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19 July 2009

Hovercraft

The invention: A vehicle requiring no surface contact for traction that moves freely over a variety of surfaces—particularly water—while supported on a self-generated cushion of air. The people behind the invention: Christopher Sydney Cockerell (1910- ), a British engineer who built the first hovercraft Ronald A. Shaw (1910- ), an early pioneer in aerodynamics who experimented with hovercraft Sir John Isaac Thornycroft (1843-1928), a Royal Navy architect who was the first to experiment with air-cushion theory Air-Cushion Travel The air-cushion vehicle was first conceived by Sir John Isaac Thornycroft of Great Britain in the 1870’s. He theorized that if a ship had a plenum chamber (a box open at the bottom) for a hull and it were pumped full of air, the ship would rise out of the water and move faster, because there would be less drag. The main problem was keeping the air from escaping from under the craft. In the early 1950’s, Christopher Sydney Cockerell was experimenting with ways to reduce both the wave-making and frictional resistance that craft had to water. In 1953, he constructed a punt with a fan that supplied air to the bottom of the craft, which could thus glide over the surface with very little friction. The air was contained under the craft by specially constructed side walls. In 1955, the first true “hovercraft,” as Cockerell called it, was constructed of balsa wood. It weighed only 127 grams and traveled over water at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour. On November 16, 1956, Cockerell successfully demonstrated his model hovercraft at the patent agent’s office in London. It was immediately placed on the “secret” list, and Saunders-Roe Ltd. was given the first contract to build hovercraft in 1957. The first experimental piloted hovercraft, the SR.N1, which had a weight of 3,400 kilograms and could carry three people at the speed of 25 knots, was completed on May 28, 1959, and publicly demonstrated on June 11, 1959. Ground Effect Phenomenon In a hovercraft, a jet airstream is directed downward through a hole in a metal disk, which forces the disk to rise. The jet of air has a reverse effect of its own that forces the disk away from the surface. Some of the air hitting the ground bounces back against the disk to add further lift. This is called the “ground effect.” The ground effect is such that the greater the under-surface area of the hovercraft, the greater the reverse thrust of the air that bounces back. This makes the hovercraft a mechanically efficient machine because it provides three functions. First, the ground effect reduces friction between the craft and the earth’s surface. Second, it acts as a spring suspension to reduce some of the vertical acceleration effects that arise from travel over an uneven surface. Third, it provides a safe and comfortable ride at high speed, whatever the operating environment. The air cushion can distribute the weight of the hovercraft over almost its entire area so that the cushion pressure is low. The basic elements of the air-cushion vehicle are a hull, a propulsion system, and a lift system. The hull, which accommodates the crew, passengers, and freight, contains both the propulsion and lift systems. The propulsion and lift systems can be driven by the same power plant or by separate power plants. Early designs used only one unit, but this proved to be a problem when adequate power was not achieved for movement and lift. Better results are achieved when two units are used, since far more power is used to lift the vehicle than to propel it. For lift, high-speed centrifugal fans are used to drive the air through jets that are located under the craft. A redesigned aircraft propeller is used for propulsion. Rudderlike fins and an air fan that can be swiveled to provide direction are placed at the rear of the craft. Several different air systems can be used, depending on whether a skirt system is used in the lift process. The plenum chamber system, the peripheral jet system, and several types of recirculating air systems have all been successfully tried without skirting. Avariety of rigid and flexible skirts have also proved to be satisfactory, depending on the use of the vehicle. Skirts are used to hold the air for lift. Skirts were once hung like curtains around hovercraft. Instead of simple curtains to contain the air, there are now complicated designs that contain the cushion, duct the air, and even provide a secondary suspension. The materials used in the skirting have also changed from a rubberized fabric to pure rubber and nylon and, finally, to neoprene, a lamination of nylon and plastic. The three basic types of hovercraft are the amphibious, nonamphibious, and semiamphibious models. The amphibious type can travel over water and land, whereas the nonamphibious type is restricted to water travel. The semiamphibious model is also restricted to water travel but may terminate travel by nosing up on a prepared ramp or beach. All hovercraft contain built-in buoyancy tanks in the side skirting as a safety measure in the event that a hovercraft must settle on the water. Most hovercraft are equipped with gas turbines and use either propellers or water-jet propulsion. Impact Hovercraft are used primarily for short passenger ferry services. Great Britain was the only nation to produce a large number of hovercraft. The British built larger and faster craft and pioneered their successful use as ferries across the English Channel, where they could reach speeds of 111 kilometers per hour (160 knots) and carry more than four hundred passengers and almost one hundred vehicles. France and the former Soviet Union have also effectively demonstrated hovercraft river travel, and the Soviets have experimented with military applications as well. The military adaptations of hovercraft have been more diversified. Beach landings have been performed effectively, and the United States used hovercraft for river patrols during the Vietnam War. Other uses also exist for hovercraft. They can be used as harbor pilot vessels and for patrolling shores in a variety of police-and customs- related duties. Hovercraft can also serve as flood-rescue craft and fire-fighting vehicles. Even a hoverfreighter is being considered. The air-cushion theory in transport systems is rapidly developing. It has spread to trains and smaller people movers in many countries. Their smooth, rapid, clean, and efficient operation makes hovercraft attractive to transportation designers around the world.

16 July 2009

Holography

The invention: A lensless system of three-dimensional photography that was one of the most important developments in twentieth century optical science. The people behind the invention: Dennis Gabor (1900-1979), a Hungarian-born inventor and physicist who was awarded the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics Emmett Leith (1927- ), a radar researcher who, with Juris Upatnieks, produced the first laser holograms Juris Upatnieks (1936- ), a radar researcher who, with Emmett Leith, produced the first laser holograms Easter Inspiration The development of photography in the early 1900’s made possible the recording of events and information in ways unknown before the twentieth century: the photographing of star clusters, the recording of the emission spectra of heated elements, the storing of data in the form of small recorded images (for example, microfilm), and the photographing of microscopic specimens, among other things. Because of its vast importance to the scientist, the science of photography has developed steadily. An understanding of the photographic and holographic processes requires some knowledge of the wave behavior of light. Light is an electromagnetic wave that, like a water wave, has an amplitude and a phase. The amplitude corresponds to the wave height, while the phase indicates which part of the wave is passing a given point at a given time. A cork floating in a pond bobs up and down as waves pass under it. The position of the cork at any time depends on both amplitude and phase: The phase determines on which part of the wave the cork is floating at any given time, and the amplitude determines how high or low the cork can be moved. Waves from more than one source arriving at the cork combine in ways that depend on their relative phases. If the waves meet in the same phase, they add and produce a large amplitude; if they arrive out of phase, they subtract and produce a small amplitude. The total amplitude, or intensity, depends on the phases of the combining waves. Dennis Gabor, the inventor of holography, was intrigued by the way in which the photographic image of an object was stored by a photographic plate but was unable to devote any consistent research effort to the question until the 1940’s. At that time, Gabor was involved in the development of the electron microscope. On Easter morning in 1947, as Gabor was pondering the problem of how to improve the electron microscope, the solution came to him. He would attempt to take a poor electron picture and then correct it optically. The process would require coherent electron beams—that is, electron waves with a definite phase. This two-stage method was inspired by the work of Lawrence Bragg. Bragg had formed the image of a crystal lattice by diffracting the photographic X-ray diffraction pattern of the original lattice. This double diffraction process is the basis of the holographic process. Bragg’s method was limited because of his inability to record the phase information of the X-ray photograph. Therefore, he could study only those crystals for which the phase relationship of the reflected waves could be predicted. Waiting for the Laser Gabor devised a way of capturing the phase information after he realized that adding coherent background to the wave reflected from an object would make it possible to produce an interference pattern on the photographic plate. When the phases of the two waves are identical, a maximum intensity will be recorded; when they are out of phase, a minimum intensity is recorded. Therefore, what is recorded in a hologram is not an image of the object but rather the interference pattern of the two coherent waves. This pattern looks like a collection of swirls and blank spots. The hologram (or photograph) is then illuminated by the reference beam, and part of the transmitted light is a replica of the original object wave. When viewing this object wave, one sees an exact replica of the original object. The major impediment at the time in making holograms using any form of radiation was a lack of coherent sources. For example, the coherence of the mercury lamp used by Gabor and his assistant IvorWilliams was so short that they were able to make holograms of only about a centimeter in diameter. The early results were rather poor in terms of image quality and also had a double image. For this reason, there was little interest in holography, and the subject lay almost untouched for more than ten years. Interest in the field was rekindled after the laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) was developed in 1962. Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks, who were conducting radar research at the University of Michigan, published the first laser holographs in 1963. The laser was an intense light source with a very long coherence length. Its monochromatic nature improved the resolution of the images greatly. Also, there was no longer any restriction on the size of the object to be photographed. The availability of the laser allowed Leith and Upatnieks to propose another improvement in holographic technique. Before 1964, holograms were made of only thin transparent objects. A small region of the hologram bore a one-to-one correspondence to a region of the object. Only a small portion of the image could be viewed at one time without the aid of additional optical components. Illuminating the transparency diffusely allowed the whole image to be seen at one time. This development also made it possible to record holograms of diffusely reflected three-dimensional objects. Gabor had seen from the beginning that this should make it possible to create three-dimensional images. After the early 1960’s, the field of holography developed very quickly. Because holography is different from conventional photography, the two techniques often complement each other. Gabor saw his idea blossom into a very important technique in optical science. Impact The development of the laser and the publication of the first laser holograms in 1963 caused a blossoming of the new technique in many fields. Soon, techniques were developed that allowed holograms to be viewed with white light. It also became possible for holograms to reconstruct multicolored images. Holographic methods have been used to map terrain with radar waves and to conduct surveillance in the fields of forestry, agriculture, and meteorology.By the 1990’s, holography had become a multimillion-dollar industry, finding applications in advertising, as an art form, and in security devices on credit cards, as well as in scientific fields. An alternate form of holography, also suggested by Gabor, uses sound waves. Acoustical imaging is useful whenever the medium around the object to be viewed is opaque to light rays—for example, in medical diagnosis. Holography has affected many areas of science, technology, and culture.

