Alexander Brongniart

Alexander Brongniart was a French zoologist, mineralogist, and chemist who had worked hand in hand with Georges Cuvier concerning geology around Paris. He was also the Sevres porcelain factory director and had been responsible for the worldwide fame of the factory. He had been the professor at the Museum of Natural History in Paris teaching mineralogy, and he had established the basic principles of ceramic chemistry. Along with these accomplishments, he had also made contributions to science by introducing a new classification of reptiles, extensively studying trilobites, and contributed to stratigraphy through developing markers which can be used for dating strata.
   
                               Personal Life and Education

Born in Paris, France on the 5th of February back in 1770, Alexandre Brongniart was the son of Anne-Louise Degremont and Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart who was a distinguished architect in Paris. He studied for a time at the École des Mines before moving to the École de Médecine. There was a time when he became the assistant to Antoine-Louis Brongniart who was, at that time, a professor at Jardin des Plantes teaching chemistry. This had been one of his earliest exposures to the field of chemistry and may have been the spark for his interest in this field.

While he was the director of the porcelain factory which to this day remains his legacy, he was able to marry Cecile who was the daughter of Charles-Étienne Coquebert de Montbret, a statesman and a scientist. They had just one son, who became the paleobotanist and botanist named Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart who had gained his own name in the field of science.

                      Early Career

Alexandre Brongiart gained even more exposure to chemistry when he served as the aide-pharmacien for the French forces which were in the Pyrenees. In 1794 though, he returned to Paris and had been appointed as the ingénieur des mines. Three years later, he then became a professor at the École Centrale des Quatre-Nations, teaching natural history. He was appointed as ingénieur en chef des minesin 1818, and come 1822, he then succeeded the professor of mineralogy, R. J. Haüy at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle. In 1815, Alexandre Brongiart was elected as one of the members of the Académie des Sciences.

Most of Alexandre Brongniart’s life was spent in his hometown where he conducted various researches and where he had lived an academic life being a professor and part of the administrations of the universities he was in. He had been known to help his students and had even had gatherings for scientists at his own evening salons.

After the time of the Revolution, he had visited England in order to learn the ceramics techniques. He had been able to travel Western Europe and even published his own geological papers about areas such as Italy and Sweden. It was in 1800 when he became appointed as the director of the Sèvres porcelain factory, and this was the post he had held until his death in October 7, 1847.

                       Contributions to Science 

While he had left his legacy as the director of the porcelain factory and having made contributions to the chemistry of ceramics in particular, his first publications weren’t all about the ceramic industry. It is a given that this industry had been a big part of his life, but he also had other interests. His first papers had been on mineralogy as well as zoology.

In the field of zoology, he had his work called “Essai d’une classification naturelle des reptiles” published in 1800. This paper had emphasized how important comparative anatomy was. Because of this basis, he had been able to further split the class Reptilia, into four more groups.

From his studies on reptiles, he noticed how one of the groups– the batrachians were much different compared to the other three groups. The distinction had been noticeable especially in their reproductive organs which had been a lot more important compared to the much more observable difference of limbless snakes and the others. Because of this finding, Pierre Latreille had moved the batrachians to their separate class—the amphibians, while the reptile grouping of Brongniart of the true reptiles namely saurian, ophidians, and chelonians, remain to this day as part of the modern systematics.

In 1807, he published Traité élémentaire de mineralogy. In this work he had classed basalt and clay despite the difficulty of fine-grained rocks from the true and simple minerals. In his studies about mineralogy, he had emphasized on how important it was to study the different modes of occurrence along with their properties. He did, however, limit his expression concerning the igneous or aqueous origins of basalt back in those days.

