorothy Crowfoot; Kamper, Jennifer; Mackay, Maureen; Pickworth, Jenny; Trueblood, Kenneth N; White, John G.|s2cid=4210164|title=Structure of vitamin B12|journal=Nature|volume=178|issue=4524|pages=64–66|year=1956|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/178064a0|doi=10.1038/178064a0|pmid=13348621|bibcode=1956Natur.178...64H|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Climatology==
* May – [[Gilbert Plass]] publishes 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|year=1956|doi=10.1111/j.2153-3490.1956.tb01206.x|bibcode=1956TellA...8..140P}}</ref>

==Computer science==
* July 13 – [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]] (Dartmouth), [[Marvin Minsky]] (MIT), [[Claude Shannon]] (Bell Labs) and [[Nathaniel Rochester (computer scientist)|Nathaniel Rochester]] (IBM) assemble the first coordinated research meeting on the topic of [[artificial intelligence]], at [[Dartmouth College]], [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], in the United States.
* September 13 – The [[hard disk drive]] is invented by an [[IBM]] team led by [[Reynold B. Johnson]].
* [[TX-0]] [[transistor]]ized computer completed at [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/TCMR-V08.pdf|title=The TX-0: Its Past and Present|journal=The Computer Museum Report|volume=8|date=Spring 1984|publisher=[[The Computer Museum, Boston]]|accessdate=2021-02-13|pages=2–11}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* February 1 – [[Joseph Kruskal]] publishes [[Kruskal's algorithm]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kruskal|first1 = Joseph B.|doi=10.1090/S0002-9939-1956-0078686-7|title=On the shortest spanning subtree of a graph and the traveling salesman problem|journal=[[Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society]]|volume=7|issue = 1|pages=48–50|year=1956|jstor=2033241|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* December – [[Martin Gardner]] begins his ''Mathematical Games'' column in ''[[Scientific American]]''.
* [[Henri Cartan]] and [[Samuel Eilenberg]] publish a text on [[homological algebra]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mac Lane|first=Saunders|author-link=Saunders Mac Lane|title=Review: ''Homological algebra'', by Henri Cartan and Samuel Eilenberg|journal=[[Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society]]|year=1956|volume=62|issue=6|pages=615–624|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1956-62-06/S0002-9904-1956-10082-7/|doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1956-10082-7|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Jean-Pierre Serre]] publishes his "GAGA" paper in [[algebraic geometry and analytic geometry]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Serre|first=Jean-Pierre|title=Géométrie algébrique et géométrie analytique|url=http://www.numdam.org/numdam-bin/item?id=AIF_1956__6__1_0|mr=0082175|year=1956|journal=[[Annales de l'Institut Fourier]]|volume=6|pages=1–42|doi=10.5802/aif.59|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* April – [[Humphry Osmond]] first proposes use of the word ''[[wikt:psychedelic|psychedelic]]'' to describe the effect of certain drugs, at a meeting of the [[New York Academy of Sciences]].
* May 1 – [[Minamata disease]] epidemic is identified in [[Japan]] by [[Hajime Hosokawa]].
* June 1 – [[Elsie Stephenson]] becomes founding Director of the [[Nursing Studies, University of Edinburgh|Nurse Teaching Unit, University of Edinburgh]], the first nurse teaching unit within a British university.
* November – The classic definition of [[obesity hypoventilation syndrome]] is published.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Burwell, C. Sidney|author2=Robin, Eugene D.|author3=Whaley, Robert D.|author4=Bicklemann, Albert G.|title=Extreme obesity associated with alveolar hypoventilation &ndash; a Pickwickian syndrome|journal=[[The American Journal of Medicine]]|volume=21|issue=5|pages=811–8|year=1956|pmid=13362309|doi=10.1016/0002-9343(56)90094-8}} Reproduced as {{cite journal|author1=Burwell, C. S.|author2=Robin, E. D.|author3=Whaley, R. D.|author4=Bicklemann, A. G.|title=Extreme obesity associated with alveolar hypoventilation; a Pickwickian syndrome|journal=Obesity Research|volume=2|issue=4|pages=390–7|year=1994|pmid=16353591|doi=10.1002/j.1550-8528.1994.tb00084.x}}</ref>
* [[Influenza A virus subtype H2N2#Asian flu|Asian flu]] [[Influenza pandemic|pandemic]] originates in [[China]].
*  Use of [[penicillamine]] in treatment of [[Wilson's disease]] first described.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Walshe|first=John M.|title=Wilson's disease; new oral therapy|journal=[[The Lancet]]|volume=270|issue=6906|pages=25–6|date=January 1956|pmid=13279157|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(56)91859-1}}</ref>
* American voice actor [[Paul Winchell]] applies to patent an implantable [[artificial heart]], the first person to do so.<ref>US Patent #3097366 of 1963. {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/winchell.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060127002824/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/winchell.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-01-27|title=Inventor of the Week Archive|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|date=September 2005|access-date=2022-11-19}}</ref>