13 July 2009

Heat pump


The invention:

A device that warms and cools buildings efficiently
and cheaply by moving heat from one area to another.

The people behind the invention:

T. G. N. Haldane, a British engineer
Lord Kelvin (William Thomson, 1824-1907), a British
mathematician, scientist, and engineer
Sadi Carnot (1796-1832), a French physicist and
thermodynamicist


Heart-lung machine

The invention: The first artificial device to oxygenate and circulate blood during surgery, the heart-lung machine began the era of open-heart surgery. The people behind the invention: John H. Gibbon, Jr. (1903-1974), a cardiovascular surgeon Mary Hopkinson Gibbon (1905- ), a research technician Thomas J. Watson (1874-1956), chairman of the board of IBM T. L. Stokes and J. B. Flick, researchers in Gibbon’s laboratory Bernard J. Miller (1918- ), a cardiovascular surgeon and research associate Cecelia Bavolek, the first human to undergo open-heart surgery successfully using the heart-lung machine A Young Woman’s Death In the first half of the twentieth century, cardiovascular medicine had many triumphs. Effective anesthesia, antiseptic conditions, and antibiotics made surgery safer. Blood-typing, anti-clotting agents, and blood preservatives made blood transfusion practical. Cardiac catheterization (feeding a tube into the heart), electrocardiography, and fluoroscopy (visualizing living tissues with an X-ray machine) made the nonsurgical diagnosis of cardiovascular problems possible. As of 1950, however, there was no safe way to treat damage or defects within the heart. To make such a correction, this vital organ’s function had to be interrupted. The problem was to keep the body’s tissues alive while working on the heart. While some surgeons practiced so-called blind surgery, in which they inserted a finger into the heart through a small incision without observing what they were attempting to correct, others tried to reduce the body’s need for circulation by slowly chilling the patient until the heart stopped. Still other surgeons used “cross-circulation,” in which the patient’s circulation was connected to a donor’s circulation. All these approaches carried profound risks of hemorrhage, tissue damage, and death. In February of 1931, Gibbon witnessed the death of a young woman whose lung circulation was blocked by a blood clot. Because her blood could not pass through her lungs, she slowly lost consciousness from lack of oxygen. As he monitored her pulse and breathing, Gibbon thought about ways to circumvent the obstructed lungs and straining heart and provide the oxygen required. Because surgery to remove such a blood clot was often fatal, the woman’s surgeons operated only as a last resort. Though the surgery took only six and one-half minutes, she never regained consciousness. This experience prompted Gibbon to pursue what few people then considered a practical line of research: a way to circulate and oxygenate blood outside the body. A Woman’s Life Restored Gibbon began the project in earnest in 1934, when he returned to the laboratory of Edward D. Churchill at Massachusetts General Hospital for his second surgical research fellowship. He was assisted by Mary Hopkinson Gibbon. Together, they developed, using cats, a surgical technique for removing blood froma vein, supplying the blood with oxygen, and returning it to an artery using tubes inserted into the blood vessels. Their objective was to create a device that would keep the blood moving, spread it over a very thin layer to pick up oxygen efficiently and remove carbon dioxide, and avoid both clotting and damaging blood cells. In 1939, they reported that prolonged survival after heart-lung bypass was possible in experimental animals. WorldWar II (1939-1945) interrupted the progress of this work; it was resumed by Gibbon at Jefferson Medical College in 1944. Shortly thereafter, he attracted the interest of Thomas J.Watson, chairman of the board of the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, who provided the services of IBM’s experimental physics laboratory and model machine shop as well as the assistance of staff engineers. IBM constructed and modified two experimental machines over the next seven years, and IBM engineers contributed significantly to the evolution of a machine that would be practical in humans. Gibbon’s first attempt to use the pump-oxygenator in a human being was in a fifteen-month-old baby. This attempt failed, not because of a malfunction or a surgical mistake but because of a misdiagnosis. The child died following surgery because the real problem had not been corrected by the surgery. On May 6, 1953, the heart-lung machine was first used successfully on Cecelia Bavolek. In the six months before surgery, Bavolek had been hospitalized three times for symptoms of heart failure when she tried to engage in normal activity. While her circulation was connected to the heart-lung machine for forty-five minutes, the surgical team headed by Gibbon was able to close an opening between her atria and establish normal heart function. Two months later, an examination of the defect revealed that it was fully closed; Bavolek resumed a normal life. The age of open-heart surgery had begun. Consequences The heart-lung bypass technique alone could not make openheart surgery truly practical. When it was possible to keep tissues alive by diverting blood around the heart and oxygenating it, other questions already under investigation became even more critical: how to prolong the survival of bloodless organs, how to measure oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood, and how to prolong anesthesia during complicated surgery. Thus, following the first successful use of the heart-lung machine, surgeons continued to refine the methods of open-heart surgery. The heart-lung apparatus set the stage for the advent of “replacement parts” for many types of cardiovascular problems. Cardiac valve replacement was first successfully accomplished in 1960 by placing an artificial ball valve between the left atrium and ventricle. In 1957, doctors performed the first coronary bypass surgery, grafting sections of a leg vein into the heart’s circulation system to divert blood around clogged coronary arteries. Likewise, the first successful heart transplant (1967) and the controversial Jarvik-7 artificial heart implantation (1982) required the ability to stop the heart and keep the body’s tissues alive during time-consuming and delicate surgical procedures. Gibbon’s heart-lung machine paved the way for all these developments.

