Month: October 2019

Norman Heatley was a British biochemist born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. In his early years, Heatley enjoyed sailing on the River Deben.  In his obituary, Eric Sidebottom paints him as the, “quintessential family man – a proud and immensely involved father, an affectionate husband, an accomplished house husband, an excellent host.” He attended Tonbridge School, where his Chemistry teacher sparked his interest in Biochemistry (Evans). Heatley went on to earn his degree in Natural Sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge, in 1933, but he didn’t stop there. In 1936, Ruth Evans explains, “Norman Heatley earned his PhD, and was invited to join a team of scientists in Oxford working under the dynamic Australian pathologist Howard Florey.”

Heatley’s new team of scientists set out to study Sir Alexander’s discovery of Penicillin. Today, Penicillin is a common antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, but discovering how to harness the drug was a challenge. Before joining the team of scientists, Heatley had a history as an inventor. His creative mind was crucial to the team, because Penicillin is extremely unstable and hard to make. Heatley had to find a way to not only grow enough Penicillin to study, but also separate it from the fungus it grows in and measure it (Lienhard). Heatley accomplished this by devising a new assay that, “measured the activity of Penicillin, established appropriate conditions under which Penicillin was stable, and pioneered a multi-stage technique to isolate from the culture fluid and concentrate it.” (Sir William School of Pathology). The strains of Penicillin were tested on mice to see their effectiveness. Robert Gaynes explains, “On May 25, 1939, the group injected 8 mice with a virulent strain of Streptococcus and then injected 4 of them with Penicillin; the other 4 mice were kept as untreated controls. Early the next morning, all control mice were dead; all treated mice were alive. Chain called the results ‘a miracle.’” This success was a huge stepping stone towards turning the Penicillin fungus into a life-saving antibiotic. The next trial was on a policeman who had a serious infection, including abscesses throughout his body, and his condition improved dramatically within 24 hours.

Eventually, the United States took over the production of Penicillin. Andrew Florey and Heatley travelled to the United States with their strain of Penicillin in 1941. There, they met with Charles Tom, the principal mycologist of the US Department of Agriculture, and Andrew Jackson Moyer, director of the department’s Northern Research Laboratory (Gaynes). The United States found a way to produce more Penicillin than the original research team ever had. The new technique developed for producing Penicillin by the United States was “deep-tank fermentation.” Gaynes explains deep-tank fermentation as, “This process adapted a fermentation process performed in swallow dishes to deep tanks by bubbling air through the tank while agitating it with an electric stirrer to aerate and stimulate the growth of tremendous quantities of the mold.”

The new growing and separating techniques to obtain medical Penicillin were notable during World War II. Penicillin is said to have reduced the number of deaths and amputations during WW2. Records say that there were only 400 million units of Penicillin during the first five months of 1943, but by the end of WW2, U.S companies were making 650 billion units a month (Kalvaitis). This output completely changed the world of medicine; previously fatal infections could now easily be treated.

Penicillin was officially announced as an antibiotic in 1940. In 1945, the leaders of the team, Fleming and Florey, got their Nobel Prize in medicine for their work – thanks to Heatley’s imaginative designs. In 2004, Heatley published “Penicillin and Luck: good Fortune in the Development of the Miracle Drug.”

Even though Heatley was one of the main hands in Penicillin’s discovery that lead to its use as an antibiotic, he did not receive the Nobel Prize. He also denotes Penicillin’s discovery to luck in his book. Heatley’s humble attitude towards his own work is something that I can relate to. Heatley’s main goal was not to obtain the glory for developing Penicillin – it was to bring it to people to help them and use his interests and talents tohelp them.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Norman George Heatley.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Sept. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Norman-George-Heatley.

 

 

Works Cited

Endocrine Today, August 2008. “Penicillin: An Accidental Discovery Changed the Course of Medicine.” Healio, Aug. 2008, www.healio.com/endocrinology/news/print/endocrine-today/%7B15afd2a1-2084-4ca6-a4e6-7185f5c4cfb0%7D/penicillin-an-accidental-discovery-changed-the-course-of-medicine.

