Alfred Noble

Born on: October 21, 1833

Born in: Stockholm, Sweden

Nationality: Swedish

Career: Chemist, Engineer, Innovator, Armaments Manufacturer and the Inventor of Dynamite

Death: December 10, 1896

Alfred Noble is more popularly known as the inventor of dynamite. Swedish by origin, he was a chemist, engineer, innovator as well as an armaments manufacturer. He even owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which was previously an iron and steel mill. Noble is accredited for laying the foundation of Noble prize distribution amongst people, for their significant contribution to various fields. As a form of commemoration, the synthetic element ‘nobelium’ was named after him.

Childhood

Alfred Noble was born as ‘Alfred Bernard Noble’ on 21^st October 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the third son of Immanuel Nobel and Andriette Ahlsell Nobel. In 1842, he moved with his family to St. Petersburg, where his father started torpedo works. His father was the inventor of modern plywood. After the bankruptcy of the family business, Alfred returned to Sweden and started studying explosives, especially the safe manufacture and use of nitroglycerine. This led to several explosions at their family-owned factory in Heleneborg. One of them, which occurred in 1864, was so disastrous that it killed his younger brother Emil as well as many workers.

Discovery of Dynamite

Noble discovered that when nitroglycerine was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like kieselguhr, it became safer and more convenient to handle it. He got this mixture patented as dynamite in 1867. In the same year, he demonstrated his explosive for the first time, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England. Later, he combined nitroglycerine with another explosive called gun - cotton. This gave him a jelly-like substance, which was more powerful than dynamite. He patented it in 1876, with the name Gelignite or Blasting Gelatin.

Foundation of Nobel Prize

On 27^th November 1895, Nobel signed his last will and testament, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. In the will, he set aside a considerable amount of his estate for the establishment of the Noble Prizes. These accolades were to be given to eminent people, irrespective of the nationality, T for their contribution in different fields, such as physical science, chemistry and medical science or physiology; literary work and peace projects.

Death

Alfred Noble died of a heart stroke at Sanremo, Italy, on 10^th December 1896. The fortune he left behind to fund the Noble Prizes amounted to 31 million kronor. Nobel is buried in Norra begravningsplatsen, in Stockholm. He also wrote Nemesis, a prose tragedy in four acts about Beatrice Cenci, partly inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Cenci, which was printed while he was dying. Though the entire stock was destroyed after his death, a remaining edition was published in Sweden, in 2003.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Alfred Noble?

2. What is he famous for?

3. Where was he born?

4. What fields did he work in?

5. What were his theories?

6. How did he die?

Archimedes

Birth: c. 287 BC

Born in: Syracuse, Sicily

Nationality: Greek

Career: Mathematician, Physicist, Engineer, Inventor, Astronomer

Death: c. 212 BC

Archimedes is the name of a Greek mathematician who lived from c. 287 BC to c. 212 BC, but is remembered by people till date. He was a multi-faceted individual, who was also involved in works of physics, engineering, inventions and astronomy. A noted scientist, he is mainly known for designing innovative machines, apart from making progress in physics, which served as the foundation of hydrostatics, statics as well as the principle of the lever. Though he made as much progress in mathematics as in the science, the former achievements are not so well known.

Childhood

Archimedes was born c. 287 BC, in the seaport city of Syracuse, Sicily. Though there are little records of his birth, the year of his birth has been estimated on a statement by John Tzetzes, the Byzantine Greek historian, in which he said that Archimedes lived for 75 years. Archimedes father was Phidias (as per his statement in ‘The Sand Reckoner’), an astronomer, about whom nothing is known. Plutarch, a Greek historian, had stated in ‘Parallel Lives’ that Archimedes was related to King Hiero II, the ruler of Syracuse. Apart from the fact that Archimedes lived in Syracuse, there is hardly any information on his childhood.

Later Life and Death

There was only one record of the life of Archimedes, the biography written by his friend Heracleides. With the work getting lost, the world is largely in dark about the details of the great scientist’s life. It is believed that he studied in Alexandria, Egypt, along with Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Whether he ever married or had children is not known. Even the information on Conon and Eratosthenes was available through his works, including The Method of Mechanical Theorems and the Cattle Problem.

