1949 in science

• January 26 – The Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California, the largest aperture optical telescope in the world for 28 years, sees first light. • June 14 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey, becomes the first mammal in space, in a U.S.-launched V-2 rocket, reaching an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) but dying on impact after a parachute failure. ==Chemistry==

• Radiocarbon dating technique discovered by Willard Libby and his colleagues at the University of Chicago—work for which Libby will receive the Nobel Prize in 1960. • A group including Dorothy Hodgkin publish the three-dimensional molecular structure of penicillin, demonstrating that it contains a β-lactam ring. ==Computer science==

• April – Manchester Mark 1 computer operable at the University of Manchester in England. • May 6 – EDSAC, the first practicable stored-program computer, runs its first program at University of Cambridge in England, to calculate a table of squares. ==Earth sciences==

• August 5 – Ambato earthquake in Ecuador, measuring 6.8 on the Richter magnitude scale. • Patomskiy crater in Siberia is discovered by Russian geologist Vadim Kolpakov. ==History of science==

• Herbert Butterfield publishes The Origins of Modern Science, 1300–1800. ==Mathematics==

• Ákos Császár discovers the Császár polyhedron. • D. R. Kaprekar discovers the convergence property of the number 6174. ==Medicine==

• The use of lithium salts to control mania is rediscovered by Australian psychiatrist John Cade, the first mood stabilizer. • First implant of intraocular lens, by Sir Harold Ridley • First Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, a self-report personality test, released. ==Meteorology==

• January 11 – Los Angeles receives its first recorded snowfall. ==Philosophy==

• Gilbert Ryle's book The Concept of Mind, a founding document in the philosophy of mind, is published. ==Physics==

• Freeman Dyson demonstrates the equivalence of the formulations of quantum electrodynamics existing at this time, incidentally inventing the Dyson series. • The Lanczos tensor is introduced in general relativity by Cornelius Lanczos. • Pauli–Villars regularization is first published. ==Zoology==

• J. B. S. Haldane proposes the Darwin as a unit of evolutionary change. • Konrad Lorenz publishes ''King Solomon's Ring (Er redete mit dem Vieh, den Vögeln und den Fischen''). ==Awards==

• Nobel Prizes • Physics – Hideki Yukawa • Chemistry – William Francis Giauque • Medicine – Walter Rudolf Hess, Antonio Caetano De Abreu Freire Egas Moniz ==Births==

• January 25 – Paul Nurse, English cell biologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. • February 1 – Alice Alldredge, Australian-born oceanographer. • February 17 – Peter Piot, Belgian microbiologist and epidemiologist. • February 19 – Danielle Bunten Berry, born Dan(iel Paul) Bunten (died 1998), American software developer. • February 22 – Tullio Pozzan (died 2022), Italian biochemist. • March 28 – Michael W. Young, American geneticist and chronobiologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. • April 5 – Judith Resnik (died 1986), American astronaut. • April 18 – Yasumasa Kanada, Japanese mathematician. • May 24 – Tomaž Pisanski, Slovenian mathematician. • May 26 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer. • June 2 – Heather Couper (died 2020), English astronomer. • July 23 – Andrew Odlyzko, Polish-born American mathematician. • August 31 – H. David Politzer, American physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. • November 6 – John Zarnecki, English space scientist • November 24 – Sally Davies, English Chief Medical Officer. • Michael Houghton, British-born virologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ==Deaths==

• February 22 – Félix d'Herelle (died 1873), French-Canadian microbiologist, a co-discoverer of bacteriophages. • April 28 – Robert Robertson (born 1869), British chemist. • May 27 • Ægidius Elling (born 1861), Norwegian gas turbine pioneer. • Martin Knudsen (born 1871), Danish physicist. • August 5 – Ernest Fourneau (born 1872), French medicinal chemist. ==References==