Evans, Ruth. “Obituary: Norman Heatley.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Jan. 2004, www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jan/08/guardianobituaries.highereducation.

Gaynes, Robert. “The Discovery of Penicillin.” Emerging Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403050/.

Lienhard, John H. Engines of Our Ingenuity, www.uh.edu/engines/epi601.htm.

“Norman Heatley (1911-2004).” BBC Oxford, BBC, 20 July 2010, news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8828000/8828836.stm.

Sidebottom, Eric. “Norman HEATLEY (1911–2004).” Norman Heatley: Oxfordshire         Blue Plaques Scheme,                         www.oxfordshireblueplaques.org.uk/plaques/heatley.html.

“The Norman Heatley Lecture.” Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, www.path.ox.ac.uk/content/norman-heatley-lecture.

“Uncle Chuck’s Bread & Butter”

by Nate Bennett, 10-10-19

My uncle Charles Bennett (who I’ll refer to as uncle Chuck) is an Environmental Engineer.  He works for Michigan’s Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Water Resources Division in its Lansing District Office, and he oversees Sewerage Systems Permit Approvals (also known as Part 41 Permits) for Ingham, Gratiot, Clinton, Genesee, and Monroe Counties of Michigan (see figure 1.).

Fig.1

Figure 1.  Part 41 Wastewater Construction Staff. Michigan.Gov, 2019, https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/wrd-41-staff_344960_7.pdf.    Accessed 29 Sept 2019.

When I interviewed him for this blog on 10-5-19 (Bennett), I asked him to describe what he does for our state in simple terms, and he explained that he’s “the one who tells cities and communities what they need to do” to adjust and modernize to comply with wastewater disposal regulations.

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Now, before I go further, I’ll just make clear that I know that there are many ways I could include lots of ‘off-color’ puns and references to that realm we all flush away and have giggled about since we were tots.  I have, however, decided that doing so might effectively belittle this critical function that directly affects our ground water and drinking water supply, and here in our great state, also directly impacts the overall health of our Great Lakes.  That said, if anything I’ve written seems to be a mechanism for this kind of humor, please understand that it is unintentional.

I will, however, include just one slightly-stinky direct quote from uncle Chuck, because he explained during our interview that this is actually a common ‘traditional’ statement that’s often made among his working colleagues: “It may be poop to you, but it’s my bread and butter.” (Bennett).  To me, it does seem to put a certain smug little touch on the image of what doing his job might really be like.

Uncle Chuck has on numerous occasions acted as a mouthpiece for his department when questions have arisen in area media surrounding concerns about such unfortunate incidents as chemical spills and wastewater discharges that impact Michigan’s water quality and environmental health.  Examples of incidents that he has addressed publicly include: unauthorized discharges of treated wastewater into the Thornapple Drain in Potterville in 2017 and 2018 (Greco), ongoing dumping of sewage following storms into the Grand and Red Cedar Rivers in the Lansing area in 2016 (wlnshaleyherzog), and two discharges of sewage into the Flint River totaling around 16 million gallons in 2014 (Fonger).

Fig.2

Figure 2.  Posted: Aug 29, 2016 / 09:56 PM EDT wlnshaleyherzog. “Lansing Plans On Dumping Out Old Sewage System”.  Wlns.Com,          https://www.wlns.com/news/lansing-plans-on-dumping-out-old-sewage-system/  Accessed 29 Sept 2019.

Uncle Chuck graduated high school at Lansing Eastern in 1976 and began taking classes at Lansing Community College in 1977.  He eventually transferred to Michigan State University, where he studied from 1991-93.  His finished his education with grad school at Wayne State University, where he attended from 1995-98.

He began working at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which later became the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and recently was reconfigured yet again into its current form, the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).  EGLE includes the Water Resources Division, where he works with collection systems and wastewater treatment.

