Sophia Elahi RPC Blog

This week I learned about the Flying Shuttle, the Marine Chronometer, Anders Celsius, and the Leyden Jar.

The Flying Shuttle

John Kay invented and patented the flying shuttle. The flying shuttle was a machine that allowed one weaver to weave much wider fabrics faster and more efficiently. Pirated used Kay’s shuttle and nearly bankrupted him through patent lawsuits. The shuttle led to mass- production factories in the Industrial Revolution.

The Marine Chronometer

John Harrison invented the chronometer in 1735. Harrison’s chronometer was highly accurate, precise, and immune to the harsh environmental effects encountered at sea. Parliament was reluctant to give John the money for his invention, but Captain James Cook’s praise was influential. John Harrison’s chronometer is responsible for the rise of the British Royal Navy.

Anders Celsius

 Anders Celsius was a Swedish astronomer, physics, and mathematician. Anders came from a family of scientists; he decided to continue the “family business”. He had a great deal of accomplishments; his most famous is the Celsius temperature. His influence spread after gaining fame from participating in the trek to North Sweden. The Celsius temperature scale is the world standard (except in the US).

The Leyden Jar

 Interest in electricity grew out of a mysterious glow that was noticed from within mercury barometer. Two scientists discovered the first battery, the Leyden Jar. It stores electrical charge and made routine electrical experiments possible. It was marketed to rich, curious scientists, and popularized by the efforts of Daniel Gralath. It led to the advancement of the battery and furthered the march of the modern world.

 

 

This week I learned about the Coke-Fired Blast Furnace, the Newcomen Steam Engine, Thomas Newcomen, and the Octant.

Coke-Fired Blast Furnace

Abraham Darby 1 invented the coke-fired blast furnace. His factory made iron cost- competitive and increased iron demand. Darby’s breakthrough came just in time to meet the Newcomen steam engine. The coke-fired blast furnace is a smelting tool for iron, and a good one. The coke-fired furnace drove the Industrial Revolution which transformed the Western world after 1800.

The Newcomen Steam Engine

  Thomas Newcomen invented the steam engine in 1712, using the insights of Papin and Savery. The engine worked by sucking in air and condensing it into the cylinder. Creating a partial vacuum, this allowed atmospheric pressure to push the piston into the cylinder. The steam engine was marketed through Newcomen’s network of Baptist business contacts. It used heat and steam to perform mechanical work. Newcomen’s engine was improved by James Watt, leading to the Industrial Revolution.

Thomas Newcomen

Thomas Newcomen was an ironmonger and a Baptist. His engine overcame the pumping limit and became his biggest commercial success. He used his business success with the engine to fund his calling (being a Baptist), which also improved his business.

The Octant.

The death of Admiral Cloudesley Shovell prompted Parliament to pay a reward for finding longitude. Hadley was motivated by this, which lead to him inventing the octant. The octant is an important tool for accurately determining position. It overtook the instrument market by 1780. Its development led to the invention of other technologies which became crucial to the Industrial Revolution.

 

 

 

 

This week I learned about Gottfried Leibniz, the Piano, the thermometer, and the Seismometer. This essay will explain who and what they are.

Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a prominent German polymath and philosopher in the history of mathematics and the history of philosophy. His most notable accomplishment was conceiving the ideas of differential and integral calculus, independently of Isaac Newton’s contemporaneous developments. His reputation spread during his lifetime by way of his German scientific journal. His legacy is preserved in calculus and calculators.

The Piano

The piano is a versatile stringed instrument that enhances all forms of music and teachers music education. Bart Cristofori invented the piano around 1700 in Italy. Its popularity rose after blueprints were published in a journal in 1711.

The Thermometer

The thermometer measures temperature accurately. Daniel Fahrenheit invented the mercury thermometer. Fahrenheit invented a standardized temperature scale which finally popularized the device. Early thermometers were developed by the 1600s in Italy, but, they didn’t have standard scales. The thermometer led to the improvements in medicine, the power industry, meteorology, and engineering capabilities.

The Seismometer

The seismometer is a scientific instrument that measures seismic waves emanating from within the planet caused by earthquake and volcanic activity. A series of disastrous earthquakes in Italy in 1700s spurred interest in the perfection of earlier, more basic seismometers. The success of detecting earthquakes in Italy in the 1780s prompted similar interest in the United States. They save lives by providing early warnings.

