1.
1797 in architecture
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The year 1797 in architecture involved some significant events. Ditherington Flax Mill, in Shrewsbury, England, is completed, by the end of the 20th century it will be the oldest iron-framed building in the world, first Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, designed by Samuel Blodgett, is completed. Hassan Basha Mosque in Oran is built, palace of Shaki Khans in Shaki, Azerbaijan is built. May 3 - George Webster, English architect October 4 - Anthony Keck, English architect
2.
Science
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Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations, disciplines which use science, like engineering and medicine, may also be considered to be applied sciences. However, during the Islamic Golden Age foundations for the method were laid by Ibn al-Haytham in his Book of Optics. In the 17th and 18th centuries, scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of physical laws, over the course of the 19th century, the word science became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself as a disciplined way to study the natural world. It was during this time that scientific disciplines such as biology, chemistry, Science in a broad sense existed before the modern era and in many historical civilizations. Modern science is distinct in its approach and successful in its results, Science in its original sense was a word for a type of knowledge rather than a specialized word for the pursuit of such knowledge. In particular, it was the type of knowledge which people can communicate to each other, for example, knowledge about the working of natural things was gathered long before recorded history and led to the development of complex abstract thought. This is shown by the construction of calendars, techniques for making poisonous plants edible. For this reason, it is claimed these men were the first philosophers in the strict sense and they were mainly speculators or theorists, particularly interested in astronomy. In contrast, trying to use knowledge of nature to imitate nature was seen by scientists as a more appropriate interest for lower class artisans. A clear-cut distinction between formal and empirical science was made by the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, although his work Peri Physeos is a poem, it may be viewed as an epistemological essay on method in natural science. Parmenides ἐὸν may refer to a system or calculus which can describe nature more precisely than natural languages. Physis may be identical to ἐὸν and he criticized the older type of study of physics as too purely speculative and lacking in self-criticism. He was particularly concerned that some of the early physicists treated nature as if it could be assumed that it had no intelligent order, explaining things merely in terms of motion and matter. The study of things had been the realm of mythology and tradition, however. Aristotle later created a less controversial systematic programme of Socratic philosophy which was teleological and he rejected many of the conclusions of earlier scientists. For example, in his physics, the sun goes around the earth, each thing has a formal cause and final cause and a role in the rational cosmic order. Motion and change is described as the actualization of potentials already in things, while the Socratics insisted that philosophy should be used to consider the practical question of the best way to live for a human being, they did not argue for any other types of applied science
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Technology
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Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. Technology can be the knowledge of techniques, processes, and the like, the human species use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The steady progress of technology has brought weapons of ever-increasing destructive power. It has helped develop more advanced economies and has allowed the rise of a leisure class, many technological processes produce unwanted by-products known as pollution and deplete natural resources to the detriment of Earths environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and raise new questions of the ethics of technology, examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, and the challenges of bioethics. Philosophical debates have arisen over the use of technology, with disagreements over whether technology improves the condition or worsens it. The use of the technology has changed significantly over the last 200 years. Before the 20th century, the term was uncommon in English, the term was often connected to technical education, as in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The term technology rose to prominence in the 20th century in connection with the Second Industrial Revolution, the terms meanings changed in the early 20th century when American social scientists, beginning with Thorstein Veblen, translated ideas from the German concept of Technik into technology. In German and other European languages, a distinction exists between technik and technologie that is absent in English, which translates both terms as technology. By the 1930s, technology referred not only to the study of the industrial arts, dictionaries and scholars have offered a variety of definitions. Ursula Franklin, in her 1989 Real World of Technology lecture, gave another definition of the concept, it is practice, the way we do things around here. The term is used to imply a specific field of technology, or to refer to high technology or just consumer electronics. Bernard Stiegler, in Technics and Time,1, defines technology in two ways, as the pursuit of life by other than life, and as organized inorganic matter. Technology can be most broadly defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to some value. In this usage, technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world problems and it is a far-reaching term that may include simple tools, such as a crowbar or wooden spoon, or more complex machines, such as a space station or particle accelerator. Tools and machines need not be material, virtual technology, such as software and business methods. W. Brian Arthur defines technology in a broad way as a means to fulfill a human purpose
4.