09 July 2009

Hearing aid

The invention: Miniaturized electronic amplifier worn inside the ears of hearing-impaired persons. The organization behind the invention: Bell Labs, the research and development arm of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company Trapped in Silence Until the middle of the twentieth century, people who experienced hearing loss had little hope of being able to hear sounds without the use of large, awkward, heavy appliances. For many years, the only hearing aids available were devices known as ear trumpets. The ear trumpet tried to compensate for hearing loss by increasing the number of sound waves funneled into the ear canal. A wide, bell-like mouth similar to the bell of a musical trumpet narrowed to a tube that the user placed in his or her ear. Ear trumpets helped a little, but they could not truly increase the volume of the sounds heard. Beginning in the nineteenth century, inventors tried to develop electrical devices that would serve as hearing aids. The telephone was actually a by-product of Alexander Graham Bell’s efforts to make a hearing aid. Following the invention of the telephone, electrical engineers designed hearing aids that employed telephone technology, but those hearing aids were only a slight improvement over the old ear trumpets. They required large, heavy battery packs and used a carbon microphone similar to the receiver in a telephone. More sensitive than purely physical devices such as the ear trumpet, they could transmit a wider range of sounds but could not amplify them as effectively as electronic hearing aids now do. Transistors Make Miniaturization Possible Two types of hearing aids exist: body-worn and head-worn. Body-worn hearing aids permit the widest range of sounds to be heard, but because of the devices’ larger size, many hearing impaired persons do not like to wear them. Head-worn hearing aids, especially those worn completely in the ear, are much less conspicuous. In addition to in-ear aids, the category of head-worn hearing aids includes both hearing aids mounted in eyeglass frames and those worn behind the ear. All hearing aids, whether head-worn or body-worn, consist of four parts: a microphone to pick up sounds, an amplifier, a receiver, and a power source. The microphone gathers sound waves and converts them to electrical signals; the amplifier boosts, or increases, those signals; and the receiver then converts the signals back into sound waves. In effect, the hearing aid is a miniature radio. After the receiver converts the signals back to sound waves, those waves are directed into the ear canal through an earpiece or ear mold. The ear mold generally is made of plastic and is custom fitted from an impression taken from the prospective user’s ear. Effective head-worn hearing aids could not be built until the electronic circuit was developed in the early 1950’s. The same invention— the transistor—that led to small portable radios and tape players allowed engineers to create miniaturized, inconspicuous hearing aids. Depending on the degree of amplification required, the amplifier in a hearing aid contains three or more transistors. Transistors first replaced vacuum tubes in devices such as radios and phonographs, and then engineers realized that they could be used in devices for the hearing-impaired. The research at Bell Labs that led to the invention of the transistor rose out of military research duringWorldWar II. The vacuum tubes used in, for example, radar installations to amplify the strength of electronic signals were big, were fragile because they were made of blown glass, and gave off high levels of heat when they were used. Transistors, however, made it possible to build solid-state, integrated circuits. These are made from crystals of metals such as germanium or arsenic alloys and therefore are much less fragile than glass. They are also extremely small (in fact, some integrated circuits are barely visible to the naked eye) and give off no heat during use. The number of transistors in a hearing aid varies depending upon the amount of amplification required. The first transistor is the most important for the listener in terms of the quality of sound heard. If the frequency response is set too high—that is, if the device is too sensitive—the listener will be bothered by distracting background noise. Theoretically, there is no limit on the amount of amplification that a hearing aid can be designed to provide, but there are practical limits. The higher the amplification, the more power is required to operate the hearing aid. This is why body-worn hearing aids can convey a wider range of sounds than head-worn devices can. It is the power source—not the electronic components—that is the limiting factor. A body-worn hearing aid includes a larger battery pack than can be used with a head-worn device. Indeed, despite advances in battery technology, the power requirements of a head-worn hearing aid are such that a 1.4-volt battery that could power a wristwatch for several years will last only a few days in a hearing aid. Consequences The invention of the electronic hearing aid made it possible for many hearing-impaired persons to participate in a hearing world. Prior to the invention of the hearing aid, hearing-impaired children often were unable to participate in routine school activities or function effectively in mainstream society. Instead of being able to live at home with their families and enjoy the same experiences that were available to other children their age, often they were forced to attend special schools operated by the state or by charities. Hearing-impaired people were singled out as being different and were limited in their choice of occupations. Although not every hearing-impaired person can be helped to hear with a hearing aid— particularly in cases of total hearing loss—the electronic hearing aid has ended restrictions for many hearing-impaired people. Hearingimpaired children are now included in public school classes, and hearing-impaired adults can now pursue occupations from which they were once excluded. Today, many deaf and hearing-impaired persons have chosen to live without the help of a hearing aid. They believe that they are not disabled but simply different, and they point out that their “disability” often allows them to appreciate and participate in life in unique and positive ways. For them, the use of hearing aids is a choice, not a necessity. For those who choose, hearing aids make it possible to participate in the hearing world.

Hard disk

The invention: A large-capacity, permanent magnetic storage device built into most personal computers. The people behind the invention: Alan Shugart (1930- ), an engineer who first developed the floppy disk Philip D. Estridge (1938?-1985), the director of IBM’s product development facility Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (1914-1993), the chief executive officer of IBM The Personal Oddity When the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation introduced its first microcomputer, called simply the IBM PC (for “personal computer”), the occasion was less a dramatic invention than the confirmation of a trend begun some years before. A number of companies had introduced microcomputers before IBM; one of the best known at that time was Apple Corporation’s Apple II, for which software for business and scientific use was quickly developed. Nevertheless, the microcomputer was quite expensive and was often looked upon as an oddity, not as a useful tool. Under the leadership of Thomas J. Watson, Jr., IBM, which had previously focused on giant mainframe computers, decided to develop the PC. A design team headed by Philip D. Estridge was assembled in Boca Raton, Florida, and it quickly developed its first, pacesetting product. It is an irony of history that IBM anticipated selling only one hundred thousand or so of these machines, mostly to scientists and technically inclined hobbyists. Instead, IBM’s product sold exceedingly well, and its design parameters, as well as its operating system, became standards. The earliest microcomputers used a cassette recorder as a means of mass storage; a floppy disk drive capable of storing approximately 160 kilobytes of data was initially offered only as an option. While home hobbyists were accustomed to using a cassette recorder for storage purposes, such a system was far too slow and awkward for use in business and science. As a result, virtually every IBM PC sold was equipped with at least one 5.25-inch floppy disk drive. Memory Requirements All computers require memory of two sorts in order to carry out their tasks. One type of memory is main memory, or random access memory (RAM), which is used by the computer’s central processor to store data it is using while operating. The type of memory used for this function is built typically of silicon-based integrated circuits that have the advantage of speed (to allow the processor to fetch or store the data quickly), but the disadvantage of possibly losing or “forgetting” data when the electric current is turned off. Further, such memory generally is relatively expensive. To reduce costs, another type of memory—long-term storage memory, known also as “mass storage”—was developed. Mass storage devices include magnetic media (tape or disk drives) and optical media (such as the compact disc, read-only memory, or CDROM). While the speed with which data may be retrieved from or stored in such devices is rather slow compared to the central processor’s speed, a disk drive—the most common form of mass storage used in PCs—can store relatively large amounts of data quite inexpensively. Early floppy disk drives (so called because the magnetically treated material on which data are recorded is made of a very flexible plastic) held 160 kilobytes of data using only one side of the magnetically coated disk (about eighty pages of normal, doublespaced, typewritten information). Later developments increased storage capacities to 360 kilobytes by using both sides of the disk and later, with increasing technological ability, 1.44 megabytes (millions of bytes). In contrast, mainframe computers, which are typically connected to large and expensive tape drive storage systems, could store gigabytes (millions of megabytes) of information. While such capacities seem large, the needs of business and scientific users soon outstripped available space. Since even the mailing list of a small business or a scientist’s mathematical model of a chemical reaction easily could require greater storage potential than early PCs allowed, the need arose for a mass storage device that could accommodate very large files of data. The answer was the hard disk drive, also known as a “fixed disk drive,” reflecting the fact that the disk itself is not only rigid but also permanently installed inside the machine. In 1955, IBM had envisioned the notion of a fixed, hard magnetic disk as a means of storing computer data, and, under the direction of Alan Shugart in the 1960’s, the floppy disk was developed as well. As the engineers of IBM’s facility in Boca Raton refined the idea of the original PC to design the new IBM PC XT, it became clear that chief among the needs of users was the availability of large-capability storage devices. The decision was made to add a 10-megabyte hard disk drive to the PC. On March 8, 1983, less than two years after the introduction of its first PC, IBM introduced the PC XT. Like the original, it was an evolutionary design, not a revolutionary one. The inclusion of a hard disk drive, however, signaled that mass storage devices in personal computers had arrived. Consequences Above all else, any computer provides a means for storing, ordering, analyzing, and presenting information. If the personal computer is to become the information appliance some have suggested it will be, the ability to manipulate very large amounts of data will be of paramount concern. Hard disk technology was greeted enthusiastically in the marketplace, and the demand for hard drives has seen their numbers increase as their quality increases and their prices drop. It is easy to understand one reason for such eager acceptance: convenience. Floppy-bound computer users find themselves frequently changing (or “swapping”) their disks in order to allow programs to find the data they need. Moreover, there is a limit to how much data a single floppy disk can hold. The advantage of a hard drive is that it allows users to keep seemingly unlimited amounts of data and programs stored in their machines and readily available. Also, hard disk drives are capable of finding files and transferring their contents to the processor much more quickly than a floppy drive. A user may thus create exceedingly large files, keep them on hand at all times, and manipulate data more quickly than with a floppy. Finally, while a hard drive is a slow substitute for main memory, it allows users to enjoy the benefits of larger memories at significantly lower cost. The introduction of the PC XT with its 10-megabyte hard drive was a milestone in the development of the PC. Over the next two decades, the size of computer hard drives increased dramatically. By 2001, few personal computers were sold with hard drives with less than three gigabytes of storage capacity, and hard drives with more than thirty gigabytes were becoming the standard. Indeed, for less money than a PC XT cost in the mid-1980’s, one could buy a fully equipped computer with a hard drive holding sixty gigabytes—a storage capacity equivalent to six thousand 10-megabyte hard drives.

