{"id":46360,"date":"2020-01-03T15:21:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T14:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=46360"},"modified":"2020-01-29T18:26:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T17:26:26","slug":"jeffrey-aronson-when-i-use-a-word-medical-anniversaries-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/03\/jeffrey-aronson-when-i-use-a-word-medical-anniversaries-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Medical anniversaries in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2014\/12\/jeffrey_aronson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-32935\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2014\/12\/jeffrey_aronson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"127\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2019\/01\/04\/jeffrey-aronson-when-i-use-a-word-medical-anniversaries-in-2019\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">last year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, my list of medical anniversaries in 2020 is restricted to multiples of 50 years (i.e. years ending in 20 and 70). Thus, I have not included, for example, the 60<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> anniversary of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/13702239\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">chlordiazepoxide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (Librium) nor the 70<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> anniversary of the discovery of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rsc.org\/periodic-table\/element\/98\/californium\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">californium<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The number of the year, 2020, is an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tanyakhovanova.com\/2007\/12\/autobiographical-numbers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">autobiographical integer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, one such that its first digit counts the number of zeroes in the integer, its second digit counts the number of ones, and so on. The sum of the digits is equal to the number of digits in the integer. So, the integer 2020 contains two zeroes, no ones, 2 twos, and no threes. And the sum of the digits is four, the number of digits in the integer. There are only seven autobiographical integers. The smallest is 1210, and the other five are 21200, 3211000, 42101000, 521001000, and 6210001000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year\u2019s anniversary list includes the following topics:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">biology (natural selection);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">genetics (gene synthesis);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">infectious diseases (smallpox);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">mathematics (the Fibonacci series and the golden ratio; Henry Billingsley\u2019s Euclid)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">medicine and health (a cure for scurvy; Tobias Venner\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Via recta ad vitam longam<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pharmacology and toxicology (the US Pharmacopoeia; quinine sulfate; insulin; somatropin; neurotransmitters; brucine);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">philosophy of science (Francis Bacon, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instauratio magna: novum organum scientarum<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; Johannes Scotus Erigera, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Periphyseon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; T H Huxley, abiogenesis);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">physiology (capillary function);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">surgery (the treatment of hydrocephalus);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">new institutions (Les Invalides in Paris; the British Red Cross).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">My highlight this year is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Practica Geometriae<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, by the Italian mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa. It deals with a range of geometrical problems, some of which are related to the golden ratio, known as \u03c6, the irrational number 1.618033988749894848\u2026 (Figure 1). The problems included calculation of the area of a pentagon, since \u03c6 is the ratio of the diagonal to the side, and of the volumes of dodecahedra and icosahedra.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-46361 \" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"690\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020.jpg 724w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020-640x415.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In an earlier book, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Liber Abaci<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (1202), Fibonacci asked how many pairs of rabbits would emerge in a year from a single pair if every month each pair begets a new pair, which from the second month on becomes productive. Table 1 shows the solution. The ratios of adjacent pairs in Fibonacci\u2019s series approximate \u03c6, getting closer the further out you go. For example, 144\/89 = 1.617977528\u2026, 233\/144 = 1.618055555\u2026, and 377\/233 = 1.618025751\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-46362 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"645\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_2.jpg 721w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_2-300x178.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_2-640x380.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the medical relevance of the golden ratio? Well, a Pubmed search for \u201cFibonacci\u201d, \u201cgolden ratio\u201d, and related terms yields about 1200 hits (Figure 2), covering a wide range of topics. Of those, I have surveyed 80 that also mention the number itself or \u201cphi\u201d (results in Table 2). Many deal with aspects of beauty and approaches to reconstructive surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-46364 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"593\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_3.jpg 593w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversaries_2020_3-300x238.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 593px) 100vw, 593px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Table 2.<\/strong><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> An analysis of 80 publications about the golden ratio<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 504px\" width=\"689\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><strong>Topic<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><strong>No.