Biography and description of the major scientific achievements of I. Newton, M. Faraday, T. Edison, B. Franklin and T. Jefferson. The history of the discovery of the differential calculuses, of the nature of white light, and of the law of gravitation.
Аннотация к работе
1. Foreign scientific inventors 1.1 Isaac Newton Newton (1642 - 1727), one of the greatest scientists of all times was born in 1642 in the little village in Lincolnshire, England. His father was a farmer and died before Newton was born. His mother was a clever woman whom he always loved. After the school, Newton studied mathematics at Cambridge university and received his degree in 1665. Then the university was closed because of the danger of plague and Newton went home for eighteen months. It was most important period in his life when he made his three great discoveries - the discoveries of the differential calculuses, of the nature of white light, and of the law of gravitation. These discoveries are still important, for the modern science. Newton had always been interested in the problems of light. Many people saw colours of a rainbow but only Newton showed, by his experiments, that white light consists of these colours. It is interesting how he discovered the law gravitation. Once, as he sat at the garden, his attention was drawn by the fall of an apple. Many people saw such an usual thing before. But it was Newton who asked himself a question: «Why does that apple fall perpendicularly to the ground? Why doesnt it go sidewards or upwards?». The answer to this question was the theory of gravitation, discovered by Newton. Newton died at the age of 84, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument stands today. 1.2 Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867) is one of the great scientists in the history of mans work in electricity. He was tern in a small village near London on September 11, 1791, in a poor family. His family lived from hand to month. At the age of thirteen Michael went to work in a bookbinders shop, because he didnt have much schooling. Some of the scientific works and articles which passed through his hands aroused his interest in science and he started to read. Some time later Michael became a pupil of great scientist of that time, Sir Humphry Davy. The boy accompanied Davy in his trips to Europe. Theeducational value of such trips was great. Among great men of science Faraday met Ampere, who had already made a name for himself in the history of electricity. Today almost all the electricity we use is generated by great machines with magnets in them, but in those days no one knew how to do it. Thats why the English scientist danced with delight on his table when he got what he wanted by moving the magnet near wire. This was a great moment in the history of mans electrical experiments. But Faraday didnt stop at this. Faradays scientific interests, were varied. He made new kind of glass and a new kind of steel. Faraday made about two thousand difficult experiments and made countless discoveries in chemistry and physics. He made a wonderful machine which was the father of all the great machines that make electricity today. They light and heat our houses and they make our radio-sets work. Michael Faraday was the creator of the electric motor, who ushered us in the electrical age which had changed the face of the earth. 1.3 Thomas Edison Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931) was born in 1847.