Though it is known that Archimedes died around 212 BC, during the Second Punic War, the sequence of events leading to his death is obscure. One of the versions of Plutarch tells us that a Roman soldier killed him, when the latter refused to obey the order to meet General Marcellus. Another lesser-known version by Plutarch says that Archimedes died while attempting to surrender to a Roman soldier. The last words attributed to Archimedes are "Do not disturb my circles", though there is no reliable evidence of the same.

Discovery of Archimedes’ Tomb

Cicero was a Roman orator who had heard stories about the tomb of Archimedes. As he went in search of it, he realized that none of the locals was able to provide the exact location. After much search, he finally found the tomb in 75 BC, near the Agrigentine gate, in Syracuse. He then got the tomb, which was in a neglected and dilapidated condition, cleaned and was able to see the carving and read some of the verses, added as inscription. The tomb also carried a sculpture that illustrated Archimedes’ his favorite mathematical proof, that the volume and surface area of the sphere are two thirds that of the cylinder, including its bases.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Archimedes?

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?

Benjamin Franklin

Born on: January 17, 1706

Born in: Boston, Massachusetts

Nationality: American

Career: Author, Printer, Satirist, Political Theorist, Politician, Scientist, Inventor, Civic Activist, Statesman and Diplomat

Died on: April 17, 1790

Benjamin Franklin was an American author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat. He is credited as being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America as well as a major figure in the Enlightenment. Franklin is known, throughout the world, for inventing lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer and a musical instrument. He also laid down the foundation of the first public lending library in America as well as the first fire department in Pennsylvania.

Early Life

After leaving his brother’s apprenticeship, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and started working in several printer shops. Sometime later, he went to London and worked as a compositor in a printer's shop in the Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great, in the Smithfield area of London. In 1726, he returned to Philadelphia, with the help of Thomas Denham, a merchant. The following year, he created the Junto, a discussion group of concurring aspiring artisans and tradesmen, for pondering over issues of the day.

The members of Junto started a library, funded by the monetary resources pooled by members. It was this library that later led to the birth of the Library Company, with the charter of the Library Company of Philadelphia, created in 1731 by Franklin. In the early years of its formation, the books of the company were kept in the homes of the librarians. It was only in 1739 that the entire collection was shifted to second floor of the State House of Pennsylvania (now Independence Hall).

In 1791, a new building was built specifically for the library. Today, the library houses 500,000 rare books, pamphlets and broadsides, along with more than 160,000 manuscripts and 75,000 graphic items. Coming back to Franklin, he had set up his own printing house by 1730 and also started publishing a newspaper, called ‘The Pennsylvania Gazette’. It was with Gazette only that he got an opportunity to campaign against local reforms and initiatives, through printed essays and observations.

 As time passed and more and more of his observations were published, Franklin gained social respect. Franklin established a common-law marriage with Deborah Read on 1^st September 1730. The next year, he was initiated into the local Freemason lodge. By 1734, he had reached the position of a grand master. The same year, he edited and published the first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of James Anderson's Constitutions of the Free-Masons. Franklin remained a Freemason for the rest of his life.

Career as Inventor

Franklin is known for making a number of inventions and discoveries, during his life. Amongst the most popular one are the lightning rod, the glass harmonica, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and the flexible urinary catheter. He was the one who charted the ‘Gulf Stream’, along with Timothy Folger, his cousin and Nantucket whaler captain, and other ship captains. In 1743, Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society, with the aim of helping the men associated with scientific research, to discuss their discoveries and theories.

It was Franklin who proposed that "vitreous" and "resinous" electricity were not different types of "electrical fluid" (i.e. electricity). Rather, he argued them to be the same electrical fluid, though under different pressures, and labeled them as positive (vitreous) and negative (resinous). He was the first to propose the principle of conservation of charge. In 1750, Franklin published a proposal for an experiment that would prove that lightning is nothing, but electricity. Though he never performed it, he did prove the statement through other experiments. The principle of refrigeration was another one of his works.

Answer the following questions: 1. Who was Benjamin Franklin? 2. What is he famous for? 3.Where was he born? 4. What did he make? 5. What were his theories?