 

This week I learned about Christiaan Huygens, Calculus, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, and Isaac Newton.

Christiaan Huygens

Huygens was a Dutch physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor. He was born into Protestant culture, that believes in hard work and no play or fun or recreation, which is probably why he invented multiple things and made several important discoveries before he was 30 years old. He invented the pendulum clock and discovered Titan, one Saturn’s 62 moons, with a telescope he designed himself.

Calculus

Calculus is the mathematical study of change which unlocks the secrets of physics. The beginnings of calculus extend back into ancient history, but, in the 1600s Europeans made great leaps culminting with the joint discovery of calculus by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. They couldn’t agree on who should get the credit of discovering calculus, which resulted in being controversial for a long time.  It was popularized by L’Hopital through his calculus textbook in 1696. We use calculus to build power plants, computers, and antennas.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

Anton Philips van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch businessman and scientist in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as “the Father of Microbiology”, and one of the first microscopists and microbiologists. His work spresd through the Royal Society of London.

Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author. Newton abandoned Christianity and turned to alchemy to spur his creativity. Newton’s science was promoted publicly through the Royal Society, and secretly through Freemasonry. Newton’s physics sent us to the moon and also gave us the US Consituation. Newton’s published scientific discoveries changed science forever.

This week I learned about the Mercury Barometer, the Vacuum Pump, the Pendulum Clock, and Robert Boyle.

Mercury Barometer

The first invention I learned about was the mercury barometer. It was invented by Torricelli, when he heard about the magical height that water would stop pumping at. He saw that at the top there was a small vacuum. The barometer was a simple small glass tube with mercury. The barometer detects changes in atmospheric pressure to help predict weather. The barometer led to the development of meteorology and electrical study.

Vacuum Pump

The vacuum pump was invented by Otto von Guericke. Guericke was inspired by the vacuum experiments associated with the barometer. The vacuum pump removes air and moisture from a container. It also sucks up water. It lead to air conditioning, the vacuum we use today, and heating.

Pendulum Clock

Mechanical clocks had improved greatly in the Middle Ages, but they were still inaccurate. Christian Hugens invented the pendulum clock, after learning of Galileo’s pendulum. Because of complex machinery, the pendulum was highly accurate. The pendulum clock was adopted immediately by everyone. It was the time keeping standard until the 1940s, when they were replace by crystal oscillators.

Robert Boyle

Boyle was interested early on in the sciences and joined the Invisible College. He developed the atomic theory of matter and move chemistry towards science. His influence spread through the Royal Academy. Not only did Boyle lay the groundwork for future discoveries in chemistry and helped reshape Western Civilization, he improved the vacuum pump, and became a father of chemistry.

This week I learned about Mersenne’s Laws, Cartesian Coordinates, the Mechanical Calculator, and Blaise Pascal.

Mersenne’s Laws

Mersenne’s laws are laws describing the frequency of oscillation of a stretched string or monochord, useful in musical tuning and musical instrument construction. … Lower strings are thicker, thus having a greater mass per unit length. They typically have lower tension. Mersenne was a scholar and theologian who belived in scientific pursuit. Though Gailileo had the idea of the laws first, Mersenne proved the laws expeirrimentally. Mersenne’s discovert stimulated development and growth in acoustics.

Cartesian Coordinates

The Cartesian coordinate system is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely in a plane by a set of numerical coordinates. The Cartesian Coordinates system unfied geometry and algebra for the first time. Rene Descartes was born into the early Scientific Revoulution. Rene was inspired by the work of Gailileo and others. Descartes’ work was distributed through Mersenne’s network of scholars and scientists. Cartesian coordinates established a basis for calculus.

The Mechanical Calculator

Blaise Pascal is the inventor of the very first mechanical calculator, for his father to save him time and improve accuracy. It was a commercial failure but its promise inspired others to attempt to improve it for over 200 years. Produced until the 1970s, they were replaced by electronic calculators that use micro processors.

Blaise Pascal

The 30 Years War was a war of religion that resulted in the Peace of Westphalia. Pascal grew up among the backdrop pf the war and invented the calculator because of it. Pascal is best known for creating Pascal’s Laws. His work spread through Mersenne’s network. Pascal’s Law continues to shape modern inventions.