His studies concerning mineralogy and zoology may have seemed like two very different scientific fields, but these two met when he began his geological work which had then made him famous in the world of science. He had worked alongside Cuvier who had been working on reconstructions of the extinct animals, specifically the mammals which were in Paris. They had worked in collaboration to survey the area and together they determined the strata order of the fossils they have located. Together, they published the “Essai sur la géographie mineralogiquc des environs de Paris” in Jun 1808, and this paper had included a colored and detailed geological map. Known for his modesty, Brongniart’s name appeared after Cuvier’s, despite the fact that majority of the work in the said paper had been his.

The “Tableau des terrains qui composent l’écorce du globe” was Brongniart’s last major work and was published in 1829, and this work had featured the interpretation and ordered classification of rocks. Unlike his earlier works though, this publication received much less recognition and had minimal influence on the development of geology. Despite this, however, his stratigraphical works had given a great principal model which had served as the pattern of other more productive geological works in the years 1810-1840 in Europe. Because of his works, geology in nineteenth century Europe had been changed and his contributions are still credited even to this day.

Abdul Qadeer Khan,

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is a famous Pakistani nuclear scientist and a metallurgical engineer. He is widely regarded as the founder of gas-centrifuge enrichment technology for Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent program. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program is a source of extreme national pride. As its “father”, A.Q. Khan, who headed Pakistan’s nuclear program for some 25 years, is considered a national hero.

Early life and Career:

Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was born in 1936 in Bhopal, India. He immigrated with his family to Pakistan in 1947. After studying at St. Anthony’s High School, Khan joined the D. J. Science College of Karachi, where he took physics and mathematics. His teacher at the college was famous solar physicist Dr. Bashir Syed. Khan earned a B.Sc. degree in physical metallurgy at the University of Karachi in 1960.

Khan accepted a job as an inspector of weight and measures in Karachi after graduation. He later resigned and went to work in Netherlands in the 1970’s. Khan gained fame as a talented scientist at the nuclear plant he worked in. He had special access to the most restricted areas of the URENCO facility. He could also read the secret documentation on the gas centrifuge technology.

In December, 1974, he came back to Pakistan and tried to convince Bhutto to adopt his Uranium route rather than Plutonium route in building nuclear weapons. According to the media reports, A.Q. Khan had a close and cordial relationship with President General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and the Military of Pakistan. He also maintained a close relationship with the Pakistan Air Force.

After his role in Pakistan’s nuclear program, Khan re-organized the Pakistani’s national space agency, SUPARCO. In the late of 1990s, Khan played an important role in Pakistan’s space program, patricularly the Pakistan’s first Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project and the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Khan’s unrestricted publicity of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities brought humiliation to the Pakistan’s government. The United States began to think that Pakistan was giving nuclear weapons technology to North Korea, to get ballistic missile technology in exchange. Khan also came under renewed scrutiny following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. He allegedly sold nuclear technology to Iran. However, he was pardoned in 2004, but placed under house arrest.

On the 22nd of August 2006, the Pakistani government declared that Khan had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was undergoing treatment. He was released from house arrest in Februray 2009.

Other Contributions

Khan was also a key figure in the establishment of several engineering universities in Pakistan. He set up a metallurgy and material science institute in Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. The place, where Khan served as both executive member and director, has been named as Dr. A. Q. Khan Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Sciences. Another school, Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at Karachi University, has also been named in his honor. Khan thus played a vital role in bringing metallurgical engineering courses in various universities of Pakistan.

Despite his international image, Khan remains widely popular among in Pakistanis and he is considered domestically to be one of the most-influential and respected scientists in Pakistan.

sir chandrasekhara venkata raman,

Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman, an Indian Physicist, was the first to 

describe and explain in the review nature, in 1928, the experimental 

observation of the phenomenon in liquids. On 28th February 1928, 

through his experiments on the scattering of light, he discovered the 

Raman Effect. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 

1930.

Born: November 7, 1888, Thiruvanaikaval Died: November 21, 1970, Bangalore, India

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Marie Skłodowska-Curie,

The famous chemist and physicist, Marie Curie was the first person in the history to be awarded with the two Nobel Prizes in diverse fields of science (chemistry and physics). She is notable for her theory of radioactivity, techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium. Her work has received great appreciation from many scientists all over the world.

