1.
Nice
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Nice is the fifth most populous city in France and the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes département. The urban area of Nice extends beyond the city limits. Nice is about 13 kilometres from the principality of Monaco, the city is nicknamed Nice la Belle, which means Nice the Beautiful, which is also the title of the unofficial anthem of Nice, written by Menica Rondelly in 1912. The area of todays Nice contains Terra Amata, a site which displays evidence of a very early use of fire. Around 350 BC, Greeks of Marseille founded a permanent settlement and called it Nikaia, after Nike, through the ages, the town has changed hands many times. Its strategic location and port significantly contributed to its maritime strength, for centuries it was a dominion of Savoy, and was then part of France between 1792 and 1815, when it was returned to Piedmont-Sardinia until its re-annexation by France in 1860. The citys main seaside promenade, the Promenade des Anglais owes its name to visitors to the resort, for decades now, the picturesque Nicean surroundings have attracted not only those in search of relaxation, but also those seeking inspiration. The clear air and soft light have particularly appealed to some of Western cultures most outstanding painters, such as Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Niki de Saint Phalle and Arman. Their work is commemorated in many of the museums, including Musée Marc Chagall, Musée Matisse. Nice has the second largest hotel capacity in the country and it is one of its most visited cities and it also has the third busiest airport in France, after the two main Parisian ones. It is the capital city of the County of Nice. Nice was probably founded around 350 BC by the Greeks of Massalia, the ruins of Cemenelum are in Cimiez, now a district of Nice. In the 7th century, Nice joined the Genoese League formed by the towns of Liguria. In 729 the city repulsed the Saracens, but in 859 and again in 880 the Saracens pillaged and burned it, during the Middle Ages, Nice participated in the wars and history of Italy. As an ally of Pisa it was the enemy of Genoa, during the 13th and 14th centuries the city fell more than once into the hands of the Counts of Provence, but it regained its independence even though related to Genoa. The medieval city walls surrounded the Old Town, the landward side was protected by the River Paillon, which was later covered over and is now the tram route towards the Acropolis. The east side of the town was protected by fortifications on Castle Hill, another river flowed into the port on the east side of Castle Hill. Engravings suggest that the area was also defended by walls
2.
Kingdom of Sardinia
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The Kingdom of Sardinia was a state in Southern Europe which existed from the early 14th until the mid-19th century. It was the state of todays Italy. When it was acquired by the Duke of Savoy in 1720, however, the Savoyards united it with their possessions on the Italian mainland and, by the time of the Crimean War in 1853, had built the resulting kingdom into a strong power. The formal name of the entire Savoyard state was the States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia and its final capital was Turin, the capital of Savoy since the Middle Ages. Beginning in 1324, James and his successors conquered the island of Sardinia, in 1420 the last competing claim to the island was bought out. After the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, Sardinia became a part of the burgeoning Spanish Empire, in 1720 it was ceded by the Habsburg and Bourbon claimants to the Spanish throne to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. While in theory the traditional capital of the island of Sardinia and seat of its viceroys was Cagliari, the Congress of Vienna, which restructured Europe after Napoleons defeat, returned to Savoy its mainland possessions and augmented them with Liguria, taken from the Republic of Genoa. In 1847–48, in a fusion, the various Savoyard states were unified under one legal system, with the capital in Turin, and granted a constitution. There followed the annexation of Lombardy, the central Italian states and the Two Sicilies, Venetia, in 238 BC Sardinia became, along with Corsica, a province of the Roman Empire. The Romans ruled the island until the middle of the 5th century, when it was occupied by the Vandals, in 534 AD it was reconquered by the Romans, but now from the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium. It remained a Byzantine province until the Arab conquest of Sicily in the 9th century, after that, communications with Constantinople became very difficult, and powerful families of the island assumed control of the land. Starting from 705–706, Saracens from north Africa harassed the population of the coastal cities, information about the Sardinian political situation in the following centuries is scarce. There is a record of another massive Saracen sea attack in 1015–16 from the Balearics, the Saracen attempt to invade the island was stopped by the Judicatus with the support of the fleets of the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa, free cities of the Holy Roman Empire. Pope Benedict VIII also requested aid from the republics of Pisa. Even the title of Judices was a Byzantine reminder of the Greek church and state, of these sovereigns only two names are known, Turcoturiu and Salusiu, who probably ruled in the 10th century. The Archons still wrote in Greek or Latin, but one of the first documents of the Judex of Cagliari, their successor, was written in romance Sardinian language. The realm was divided into four kingdoms, the Judicati, perfectly organized as was the previous realm, but was now under the influence of the Pope. That was the cause of leading to a long war between the Judices, who regarded themselves as kings fighting against rebellious nobles
3.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
4.
Peterhouse, Cambridge
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Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the university, having founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 226 undergraduates,86 full-time graduate students and 45 fellows, the modern name of Peterhouse does not include the word college. Peterhouse is one of the wealthiest colleges in Cambridge, with assets exceeding £250 million, Peterhouse is widely considered the most traditional of the Cambridge colleges. It is one of the few that still seeks to insist that its members attend communal dinners, Hall takes place in two sittings, with the second known as Formal Hall, which consists of a three-course candlelit meal and which must be attended wearing gowns. At Formal Hall, the rise as the fellows proceed in, a gong is rung. The college has five Nobel laureates associated with it, either as students or fellows, Sir John Kendrew, Sir Aaron Klug, Archer Martin, Max Perutz. After disagreement between the scholars and the Brethren of the Hospital, both requested a separation, the Church of St Peter without Trumpington Gate was to be used by the scholars. Bishop Hugo de Balsham died in 1286, bequeathing 300 marks that were used to buy land to the south of St Peters Church. The earliest surviving set of statutes for the college was given to it by the then Bishop of Ely, Simon Montacute, although based on those of Merton College, these statutes clearly display the lack of resources then available to the college. They were used in 1345 to defeat an attempt by Edward III to appoint a candidate of his own as scholar, in 1354-55, William Moschett set up a trust that resulted in nearly 70 acres of land at Fen Ditton being transferred to the College by 1391-92. The Colleges relative poverty was relieved in 1401 when it acquired the advowson and rectory of Hinton through the efforts of Bishop John Fordham and John Newton. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the college acquired the area formerly known as Volneys Croft, which today is the area of St Peters Terrace, the William Stone Building. In 1553, Andrew Perne was appointed Master and his religious views were pragmatic enough to be favoured by both Mary I, who gave him the Deanery of Ely, and Elizabeth I. A contemporary joke was that the letters on the weather vane of St Peters Church could represent Andrew Perne, Papist or Andrew Perne, Protestant according to which way the wind was blowing. Having previously been close to the reformist Regius Chair of Divinity, Martin Bucer, later as vice-chancellor of the university Perne would have Bucers bones exhumed, John Foxe in his Actes and Monuments singled this out as shameful railing. There is a hole burnt in the middle of the relevant page in Pernes own copy of Foxe, Perne died in 1589, leaving a legacy to the college that funded a number of fellowships and scholarships, as well bequeathing an extensive collection of books. This collection and rare volumes since added to it is now known as the Perne Library, between 1626 and 1634, the Master was Matthew Wren
5.
Hydrogen
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Hydrogen is a chemical element with chemical symbol H and atomic number 1. With a standard weight of circa 1.008, hydrogen is the lightest element on the periodic table. Its monatomic form is the most abundant chemical substance in the Universe, non-remnant stars are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. The most common isotope of hydrogen, termed protium, has one proton, the universal emergence of atomic hydrogen first occurred during the recombination epoch. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, nonmetallic, since hydrogen readily forms covalent compounds with most nonmetallic elements, most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water or organic compounds. Hydrogen plays an important role in acid–base reactions because most acid-base reactions involve the exchange of protons between soluble molecules. In ionic compounds, hydrogen can take the form of a charge when it is known as a hydride. The hydrogen cation is written as though composed of a bare proton, Hydrogen gas was first artificially produced in the early 16th century by the reaction of acids on metals. Industrial production is mainly from steam reforming natural gas, and less often from more energy-intensive methods such as the electrolysis of water. Most hydrogen is used near the site of its production, the two largest uses being fossil fuel processing and ammonia production, mostly for the fertilizer market, Hydrogen is a concern in metallurgy as it can embrittle many metals, complicating the design of pipelines and storage tanks. Hydrogen gas is flammable and will burn in air at a very wide range of concentrations between 4% and 75% by volume. The enthalpy of combustion is −286 kJ/mol,2 H2 + O2 →2 H2O +572 kJ Hydrogen gas forms explosive mixtures with air in concentrations from 4–74%, the explosive reactions may be triggered by spark, heat, or sunlight. The hydrogen autoignition temperature, the temperature of spontaneous ignition in air, is 500 °C, the detection of a burning hydrogen leak may require a flame detector, such leaks can be very dangerous. Hydrogen flames in other conditions are blue, resembling blue natural gas flames, the destruction of the Hindenburg airship was a notorious example of hydrogen combustion and the cause is still debated. The visible orange flames in that incident were the result of a mixture of hydrogen to oxygen combined with carbon compounds from the airship skin. H2 reacts with every oxidizing element, the ground state energy level of the electron in a hydrogen atom is −13.6 eV, which is equivalent to an ultraviolet photon of roughly 91 nm wavelength. The energy levels of hydrogen can be calculated fairly accurately using the Bohr model of the atom, however, the atomic electron and proton are held together by electromagnetic force, while planets and celestial objects are held by gravity. The most complicated treatments allow for the effects of special relativity
6.
