100 YEARS AGO

Another name must be added to the long list of martyrs who have given up their lives while endeavouring to effect the conquest of the air. The latest victim is Dr. Wölfert, who had devoted many years to the problem of aerial navigation, and who claimed to have invented a navigable balloon. The Berlin correspondent of the Times says that Dr. Wölfert had made an arrangement with the officers of the ballooning section of the army to put his invention to a practical test at Tempelhof on Saturday last…. At first the balloon ascended steadily and began to make good progress…. Suddenly, however, when the balloon was sailing at a height of about 1000 feet, flames shot up from the car and the balloon exploded with a loud report and was precipitated, a burning mass, into a wood-yard below. The mounted officers hurried to the spot, and, after the flames had with great difficulty been partially extinguished, the mutilated remains of Dr. Wölfert and his companion were found amidst the ruins of the car. It is believed that the valve of the balloon was opened with the intention of descending, and that the gas, in escaping from the balloon, became ignited by the benzene.

From Nature 17 June 1897.

50 YEARS AGO

The Committee's programme, as outlined in communications recently received from Prof. Einstein, is to see that the following simple facts, which are accepted by all scientific workers, are given the widest possible publicity. They are: (1) that atomic bombs can now be made cheaply and in quantity, with future bombs likely to be even more powerful and destructive; (2) that there is no military defence against atomic bombs; (3) that other nations can discover for themselves the processes kept secret by the United States; (4) that preparedness against atomic warfare is futile and, if attempted, will ruin the structure of social order; (5) that if war does occur, atomic bombs will definitely be used, and will surely destroy our civilization; and (6) that international control of atomic energy and, ultimately, the elimination of war, is the only solution to the problem. — ‘Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists’

From Nature 21 June 1947.