During our interview, I found that uncle Chuck wouldn’t take more than his fair share of credit for some of the most impressive improvements that have occurred during his working years, explaining that many of the environmentally positive innovations that have occurred during his career have resulted from the efforts of large teams working together.

He did state that the number one accomplishment that he has played a direct role in is having worked with Lansing and East Lansing to reduce (and work towards the eventual elimination of) Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), which happen when infrastructure gets overwhelmed during super wet weather resulting in sewage escaping into area rivers.  This does still happen, but far less often than in times past, and these improvements have had a very positive impact on the cleanliness of the Grand River and Red Cedar River throughout the mid-Michigan region and all areas downstream.

I grew up in the Lansing area in the 1970’s and 80’s, and I clearly remember the foul odor of the Grand River, which could be smelled anywhere within the distance of a couple of city blocks (especially downtown).  I left Michigan for a couple of decades, and when I moved back to the Lansing area, I immediately noted the improvement–and I’m proud to know that my uncle has been a part of it.

Uncle Chuck has also helped to develop advances in technology, including more energy-efficient pumping methods and working toward changing from a process of ‘wastewater treatment’ to an approach of ‘reuse and recovery’.  One example of this has come via the use of methane gas, which is now being reclaimed from sewage and used as a power source to heat ‘digesters’ that are used to break down waste–a method that has made these systems more energy-efficient by utilizing gasses that were previously unused.  These innovations have also come about with the focused efforts of many minds and are clearly paying off by causing the processing of sewage to be more energy-efficient and sustainable.

As my interview with uncle Chuck was winding up, I asked him if he had ever been part of any research, either while working or as a student.  He explained that as an engineer, he has always handled, tracked, collected, and processed data and helped refine systems, but has not actually directly performed any research; it’s just not what he does.  He is, however, clearly an expert in the branch of science that concerns living organisms, which by definition means that he is a biologist–even if he is humble and is always is careful to share the glory of the advances that have been made during his career with all of his colleagues who have collectively worked to improve their approach to their source of “bread and butter”.

Aside from his main career, uncle Chuck also loves to ride motorcycles, and he works on-staff at Lansing Community College where he teaches a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider course.

 

Works Cited

Bennett, Charles.  Personal interview.  5 Oct. 2019.

Fonger, Ron. “State Says Two Discharges In 10 Days Sent 16 Million Gallons Of Sewage Into Flint River”. Mlive, 2014, https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2014/08/state_says_two_discharges_in_1.html Accessed 29 Sept 2019.

Greco, Rachel. “Families: Contaminated Water In Potterville Community Made Us Sick”. Lansingstatejournal, 2019,       https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/01/14/potterville-contamination-drinking-water-lawsuit-eaton-county-michigan/2546275002/.  Accessed 29 Sept 2019.

wlnshaleyherzog. “Lansing Plans On Dumping Out Old Sewage System”. Wlns.Com, 2016,  https://www.wlns.com/news/lansing-plans-on-dumping-out-old-sewage-system/ Accessed 29 Sept 2019.

 

Post 1 Sylvia Earle

Nicole Ostrander

 

“The single non-negotiable thing life requires is water.” (Sylvia Earle. The World is Blue, 2009.). From a young age, Sylvia Earle was mesmerized by nature. Born in Camden, New Jersey she recalls her mother teaching her to be amazed about the world around her; “My mother would show my brothers and I how beautiful frogs could be and how fascinating it was to look at their gorgeous golden eyes.”(Biography Today, 2010, pg1.) At the age of twelve her family left their home in Camden and moved to Clearwater, Florida. A place she would later call her “backyard paradise”. Clearwater is known for its sunny weather and coastal white beaches and it was here that Sylvia’s love of the ocean swelled and took root. In 1955 Sylvia graduated with a major in botany. She continued schooling and in 1956 got her masters in botany and while continuing to get her Ph.D. Sylvia married John Taylor in 1957. A fellow scientist John Taylor was a zoologist and they soon had two children together, Elizabeth and John. John Taylor and Sylvia would later divorce, but she would eventually get her Ph.D. in 1966.