Galileo Galilei

Born on: February 15, 1564

Born in: Pisa (then part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany)

Nationality: Italian

Career: Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Philosopher

Death: January 8, 1642

Galileo, known as the ‘Father of Modern Physics’ or ‘Father of Modern Science’, was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. He is one of the persons who played a major role in the scientific revolution. Amongst his most notable works till date are improvements to the telescope and the consequential astronomical observations. He discovered the four largest satellites of Jupiter and also observed and analyzed sunspots. Applied science and technology are the other areas in which Galileo worked. He supported Copernicanism and also proved the concept of heliocentrism.

Galileo published an account of his telescopic observations of the moons of Jupiter in 1610. He used these observations to support the concept of the sun-centered, Copernican theory of the universe. The following year, he went to Rome and demonstrated his telescope to the influential philosophers and mathematicians of the Jesuit Collegio Romano. He did this to prove his observation of the four moons of Jupiter. Galileo was also made a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, while he was in Rome. It was in 1612 that his concept of sun-centered solar system was opposed.

Two years later, in 1614, Father Tommaso Caccini criticized Galileo's opinions on the motion of the Earth, from the pulpit of Santa Maria Novella. He went a step further, to term them as dangerous and close to heterodoxy. In order to defend himself against these accusations, Rome decided to visit Rome. However, Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino met him in 1616 and personally handed him an admonition. It asked him to refrain from advocating or teaching the Copernican astronomy.

Scientific Methods

Galileo is credited with pioneering the use of quantitative experiments. The results of his experiments could be analyzed with mathematical accuracy. He is believed to be the first person who clearly stated that the laws of nature are mathematical. For his time, Galileo showed an amazingly modern appreciation of the proper relationship between mathematics, theoretical physics, & experimental physics. He comprehended the concept of parabola, in terms of both conic sections and the ordinate (y), varying as the square of abscissa (x).

During his time, Galileo claimed that parabola was the theoretically-ideal trajectory for uniformly accelerated motion, in the absence of friction and other disturbances. However, he also said that the theory will apply only in case of laboratory-scale and battlefield-scale trajectories. He admitted that it could not be applied to a trajectory the size of a planet. He also recognized that his experimental data would never agree exactly with any theoretical or mathematical form, owing to ambiguous measurement, irreducible friction, etc.

Astronomy

In 1608, Galileo, made a telescope with about 3x magnification. In the later years, he improved the telescope, to make one with up to about 32x magnification, which is now known as terrestrial telescope, or spyglass. His telescoep was used by merchants, for their shipping businesses and trading issues. In March 1610, he published a short treatise entitled Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), in which he provided his initial telescopic astronomical observations. The same year, he discovered the four moons of Jupiter, which he named as the ‘Medicean stars’. Galileo later observed the phases of Venus and proved that it orbited the Sun. With this, he lent support to (but did not prove) the heliocentric model of Nicolaus Copernicus. Galileo was one of the first Europeans to observe and recognize sunspots. He also reinterpreted a sunspot observation from the time of Charlemagne. He reported lunar mountains and craters for the first time and also estimated the mountains' heights from observations about the patterns of light and shadow on the Moon's surface. Apart from that, he observed the Milky Way and a number of other, distant stars also.

Answer the following questions: 1. Who was Galileo Galilei? 2. What is he famous for? 3. Where was he born? 4. What fields did he work in? 5. What were his theories? 6. How did he die?

Isaac Newton

Born on: June 4, 1643 (actual)

Born in: Lincolnshire, England

Died on: 31 March, 1727

Nationality: English

Career: Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Natural Philosopher, Alchemist and Theologian

Isaac Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian. He made invaluable contribution to the field of science. His ‘Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica’, published in 1687, is considered to be the most influential book in the history of science. Apart from Physics, he made contributions in the fields of Mathematics, Astronomy, Alchemy and Theology as well. Such was his reputation, that in a 2005 poll of the Royal Society, Newton was voted much more influential than Albert Einstein.

His Works

Though Newton and Leibniz developed calculus independently, Newton did not publish anything about his works until 1693, for the fear of being mocked. On the other hand, Leibniz continuously published his findings. Newton is credited for discovering Newton's identities, Newton's method, classified cubic plane curves (polynomials of degree three in two variables) and even made substantial contributions to the theory of finite differences. He is known to be the first to use fractional indices and to employ coordinate geometry to derive solutions to Diophantine equations.