Smithson Tennant
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Smithson Tennant FRS was an English chemist. Tennant is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium and he also contributed to the proof of the identity of diamond and charcoal. The mineral tennantite is named after him, Tennant was born in Selby in Yorkshire. His own name derives from his grandmother Rebecca Smithson, widow of Joshua Hitchling and he attended Beverley Grammar School and there is a plaque over one of the entrances to the present school commemorating his discovery of the two elements, osmium and iridium. He began to study medicine at Edinburgh in 1781, but after a few months moved to Cambridge and he graduated M. D. at Cambridge in 1796, and about the same time purchased an estate near Cheddar, where he carried out agricultural experiments. He was appointed professor of chemistry at Cambridge in 1813, but lived to deliver only one course of lectures and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Tennant, Smithson. Mary D. Archer, Christopher D. Haley, the 1702 Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge. Cambridge,2005, ISBN 0-521-82873-2, ISBN 978-0-521-82873-4
5.
Diamond
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Diamond is a metastable allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at standard conditions. Diamond is renowned as a material with superlative physical qualities, most of which originate from the covalent bonding between its atoms. In particular, diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material and those properties determine the major industrial application of diamond in cutting and polishing tools and the scientific applications in diamond knives and diamond anvil cells. Because of its extremely rigid lattice, it can be contaminated by very few types of impurities, such as boron, small amounts of defects or impurities color diamond blue, yellow, brown, green, purple, pink, orange or red. Diamond also has relatively high optical dispersion, most natural diamonds are formed at high temperature and pressure at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers in the Earths mantle. Carbon-containing minerals provide the source, and the growth occurs over periods from 1 billion to 3.3 billion years. Diamonds are brought close to the Earths surface through deep volcanic eruptions by magma, Diamonds can also be produced synthetically in a HPHT method which approximately simulates the conditions in the Earths mantle. An alternative, and completely different growth technique is chemical vapor deposition, several non-diamond materials, which include cubic zirconia and silicon carbide and are often called diamond simulants, resemble diamond in appearance and many properties. Special gemological techniques have developed to distinguish natural diamonds, synthetic diamonds. The word is from the ancient Greek ἀδάμας – adámas unbreakable, the name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek αδάμας, proper, unalterable, unbreakable, untamed, from ἀ-, un- + δαμάω, I overpower, I tame. Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3,000 years, Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history, later in 1797, the English chemist Smithson Tennant repeated and expanded that experiment. By demonstrating that burning diamond and graphite releases the same amount of gas, the most familiar uses of diamonds today are as gemstones used for adornment, a use which dates back into antiquity, and as industrial abrasives for cutting hard materials. The dispersion of light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. In the 20th century, experts in gemology developed methods of grading diamonds, four characteristics, known informally as the four Cs, are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds, these are carat, cut, color, and clarity. A large, flawless diamond is known as a paragon and these conditions are met in two places on Earth, in the lithospheric mantle below relatively stable continental plates, and at the site of a meteorite strike. The conditions for diamond formation to happen in the mantle occur at considerable depth corresponding to the requirements of temperature and pressure
6.
Carbon
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Carbon is a chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds, three isotopes occur naturally, 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is a radioactive isotope, decaying with a half-life of about 5,730 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity, Carbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earths crust, and the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. It is the second most abundant element in the body by mass after oxygen. The atoms of carbon can bond together in different ways, termed allotropes of carbon, the best known are graphite, diamond, and amorphous carbon. The physical properties of carbon vary widely with the allotropic form, for example, graphite is opaque and black while diamond is highly transparent. Graphite is soft enough to form a streak on paper, while diamond is the hardest naturally occurring material known, graphite is a good electrical conductor while diamond has a low electrical conductivity. Under normal conditions, diamond, carbon nanotubes, and graphene have the highest thermal conductivities of all known materials, all carbon allotropes are solids under normal conditions, with graphite being the most thermodynamically stable form. They are chemically resistant and require high temperature to react even with oxygen, the most common oxidation state of carbon in inorganic compounds is +4, while +2 is found in carbon monoxide and transition metal carbonyl complexes. The largest sources of carbon are limestones, dolomites and carbon dioxide, but significant quantities occur in organic deposits of coal, peat, oil. For this reason, carbon has often referred to as the king of the elements. The allotropes of carbon graphite, one of the softest known substances, and diamond. It bonds readily with other small atoms including other carbon atoms, Carbon is known to form almost ten million different compounds, a large majority of all chemical compounds. Carbon also has the highest sublimation point of all elements, although thermodynamically prone to oxidation, carbon resists oxidation more effectively than elements such as iron and copper that are weaker reducing agents at room temperature. Carbon is the element, with a ground-state electron configuration of 1s22s22p2. Its first four ionisation energies,1086.5,2352.6,4620.5 and 6222.7 kJ/mol, are higher than those of the heavier group 14 elements. Carbons covalent radii are normally taken as 77.2 pm,66.7 pm and 60.3 pm, although these may vary depending on coordination number, in general, covalent radius decreases with lower coordination number and higher bond order. Carbon compounds form the basis of all life on Earth
7.