Cavendish experiment
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Because of the unit conventions then in use, the gravitational constant does not appear explicitly in Cavendishs work. Instead, the result was originally expressed as the gravity of the Earth. His experiment gave the first accurate values for these geophysical constants, the experiment was devised sometime before 1783 by geologist John Michell, who constructed a torsion balance apparatus for it. However, Michell died in 1793 without completing the work, after his death the apparatus passed to Francis John Hyde Wollaston and then to Henry Cavendish, who rebuilt the apparatus but kept close to Michells original plan. Cavendish then carried out a series of measurements with the equipment, the apparatus constructed by Cavendish was a torsion balance made of a six-foot wooden rod suspended from a wire, with a 2-inch diameter 1. 61-pound lead sphere attached to each end. Two 12-inch 348-pound lead balls were located near the smaller balls, about 9 inches away, the experiment measured the faint gravitational attraction between the small balls and the larger ones. The two large balls were positioned on alternate sides of the horizontal arm of the balance. Their mutual attraction to the small balls caused the arm to rotate, the arm stopped rotating when it reached an angle where the twisting force of the wire balanced the combined gravitational force of attraction between the large and small lead spheres. By measuring the angle of the rod and knowing the twisting force of the wire for a given angle, Cavendish found that the Earths density was 5. 448±0.033 times that of water. The period was about 20 minutes, the torsion coefficient could be calculated from this and the mass and dimensions of the balance. Actually, the rod was never at rest, Cavendish had to measure the angle of the rod while it was oscillating. Cavendishs equipment was remarkably sensitive for its time, the force involved in twisting the torsion balance was very small,1. 74×10−7 N, about 1⁄50,000,000 of the weight of the small balls. Through two holes in the walls of the shed, Cavendish used telescopes to observe the movement of the torsion balances horizontal rod, the motion of the rod was only about 0.16 inches. Cavendish was able to measure this small deflection to an accuracy of better than one hundredth of an inch using vernier scales on the ends of the rod, Cavendishs accuracy was not exceeded until C. V. In time, Michells torsion balance became the dominant technique for measuring the gravitational constant and this is why Cavendishs experiment became the Cavendish experiment. The formulation of Newtonian gravity in terms of a gravitational constant did not become standard until long after Cavendishs time, indeed, one of the first references to G is in 1873,75 years after Cavendishs work. Cavendish expressed his result in terms of the density of the Earth, later authors reformulated his results in modern terms. For this reason, historians of science have argued that Cavendish did not measure the gravitational constant, physicists, however, often use units where the gravitational constant takes a different form
7.
Chemistry
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Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. Chemistry is sometimes called the science because it bridges other natural sciences, including physics. For the differences between chemistry and physics see comparison of chemistry and physics, the history of chemistry can be traced to alchemy, which had been practiced for several millennia in various parts of the world. The word chemistry comes from alchemy, which referred to a set of practices that encompassed elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism. An alchemist was called a chemist in popular speech, and later the suffix -ry was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as chemistry, the modern word alchemy in turn is derived from the Arabic word al-kīmīā. In origin, the term is borrowed from the Greek χημία or χημεία and this may have Egyptian origins since al-kīmīā is derived from the Greek χημία, which is in turn derived from the word Chemi or Kimi, which is the ancient name of Egypt in Egyptian. Alternately, al-kīmīā may derive from χημεία, meaning cast together, in retrospect, the definition of chemistry has changed over time, as new discoveries and theories add to the functionality of the science. The term chymistry, in the view of noted scientist Robert Boyle in 1661, in 1837, Jean-Baptiste Dumas considered the word chemistry to refer to the science concerned with the laws and effects of molecular forces. More recently, in 1998, Professor Raymond Chang broadened the definition of chemistry to mean the study of matter, early civilizations, such as the Egyptians Babylonians, Indians amassed practical knowledge concerning the arts of metallurgy, pottery and dyes, but didnt develop a systematic theory. Greek atomism dates back to 440 BC, arising in works by such as Democritus and Epicurus. In 50 BC, the Roman philosopher Lucretius expanded upon the theory in his book De rerum natura, unlike modern concepts of science, Greek atomism was purely philosophical in nature, with little concern for empirical observations and no concern for chemical experiments. Work, particularly the development of distillation, continued in the early Byzantine period with the most famous practitioner being the 4th century Greek-Egyptian Zosimos of Panopolis. He formulated Boyles law, rejected the four elements and proposed a mechanistic alternative of atoms. Before his work, though, many important discoveries had been made, the Scottish chemist Joseph Black and the Dutchman J. B. English scientist John Dalton proposed the theory of atoms, that all substances are composed of indivisible atoms of matter. Davy discovered nine new elements including the alkali metals by extracting them from their oxides with electric current, british William Prout first proposed ordering all the elements by their atomic weight as all atoms had a weight that was an exact multiple of the atomic weight of hydrogen. The inert gases, later called the noble gases were discovered by William Ramsay in collaboration with Lord Rayleigh at the end of the century, thereby filling in the basic structure of the table. Organic chemistry was developed by Justus von Liebig and others, following Friedrich Wöhlers synthesis of urea which proved that organisms were, in theory
8.
Physics
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Physics is the natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion and behavior through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force. One of the most fundamental disciplines, the main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves. Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy, Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the mechanisms of other sciences while opening new avenues of research in areas such as mathematics. Physics also makes significant contributions through advances in new technologies that arise from theoretical breakthroughs, the United Nations named 2005 the World Year of Physics. Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, the stars and planets were often a target of worship, believed to represent their gods. While the explanations for these phenomena were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, according to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy. The most notable innovations were in the field of optics and vision, which came from the works of many scientists like Ibn Sahl, Al-Kindi, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Farisi and Avicenna. The most notable work was The Book of Optics, written by Ibn Al-Haitham, in which he was not only the first to disprove the ancient Greek idea about vision, but also came up with a new theory. In the book, he was also the first to study the phenomenon of the pinhole camera, many later European scholars and fellow polymaths, from Robert Grosseteste and Leonardo da Vinci to René Descartes, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, were in his debt. Indeed, the influence of Ibn al-Haythams Optics ranks alongside that of Newtons work of the same title, the translation of The Book of Optics had a huge impact on Europe. From it, later European scholars were able to build the devices as what Ibn al-Haytham did. From this, such important things as eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, Physics became a separate science when early modern Europeans used experimental and quantitative methods to discover what are now considered to be the laws of physics. Newton also developed calculus, the study of change, which provided new mathematical methods for solving physical problems. The discovery of new laws in thermodynamics, chemistry, and electromagnetics resulted from greater research efforts during the Industrial Revolution as energy needs increased, however, inaccuracies in classical mechanics for very small objects and very high velocities led to the development of modern physics in the 20th century. Modern physics began in the early 20th century with the work of Max Planck in quantum theory, both of these theories came about due to inaccuracies in classical mechanics in certain situations. Quantum mechanics would come to be pioneered by Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, from this early work, and work in related fields, the Standard Model of particle physics was derived. Areas of mathematics in general are important to this field, such as the study of probabilities, in many ways, physics stems from ancient Greek philosophy
9.
Royal Institution
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The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organisation devoted to scientific education and research, based in London. Since its founding it has based at 21 Albemarle Street in Mayfair. Its Royal Charter was granted in 1800, throughout its history, the Institution has supported public engagement with science through a program of lectures, many of which continue today. The most famous of these are the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, the Institution has had an instrumental role in the advancement of science since its founding. In the 19th century, Faraday carried out much of the research which laid the groundwork for the exploitation of electricity at the Royal Institution. In total fifteen scientists attached to the Royal Institution have won Nobel Prizes, the leadership of the Royal Institution has had various titles, Director of the Laboratory Director of the Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory Director The position was abolished in 2010. The Institutions last director was Susan Greenfield, following various resignations and general meetings of members, Andrade was awarded £7,000 by arbitration, the arbitrators blamed the problems on a lack of clear definition of roles. An outdated constitution, and the inability of the protagonists to compromise, Andrade launched a lawsuit to set the arbitration aside, which he lost. From 1998 to 8 January 2010, the director of the Royal Institution was Baroness Susan Greenfield, but following a review, the project ended £3 million in debt. Greenfield subsequently announced that she would be suing for discrimination, Baroness Greenfield later dropped the discrimination case. Today the Royal Institution is committed to diffusing science for the purposes of life. Membership is open to all, with no nomination procedure or academic requirements, the institutions palatial home has been greatly enlarged and redeveloped since 1799, and is a Grade I listed building. The structures last refurbishment was a £22 million project completed in 2008, as well as the famous Lecture Theatre, the building contains several function rooms, modern research facilities and a public café. The trustees were considering selling the building in an effort to recoup the organisations debts, in 2013 The Ri received an anonymous donation of £4. 4m and as of January 2016, the Ri is now debt-free. The Institution has a public science programme and science for schools programme. The Christmas Lectures continue today as a series of three televised lectures aimed at children, the Friday Evening Discourses are monthly lectures given by eminent scientists, each limited to exactly one hour, a tradition started by Faraday. There is a members ballot for tickets to the Christmas Lectures. Discounts are available to Ri Patrons and Members, many other events and lectures are held both at Albemarle Street and at other venues around the country
10.
Fellow of the Royal Society
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As of 2016, there are around 1600 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members. Fellowship of the Royal Society has been described by The Guardian newspaper as “the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar” with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows, honorary and foreign members are elected annually usually in May, each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRS, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society and Category, Female Fellows of the Royal Society. Every year, Fellows elect up to ten new Foreign Members, like Fellows, Foreign Members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 there are around 165 Foreign Members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS, see Category, Foreign Members of the Royal Society. Honorary Fellows include Bill Bryson, Melvyn Bragg, Robin Saxby, David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, Honorary Fellows are entitled to use the post nominal letters HonFRS. Others including John Maddox, Patrick Moore and Lisa Jardine were elected as honorary fellows, statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough and John Palmer, prime Ministers of the United Kingdom such as Margaret Thatcher, Neville Chamberlain, H. H. Asquith were elected under statute 12, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British Royal Family for election as Royal Fellows of the Royal Society. As of 2016 there are five royal fellows, Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II is not a Royal Fellow, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination, each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society, who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, the certificate of election includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates is confirmed by the Council in April, a candidate is elected if he or she secures two-thirds of votes of those Fellows present and voting. A further maximum of six can be ‘Honorary’, ‘General’ or ‘Royal’ Fellows, nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by sectional committees, each with fifteen members and a chair
11.
Chemist
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A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties, chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms. Chemists carefully measure substance proportions, reaction rates, and other chemical properties, the word chemist is also used to address Pharmacists in Commonwealth English. Chemists may specialize in any number of subdisciplines of chemistry, materials scientists and metallurgists share much of the same education and skills with chemists. The roots of chemistry can be traced to the phenomenon of burning, fire was a mystical force that transformed one substance into another and thus was of primary interest to mankind. It was fire that led to the discovery of iron and glasses, after gold was discovered and became a precious metal, many people were interested to find a method that could convert other substances into gold. This led to the protoscience called alchemy, the word chemist is derived from the New Latin noun chimista, an abbreviation of alchimista. Alchemists discovered many chemical processes that led to the development of modern chemistry, Chemistry as we know it today, was invented by Antoine Lavoisier with his law of conservation of mass in 1783. The discoveries of the elements has a long history culminating in the creation of the periodic table by Dmitri Mendeleev. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry created in 1901 gives an excellent overview of chemical discovery since the start of the 20th century. Jobs for chemists usually require at least a degree, but many positions, especially those in research. At the Masters level and higher, students tend to specialize in a particular field, postdoctoral experience may be required for certain positions. Workers whose work involves chemistry, but not at a complexity requiring an education with a degree, are commonly referred to as chemical technicians. Such technicians commonly do such work as simpler, routine analyses for quality control or in clinical laboratories, there are also degrees specific to become a Chemical Technologist, which are somewhat distinct from those required when a student is interested in becoming a professional Chemist. A Chemical technologist is more involved in the management and operation of the equipment and they are part of the team of a chemical laboratory in which the quality of the raw material, intermediate products and finished products is analyzed. They also perform functions in the areas of quality control. The higher the level achieved in the field of Chemistry, the higher the responsibility given to that chemist. Chemistry, as a field, have so many applications that different tasks/objectives can be given to workers/scientists with these different levels of education and/or experience
12.
