10 Things I Learned From My Son's Science Report

Today I am spending my early hours helping my son finish a Science Report that was due yesterday. The teacher was nice enough to let him finish it over the weekend. The report is over the heart and blood. The format of the report comes in the form of 10 questions that he has to research and answer. I really enjoyed the time spent with my son researching this information. We were excited to learn together.

Here are the results of our findings...

Question 1: Was it possible for John F. Kennedy to read in a newspaper about the first successful open-heart surgery? Answer: YES (The first successful open heart surgery was performed by Dr. John Gibbon in May of 1953, approx. 10 years before President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.)

Question 2: Was it possible for Napoleon Bonaparte’s doctor to examine him with a stethoscope? Answer: NO (Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on St. Helena in 1815, approx. 1 year before the earliest known stethoscopes were invented by Rene-Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec in 1816.

Question 3: Was it possible for Abraham Lincoln to have an EKG run on him?
Answer: NO (President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 12, 1865. The first known uses of the electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) was recorded until about 1872. More accurate versions were not used until the late 1890's.

Question 4: Was it possible for an American Revolution Soldier to use Digitalis if he had abnormal heart rhythms? Answer: No & YES. (If the soldier wanted to use the plant Digitalis, also known as foxgloves, during the war, then the answer would be NO. The American Revolution was fought between 1775 and 1782. Digitalis was not used to treat heart conditions until 1785, when it was used by William Withering. However if the soldier in question survived the war, then he possibly could have used this new medicine, while as a veteran.

Question 5: Was it possible for Thomas Jefferson to know his blood type? Answer NO (The most common type of blood classification, the ABO System was discovered by Karl Landsteiner in the early 1900's. Sadly Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826.

Question 6: Was it possible for your Great-Grandparents to know about the RH Factor in blood?
Answer: It all depends on if your great-grandparents were alive in 1940. (The RH, or Rhesus, Factors in blood were discovered by Karl Landsteiner and A.S. Wiener in 1937. They did not publish their findings until 1940. So if your great-grandparents were still alive in, or born during or after, 1940, then it is quite possible they could have read about this new revolutionary discovery.

Question 7: Was it possible for George Washington's doctor to take his blood pressure with a blood pressure cuff? Answer: NO (The earliest known uses of the sphygmomanometer, aka: the blood pressure cuff, was not until the early 1860's, and not widely used until 1896. George Washington died in 1799.)

Question 8: Was it possible for Mark Twain to donate to a Blood Bank? Answer: NO (This true for two reasons. #1 Mark Twain was not real, it was a pen-name used by Samuel Clemens. #2. Samuel Clemens, aka: Mark Twain, died in 1910. The first known "blood bank" were not used until 1917. They were created by Oswals Hope Robertson for use in France, while serving in the U.S. Medical Corps during World War I.

Question 9: Was it possible for Pocahontas to hear about William Harvey's description of the circulatory system of the blood? Answer: Possible but not likely. Dr. William Harvey first announced his discovery of the circulatory system of the blood in 1616. He later published his findings in 1628 in his thesis called, Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus. Pocahontas, better known at the time by her Christian name of Rebecca Rolfe, died in 1617. Since Pocahontas and her husband John Rolfe did hang around the elite society of England at the time of Dr. Harvey announced his findings, it is possible Pocahontas may have heard about Dr. Harvey's discoveries by word-of-mouth only. If she had wanted to read his published works, it would have been to late.

Question 10: Was it possible for Gen. Sam Houston to be a volunteer in the American Red Cross?
Answer: YES (Sam Houston served as a General & later President for the Republic of Texas. He also served as U.S. Senator and later Governor for the State of Texas. He died in July of 1863. The American Red Cross was established by Clara Barton and a few associates in May of 1861. It's possible Sam Houston could have tried to travel north to be a volunteer for this new organization but he would have been a very old volunteer.

Hope you had fun reading and learning new things as much as we did!