Gyrocompass

The invention: The first practical navigational device that enabled ships and submarines to stay on course without relying on the earth’s unreliable magnetic poles. The people behind the invention: Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe (1872-1931), a German inventor and manufacturer Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault (1819-1868), a French experimental physicist and inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860-1930), an American engineer and inventor From Toys to Tools A gyroscope consists of a rapidly spinning wheel mounted in a frame that enables the wheel to tilt freely in any direction. The amount of momentum allows the wheel to maintain its “attitude” even when the whole device is turned or rotated. These devices have been used to solve problems arising in such areas as sailing and navigation. For example, a gyroscope aboard a ship maintains its orientation even while the ship is rolling. Among other things, this allows the extent of the roll to be measured accurately. Moreover, the spin axis of a free gyroscope can be adjusted to point toward true north. It will (with some exceptions) stay that way despite changes in the direction of a vehicle in which it is mounted. Gyroscopic effects were employed in the design of various objects long before the theory behind them was formally known. A classic example is a child’s top, which balances, seemingly in defiance of gravity, as long as it continues to spin. Boomerangs and flying disks derive stability and accuracy from the spin imparted by the thrower. Likewise, the accuracy of rifles improved when barrels were manufactured with internal spiral grooves that caused the emerging bullet to spin. In 1852, the French inventor Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault built the first gyroscope, a measuring device consisting of a rapidly spinning wheel mounted within concentric rings that allowed the wheel to move freely about two axes. This device, like the Foucault pendulum, was used to demonstrate the rotation of the earth around its axis, since the spinning wheel, which is not fixed, retains its orientation in space while the earth turns under it. The gyroscope had a related interesting property: As it continued to spin, the force of the earth’s rotation caused its axis to rotate gradually until it was oriented parallel to the earth’s axis, that is, in a north-south direction. It is this property that enables the gyroscope to be used as a compass. When Magnets Fail In 1904, Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, a German manufacturer working in the Kiel shipyards, became interested in the navigation problems of submarines used in exploration under the polar ice cap. By 1905, efficient working submarines were a reality, and it was evident to all major naval powers that submarines would play an increasingly important role in naval strategy. Submarine navigation posed problems, however, that could not be solved by instruments designed for surface vessels. Asubmarine needs to orient itself under water in three dimensions; it has no automatic horizon with respect to which it can level itself. Navigation by means of stars or landmarks is impossible when the submarine is submerged. Furthermore, in an enclosed metal hull containing machinery run by electricity, a magnetic compass is worthless. To a lesser extent, increasing use of metal, massive moving parts, and electrical equipment had also rendered the magnetic compass unreliable in conventional surface battleships. It made sense for Anschütz-Kaempfe to use the gyroscopic effect to design an instrument that would enable a ship to maintain its course while under water. Yet producing such a device would not be easy. First, it needed to be suspended in such a way that it was free to turn in any direction with as little mechanical resistance as possible. At the same time, it had to be able to resist the inevitable pitching and rolling of a vessel at sea. Finally, a continuous power supply was required to keep the gyroscopic wheels spinning at high speed. The original Anschütz-Kaempfe gyrocompass consisted of a pair of spinning wheels driven by an electric motor. The device was connected to a compass card visible to the ship’s navigator. Motor, gyroscope, and suspension system were mounted in a frame that allowed the apparatus to remain stable despite the pitch and roll of the ship. In 1906, the German navy installed a prototype of the Anschütz- Kaempfe gyrocompass on the battleship Undine and subjected it to exhaustive tests under simulated battle conditions, sailing the ship under forced draft and suddenly reversing the engines, changing the position of heavy turrets and other mechanisms, and firing heavy guns. In conditions under which a magnetic compass would have been worthless, the gyrocompass proved a satisfactory navigational tool, and the results were impressive enough to convince the German navy to undertake installation of gyrocompasses in submarines and heavy battleships, including the battleship Deutschland. Elmer Ambrose Sperry, a New York inventor intimately associated with pioneer electrical development, was independently working on a design for a gyroscopic compass at about the same time. In 1907, he patented a gyrocompass consisting of a single rotor mounted within two concentric shells, suspended by fine piano wire from a frame mounted on gimbals. The rotor of the Sperry compass operated in a vacuum, which enabled it to rotate more rapidly. The Sperry gyrocompass was in use on larger American battleships and submarines on the eve ofWorldWar I (1914-1918). Impact The ability to navigate submerged submarines was of critical strategic importance in World War I. Initially, the German navy had an advantage both in the number of submarines at its disposal and in their design and maneuverability. The German U-boat fleet declared all-out war on Allied shipping, and, although their efforts to blockade England and France were ultimately unsuccessful, the tremendous toll they inflicted helped maintain the German position and prolong the war. To a submarine fleet operating throughout the Atlantic and in the Caribbean, as well as in near-shore European waters, effective long-distance navigation was critical. Gyrocompasses were standard equipment on submarines and battleships and, increasingly, on larger commercial vessels during World War I, World War II (1939-1945), and the period between the wars. The devices also found their way into aircraft, rockets, and guided missiles. Although the compasses were made more accurate and easier to use, the fundamental design differed little from that invented by Anschütz-Kaempfe.

05 July 2009

Geothermal power

The invention: Energy generated from the earth’s natural hot springs. The people behind the invention: Prince Piero Ginori Conti (1865-1939), an Italian nobleman and industrialist Sir Charles Parsons (1854-1931), an English engineer B. C. McCabe, an American businessman Developing a Practical System The first successful use of geothermal energy was at Larderello in northern Italy. The Larderello geothermal field, located near the city of Pisa about 240 kilometers northwest of Rome, contains many hot springs and fumaroles (steam vents). In 1777, these springs were found to be rich in boron, and in 1818, Francesco de Larderel began extracting the useful mineral borax from them. Shortly after 1900, Prince Piero Ginori Conti, director of the Larderello borax works, conceived the idea of using the steam for power production. An experimental electrical power plant was constructed at Larderello in 1904 to provide electric power to the borax plant. After this initial experiment proved successful, a 250-kilowatt generating station was installed in 1913 and commercial power production began. As the Larderello field grew, additional geothermal sites throughout the region were prospected and tapped for power. Power production grew steadily until the 1940’s, when production reached 130 megawatts; however, the Larderello power plants were destroyed late inWorldWar II (1939-1945). After the war, the generating plants were rebuilt, and they were producing more than 400 megawatts by 1980. The Larderello power plants encountered many of the technical problems that were later to concern other geothermal facilities. For example, hydrogen sulfide in the steam was highly corrosive to copper, so the Larderello power plant used aluminum for electrical connections much more than did conventional power plants of the time. Also, the low pressure of the steam in early wells at Larderello presented problems. The first generators simply used steam to drive a generator and vented the spent steam into the atmosphere. Asystem of this sort, called a “noncondensing system,” is useful for small generators but not efficient to produce large amounts of power. Most steam engines derive power not only from the pressure of the steam but also from the vacuum created when the steam is condensed back to water. Geothermal systems that generate power from condensation, as well as direct steam pressure, are called “condensing systems.” Most large geothermal generators are of this type. Condensation of geothermal steam presents special problems not present in ordinary steam engines: There are other gases present that do not condense. Instead of a vacuum, condensation of steam contaminated with other gases would result in only a limited drop in pressure and, consequently, very low efficiency. Initially, the operators of Larderello tried to use the steam to heat boilers that would, in turn, generate pure steam. Eventually, a device was developed that removed most of the contaminating gases from the steam. Although later wells at Larderello and other geothermal fields produced steam at greater pressure, these engineering innovations improved the efficiency of any geothermal power plant. Expanding the Idea In 1913, the English engineer Sir Charles Parsons proposed drilling an extremely deep (12-kilometer) hole to tap the earth’s deep heat. Power from such a deep hole would not come from natural steam as at Larderello but would be generated by pumping fluid into the hole and generating steam (as hot as 500 degrees Celsius) at the bottom. In modern terms, Parsons proposed tapping “hot dryrock” geothermal energy. (No such plant has been commercially operated yet, but research is being actively pursued in several countries.) The first use of geothermal energy in the United States was for direct heating. In 1890, the municipal water company of Boise, Idaho, began supplying hot water from a geothermal well. Water was piped from the well to homes and businesses along appropriately namedWarm Springs Avenue. At its peak, the system served more than four hundred customers, but as cheap natural gas became available, the number declined. Although Larderello was the first successful geothermal electric power plant, the modern era of geothermal electric power began with the opening of the Geysers Geothermal Field in California. Early attempts began in the 1920’s, but it was not until 1955 that B. C. McCabe, a Los Angeles businessman, leased 14.6 square kilometers in the Geysers area and founded the Magma Power Company. The first 12.5-megawatt generator was installed at the Geysers in 1960, and production increased steadily from then on. The Geysers surpassed Larderello as the largest producing geothermal field in the 1970’s, and more than 1,000 megawatts were being generated by 1980. By the end of 1980, geothermal plants had been installed in thirteen countries, with a total capacity of almost 2,600 megawatts, and projects with a total capacity of more than 15,000 megawatts were being planned in more than twenty countries. Impact Geothermal power has many attractive features. Because the steam is naturally heated and under pressure, generating equipment can be simple, inexpensive, and quickly installed. Equipment and installation costs are offset by savings in fuel. It is economically practical to install small generators, a fact that makes geothermal plants attractive in remote or underdeveloped areas. Most important to a world faced with a variety of technical and environmental problems connected with fossil fuels, geothermal power does not deplete fossil fuel reserves, produces little pollution, and contributes little to the greenhouse effect. Despite its attractive features, geothermal power has some limitations. Geologic settings suitable for easy geothermal power production are rare; there must be a hot rock or magma body close to the surface. Although it is technically possible to pump water from an external source into a geothermal well to generate steam, most geothermal sites require a plentiful supply of natural underground water that can be tapped as a source of steam. In contrast, fossil-fuel generating plants can be at any convenient location.

