Editing 1960 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1960|science}}
{{Science year nav|1960}}

The year '''1960 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* April 8 - [[Project Ozma]], under the direction of astronomer [[Frank Drake]] at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in [[Green Bank, West Virginia]], commences the first modern [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] (SETI) experiment.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Science: Project Ozma |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874057,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=17 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911035633/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874057,00.html |archive-date=11 September 2009}}</ref>
* April 13 – The U.S. Navy [[Transit (satellite)|Transit satellite]] 1B is successfully launched by a [[Thor-Ablestar]] rocket<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1960-003B|title=Transit 1B - NSSDC ID: 1960-003B|publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive}}</ref> leading to the first successful tests of a [[satellite navigation]] system.
* June 22 – The U.S. Navy [[SOLRAD 1]] [[Galactic Radiation and Background]] program satellite is successfully launched by the same Thor-Ablestar rocket as Transit 2A, serving as the first successful U.S. [[reconnaissance satellite]] and returning the first real-time [[X-ray]] and [[ultraviolet]] observations of the Sun.
* August 11 – The return capsule of the U.S. ''Discoverer 13'' [[Corona (satellite)|Corona]] mission is successfully recovered from the Pacific Ocean, the first time any man-made object has been recovered successfully from orbit.<ref>{{cite web|title=Discoverer 13|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1960-008A|publisher=NASA|access-date=2015-11-06}}</ref>
* September – A Soviet [[SS-2 Sibling]] missile is successfully launched in a suborbital test from [[Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center]], the first Chinese spaceflight.
* October 4 – The U.S. Army [[Courier 1B]], the world's first active communications repeater satellite, is launched into low Earth orbit.

