Erasto B. Mpemba

Erasto Bartholomeo Mpemba (1950 – 2020) was a Tanzanian game warden who, as a schoolboy, discovered the eponymously named Mpemba effect, a paradoxical phenomenon in which hot water freezes faster than cold water under certain conditions; this effect had been observed previously by Aristotle, Francis Bacon, and René Descartes.

Erasto Barthlomeo Mpemba
Born1950 (1950)
Tanganyika Territory
Died2020(2020-00-00) (aged 69–70)
Tanzania
NationalityTanzanian
Alma materCollege of African Wildlife Management
Known forMpemba effect
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsMinistry of Natural Resources and Tourism

He discovered the phenomenon at Magamba Secondary School in 1963 while preparing ice cream to earn pocket-money.[1] Due to lack of time, he skipped the cooling phase when preparing the ice cream and immediately put it into the freezer; unexpectedly, his milk mixture froze faster than that of his classmates.[2] After disputing his observations with his teacher, he raised them with Denis Gordon Osborne, who was visiting; Osborne confirmed the correctness of the observations experimentally.[3] During Mpemba's studies at the College of African Wildlife Management near Moshi, he published in 1969—together with Osborne—a paper on the phenomenon.[4]

Mpemba later studied in Australia and the USA[2] and became Principal Game Officer for the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and a member of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission's working party on the management of wildlife and protected areas circa 2002.[5] He has since retired.[6] It is believed that he died in 2020.[7]

References
  1. Mpemba’s baffling discovery: can hot water freeze before cold? (1969)
  2. "Der Mpemba-Effekt – Wasser aus der Sicht der Majis" (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  3. "Can hot water freeze faster than cold water?". math.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  4. Mpemba, E. B.; Osborne, D. G. (1969). "Cool?". Physics Education. 4 (3): 172. Bibcode:1969PhyEd...4..172M. doi:10.1088/0031-9120/4/3/312. ISSN 0031-9120. S2CID 250771765. republished as Mpemba, E B; Osborne, D G (1979). "The Mpemba effect". Physics Education. Institute of Physics. 14: 410–412. Bibcode:1979PhyEd..14..410M. doi:10.1088/0031-9120/14/7/312. S2CID 250736457.
  5. "Report of the 14th session of the Working Party on the Management of Wildlife and Protected Areas" (PDF).
  6. "TEDxDar • #TEDxDar Speaker Erasto B. Mpemba In 1963,..." 2014-10-26. Archived from the original on 2014-10-26. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  7. Mann, Adam (2022-06-29). "Controversy Continues Over Whether Hot Water Freezes Faster Than Cold". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-29.


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