The Magellanic Premium John de Magellan The rules The candidates who did not win The recipients, by naem The recipients, by category

 

Award Categories

 

Astronomy
Dr. Burnell
Dr. Burnell receiving the Premium, November, 2000
In 1785, the American Philosophical Society added the study of astronomy to the list of topics set out in Magellan's original letter. The Society has long been fascinated with astronomy, dating back to its support and publication of David Rittenhouse's volume on plotting the transit of Venus in the 1769.

The first Magellanic Premium for astronomy was not awarded until 1966 when W. H. Pickering was recognized for his leadership in the exploration of the Moon and Venus by jet-propelled vehicles. Eight Premiums have been awarded for space exploration and astronomical observation. The most recent presentation was in November 2000 when S. Jocelyn Bell Burnell was honored for her 1967discovery of the first pulsars.


Natural Philosophy

Speedy Elevator
Nicholas Collin's Speedy Elevator
In the eighteenth century, the field of natural philosophy encompassed scientific and technological research. Thus the Premium was open to entries that ranged from linguistic studies to mechanical inventions.

To date there have been twelve Premiums awarded for natural philosophy. Robert Patterson won the Premium in 1792 for his improvement on lightning rods, which called for coating the tip with lead to prevent the rod from melting when struck by lighting. Patterson also sought to prevent the other end of the lightning rod from rusting in the ground by either covering the end in tin, copper, or lead, or burying the end in charcoal. Nicholas Collin won the Premium in 1795 for his "speedy elevator," which was designed to raise and lower heavy items quickly and easily using a pier and pulley system. In 1887, Lewis M. Haupt was awarded the Premium for his study of the physical phenomena of harbor entrances. Dr. Karl von Frisch was presented the Premium in 1956 in recognition of his studies on animal sense organs and his analysis of the dances of bees.


 

Navigation

Spring Block
Francis Hopkinson's Spring Block
During Magellan's time, maritime transportation was the primary means of international trade. Naturally, improvements in navigation (which included advances in helm design and course plotting) were of great interest, and felt to be worthy of recognition.

Not surprisingly, the APS awarded its first Magellanic Premium in the category of navigation. In 1790 Francis Hopkinson won for his "Description of a Spring-block, designed to assist in sailing," which allowed the sail and rigging of a ship to make better use of an increase in wind without heeling over. Since its inception there have been twelve Premiums awarded for navigation. In the nineteenth century four of the five Premiums awarded for navigation went to improvements to the helm, including William Mugford's temporary rudder and James Humphryes, Jr.'s steering apparatus.

Premiums awarded for navigation during the twentieth century have been in recognition of advances in course plotting. Most recently Roger L. Easton and Bradford W. Parkinson of the Naval Research Laboratory won the 1997 award for their development of the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS uses Earth-orbiting satellites which transmit timed radio signals giving their locations. By combining information from any four or more GPS satellites, a person on Earth can compute his or her location very precisely at any time of day or in any kind of weather. While initially designed for use by the military, GPS has been adapted for civilian use ranging from commercial airliners to personal in-car systems.


 

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