==Biology==
* February 13
** [[Max Perutz]] publishes the structure of [[hemoglobin]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=13 February 1960|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=185|issue=4711|pages=416–22|title=Structure of Hæmoglobin: A Three-Dimensional Fourier Synthesis at 5.5-Å. Resolution, Obtained by X-Ray Analysis|author=Perutz, M. F.|doi=10.1038/185416a0|bibcode = 1960Natur.185..416P|pmid=18990801|s2cid=4208282|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
** [[John Kendrew]] publishes the structure of [[myoglobin]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=13 February 1960|journal=Nature|volume=185|issue=4711|title=Structure of Myoglobin: A Three-Dimensional Fourier Synthesis at 2 Å. Resolution|pages=<!--416--> 422–7|author=Kendrew, J. C.|doi=10.1038/185422a0|pmid=18990802|bibcode=1960Natur.185..422K |s2cid=4167651|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
* March 5 – British marine biologist Sir [[Alister Hardy]] announces his [[aquatic ape hypothesis]], theorising that swimming and diving for food exerted a strong [[evolution]]ary effect partly responsible for the divergence in the [[common descent]] of humans and other [[great ape]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hardy |first=Alister |date=1960-03-17 |title=Was man more aquatic in the past? |journal=[[New Scientist]] |volume=7 |pages=642–645 |url=http://www.riverapes.com/AAH/Hardy/Hardy1960.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326175059/http://www.riverapes.com/AAH/Hardy/Hardy1960.pdf |access-date=2013-03-05 |archive-date=2009-03-26 }}. More legible PDF at [http://s230720565.websitehome.co.uk/elainemorgan/Hardy%20Article.pdf Elaine Morgan's ''The Aquatic Ape Theory'' website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301065608/http://s230720565.websitehome.co.uk/elainemorgan/Hardy%20Article.pdf |date=2012-03-01 }}.</ref>
* April – [[Robin Hill (biochemist)|Robin Hill]] and Fay Bendall publish the 'Z scheme' of electron transport in [[photosynthesis]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hill|first1=R.|last2=Bendall|first2=F.|doi=10.1038/186136a0|title=Function of the Two Cytochrome Components in Chloroplasts: A Working Hypothesis|journal=Nature|volume=186|issue=4719|pages=136–137|year=1960|bibcode=1960Natur.186..136H|s2cid=4225589}}</ref>
* July – [[Robert Burns Woodward]] publishes a total synthesis of [[chlorophyll]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Woodward, R. B.|title=The Total Synthesis of Chlorophyll|journal=[[Journal of the American Chemical Society]]|volume=82|issue=14|pages=3800–3802|year=1960|doi=10.1021/ja01499a093|bibcode=1960JAChS..82.3800W |display-authors=etal}}</ref>
* July 14 – English [[primatologist]] [[Jane Goodall]] arrives at what will become [[Gombe Stream National Park]] in [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] to begin her groundbreaking behavioral study of [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s in the wild.
* November 4 – At the [[Kasakela Chimpanzee Community]], Jane Goodall observes a chimpanzee using a grass stalk to extract [[termite]]s from a termite hill, the first recorded case of [[tool use by animals]].
* December 10 – The first underwater park within the United States, the [[John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park]], is formally dedicated; it covers {{convert|178|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}} and protects coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves inside its  boundaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flkeys-diving.com/NationalMarineSanctuary/aboutNMS.html|title=Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary site|access-date=2010-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017165645/http://www.flkeys-diving.com/NationalMarineSanctuary/aboutNMS.html|archive-date=2010-10-17}}</ref>
* Czech biochemist [[Emil Paleček]] discovers that [[nucleic acid]]s can be studied through [[electrochemistry]], contradicting previous assumptions that [[DNA]] molecules are too large to have electrochemical properties and allowing them to be used in the diagnosis of [[genetic disorder]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://brno.idnes.cz/emil-palecek-pribeh-0o2-/brno-zpravy.aspx?c=A140303_2040735_brno-zpravy_daj|title=Na cenu čekal vědec do 83 let. V USA bych byl multimilionář, směje se|language=cs|work=[[Mladá fronta DNES]]|date=2014-03-04|access-date=2018-11-04}}</ref>
* [[Jacques Ruffié]] invents [[Blood Typing|blood typing]].
* [[Juan Oro]] finds that concentrated solutions of [[ammonium cyanide]] in water can produce the [[nucleotide]] [[adenine]].
* Four independent researchers (Sam Weiss, [[Jerard Hurwitz]], [[Audrey Stevens Niyogi|Audrey Stevens]] and J. Bonner) discover the bacterial [[RNA polymerase]] that regulates the [[polymerization]] of nucleotides under the control of [[DNA]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Jerard|last=Hurwitz|date=December 2005|title=The Discovery of RNA Polymerase|journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry|volume=280|issue=52|pages=42477–85|pmid=16230341|doi=10.1074/jbc.X500006200|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Climatron]] [[geodesic dome]] greenhouse opens at the [[Missouri Botanical Garden]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Climatron Conservatory – History and Architecture|url=http://www.mobot.org/hort/gardens/CLhistarchit.shtml|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|access-date=2011-08-17}}</ref>

==Computer science==
* August – [[Edsger W. Dijkstra]] and [[:nl:Jaap Zonneveld|Jaap A. Zonneveld]] produce the first (X1) implementation of the [[ALGOL 60]] [[programming language]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kruseman Aretz|first1=F.E.J.|chapter=The Dijkstra-Zonneveld ALGOL 60 compiler for the Electrologica X1|title=Software Engineering|series=History of Computer Science|publisher=Centrum Wiskunde; Informatica|location=Amsterdam|date=2003-06-30|chapter-url=http://oai.cwi.nl/oai/asset/4155/04155D.pdf|access-date=2013-03-19|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191208/http://oai.cwi.nl/oai/asset/4155/04155D.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.dijkstrascry.com/node/4|title=Dijkstra's Rallying Cry for Generalization: the Advent of the Recursive Procedure, late 1950s–early 1960s|last=Daylight|first=E. G.|journal=[[The Computer Journal]]|year=2011|doi=10.1093/comjnl/bxr002|volume=54|issue=11|pages=1756–1772|citeseerx=10.1.1.366.3916}}</ref>
* [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]] of [[MIT]] publishes the [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] programming language.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Recursive Functions of Symbolic Expressions and Their Computation by Machine|last=McCarthy|first=John|journal=[[Communications of the ACM]]|volume=3|issue=4|pages=184–195|doi=10.1145/367177.367199|year=1960|citeseerx=10.1.1.422.5235|s2cid=1489409}}</ref>