<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><strong>Examples<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Aesthetics<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">4<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Proportions in Michelangelo&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26182895\">The Creation of Adam<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26297345\">Last Judgement<\/a>; preferences in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25698599\">rats<\/a>; the limitations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26154761\">optical function<\/a> as a mechanism for the perceptual effects of golden sectioning<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Anatomical features that appear to be constructed according to the golden ratio<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">22<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27537743\">Cardiovascular system<\/a> (4); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16473477\">epidermis<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29890049\">erythrocytes<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30011316\">face<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/31107389\">skull<\/a> (7); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/12563655\">hand<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/31364404\">nose<\/a> (2); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/13976133\">retina<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29256456\">teeth<\/a> (3); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/19768494\">umbilicus<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23754297\">uterus<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Beauty<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">30<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30881817\">Breasts<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/19806044\">nipples<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29952930\">facial<\/a> (19); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25488619\">umbilical<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/28451737\">dental<\/a> (8)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Biochemistry and cell biology<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">5<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/28071669\">Fatty acids<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/20658335\">codon frequencies<\/a> in the human genome; replication of the number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30011316\">nucleobases<\/a> in the human genome; lengths of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23659319\">viral RNA<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/18628244\">cancer growth rates<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Medical devices<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">1<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Mixing of analytes and reagents in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/18850319\">microfluidic devices<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">MRI scanning<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">4<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/17243585\">technique<\/a> in which the angle at which signals are acquired is continuously increased by 111.25 degrees (= 180\/\u03c6), which causes the radial lines to be evenly spaced with time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Physiology<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">6<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/31095787\">Mitral valve function<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30820421\">blood pressure<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30594558\">pulmonary artery pressure<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30710663\">stance-to-swing ratio<\/a> while walking (2); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30497405\">hand grip<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Psychology<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">1<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">the effect of fractal scaling in cell division on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27000695\">psychological experience<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Study design and statistics<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">6<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">Use of modified Fibonacci sequences to design <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/31655197\">dose escalation studies<\/a> in drug development<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">General<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\">1<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29317314\">A critical review<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How much credence can one give to the results of such studies? Take the average ratios in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30688811\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of photographs of the faces of 60 young Polish women: vertical\/horizontal face lengths = 1.592 (nasion-stomion\/stomion-gnation). Coincidence or a true reflection of the golden ratio? And if the latter, is it the case, as many have claimed, that the golden ratio is related to aesthetic pleasure? Perhaps not. The authors of one study concluded that \u201coptical limitation in the form of reduced inter-neural synchronization during spatial-frequency coding may be the foundation for the perceptual effects of golden sectioning\u201d. With some praiseworthy <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23477386\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">exceptions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, few studies report ratios that are not golden\u2014those who want to make a mark in the field generally choose to report ratios that are close to the golden ratio.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Some medical anniversaries in 2020<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-46365 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"529\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020.jpg 419w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020-300x159.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>870<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Johannes Scotus Erigera, the Irish neoplatonist philosopher, compiles his five-volume encyclopedia, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Periphyseon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, in which he propounded his theory of the four divisions of nature: That which creates and is not created (God, the origin of all things);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That which is created and creates (the world of primordial causes or ideas);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That which is created and does not create (the world of phenomena, of contingent, sense-perceptions);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That which neither is created nor creates (God, to which all things return<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-46366 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"184\" height=\"212\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>970<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The al-&#8216;Adudi Hospital is founded in Baghdad by\u00a0 the Vizier Abud al-Dawla (pictured), advised by the Persian physician Al-Razi Ab\u016bbakr Mohammad-e Zakariyy\u0101-ye R\u0101z\u012b, known as Rhazes<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46367 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_3.jpg 206w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_3-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1220<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>Practica Geometriae<\/em> by Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, published in 1223<br \/>\n(see text)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46368 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"311\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_4.jpg 311w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_4-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1270<\/strong><br \/>\nGuglielmo da Saliceto (1210\u201377), an Italian surgeon, describes the treatment of hydrocephalus in children by cauterizing the skull and draining the excess fluid<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46369 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"379\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_5.jpg 379w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_5-300x221.