Dorothy Hodgkin and C. H. (Harry) Carlisle publish the first three-dimensional molecular structure of a steroid, cholesteryl iodide.[2][3] In January, Hodgkin also discovers the structure of penicillin, not published until 1949.
November – Assembly of the world's first general purpose electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer (ENIAC), is completed in the United States, covering 1,800 square feet (170 m2) of floor space, and the first set of calculations is run on it.
February – Raymond L. Libby of American Cyanamid's research laboratories at Stamford, Connecticut, announces a method of orally administering the antibiotic penicillin.[7]
High-altitude west-to-east winds across Pacific, discovered by Japanese in 1942 and by Americans in 1944, are dubbed "jet stream".
Physics
July 16 – Nuclear testing: the Trinity test, the first test of an atomic bomb, using 6 kilograms of plutonium, succeeds in detonating an explosion equivalent to that of 20 kilotons of TNT.
August 12 – The Smyth Report is released by the United States government, informing the public of the basics of nuclear fission and its military and civilian applications, and emphasizing the role played by physics in the development of the atomic bomb.
March 2 – The Bachem Ba 349Natter is launched from Stetten am kalten Markt. The Natter is the first manned rocket, developed as an anti-aircraft weapon. The launch fails and the pilot dies.[8]
ArgentinephysicistErnesto Sabato publishes Uno y el Universo ("One and the Universe"), a collection of essays criticizing the apparent moral neutrality of science and warning of dehumanization in technological societies.
First book in the New Naturalist series is published in the United Kingdom, E. B. Ford's Butterflies.
December 21/22 – Arthur Korn (born 1870), German-born inventor.
References
^"Discovery of Promethium". Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review. 36 (1). 2003. Archived from the original on 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
^Carlisle, C. H.; Crowfoot, D. (1945). "The crystal structure of cholesteryl iodide". Proceedings of the Royal Society. A184 (996): 64–83. JSTOR 97644.
^Glusker, Jenny P. (1994). "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910–1994)". Protein Science. 3 (12): 2465–2469. doi:10.1002/pro.5560031233. PMC 2142778. PMID 7757003.
^Angier, R. B.; Boothe, J. H.; Hutchings, B. L.; Mowat, J. H.; Semb, J.; Stokstad, E. L. R.; Subbarow, Y.; Waller, C. W.; Cosulich, D. B.; Fahrenbach, M. J.; Hultquist, M. E.; Kuh, E.; Northey, E. H.; Seeger, D. R.; Sickels, J. P.; Smith Jr, J. M. (1945). "Synthesis of a Compound Identical with the L. Casei Factor Isolated from Liver". Science. 102 (2644): 227–228. Bibcode:1945Sci...102..227A. doi:10.1126/science.102.2644.227. PMID 17778509.
^Hoffbrand, A. V.; Weir, D. G. (2001). "The history of folic acid". British Journal of Haematology. 113 (3): 579–589. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2141.2001.02822.x. PMID 11380441.
^Stigler, George J. (May 1945). "The Cost of Subsistence". Journal of Farm Economics. 27 (2): 303–314. doi:10.2307/1231810. JSTOR 1231810.
^"Penicillin Pills May Replace Injection". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 1945-02-16. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
^Clarke, Arthur C. (October 1945). "Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?". Wireless World: 305–6. Archived from the original on 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
^"Peacetime Uses for V2" (JPG). Wireless World. February 1945. Archived from the original on 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
^"Installed Desalination Capacity by Year, Number of Plants, and Total Capacity, 1945 to 2004" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2013-07-21.