Genetically engineered insulin

The invention: Artificially manufactured human insulin (Humulin) as a medication for people suffering from diabetes. The people behind the invention: Irving S. Johnson (1925- ), an American zoologist who was vice president of research at Eli Lilly Research Laboratories Ronald E. Chance (1934- ), an American biochemist at Eli Lilly Research Laboratories What Is Diabetes? Carbohydrates (sugars and related chemicals) are the main food and energy source for humans. In wealthy countries such as the United States, more than 50 percent of the food people eat is made up of carbohydrates, while in poorer countries the carbohydrate content of diets is higher, from 70 to 90 percent. Normally, most carbohydrates that a person eats are used (or metabolized) quickly to produce energy. Carbohydrates not needed for energy are either converted to fat or stored as a glucose polymer called “glycogen.” Most adult humans carry about a pound of body glycogen; this substance is broken down to produce energy when it is needed. Certain diseases prevent the proper metabolism and storage of carbohydrates. The most common of these diseases is diabetes mellitus, usually called simply “diabetes.” It is found in more than seventy million people worldwide. Diabetic people cannot produce or use enough insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas. When their condition is not treated, the eyes may deteriorate to the point of blindness. The kidneys may stop working properly, blood vessels may be damaged, and the person may fall into a coma and die. In fact, diabetes is the third most common killer in the United States. Most of the problems surrounding diabetes are caused by high levels of glucose in the blood. Cataracts often form in diabetics, as excess glucose is deposited in the lens of the eye. Important symptoms of diabetes include constant thirst, excessive urination, and large amounts of sugar in the blood and in the urine. The glucose tolerance test (GTT) is the best way to find out whether a person is suffering from diabetes. People given a GTT are first told to fast overnight. In the morning their blood glucose level is measured; then they are asked to drink about a fourth of a pound of glucose dissolved in water. During the next four to six hours, the blood glucose level is measured repeatedly. In nondiabetics, glucose levels do not rise above a certain amount during a GTT, and the level drops quickly as the glucose is assimilated by the body. In diabetics, the blood glucose levels rise much higher and do not drop as quickly. The extra glucose then shows up in the urine. Treating Diabetes Until the 1920’s, diabetes could be controlled only through a diet very low in carbohydrates, and this treatment was not always successful. Then Sir Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best found a way to prepare purified insulin from animal pancreases and gave it to patients. This gave diabetics their first chance to live a fairly normal life. Banting and his coworkers won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work. The usual treatment for diabetics became regular shots of insulin. Drug companies took the insulin from the pancreases of cattle and pigs slaughtered by the meat-packing industry. Unfortunately, animal insulin has two disadvantages. First, about 5 percent of diabetics are allergic to it and can have severe reactions. Second, the world supply of animal pancreases goes up and down depending on how much meat is being bought. Between 1970 and 1975, the supply of insulin fell sharply as people began to eat less red meat, yet the numbers of diabetics continued to increase. So researchers began to look for a better way to supply insulin. Studying pancreases of people who had donated their bodies to science, researchers found that human insulin did not cause allergic reactions. Scientists realized that it would be best to find a chemical or biological way to prepare human insulin, and pharmaceutical companies worked hard toward this goal. Eli Lilly and Company was the first to succeed, and on May 14, 1982, it filed a new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the human insulin preparation it named “Humulin.” Humulin is made by genetic engineering. Irving S. Johnson, who worked on the development of Humulin, described Eli Lilly’s method for producing Humulin. The common bacterium Escherichia coli is used. Two strains of the bacterium are produced by genetic engineering: The first strain is used to make a protein called an “A chain,” and the second strain is used to make a “B chain.” After the bacteria are harvested, the Aand B chains are removed and purified separately. Then the two chains are combined chemically. When they are purified once more, the result is Humulin, which has been proved by Ronald E. Chance and his Eli Lilly coworkers to be chemically, biologically, and physically identical to human insulin. Consequences The FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world approved genetically engineered human insulin in 1982. Humulin does not trigger allergic reactions, and its supply does not fluctuate. It has brought an end to the fear that there would be a worldwide shortage of insulin. Humulin is important as well in being the first genetically engineered industrial chemical. It began an era in which such advanced technology could be a source for medical drugs, chemicals used in farming, and other important industrial products. Researchers hope that genetic engineering will help in the understanding of cancer and other diseases, and that it will lead to ways to grow enough food for a world whose population continues to rise.

29 June 2009

Genetic “fingerprinting”

The invention: Atechnique for using the unique characteristics of each human being’s DNA to identify individuals, establish connections among relatives, and identify criminals. The people behind the invention: Alec Jeffreys (1950- ), an English geneticist Victoria Wilson (1950- ), an English geneticist Swee Lay Thein (1951- ), a biochemical geneticist Microscopic Fingerprints In 1985, Alec Jeffreys, a geneticist at the University of Leicester in England, developed a method of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis that provides a visual representation of the human genetic structure. Jeffreys’s discovery had an immediate, revolutionary impact on problems of human identification, especially the identification of criminals. Whereas earlier techniques, such as conventional blood typing, provide evidence that is merely exclusionary (indicating only whether a suspect could or could not be the perpetrator of a crime), DNA fingerprinting provides positive identification. For example, under favorable conditions, the technique can establish with virtual certainty whether a given individual is a murderer or rapist. The applications are not limited to forensic science; DNA fingerprinting can also establish definitive proof of parenthood (paternity or maternity), and it is invaluable in providing markers for mapping disease-causing genes on chromosomes. In addition, the technique is utilized by animal geneticists to establish paternity and to detect genetic relatedness between social groups. DNAfingerprinting (also referred to as “genetic fingerprinting”) is a sophisticated technique that must be executed carefully to produce valid results. The technical difficulties arise partly from the complex nature of DNA. DNA, the genetic material responsible for heredity in all higher forms of life, is an enormously long, doublestranded molecule composed of four different units called “bases.” The bases on one strand of DNApair with complementary bases on the other strand. A human being contains twenty-three pairs of chromosomes; one member of each chromosome pair is inherited fromthe mother, the other fromthe father. The order, or sequence, of bases forms the genetic message, which is called the “genome.” Scientists did not know the sequence of bases in any sizable stretch of DNA prior to the 1970’s because they lacked the molecular tools to split DNA into fragments that could be analyzed. This situation changed with the advent of biotechnology in the mid-1970’s. The door toDNAanalysis was opened with the discovery of bacterial enzymes called “DNA restriction enzymes.” A restriction enzyme binds to DNA whenever it finds a specific short sequence of base pairs (analogous to a code word), and it splits the DNAat a defined site within that sequence. A single enzyme finds millions of cutting sites in human DNA, and the resulting fragments range in size from tens of base pairs to hundreds or thousands. The fragments are exposed to a radioactive DNA probe, which can bind to specific complementary DNA sequences in the fragments. X-ray film detects the radioactive pattern. The developed film, called an “autoradiograph,” shows a pattern of DNA fragments, which is similar to a bar code and can be compared with patterns from known subjects. The Presence of Minisatellites The uniqueness of a DNA fingerprint depends on the fact that, with the exception of identical twins, no two human beings have identical DNA sequences. Of the three billion base pairs in human DNA, many will differ from one person to another. In 1985, Jeffreys and his coworkers, Victoria Wilson at the University of Leicester and Swee Lay Thein at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, discovered a way to produce a DNA fingerprint. Jeffreys had found previously that human DNA contains many repeated minisequences called “minisatellites.” Minisatellites consist of sequences of base pairs repeated in tandem, and the number of repeated units varies widely from one individual to another. Every person, with the exception of identical twins, has a different number of tandem repeats and, hence, different lengths of minisatellite DNA. By using two labeled DNA probes to detect two different minisatellite sequences, Jeffreys obtained a unique fragment band pattern that was completely specific for an individual. The power of the technique derives from the law of chance, which indicates that the probability (chance) that two or more unrelated events will occur simultaneously is calculated as the multiplication product of the two separate probabilities. As Jeffreys discovered, the likelihood of two unrelated people having completely identical DNAfingerprints is extremely small—less than one in ten trillion. Given the population of the world, it is clear that the technique can distinguish any one person from everyone else. Jeffreys called his band patterns “DNAfingerprints” because of their ability to individualize. As he stated in his landmark research paper, published in the English scientific journal Nature in 1985, probes to minisatellite regions of human DNA produce “DNA ‘fingerprints’ which are completely specific to an individual (or to his or her identical twin) and can be applied directly to problems of human identification, including parenthood testing.” Consequences In addition to being used in human identification, DNA fingerprinting has found applications in medical genetics. In the search for a cause, a diagnostic test for, and ultimately the treatment of an inherited disease, it is necessary to locate the defective gene on a human chromosome. Gene location is accomplished by a technique called “linkage analysis,” in which geneticists use marker sections of DNA as reference points to pinpoint the position of a defective gene on a chromosome. The minisatellite DNA probes developed by Jeffreys provide a potent and valuable set of markers that are of great value in locating disease-causing genes. Soon after its discovery, DNA fingerprinting was used to locate the defective genes responsible for several diseases, including fetal hemoglobin abnormality and Huntington’s disease. Genetic fingerprinting also has had a major impact on genetic studies of higher animals. BecauseDNAsequences are conserved in evolution, humans and other vertebrates have many sequences in common. This commonality enabled Jeffreys to use his probes to human minisatellites to bind to the DNA of many different vertebrates, ranging from mammals to birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish; this made it possible for him to produce DNA fingerprints of these vertebrates. In addition, the technique has been used to discern the mating behavior of birds, to determine paternity in zoo primates, and to detect inbreeding in imperiled wildlife. DNA fingerprinting can also be applied to animal breeding problems, such as the identification of stolen animals, the verification of semen samples for artificial insemination, and the determination of pedigree. The technique is not foolproof, however, and results may be far from ideal. Especially in the area of forensic science, there was a rush to use the tremendous power of DNA fingerprinting to identify a purported murderer or rapist, and the need for scientific standards was often neglected. Some problems arose because forensic DNA fingerprinting in the United States is generally conducted in private, unregulated laboratories. In the absence of rigorous scientific controls, the DNA fingerprint bands of two completely unknown samples cannot be matched precisely, and the results may be unreliable.

