Editing 1961 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1961|science}}
{{Science year nav|1961}}

The year '''1961 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* January 31 – [[Ham (chimpanzee)|Ham]], a 37-pound male [[chimpanzee]], is rocketed into space in a test of the [[Project Mercury]] capsule designed to carry [[United States|U.S.]] [[astronaut]]s into space.
* April 12 – [[Yuri Gagarin]] is the first human in space, making a single [[Low Earth orbit]] in [[Vostok 1]] before parachuting to the ground.
* April 15 – R. N. Schwartz and [[Charles Hard Townes]] publish "Interstellar and Interplanetary Communication by Optical Masers" in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', providing a basis for [[Optical SETI]].
* May 19 – [[Venera]] program: [[Venera 1]] becomes the first manmade object to fly-by another planet by passing [[Venus]] (however the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and does not send back any data).
* May 25 – [[Apollo program]]: [[John F. Kennedy|President Kennedy]] announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the [[Moon]]" before the end of the decade.
* The [[Drake equation]] is written by [[Frank Drake]]. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.seti.org/drake-equation-index | title=Drake Equation | publisher=SETI Institute | date=July 2021 | accessdate=20 December 2021 | author=Shostak, Seth}}</ref>

==Biochemistry==
* [[Cephalosporin C]] is first characterized, by [[Guy Newton]] and [[Edward Abraham]] of the [[Sir William Dunn School of Pathology]] in the [[University of Oxford]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Abraham|first1=E. P.|last2=Newton|first2=G. G. F.|title=Structure of cephalosporin C|journal=[[Biochemical Journal]]|date=May 1961|volume=79|issue=2|pages=377–393|pmid=13681080|pmc=1205850|doi=10.1042/bj0790377}}</ref>

==Biology==
* February 24 – [[Brattleboro rat]] strain first born.
* May 15 – [[J. Heinrich Matthaei]] performs the Poly-U-Experiment in the United States, opening the way to solution of the [[genetic code]], a key event in modern [[genetics]].<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Hans-Jörg Rheinberger|first=Hans-Jörg|last=Rheinberger|title=Experimentalsysteme &ndash; Eine Geschichte der Proteinsynthese im Reagenzglas|location=Wallstein|isbn=978-3-89244-454-1|year=2001}}</ref>
* [[Hayflick limit]] proposed by [[Leonard Hayflick]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hayflick, L.|author2=Moorhead, P. S.|title=The serial cultivation of human diploid cell strains|journal=[[Experimental Cell Research]]|volume=25|pages=585–621|year=1961|pmid=13905658|doi=10.1016/0014-4827(61)90192-6|issue=3}}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* Leonard Ornstein first describes [[Gel electrophoresis|disc electrophoresis]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Disc Electrophoresis|url=http://www.pipeline.com/~lenornst/DiscElectrophoresis.html|accessdate=2011-10-16|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926213111/http://www.pipeline.com/~lenornst/DiscElectrophoresis.html|archivedate=2011-09-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Ornstein|first=Leonard|title=Disc Electrophoresis|journal=[[Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences]]|volume=121|issue=2|pages=321–349|year=1964|doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1964.tb14207.x|pmid=14240533|bibcode=1964NYASA.121..321O|citeseerx=10.1.1.140.7598|s2cid=28591995 }}</ref>

==Computer science==
* July – [[Rolf Landauer]] first formulates [[Landauer's principle]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=R.|last=Landauer|url=http://worrydream.com/refs/Landauer%20-%20Irreversibility%20and%20Heat%20Generation%20in%20the%20Computing%20Process.pdf|title=Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process|journal=IBM Journal of Research and Development|volume=5|issue=3|pages=183–191|year=1961|accessdate=2015-10-15|doi=10.1147/rd.53.0183}}</ref>

==Geophysics==
* April – [[Project Mohole]] begins.
* [[Francis Birch (geophysicist)|Francis Birch]] establishes [[Birch's law]] on [[compressional wave]] velocities.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Birch|first=Francis|year=1961|title=The velocity of compressional waves in rocks to 10 kilobars. Part 2|url=http://www.agu.org/journals/jz/v066/i007/JZ066i007p02199/JZ066i007p02199.pdf|journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research]]|volume=66|issue=7|pages=2199–2224|doi=10.1029/JZ066i007p02199|bibcode=1961JGR....66.2199B}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Birch|first=Francis|year=1961|title=Composition of the Earth's mantle|journal=[[Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society]]|volume=4|pages=295–311|doi=10.1111/j.1365-246X.1961.tb06821.x|bibcode=1961GeoJ....4..295B|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Stephen Smale]] proves the [[Poincaré conjecture]] in dimensions greater than 4.<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=93}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* March 9 – The [[United Kingdom]] [[Secretary of State for Health and Social Care|Minister of Health]], [[Enoch Powell]], in his "water towers" speech to a Conservative Party conference, proposes closing down of large, traditional [[psychiatric hospital]]s in favour of more community-based care.<ref>{{cite web|title=1960s|work=NHS Timeline|url=http://nhstimeline.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/1960s.html|publisher=Nuffield Trust|accessdate=2018-08-14}}</ref>
* [[Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus|Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA)]] is first discovered, in the United Kingdom.
* New Zealand cardiologist [[J. C. P. Williams]] identifies [[Williams syndrome]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lenhoff|first1=Howard M.|last2=Teele|first2=Rita L.|last3=Clarkson|first3=Patricia M.|last4=Berdon|first4=Walter E.|title=John C. P. Williams of Williams-Beuren syndrome|journal=Pediatric Radiology|volume=41|issue=2|year=2010|pages=267–269|issn=0301-0449|doi=10.1007/s00247-010-1909-y|pmid=21107555|s2cid=206933052 }}</ref>