Sylvia first learned how to dive while attending college in the 1950’s. At the time diving was still risky and was considered dangerous until the Self Contained Underwater Apparatus or SCUBA suit was born. Sylvia was one of the first to use one of these suits her professor at the time somehow managed to get ahold of two of only a handful of the new SCUBA suits. It was through this experience with diving that Sylvia got her first glimpse at the deep ocean. Being comfortable with diving would deem itself an incredibly valuable skill as she continued her career into this new underwater 3D world.

It was during this time people started discovering places they’d never been before with a newfound thirst. While Sylvia was racing to the bottom of the ocean NASA was racing to the moon. By 1969 Neil Armstrong was taking his “first steps for man and first leaps for mankind”, while Sylvia was hunkering down in Tektite 2. She was captain on the first all-female teams to work on the Tektite mission. It was a time when science was exploding and new advances in technologies were being developed every day and the ocean was an alien universe just waiting to be discovered.

Tektite 2 was an underwater bunker in the Virgin Islands where Sylvia and 4 other women would record the underwater life around them for up to 12 hours a day. This was a historical moment for marine biologists as well as women. Sylvia Earle, Ann Hartline, Alina Szmant and Margaret Lucas blazed a path for future women scientists. They broke stereotypes about women working in science and proved that not only can women be good at science, but they can do it without the help of men. Tektite 2’s mission was to discover never before seen underwater ecosystems and to record the habitats current health for later comparison. As well as prove that underwater laboratories could be done safely, efficiently and cheaply. The project was undoubltly a success and Sylvia would go on to become the first to reach 1,250 feet in a JIM suit, and in 1990 she became the chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Today Sylvia Earle is 84 years old and spends her time advocating for the importance of our oceans health. She travels the globe lecturing students and colleges on the dangers of dead zones, global warming, melting ice caps and their direct correlation to high CO2 levels in the atmosphere. She describes how the site of her famous underwater home, Tektite 2 is now one of 500+ dead zones. Once a beautiful alien world full of coral, fish, sharks and plants, is now a desolate habitat hardly capable of sustaining life. We still have so much of the ocean to discover and even now in 2019 we’ve only seen 5% of it. It’s vital that young scientist continue to understand and learn about the ecosystems hidden beneath the waves. She urges the world to see the importance of our oceans and their direct impact on our lives. “No oceans, no life. No blue, no green.” (Sylvia Earle, National Geographic. 2014.).

Figure. Sylvia Earle. “National Women’s Hall of Fame.” 2019. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/sylvia-a-earle/

 

 

Work Cited Page

John P. Rafferty. “Sylvia Alice Earle”. Britannica Biographies, 3/1/2012. LCC Database, https://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customlink/proxify/proxify.php?count=1&encode=1&proxy=https%3A%2F%2Fwidgets. ebscohost.com%2Fprod%2Fcustomerspecific%2Fmel%2Fauth.php%3Furl%3D&target=http://search.ebscohost.com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=67518186&site=brc-live 

Author Unknown. “Sylvia Earle”. Biography Today, 2010. LCC Database, https://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customlink/proxify/proxify.php?count=1&encode=1&proxy=https%3A%2F%2Fwidgets.ebscohost.com%2Fprod%2Fcustomerspecific%2Fmel%2Fauth.php%3Furl%3D&target=http://search.ebscohost.com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=34912986&site=brc-live

Cullen, Katherine. “Earle, Sylvia, Alice”. Science Encyclopedia. 2009.

https://online-infobase-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/HRC/Search/Details/8?articleId=275153&q=”Sylvia%20Earle”

Oakes, Elizabeth. “Earle, Sylvia.” Encyclopedia of World Scientists. 2007. https://online-infobase-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/HRC/Search/Details/8?articleId=298332&q=%22Sylvia%20Earle%22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jane Goodall

Figure 1. Image of Jane Goodall smiling and holding a chimpanzee.