==Physics==
* November 15 – [[Cooper pair]]s are first described by [[Leon Cooper]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Leon N.|title=Bound electron pairs in a degenerate Fermi gas|journal=[[Physical Review]]|volume=104|issue=4|pages=1189–1190|year=1956|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.104.1189|bibcode=1956PhRv..104.1189C|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* November 21 – [[DIDO (nuclear reactor)|DIDO]] [[heavy water]] [[enriched uranium]] [[nuclear reactor]] opens at the [[Atomic Energy Research Establishment]], [[Harwell, Oxfordshire]], England.<ref>{{cite news|title=New Atomic Reactor Opens|newspaper=Birmingham Daily Post|date=1956-11-22|page=24}}</ref>
* Existence of the [[antineutrino]] is experimentally confirmed by the [[Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment]] carried out by [[Clyde L. Cowan]] and [[Frederick Reines]].<ref>{{cite journal|year=1997|title=The Reines-Cowan Experiments: Detecting the Poltergeist|url=http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?25-02.pdf|journal=[[Los Alamos Science]]|volume=25|page=3}}</ref>
* Existence of the [[antineutron]] is experimentally confirmed by [[University of California, Berkeley]] [[physicist]] [[Bruce Cork]].

==Psychology==
* January 1 – [[Leon Festinger]], [[Henry W. Riecken]] and [[Stanley Schachter]]'s book ''[[When Prophecy Fails]]'' provides a classic study of [[disconfirmed expectancy]].

==Technology==
* April 14 – 2-inch [[quadruplex videotape]], the first practical and commercially successful [[analog recording]] [[videotape]] format, is released for the [[broadcast television]] industry by [[Ampex]] of [[Redwood City, California]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Charles|last=Bensinger|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/vid_guide/6/6.html|work=VideoPreservation Website|year=1981|title=All About Videotape|access-date=2012-04-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://quadvideotapegroup.com/QuadHistory-PageIndex.htm|title=Some Quad History|publisher=Quad Videotape Group|access-date=2012-04-14}}</ref>
* April 17 – [[Eugene Houdry]] is granted a [[patent]] for the automobile [[catalytic converter]].<ref>[[:File:US2742437 Houdry Auto Catalyst.pdf|U.S. 2,742,437]].</ref>
* June 8 – [[General Electric]]/[[Telechron]] introduces model 7H241 "The Snooz Alarm", first snooze [[alarm clock]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telechron.net/eod/7h241.htm|title=New kind of alarm clock|website=telechron.net|access-date=2019-10-08}}</ref>
* August 27 – [[Sellafield#Calder Hall nuclear power station|Calder Hall nuclear power station]] in [[England]] is first connected to the [[National Grid (Great Britain)|National Grid]]. This [[Magnox]] plant is the world's first [[nuclear power plant]] to deliver electricity in commercial quantities.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Calder Hall Power Station|journal=[[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]]|date=5 October 1956}}</ref> Official opening is on October 17.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sellafieldsites.com/page/sellafield-site-operations/site-history|title=Sellafield Sites, Site history|access-date=2007-12-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509131037/http://www.sellafieldsites.com/page/sellafield-site-operations/site-history|archive-date=2008-05-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* November 11 – First flight of [[Convair B-58 Hustler|Convair B-58]], the first [[supersonic]] [[Jet aircraft|jet]] [[bomber]] capable of [[Mach number|Mach]] 2 flight,<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Stewart|title=Combat Aircraft since 1945|location=Fyshwick, ACT, Australia|publisher=Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd|year=2000|isbn=978-1-875671-50-2|page=38}}</ref> designed by [[Robert H. Widmer]].
* First [[Chamberlin]] electro-mechanical [[keyboard instrument]], developed and patented by [[Wisconsin]] inventor Harry Chamberlin, is introduced.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://egrefin.free.fr/images/Chamberlin/HCInterview.pdf|first=Len|last=Epand|title=A Phantom Orchestra at Your Fingertips|journal=[[Crawdaddy!]] |pages=A27–A28|access-date=2011-12-16 |date=April 1976}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[William Bradford Shockley]], [[John Bardeen]], [[Walter Houser Brattain]]<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>
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – Sir [[Cyril Norman Hinshelwood]], [[Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[André Frédéric Cournand]], [[Werner Forssmann]], [[Dickinson W. Richards]]