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 379px) 100vw, 379px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1520<\/strong><br \/>\nSpanish troops under the command of Panfilo de Narvaez challenge Cortez in New Spain and capture him near Veracruz; however, they bring smallpox with them, killing half the population of New Spain; by 1568 the population of what is now Mexico fell from over 30 million to under 3 million, and the infection also affected the Incan empire<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46370 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"284\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_6.jpg 284w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_6-196x300.jpg 196w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 284px) 100vw, 284px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1570<\/strong><br \/>\nPublication of Henry Billingsley&#8217;s translation of Euclid&#8217;s <em>Elements<\/em>, in which he introduced a large number of geometrical and other mathematical terms into English, including: acute-angled, calculate, concentrical, conical, discontinuity, dodecahedron, ellipsis, experimenter, geodesy, gnomonical, heptagon, hexagon, hexoctahedron, icosahedron, icosidodecahedron, incommensurability, irrationality, logistical, model, obtuse-angled, octahedron, parallelepipedon, parallelogram, pentagon, polyhedron, prime number, prism, quindecagon, rectangle, residual, rhomboid, sector, segment, tetrahedron, trapezium, unit, and vertex; some of these are relevant to Fibonacci\u2019s <em>Practica Geometriae<\/em>, discussed above<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46371 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"244\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_7.jpg 244w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_7-176x300.jpg 176w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1620<\/strong><br \/>\nPublication of Francis Bacon&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/11617114\"><em>Instauratio magna: novum organum scientarum<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46372\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"644\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_8.jpg 644w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_8-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_8-640x465.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1620<\/strong><br \/>\nPublication of Henry Venner\u2019s <em>Via recta ad vitam longam<\/em>, in which he introduced many new words into English, including atrabilaric, atrophy, calorifical, cardiacal, cardialgic, coarctate, dietetical, excrementitial, excrete, flaccid, friability, gustative, ingestion, morbifical, nauseative, sanguify, turgid, and vomitory<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46373\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_9.jpg 490w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_9-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong> 1670<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/b\/be\/Merret_-_A_short_view_of_the_frauds_and_abuses_committed_by_apothecaries.pdf\">Publication<\/a> by Christopher Merrett (1614\u201395) of <em>A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries: As well in Relation to Patients, as Physicians: And Of the only Remedy thereof by Physicians making their own Medicines. The Second Edition more correct.<\/em> The Latin epigraph reads \u201cFingunt se Medicos omnes, Idiota, Sacerdos, Nutrix, &amp; Tonsor, Pharmacop\u00e6us, Anus\u201d (\u201cThese all represent themselves as Doctors\u2014the Uneducated, the Priest, the Nurse, the Barber, and the Apothecary\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46374 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"255\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_10.jpg 255w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_10-186x300.jpg 186w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1670<\/strong><br \/>\nLouis XIV orders the foundation of the H\u00f4tel National des Invalides (Les Invalides) in Paris, architect Lib\u00e9ral Bruant assisted by Jules Hardouin-Mansart<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46375 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"246\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_11.jpg 246w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_11-234x300.jpg 234w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 246px) 100vw, 246px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1720<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Austrian physician Johann Georg Heinrich Kramer reports, in <em>Dissertatio epistolico de scorbuto<\/em> (here shown in a later edition), that fresh vegetables cure scurvy in soldiers<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46376 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_12.jpg 289w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_12-270x300.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1770<\/strong><br \/>\nDeath of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1700669\/pdf\/brmedj02293-0060.pdf\">Mark Akenside<\/a>, poet and physician (1721-70); he described a case of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2018603\/pdf\/amjpathol00735-0324.pdf\">neurofibromatosis<\/a> in 1768<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-46542\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversary_2020_florence.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"244\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversary_2020_florence.jpg 244w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_anniversary_2020_florence-218x300.jpg 218w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1820<\/strong><br \/>\nBirth of Florence Nightingale, 12 May<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46377 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_13.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"355\" height=\"363\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_13.jpg 355w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_13-293x300.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1820<\/strong><br \/>\nFirst edition of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/4562985\">US Pharmacopoeia<\/a>, established by <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/442312\">Lyman Spalding<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46378 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_14.jpg 320w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_14-300x182.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1820<\/strong><br \/>\nIsolation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29737660\">quinine sulfate<\/a> from <em>Cinchona<\/em> bark by Pierre Pelletier (1788\u20131842) and Joseph Caventou (1795\u20131887) in Paris, for use in treating malaria; in the same year they also discovered brucine, a strychnine-like alkaloid in <em>Strychnos nux-vomica<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46379 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"501\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_15.jpg 501w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_15-300x247.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 501px) 100vw, 501px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1870<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Contributions to the theory of natural selection<\/em> published by Alfred Russel Wallace (1823\u20131913)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46380 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"314\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_16.jpg 314w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_16-300x211.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 314px) 100vw, 314px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1870<\/strong><br \/>\nFoundation of the British Red Cross<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46381 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_17.jpg 240w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_17-229x300.jpg 229w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1870<\/strong><br \/>\nT H Huxley (1825\u201395), in his <a href=\"https:\/\/mathcs.clarku.edu\/huxley\/CE8\/B-Ab.html\">address<\/a> as newly elected President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, coins the terms \u201cbiogenesis\u201d and \u201cabiogenesis\u201d: \u201cI term the contrary doctrine [to biogenesis]\u2014that living matter may be produced by not-living matter\u2014the hypothesis of Abiogenesis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46382 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_18.