Morell, Virginia. “For 47 Years, Goodall Has Studied, Communicated with, and Lived with Chimps.” Discover Magazine, 28 Mar. 2007, discovermagazine.com/2007/mar/the-discover-interview-jane-goodall.

Intro:

According to Access Science, Jane Goodall was born in London on April 3rd in 1934. She is a primatologist who specifically studied the species of chimpanzees. She studied their way of life and began to write books on what she found. While she finished her first book, she continued to study and observe the chimps (“Goodall, Jane”). As stated in A to Z of Biologists, some of her biggest discoveries were finding that chimps not only made tools but were able to use them. Before she made this discovery, many thought humans were the only primates who could make and use tools. Sadly, she also saw the dark and scary side of chimps. Goodall observed that chimpanzees would create warfare against other neighboring groups of chimps. They continuously did this to eliminate the other group for resources. The biggest reason chimps are in danger is because of their lack of resources that are being deprived from them by humans. Goodall’s main fight was to help save this amazing species from becoming extinct (Yount, Lisa). 

Education:

As reported by A to Z of Biologists, Jane Goodall, unfortunately, did not have the money to attend college after high school. She ended up taking a secretarial job instead. In 1957, an old friend of hers invited her to go to Kenya. Goodall excitedly accepted and was ready for the adventure. Little did she know that this trip would be life changing. She was then asked to be Louis S. B. Leaky’s assistant in researching chimpanzees. She excitedly accepted and had a new found love for these creatures. Her time spent assisting Leaky made her realize that she wanted to get her degree in primatology which is “the study of humans, apes, monkeys, and lemurs” (Yount, Lisa). In 1965, she obtained a Ph.D. in primatology from Cambridge University (Yount, Lisa). 

Personal Information:

 As stated in Access Science, Jane Goodall had one sister and was the oldest child in her family. Her parents were Moriemer and Vance Goodall raised their two children in a traditional middle-class home. Her father was an engineer and her mother was a typical housewife who enjoyed writing in her spare time. Sadly, Jane’s parents got a divorce which was one of the main reasons why they did not have the money to send her to college. When Jane was younger, she loved to sketch and watch birds and other wildlife creatures. She was so excited when she had the opportunity to go to Kenya that she saved as much money as she could and completely fell in love there (“Goodall, Jane”). According to A to Z of Biologists, after Jane began studying the chimps, the National Geographic Society sent a photographer to capture her work. Jane and the photographer fell in love and married in 1964. Jane and her husband, Baron Hugo van Lawick, had a baby boy three years later who they named Hugo. They were married for a few more years until they too got a divorce. Shortly after her divorce, Jane married Derek Bryceson who was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few years later (Yount, Lisa).

Major Contributions:

As reported by A to Z of Biologists, Goodall had many great contributions in the field of  biology. She came up with the idea that chimpanzees can make tools and know how to use them. This was a fact that humans believed they could only do. She was able to inform Americans on the chimpanzees life and helped to protect them and keep them safe. She created a program called “Roots and Shoots” which is a project that has been implemented worldwide to help remind kids how to care for our earth. Jane, at the beginning of her time studying the chimps, found them to run away when she moved or was nearby. After several weeks, the chimps began to be curious and wanted to approach Jane. She was able to create bonds with some of the chimps and also began to give chimps different names. Goodall wrote numerous books for children to help inform them on chimpanzees and the way they act and live their lives (Yount, Lisa). She has written In the Shadow of Man and The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Hall, Brook). Goodall has received numerous awards such as the “Gold Medal of Conservation from the San Diego Zoological Society in 1974, the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize in 1984, The Schweitzer Medal of the Animal Welfare Institute in 1987 and the Unicef/Unesco Children’s Book of the Year Award in 1989.” (“Goodall, Jane”). These awards that she received just proved that the work she did was critical to the knowledge we now have about chimpanzees. In Figure 2 there is a picture of Jane Goodall holding a chimpanzee which shows how the chimps evolved to Jane’s present and created a special bond with her.

