1957 in science

The year 1957 in science and technology.

Astronomy and space exploration

• October 4 – Launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite

• Project Orion begins, a U.S. program to build a spacecraft powered by nuclear explosions.

Biology

• Structure of myoglobin determined by x-ray crystallography

Computer Science

• Prim's algorithm developed
• IBM makes FORTRAN scientific programming language available to customers. It becomes the most widely used computer language for technical work.

Exploration

• Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station established

Physics

• BCS theory of superconductivity developed by John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer

Awards

• Nobel Prizes:
  • Physics – Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee
  • Chemistry- Lord Alexander R Todd
  • Medicine – Daniel Bovet

Births

• July 12 – Rick D. Husband (d. 2003), American astronaut.

Deaths

• February 8 – John von Neumann (b. 1903), mathematician.
• February 18 – Henry Norris Russell (b. 1877), astronomer.
• May 7 – Wilhelm Filchner (b. 1877), explorer.
• August 21 – Harald Ulrik Sverdrup (b. 1888), meteorologist and oceanographer.