Physicist
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A physicist is a scientist who has specialized knowledge in the field of physics, the exploration of the interactions of matter and energy across the physical universe. A physicist is a scientist who specializes or works in the field of physics, physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate causes of phenomena, and usually frame their understanding in mathematical terms. Physicists can also apply their knowledge towards solving real-world problems or developing new technologies, some physicists specialize in sectors outside the science of physics itself, such as engineering. The study and practice of physics is based on a ladder of discoveries. Many mathematical and physical ideas used today found their earliest expression in ancient Greek culture and Asian culture, the bulk of physics education can be said to flow from the scientific revolution in Europe, starting with the work of Galileo and Kepler in the early 1600s. New knowledge in the early 21st century includes an increase in understanding physical cosmology. The term physicist was coined by William Whewell in his 1840 book The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, many physicist positions require an undergraduate degree in applied physics or a related science or a Masters degree like MSc, MPhil, MPhys or MSci. In a research oriented level, students tend to specialize in a particular field, Physics students also need training in mathematics, and also in computer science and programming. For being employed as a physicist a doctoral background may be required for certain positions, undergraduate students like BSc Mechanical Engineering, BSc Electrical and Computer Engineering, BSc Applied Physics. etc. With physics orientation are chosen as research assistants with faculty members, the highest honor awarded to physicists is the Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded since 1901 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The three major employers of career physicists are academic institutions, laboratories, and private industries, with the largest employer being the last, physicists in academia or government labs tend to have titles such as Assistants, Professors, Sr. /Jr. As per the American Institute for Physics, some 20% of new physics Ph. D. s holds jobs in engineering development programs, while 14% turn to computer software, a majority of physicists employed apply their skills and training to interdisciplinary sectors. For industry or self-employment. and also in science and programming. Hence a majority of Physics bachelors degree holders are employed in the private sector, other fields are academia, government and military service, nonprofit entities, labs and teaching
13.
Antoine Lavoisier
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Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier was a French nobleman and chemist central to the 18th-century chemical revolution and had a large influence on both the history of chemistry and the history of biology. He is widely considered in popular literature as the father of modern chemistry and it is generally accepted that Lavoisiers great accomplishments in chemistry largely stem from his changing the science from a qualitative to a quantitative one. Lavoisier is most noted for his discovery of the role oxygen plays in combustion and he recognized and named oxygen and hydrogen and opposed the phlogiston theory. Lavoisier helped construct the system, wrote the first extensive list of elements. He predicted the existence of silicon and was also the first to establish that sulfur was an element rather than a compound and he discovered that, although matter may change its form or shape, its mass always remains the same. Lavoisier was a member of a number of aristocratic councils. All of these political and economic activities enabled him to fund his scientific research, at the height of the French Revolution, he was accused by Jean-Paul Marat of selling adulterated tobaccoand of other crimes, and was eventually guillotined a year after Marats death. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was born to a family of the nobility in Paris on 26 August 1743. The son of an attorney at the Parliament of Paris, he inherited a fortune at the age of five with the passing of his mother. Lavoisier began his schooling at the Collège des Quatre-Nations, University of Paris in Paris in 1754 at the age of 11, in his last two years at the school, his scientific interests were aroused, and he studied chemistry, botany, astronomy, and mathematics. Lavoisier entered the school of law, where he received a degree in 1763. Lavoisier received a law degree and was admitted to the bar, however, he continued his scientific education in his spare time. Lavoisiers education was filled with the ideals of the French Enlightenment of the time and he attended lectures in the natural sciences. Lavoisiers devotion and passion for chemistry were largely influenced by Étienne Condillac and his first chemical publication appeared in 1764. From 1763 to 1767, he studied geology under Jean-Étienne Guettard, in collaboration with Guettard, Lavoisier worked on a geological survey of Alsace-Lorraine in June 1767. In 1768 Lavoisier received an appointment to the Academy of Sciences. In 1769, he worked on the first geological map of France, on behalf of the Ferme générale Lavoisier commissioned the building of a wall around Paris so that customs duties could be collected from those transporting goods into and out of the city. Lavoisier attempted to introduce reforms in the French monetary and taxation system to help the peasants, Lavoisier consolidated his social and economic position when, in 1771 at age 28, he married Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, the 13-year-old daughter of a senior member of the Ferme générale
14.
Atmosphere of Earth
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The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air, that surrounds the planet Earth and is retained by Earths gravity. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by absorbing solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention. By volume, dry air contains 78. 09% nitrogen,20. 95% oxygen,0. 93% argon,0. 04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains an amount of water vapor, on average around 1% at sea level. The atmosphere has a mass of about 5. 15×1018 kg, the atmosphere becomes thinner and thinner with increasing altitude, with no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The Kármán line, at 100 km, or 1. 57% of Earths radius, is used as the border between the atmosphere and outer space. Atmospheric effects become noticeable during atmospheric reentry of spacecraft at an altitude of around 120 km, several layers can be distinguished in the atmosphere, based on characteristics such as temperature and composition. The study of Earths atmosphere and its processes is called atmospheric science, early pioneers in the field include Léon Teisserenc de Bort and Richard Assmann. The three major constituents of air, and therefore of Earths atmosphere, are nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor accounts for roughly 0. 25% of the atmosphere by mass. The remaining gases are often referred to as gases, among which are the greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide. Filtered air includes trace amounts of other chemical compounds. Various industrial pollutants also may be present as gases or aerosols, such as chlorine, fluorine compounds, sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide may be derived from natural sources or from industrial air pollution. In general, air pressure and density decrease with altitude in the atmosphere, however, temperature has a more complicated profile with altitude, and may remain relatively constant or even increase with altitude in some regions. In this way, Earths atmosphere can be divided into five main layers, excluding the exosphere, Earth has four primary layers, which are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. It extends from the exobase, which is located at the top of the thermosphere at an altitude of about 700 km above sea level, to about 10,000 km where it merges into the solar wind. This layer is composed of extremely low densities of hydrogen, helium and several heavier molecules including nitrogen, oxygen. The atoms and molecules are so far apart that they can travel hundreds of kilometers without colliding with one another, thus, the exosphere no longer behaves like a gas, and the particles constantly escape into space. These free-moving particles follow ballistic trajectories and may migrate in and out of the magnetosphere or the solar wind, the exosphere is located too far above Earth for any meteorological phenomena to be possible
15.
Coulomb's law
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Coulombs law, or Coulombs inverse-square law, is a law of physics that describes force interacting between static electrically charged particles. The force of interaction between the charges is attractive if the charges have opposite signs and repulsive if like-signed, the law was first published in 1784 by French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb and was essential to the development of the theory of electromagnetism. It is analogous to Isaac Newtons inverse-square law of universal gravitation, Coulombs law can be used to derive Gausss law, and vice versa. The law has been tested extensively, and all observations have upheld the laws principle, ancient cultures around the Mediterranean knew that certain objects, such as rods of amber, could be rubbed with cats fur to attract light objects like feathers. Thales was incorrect in believing the attraction was due to a magnetic effect and he coined the New Latin word electricus to refer to the property of attracting small objects after being rubbed. This association gave rise to the English words electric and electricity, however, he did not generalize or elaborate on this. In 1767, he conjectured that the force between charges varied as the square of the distance. In 1769, Scottish physicist John Robison announced that, according to his measurements, in the early 1770s, the dependence of the force between charged bodies upon both distance and charge had already been discovered, but not published, by Henry Cavendish of England. Finally, in 1785, the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb published his first three reports of electricity and magnetism where he stated his law and this publication was essential to the development of the theory of electromagnetism. The torsion balance consists of a bar suspended from its middle by a thin fiber, the fiber acts as a very weak torsion spring. In Coulombs experiment, the balance was an insulating rod with a metal-coated ball attached to one end. The ball was charged with a charge of static electricity. The two charged balls repelled one another, twisting the fiber through an angle, which could be read from a scale on the instrument. By knowing how much force it took to twist the fiber through a given angle, the force is along the straight line joining them. If the two charges have the sign, the electrostatic force between them is repulsive, if they have different signs, the force between them is attractive. Coulombs law can also be stated as a mathematical expression. The vector form of the equation calculates the force F1 applied on q1 by q2, if r12 is used instead, then the effect on q2 can be found. It can be calculated using Newtons third law, F2 = −F1
16.
Density
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The density, or more precisely, the volumetric mass density, of a substance is its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used. Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume, ρ = m V, where ρ is the density, m is the mass, and V is the volume. In some cases, density is defined as its weight per unit volume. For a pure substance the density has the numerical value as its mass concentration. Different materials usually have different densities, and density may be relevant to buoyancy, purity, osmium and iridium are the densest known elements at standard conditions for temperature and pressure but certain chemical compounds may be denser. Thus a relative density less than one means that the floats in water. The density of a material varies with temperature and pressure and this variation is typically small for solids and liquids but much greater for gases. Increasing the pressure on an object decreases the volume of the object, increasing the temperature of a substance decreases its density by increasing its volume. In most materials, heating the bottom of a results in convection of the heat from the bottom to the top. This causes it to rise relative to more dense unheated material, the reciprocal of the density of a substance is occasionally called its specific volume, a term sometimes used in thermodynamics. Density is a property in that increasing the amount of a substance does not increase its density. Archimedes knew that the irregularly shaped wreath could be crushed into a cube whose volume could be calculated easily and compared with the mass, upon this discovery, he leapt from his bath and ran naked through the streets shouting, Eureka. As a result, the term eureka entered common parlance and is used today to indicate a moment of enlightenment, the story first appeared in written form in Vitruvius books of architecture, two centuries after it supposedly took place. Some scholars have doubted the accuracy of this tale, saying among other things that the method would have required precise measurements that would have been difficult to make at the time, from the equation for density, mass density has units of mass divided by volume. As there are units of mass and volume covering many different magnitudes there are a large number of units for mass density in use. The SI unit of kilogram per metre and the cgs unit of gram per cubic centimetre are probably the most commonly used units for density.1,000 kg/m3 equals 1 g/cm3. In industry, other larger or smaller units of mass and or volume are often more practical, see below for a list of some of the most common units of density
17.