Louis Nicolas Vauquelin
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Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, was a French pharmacist and chemist. Vauquelin was born at Saint-André-dHébertot in Normandy, France, moving to Paris, he became a laboratory assistant at the Jardin du Roi and was befriended by a professor of chemistry. In 1798 Vauquelin discovered beryllium by extracting it from an emerald. At first his work appeared as that of his master and patron, then in their joint names, in 1790 he began to publish on his own and he also managed to get liquid ammonia at atmospheric pressure. His lectures, which were supplemented with practical laboratory teaching, were attended by many chemists who subsequently attained distinction, a lesser known contribution and finding of his included the study of hens fed a known amount of mineral. Having calculated all the lime in oats fed to a hen, therefore, there is a creation of matter. In that way, no one knows, from 1809 he was professor at the University of Paris. In 1816, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1828, in 1806, working with asparagus, he and Pierre Jean Robiquet isolated the amino acid asparagine, the first one to be discovered. He also discovered pectin and malic acid in apples, and isolated camphoric acid and his death occurred while he was on a visit to his birthplace. Among his best known works is Manuel de lessayeur, kyle, R A, Shampo, M A. Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin—discoverer of chromium. WILLIAMS-ASHMAN, H G. NICOLAS LOUIS VAUQUELIN, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin at the Mathematics Genealogy Project This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Vauquelin, Louis Nicolas
8.
Chromium
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Chromium is a chemical element with symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 and it is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard and brittle metal which takes a high polish, resists tarnishing, and has a high melting point. The name of the element is derived from the Greek word χρῶμα, chrōma, meaning color, Chromium metal is of high value for its high corrosion resistance and hardness. A major development was the discovery that steel could be highly resistant to corrosion and discoloration by adding metallic chromium to form stainless steel. Stainless steel and chrome plating together comprise 85% of the commercial use, trivalent chromium ion is an essential nutrient in trace amounts in humans for insulin, sugar and lipid metabolism, although the issue is debated. While chromium metal and Cr ions are not considered toxic, hexavalent chromium is toxic and carcinogenic, abandoned chromium production sites often require environmental cleanup. Chromium is remarkable for its properties, it is the only elemental solid which shows antiferromagnetic ordering at room temperature. Above 38 °C, it changes to paramagnetic, Chromium metal left standing in air is passivated by oxidation, forming a thin, protective, surface layer. This layer is a structure only a few molecules thick. It is very dense, and prevents the diffusion of oxygen into the underlying metal and this is different from the oxide that forms on iron and carbon steel, through which elemental oxygen continues to migrate, reaching the underlying material to cause incessant rusting. Passivation can be enhanced by short contact with oxidizing acids like nitric acid, passivated chromium is stable against acids. Passivation can be removed with a reducing agent that destroys the protective oxide layer on the metal. Chromium metal treated in this way readily dissolves in weak acids, Chromium, unlike such metals as iron and nickel, does not suffer from hydrogen embrittlement. However, it suffer from nitrogen embrittlement, reacting with nitrogen from air. Chromium is the 22nd most abundant element in Earths crust with a concentration of 100 ppm. Chromium compounds are found in the environment from the erosion of chromium-containing rocks, Chromium is mined as chromite ore. About two-fifths of the ores and concentrates in the world are produced in South Africa, while Kazakhstan, India, Russia. Untapped chromite deposits are plentiful, but geographically concentrated in Kazakhstan, although rare, deposits of native chromium exist
9.