==Earth sciences==
* May 22 – [[1960 Valdivia earthquake|Valdivia earthquake]]: [[Chile]]'s subduction fault ruptures from [[Talcahuano]] to the [[Taitao Peninsula]] (with its [[epicenter]] near [[Lumaco]]), causing the [[Lists of earthquakes#Strongest earthquakes by magnitude|most powerful]] [[earthquake]] on record (with a [[Moment magnitude scale|magnitude]] of 9.5) and a [[tsunami]].
* [[Harry Hammond Hess]] proposes the concept of [[seafloor spreading]].<ref>{{citation|last=Hess|first=H. H.|year=1960|title=Evolution of Ocean Basins|series=Report to [[Office of Naval Research]]. Contract No. 1858(10), NR 081-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=H. H.|last=Hess|chapter-url=http://www.mantleplumes.org/WebDocuments/Hess1962.pdf|chapter=History of Ocean Basins|date=1962-11-01|title=Petrologic Studies: a volume in honor of A. F. Buddington|editor=Engel, A. E. J. |editor2=James, Harold L. |editor3=Leonard, B. F. |place=Boulder, CO|publisher=Geological Society of America|pages=599–620}}</ref>

==Exploration==
* January 23 – [[Jacques Piccard]] and [[Don Walsh]] reach bottom in the [[Mariana Trench]] in [[United States Navy]] [[bathyscaphe]] ''[[bathyscaphe Trieste|Trieste]]'' at a depth of 10,916 m.
* May 10 – The nuclear submarine [[USS Triton (SSRN-586)|USS ''Triton'']], under the command of Captain [[Edward L. Beach, Jr.]], completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the [[Earth]].

==Mathematics==
* August 23 – [[Hans Peter Luhn]] receives United States Patent No 2,950,048 for a "computer for verifying numbers", the [[Luhn algorithm]]. Assigned to the [[IBM Corporation]], the [[checksum]] formula provides a method for validating credit card numbers.
* [[Wacław Sierpiński]] proves the existence of [[Sierpinski number]]s.
* [[Stanko Bilinski]] rediscovers the [[Bilinski dodecahedron]].<ref>{{citation|first=S.|last=Bilinski|title=Über die Rhombenisoeder|journal=Glasnik Mat. Fiz. Astr.|volume=15|year=1960|pages=251–263|zbl=0099.15506}}.</ref>
* In the [[classification of finite simple groups]], [[Michio Suzuki (mathematician)|Michio Suzuki]] and [[Rimhak Ree]] introduce [[Group of Lie type#Suzuki–Ree groups|Suzuki–Ree groups]];<ref>{{cite journal|last=Suzuki|first=Michio|title=A new type of simple groups of finite order|jstor=70960|mr=0120283|year=1960|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]|issn=0027-8424|volume=46|issue=6|pages=868–870|bibcode=1960PNAS...46..868S |doi=10.1073/pnas.46.6.868|pmid=16590684|pmc=222949|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Ree|first=Rimhak|title=A family of simple groups associated with the simple Lie algebra of type (G<sub>2</sub>)|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1960-66-06/S0002-9904-1960-10523-X/home.html|doi=10.1090/S0002-9904-1960-10523-X|mr=0125155|year=1960|journal=[[Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society]]|issn=0002-9904|volume=66|issue=6|pages=508–510| access-date=9 October 2011 <!--DASHBot-->|doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[John G. Thompson]], [[Walter Feit]] and [[Marshall Hall (mathematician)|Marshall Hall]] prove that a group with a fixed-point-free automorphism of prime order is nilpotent, and that all finite simple [[CN group]]s of odd order are cyclic.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Feit|first1=Walter|last2=Thompson|first2=John G.|last3=Hall|first3=Marshall Jr.|title=Finite groups in which the centralizer of any non-identity element is nilpotent|doi=10.1007/BF01180468|mr=0114856|year=1960|journal=[[Mathematische Zeitschrift]]|volume=74|pages=1–17|s2cid=120550114}}</ref>
* [[C. A. R. Hoare]] invents the [[quicksort]] algorithm.
* [[Irving S. Reed]] and [[Gustave Solomon]] present the [[Reed–Solomon error correction]] code.

