Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Hiring a professor. More from the Iowa Almond Act in a moment. Eat up the summer with an Iowa Soybean Association Farmer Membership powered by the Soybean Checkup. Access timely industry info, engage in on-farm research, and join producer programs all designed to support your operations' unique needs. Activate or confirm your membership before August 31st and be entered to win one of many unique prizes, including a solo stove. Visit iasoybeans.com today to learn more. The Iowa Soybean Association, driven to deliver for Iowa's nearly 37,000 Soybean Farmers. By the time Gustavus Hinrichs joined the University of Iowa faculty on August 13th, 1863, he'd already had quite a life. He was born and educated in Denmark and had come to the U.S. only two years before at the age of 25, settling in Davenport. Originally a teacher of modern languages, he later taught the "physical sciences," which is where he made his mark. He did pioneering work on the structure of crystals which had bearing on the later discovery of the structure of the atom. He was one of several scientists credited with discovering the periodic system of elements. He focused much research on the study of weather and started the first state weather service here in Iowa. Fluent in five languages, Gustavus Hinrichs helped build a world-class science program at the University of Iowa and pushed for the state's medical college to be in Iowa City. But he was seen as sensitive and high-strung, and his fight with a university president got so heated, the state legislature sent a committee to investigate. After 23 years, he was fired for "general obstrepressness." He later called the Iowa Medical School a slaughterhouse and said surgeons were drunk while dealing with patients, but those charges were unfounded. In August of 2020, large parts of Iowa experienced a devastating mid-day storm, a widespread cold air mass that moved rapidly in a straight line, with winds stronger than in many tornadoes or hurricanes. The weather term for that is "deracial." It's a phenomenon that was first identified and named by Professor Gustavus Hinrichs, who joined the University of Iowa faculty on this date in 1863. And that's Iowa Almanac for August 13. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.