Figure 2. “All Posts Tagged ‘Chimpanzee.’” PML Daily, www.pmldaily.com/tag/chimpanzee. Accessed 27 Sept. 2019

Effects:

As stated in Encyclopedia of World Biography, the finding that Jane Goodall had are affecting society today. She put in a policy to help educate all students on their impact on the planet and how they will have implications on themselves and other living species and organisms. She was able to teach many about a creature that not many knew much about. It is crazy the similarities found between chimpanzees and humans. She was affected by her knowledge on the warfare that the gorillas had and how harmful that species can truly be. I believe that Goodall’s work will always be beneficial and will hold a great place in biology’s history. One historic event that affected Goodall was when in May of 1975 numerous research assistants were held captive and most of the American and European researchers left. Unlike Goodall who stayed in Gombe and had some locals help her continue with her research (“Jane Goodall.”).

Similarities:

When looking at the similarities between myself and Jane Goodall, I see that we both have passion. Jane’s passion was her research on chimpanzees and my passion would be helping kids. I am going to be an elementary teacher and love working with and helping kids learn new things. I think another similarity would be that we both are determined. Jane was determined to stay in Gombe to continue her research even when others were telling her to leave. I am also very determined. When I set my mind to something, I will do anything and everything in my power to achieve it. I told myself that I would get my first two years of college paid for with a scholarship and I did it! We are both women who are driven and have goals. I hope that I can have a fulfilling life like Jane Goodall had.

Work Cited

Yount, Lisa. “Goodall, Jane.” A To Z of Biologists, Facts On File, 2003. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=301395. Accessed 27 Sept. 2019.

“Goodall, Jane.” AccessScience, www-accessscience-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/content/goodall- jane/m0091275. Accessed 27 Sept. 2019.

Hall, Brook. “Jane Goodall.” Science and Its Times, edited by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer, vol. 7: 1950 to Present, Gale, 2001, pp. 151-152. Gale Ebooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3408504119/GVRL?u=lom_lansingcc&sid=GVRL&xid=13dbd693. Accessed 6 Oct. 2019.

“Jane Goodall.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 6, Gale, 2004, pp. 433-434. Gale Ebooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3404702562/GVRL?u=lom_lansingcc&sid=GVRL&xid=eaa47a80. Accessed 9 Oct. 2019.

written by Lhauren Clifford

Born in Philadelphia on December 16, 1901, (Oakes), Margaret Mead would grow up to become an influential anthropologist and an icon for women scientists to come. She hadn’t originally aimed to become a scientist at all, her original choice of major was in English. However, meeting anthropologists such as Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict made her realize her newfound passion in researching human behavior throughout history (Oakes). Ruth remained a friend of Mead’s throughout her entire life (“Mead, Margaret.” AccessScience). In 1923, she graduated from New York’s Barnard College and transferred to Columbia University for a degree in psychology as well (Oakes).

Mead’s father was a financial professor while her mother was a teacher and sociologist, and she lived a well-off childhood with her four siblings. Mead’s feminist qualities to her studies were likely influenced by her mother, who was also a woman’s suffragist (“Mead, Margaret.” AccessScience). She married three men throughout her life, the first being Luther Cresswell, the second being Reo Fortune, and the third being Gregory Bateson. Mead divorced all three of them, and had a daughter with Bateson, named Mary (“Mead, Margaret.” AccessScience). Mead was a member of the Episcopal church since her childhood. She also had a childhood passion for painting because she originally wanted to be a painter as a child before deciding to major in English instead. She later had a change of heart by choosing to major in anthropology instead of sticking to English or painting (“Margaret Mead Biography.”).

