Education and Scientific Work

In 1891, Marie went to Paris, to join her sister, and enrolled herself at the University of Paris. There, she studied mathematics, physics and chemistry. She got her undergraduate degree in 1893, coming first. She completed her master's degree in mathematics, from University of Paris, in 1895. It was during her years at the University of Paris that she met and married Pierre Curie. Both of them shared common interests and started doing research together. By April 1898, Marie-Pierre arrived on the conclusion that pitchblende must contain traces of an unknown substance far more radioactive than uranium.

Two months later, they published an article, telling the world about the existence of an element, which they named polonium. Later that year, in December, they announced the existence of a second element, named radium for its intense radioactivity. In the next few years, the couple processed tons of pitchblende, mainly concentrating the radioactive substances and eventually isolating the chloride salts. In April 1902, they managed to refine radium chloride. However, the isolation of Polonium was still not a reality.

The couple, in an unusual gesture, did not patent the radium-isolation process, with the aim of letting the scientific community do research in the field, totally unhindered. In 1903, Marie received the first Nobel Prize of her life, in Physics, which she shared with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. With this, she became the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. The same year, she received her DSc from the University of Paris, under the supervision of Henri Becquerel. She became the first woman in France to complete a doctorate.

In 1905, election took place for membership to French Academy of Sciences. Marie lost by just one vote, mainly because of the academy’s prejudice against women. Marie lost her husband, Pierre, in a street accident on 19^th April 1906, leaving her devastated. She was rumored to be having an affair with physicist Paul Langevin, a married man who had left his wife, resulting in a huge scandal. In 1909, she became the first female professor of the University of Paris, after being named to her late husband's chair in physics.

In 1911, Marie received the second Nobel Prize of her life, this time in Chemistry. With this, she became the first person to win or share two Nobel Prizes. In fact, till date, she is one of only two people to be awarded a Nobel Prize in two different fields. To add to it, Marie is also the only woman to have won two Nobel Prizes and the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different science fields. During World War I, she encouraged the use of mobile radiography units, known as petites Curies ("Little Curies"), for the treatment of wounded soldiers.

Along with that, she also donated her and her husband's gold Nobel Prize medals for the war effort. In 1921 and again in 1929, Marie toured the United States, to raise funds for research on radium. On her second tour, she managed to garner enough funds to equip the Warsaw Radium Institute, which she founded in 1925, with her sister Bronis³awa as director. In her later years, Marie headed the Pasteur Institute, along with a radioactivity laboratory, which was created for her by the University of Paris.

 

Death

Marie Curie left for the holy abode on 4^th July 1934, near Sallanches (Savoy), after suffering from aplastic anemia. The anemia is said to be the result of her excessive exposure to radiation, as she had carried out most of her work in a shed, without any safety measures. She was interred at the cemetery in Sceaux, along with her husband Pierre. Sixty years later, in 1995, the remains of the couple were transferred to the Panthéon in Paris, mainly as a mark of respect and honor. Marie’s laboratory is still preserved in the Musée Curie.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Marie Curie?

2. What is she famous for?

3. Where was she born?

4. What inventions did she make?

5. What were her theories?

6. How did she die?

Nicolaus Copernicus

Born on: 19 February, 1473

Born in: St. Anne's Street in Torun, Poland

Nationality: Polish

Career: Astronomer

Died on: 24 May, 1543

 

Nicolaus Copernicus was the first astronomer who formulated a scientific heliocentric cosmology that displaced the Earth from the center of the Universe. He was also the author of the book, titled, 'De revolutionibus orbium coelestium' (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). It is often regarded as the starting point of the modern astronomy.

 

He was also a mathematician, physician, classical scholar, translator, Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat and economist.

 

 

Early Career

In the year 1501, Copernicus returned to Frombork and he obtained permission from his uncle to complete his studies in Padua where he studied medicine. Later, in the year 1503, he also went on to receive his Doctorate Degree in Canon Law. One of the topics he studied at that time was astronomy since it was considered very important part of medical education.

 

It seems that although Copernicus studied astronomy, he never quite practiced it, or expressed any kind of further interest in the subject. It is also believed that it was in Padua that he encountered some passages from Cicero and Plato regarding the movement of Earth and he formed his first theory in this way. Later, in the year 1504, Copernicus began to collect observations and ideas that were very important to his theory in the field of astronomy.

 

Work

In the year 1503, Copernicus returned to Poland, where he resided for the rest of his life. From 1503 to 1510, he held the position of Secretary to his uncle Lucas and also resided in the Bishop's castle till 1510. It was here that he started to work on the heliocentric cosmology.

 

Copernicus also oversaw the defense of the castle of Olsztyn at the Royal Polish Forces during the Polish-Teutonic War (1519-1521). Later on, he also participated in the various peace negotiations. Copernicus also worked as an advisor to Poland's King Sigismund I the Old and helped him on the monetary reform system. He traveled extensively on Government work as a diplomat on behalf of the Prince-Bishop of Warmia as well.

 

In 1526, Copernicus completed a research work on the value of money and even formulated his theory, which is popularly known as the 'Gresham's Law'. Not only this, he also formed another theory on the ‘Quantity of Money’. By the year 1533, Copernicus’ work began to be known to the general public and had also taken a definitive form. The various rumors about his theory also had reached the people of Europe.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Nicolaus Copernicus?