==Pharmacology==
* The [[non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug]] [[Ibuprofen]], derived from [[propanoic acid]] by the [[research]] arm of [[Boots UK]] (Andrew R. M. Dunlop with [[Stewart Adams (chemist)|Stewart Adams]], John Nicholson, Vonleigh Simmons, Jeff Wilson and Colin Burrows), is [[patent]]ed.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/j.1552-4604.1992.tb03842.x|last=Adams|first=S. S.|title=The propionic acids: A personal perspective|journal=[[The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology]]|volume=32|issue=4|pages=317–323|year=1992|pmid=1569234|s2cid=22857259 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The story of Ibuprofen|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2006/03/17/one_less_headache_stewart_adams_feature.shtml|publisher=[[BBC]]|location=Nottingham|date=2009-07-22|accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>
* [[Thalidomide]] is withdrawn from sale.

==Physics==
* February 14 – [[Discovery of the chemical elements]]: Element 103, [[Lawrencium]], is first synthesized at [[Berkeley, California]].
* October 30 – The largest nuclear weapon by yield, ''[[Tsar Bomba]]'', is detonated in Russia, having a 50-megaton yield.
* [[Bark scale]] by German acoustics scientist [[Eberhard Zwicker]].
* [[Spain]] joins [[CERN]]; [[Yugoslavia]] leaves.

==Psychology==
* July – First [[Milgram experiment]] on obedience to authority figures.

==Technology==
* June – [[RPG-7]] rocket-propelled grenade launcher introduced in the Soviet Union.
* September 12 – [[V/STOL]] aircraft [[Hawker Siddeley P.1127]] makes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back, using [[thrust vectoring]].
* [[James L. Buie]] patents transistor-coupled transistor logic, later known as transistor-to-transistor logic circuitry (TTL), used in [[integrated circuit]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.computer.org/pioneers/buie.html|title=Computer Pioneers|last1=Lee|first1=J. A. N.|date=2013|website=James L. Buie|publisher=IEEE Computer Society|accessdate=2015-11-14|quote=While working for TRW, Inc., Los Angeles, in the early 1960s, Buie developed and patented TTL circuitry, which became the dominant IC technology in the 1970s and early 1980s.}}</ref>
* [[Philips]] publicly introduce the compact audio [[cassette tape]] system, developed by a team led by [[Lou Ottens]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Duk|first=Wierd|title=Hoe Lou Ottens de wereld veranderde|journal=The Twentsche Courant Tubantia|date=2013-08-24|language=Dutch|url=http://docs.mfbfreaks.com/div/Lou_Ottens_Spectrum_20130824.pdf|access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref>
* [[Butler matrix]] for [[beamforming]] first proposed.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Butler, J. |author2=Lowe, R. |title=Beam forming matrix simplifiers design of electrically scanned antennas|journal=Electronic Design|year=1961}}</ref>

==Zoology==
* April 3 – A [[Leadbeater's possum]], a marsupial species thought to have been extinct for over 50 years, is discovered in [[New South Wales]] (Australia).
* April 29 – [[World Wildlife Fund]] established.
* November 9 – First edition of new [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]] published.

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Robert Hofstadter]], [[Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Melvin Calvin]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Georg von Békésy]]

==Births==
* February 24 – [[Ellen Stofan]], [[Americans|American]] planetary scientist.
* March 10 – [[Laurel Clark]] (died [[2003 in science|2003]]), American [[astronaut]].
* March 15 – [[Moungi Bawendi]], French-born Tunisian American chemist, recipient of [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].
* May 6 - [[Japi]], British_born Musician, Soldier, Historian, Psychologist and Social Commentator. Leader in Application of Addiction Therapy.
* July 1 – [[Kalpana Chawla]] (died 2003), [[India]]n astronaut.
* August – [[Zhang Xu (neuroscientist)|Zhang Xu]], [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[neuroscientist]].
* [[Andreas Weigend]], [[Germans|German]] [[data scientist]].

==Deaths==
* January 4 – [[Erwin Schrödinger]] (born [[1887 in science|1887]]), [[Austrians|Austrian]] [[physicist]].
* April 17 – [[Elda Emma Anderson]] (born [[1899 in science|1899]]), American nuclear and health physicist, of leukemia.
* May 29 – [[Arnold Gesell]] (born [[1880 in science|1880]]), American [[developmental psychologist]].
* June 4 – [[William Astbury]] (born [[1898 in science|1898]]), [[English people|English]] physicist and [[molecular biologist]].
* June 6 – [[Carl Jung]] (born [[1875 in science|1875]]), [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[psychiatrist]].
* July 17 – [[Abner Doble]] (born [[1890 in science|1890]]), American steam engineer.
* September 4 – [[Emil von Dungern]] (born [[1867 in science|1867]]), [[Germans|German]] [[Serology|serologist]].
* November 15 – [[Johanna Westerdijk]] (born [[1883 in science|1883]]), Dutch plant pathologist.
* November 30 – [[Ehrenfried Pfeiffer]] (born [[1899 in science|1899]]), German soil scientist.
* December 2 – [[Sven Sømme]] (born [[1904 in science|1904]]), [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] [[ichthyologist]] and resistance worker.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1961 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1960s in science]]