Today is Dec 16. On this date in 1917 writer Arthur C. Clarke was born. Notable for both his science fiction and his nonfiction. His best known works are the script he wrote with American film director Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and the novel of that film.

A spectacular Hubble image of the spiral galaxy NGC 2903.

A beautiful ESO image of the planetary nebula Abell 24.

Today is December 15. On this date in 1923 physicist Freeman Dyson was born. Known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrices, mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, and engineering.

The "flocculent" spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 2775 in this Hubble image indicate that the recent history of star formation of the galaxy has been relatively quiet.

Today is Dec 14. On this date in 1546 astronomer Tycho Brahe was born. He developed astronomical instruments and measured positions of stars, paving the way for future discoveries. His observations included a study of the solar system and accurate positions of more than 777 fixed stars.

An ESO image of Eta Carinae and the Keyhole Nebula, part of the larger Carina Nebula.

Today is December 12. On this date in 1921 astronomer Henrietta Leavitt passed away. Known for her discovery of the relationship between period and luminosity in Cepheid variables, pulsating stars that vary regularly in brightness in periods ranging from a few days to several months.

This gorgeous Hubble image shows the galaxy NGC 2906.

Today is December 11. On this date in 1882 physicist Max Born was born. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1954 for his probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics.

An ESO image of the nebula GUM 39, which is about 6,500 light-years from Earth.

Today is December 10. On this date in 1815 mathematician Ada Lovelace was born. She was an associate of Charles Babbage, for whose prototype of a digital computer she created a program. She has been called the first computer programmer.

The eye is first drawn, in this Webb image, to the central galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This massive collection of galaxies, lying 4.5 billion light-years from Earth, acts as a gravitational lens on farther galaxies, stretching their light into arcs.

Today is December 9. On this date in 1996 paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey passed away. She made several fossil finds of great importance in the understanding of human evolution.

The Flame Nebula in this ESO image, also referred to as NGC 2024, is the hideout of a cluster of young, blue, massive stars, whose light sets the gas ablaze. It is located about 1,300 light-years away.

Today is December 8. On this date in 1955 mathematician Hermann Weyl passed away. Through his widely varied contributions in mathematics, served as a link between pure mathematics and theoretical physics, in particular adding enormously to quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity.

The galaxy NGC 4102, featured in this Hubble image, is home to what astronomers call an active galactic nucleus. Active galactic nuclei are luminous galactic centres powered by supermassive black holes that contain millions to billion times the mass of our Sun.

Today is December 6. On this date in 1888 zoologist Libbie Hyman was born. She wrote numerous works on invertebrate zoology and the widely used A Laboratory Manual for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy.

A beautiful ESO image of the gas cloud known as IC2948, a stellar nursery.

Today is Dec 5. On this date in 1901 physicist Werner Heisenberg was born. He discovered a way to formulate quantum mechanics in terms of matrices. For which, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932. In 1927 he published his uncertainty principle, for which he is best known.

A gorgeous Hubble image of the highly active spiral starburst galaxy NGC 1792. It is Located over 50 million light-years from Earth.

Today is Dec 4. On this date in 1798 physicist Luigi Galvani passed away. He investigated the nature and effects of what he conceived to be electricity in animal tissue. His discoveries led to the invention of the voltaic pile, a battery that makes a constant source of current electricity.

This ESO image shows Barnard 59, part of a vast dark cloud of interstellar dust called the Pipe Nebula.

Today is December 3. On this date in 1616 mathematician John Wallis was born. He contributed to the invention of calculus. He also invented and introduced the symbol ∞ for infinity.

The relatively nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1433 takes on a completely new look when observed by @NASAWebb 's Mid-Infrared instrument.

Today is Dec 2. On this date in 1966 mathematician L.E.J. Brouwer passed away. In mathematics,he founded modern topology by establishing the topological invariance of dimension and the fixpoint theorem. In philosophy,his brainchild is intuitionism,a revisionist foundation of mathematics.

This ESO image captures a dazzling region of newly-forming stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

Today is December 1. On this date in 1792 mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky was born. A founder of non-Euclidean geometry (hyperbolic geometry). Also known for his fundamental study on Dirichlet integrals, known as the Lobachevsky integral formula.

The two largest galaxies in this Hubble image form the interacting galaxy system known as Arp-Madore 2105-332. The other galaxies are farther and just appear to form a chain.

Today is November 30. On this date in 1835 writer Mark Twain was born. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced", with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature".

A spectacular ESO infrared image of the Orion Nebula star-formation region.

Today is November 29. On this date in 1803 physicist Christian Doppler was born. He formulated the principle – now known as the Doppler effect – that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer.

The lenticular galaxy NGC 6684 in this Hubble image is around 44 million light-years from Earth.

Today is November 28. On this date in 1908 anthropologist and ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss was born. His work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology.

This ESO infrared image covers the Orion A molecular cloud, the nearest known massive star factory, lying about 1,350 light-years from Earth. It reveals many young stars and other objects normally buried deep inside the dusty clouds.

Today is November 27. On this date in 1754 mathematician Abraham de Moivre passed away. Best known for de Moivre's formula, a formula that links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory.

This image features the spiral galaxy NGC 691, imaged in fantastic detail by Hubble . The galaxy is about 120 million light-years away from Earth.

Today is November 26. On this date in 1857 linguist Ferdinand de Saussure was born. His ideas on structure in language laid the foundation for much of the approach to and progress of the linguistic sciences in the 20th century.

This ESO infrared image shows the star-forming region 30 Doradus, highlighting its bright stars and pinkish clouds of hot gas.

Today is Nov 25. On this date in 1841 mathematician Ernst Schröder was born. A major figure in the history of mathematical logic. Summarized and extended work of George Boole, Augustus De Morgan, Hugh MacColl, Charles Peirce. Best known for monumental "Lectures on the Algebra of Logic."

A beautiful Hubble image of the galaxy UGC 11397, which harbors at its center a supermassive black hole of about 174 million times the mass of the Sun.

Today is Nov 24. On this date in 1925 physical engineer Simon van den Meer was born. He received the 1984 @NobelPrize for Physics for his contribution to the discovery of the massive, short-lived subatomic particles designated W and Z that were crucial to the unified electroweak theory.

Enlarged view of the head of Column 2 of the Eagle Nebula, as seen by ESO . The bright blue-yellow source embedded in nebulosity near the tip is a young star.

Today is Nov 23. The date's digits, when written as 11/23, form the first 4 numbers of the Fibonacci sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,...). See my book "The Golden Ratio."

This sparkling scene of star birth was captured by Webb . What appears to be a craggy mountaintop is actually a cosmic dust-scape being eroded away by the blistering winds and radiation of nearby, massive, infant stars. The star cluster is called Pismis 24.

Today is Nov 22. On this date in 1904 physicist Louis Néel was born.He received Nobel Prize for Physics in 1970 for studies of magnetic properties of solids.His contributions to solid-state physics have found numerous applications, particularly in the development of computer memory units.

NGC 2074 and NGC 2081, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, are an open cluster of stars swaddled by ionized, glowing gases. The little red nebula at the bottom of this ESO image is known as SUMSS J053917-693329.

Today is Nov 21. On this date in 1694 philosopher, satirist, and historian Voltaire was born. Famous for his wit and his criticism of the Catholic Church and of slavery. He was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.

A dramatic triplet of galaxies takes center stage in this Hubble image. The system is known as Arp 195.

Today is November 20. On this date in 1889 astronomer Edwin Hubble was born. He played a crucial role in establishing the field of extragalactic astronomy and is generally regarded as the leading observational cosmologist of the 20th century.