Geiger counter

The invention: the first electronic device able to detect and measure radioactivity in atomic particles. The people behind the invention: Hans Geiger (1882-1945), a German physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), a British physicist Sir John Sealy Edward Townsend (1868-1957), an Irish physicist Sir William Crookes (1832-1919), an English physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923), a German physicist Antoine-Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), a French physicist Discovering Natural Radiation When radioactivity was discovered and first studied, the work was done with rather simple devices. In the 1870’s, Sir William Crookes learned how to create a very good vacuum in a glass tube. He placed electrodes in each end of the tube and studied the passage of electricity through the tube. This simple device became known as the “Crookes tube.” In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was experimenting with a Crookes tube. It was known that when electricity went through a Crookes tube, one end of the glass tube might glow. Certain mineral salts placed near the tube would also glow. In order to observe carefully the glowing salts, Röntgen had darkened the room and covered most of the Crookes tube with dark paper. Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye. It came from a mineral sample placed some distance from the tube and shielded by the dark paper; yet when the tube was switched off, the mineral sample went dark. Experimenting further, Röntgen became convinced that some ray from the Crookes tube had penetrated the mineral and caused it to glow. Since light rays were blocked by the black paper, he called the mystery ray an “X ray,” with “X” standing for unknown. Antoine-Henri Becquerel heard of the discovery of X rays and, in February, 1886, set out to discover if glowing minerals themselves emitted X rays. Some minerals, called “phosphorescent,” begin to glow when activated by sunlight. Becquerel’s experiment involved wrapping photographic film in black paper and setting various phosphorescent minerals on top and leaving them in the sun. He soon learned that phosphorescent minerals containing uranium would expose the film. Aseries of cloudy days, however, brought a great surprise. Anxious to continue his experiments, Becquerel decided to develop film that had not been exposed to sunlight. He was astonished to discover that the film was deeply exposed. Some emanations must be coming from the uranium, he realized, and they had nothing to do with sunlight. Thus, natural radioactivity was discovered by accident with a simple piece of photographic film. Rutherford and Geiger Ernest Rutherford joined the world of international physics at about the same time that radioactivity was discovered. Studying the “Becquerel rays” emitted by uranium, Rutherford eventually distinguished three different types of radiation, which he named “alpha,” “beta,” and “gamma” after the first three letters of the Greek alphabet. He showed that alpha particles, the least penetrating of the three, are the nuclei of helium atoms (a group of two neutrons and a proton tightly bound together). It was later shown that beta particles are electrons. Gamma rays, which are far more penetrating than either alpha or beta particles, were shown to be similar to X rays, but with higher energies. Rutherford became director of the associated research laboratory at Manchester University in 1907. Hans Geiger became an assistant. At this time, Rutherford was trying to prove that alpha particles carry a double positive charge. The best way to do this was to measure the electric charge that a stream of alpha particles would bring to a target. By dividing that charge by the total number of alpha particles that fell on the target, one could calculate the charge of a single alpha particle. The problem lay in counting the particles and in proving that every particle had been counted. Basing their design upon work done by Sir John Sealy Edward Townsend, a former colleague of Rutherford, Geiger and Rutherford constructed an electronic counter. It consisted of a long brass tube sealed at both ends from which most of the air had been pumped. A thin wire, insulated from the brass, was suspended down the middle of the tube. This wire was connected to batteries producing about thirteen hundred volts and to an electrometer, a device that could measure the voltage of the wire. This voltage could be increased until a spark jumped between the wire and the tube. If the voltage was turned down a little, the tube was ready to operate. An alpha particle entering the tube would ionize (knock some electrons away from) at least a few atoms. These electrons would be accelerated by the high voltage and, in turn, would ionize more atoms, freeing more electrons. This process would continue until an avalanche of electrons struck the central wire and the electrometer registered the voltage change. Since the tube was nearly ready to arc because of the high voltage, every alpha particle, even if it had very little energy, would initiate a discharge. The most complex of the early radiation detection devices—the forerunner of the Geiger counter—had just been developed. The two physicists reported their findings in February, 1908. Impact Their first measurements showed that one gram of radium emitted 34 thousand million alpha particles per second. Soon, the number was refined to 32.8 thousand million per second. Next, Geiger and Rutherford measured the amount of charge emitted by radium each second. Dividing this number by the previous number gave them the charge on a single alpha particle. Just as Rutherford had anticipated, the charge was double that of a hydrogen ion (a proton). This proved to be the most accurate determination of the fundamental charge until the American physicist Robert Andrews Millikan conducted his classic oil-drop experiment in 1911. Another fundamental result came froma careful measurement of the volume of helium emitted by radium each second. Using that value, other properties of gases, and the number of helium nuclei emitted each second, they were able to calculate Avogadro’s number more directly and accurately than had previously been possible. (Avogadro’s number enables one to calculate the number of atoms in a given amount of material.)The true Geiger counter evolved when Geiger replaced the central wire of the tube with a needle whose point lay just inside a thin entrance window. This counter was much more sensitive to alpha and beta particles and also to gamma rays. By 1928, with the assistance of Walther Müller, Geiger made his counter much more efficient, responsive, durable, and portable. There are probably few radiation facilities in the world that do not have at least one Geiger counter or one of its compact modern relatives.

26 June 2009

Gas-electric car


The invention: 

A hybrid automobile with both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.

The people behind the invention: 

Victor Wouk -   an American engineer Tom Elliott, executive vice president of
                           American Honda Motor Company
Hiroyuki Yoshino - president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor Company
Fujio Cho              -  president of Toyota Motor Corporation