            

Early Life

Marie Curie was born in Warsaw on November 7, 1867. She was the fifth and the youngest daughter of a secondary-school teacher. Her early years were very difficult with her mother and her sister passing away. She received her early education from some local school and her father taught her mathematics and physics, subjects that Marie was to pursue. She lived in Warsaw until she was twenty-four years old and later moved to Paris to receive higher education at the Sorbonne. There she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences.

In 1894, she met Pierre Curie, instructor in the School of Physics and Chemistry. Marie had begun her scientific career in Paris with an examination of the magnetic properties of various steels; it was their common interest in magnetism that brought Marie and Pierre together. The following year they got married.

 

Achievements

In 1896 when Henry Becquerel made his discovery of radio activity, the Curie’s became inspired to look into uranium rays as a possible field of research for a thesis. In 1898 their brilliant researches led to the discovey of polonium, named after the country of Marie’s birth, and radium. In 1903, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences honoured both Pierre Curie and Marie Curie with the Nobel Prize in Physics, for their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Becquerel.

Following the unfortunate death of her husband in 1906, she took his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences. She was the first woman who had held this position. She was also employed as Director at the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded in 1914.

After her husband’s death she continued with her efforts of developing methods for obtaining pure radium from radioactive residues in sufficient quantities. By 1910, she successfully isolated the pure radium metal.

In 1911, Curie was awarded with yet another Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry in recognition of her work in radioactivity.

All her life Marie promoted the use of radium and also set a great example of its use during World War I for healing the injuries of those who suffered. Her passion for science is reflected in all her efforts towards its advancement. She was also a member of the Conseil du Physique Solvay from 1911 until her death. Moreover since 1922 she had been a member of the Committee of Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations. In 1932 she also laid the foundation of Radium Institute (now the Maria Sk?odowska–Curie Institute of Oncology) in Warsaw. Her work is recorded in various papers in scientific journals.

  

Death

The great scientist Marie Curie died on July 4, 1934 at the Sancellemoz Sanatorium in Passy, in Haute-Savoie from aplastic anemia.

Her name will always be written in golden letters for her tremendous contribution to the field of science.

The Wright Brothers,

The Wright Brothers - First Flight, 1903

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with 

Wilbur flies a glider in earlier tests Kitty Hawk, Oct. 10, 1902.

Orville's brother Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet.

The brothers began their experimentation in flight in 1896 at their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They selected the beach at Kitty Hawk as their proving ground because of the constant wind that added lift to their craft. In 1902 they came to the beach with their glider and made more than 700 successful flights.

Having perfected glided flight, the next step was to move to powered flight. No automobile manufacturer could supply an engine both light enough and powerful enough for their needs. So they designed and built their own. All of their hard work, experimentation and innovation came together that December day as they took to the sky and forever changed the course of history. The brothers notified several newspapers prior to their historic flight, but only one - the local journal - made mention of the event.

"I found the control of the front rudder quite difficult"

The conditions on the morning of December 17 were perfect for flight - high, consistent winds blowing from the north. At about 10:30 that morning, Orville Wright lay down on the plane's wing surface and brought its engine to life in preparation of launching it and himself into history. His diary tells the story:


"When we got up, a wind of between 20 and 25 miles was blowing from the north.

We got the machine out early and put out the signal for the men at the station. Before we were quite ready, John T. Daniels, W. S. Dough, A. D. Etheridge, W. C. Brinkley of Manteo, and Johnny Moore of Nags Head arrived.

After running the engine and propellers a few minutes to get them in working order, I got on the machine at 10:35 for the first trial. The wind, according to our anemometers at this time, was blowing a little over 20 miles (corrected) 27 miles according to the Government anemometer at Kitty Hawk. On slipping the rope the machine started off increasing in speed to probably 7 or 8 miles. The machine lifted from the truck just as it was entering on the fourth rail. Mr. Daniels took a picture just as it left the tracks.

