World Famous Scientists E-Book

Rajeev Garg

• Herausgeber: V&S Publishers
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 151

Beschreibung

Scientists whose inventions famously made life easy for us

Leseprobe

Published by:

F-2/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002 011-23240026, 011-23240027 • Fax: [phone]Email: [email protected] • Website: www.vspublishers.com

Regional Office : Hydrabad

5-1-707/1, Brij Bhawan (Beside Central Bank of India Lane) Bank Street, Koti, Hyderabad - 500 095040-24737290Email: [email protected]

Branch Office : Mumbai

Jaywant Industrial Estate, 1st Floor - 108, Tardeo RoadOpposite Sobo Central Mall, Mumbai - 400 034022-23510736Email: [email protected]

Follow us on:

© Copyright: ISBN 978-935-05732-3-5

DISCLAIMER

While every attempt has been made to provide accurate and timely information in this book, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, unintended omissions or commissions detected therein. The author and publisher make no representation or warranty with respect to the comprehensiveness or completeness of the contents provided.

All matters included have been simplified under professional guidance for general information only without any warranty for applicability on an individual. Any mention of an organization or a website in the book by way of citation or as a source of additional information doesn't imply the endorsement of the content either by the author or the publisher. It is possible that websites cited may have changed or removed between the time of editing and publishing the book.

Results from using the expert opinion in this book will be totally dependent on individual circumstances and factors beyond the control of the author and the publisher.

It makes sense to elicit advice from well informed sources before implementing the ideas given in the book. The reader assumes full responsibility for the consequences arising out from reading this book. For proper guidance, it is advisable to read the book under the watchful eyes of parents/guardian. The purchaser of this book assumes all responsibility for the use of given materials and information. The copyright of the entire content of this book rests with the author/publisher. Any infringement/ transmission of the cover design, text or illustrations, in any form, by any means, by any entity will invite legal action and be responsible for consequences thereon.

Publishers’ Note

Our publications are enjoying unquestioned popularity and have been appreciated in reviews of prestigeous newspapers and magazines. Authenticity of text matter, nice production, beautiful presentation and the affordable price of our books are the four basic reasons for this popularity.

Our objective to publish this book is to expand the mental horizon of an average reader. Our aim is to stimulate the thoughts and enhance the knowledge of our readers about the world around them. In publishing this book, our effort has been to contribute a valuable literature for popularising science amongst masses of the country.

This book contains invaluable information about the scientists and their achievements in various fields. They have contributed much in the field of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical and Civil Engg., Ornithology, Civil Aviation, Wireless Communication, etc. Had it not been for their efforts, life would have been a difficult struggle in the present world.

It is not possible to bring out a book of such wide dimensions encompassing events from all over the world without recourse to authentic reference books. We gratefully acknowledge our debt to authors and publishers of those books which have been of invaluable help in the preparation of this book.

We would, of course, welcome your valuable views about this book.

Contents

1. Michael Faraday

2. GalileoGalilei

3. EvangelistaTorricelli

4. Otto von Guericke

5. EnricoFermi

6. Max Planck

7. Leonardo da Vinci

8. Sir Humphry Davy

9. Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen

10. Sir Isaac Newton

11. Edward Jenner

12. Satyendra Nath Bose

13. Sir Alexander Fleming

14. Archimedes

15. J. Robert Oppenheimer

16. Thomas Alva Edison

17. Benjamin Franklin

18. SalimAli

19. Jagdish Chandra Bose

20. Charles Darwin

21. Madame Curie

22. SirC. V.Raman

23. Wilbur and Orville Wright

24. Blaise Pascal

25. Albert Einstein

26. Kekule von Stradonitz Friedrich August

27. James Clerk Maxwell

28. Guglielmo Marconi

29. Sir James Chadwick

30. John Logie Baird

31. Pythagoras

32 Alfred Bernhard Nobel

33. Hargobind Khorana

34. Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha

35. Euclid

36. Srinivasa Ramanujam

37. Alexander Graham Bell

38. Lord Rutherford

39. Gregor Johann Mendel

40. John Napier

41. Prafulla Chandra Ray

Michael Faraday

(The Inventor of Electromagnetic Induction)

Today, thousands of power stations all over the world are producing electricity with the help of generators. Without the invention of the generator electric power could not have been a reality.

Born: Sept. 22, 1791, Newington, London Died: August 25,1867, Hampton Court

And moreover it is difficult to visualise our life today without electricity. The credit of inventing this machine goes to Michael Faraday. When he made the first generator he was not aware that his invention would turn out to be one of the most important boons of the scientific age.

Michael Faraday, the father of Electromagnetic Induction, was born in 1791 at Newington, England. He was the son of a blacksmith and worked as an apprentice in bookbinding during his early years. He developed interest in science after he attended some lectures given by Sir Humphry Davy in 1812. He sent his study notes to Davy with a request for a job. In 1813, he began to work as Davy’s assistant at the Royal Institution. One year later, he accompanied Davy on a European tour. This turned out to be a highly rewarding experience for the modestly educated young scientist.

