List 20 examples of eponyms in medical terms

The Tanzanian scientist, Erasto Mpemba is credited with a discovery that hot liquid -usually water - freezes faster than the same quantity of liquid that is initially cold. His finding and procedure are now known as the Mpemba Effect. In Erasto Mpemba then a year-old Tanzanian Secondary school student was preparing ice cream for sale as his way of making some extra money.

List of eponyms from a to z

Like most great moments in the history of science, Mpemba did not follow the usual procedure, which generally required him to wait for the hot milk to cool before placing the ice cream in the freezer to solidify. Instead, he decided to do the opposite placing his hot ice cream into the freezer and to his shock it froze much quicker than those of his classmates who waited for the ice cream to cool before putting in the freezer.

Mpemba then informed his teacher of the marvelous discovery but the teacher dismissed it. However, the little student did not relent. Through his later years in school, Mpemba kept experimenting the phenomenon, and he always got the same result: hot water froze quicker than cold water. Further experimentation in a school lab also yielded consistent results, reinforcing Mpemba's conviction that the phenomenon was noteworthy.

But again, his questions to his teachers were said to have been dismissed as either him being confused, possessed by spirits or down to some errors. Mpemba posed the question to Professor Osborne who acknowledged the merit of the inquiry and promised to investigate further. This led to a collaboration between Mpemba and Osborne, resulting in their publication titled "Cool?

The effect soon became known as the Mpemba Effect. Over the years, numerous scientists have attempted to provide explanations, but a consensus has yet to be reached. In , the Royal Society of Chemistry organised a competition that attracted over 22, submissions to unravel the mystery.