Mass
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In physics, mass is a property of a physical body. It is the measure of a resistance to acceleration when a net force is applied. It also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies. The basic SI unit of mass is the kilogram, Mass is not the same as weight, even though mass is often determined by measuring the objects weight using a spring scale, rather than comparing it directly with known masses. An object on the Moon would weigh less than it does on Earth because of the lower gravity and this is because weight is a force, while mass is the property that determines the strength of this force. In Newtonian physics, mass can be generalized as the amount of matter in an object, however, at very high speeds, special relativity postulates that energy is an additional source of mass. Thus, any body having mass has an equivalent amount of energy. In addition, matter is a defined term in science. There are several distinct phenomena which can be used to measure mass, active gravitational mass measures the gravitational force exerted by an object. Passive gravitational mass measures the force exerted on an object in a known gravitational field. The mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force, according to Newtons second law of motion, if a body of fixed mass m is subjected to a single force F, its acceleration a is given by F/m. A bodys mass also determines the degree to which it generates or is affected by a gravitational field and this is sometimes referred to as gravitational mass. The standard International System of Units unit of mass is the kilogram, the kilogram is 1000 grams, first defined in 1795 as one cubic decimeter of water at the melting point of ice. Then in 1889, the kilogram was redefined as the mass of the prototype kilogram. As of January 2013, there are proposals for redefining the kilogram yet again. In this context, the mass has units of eV/c2, the electronvolt and its multiples, such as the MeV, are commonly used in particle physics. The atomic mass unit is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, the atomic mass unit is convenient for expressing the masses of atoms and molecules. Outside the SI system, other units of mass include, the slug is an Imperial unit of mass, the pound is a unit of both mass and force, used mainly in the United States
18.
Earth
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Earth, otherwise known as the World, or the Globe, is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life. It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets, according to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago. Earths gravity interacts with objects in space, especially the Sun. During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its axis over 365 times, thus, Earths axis of rotation is tilted, producing seasonal variations on the planets surface. The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon causes ocean tides, stabilizes the Earths orientation on its axis, Earths lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of Earths surface is covered with water, mostly by its oceans, the remaining 29% is land consisting of continents and islands that together have many lakes, rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earths polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet, Earths interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earths magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics. Within the first billion years of Earths history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earths atmosphere and surface, some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the combination of Earths distance from the Sun, physical properties, in the history of the Earth, biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion, occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events. Over 99% of all species that lived on Earth are extinct. Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely, over 7.4 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival. Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures, politically, the world has about 200 sovereign states, the modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms, which derived from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe. It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō, originally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as the globe was expressed as the earth. By early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the became the Earth. More recently, the name is simply given as Earth. House styles now vary, Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, another convention capitalizes Earth when appearing as a name but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the. It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as what on earth are you doing, the oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4. 5672±0.0006 billion years ago. By 4. 54±0.04 Gya the primordial Earth had formed, the formation and evolution of Solar System bodies occurred along with the Sun
19.
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent
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Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, KG PC was a British politician and courtier. He was a son of Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent and he succeeded his father as 12th Earl of Kent in 1702, having succeeded his mother as 2nd Baron Lucas earlier the same year. He was the grandfather, through his daughter Anne Grey, of Henry Cavendish, having taken his seat in the House of Lords and though regarded as lacking talent and ambition he, as the politically expedient candidate, was made Lord Chamberlain and a Privy Counsellor in 1704. Unpopular, Grey was nicknamed Bug for his body odour, in 1710 he traded his position for a Dukedom and was succeeded as Lord Chamberlain by the Duke of Shrewsbury. It should be noted that contemporary commentators including John Macky and Jonathan Swift did defend Grey and he may have been, for his time, the right man in the right place. Grey was one of the Lords Justices appointed during the absence of George I of Great Britain, in 1719 he was one of main subscribers in the Royal Academy of Music, a corporation that produced baroque opera on stage. At the age of 68, a year before his death, Grey took part, as a governor, in the creation of Britains first home for abandoned children. Grey succeeded his father as 12th Earl of Kent in 1702 and he was created Marquess of Kent, Earl of Harold and Viscount Goderich in 1706, Duke of Kent in 1710 for relinquishing his Lord Chamberlain position, and made a Knight of the Garter in 1712. She also succeeded to the Barony of Lucas, all his other titles became extinct at his death. Henry married first Jemima Crew, a daughter of Thomas Crew, 2nd Baron Crew and they had at least six children, Anthony Grey, Earl of Harold. Married Mary Tufton, a daughter of Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, married John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland. Married John Ashburnham, 1st Earl of Ashburnham, married David Gregory of Christ Church. He married secondly Sophia Bentinck on 24 March 1729, a daughter of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland and they had a son and a daughter, George Grey, Earl of Harold Anne Sophia Grey. Married John Egerton, Bishop of Durham, wrest Park The Complete Peerage A Grey family pedigree available to subscribers
20.
Normans
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The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
21.
Newcome's School
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Newcomes School was a fashionable school in Hackney, then to the east of London, founded in the early 18th century. A number of prominent Whig families sent their children there, the school closed in 1815, and the buildings were gutted in 1820. In 1825 the London Orphan Asylum opened on the site, today the Clapton Girls Academy is located here. Newcomes school was established in the early 18th century, during the 18th century and early 19th century, Hackney was home to private schools of all kinds, and was considered a healthy area, close to London. A number of prominent Whig families sent their children to the school, Dr. Distinguished pupils included Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, British Prime Minister from 1768 to 1770, and two Founding Fathers of the United States. The family descended from Henry Newcome, a prominent nonconformist minister in Manchester and his third son Peter was an Anglican priest, and the father of the Henry Newcome who gave the school its name. The school closed in 1815, and the building was knocked down in 1820, in 1825 the London Orphan Asylum opened on the site. The History of Parliament comments that, even after its closure and it sent 42 pupils to Trinity College, Cambridge. Today the Clapton Girls Academy is located on the site, newcomes School was noted for a series of dramatic productions. In some case a prologue or epilogue was written specially, the school was one of a group that acted as preparatory schools to Westminster School, the dramatic tradition imitated Westminsters, with the difference that plays were in English. One of the contributors of prologues was David Garrick, the custom of giving a play every three years was also taken over from the Elizabethan statutes of Westminster School. 1720s A prologue and epilogue to Tamerlane by Nicholas Rowe were written by Richard Steele, the Siege of Damascus by John Hughes, with John Hoadly and Charles Plumptre 1748 Henry IV Part I, epilogue written by John Hoadly. Andria by Terence, prologue by Garrick,1764 Siege of Damascus, prologue by John Hoadly 1777, Henry IV Part I, epilogue by George Keate. 1783 King Lear 1802 Julius Caesar, epilogue written, other plays known to have been given by the performance of Andria were Shakespeares King John and Macbeth. James Greenwood was usher at the school under Benjamin Morland, then leaving to set up his own academy, william Coleridge, elder brother of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, taught at the school in the 1780s. Benjamin Morland, F. R. S. who became High Master of St Pauls School and he was educated at St Pauls School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Newcomes doctoral degree is not placed by Venn, but he used it and was known as Dr. Newcome. He married Morlands daughter Lydia in 1714, and took over the school and his second wife was Anne Yalden
22.
University of Cambridge
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The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
23.
Royal Society
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Founded in November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II as The Royal Society. The society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the Societys President, according to a set of statutes and standing orders. The members of Council and the President are elected from and by its Fellows, the members of the society. As of 2016, there are about 1,600 fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS, there are also royal fellows, honorary fellows and foreign members, the last of which are allowed to use the postnominal title ForMemRS. The Royal Society President is Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who took up the post on 30 November 2015, since 1967, the society has been based at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, a Grade I listed building in central London which was previously used by the Embassy of Germany, London. The Royal Society started from groups of physicians and natural philosophers, meeting at variety of locations and they were influenced by the new science, as promoted by Francis Bacon in his New Atlantis, from approximately 1645 onwards. A group known as The Philosophical Society of Oxford was run under a set of rules still retained by the Bodleian Library, after the English Restoration, there were regular meetings at Gresham College. It is widely held that these groups were the inspiration for the foundation of the Royal Society, I will not say, that Mr Oldenburg did rather inspire the French to follow the English, or, at least, did help them, and hinder us. But tis well known who were the men that began and promoted that design. This initial royal favour has continued and, since then, every monarch has been the patron of the society, the societys early meetings included experiments performed first by Hooke and then by Denis Papin, who was appointed in 1684. These experiments varied in their area, and were both important in some cases and trivial in others. The Society returned to Gresham in 1673, there had been an attempt in 1667 to establish a permanent college for the society. Michael Hunter argues that this was influenced by Solomons House in Bacons New Atlantis and, to a lesser extent, by J. V. The first proposal was given by John Evelyn to Robert Boyle in a letter dated 3 September 1659, he suggested a scheme, with apartments for members. The societys ideas were simpler and only included residences for a handful of staff and these plans were progressing by November 1667, but never came to anything, given the lack of contributions from members and the unrealised—perhaps unrealistic—aspirations of the society. During the 18th century, the gusto that had characterised the early years of the society faded, with a number of scientific greats compared to other periods. The pointed lightning conductor had been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, during the same time period, it became customary to appoint society fellows to serve on government committees where science was concerned, something that still continues. The 18th century featured remedies to many of the early problems
24.
Meteorology
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Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences which includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics, with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century, the 19th century saw modest progress in the field after weather observation networks were formed across broad regions. Prior attempts at prediction of weather depended on historical data, Meteorological phenomena are observable weather events that are explained by the science of meteorology. Different spatial scales are used to describe and predict weather on local, regional, Meteorology, climatology, atmospheric physics, and atmospheric chemistry are sub-disciplines of the atmospheric sciences. Meteorology and hydrology compose the interdisciplinary field of hydrometeorology, the interactions between Earths atmosphere and its oceans are part of a coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Meteorology has application in diverse fields such as the military, energy production, transport, agriculture. The word meteorology is from Greek μετέωρος metéōros lofty, high and -λογία -logia -logy, varāhamihiras classical work Brihatsamhita, written about 500 AD, provides clear evidence that a deep knowledge of atmospheric processes existed even in those times. In 350 BC, Aristotle wrote Meteorology, Aristotle is considered the founder of meteorology. One of the most impressive achievements described in the Meteorology is the description of what is now known as the hydrologic cycle and they are all called swooping bolts because they swoop down upon the Earth. Lightning is sometimes smoky, and is then called smoldering lightning, sometimes it darts quickly along, at other times, it travels in crooked lines, and is called forked lightning. When it swoops down upon some object it is called swooping lightning, the Greek scientist Theophrastus compiled a book on weather forecasting, called the Book of Signs. The work of Theophrastus remained a dominant influence in the study of weather, in 25 AD, Pomponius Mela, a geographer for the Roman Empire, formalized the climatic zone system. According to Toufic Fahd, around the 9th century, Al-Dinawari wrote the Kitab al-Nabat, ptolemy wrote on the atmospheric refraction of light in the context of astronomical observations. St. Roger Bacon was the first to calculate the size of the rainbow. He stated that a rainbow summit can not appear higher than 42 degrees above the horizon, in the late 13th century and early 14th century, Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī and Theodoric of Freiberg were the first to give the correct explanations for the primary rainbow phenomenon. Theoderic went further and also explained the secondary rainbow, in 1716, Edmund Halley suggested that aurorae are caused by magnetic effluvia moving along the Earths magnetic field lines. In 1441, King Sejongs son, Prince Munjong, invented the first standardized rain gauge and these were sent throughout the Joseon Dynasty of Korea as an official tool to assess land taxes based upon a farmers potential harvest. In 1450, Leone Battista Alberti developed a swinging-plate anemometer, and was known as the first anemometer, in 1607, Galileo Galilei constructed a thermoscope
25.