==Births==
* February 28 – [[Penny Sackett]], American-born Australian astronomer and Chief Scientist.
* April 16 – [[David M. Brown]] (died [[2003 in science|2003]]), [[Americans|American]] [[astronaut]].
* April 19 – [[Anne Glover (biologist)|Anne Glover]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] biologist.
* May 3 – [[Carlo Rovelli]], Italian-born theoretical physicist. 
* May 20 – [[Marlene Zuk]], American biologist.
* July 1 – [[Gregg L. Semenza]], American cell biologist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]].
* July 25 – [[Frances Arnold]], American biochemist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].
* September 9 – [[Avi Wigderson]], Israeli-born mathematician.
* October 17 – [[Mae Jemison]], African American engineer and astronaut.
* October 19 – [[Carlo Urbani]] (died [[2003 in science|2003]]), [[Italians|Italian]] [[physician]], discoverer of [[SARS]].
* December 23 – [[Simon Wessely]], [[English people|English]] [[psychiatrist]].
* [[Zhuo-Hua Pan]], Chinese-born neuroscientist

==Deaths==
* February 3 – [[Émile Borel]] (born [[1871 in science|1871]]), [[French people|French]] [[mathematician]].
* February 28 – [[Frigyes Riesz]] (born [[1880 in science|1880]]), [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] mathematician.
* March 17 – [[Irène Joliot-Curie]] (born [[1897 in science|1897]]), French [[Radiochemistry|radiochemist]], recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].
* March 22 – [[George Sarton]] (born [[1884 in science|1884]]), Belgian American historian of science.
* May 24 – [[Martha Annie Whiteley]] (born [[1866 in science|1866]]), English chemist and mathematician.
* August 25 – [[Alfred Kinsey]] (born [[1894 in science|1894]]), [[Americans|American]] [[biologist]], professor of [[entomology]] and [[zoology]], and [[sexologist]] who founded the [[Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction|Institute for Sex Research]] at [[Indiana University]] (Bloomington).
* September 22 – [[Frederick Soddy]] (born [[1877 in science|1877]]), [[English people|English]] radiochemist.
* October 30 – [[María Teresa Ferrari]] (born [[1887 in science|1887]]), [[Argentines|Argentine]] [[physician]].
* November 10 – [[Henry Luke Bolley]] (born [[1865 in science|1865]]), American [[plant pathologist]].
* November 24 – Sir [[Lionel Whitby]] (born [[1895 in science|1895]]), English [[haematologist]], [[clinical pathologist]], [[pharmacologist]] and army officer.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1956 In Science}}
[[Category:1956 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1950s in science]]