 

 

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is a key figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion. The Holy Roman Empire was Protestant when Kepler was born. The Protestant gave Kepler more freedom to follow his passion, without fear of execution like in the Holy Roman Catholic world. He developed an interest in astronomy during his childhood. The Copernican model and Newton’s science relied upon Kepler’s discoveries.

Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Galileo has been called the “father of observational astronomy”, the “father of modern physics”, the “father of the scientific method”, and the “father of modern science”.  Galileo became a scientist by accident. If he didn’t accidently wandered into geometry class the world would have never heard of him.

The Slide Rule

Sailing and astronomy were important and had to do lots of multiplication and division operations. John Napier invented logarithms in 1614 simplify these calculations. The slide rule makes it easy to use logarithms without the need of a book of tables. They were used constantly used and improved over the next 350 years. They made engineering possible during the industrial revolution and afterwards.

John Napier

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Galileo has been called the “father of observational astronomy”, the “father of modern physics”, the “father of the scientific method”, and the “father of modern science”. The Scottish Reformation occurred throughout the mid-1500s. Napier’s desire o serve others fueled his efforts. He’s best known as the inventor of logarithm. They were popular and dwell received almost immediately. The logarithm is intricately tied to advance modern science.

 

Compound Microscope

In the 1600s, several claims for the invention of the microscope had arisen.  The compound microscope makes small objects that seem invisible visible.  Microscopes and biology were popularized by Leeuhenhoek.  The compound microscope helped Louis Pasteur advance germ theory of disease.

 

Newspaper

Before the printing press, mass media favored large governments.  The Reformers used the printing press to persuade the masses of their position.  Newspapers transmitted information quicker than ever before.  The first newspaper began in Germany in 1605.  The newspaper influenced the American Revolution, and eventually gave way to the internet.

 

Telescope

The Telescope is the result of successive development of optical theories and inventions.  The telescope magnified cosmic objects that we could never see with our naked eye.  Because of the cultural interest in astronomy, they spread quickly.  Everybody realized the many benefits of the telescope.  The telescope overturned the Ptolemaic model and led to the modern radio telescope.

 

This week I learned about the Mercator Projection Map and The Backstaff.

Mercator Projection Map

Sailing was big business in the 1500s.  To accomplish that, more friendly map designs was desired.  The Dutchman, Geradus Mercator, devised the solution.  The Mercator Projection simplified sailing and made it easy to calculate distance.  It was slow to catch on at first but became the universal standard within 100 years. Thanks to the Mercator Projection Map, North America was found.

The Backstaff

John Davis was a master sailor and explorer for England.  He invented the Backstaff, a navigational instrument, that greatly improved the ability to calculate latitude while at sea.  Davis popularized the Backstaff in his book.  This invention helped the founding of America, and making the North West passage a viable trade route.

 

This week I learned about the Heliocentric Theory, Copernicus, Vesalius, and the pencil.

The Heliocentric Theory

The Ptolemaic model of the universe was becoming questioning. The heliocentric model provided both predictive capability AND physical correctness. It took 150 years and the continuous work of several scientists to convince the world of its merit. The heliocentric model makes space travel and complex technology possible.

Copernicus

Copernicus was a mathematician and astronomer. He grew up during the Renaissance, but wasn’t inspired by its culture. He gained an interest in science and astronomy through his schooling. He had diverse talents, but he specialized in astronomy. His work spread slowly, facing son resistance from the church. The insights of Copernicus laid the ground work for the scientific revolution.

Vesalius

Vesalius was a doctor. Being a doctor ran in his family. He offered the first challenge to Galen’s theories of anatomy in 300 years. He wrote a book on anatomy, this book offered details and illustrations to help people understand the human body. His book was a crucial turning point in history of anatomy. It strengthened the profession and led to important technological advancements in health over time.

The Pencil

Pencils were invented after a graphite mine was discovered in England (1500). They are a cheap way to write and erase. Artists favored them and England gained a world monopoly, because they were the only one in the world, to have a mine full of graphite. Their monopoly ended by 1800, and graphite production helped Bessemer become famous.