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
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The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is an observatory situated on a hill in Greenwich Park, overlooking the River Thames. It played a role in the history of astronomy and navigation. The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the stone being laid on 10 August. The site was chosen by Sir Christopher Wren and he appointed John Flamsteed as the first Astronomer Royal. The building was completed in the summer of 1676, the building was often called Flamsteed House, in reference to its first occupant. The scientific work of the observatory was relocated elsewhere in stages in the first half of the 20th century,1675 –22 June, Royal Observatory founded. 1675 –10 August, construction began,1714 Longitude Act established the Board of Longitude and Longitude rewards. The Astronomer Royal was, until the Board was dissolved in 1828,1767 Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne began publication of the Nautical Almanac, based on observations made at the Observatory. 1833 Daily time signals began, marked by dropping a Time ball,1899 The New Physical Observatory was completed. 1924 Hourly time signals from the Royal Observatory were first broadcast on 5 February,1948 Office of the Astronomer Royal was moved to Herstmonceux. 1957 Royal Observatory completed its move to Herstmonceux, becoming the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the Greenwich site is renamed the Old Royal Observatory. Greenwich site is returned to its name, the Royal Observatory. The Ordnance Office was given responsibility for building the Observatory, with Moore providing the key instruments, Moore donated two clocks, built by Thomas Tompion, which were installed in the 20 foot high Octagon Room, the principal room of the building. They were of unusual design, each with a pendulum 13 feet in length mounted above the face, giving a period of four seconds. British astronomers have used the Royal Observatory as a basis for measurement. Four separate meridians have passed through the buildings, defined by successive instruments, subsequently, nations across the world used it as their standard for mapping and timekeeping. When the Airy circle became the reference for the meridian, the difference resulting from the change was considered enough to be neglected. When a new triangulation was done between 1936 and 1962, scientists determined that in the Ordnance Survey system the longitude of the international Greenwich meridian was not 0° and this old astronomical prime meridian has been replaced by a more precise prime meridian
26.
North Pole
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The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earths axis of rotation meets its surface. The North Pole is the northernmost point on the Earth, lying diametrically opposite the South Pole and it defines geodetic latitude 90° North, as well as the direction of true north. At the North Pole all directions point south, all lines of longitude converge there, along tight latitude circles, counterclockwise is east and clockwise is west. The North Pole is at the center of the Northern Hemisphere, while the South Pole lies on a continental land mass, the North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean amid waters that are almost permanently covered with constantly shifting sea ice. This makes it impractical to construct a permanent station at the North Pole, however, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, constructed a number of manned drifting stations on a generally annual basis since 1937, some of which have passed over or very close to the Pole. Since 2002, the Russians have also established a base, Barneo. This operates for a few weeks during early spring, studies in the 2000s predicted that the North Pole may become seasonally ice-free because of Arctic ice shrinkage, with timescales varying from 2016 to the late 21st century or later. The sea depth at the North Pole has been measured at 4,261 m by the Russian Mir submersible in 2007 and at 4,087 m by USS Nautilus in 1958. The nearest land is said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about 700 km away. The nearest permanently inhabited place is Alert in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, around the beginning of the 20th century astronomers noticed a small apparent variation of latitude, as determined for a fixed point on Earth from the observation of stars. Part of this variation could be attributed to a wandering of the Pole across the Earths surface, the wandering has several periodic components and an irregular component. The component with a period of about 435 days is identified with the eight-month wandering predicted by Euler and is now called the Chandler wobble after its discoverer and it is desirable to tie the system of Earth coordinates to fixed landforms. Of course, given plate tectonics and isostasy, there is no system in all geographic features are fixed. Yet the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service and the International Astronomical Union have defined a framework called the International Terrestrial Reference System. As early as the 16th century, many eminent people correctly believed that the North Pole was in a sea and it was therefore hoped that passage could be found through ice floes at favorable times of the year. Several expeditions set out to find the way, generally with whaling ships, one of the earliest expeditions to set out with the explicit intention of reaching the North Pole was that of British naval officer William Edward Parry, who in 1827 reached latitude 82°45′ North. In 1871 the Polaris expedition, a US attempt on the Pole led by Charles Francis Hall, another British Royal Navy attempt on the pole, part of the British Arctic Expedition, by Commander Albert H. Markham reached a then-record 83°2026 North in May 1876 before turning back. An 1879–1881 expedition commanded by US naval officer George W. DeLong ended tragically when their ship, over half the crew, including DeLong, were lost
27.
Northwest Passage
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For centuries explorers sought a navigable passage as a possible trade route. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine shipping throughout most of the year, Arctic sea ice decline has rendered the waterways more navigable. If, as has been claimed, parts of the end of the Passage are barely 15 metres deep. Fully loaded, Nordic Orion was too large to sail through the Panama Canal, between the end of the 15th century and the 20th century, colonial powers from Europe dispatched explorers in an attempt to discover a commercial sea route north and west around North America. The Northwest Passage represented a new route to the trading nations of Asia. England called the northern route the Northwest Passage. The desire to establish such a route motivated much of the European exploration of both coasts of North America, when it became apparent that there was no route through the heart of the continent, attention turned to the possibility of a passage through northern waters. There was a lack of knowledge about conditions, for instance. Explorers thought that a water route close to the North Pole must exist. The belief that a route lay to the far north persisted for several centuries, many ended in disaster, including that by Sir John Franklin in 1845. While searching for him the McClure Arctic Expedition discovered the Northwest Passage in 1850, in 1906, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen first successfully completed a passage from Greenland to Alaska in the sloop Gjøa. Since that date, several fortified ships have made the journey, from east to west, the direction of most early exploration attempts, expeditions entered the passage from the Atlantic Ocean via the Davis Strait and through Baffin Bay. Five to seven routes have taken through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, via the McClure Strait, Dease Strait, and the Prince of Wales Strait. From there ships passed through waterways through the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, on August 21,2007, the Northwest Passage became open to ships without the need of an icebreaker. According to Nalan Koc of the Norwegian Polar Institute, this was the first time the Passage has been clear since they began keeping records in 1972, the Northwest Passage opened again on August 25,2008. Thawing ocean or melting ice simultaneously opened up the Northwest Passage, awaited by shipping companies, this historic event will cut thousands of miles off their routes. We are going to see more and more as the years go by. Due to Arctic shrinkage, the Beluga group of Bremen, Germany, however, Canadas Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that ships entering the North-West passage should first report to his government
28.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
29.
Humphry Davy
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He also studied the forces involved in these separations, inventing the new field of electrochemistry. Berzelius called Davys 1806 Bakerian Lecture On Some Chemical Agencies of Electricity one of the best memoirs which has ever enriched the theory of chemistry and he was a Baronet, President of the Royal Society, Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and Fellow of the Geological Society. He also invented the Davy Lamp and an early form of incandescent light bulb. Davy was born in Penzance in Cornwall in England on 17 December 1778 and his family moved to Varfell, near Ludgvan, when he was nine, and in term-time Davy boarded with John Tonkin, his mothers godfather. Davy said, I consider it fortunate I was left much to myself as a child, after Davys father died in 1794, Tonkin apprenticed him to John Bingham Borlase, a surgeon with a practice in Penzance. Davys indenture is dated 10 February 1795, in the apothecarys dispensary, Davy became a chemist, and a garret in Tonkins house was where he conducted his earliest chemical experiments. Davys friends said, This boy Humphry is incorrigible and he will blow us all into the air. His elder sister complained of the ravages made on her dresses by corrosive substances, John Ayrton Paris remarked that poetry written by the young Davy bear the stamp of lofty genius. Davys first preserved poem entitled The Sons of Genius is dated 1795, other poems written in the following years, especially On the Mounts Bay and St Michaels Mount, are descriptive verses, showing sensibility but no true poetic imagination. Three of Davys paintings from around 1796 have been donated to the Penlee House museum at Penzance, one is of the view from above Gulval showing the church, Mounts Bay and the Mount, while the other two depict Loch Lomond in Scotland. While writing verses at the age of 17 in honour of his first love, he was discussing the question of the materiality of heat with his Quaker friend. Dunkin remarked, I tell thee what, Humphry, thou art the most quibbling hand at a dispute I ever met with in my life and it was a crude form of analogous experiment exhibited by Davy in the lecture-room of the Royal Institution that elicited considerable attention. As professor at the Royal Institution, Davy repeated many of the experiments he learned from his friend and mentor. Davies Giddy met Davy in Penzance carelessly swinging on the half-gate of Dr Borlases house and this led to an introduction to Dr Edwards, who lived at Hayle Copper House. Edwards was a lecturer in chemistry in the school of St. Bartholomews Hospital, galvanic corrosion was not understood at that time, but the phenomenon prepared Davys mind for subsequent experiments on ships copper sheathing. Gregory Watt, son of James Watt, visited Penzance for his healths sake, Davy was acquainted with the Wedgwood family, who spent a winter at Penzance. Thomas Beddoes and John Hailstone were engaged in a controversy on the rival merits of the Plutonian. They travelled together to examine the Cornish coast accompanied by Davies Gilbert, Beddoes, who had established at Bristol a Pneumatic Institution, needed an assistant to superintend the laboratory
30.