Joseph Proust
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Joseph Louis Proust was an actor and a French chemist. He was best known for his discovery of the law of constant composition in 1794, joseph L. Proust was born on September 26,1754 in Angers, France. His father served as an apothecary in Angers, joseph studied chemistry in his father’s shop and later came to Paris where he gained the appointment of apothecary in chief to the Salpetriere. He also taught chemistry with Pilâtre de Rozier, a famous aeronaut, under Carlos IVs influence Proust went to Spain. There he taught at the Chemistry School in Segovia and at the University of Salamanca, but when Napoleon invaded Spain, they burned Prousts laboratory and forced him back to France. On July 5,1826 he died in Angers, France, the mineral proustite is named in his honour. Prousts best known work was derived from a controversy with C. L, Berthollet did not believe that substances always combine in constant and definite proportions as Proust did. Proust eventually was able to prove Berthollet wrong in 1794 and published his own hypothesis, proust’s largest accomplishment into the realm of science was disproving Berthollet with the law of definite proportions, which is sometimes also known as Prousts Law. Proust studied copper carbonate, the two tin oxides, and the two iron sulfides to prove this law and he did this by making artificial copper carbonate and comparing it to natural copper carbonate. With this he showed that each had the proportion of weights between the three elements involved. Between the two types of the compounds, Proust showed that no intermediate compounds exist between them. Proust published this paper in 1794, but the law was not accepted until 1812, there are, however, exceptions to the Law of Definite Proportions. An entire class of substances does not follow this rule, the compounds are called non-stoichiometric compounds, or Berthollides, after Berthollet. The ratio of the present in the compound can fluctuate within certain limits. The ideal formula is FeO, but due to crystallographic vacancies it is reduced to about Fe0. 95O, Proust was also interested in studying the sugars that are present in sweet vegetables and fruits. In 1799, Proust demonstrated, to his class in Madrid, Proust was the first scientist to think that chemical compounds are formed from definite proportions
10.
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
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Joseph-Louis Lagrange, born Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia or Giuseppe Ludovico De la Grange Tournier, was an Italian and French Enlightenment Era mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the fields of analysis, number theory, in 1787, at age 51, he moved from Berlin to Paris and became a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He remained in France until the end of his life, Lagrange was one of the creators of the calculus of variations, deriving the Euler–Lagrange equations for extrema of functionals. He also extended the method to take into account possible constraints and he proved that every natural number is a sum of four squares. His treatise Theorie des fonctions analytiques laid some of the foundations of group theory, in calculus, Lagrange developed a novel approach to interpolation and Taylor series. Born as Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia, Lagrange was of Italian and French descent and his mother was from the countryside of Turin. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, a career as a lawyer was planned out for Lagrange by his father, and certainly Lagrange seems to have accepted this willingly. He studied at the University of Turin and his subject was classical Latin. At first he had no enthusiasm for mathematics, finding Greek geometry rather dull. It was not until he was seventeen that he showed any taste for mathematics – his interest in the subject being first excited by a paper by Edmond Halley which he came across by accident. Alone and unaided he threw himself into mathematical studies, at the end of a years incessant toil he was already an accomplished mathematician, in that capacity, Lagrange was the first to teach calculus in an engineering school. In this Academy one of his students was François Daviet de Foncenex, Lagrange is one of the founders of the calculus of variations. Starting in 1754, he worked on the problem of tautochrone, Lagrange wrote several letters to Leonhard Euler between 1754 and 1756 describing his results. He outlined his δ-algorithm, leading to the Euler–Lagrange equations of variational calculus, Lagrange also applied his ideas to problems of classical mechanics, generalizing the results of Euler and Maupertuis. Euler was very impressed with Lagranges results, Lagrange published his method in two memoirs of the Turin Society in 1762 and 1773. Many of these are elaborate papers, the article concludes with a masterly discussion of echoes, beats, and compound sounds. Other articles in volume are on recurring series, probabilities. The next work he produced was in 1764 on the libration of the Moon, and an explanation as to why the face was always turned to the earth
11.
Giovanni Battista Venturi
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Giovanni Battista Venturi was an Italian physicist, savant, man of letters, diplomat and historian of science. Because of this discovery, he is the eponym for the Venturi tube, the Venturi flow meter, born in Bibbiano, Italy, in the Province of Reggio Emilia Giovanni was a contemporary of Lagrange and Laplace, and a pupil of Lazzaro Spallanzani. He was ordained as a priest in 1769, at the age of 23, and in the year was appointed as teacher of logic at the seminary of Reggio Emilia. In 1774 he became a professor of geometry and philosophy at the University of Modena and he later held the posts of ducal mathematician, state engineer, and auditor under the Duke of Modena. As state engineer he was responsible for construction, rectification of water courses, draining of marsh land. In 1786 he was given the post of professor of physics at the University of Modena. During this time he was able to complete the town of Modenas historical memoirs, which had been left incomplete following the death of Girolamo Tiraboschi. Venturi moved to Paris as Secretary of a delegation sent by the Duke of Modena to undertake negotiations with the Supreme Executive Council, following unsuccessful negotiations, he remained in there for a year and a half to improve his knowledge of physics and chemistry. He also published several treatises, including the famous Venturi effect treatise of 1797, however, Venturis design was not applied to a practical apparatus until 1888, when Clemens Herschel was awarded a patent first commercial model of the Venturi tube. This was followed in 1926 by Cecil Aggelers bachelors thesis, Design of a Venturi Type Current Meter, another of Venturis treatises demonstrated his abilities as a historian of science. The Abbé Venturi used Napoleons influence and protection to frustrate the intrigues of those in his country who tried to oust him from his position at the University. Bonaparte made him a member of the Corps législatif, professor at the Military School of Modena, adverse political influences subjected Venturi to many vicissitudes, even leading to imprisonment. But after the conquest of Italy, the First Consul Napoleon gave him a professorship at the University of Pavia, Venturi also continued to apply his engineering expertise in mine work and hydraulic construction. Later, he was made Diplomatic Agent of the Helvetic Confederation and he retired in 1813, due to failing health, and was granted a pension on the maximum scale by the Emperor Napoleon. On his return to Reggio he set about the publication of a number of scientific and he died at Reggio Emilia in April 1822, at the age of seventy-six
12.
