#5276 - Science

2018 50c STEM Education

Value:  50¢ 1-ounce first-class letter rate- Forever

Issued:  April 6, 2018

First Day City:  Washington, DC

Type of Stamp: Commemorative

Printed by:  Ashton Potter

...  more

#5276 - Science

2018 50c STEM Education

Value:  50¢ 1-ounce first-class letter rate- Forever

Issued:  April 6, 2018

First Day City:  Washington, DC

Type of Stamp: Commemorative

Printed by:  Ashton Potter

Method:  Offset 

Format:  Pane of 20

Self-Adhesive

Quantity Printed: 15,000,000 stamps

Scientists research, study, and organize knowledge in an attempt to make sense of the natural world around us.  Efforts are being made to encourage more children to join the field.  To better understand the importance of science, these children can look to past scientists for inspiration.

One of the world’s most famous female scientists was Marie Curie.  Curie found how to separate radioactive isotopes, discovered radium and polonium, and created a way to measure radioactivity.  For these discoveries, Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (1903) and the only woman to win a second Nobel (1911).  She went on to develop mobile x-ray units to diagnose injuries at the battlefront during World War I.

Another inspiring scientist was Cuba native Carlos Juan Finlay.  In the 1870s, Finlay studied yellow fever, which had infected hundreds of thousands of people.  He discovered that mosquitoes spread the disease, a finding that was confirmed 20 years later.  Finlay’s discovery is considered one of the greatest steps forward in medical science and helped save thousands of lives during the construction of the Panama Canal.

If today’s children take inspiration from pioneers such as Curie and Finlay, they can be the scientists we need for tomorrow.  Their discoveries just might change our world.