Mead’s research questioned gender roles and expectations for men and women at the time that she was alive, and influenced feminist and gender movements even after her death. Her early research of this sort included researching the people of Samoa and noticing stark differences between how women acted in Samoan culture compared to American culture. She noticed different attitudes about sexual behavior between the two cultures, and came to the conclusion that gender roles and views on sexuality were a result of culture rather than inherent differences between genders and genes (Oakes). Her research went further into analyzing how culture affected human behavior as a whole. Her first book that she published about Samoan people became a best-seller quickly and got the attention of the general public (“Mead, Margaret.” AccessScience).

During World War II, Mead took part of the time that she’d otherwise spend on research, and focused on helping her country’s war efforts instead. She still continued her anthropology research, however. She used her research to help analyze the cultures of the countries that the U.S. was at war with, in order to make the relations between the US and these other countries easier (“Margaret Mead.”).

A majority of Mead’s accomplishments are considered such in regards to either the progression of anthropology’s research or in how she affected the lives of American women. She became an inspiration to many girls and women who had been struggling to follow their dreams of being in similar occupations as Mead’s, due to gender discrimination and expectations (“Margaret Mead Biography”). Her studies, of which implied that men and women aren’t actually that much different genetically (Oakes), helped progress the women’s rights movement even further than it had already gone by making the public question their ideas of what men and women were supposed to do as a result of their genders.

As a woman myself, her influence on women’s rights affect me today as well. She created a domino effect of feminist icons who were inspired by her. It is easier for me to express myself in non-traditionally feminine ways as a result of her and her domino effect. Thanks to her opening this doorway, it is easier for me to talk to men and be viewed as an equal to them instead of a subordinate. It is also easier for me to wear certain clothing and/or do things that women in Mead’s time were not able to do without being under the scope of criticism or made to suffer through alienation.

Despite having criticism towards her research after her death by other anthropologists (Oakes), she was rewarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (“Margaret Mead Biography.”). Women still have a difficult time being women even in 2019, but because of what Margaret Mead pioneered, so many women have been able to live freely and equally pioneer their own beliefs without the repercussion of narrow 50’s era views.

 

Institution, Smithsonian. “Margaret Mead (1901-1978).” Flickr, Yahoo!, 19 Mar. 2012, www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/6891482481/.

Oakes, Elizabeth H. “Mead, Margaret.” Encyclopedia of World Scientists, Revised Edition, Facts On File, 2007. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=298041. Accessed 7 Oct. 2019.

“Mead, Margaret.” AccessScience. www.accessscience.com/content/mead-margaret/m0091247. Accessed 7 Oct. 2019.

“Mead, Margaret.” International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 5, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 47-48. Gale In Context: College, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3045301494/CSIC?u=lom_lansingcc&sid=CSIC&xid=c1b21de0. Accessed 7 Oct. 2019.

“Margaret Mead.” DISCovering Biography, Gale, 2003. Gale In Context: College, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2102101233/CSIC?u=lom_lansingcc&sid=CSIC&xid=19a4cfbc. Accessed 7 Oct. 2019.

“Margaret Mead Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, https://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Mead-Margaret.html.

Louis Pasteur

Major Discoveries

Pasteur was responsible for many groundbreaking discoveries in his day and age. He is the creator of pasteurization, the process in which water, packaged and non-packaged foods (like milk, wine and juice) are treated with heat so as to eliminate bacteria, pathogens and to extend shelf life. (Pasteur, Louis) His work on the examination of crystals lead to the discovery that “the physical properties of molecules were dependent not only upon their composition, but also on their structure.” (Pasteur, Louis) He studied the implications of germ theory and through his work with studying chicken cholera he discovered how vaccinations could be created. He went on to create vaccinations for diseases such as rabies, anthrax and cholera.