I found the control of the front rudder quite difficult on account of its being balanced too near the center and thus had a tendency to turn itself when started so that the rudder was turned too far on one side and then too far on the other. As a result the machine would rise suddenly to about 10 ft. and then as suddenly, on turning the rudder, dart for the ground. A sudden dart when out about 100 feet from the end of the tracks ended the flight. Time about 12 seconds (not known exactly as watch was not promptly stopped). The lever for throwing off the engine was broken, and the skid under the rudder cracked. After repairs, at 20 min. after 11 o'clock Will made the second trial.

The course was about like mine, up and down but a little longer over the ground though about the same in time. Dist. not measured but about 175 ft. Wind speed not quite so strong.

Wilbur looks on as Orville pilots
the first powered flight


With the aid of the station men present, we picked the machine up and carried it back to the starting ways. At about 20 minutes till 12 o'clock I made the third trial. When out about the same distance as Will's, I met with a strong gust from the left which raised the left wing and sidled the machine off to the right in a lively manner. I immediately turned the rudder to bring the machine down and then worked the end control. Much to our surprise, on reaching the ground the left wing struck first, showing the lateral control of this machine much more effective than on any of our former ones. At the time of its sidling it had raised to a height of probably 12 to 14 feet.

At just 12 o'clock Will started on the fourth and last trip. The machine started off with its ups and downs as it had before, but by the time he had gone over three or four hundred feet he had it under much better control, and was traveling on a fairly even course. It proceeded in this manner till it reached a small hummock out about 800 feet from the starting ways, when it began its pitching again and suddenly darted into the ground.

The front rudder frame was badly broken up, but the main frame suffered none at all. The distance over the ground was 852 feet in 59 seconds. The engine turns was 1071, but this included several seconds while on the starting ways and probably about a half second after landing. The jar of landing had set the watch on machine back so that we have no exact record for the 1071 turns. Will took a picture of my third flight just before the gust struck the machine.

The machine left the ways successfully at every trial, and the tail was never caught by the truck as we had feared.

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After removing the front rudder, we carried the machine back to camp. We set the machine down a few feet west of the building, and while standing about discussing the last flight, a sudden gust of wind struck the machine and started to turn it over. All rushed to stop it. Will who was near one end ran to the front, but too late to do any good. Mr. Daniels and myself seized spars at the rear, but to no purpose. The machine gradually turned over on us. Mr. Daniels, having had no experience in handling a machine of this kind, hung on to it from the inside, and as a result was knocked down and turned over and over with it as it went. His escape was miraculous, as he was in with the engine and chains. The engine legs were all broken off, the chain guides badly bent, a number of uprights, and nearly all the rear ends of the ribs were broken. One spar only was broken.

After dinner we went to Kitty Hawk to send off telegram to M.W. While there we called on Capt. and Mrs. Hobbs, Dr. Cogswell and the station men."

References:
Orville Wright's diary appears in: McFarland, Marvin, The Papers of Wilbur & Orville Wright (2001); Crouch, Tom D., The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright (1989); Wright, Orville, How We Invented the Airplane (1953).

John Logie Baird,

Braid was a Scottish Engineer and inventor of the world’s first 

practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and 

also the world’s first fully electronic colour television tube. 

Braid’s early successes demonstrating working television 

broadcasts and his colour and cinema television work earned 

him a prominent place in televisions invention.

Born: August 13, 1888, Helensburgh, United Kingdom Died: June 14, 1946, Bexhill-on-Sea, United Kingdom

Guglielmo Marconi,

Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long

distance radio transmission and for his development of 

Marconi’s law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is credited 

as the inventor of Radio, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in 

physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun “in recognition of their 

contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy” 

Born: April 25, 1874, Bologna, Italy Died: July 20, 1937, Rome, Italy