==Medicine==
* April 15 – William C. Chardack implants the first fixed-rate cardiac [[Artificial pacemaker|pacemaker]] with [[mercury battery]], designed by [[Wilson Greatbatch]].<ref>{{cite web|first=John|last=Adam|title=Making Hearts Beat|work=InnovativeLives|url=http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/ilives/lecture09.html|publisher=Lemelson Center|date=1999-02-05|access-date=2011-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421224221/http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/ilives/lecture09.html|archive-date=2008-04-21}}</ref>
* May 2 – The first [[coronary artery bypass surgery]] is performed by a team led by Dr. [[Robert Goetz]] and thoracic surgeon Dr. Michael Rohman with the assistance of Drs. Jordan Haller and Ronald Dee at the [[Albert Einstein College of Medicine]]-[[Jacobi Medical Center|Bronx Municipal Hospital Center]] in the [[United States]] using internal mammary artery as the donor vessel; the patient survives for 9 months.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dee|first=R.|title=Who Assisted Whom?|journal=Texas Heart Institute Journal|volume=30|issue=1|page=90|year=2003|pmid=12638685|pmc=152850}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haller|first1=J. D.|last2=Olearchyk|first2=A. S.|title=Cardiology's 10 Greatest Discoveries|journal=Texas Heart Institute Journal|volume=29|issue=4|pages=342–4|year=2002|pmid=12484626|pmc=140304}}</ref>
* May 9 – The U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] announces that it will approve [[birth control]] as an additional [[indication (medicine)|indication]] for [[G.D. Searle, LLC|G. D. Searle]]'s [[Enovid]], making it the world's first approved [[combined oral contraceptive pill]].
* June 6 – The [[American Heart Association]] announces a strong statistical association between heavy cigarette smoking and coronary heart disease.<ref>{{cite news|title=Smoking is Linked to Heart Disease|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 7, 1960|page=36}}</ref>
* c. October – First trials of [[measles vaccine]] carried out in Nigeria and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bakalar|first=N.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/health/05first.html|title=First mention: Measles vaccine, 1960|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2010-10-05|page=D2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Beautysays|date=2009-09-27|title=David Morley - a career of service that started in Nigeria|url=https://nigeriahealthwatch.com/david-morley-a-career-of-service-that-started-in-nigeria/|access-date=2022-04-29|website=Nigeria Health Watch}}</ref>
* October 2 – [[Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus]] (MRSA), the antibiotic-resistant form of bacteria, is first isolated by Dr. M. Patricia Jevons in samples from a hospital in southeastern England.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=1952888|pages=124–125|issue=5219|journal=[[British Medical Journal]]|title="Celbenin"-resistant Staphylococci|date=1961-01-14|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5219.124-a|last=Jevons|first=M. P.|volume=1 }}</ref>
* October 30 – The first [[kidney transplantation]] in the [[United Kingdom]] is performed by a team led by [[English people|English]] surgeon [[Michael Woodruff]] at the [[Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh]] between [[identical twin]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://renux.dmed.ed.ac.uk/EdREN/Unitbits/historyweb/transplant.html#anchor11506296 |title=History of Kidney Transplantation in Edinburgh |work=EdREN |publisher=Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh |year=2001 |access-date=2013-12-02  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206072831/http://renux.dmed.ed.ac.uk/edren/Unitbits/historyweb/transplant.html |archive-date=2009-02-06 }}</ref>

==Meteorology==
* April 1 – The United States launches the first [[weather satellite]], [[TIROS-1]].