Newton also used and reverted the power series for the first time. He even discovered a new formula for calculating pi. In 1699, the members of the Royal society accused Leibniz of plagiarism and Newton was declared the true discoverer of the theory. From 1670 to 1672, Newton lectured on optics and investigated the refraction of light, making white light split into colors, through a prism and vice versa. This gave rise to Newton’s theory of color. He even made a refracting telescope, based on the same principle.

In 1677, Newton again started working on mechanics. In 1687, he published his work ‘Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica’, wherein he stated the three universal laws of motion. He even defined the law of universal gravitation and the first analytical determination based on Boyle’s Law. With this, he got international popularity. The list of his admirers included Swiss-born mathematician Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, with whom he shared an intense relationship until 1693. The end of this friendship led Newton to a nervous breakdown.

Other Involvements

In 1690s, Newton wrote a number of religious tracts, associated with the interpretation of Bible. He devoted a great deal of time to alchemy. He was also a Member of Parliament of England, from 1689 to 1690 and in 1701. In 1696, he moved to London, to take up the post of warden of the Royal Mint. Newton became perhaps the best-known Master of the Mint upon Lucas' death in 1699, a position Newton held until his death. Newton was also made the President of the Royal Society in 1703 and an associate of the French Académie des Sciences.

Death The legendary soul died in London, on 31st March 1727. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Newton did not marry and did not have any children. Though he gave away much of his estate to his relatives, he died intestate. After Newton died, his body was discovered to contain a large amount of mercury. It is believed to have been the result of his alchemical pursuits. Moreover, mercury poisoning is also believed to be responsible for oddity in Newton’s later life.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Isaac Newton?

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?

Leonardo da Vinci

Born on:  April 15, 1452

Born in: Vinci, Italy

Profile: Artist, Inventor, Scientist

Disciple of: Verrochhio

Famous Paintings: The Last Supper, Mona Lisa

Famous Competitor: Michelangelo

Death: 2 May, 1519

Simply put, Leonardo da Vinci was an amazing man. He was an accomplished painter, a great inventor who designed a slew of stunning things, and a path-breaking scientist who was a bridge between the medieval times and modern approach. Particularly known for his masterly pieces The Last Supper and Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci was a genius, of all times. Here is the short biography and profile of Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo as Artist

Leonardo, a God-gifted artist, had his skills honed at the workshop of Verocchio. With time, he surpassed his master. By the time Leonardo reaching his twenties, he became a famous painter. Leonardo sought a universal language in painting. With realistic elements, Leonardo created faithful renditions of life. Leonardo's decision to paint things realistically was bold, for the times were dominated by highly figurative and downright strange religious paintings. He became a beacon for the painters of the coming century.

Leonardo gave his paintings the soft, lifelike quality that made older paintings look inferior. With his genius, Leonardo created atmosphere and depth in his paintings. Leonardo turned to science for improving his artwork. His knowledge of nature and anatomy emerged in his stunningly realistic paintings. His drawings of human body paved the way for remarkably accurate figures. Leonardo believed that a painter must know not just the rules of perspective, but also the laws of nature. Painter is the best person to illustrate the laws of nature.

Two of his most famous paintings are Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Mona Lisa is known for her mysterious smile while The Last Supper is praised for experimental technique. Michelangelo, another great artist, was the competitor of Leonardo.

Leonardo as Inventor

For supporting himself, Leonardo adapted his drawing skills to the fields of architecture, military engineering, canal building and weapons design. A talented engineer, Leonardo planned to create new machines for a new world. All his life, he nurtured brilliant and far-reaching ideas, ranging from the practical to the prophetic. He proposed creating a dry route across the Gulf of Istanbul, connecting the Golden Horn and the Bosporus with a bridge! Though the project was not taken up at that time, modern engineers have determined that the bridge would have been completely sound.  Such was Leonardo’s genius.

An array of Leonardo designs were based on gear. His designs included the bicycle, a helicopter, an auto-mobile, and some strange weapons. He made plans for a device to measure humidity, a steam-powered cannon, different waterwheels, and industrial machines powered by flowing water. He made some ambitious plans to revitalize Milan with canals.