Venturi effect
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The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of a pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi, an Italian physicist, thus any gain in kinetic energy a fluid may accrue due to its increased velocity through a constriction is balanced by a drop in pressure. By measuring the change in pressure, the rate can be determined, as in various flow measurement devices such as venturi meters, venturi nozzles. The limiting case of the Venturi effect is when a fluid reaches the state of choked flow, when a fluid system is in a state of choked flow, a further decrease in the downstream pressure environment will not lead to an increase in the mass flow rate. However, mass flow rate for a fluid can increase with increased upstream pressure. This is the principle of operation of a de Laval nozzle, the simplest apparatus, as shown in the photograph and diagram, is a tubular setup known as a Venturi tube or simply a venturi. Fluid flows through a length of pipe of varying diameter, to avoid undue aerodynamic drag, a Venturi tube typically has an entry cone of 30 degrees and an exit cone of 5 degrees. Venturi tubes are used in processes where permanent pressure loss is not tolerable, Venturi tubes are more expensive to construct than a simple orifice plate which uses the same principle as a tubular scheme, but the orifice plate causes significantly more permanent energy loss. Venturis are used in applications and in scientific laboratories for measuring the flow rate of liquids. A venturi can be used to measure the flow rate. At the end of the system, a mixture of liquid, see aspirator and pressure head for discussion of this type of siphon. As fluid flows through a venturi, the expansion and compression of the cause the pressure inside the venturi to change. This principle can be used in metrology for gauges calibrated for differential pressures and this type of pressure measurement may be more convenient, for example, to measure fuel or combustion pressures in jet or rocket engines. In fact, some gusts were so high that travel had to be aided by ropes. Venturi tubes are used to measure the speed of a fluid. Placing a liquid in a U-shaped tube and connecting the ends of the tubes to both ends of a Venturi is all that is needed. When the fluid flows though the Venturi the pressure in the two ends of the tube will differ, forcing the liquid to the low pressure side, the amount of that move can be calibrated to the speed of the fluid flow
13.
Balloon (aeronautics)
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In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point and it is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat that can propel itself through the air in a controlled manner. Many balloons have a basket, gondola or capsule suspended beneath the envelope for carrying people or equipment. A balloon is conceptually the simplest of all flying machines, the balloon is a fabric envelope filled with a gas that is lighter than the surrounding atmosphere. As the entire balloon is less dense than its surroundings, it rises, taking along with it a basket, attached underneath, which carries passengers or payload. Although a balloon has no propulsion system, a degree of control is possible through making the balloon rise or sink in altitude to find favorable wind directions. There are three types of balloon, The hot air balloon or Montgolfière obtains its buoyancy by heating the air inside the balloon. The Rozière type has both heated and unheated lifting gases in separate gasbags and this type of balloon is sometimes used for long-distance record flights, such as the recent circumnavigations, but is not otherwise in use. Both the hot air, or Montgolfière, balloon and the gas balloon are still in common use, Montgolfière balloons are relatively inexpensive, as they do not require high-grade materials for their envelopes, and they are popular for balloonist sport activity. The first tethered manned balloon flight was by a larger Montgolfier balloon, the first free balloon flight was by the same Montgolfier balloon on 21 November 1783. When heated, air expands, so a given volume of space contains less air and this makes it lighter and, if its lifting power is greater than the weight of the balloon containing it, it will lift the balloon upwards. A hot air balloon can stay up while it has fuel for its burner. The Montgolfiers early hot air balloons used a solid-fuel brazier which proved less practical than the balloons that had followed almost immediately. In the 1950s, the convenience and low cost of bottled gas burners led to a revival of hot air ballooning for sport and leisure. A man-carrying balloon using the gas hydrogen for buoyancy was made by Professor Jacques Charles and flown less than a month after the Montgolfier flight. In the 19th century, it was common to use gas to fill balloons, this was not as light as pure hydrogen gas, having about half the lifting power. Light gas balloons are predominant in scientific applications, as they are capable of reaching much higher altitudes for longer periods of time. They are generally filled with helium, although hydrogen has more lifting power, it is explosive in an atmosphere rich in oxygen
14.