After his return to the Royal Institution, Faraday had to work hard, since he was the main source of income for the Institution which was then facing financial problems. During this period, Faraday worked in the field of glass and steel. He performed many chemical analyses and investigated the chlorides of carbon for Davy. His work resulted in the discovery of benzene in 1825.

Davy left the Royal Institution, but Faraday was immensely influenced by Davy and carried out many experiments for him. When Faraday discovered in 1-823 that gases could be liquified by pressure. Davy got the credit. After this, serious differences crept in between the two, so much so that Davy opposed the election of Faraday as a Fellow of the Royal Institution.

In 1820, Hans Oersted discovered that when electric current passes through a conductor it could produce magnetic field. Faraday heard about this and thought that it would also work the other way round, that is, magnetic field can generate electricity. He carried out experiments, he invented the process of electromagnetic induction and formulated the laws of electromagnetic induction. He demonstrated that if a magnet is moved inside a wire loop, electricity is generated. He also demonstrated that if a current carrying wire is suspended near a magnet it revolves around the magnet. These experiments made him famous throughout Europe. In 1831, he made the first dynamo. Joseph Henry also made a generator at the same time.All modern dynamos, generators and transformers are based on the work of Faraday and Henry.

One famous incident of Faraday’s life is worth mentioning. When he invented electromagnetic induction, he presented an experiment to demonstrate it before many people who came from all over the world. Among the spectators was a lady with her young baby. Faraday took a coil of copper wire and connected its ends to a galvanometer. He inserted a bar magnet into the coil. With the insertion of the magnet the needle of galvanometer moved, indicating generation of electricity. When he removed the magnet, the needle moved back. Faraday explained to the audience that this was the basis of generating electricity.

When the demonstration was over, the lady became angry. "Is it an experiment? Have you called the people to befool them?" she asked Faraday. Faraday replied politely, "Madam, just as your child is quite young, so is the case with my experiment. So far it is like a baby. In future, it may be of utmost importance."

Faraday’s statements have come true today. There is no electric generator and transformer which does not work on the principle of electromagnetic induction. If Faraday would have not invented electromagnetic induction, perhaps we would have not got electricity.

In the next few years, Faraday demonstrated by passing currents through solutions that all kinds of electricity, however generated,.was the same. In this way, he developed the laws of electrolysis in 1834 which are taught to the students of physics even today.

In 1839, Faraday suffered a mental breakdown. His convalescence took four years. His breakdown left him with a poor memory which grew worse with time. However, he returned to his work and started investigating the effect of a magnetic field on non-metallic substances. He discovered paramagnetism and diamagnetism. Although Faraday was very fond of giving lectures on science subjects, in the late 1850s he had given it up because of his failing memory.

In 1861, Faraday, then 70, retired from the Royal Institution and moved to a house in Hampton Court that Queen Victoria has offered him. By now his condition was so bad that he required permanent assistance. On 25 August 1867, he breathed his last. He was given a private funeral at Highgate Cemetery.

Faraday was a scientist noted for blending theory and experiment in his researches. He had little money to spend on apparatus and knew no mathematics. Many of his inventions were not put to use until decades afterhis death. Two electrical units are named after Faraday. One is the Faraday Unit used in measuring quantities of electricity, and the other is the Faraday Unit used in measuring the capacity of a capacitor.

Galielei Galileo

(Who wonderstruck people from the Leaning Tower of Pisa)

The story of Galileo and Leaning Tower of Pisa is well-known in the history of science. At the age of 23, when he was working as a lecturer in Mathematics in Pisa University, he read in a religious book that if two bodies of different weights are allowed to fall simultaneously from the same height, the heavy body will hit the ground first. In fact, this was a statement made by Aristotle. Galileo was the first man who proved this statement wrong.

Born: February 15, 1564, Pisa (Italy) Died:January 8, 1642. Arcetri (Italy)

For this he Selected the 180 feet hign Leaning Tower Of Pisa. On the demonstration day, Galileo went up to the seventh floor of Pisa Tower with two metal balls weighing 100 pounds and 1 pound respectively. Thousands of people had turned up to witness his experiment. Among the crowd were many professors and students of Pisa University. Many superstitious spectators had blind faith in Aristotle’s statement given thousands of years earlier. They were freely abusing Galileo.

Galileo put both the balls on one edge of the roof very carefully. Some people among the crowd became curious, but most spectators were whispering with each other that this man would prove to be a fool very soon by his own experiment. Galileo dropped both the balls simultaneously. The people were wonderstruck when the two balls hit the ground at the same time. In this way, many years old superstition was proved wrong scientifically. People may differ about the truth of this story. However, it is true that Galileo could understand many facts about gravitation and that is why he could prove the truth by his experiment.