Early Life and Family

Louis Pasteur was born December 27, 1822 in a small town called Dole, France. His Father, Jean-Joseph Pasteur, had been a soldier under Napoleon I but, at the time of Louis’s birth, made his living as a tanner. He had a high respect for education and, receiving very little himself wanted his son to gain proper training to become a teacher. (Pasteur, Louis) His mother, Jeanne Pasteur, was the daughter of a gardener. In January of 1849, he met the woman who would become his wife, Marie Laurent, at the University of Strausbourg. They got married that following May. (Pasteur, Louis) She had a great understanding for his passion and supported him by handing all household matters and raising their five children (only two of which lived into adulthood.)

Education and Career

Pasteur began his education at a local school in Arbois when he was just six years old. (Pasteur, Louis) at a young age, he had a fascination for all things art and enjoyed practicing his artistic talent by drawing portraits of his friends. When he was 15, his headmaster recommended that he start testing to enter the Ecole Normale Superieure, which was a college that trained professors of arts and science. He instead was sent to a boarding school in Paris, only to return six weeks later due to homesickness. He then entered the Royal College of Besancon in 1839, where he earned his bachelor’s degree of letters a year later. In 1842, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree. He went on to teach for many years, as well as work in the labs, and gained his Doctor of Science degree in 1847.

Connections to Modern Life

There are many ways Pasteur has impacted modern life. For starters, the medical world would not be the same today if he had not discovered vaccination. Through his discoveries, scientists have been able to create vaccinations for a myriad of diseases, from polio to the flu. His work has saved millions of not only human lives, but the lives of animals as well. For although there is no cure for rabies, it can be prevented thank to him.

The food industry would also not be the same today had it not been for his discoveries in pasteurization. Food would not be able to withstand the shipping process and the long wait from farm to fridge without the help of pasteurizing.

Figure 1. Man giving dog a rabies vaccination. “DSC_0715.”Creative Commons, September 30, 2019, https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/6a870979-0cd1-4ba3-a8b9-8dab13686090

Major Event

Pasteur was renown for many great accomplishments of his time, but one of his first instances of solving a national problem was in 1856. (Pasteur, Louis) At this time, the French vintners were facing a serious conundrum: their wines kept continually turning sour. Desperate to save the world-famous industry from complete failure, Emperor Napoleon III asked Pasteur to find a solution to this problem, who immediately took up the challenge. (Louis Pasteur and Sour Wine)

Upon this new assignment, Pasteur set up lab back home in Arbois. He then traveled about, collecting samples from various wineries. After examining these samples under a microscope, he found that, along with the yeast (which is a microbe essential for kick starting fermentation in the wine), he found a different type of microbe. (Louis Pasteur and Sour Wine) This other rod-shaped microbe was contaminating the wine and causing it to go sour.

After finding this, he instructed the vintners to get rid of all the spoiled wine and to methodically check the taste of the wine, as well as view it under a microscope, throughout its fermentation process. If it contained the contaminating bacteria, they were to gently heat the wine to kill off the unwanted microbes and bacteria. (Louis Pasteur and Germ Theory) Through this new process of pasteurizing the wine, the product was saved,  and Pasteur was hailed as the hero of the French wine industry and become a national celebrity.

Notable Facts

Something that I found interest about Pasteur is that he held onto his love of art and always tried to incorporate art into his science. I too have a great love of art, so I can relate to that desire to see the art and beauty in everything, even in math and science.

 

 

Work Cited

Cullen, Katherine. “Pasteur, Louis.” Science,Technology, and Society, Chelsea House, 2005. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=369943. Accessed 2 Oct. 2019.

Goldstein, Natalie. “Louis Pasteur and Germ Theory.” Vaccines, Second Edition, Chelsea House, 2017. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=468748. Accessed 2 Oct. 2019.

Goldstein, Natalie. “Louis Pasteur and Sour Wine.” Germ Theory, Second Edition, Chelsea House, 2017. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=468470. Accessed 2 Oct. 2019.

Maczulak, Anne. “Pasteur, Louis.” Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Facts On File, 2011. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=285142. Accessed 2 Oct. 2019.