Charles Blagden
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Sir Charles Brian Blagden FRS was a British physician and scientist. He served as a officer in the Army and later held the position of Secretary of the Royal Society. Blagden won the Copley Medal in 1788 and was knighted in 1792 and he died in Arcueil, France in 1820, and was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. In June 1783, Blagden, then assistant to Henry Cavendish, visited Antoine Lavoisier in Paris and he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1789. Blagden experimented on human ability to high temperatures. In his report to the Royal Society in 1775, he was first to recognise the role of perspiration in thermoregulation, on the Heat of the Water in the Gulf-Stream. Letters from Sir Charles Blagden to Sir Joseph Banks on American Natural History, bulletin of the New York Public Library. An Englishman Abroad, Charles Blagdens Visit to Paris in 1783, notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. Correspondence of William Heberden, F. R. S. with the Reverend Stephen Hales, notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. In War and Peace Sir Charles Blagden, M. D. Ed, Sir Charles Blagdens First Visit to Switzerland. Blagden Papers at the Royal Society National Public Radio story about Blagden
31.
Classical mechanics
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In physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, along with quantum mechanics. Classical mechanics is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the influence of a system of forces. The study of the motion of bodies is an ancient one, making classical mechanics one of the oldest and largest subjects in science, engineering and technology. Classical mechanics describes the motion of objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, as well as astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars. Within classical mechanics are fields of study that describe the behavior of solids, liquids and gases, Classical mechanics also provides extremely accurate results as long as the domain of study is restricted to large objects and the speeds involved do not approach the speed of light. When both quantum and classical mechanics cannot apply, such as at the level with high speeds. Since these aspects of physics were developed long before the emergence of quantum physics and relativity, however, a number of modern sources do include relativistic mechanics, which in their view represents classical mechanics in its most developed and accurate form. Later, more abstract and general methods were developed, leading to reformulations of classical mechanics known as Lagrangian mechanics and these advances were largely made in the 18th and 19th centuries, and they extend substantially beyond Newtons work, particularly through their use of analytical mechanics. The following introduces the concepts of classical mechanics. For simplicity, it often models real-world objects as point particles, the motion of a point particle is characterized by a small number of parameters, its position, mass, and the forces applied to it. Each of these parameters is discussed in turn, in reality, the kind of objects that classical mechanics can describe always have a non-zero size. Objects with non-zero size have more complicated behavior than hypothetical point particles, because of the degrees of freedom. However, the results for point particles can be used to such objects by treating them as composite objects. The center of mass of a composite object behaves like a point particle, Classical mechanics uses common-sense notions of how matter and forces exist and interact. It assumes that matter and energy have definite, knowable attributes such as where an object is in space, non-relativistic mechanics also assumes that forces act instantaneously. The position of a point particle is defined with respect to a fixed reference point in space called the origin O, in space. A simple coordinate system might describe the position of a point P by means of a designated as r. In general, the point particle need not be stationary relative to O, such that r is a function of t, the time
32.
Optics
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Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light, because light is an electromagnetic wave, other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays, microwaves, and radio waves exhibit similar properties. Most optical phenomena can be accounted for using the classical description of light. Complete electromagnetic descriptions of light are, however, often difficult to apply in practice, practical optics is usually done using simplified models. The most common of these, geometric optics, treats light as a collection of rays that travel in straight lines, physical optics is a more comprehensive model of light, which includes wave effects such as diffraction and interference that cannot be accounted for in geometric optics. Historically, the model of light was developed first, followed by the wave model of light. Progress in electromagnetic theory in the 19th century led to the discovery that waves were in fact electromagnetic radiation. Some phenomena depend on the fact that light has both wave-like and particle-like properties, explanation of these effects requires quantum mechanics. When considering lights particle-like properties, the light is modelled as a collection of particles called photons, quantum optics deals with the application of quantum mechanics to optical systems. Optical science is relevant to and studied in many related disciplines including astronomy, various engineering fields, photography, practical applications of optics are found in a variety of technologies and everyday objects, including mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, lasers, and fibre optics. Optics began with the development of lenses by the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the earliest known lenses, made from polished crystal, often quartz, date from as early as 700 BC for Assyrian lenses such as the Layard/Nimrud lens. The ancient Romans and Greeks filled glass spheres with water to make lenses, the word optics comes from the ancient Greek word ὀπτική, meaning appearance, look. Greek philosophy on optics broke down into two opposing theories on how vision worked, the theory and the emission theory. The intro-mission approach saw vision as coming from objects casting off copies of themselves that were captured by the eye, plato first articulated the emission theory, the idea that visual perception is accomplished by rays emitted by the eyes. He also commented on the parity reversal of mirrors in Timaeus, some hundred years later, Euclid wrote a treatise entitled Optics where he linked vision to geometry, creating geometrical optics. Ptolemy, in his treatise Optics, held a theory of vision, the rays from the eye formed a cone, the vertex being within the eye. The rays were sensitive, and conveyed back to the observer’s intellect about the distance. He summarised much of Euclid and went on to describe a way to measure the angle of refraction, during the Middle Ages, Greek ideas about optics were resurrected and extended by writers in the Muslim world
33.
Magnetism
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Magnetism is a class of physical phenomena that are mediated by magnetic fields. Electric currents and the moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field. The most familiar effects occur in materials, which are strongly attracted by magnetic fields and can be magnetized to become permanent magnets. Only a few substances are ferromagnetic, the most common ones are iron, nickel and cobalt, the prefix ferro- refers to iron, because permanent magnetism was first observed in lodestone, a form of natural iron ore called magnetite, Fe3O4. The magnetic state of a material depends on temperature and other such as pressure. A material may exhibit more than one form of magnetism as these variables change, magnetism was first discovered in the ancient world, when people noticed that lodestones, naturally magnetized pieces of the mineral magnetite, could attract iron. The word magnet comes from the Greek term for lodestone, magnítis líthos, in ancient Greece, Aristotle attributed the first of what could be called a scientific discussion of magnetism to the philosopher Thales of Miletus, who lived from about 625 BC to about 545 BC. Around the same time, in ancient India, the Indian surgeon Sushruta was the first to use of the magnet for surgical purposes. In ancient China, the earliest literary reference to magnetism lies in a 4th-century BC book named after its author, the 2nd-century BC annals, Lüshi Chunqiu, also notes, The lodestone makes iron approach, or it attracts it. The earliest mention of the attraction of a needle is in a 1st-century work Lunheng, by the 12th century the Chinese were known to use the lodestone compass for navigation. They sculpted a directional spoon from lodestone in such a way that the handle of the spoon always pointed south, alexander Neckam, by 1187, was the first in Europe to describe the compass and its use for navigation. In 1269, Peter Peregrinus de Maricourt wrote the Epistola de magnete, in 1282, the properties of magnets and the dry compass were discussed by Al-Ashraf, a Yemeni physicist, astronomer, and geographer. In 1600, William Gilbert published his De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, in this work he describes many of his experiments with his model earth called the terrella. From his experiments, he concluded that the Earth was itself magnetic and this landmark experiment is known as Ørsteds Experiment. James Clerk Maxwell synthesized and expanded these insights into Maxwells equations, unifying electricity, magnetism, in 1905, Einstein used these laws in motivating his theory of special relativity, requiring that the laws held true in all inertial reference frames. Magnetism, at its root, arises from two sources, Electric current, Spin magnetic moments of elementary particles. The magnetic moments of the nuclei of atoms are thousands of times smaller than the electrons magnetic moments. Nuclear magnetic moments are very important in other contexts, particularly in nuclear magnetic resonance
34.
Pneumatic chemistry
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Pneumatic chemistry is a term most-closely identified with an area of scientific research of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. Important goals of this work were an understanding of the properties of airs and how they relate to chemical reactions and, ultimately. In the eighteenth century, as the field of chemistry was evolving from alchemy, before this, air was primarily considered a static substance that would not react and simply existed. The initial concern of pneumatic chemistry was combustion reactions, beginning with Hales and these reactions would give off different airs as chymists would call them, and these different airs contained more simple substances. This study of gases was brought about by Stephen Hale with the invention of the pneumatic trough, the term gas was coined by J. B. van Helmont, towards the end of the seventeenth century. However, it was not until Lavoisier performed his research in the century that the word was used universally by scientists as a replacement for airs. Jan Baptist van Helmont is sometimes considered the founder of pneumatic chemistry, Pneumatic chemists credited with discovering chemical elements include Joseph Priestley, Henry Cavendish, Joseph Black, Daniel Rutherford, and Carl Scheele. Other individuals who investigated gases during this period include Robert Boyle, Stephen Hales, William Brownrigg, Antoine Lavoisier, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, and John Dalton. After the invention of the trough, Stephen Hales continued his research into the different airs. The pneumatic trough was integral thereon in work with gases and their work led to the discovery of many types of airs, such as dephlogisticated air. Moreover, the chemistry of airs was not limited to combustion analyses, during the eighteenth century, many chymists used the discovery of airs as a new path for exploring old problems, with one example being the field of medicinal chemistry. Most human experimentation done was performed on the chymists themselves, as believed that self-experimentation was a necessary part or progressing the field. Joseph Black was a chymist that took interest in the field after studying under William Cullen. While his primary research was in magnesia alba and heat, his research led him to make inferences about fixed air, Joseph Priestley chiefly researched with the pneumatic trough, but he was responsible for collecting several new water-soluble airs. While not credited for direct research into the field of pneumatic chemistry and this treatise included support for Hales work and also elaborated upon the idea of airs. Despite not publishing his own research, this section on airs in the Elementa Chimie was cited by other contemporaries. He also discovered a new type of air, which he called inflammable air, however, he did not exploit his own idea to its limit, and therefore did not use the mercury pneumatic trough to its full extent. Stephen Hales, called the creator of pneumatic chemistry, created the pneumatic trough in 1727 and this instrument was widely used by many chemists to explore the properties of different airs, such as what was called inflammable air
35.
Joseph Priestley
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He is usually credited with the discovery of oxygen, having isolated it in its gaseous state, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Antoine Lavoisier also have a claim to the discovery. However, Priestleys determination to defend phlogiston theory and to reject what would become the chemical revolution eventually left him isolated within the scientific community, Priestleys science was integral to his theology, and he consistently tried to fuse Enlightenment rationalism with Christian theism. In his metaphysical texts, Priestley attempted to combine theism, materialism, and determinism and he believed that a proper understanding of the natural world would promote human progress and eventually bring about the Christian Millennium. Priestley, who believed in the free and open exchange of ideas, advocated toleration and equal rights for religious Dissenters. He spent his last ten years in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and these educational writings were among Priestleys most popular works. Priestley was born to an established English Dissenting family in Birstall and he was the oldest of six children born to Mary Swift and Jonas Priestley, a finisher of cloth. To ease his mothers burdens, Priestley was sent to live with his grandfather around the age of one and he returned home, five years later, after his mother died. When his father remarried in 1741, Priestley went to live with his aunt and uncle, during his youth, Priestley attended local schools where he learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Around 1749, Priestley became seriously ill and believed he was dying, raised as a devout Calvinist, he believed a conversion experience was necessary for salvation, but doubted he had had one. This emotional distress eventually led him to question his upbringing, causing him to reject election. As a result, the elders of his church, the Independent Upper Chapel of Heckmondwike. Priestleys illness left him with a permanent stutter and he gave up any thoughts of entering the ministry at that time, in preparation for joining a relative in trade in Lisbon, he studied French, Italian, and German in addition to Aramaic, and Arabic. Priestley eventually decided to return to his studies and, in 1752, matriculated at Daventry. Because he had read widely, Priestley was allowed to skip the first two years of coursework. He continued his study, this, together with the liberal atmosphere of the school, shifted his theology further leftward. Abhorring dogma and religious mysticism, Rational Dissenters emphasised the rational analysis of the natural world, Priestley later wrote that the book that influenced him the most, save the Bible, was David Hartleys Observations on Man. Hartleys psychological, philosophical, and theological treatise postulated a theory of mind. Hartley aimed to construct a Christian philosophy in both religious and moral facts could be scientifically proven, a goal that would occupy Priestley for his entire life
36.