 Leonardo as Scientist

As a scientist, major contribution of Leonardo was bridging the gap between the medieval times and modern way of doing things. His studies in anatomy and fluids proved his predecessors wrong. The range of topics which he studied is surprising: anatomy, zoology, botany, geology, optics, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics and much more. Leonardo was influenced by the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. However, he knew the limitations of these and took the approach of observing nature and posing logical questions. Leonardo possessed the ability to observe nature and record it. His studies heralded the birth of the systematic, descriptive method of scientific study.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Leonardo da Vinci? 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?

Louis Pasteur

Born on: December 27, 1822

Born in: Dole, in Jura region of France

Nationality: French

Career: Chemist and Microbiologist

Death: September 28, 1895

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist, after whom the process of pasteurization has been named. He was the one who invented pasteurization, the process of heating a liquid, especially milk , to a temperature between 55 and 70 degrees C to destroy harmful bacteria without materially changing the composition, flavor, or nutritive value of the liquid. Apart from that, he made breakthroughs in identifying the causes and methods of prevention in case of various diseases. Pasteur is also credited with working towards dropping the mortality rate from puerperal fever (childbed). Along with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, Pasteur is regarded as the founder of microbiology. Pasteur also made many discoveries in the field of chemistry.

Childhood

Louis Pasteur was born as ‘Louis Jean Pasteur’ on 27^th December 1822, in Dole, which is in the Jura region of France. He was the son of Jean Pasteur, a weakly educated tanner and a decorated Sergeant-Major of the Grande Armee. Though he was born in Dole, he spent the majority of his childhood in the town of Arbois. It was Pasteur’s college headmaster who recognized his extraordinary talent and aptitude. In fact, he also advised Pasteur to apply for the École Normale Supérieure. Pasteur did follow his advice and managed to gain admission in the elite institution.

Career

Pasteur was interested in chemistry and microbiology since a very young age. His first notable work in chemistry came in 1849, when he resolved a problem related to the nature of tartaric acid. He deduced the reason why there was no polarizing effect on the light, in case of tartaric acid derived by chemical synthesis. With this, he became the first person to demonstrate chiral molecules and also attracted the attention of M. Puillet. In 1854, Pasteur became the Dean of the new Faculty of Sciences in Lille. Two year later, he was made Administrator & Director of scientific studies, in École Normale Supérieure.

In the field of microbiology, Pasteur is credited with developing vaccines for a number of diseases. Amongst his most notable works has been the vaccine for cholera, which was the result of injection of chicken with spoiled culture of the responsible bacteria. Later, he applied the same immunization method to anthrax, which affected cattle. The rabies vaccine was initially created by Emile Roux, a French doctor who has tested it only on dogs. However, it was Pasteur who, on personal risk, used it on a human, a 9-year old boy. Many other vaccines as well as first of the Pasteur Institutes were later built on this achievement.

Later Years and Death

In 1895, Pasteur was awarded Leeuwenhoek Medal, the highest honor in microbiology. He was also a Grand Croix of the Legion of Honor, one of only 75 throughout France. He left for the holy abode, in 1895, the result of a series of strokes that had started in 1868. Pasteur was initially buried in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. However, later, his remains were re-interred in a crypt in the Institut Pasteur, Paris. His re-interment is an incredibly rare honor in France. This is because, in the country, it is mandatory to be buried in a cemetery. Only 300 "Great Men", including Pasteur, have the honor of being buried elsewhere.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who was Louis Pasteur?

2. What is he famous for?

3. Where was he born?

4. What fields did he work in?

5. What were his theories?

6. How did he die?

Marie Curie

Born on: November 7, 1867

Born in: Warsaw, Poland

Nationality: Polish, French

Career: Physicist and Chemist

Died on: July 4, 1934

Marie Curie was a very renowned physics and chemist, mainly known for being a pioneer in the field of radioactivity. She was the female professor at the University of Paris and till date, is the first and only person honored with Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. Wife of fellow-Nobel-laureate Pierre Curie, she was also the founder of the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw. Though Curie was born and brought up in Poland, she later gained French citizenship. Being proud of her Polish roots, she named the first new chemical element that was discovered by her as "polonium", after her native country.

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?