23 June 2009

Fuel cell

The invention: An electrochemical cell that directly converts energy from reactions between oxidants and fuels, such as liquid hydrogen, into electrical energy. The people behind the invention: Francis Thomas Bacon (1904-1992), an English engineer Sir William Robert Grove (1811-1896), an English inventor Georges Leclanché (1839-1882), a French engineer Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), an Italian physicist The Earth’s Resources Because of the earth’s rapidly increasing population and the dwindling of fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and petroleum), there is a need to design and develop new ways to obtain energy and to encourage its intelligent use. The burning of fossil fuels to create energy causes a slow buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, creating pollution that poses many problems for all forms of life on this planet. Chemical and electrical studies can be combined to create electrochemical processes that yield clean energy. Because of their very high rate of efficiency and their nonpolluting nature, fuel cells may provide the solution to the problem of finding sufficient energy sources for humans. The simple reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to form water in such a cell can provide an enormous amount of clean (nonpolluting) energy. Moreover, hydrogen and oxygen are readily available. Studies by Alessandro Volta, Georges Leclanché, and William Grove preceded the work of Bacon in the development of the fuel cell. Bacon became interested in the idea of a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell in about 1932. His original intent was to develop a fuel cell that could be used in commercial applications. The Fuel Cell Emerges In 1800, the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta experimented with solutions of chemicals and metals that were able to conduct electricity. He found that two pieces of metal and such a solution could be arranged in such a way as to produce an electric current. His creation was the first electrochemical battery, a device that produced energy from a chemical reaction. Studies in this area were continued by various people, and in the late nineteenth century, Georges Leclanché invented the dry cell battery, which is now commonly used. The work of William Grove followed that of Leclanché. His first significant contribution was the Grove cell, an improved form of the cells described above, which became very popular. Grove experimented with various forms of batteries and eventually invented the “gas battery,” which was actually the earliest fuel cell. It is worth noting that his design incorporated separate test tubes of hydrogen and oxygen, which he placed over strips of platinum. After studying the design of Grove’s fuel cell, Bacon decided that, for practical purposes, the use of platinum and other precious metals should be avoided. By 1939, he had constructed a cell in which nickel replaced the platinum used. The theory behind the fuel cell can be described in the following way. If a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is ignited, energy is released in the form of a violent explosion. In a fuel cell, however, the reaction takes place in a controlled manner. Electrons lost by the hydrogen gas flow out of the fuel cell and return to be taken up by the oxygen in the cell. The electron flow provides electricity to any device that is connected to the fuel cell, and the water that the fuel cell produces can be purified and used for drinking. Bacon’s studies were interrupted byWorldWar II. After the war was over, however, Bacon continued his work. Sir Eric Keightley Rideal of Cambridge University in England supported Bacon’s studies; later, others followed suit. In January, 1954, Bacon wrote an article entitled “Research into the Properties of the Hydrogen/ Oxygen Fuel Cell” for a British journal. He was surprised at the speed with which news of the article spread throughout the scientific world, particularly in the United States. After a series of setbacks, Bacon demonstrated a forty-cell unit that had increased power. This advance showed that the fuel cell was not merely an interesting toy; it had the capacity to do useful work. At this point, the General Electric Company (GE), an American corporation, sent a representative to England to offer employment in the United States to senior members of Bacon’s staff. Three scientists accepted the offer. A high point in Bacon’s career was the announcement that the American Pratt and Whitney Aircraft company had obtained an order to build fuel cells for the Apollo project, which ultimately put two men on the Moon in 1969. Toward the end of his career in 1978, Bacon hoped that commercial applications for his fuel cells would be found.Impact Because they are lighter and more efficient than batteries, fuel cells have proved to be useful in the space program. Beginning with the Gemini 5 spacecraft, alkaline fuel cells (in which a water solution of potassium hydroxide, a basic, or alkaline, chemical, is placed) have been used for more than ten thousand hours in space. The fuel cells used aboard the space shuttle deliver the same amount of power as batteries weighing ten times as much. On a typical seven-day mission, the shuttle’s fuel cells consume 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of hydrogen and generate 719 liters (190 gallons) of water that can be used for drinking. Major technical and economic problems must be overcome in order to design fuel cells for practical applications, but some important advancements have been made.Afew test vehicles that use fuel cells as a source of power have been constructed. Fuel cells using hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen to burn the fuel have been used in a van built by General Motors Corporation. Thirty-two fuel cells are installed below the floorboards, and tanks of liquid oxygen are carried in the back of the van. A power plant built in New York City contains stacks of hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, which can be put on line quickly in response to power needs. The Sanyo Electric Company has developed an electric car that is partially powered by a fuel cell. These tremendous technical advances are the result of the singleminded dedication of Francis Thomas Bacon, who struggled all of his life with an experiment he was convinced would be successful.

Freeze-drying

The invention: 

Method for preserving foods and other organic matter by freezing them and using a vacuum to remove their water content without damaging their solid matter.

The people behind the invention:

Earl W. Flosdorf (1904- ), an American physician
Ronald I. N. Greaves (1908- ), an English pathologist
Jacques Arsène d’Arsonval (1851-1940), a French physicist

FORTRAN programming language

The invention: The first major computer programming language, FORTRAN supported programming in a mathematical language that was natural to scientists and engineers and achieved unsurpassed success in scientific computation. The people behind the invention: John Backus (1924- ), an American software engineer and manager John W. Mauchly (1907-1980), an American physicist and engineer Herman Heine Goldstine (1913- ), a mathematician and computer scientist John von Neumann (1903-1957), a Hungarian American mathematician and physicist Talking to Machines Formula Translation, or FORTRAN—the first widely accepted high-level computer language—was completed by John Backus and his coworkers at the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation in April, 1957. Designed to support programming in a mathematical language that was natural to scientists and engineers, FORTRAN achieved unsurpassed success in scientific computation. Computer languages are means of specifying the instructions that a computer should execute and the order of those instructions. Computer languages can be divided into categories of progressively higher degrees of abstraction. At the lowest level is binary code, or machine code: Binary digits, or “bits,” specify in complete detail every instruction that the machine will execute. This was the only language available in the early days of computers, when such machines as the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) required hand-operated switches and plugboard connections. All higher levels of language are implemented by having a program translate instructions written in the higher language into binary machine language (also called “object code”). High-level languages (also called “programming languages”) are largely or entirely independent of the underlying machine structure. FORTRAN was the first language of this type to win widespread acceptance. The emergence of machine-independent programming languages was a gradual process that spanned the first decade of electronic computation. One of the earliest developments was the invention of “flowcharts,” or “flow diagrams,” by Herman Heine Goldstine and John von Neumann in 1947. Flowcharting became the most influential software methodology during the first twenty years of computing. Short Code was the first language to be implemented that contained some high-level features, such as the ability to use mathematical equations. The idea came from JohnW. Mauchly, and it was implemented on the BINAC (Binary Automatic Computer) in 1949 with an “interpreter”; later, it was carried over to the UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) I. Interpreters are programs that do not translate commands into a series of object-code instructions; instead, they directly execute (interpret) those commands. Every time the interpreter encounters a command, that command must be interpreted again. “Compilers,” however, convert the entire command into object code before it is executed. Much early effort went into creating ways to handle commonly encountered problems—particularly scientific mathematical calculations. A number of interpretive languages arose to support these features. As long as such complex operations had to be performed by software (computer programs), however, scientific computation would be relatively slow. Therefore, Backus lobbied successfully for a direct hardware implementation of these operations on IBM’s new scientific computer, the 704. Backus then started the Programming Research Group at IBM in order to develop a compiler that would allow programs to be written in a mathematically oriented language rather than a machine-oriented language. In November of 1954, the group defined an initial version of FORTRAN.A More Accessible Language Before FORTRAN was developed, a computer had to perform a whole series of tasks to make certain types of mathematical calculations. FORTRAN made it possible for the same calculations to be performed much more easily. In general, FORTRAN supported constructs with which scientists were already acquainted, such as functions and multidimensional arrays. In defining a powerful notation that was accessible to scientists and engineers, FORTRAN opened up programming to a much wider community. Backus’s success in getting the IBM 704’s hardware to support scientific computation directly, however, posed a major challenge: Because such computation would be much faster, the object code produced by FORTRAN would also have to be much faster. The lower-level compilers preceding FORTRAN produced programs that were usually five to ten times slower than their hand-coded counterparts; therefore, efficiency became the primary design objective for Backus. The highly publicized claims for FORTRAN met with widespread skepticism among programmers. Much of the team’s efforts, therefore, went into discovering ways to produce the most efficient object code. The efficiency of the compiler produced by Backus, combined with its clarity and ease of use, guaranteed the system’s success. By 1959, many IBM 704 users programmed exclusively in FORTRAN. By 1963, virtually every computer manufacturer either had delivered or had promised a version of FORTRAN. Incompatibilities among manufacturers were minimized by the popularity of IBM’s version of FORTRAN; every company wanted to be able to support IBM programs on its own equipment. Nevertheless, there was sufficient interest in obtaining a standard for FORTRAN that the American National Standards Institute adopted a formal standard for it in 1966. Arevised standard was adopted in 1978, yielding FORTRAN 77. Consequences In demonstrating the feasibility of efficient high-level languages, FORTRAN inaugurated a period of great proliferation of programming languages. Most of these languages attempted to provide similar or better high-level programming constructs oriented toward a different, nonscientific programming environment. COBOL, for example, stands for “Common Business Oriented Language.” FORTRAN, while remaining the dominant language for scientific programming, has not found general acceptance among nonscientists. An IBM project established in 1963 to extend FORTRAN found the task too unwieldy and instead ended up producing an entirely different language, PL/I, which was delivered in 1966. In the beginning, Backus and his coworkers believed that their revolutionary language would virtually eliminate the burdens of coding and debugging. Instead, FORTRAN launched software as a field of study and an industry in its own right. In addition to stimulating the introduction of new languages, FORTRAN encouraged the development of operating systems. Programming languages had already grown into simple operating systems called “monitors.” Operating systems since then have been greatly improved so that they support, for example, simultaneously active programs (multiprogramming) and the networking (combining) of multiple computers.