Thomas Bewick
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Thomas Bewick was an English engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements. He gradually turned to illustrating, writing and publishing his own books and his career began when he was apprenticed to engraver Ralph Beilby in Newcastle upon Tyne. He became a partner in the business and eventually took it over, Apprentices whom Bewick trained include John Anderson, Luke Clennell, and William Harvey, who in their turn became well known as painters and engravers. The book was the forerunner of all modern field guides and he notably illustrated editions of Aesops Fables throughout his life. He is credited with popularising a technical innovation in the printing of illustrations using wood and he adopted metal-engraving tools to cut hard boxwood across the grain, producing printing blocks that could be integrated with metal type, but were much more durable than traditional woodcuts. The result was high-quality illustration at a low price, Bewick was born at Cherryburn, a house in the village of Mickley, Northumberland, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 10 or 11 August 1753, although his birthday was always celebrated on the 12th. His parents were tenant farmers, his father John had been married before his union with Jane, and was in his forties when Thomas, John rented a small colliery at Mickley Bank, which employed perhaps six men. Bewick attended school in the village of Ovingham. Bewick did not flourish at schoolwork, but at an early age showed a talent for drawing. He had no lessons in art, in Beilbys workshop Bewick engraved a series of diagrams on wood for Charles Hutton, illustrating a treatise on measurement. In 1776 Bewick became a partner in Beilbys workshop, the joint business prospered, becoming Newcastles leading engraving service with an enviable reputation for high quality work and good service. In September 1776 he went to London for eight months, finding the city rude, deceitful and cruel, and much disliking the unfairness of extreme wealth and poverty side by side. He returned to his beloved Newcastle as soon as he could, but his time in the capital gave him a reputation, business experience. In 1786, when he was secure, he married Isabella Elliott from Ovingham. They had four children, Robert, Jane, Isabella, and Elizabeth, at that period in his life he was described by the Newcastle artist Thomas Sword Good as a man of athletic make, nearly 6 feet high and proportionally stout. He possessed great courage and in his younger years was not slow to repay an insult with personal chastisement. On one occasion, being assaulted by two pitmen on returning from a visit to Cherryburn, he turned upon the aggressors
15.
A History of British Birds
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A History of British Birds is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, Land Birds, appeared in 1797, Volume 2, Water Birds, appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821, the text in Land Birds was written by Ralph Beilby, while Bewick took over the text for the second volume. The book is admired mainly for the beauty and clarity of Bewicks wood engravings, which are considered his finest work. British Birds has been compared to works of poetry and literature and it plays a recurring role in Charlotte Brontës novel Jane Eyre. William Wordsworth praised Bewick in the first lines of his poem The Two Thieves, Oh now that the genius of Bewick were mine, the book was effectively the first field guide for non-specialists. Bewick provides an illustration of each species, from life if possible. The common and scientific name are listed, citing the naming authorities, the bird is described, with its distribution and behaviour, often with extensive quotations from printed sources or correspondents. Those who provided skins or information are acknowledged, the species are grouped into families such as Of the Falcon, using the limited and conflicting scientific sources of the time. Each species entry begins on a new page, any spaces at the ends of entries are filled with tail-pieces, small, British Birds remains in print, and has attracted the attention of authors such as Jenny Uglow. Critics note Bewicks skill as a naturalist as well as an engraver, the preface states that while one of the editors of this work was engaged in preparing the cuts, which are faithfully drawn from Nature, and engraved upon wood, the compilation of the descriptions. Bewicks friend Thomas Hornby heard of this, and informed Bewick, an informal trade panel met to judge the matter, and the preface was the result, and Beilbys name did not appear on the title page. Each species of bird is presented in a few pages, Bewick then presents the name, with variations, and the Latin and French equivalents. The text begins by stating the size of the bird, Bewick then describes the bird, typically in one paragraph, naming any notable features such as the colour of the eyes, the bill, the legs, and plumage on each part of the body. Next, the origin and distribution of the species are discussed, with notes or quotations from such as John Ray, Gilbert White. Bewick then mentions any other facts of interest about the bird, in the case of the duck, this concerns its musky smell. If the bird hybridizes with other species, this is described, finally, Bewick acknowledges anyone who helped. Losh, one of Bewicks many collaborators, was a partner in Losh, Wilson and Bell, manufacturers of chemicals
16.