2. What is he famous for?

3. Where was he born?

4. What inventions did he make?

5. What were his theories?

6. How did he die?

Stephen Hawking

Born on: January 8, 1942

Born in: Oxford

Nationality: British

Education: Ph.D. (Cambridge)

Career: Theoretical Physicist

 

Stephen Hawking is British theoretical physicist, who presently serves as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He has been conducting research in fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, since many years. He is known throughout the world, for his contributions in context of black holes. During his career, which spans over more than 40 years, he has put forward numerous theories and also written a number of books, with the aim of helping the common man understand science. Hawking is disabled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

 

Research Fields

Theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity are the main fields in which Hawking conducts research. The first breakthrough came in the late 1960s, when he and his Cambridge friend and colleague, Roger Penrose, applied a new and intricate mathematical model, the one they had derived using the general theory of relativity, of Albert Einstein. This particular breakthrough helped him in proving the first of many singularity theorems, in 1970. In fact, with this, he proved that singularities are a quite generic feature of general relativity.

 

Hawking worked with Brandon Carter, Werner Israel and D. Robinson to prove that any black hole is completely described by the three properties - mass, angular momentum and electric charge, supplying a mathematical proof for the same. He also put forward the theory that primordial or mini black holes were formed after the Big Bang, mainly after analyzing gamma ray emissions. He also proposed the four laws of black hole mechanics, along with Bardeen and Carter, after drawing a similarity with thermodynamics.

 

In 1974, Hawking suggested that black holes thermally create and emit subatomic particles till the time they exhaust their energy and evaporate. Later, the subatomic particles were given the name of Hawking radiation. His collaboration with Jim Hartle resulted in the creation of a model, as per which Universe had no boundary in space-time. Originally, this no-boundary model predicted a closed Universe. However, discussions with Neil Turok led to the conclusion that the model was consistent with a Universe which is not closed.

 

Zero-Gravity Flight

On 8^th January 2007, during his 65^th birthday celebrations, Hawking announced that he planned to go on a zero-gravity flight. He intended to do this as a preparation for a sub-orbital spaceflight in 2009, on Virgin Galactic’s space service. On 26^th April 2007, he went on a zero-gravity flight in a "Vomit Comet" of Zero Gravity Corporation. During the flight, he experienced weightlessness eight times. With this, Hawking became the first quadriplegic to float free in a weightless state. It was also first time in 40 years that he moved freely beyond the limits of his wheelchair. He was not charged any fee for the flight.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who is Stephen Hawking?

2. What is he famous for?

3. Where was he born?

4. What fields did he work in?

5. What were his theories?

Thomas Edison

Born on: February 11, 1847

Born in: Milan, Ohio

Nationality: American

Career: Inventor and Businessman

Death: October 18, 1931

 

Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman, who is known for his inventions till date. During the course of his life, he filed for and held as many as 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, apart from many others in United Kingdom, France and Germany. One of the most prolific inventors of the 19^th century, he was once called "The Wizard of Menlo Park", by a newspaper reporter. Edison is credited to be one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention. This is the reason why the credit of developing the first industrial research laboratory goes to him.

 

Inventions

Edison’s career, as an inventor, started in New Jersey, when he invented automatic repeater and other improved telegraphic devices. During that time, he also set up the first industrial research lab, in Menlo Park, New Jersey. However, it was the invention of phonograph, in 1877, that made him famous as an inventor. The invention was so unexpected that soon, he was known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park". In 1877–1878, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone that was used in telephones till 1980s, along with being a part of radio broadcasting and public address systems.

 

In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City, with financers including J. P. Morgan and members of Vanderbilt family. In November 1879, he filed a patent for an electric lamp, using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires". The patent was granted much after Edison and his team had discovered a longer-lasting carbonized bamboo filament for the lamp. The year 1880 saw him patenting an electric distribution system and founding Edison Electric Illuminating Company, which set up the first investor-owned electric utility in 1882, on Pearl Street Station, New York City.

 

By 1887, there were 121 Edison power stations in the United States, delivering DC electricity to customers. Soon, the option of AC electricity started being suggested by George Westinghouse, which was fiercely opposed by Edison. With time, the DC system was replaced by AC. Though DC exists till date, it is only used in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Edison is also credited with designing and producing the first commercially available fluoroscope. In 1891, he built a Kinetoscope, or peep-hole viewer, and received a patent for a two-way telegraph, the next year.

 

Later Years

In 1901, Edison visited the Sudbury area, as a mining prospector, and discovered the Falconbridge ore body. After being unsuccessful in his mining attempts, he abandoned the mining claim, in 1903. In 1906, he purchased the house in which he was born, in Milan, Ohio. In 1908, Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company. It was a conglomerate of nine major film studios, popularly known as the Edison Trust. Thomas Edison was the first honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, founded in 1929. In 1931, he guided the Project of electric trains in suburban service, from Hoboken to Gladstone.

 

Death

Thomas Edison was a man who made a great difference to the world, with his inventions. He left the world, for the holy abode, on 18^th October 1931. He breathed his last in home, "Glenmont" in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. It was the same house he had purchased for his wife Mina, as a wedding gift, in 1886. It is said that Edison's last breath was captured in a test tube, which is kept at the Henry Ford Museum. Ford is believed to be the one who convinced Charles Edison to seal a test tube of air, in Thomas Edison’s room, shortly after his death, to keep as a memento.

Answer the following questions: 1. Who was Thomas Edison? 2. What is he famous for? 3. Where was he born? 4. What inventions did he make? 5. What were his theories? 6. How did he die?