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"221\" height=\"288\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1870<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00c9douard C S\u00e9guin (1825\u201395) publishes his lecture \u201cNew Facts and Remarks Concerning Idiocy\u201d, given the previous year to the New York Medical Journal Association, and introduces the term \u201cidiot savant\u201d: \u201cAmong the wealthier classes, idiocy is not only oftener aggravated by accessory diseases, but also complicated with abnormal semi-capacities or disordered instincts, which produce heterogeneous types to an almost unlimited extent. It is from this class almost exclusively that we have musical, mathematical, architectural, and other varieties of the idiot savant; useless protrusion of a single faculty, accompanied by a woful general impotence.\u201d Today we simply use the term &#8220;savant&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46383 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_19.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"242\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_19.jpg 242w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_19-226x300.jpg 226w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1870<\/strong><br \/>\nBirth of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/31686135\">Maria Montessori<\/a>, physician and educator (1870\u20131952); one of the first Italian women to graduate from medical school<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46384 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_20.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_20.jpg 212w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_20-201x300.jpg 201w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1920<\/strong><br \/>\nNobel prize in Physiology or Medicine: August <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/1920\/krogh\/facts\/\">Krogh<\/a> \u201cfor his discovery of the capillary motor regulating mechanism\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46390\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_again.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"628\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_again.png 628w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_again-300x149.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1920<\/strong><br \/>\nFrederick Grant Banting (1891\u20131941; right) and Charles Herbert Best (1899\u20131978) develop a method for extracting insulin from dog pancreas; Banting shared the Nobel Prize with John Macleod in 1923.<br \/>\nMichael Bliss\u2019s account was published in 1982 (revised edition 1988, illustrated)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46386 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_22.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"331\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_22.jpg 331w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_22-300x222.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1970<\/strong><br \/>\nSomatropin synthesized by Choh Hao Li (1913\u201387), with W-K Liu and JS Dixon, at the University of California; they had already <a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1021\/ja00961a039\">shown<\/a> in 1966 that it consists of 256 amino acids<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46387\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_23.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_23.jpg 555w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_23-300x146.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1970<\/strong><br \/>\nNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/1970\/katz\/biographical\/\">Sir Bernard Katz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/1970\/euler\/facts\/\">Ulf von Euler<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/1970\/axelrod\/biographical\/\">Julius Axelrod<\/a> \u201cfor their discoveries concerning the humoral transmittors in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46388 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/01\/aronson_2020_24.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"271\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>1970<\/strong><br \/>\nFirst description of the complete <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/5422620\">synthesis of a gene<\/a> by Har Gobind Khorana (1922\u20132011) and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin; the PubMed bibliography of Khorana&#8217;s papers includes 39 containing the term \u201ctotal synthesis [of a gene]\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><strong>Jeffrey Aronson<\/strong>\u00a0is a clinical pharmacologist, working in the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine in Oxford&#8217;s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. He is also president emeritus of the British Pharmacological Society.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Competing interests:<\/strong> None declared.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border: 1px solid black\">\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid black;text-align: center\"><b>This week&#8217;s interesting integer: 255<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">255 = 2<sup>8<\/sup><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u2013 1 = 11111111 in base 2.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Numbers with nothing but ones in them are called repunits, a term that was coined by Albert H Beiler in 1964 (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Recreations in the Theory of Numbers<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Numbers of the form 2<sup>n<\/sup> \u2013 1 are sometimes called Mersenne numbers, although the term is more properly reserved for those in which n is prime (2<sup>p<\/sup> \u2013 1). It was originally thought that all numbers of this form were themselves prime, but in 1536 Hudalricus Regius showed that 2<sup>11<\/sup> \u2013 1 = 2047 is not prime (it equals 23 \u00d7 89). Those that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">are<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> prime are called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/primes.utm.edu\/mersenne\/index.html?id=research&amp;month=primes&amp;day=mersenne&amp;year=index\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mersenne primes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, after the French monk Marin Mersenne (1588\u20131648) who discussed them in 1644, incorrectly asserting that there were only 11 such. There are in fact many more, and these numbers have proved a fruitful hunting ground for large prime numbers. The latest to emerge, the 51<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">st<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> known Mersenne prime, is 2<sup>82,589,933<\/sup> \u2013 1, which has 24,862,048 digits. It was discovered by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mersenne.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">GIMPS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search) just four weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As last year, my list of medical anniversaries in 2020 is restricted to multiples of 50 years (i.e. years ending in 20 and 70). Thus, I have not included, for [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/03\/jeffrey-aronson-when-i-use-a-word-medical-anniversaries-in-2020\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5762],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jeff-aronsons-words","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Medical anniversaries in 2020 - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/03\/jeffrey-aronson-when-i-use-a-word-medical-anniversaries-in-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Medical anniversaries in 2020 - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As last year, my list of medical anniversaries in 2020 is restricted to multiples of 50 years (i.e. years ending in 20 and 70). 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