Copley Medal
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The Copley Medal is a scientific award given by the Royal Society, London, for outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science. It alternates between the physical and the biological sciences, the medal was created following a donation of £100 to be used for carrying out experiments by Sir Godfrey Copley, for which the interest on the amount was used for several years. A second donation of £1666 13s, 4d. was made by Sir Joseph William Copley in 1881, and the interest from that amount is used to pay for the medal. The medal in its current format is made of silver gilt, since its inception, it has been awarded to many notable scientists, including 52 winners of the Nobel Prize,17 in Physics,21 in Physiology or Medicine, and 14 in Chemistry. John Theophilus Desaguliers has won the medal the most often, winning in 1734,1736 and 1741, in 1976, Dorothy Hodgkin became the first and as of 2015 the only female recipient
17.
Frederick William Hope
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Frederick William Hope was an English entomologist and founder of the Hope Department of Entomology at the University of Oxford. Hope was born at 37 Upper Seymour Street, London, the son of John Thomas Hope of Netley Hall, Shrewsbury. He was first privately educated and from 1817 at Christ Church, presented to the Curacy of Frodesley in Shropshire, he quickly retired as a result of ill health. Hope married, in 1835, the wealthy Ellen Meredith, who had rejected a proposal of marriage from Benjamin Disraeli. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Linnean Society, Ellen was a great supporter of her husbands interests, which included collecting engraved portraits, topographical engravings, and natural history engravings. These, together with his insect collections, were given to the University of Oxford in 1849. At the same time he founded a professorship of zoology nominating John Obadiah Westwood as the first Hope professor, hopes interest in insects began around 1817. He was chiefly interested in Coleoptera, hopes initial collection of insects included 31 cabinets of varying sizes containing 964 drawers, store boxes,1800 books,249 solanders and 18 portfolios. He was a member of the Zoological Society of London and, in 1833. His main work was the Coleopterists Manual, containing the Lamellicorn beetles of Linnaeus and Fabricius in 3 volumes published from 1837 onwards, hopes other publications included some 60 papers on entomology of which the majority were on Coleoptera, many describing new genera and species. Two of his collections have recently been published, D. C. L ISBN 1-112-18432-5 Hope, Frederick William. A History of the Hope Entomological Collections in the University Museum, Oxford with lists of Archives, the Coleopterists Manual -3 Bände Containing The Lamellicorn Insects Of Linneus And Fabricius. Bohn, London 1837, digital Containing The Predaceous Land And Water Beetles Of Linneus And Fabricius, bohn, London 1838, digital Containing Various Families, Genera, And Species, Of Beetles, Recorded By Linneus And Fabricius, Also Descriptions Of Newly Discovered And Unpublished Insects. Bridgewater, London 1840 Catalogo dei crostacei Italiani e di molti altri del Mediterraneo, azzolino, Neapel 1851, digital John Obadiah Westwood, Memoir of the Late Rev. Frederick William Hope. F. Jefferies,1862, S. 785-788, online Journal of the British Archaeological Association, British Archaeological Association, Serie 1, Band 19,1863, S. 157-162, online
18.
Charles Lyell
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Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, FRS was a British lawyer and the foremost geologist of his day. Principles of Geology also challenged theories popularized by Georges Cuvier, which were the most accepted and circulated ideas about geology in England at the time and he also coined the currently-used names for geological eras, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic. He incorrectly conjectured that icebergs may be the emphasis behind the transport of glacial erratics, Lyell was one of the first to believe that the world is older than 300 million years, on the basis of its geological anomalies. He was a friend of Charles Darwin, and contributed significantly to Darwins thinking on the processes involved in evolution. He helped to arrange the publication in 1858 of papers by Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection. He later published evidence from geology of the man had existed on Earth. Lyell was born 14 November 1797 in Scotland about 15 miles north of Dundee in Kinnordy and he was the eldest of ten children. Lyells father, also named Charles Lyell, was a lawyer and botanist of minor repute, the house/place of his birth is located in the north-west of the Central Lowlands in the valley of the Highland Boundary Fault. Round the house, in the valley, is farmland. His familys second home was in a different geological and ecological area, he spent much of his childhood at Bartley Lodge in the New Forest. Lyell entered Exeter College, Oxford, in 1816, and attended William Bucklands lectures and he graduated BA second class in classics, December 1819, and M. A.1821. After graduation he took up law as a profession, entering Lincolns Inn in 1820 and he completed a circuit through rural England, where he could observe geological phenomena. In 1821 he attended Robert Jamesons lectures in Edinburgh, and visited Gideon Mantell at Lewes, in 1823 he was elected joint secretary of the Geological Society. As his eyesight began to deteriorate, he turned to geology as a full-time profession and his first paper, On a recent formation of freshwater limestone in Forfarshire, was presented in 1822. In 1832, Lyell married Mary Horner in Bonn, daughter of Leonard Horner, the new couple spent their honeymoon in Switzerland and Italy on a geological tour of the area. During the 1840s, Lyell travelled to the United States and Canada, after the Great Chicago Fire, Lyell was one of the first to donate books to help found the Chicago Public Library. In 1866, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Lyells wife died in 1873, and two years later Lyell himself died as he was revising the twelfth edition of Principles and he is buried in Westminster Abbey
19.