Galileo, even after 350 years of his death, is still considered as one of the greatest scientists of the world. He was the first man who disproved many old notions by his experiments, although there were no sophisticated instruments available at that time. This Italian scientist right from his childhood was deeply interested in studying nature and science. That is why he could see every natural event with a scientific angle.

When he was 17 years old, one evening he went to Church to pray. It was getting dark and the caretaker was lighting the candles in the candelabra which hung from the roof by a chain. When he left it, it started swinging to and fro. Young Galileo observed it keenly and noticed that the time taken in each swing was the same. There was no watches during those days to measure the timing, but being a medical student he knew that the beat of the human pulse is fairly regular. To prove his observation he counted the number of pulse beats for each swing. He observed that each swing, whether big or small, took the same time. On this basis he made an instrument which is known as pulse meter. Later his son Vinsenji made the wall-clock on this basis. This has developed into today’s pendulum clock.

Galileo fabricated the first telescope. He has written in one of his books that when the news of his telescope reached Venice, the king Sing Aroia called him. The whole court was surprised to see this instrument. Many people went up to the top of the Venice Church and saw the ships nearly 10 times nearer with the help of this instrument.

Galileo throwing the balls from the top of the Pisa Tower.

For about a month his telescope was tested by many people. With this instrument Galileo later explored the universe. With his telescope, he saw the satellites of Jupiter. He also proved that our Milky Way is composed of millions of stars.

Galileo established the validity of the views of Copernicus. Copernicus had said that the sun is the centre of the universe, not the earth. Galileo also said that earth is not the centre of the universe, but like other planets it also revolves round the sun. When in 1616, he proved for the first time that the sun was the centre of the universe, and the earth revolves around the sun, he was summoned before the officials of the Church and was warned to stop this propaganda. Due to this binding he did not give any public speech till 1630.

After that Galileo published his famous book Dialogues Concerning the Two Principal Systems of the World. In this book, Galileo expressed his views freely. This was an offence in the opinion of Church officials, and as a result the 70-year old scientist was summoned before the court once again. The authorities were willing to pardon him if he accepted that his statements were wrong.

It is said that after acute pressurisation Galileo rose to admit his folly and discard his scientific beliefs. But his conscience rebelled and he was overcome with repentance. He looked towards the ground and said in a broken voice: "It is the earth which moves around the sun." For this defiance the aged scientist was put in prison. In 1637, Galileo became blind, and in January 1642 he passed away.

Evangelista Torricelli

(The Inventor of Barometer)

Torricelli’s name is usually associated with the invention of the barometer but, in fact, he designed many other things also.

At Florence in Italy, there is a museum devoted to the history of science. Among the exhibits is a telescopic lens which, to the casual observer, appears to be a well-developed lens a little over four inches in diameter. Even an optician will be surprised to know of the precision with which it is made. It is accurate to within a ten thousandth Of a millimeter; and WC Will be far more surprised when we learn that it was made in 1646. Its maker was Evangelista Torricelli. It was made at the time when no modern precision instruments were available. From this fact we can imagine the amazing degree of accuracy which Torricelli possessed.

Birth: October 15. 1608, Faenza (Italy)Died: October 25 1647- Florence (itaiy)

Most of us know Torricelli as the inventor of barometer, but only few are aware of the interesting story behind this invention.

According to this story, Grand Duke of Tuscany got a well dug in the courtyard of his palace. The surface of water was about 40 feet below the courtyard level. In order to bring the water upto ground level, a hand-pump was installed with its pipe dipping in the well water. The pump handle was operated repeatedly, but the water did not rise in the pipe more than the height of 33 feet.

Initially it was thought that there was some defect in the pump. But on careful examination the pump was found to be in quite order. This incident was reported to the Duke but he also could not understand why the pump was unable to bring water to the ground level. In these days Galileo was the Mathematician to the Grand Duke. So the problem was referred to him. Galileo at that time was old and practically blind, so he asked his desciple Torricelli to look into it.

Torricelli was aware that a heavier liquid cannot be raised to the same height as a lighter liquid. He selected mercury for his experiment which is more than thirteen-and-a-half times heavier than watcr.,He calculated that if the measure of 33 feet is divided by 13.5, the equivalent height to which mercury might rise would be about 30 inches. Therefore, the use of mercury, he thought, would reduce the length of the experimental glass tube to only one yard.

To carry out the experiment, Torricelli took a glass tube of about 1 yard length with its one end closed. He filled it with mercury, closed the open end with his thumb and immersed it in a dish full of mercury so that the open end remained dipped in mercury. When he removed his thumb from the open end from below the mercury level, the mercury in the tube came down slightly and stood at a column length of about 30 inches. The upper part of the tube became empty. This empty column was named as ‘Torricelli’s vacuum.’ This experiment proved that water by hand-pump cannot be lifted to more than the height of 30 inches x 13.5, that is, about 33 feet and the apparatus used in this experiment later became the basis of evolving the barometer.