21 June 2009

Food freezing

The invention: It was long known that low temperatures helped to protect food against spoiling; the invention that made frozen food practical was a method of freezing items quickly. Clarence Birdseye’s quick-freezing technique made possible a revolution in food preparation, storage, and distribution. The people behind the invention: Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956), a scientist and inventor Donald K. Tressler (1894-1981), a researcher at Cornell University Amanda Theodosia Jones (1835-1914), a food-preservation pioneer Feeding the Family In 1917, Clarence Birdseye developed a means of quick-freezing meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit without substantially changing their original taste. His system of freezing was called by Fortune magazine “one of the most exciting and revolutionary ideas in the history of food.” Birdseye went on to refine and perfect his method and to promote the frozen foods industry until it became a commercial success nationwide. It was during a trip to Labrador, where he worked as a fur trader, that Birdseye was inspired by this idea. Birdseye’s new wife and five-week-old baby had accompanied him there. In order to keep his family well fed, he placed barrels of fresh cabbages in salt water and then exposed the vegetables to freezing winds. Successful at preserving vegetables, he went on to freeze a winter’s supply of ducks, caribou, and rabbit meat. In the following years, Birdseye experimented with many freezing techniques. His equipment was crude: an electric fan, ice, and salt water. His earliest experiments were on fish and rabbits, which he froze and packed in old candy boxes. By 1924, he had borrowed money against his life insurance and was lucky enough to find three partners willing to invest in his new General Seafoods Company (later renamed General Foods), located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Although it was Birdseye’s genius that put the principles of quick-freezing to work, he did not actually invent quick-freezing. The scientific principles involved had been known for some time. As early as 1842, a patent for freezing fish had been issued in England. Nevertheless, the commercial exploitation of the freezing process could not have happened until the end of the 1800’s, when mechanical refrigeration was invented. Even then, Birdseye had to overcome major obstacles. Finding a Niche By the 1920’s, there still were few mechanical refrigerators in American homes. It would take years before adequate facilities for food freezing and retail distribution would be established across the United States. By the late 1930’s, frozen foods had, indeed, found its role in commerce but still could not compete with canned or fresh foods. Birdseye had to work tirelessly to promote the industry, writing and delivering numerous lectures and articles to advance its popularity. His efforts were helped by scientific research conducted at Cornell University by Donald K. Tressler and by C. R. Fellers of what was then Massachusetts State College. Also, during World War II (1939-1945), more Americans began to accept the idea: Rationing, combined with a shortage of canned foods, contributed to the demand for frozen foods. The armed forces made large purchases of these items as well. General Foods was the first to use a system of extremely rapid freezing of perishable foods in packages. Under the Birdseye system, fresh foods, such as berries or lobster, were packaged snugly in convenient square containers. Then, the packages were pressed between refrigerated metal plates under pressure at 50 degrees below zero. Two types of freezing machines were used. The “double belt” freezer consisted of two metal belts that moved through a 15-meter freezing tunnel, while a special salt solution was sprayed on the surfaces of the belts. This double-belt freezer was used only in permanent installations and was soon replaced by the “multiplate” freezer, which was portable and required only 11.5 square meters of floor space compared to the double belt’s 152 square meters.The multiplate freezer also made it possible to apply the technique of quick-freezing to seasonal crops. People were able to transport these freezers easily from one harvesting field to another, where they were used to freeze crops such as peas fresh off the vine. The handy multiplate freezer consisted of an insulated cabinet equipped with refrigerated metal plates. Stacked one above the other, these plates were capable of being opened and closed to receive food products and to compress them with evenly distributed pressure. Each aluminum plate had internal passages through which ammonia flowed and expanded at a temperature of -3.8 degrees Celsius, thus causing the foods to freeze. A major benefit of the new frozen foods was that their taste and vitamin content were not lost. Ordinarily, when food is frozen slowly, ice crystals form, which slowly rupture food cells, thus altering the taste of the food. With quick-freezing, however, the food looks, tastes, and smells like fresh food. Quick-freezing also cuts down on bacteria. Impact During the months between one food harvest and the next, humankind requires trillions of pounds of food to survive. In many parts of the world, an adequate supply of food is available; elsewhere, much food goes to waste and many go hungry. Methods of food preservation such as those developed by Birdseye have done much to help those who cannot obtain proper fresh foods. Preserving perishable foods also means that they will be available in greater quantity and variety all year-round. In all parts of the world, both tropical and arctic delicacies can be eaten in any season of the year. With the rise in popularity of frozen “fast” foods, nutritionists began to study their effect on the human body. Research has shown that fresh is the most beneficial. In an industrial nation with many people, the distribution of fresh commodities is, however, difficult. It may be many decades before scientists know the long-term effects on generations raised primarily on frozen foods.

FM radio

The invention: A method of broadcasting radio signals by modulating the frequency, rather than the amplitude, of radio waves, FM radio greatly improved the quality of sound transmission. The people behind the invention: Edwin H. Armstrong (1890-1954), the inventor of FM radio broadcasting David Sarnoff (1891-1971), the founder of RCA An Entirely New System Because early radio broadcasts used amplitude modulation (AM) to transmit their sounds, they were subject to a sizable amount of interference and static. Since goodAMreception relies on the amount of energy transmitted, energy sources in the atmosphere between the station and the receiver can distort or weaken the original signal. This is particularly irritating for the transmission of music. Edwin H. Armstrong provided a solution to this technological constraint. A graduate of Columbia University, Armstrong made a significant contribution to the development of radio with his basic inventions for circuits for AM receivers. (Indeed, the monies Armstrong received from his earlier inventions financed the development of the frequency modulation, or FM, system.) Armstrong was one among many contributors to AM radio. For FM broadcasting, however, Armstrong must be ranked as the most important inventor. During the 1920’s, Armstrong established his own research laboratory in Alpine, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. With a small staff of dedicated assistants, he carried out research on radio circuitry and systems for nearly three decades. At that time, Armstrong also began to teach electrical engineering at Columbia University. From 1928 to 1933, Armstrong worked diligently at his private laboratory at Columbia University to construct a working model of an FM radio broadcasting system. With the primitive limitations then imposed on the state of vacuum tube technology, a number of Armstrong’s experimental circuits required as many as one hundred tubes. Between July, 1930, and January, 1933, Armstrong filed four basic FM patent applications. All were granted simultaneously on December 26, 1933. Armstrong sought to perfectFMradio broadcasting, not to offer radio listeners better musical reception but to create an entirely new radio broadcasting system. On November 5, 1935, Armstrong made his first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in New York City to an audience of radio engineers. An amateur station based in suburban Yonkers, New York, transmitted these first signals. The scientific world began to consider the advantages and disadvantages of Armstrong’s system; other laboratories began to craft their own FM systems. Corporate Conniving Because Armstrong had no desire to become a manufacturer or broadcaster, he approached David Sarnoff, head of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). As the owner of the top manufacturer of radio sets and the top radio broadcasting network, Sarnoff was interested in all advances of radio technology. Armstrong first demonstrated FM radio broadcasting for Sarnoff in December, 1933. This was followed by visits from RCA engineers, who were sufficiently impressed to recommend to Sarnoff that the company conduct field tests of the Armstrong system. In 1934, Armstrong, with the cooperation of RCA, set up a test transmitter at the top of the Empire State Building, sharing facilities with the experimental RCAtelevision transmitter. From 1934 through 1935, tests were conducted using the Empire State facility, to mixed reactions of RCA’s best engineers. AM radio broadcasting already had a performance record of nearly two decades. The engineers wondered if this new technology could replace something that had worked so well. This less-than-enthusiastic evaluation fueled the skepticism of RCA lawyers and salespeople. RCA had too much invested in the AM system, both as a leading manufacturer and as the dominant owner of the major radio network of the time, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Sarnoff was in no rush to adopt FM. To change systems would risk the millions of dollars RCAwas making as America emerged from the Great Depression. In 1935, Sarnoff advised Armstrong that RCA would cease any further research and development activity in FM radio broadcasting. (Still, engineers at RCA laboratories continued to work on FM to protect the corporate patent position.) Sarnoff declared to the press that his company would push the frontiers of broadcasting by concentrating on research and development of radio with pictures, that is, television. As a tangible sign, Sarnoff ordered that Armstrong’s FM radio broadcasting tower be removed from the top of the Empire State Building. Armstrong was outraged. By the mid-1930’s, the development of FM radio broadcasting had become a mission for Armstrong. For the remainder of his life, Armstrong devoted his considerable talents to the promotion of FM radio broadcasting. Impact After the break with Sarnoff, Armstrong proceeded with plans to develop his own FM operation. Allied with two of RCA’s biggest manufacturing competitors, Zenith and General Electric, Armstrong pressed ahead. In June of 1936, at a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing, Armstrong proclaimed that FM broadcasting was the only static-free, noise-free, and uniform system—both day and night—available. He argued, correctly, thatAMradio broadcasting had none of these qualities. During World War II (1939-1945), Armstrong gave the military permission to use FM with no compensation. That patriotic gesture cost Armstrong millions of dollars when the military soon became all FM. It did, however, expand interest in FM radio broadcasting. World War II had provided a field test of equipment and use. By the 1970’s, FM radio broadcasting had grown tremendously. By 1972, one in three radio listeners tuned into an FM station some time during the day. Advertisers began to use FM radio stations to reach the young and affluent audiences that were turning to FM stations in greater numbers. By the late 1970’s, FM radio stations were outnumberingAMstations. By 1980, nearly half of radio listeners tuned into FM stations on a regular basis. Adecade later, FM radio listening accounted for more than two-thirds of audience time. Armstrong’s predictions that listeners would prefer the clear, static-free sounds offered by FM radio broadcasting had come to pass by the mid-1980’s, nearly fifty years after Armstrong had commenced his struggle to make FM radio broadcasting a part of commercial radio.