Joseph Black
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Joseph Black FRSE FRCPE FPSG was a Scottish physician and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. The chemistry buildings at both the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow are named after Black, Black was born in Bordeaux, France, where his father, who was from Belfast, Ireland, was engaged in the wine trade. His mother was from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and her family was also in the wine business, Joseph had twelve brothers and sisters. During his studies he wrote a thesis on the treatment of kidney stones with the salt magnesium carbonate. Like most eighteenth-century experimentalists, Blacks conceptualisation of chemistry was based on five principles of matter, Water, Salt, Earth, Fire and he added the principle of Air when his experiments definitely confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide. Blacks research programme was guided by questions relating to how the foregoing principles combined with other in various different forms. He used the term affinity to describe the force that held such combinations together, throughout his career he used a variety of diagrams and formulas to teach his Edinburgh students how to manipulate affinity through different kinds of experimentation. In about 1750, while still a student, Black developed the analytical balance based on a beam balanced on a wedge-shaped fulcrum. Each arm carried a pan on which the sample or standard weights was placed and it far exceeded the accuracy of any other balance of the time and became an important scientific instrument in most chemistry laboratories. In 1757, Black was appointed Regius Professor of the Practice of Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Additionally, Black observed that the application of heat to boiling water does not result in a rise in temperature of a water/steam mixture, from these observations, he concluded that the heat applied must have combined with the ice particles and boiling water and become latent. The theory of latent heat marks the beginning of thermodynamics, Blacks theory of latent heat was one of his more-important scientific contributions, and one on which his scientific fame chiefly rests. He also showed that different substances have different specific heats, the theory ultimately proved important not only in the development of abstract science but in the development of the steam engine. The latent heat of water is large compared with other liquids. Black and Watt became friends after meeting around 1757 while both were at Glasgow, Black provided significant financing and other support for Watts early research in steam power. Black also explored the properties of a gas produced in various reactions and he found that limestone could be heated or treated with acids to yield a gas he called fixed air. He observed that the air was denser than air and did not support either flame or animal life. Black also found that when bubbled through a solution of lime
37.
Daniel Rutherford
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Daniel Rutherford FRSE FRCPE FLS FSA was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is most famous for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772. Rutherford was the uncle of the novelist Sir Walter Scott, the son of Professor John Rutherford and Anne Mackay, Daniel Rutherford was born in Edinburgh on 3 November 1749. He left home at the age of 16 to go to college and he was educated at Mundells School and Edinburgh University. Rutherford discovered nitrogen by the isolation of the particle in 1772, when Joseph Black was studying the properties of carbon dioxide, he found that a candle would not burn in it. Black turned this problem over to his student at the time, Rutherford kept a mouse in a space with a confined quantity of air until it died. Then, he burned a candle in the air until it went out. Afterwards, he burned phosphorus in that, until it would not burn, then the air was passed through a carbon dioxide absorbing solution. The remaining component of the air did not support combustion, Rutherford called the gas “noxious air” or “phlogisticated air”. Rutherford reported the experiment in 1772 and he and Black were convinced of the validity of the phlogiston theory, so they explained their results in terms of it. He was a professor of botany at the University of Edinburgh and he was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1796 to 1798. His pupils included Thomas Brown of Lanfine and Waterhaughs, biographical note at “Lectures and Papers of Professor Daniel Rutherford, and Diary of Mrs Harriet Rutherford”
38.
Robert Boyle
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Robert William Boyle FRS was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist and inventor born in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyles law, which describes the proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. Among his works, The Sceptical Chymist is seen as a book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his writings in theology, Boyle was born in Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland, the seventh son and fourteenth child of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, and Catherine Fenton. Richard Boyle arrived in Dublin from England in 1588 during the Tudor plantations of Ireland and he had amassed enormous landholdings by the time Robert was born. As a child, Boyle was fostered to a local family, Boyle received private tutoring in Latin, Greek, and French and when he was eight years old, following the death of his mother, he was sent to Eton College in England. His fathers friend, Sir Henry Wotton, was then the provost of the college, during this time, his father hired a private tutor, Robert Carew, who had knowledge of Irish, to act as private tutor to his sons in Eton. After spending over three years at Eton, Robert travelled abroad with a French tutor and they visited Italy in 1641 and remained in Florence during the winter of that year studying the paradoxes of the great star-gazer Galileo Galilei, who was elderly but still living in 1641. Boyle returned to England from continental Europe in mid-1644 with a keen interest in scientific research and his father had died the previous year and had left him the manor of Stalbridge in Dorset, England and substantial estates in County Limerick in Ireland that he had acquired. They met frequently in London, often at Gresham College, having made several visits to his Irish estates beginning in 1647, Robert moved to Ireland in 1652 but became frustrated at his inability to make progress in his chemical work. In one letter, he described Ireland as a country where chemical spirits were so misunderstood. In 1654, Boyle left Ireland for Oxford to pursue his work more successfully, an inscription can be found on the wall of University College, Oxford the High Street at Oxford, marking the spot where Cross Hall stood until the early 19th century. It was here that Boyle rented rooms from the apothecary who owned the Hall. An account of Boyles work with the air pump was published in 1660 under the title New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring of the Air, the person who originally formulated the hypothesis was Henry Power in 1661. Boyle in 1662 included a reference to a written by Power. In continental Europe the hypothesis is attributed to Edme Mariotte. In 1680 he was elected president of the society, but declined the honour from a scruple about oaths and they are extraordinary because all but a few of the 24 have come true
39.
Mercury (element)
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Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum, Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar. The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide, likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers. Mercury remains in use in research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is used in fluorescent lighting, electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce, making visible light. Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water-soluble forms of mercury, Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white liquid metal. Compared to other metals, it is a conductor of heat. It has a point of −38.83 °C and a boiling point of 356.73 °C. Upon freezing, the volume of mercury decreases by 3. 59%, the coefficient of volume expansion is 181.59 × 10−6 at 0 °C,181.71 × 10−6 at 20 °C and 182.50 × 10−6 at 100 °C. Solid mercury is malleable and ductile and can be cut with a knife, because this configuration strongly resists removal of an electron, mercury behaves similarly to noble gases, which form weak bonds and hence melt at low temperatures. The stability of the 6s shell is due to the presence of a filled 4f shell, an f shell poorly screens the nuclear charge that increases the attractive Coulomb interaction of the 6s shell and the nucleus. Like silver, mercury reacts with hydrogen sulfide. Mercury reacts with solid sulfur flakes, which are used in mercury spill kits to absorb mercury, Mercury dissolves many other metals such as gold and silver to form amalgams. Iron is an exception, and iron flasks have traditionally used to trade mercury. Several other first row transition metals with the exception of manganese, copper, other elements that do not readily form amalgams with mercury include platinum. Sodium amalgam is a reducing agent in organic synthesis, and is also used in high-pressure sodium lamps. Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form a mercury-aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact, since the amalgam destroys the aluminium oxide layer which protects metallic aluminium from oxidizing in-depth, even small amounts of mercury can seriously corrode aluminium. For this reason, mercury is not allowed aboard an aircraft under most circumstances because of the risk of it forming an amalgam with exposed aluminium parts in the aircraft, Mercury embrittlement is the most common type of liquid metal embrittlement
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Specific gravity
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This page is about the measurement using water as a reference. For a general use of gravity, see relative density. See intensive property for the property implied by specific, Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is always water at its densest for liquids. Nonetheless, the temperature and pressure must be specified for both the sample and the reference, pressure is nearly always 1 atm. Temperatures for both sample and reference vary from industry to industry, in British beer brewing, the practice for specific gravity as specified above is to multiply it by 1000. Being a ratio of densities, specific gravity is a dimensionless quantity, Specific gravity varies with temperature and pressure, reference and sample must be compared at the same temperature and pressure or be corrected to a standard reference temperature and pressure. Substances with a gravity of 1 are neutrally buoyant in water. Those with SG greater than 1 are denser than water and will, disregarding surface tension effects and those with an SG less than 1 are less dense than water and will float on it. In scientific work, the relationship of mass to volume is expressed directly in terms of the density of the substance under study. It is in industry where specific gravity finds wide application, often for historical reasons. True specific gravity can be expressed mathematically as, S G true = ρ sample ρ H2 O where ρ sample is the density of the sample, the density of water varies with temperature and pressure as does the density of the sample. So it is necessary to specify the temperatures and pressures at which the densities or weights were determined and it is nearly always the case that measurements are made at 1 nominal atmosphere. For true specific gravity calculations, air pressure must be considered, temperatures are specified by the notation with T s representing the temperature at which the samples density was determined and T r the temperature at which the reference density is specified. For example, SG would be understood to mean that the density of the sample was determined at 20°C and of the water at 4°C. Taking into account different sample and reference temperatures, we note that, while S G H2 O =1.000000, it is also the case that S G H2 O =0.998203 /0.999840 =0.998363. Here, temperature is being specified using the current ITS-90 scale, on the previous IPTS-68 scale, the densities at 20 °C and 4 °C are 0.9982071 and 0.9999720 respectively, resulting in an SG value for water of 0.9982343. For example, in the industry, the Plato table lists sucrose concentration by weight against true SG
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Eudiometer