==Metrology==
* October – 11th [[General Conference on Weights and Measures]] establishes [[International System of Units]], abbreviated SI from the French name, {{lang|fr|Le Système international d'unités}}.<ref>{{cite book|author=International Bureau of Weights and Measures|author-link=International Bureau of Weights and Measures|year=2006|url=http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf|title=Le Système international d'unités (SI) – The International System of Units (SI)|edition=8th|isbn=978-92-822-2213-3|page=110|publisher=Bureau International des Poids et Mesures }}</ref><ref>[http://www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/11/12/ 11th CGPM (1960): Resolution 12.]</ref>

==Paleontology==
* November 4 – [[OH 7]], first fragments of ''[[Homo habilis]]'', discovered by Jonathan Leakey at [[Olduvai Gorge]], [[Tanzania]].<ref>{{cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/makingofmankind00leak/page/65 65–66]|author-link=Richard Leakey|title=The Making of Mankind|first=Richard E.|last=Leakey|publisher=Elsevier-Dutton Publishing Co., Inc.|year=1981|isbn=978-0-525-15055-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/makingofmankind00leak/page/65}}</ref>

==Physics==
* March 22 – [[Arthur Leonard Schawlow]] and [[Charles Hard Townes]] receive the first [[patent]] for a [[laser]].
* May 16 – [[Theodore Maiman]] demonstrates the first working [[laser]], a [[ruby laser]], at [[Hughes Research Laboratories]].

==Psychology==
* [[Harrison G. Gough]] and Alfred B. Heilbrun, Jr. introduce the [[Adjective Check List]] to assess [[psychological trait]]s of an individual.<ref>Gough, H. G. (1960). "The Adjective Check List as a personality assessment research technique". ''[[Psychological Reports]]'' '''6''':107-122.</ref>

==Technology==
* A tungsten [[halogen lamp]] bulb is patented by [[General Electric]] engineer Fredrick Moby.<ref>U.S. Patent 3,243,634.{{cite web|first=Mary|last=Bellis|title=History of Lighting and Lamps|work=About.com|url=http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventions/a/lighting_2.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715162647/http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventions/a/lighting_2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 15, 2012|access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref>
* Prototype [[Pentax Spotmatic]] [[single-lens reflex camera]], pioneering [[through-the-lens metering]], is presented.<ref>At [[Photokina]].</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Willard Libby]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Donald A. Glaser]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Physiology or Medicine]] – [[Frank Macfarlane Burnet]], [[Peter Medawar]]
* [[Copley Medal]] ([[Royal Society]] of London) – [[Harold Jeffreys]]
* [[Vetlesen Prize]] (geology; first award) – [[Maurice Ewing]]
* [[Wollaston Medal]] ([[Geological Society of London]]) – [[Cecil Edgar Tilley]]

==Births==
* March 20
** [[Norbert Pohlmann]], [[Germans|German]] [[computer scientist]].
** [[Yuri Shargin]], [[Russians|Russian]] [[cosmonaut]].
* May 3 – [[Jaron Lanier]], [[Americans|American]] computer scientist.
* May 7 – [[Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham]], Iraqi-born British surgeon and politician.
* July 8 – [[Yann LeCun]], [[French people|French]] computer scientist.
* July 28 – [[Harald Lesch]], German physicist
* October 18 – [[Craig Mello]], American [[biologist]].
* December 24 – [[Carol Vorderman]], [[British people|British]] [[mathematician]].

==Deaths==
* January 21 – [[Wu Lien-teh]] (born [[1879 in science|1879]]), Malayan Chinese [[physician]].
* March 27 – [[Gregorio Marañón]] (born [[1887 in science|1879]]), Spanish physician, scientist, historian and philosopher.
* April 24 – [[Max von Laue]] (born [[1879 in science|1879]]), [[Germans|German]] [[physicist]], winner of the 1914 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].
* May 8 – [[J. H. C. Whitehead]] (born [[1904 in science|1904]]), British mathematician.
* June 17 – Sir [[Harold Gillies]] (born [[1882 in science|1882]]), [[New Zealand]]-born [[plastic surgeon]].
* August 10 – [[Oswald Veblen]] (born [[1880 in science|1880]]), American mathematician, geometer and topologist.
* September 22 – [[Melanie Klein]] (born 1882), Austrian-British [[Psychoanalysis|psychoanalyst]].
* December 8 – [[Ross T. McIntire]] (born [[1889 in science|1889]]), American naval surgeon.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1960 In Science}}
[[Category:1960 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1960s in science]]