Zoology
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The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion, i. e. animal and λόγος, logos, i. e. knowledge, study. The history of zoology traces the study of the kingdom from ancient to modern times. This ancient work was developed in the Middle Ages by Muslim physicians. During the Renaissance and early period, zoological thought was revolutionized in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism. Microscopy revealed the unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, over the 18th and 19th centuries, zoology became an increasingly professional scientific discipline. Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction, cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis of life. These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1859, Darwin placed the theory of evolution on a new footing, by his discovery of a process by which organic evolution can occur. Darwin gave new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a biological theory. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation, cell biology studies the structural and physiological properties of cells, including their behavior, interactions, and environment. This is done on both the microscopic and molecular levels, for single-celled organisms such as bacteria as well as the cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences, the similarities and differences between cell types are particularly relevant to molecular biology. Anatomy considers the forms of macroscopic structures such as organs and organ systems and it focuses on how organs and organ systems work together in the bodies of humans and animals, in addition to how they work independently. Anatomy and cell biology are two studies that are related, and can be categorized under structural studies. Physiology studies the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of living organisms by attempting to understand how all of the function as a whole. The theme of structure to function is central to biology, for example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of physiology to non-human species
20.
Wilhelm Beer
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Wilhelm Wolff Beer was a banker and astronomer from Berlin, Prussia, and the half-brother of Giacomo Meyerbeer. Beers fame derives from his hobby, astronomy and he built a private observatory with a 9.5 cm refractor in Tiergarten, Berlin. Together with Johann Heinrich Mädler he produced the first exact map of the Moon in 1834-1836, both remained the best descriptions of the Moon for many decades. In 1830, Beer and Mädler created the first globe of the planet Mars. In 1840 they made a map of Mars and calculated its period to be 24 h 37 min 22.7 s. In addition to his hobby of astronomy, he helped with the establishment of a system in Prussia. In his last decade of life, he worked as a writer, in 1849 he was elected as an MP for the first chamber of the Prussian parliament. The crater Beer on Mars is named in Wilhelm Beers honor and lies near Mädler
21.
Prussia
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Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
22.
Astronomer
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An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who concentrates their studies on a specific question or field outside of the scope of Earth. They look at stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies, as well as other celestial objects — either in observational astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers work on include, planetary science, solar astronomy, there are also related but distinct subjects like physical cosmology which studies the Universe as a whole. Astronomers usually fit into two types, Observational astronomers make direct observations of planets, stars and galaxies, and analyze the data, theoretical astronomers create and investigate models of things that cannot be observed. They use this data to create models or simulations to theorize how different celestial bodies work, there are further subcategories inside these two main branches of astronomy such as planetary astronomy, galactic astronomy or physical cosmology. Today, that distinction has disappeared and the terms astronomer. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a Ph. D. in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities. They spend the majority of their time working on research, although quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments. The number of astronomers in the United States is actually quite small. The American Astronomical Society, which is the organization of professional astronomers in North America, has approximately 7,000 members. This number includes scientists from other such as physics, geology. The International Astronomical Union comprises almost 10,145 members from 70 different countries who are involved in research at the Ph. D. level. Before CCDs, photographic plates were a method of observation. Modern astronomers spend relatively little time at telescopes usually just a few weeks per year, analysis of observed phenomena, along with making predictions as to the causes of what they observe, takes the majority of observational astronomers time. Astronomers who serve as faculty spend much of their time teaching undergraduate and graduate classes, most universities also have outreach programs including public telescope time and sometimes planetariums as a public service to encourage interest in the field. Those who become astronomers usually have a background in maths, sciences. Taking courses that teach how to research, write and present papers are also invaluable, in college/university most astronomers get a Ph. D. in astronomy or physics. Keeping in mind how few there are it is understood that graduate schools in this field are very competitive