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A eudiometer is a laboratory device that measures the change in volume of a gas mixture following a physical or chemical change. Depending on the reaction being measured, the device can take a variety of forms, in general, it is similar to a graduated cylinder, and is most commonly found in two sizes,50 mL and 100 mL. It is closed at the top end with the bottom end immersed in water or mercury, the liquid traps a sample of gas in the cylinder, and the graduation allows the volume of the gas to be measured. For some reactions, two wires are placed in the sealed end so an electric spark can be created between them. The electric spark can initiate a reaction in the gas mixture, the use of the device is quite similar to the original barometer, except that the gas inside displaces some of the liquid that is used. In 1772, Joseph Priestley began experimenting with different “airs” using his own redesigned pneumatic trough in which instead of water would trap gases that were usually soluble in water. From these experiments Priestley is credited with discovering many new gases such as oxygen, hydrogen chloride and he also discovered a way to find the purity or “goodness” of air using “nitrous air test”. Henry Cavendish later used a device to determine the fraction of oxygen in the Earths atmosphere. It is from these experiments that Marsilio Landriani became inspired to create a useful tool in measuring the “healthiness” of air. In 1775, Landriani invented the first eudiometer and used it to conduct his own experiments, from these experiments Landriani theorized about the temperament of certain gases and the atmosphere and later published a paper called Ricerche fisiche intorno alla salubrità dellaria. Though many of his findings were incorrect, his invention was the block for the modern day eudiometer. Aside from its function, the eudiometer is also known for its part in the Volta pistol. Volta invented this instrument in 1777 for the purpose of testing the goodness of air, analyzing the flammability of gases, Voltas Pistol had a long glass tube that was closed at the top, like a eudiometer. Two electrodes were fed through the tube and produced a spark gap inside the tube, Voltas initial use of this instrument concerned the study of swamp gases in particular. Voltas pistol was filled with oxygen and another gas, the homogeneous mixture was taped shut with a cork. A spark could be introduced into the gas chamber by electrodes, if the gases were flammable, they would explode, and increase the pressure within the gas chamber. This pressure would be too great and eventually cause the cork to become airborne, Voltas pistol was made with either glass or brass, however due to the electricity the glass was vulnerable to exploding. Voltas extensive studies on measuring and creating high levels of electric currents caused the electrical unit, because the eudiometer was originally used to measure the amount of oxygen in the air, which was thought to be greater in nice weather, the root eudio- appropriately describes the apparatus
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Oxygen
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Oxygen is a chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the group on the periodic table and is a highly reactive nonmetal. By mass, oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, at standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula O2. This is an important part of the atmosphere and diatomic oxygen gas constitutes 20. 8% of the Earths atmosphere, additionally, as oxides the element makes up almost half of the Earths crust. Most of the mass of living organisms is oxygen as a component of water, conversely, oxygen is continuously replenished by photosynthesis, which uses the energy of sunlight to produce oxygen from water and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is too reactive to remain a free element in air without being continuously replenished by the photosynthetic action of living organisms. Another form of oxygen, ozone, strongly absorbs ultraviolet UVB radiation, but ozone is a pollutant near the surface where it is a by-product of smog. At low earth orbit altitudes, sufficient atomic oxygen is present to cause corrosion of spacecraft, the name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments with oxygen helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. One of the first known experiments on the relationship between combustion and air was conducted by the 2nd century BCE Greek writer on mechanics, Philo of Byzantium. In his work Pneumatica, Philo observed that inverting a vessel over a burning candle, Philo incorrectly surmised that parts of the air in the vessel were converted into the classical element fire and thus were able to escape through pores in the glass. Many centuries later Leonardo da Vinci built on Philos work by observing that a portion of air is consumed during combustion and respiration, Oxygen was discovered by the Polish alchemist Sendivogius, who considered it the philosophers stone. In the late 17th century, Robert Boyle proved that air is necessary for combustion, English chemist John Mayow refined this work by showing that fire requires only a part of air that he called spiritus nitroaereus. From this he surmised that nitroaereus is consumed in both respiration and combustion, Mayow observed that antimony increased in weight when heated, and inferred that the nitroaereus must have combined with it. Accounts of these and other experiments and ideas were published in 1668 in his work Tractatus duo in the tract De respiratione. Robert Hooke, Ole Borch, Mikhail Lomonosov, and Pierre Bayen all produced oxygen in experiments in the 17th and the 18th century but none of them recognized it as a chemical element. This may have been in part due to the prevalence of the philosophy of combustion and corrosion called the phlogiston theory, which was then the favored explanation of those processes. Established in 1667 by the German alchemist J. J. Becher, one part, called phlogiston, was given off when the substance containing it was burned, while the dephlogisticated part was thought to be its true form, or calx. The fact that a substance like wood gains overall weight in burning was hidden by the buoyancy of the combustion products
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Phlogiston theory
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The phlogiston theory is a superseded scientific theory that postulated that a fire-like element called phlogiston is contained within combustible bodies and released during combustion. The name comes from the Ancient Greek φλογιστόν phlogistón, from φλόξ phlóx and it was first stated in 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher, and then put together more formally by Georg Ernst Stahl. The theory attempted to explain burning processes such as combustion and rusting, phlogisticated substances are substances that contain phlogiston and dephlogisticate when burned. Dephlogisticating is when the substance simply releases the phlogiston inside of it, growing plants then absorb this phlogiston, which is why air does not spontaneously combust and also why plant matter burns as well as it does. In the following quote, Becher described phlogiston as a process that explained combustion through a process that was opposite to that of oxygen. When air had become completely phlogisticated it would no longer serve to support combustion of any material, nor would a metal heated in it yield a calx, breathing was thought to take phlogiston out of the body. Joseph Blacks student Daniel Rutherford discovered nitrogen in 1772 and the pair used the theory to explain his results. The residue of air left after burning, in fact a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, was referred to as phlogisticated air. Conversely, when oxygen was first discovered, it was thought to be dephlogisticated air, capable of combining with more phlogiston and thus supporting combustion for longer than ordinary air. Empedocles had formulated the theory that there were four elements, water, earth, fire and air. Fire was thus thought of as a substance and burning was seen as a process of decomposition which applied only to compounds, however experience had shown that burning was not always accompanied by a loss of material and a better theory was needed to account for this. In 1667, Johann Joachim Becher published his book Physica subterranea, in his book, Becher eliminated fire, water, and air from the classical element model and replaced them with three forms of earth, terra lapidea, terra fluida, and terra pinguis. Terra pinguis was the element that imparted oily, sulphurous, or combustible properties, Becher believed that terra pinguis was a key feature of combustion and was released when combustible substances were burned. Becher did not have much to do with phlogiston theory as we know it now, bechers main contribution was the start of the theory itself, however much it was changed after him. Bechers idea was that combustible substances contain an ignitable matter, the terra pinguis, the term phlogiston itself was not something that Stahl invented. There is evidence that the word was used as early as 1606, the term was derived from a Greek word meaning to inflame. When the oxide was heated with a substance rich in phlogiston, such as charcoal, phlogiston was a definite substance, the same in all its combinations. Stahls first definition of phlogiston first appeared in his Zymotechnia fundamentalis and his most quoted definition was found in the treatise on chemistry entitled Fundamenta chymiae in 1723
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James Watt
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While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realised that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder, Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water, Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful, in his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work. He developed the concept of horsepower, and the SI unit of power, James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, a seaport on the Firth of Clyde. His father was a shipwright, ship owner and contractor, and served as the towns chief baillie, while his mother, Agnes Muirhead, both were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters. Watts grandfather, Thomas Watt, was a teacher and baillie to the Baron of Cartsburn. Despite being raised by parents, he later on became a deist. Watt did not attend regularly, initially he was mostly schooled at home by his mother but later he attended Greenock Grammar School. He exhibited great manual dexterity, engineering skills and an aptitude for mathematics, while Latin, when he was eighteen, his mother died and his fathers health began to fail. Watt travelled to London to study instrument-making for a year, then returned to Scotland and he made and repaired brass reflecting quadrants, parallel rulers, scales, parts for telescopes, and barometers, among other things. Because he had not served at least seven years as an apprentice, Watt was saved from this impasse by the arrival from Jamaica of astronomical instruments bequeathed by Alexander Macfarlane to the University of Glasgow, instruments that required expert attention. Watt restored them to working order and was remunerated and these instruments were eventually installed in the Macfarlane Observatory. Subsequently three professors offered him the opportunity to set up a workshop within the university. It was initiated in 1757 and two of the professors, the physicist and chemist Joseph Black as well as the famed Adam Smith, at first he worked on maintaining and repairing scientific instruments used in the university, helping with demonstrations, and expanding the production of quadrants. In 1759 he formed a partnership with John Craig, an architect and businessman, to manufacture and sell a line of products including musical instruments and this partnership lasted for the next six years, and employed up to sixteen workers. One employee, Alex Gardner, eventually took over the business, in 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller, with whom he had five children, two of whom lived to adulthood, James Jr. and Margaret. His wife died in childbirth in 1772, in 1777 he was married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of a Glasgow dye-maker, with whom he had two children, Gregory, who became a geologist and mineralogist, and Janet
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Nitrogen
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Nitrogen is a chemical element with symbol N and atomic number 7. It was first discovered and isolated by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Henry Cavendish had independently done so at about the same time, Rutherford is generally accorded the credit because his work was published first. Nitrogen is the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, the name comes from the Greek πνίγειν to choke, directly referencing nitrogens asphyxiating properties. It is an element in the universe, estimated at about seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dinitrogen, a colourless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula N2, dinitrogen forms about 78% of Earths atmosphere, making it the most abundant uncombined element. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids, in the nucleic acids, the human body contains about 3% nitrogen by mass, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle describes movement of the element from the air, into the biosphere and organic compounds, many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates, and cyanides, contain nitrogen. The extremely strong bond in elemental nitrogen, the second strongest bond in any diatomic molecule. Synthetically produced ammonia and nitrates are key industrial fertilisers, and fertiliser nitrates are key pollutants in the eutrophication of water systems. Apart from its use in fertilisers and energy-stores, nitrogen is a constituent of organic compounds as diverse as Kevlar used in high-strength fabric, Nitrogen is a constituent of every major pharmacological drug class, including antibiotics. Many notable nitrogen-containing drugs, such as the caffeine and morphine or the synthetic amphetamines. Nitrogen compounds have a long history, ammonium chloride having been known to Herodotus. They were well known by the Middle Ages, alchemists knew nitric acid as aqua fortis, as well as other nitrogen compounds such as ammonium salts and nitrate salts. The mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids was known as aqua regia, celebrated for its ability to dissolve gold, the discovery of nitrogen is attributed to the Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air. Though he did not recognise it as a different chemical substance, he clearly distinguished it from Joseph Blacks fixed air. The fact that there was a component of air that does not support combustion was clear to Rutherford, Nitrogen was also studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, who referred to it as burnt air or phlogisticated air. Nitrogen gas was inert enough that Antoine Lavoisier referred to it as air or azote, from the Greek word άζωτικός. In an atmosphere of nitrogen, animals died and flames were extinguished
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cavendish, Henry". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "