Why is the North always marked upper side of a map?

Why is the North always marked upper side of a map?

When you look at a map hanging on the wall, or printed in books, you may noticed that the north is always shown on the upper side. For example, in the map of India, Kashmir, the northernmost state in India, is always on top. In fact, there is no scientific reason behind this practice. We can only assume that it is a practice that has been followed since the art of mapping began.

The ancient Egyptian scientist Ptolemy made the first map. He believed that Egypt was the centre of the world. At the time Egypt, had good relationships with the Mediterranean coast and Greece, which lie to the north of Egypt. So, Ptolemy placed Greece and Mediterranean on the upper side of his map. That is, he drew a map in which the North was above. This style is followed even today. During the time of Crusades, some Army generals drew maps showing east on the upper side. But this practice was short lived, and never became popular universally

Who discovered radium?

Who discovered radium?

The discovery of radium, a radioactive element was one of the most significant discoveries made towards the end of the 19th century. It revolutionized scientific knowledge about the nature of matter, and brought great fame to the young scientist Marie Curie, who discovered it. An ore of uranium, pitchblende, proved to be three or four times as radioactive as uranium oxide. When Madam Curie learnt this, she deduced that some previously unknown element must be present in the mineral to produce this radioactivity. Along with her husband, the French physicist Pierre Curie, Marie searched for this substance. After extensive experimentation with pitchblende, the Curies found a substance with about 900 times the radioactivity of uranium. In December 1898, they proudly announced the existence of a new radioactive element, which they called ‘radium’. They isolated radium into its pure form in 1902. The discovery of radium marked the birth of modern nuclear Physics. It led to the development of radiotherapy, which is used in cancer treatment. Today, there are many other uses for radium as well.

When was the Nobel Prize established?

When was the Nobel Prize established?

Alfred Nobel was a highly successful inventor and industrialist, but an unsuccessful novelist and playwright. He invented dynamite, which had tremendous destructive power.

Alfred Nobel happened to read his own obituary in a newspaper, which described him, as a ‘merchant of death’. Nobel was deeply hurt by this remark. He set aside nearly 94 percent of his immense wealth to create awards for persons for outstanding and path breaking works in Physics, Chemistry, medicine, literature and peacemaking. Nobel died in 1896. The first Nobel prizes were conferred in 1901 by the King of Sweden.

In 1968, the Central Bank of Sweden instituted a prize for Economics in memory of Alfred Nobel. Today the value of the Nobel Prize is about a million dollars. It is without doubt the most coveted academic prize in the whole world.

When were the Olympic Games reintroduced?

When were the Olympic Games reintroduced?

The ancient Olympic Game s evolved out of religious festivals honouring the Greek Gods such as Zeus, the Chief God. These festivals are believed to have dated back to 900 BC. At this time, the Games were held every 4 years, involving one event- a race held over 192 meters. By about 650 BC, the Ancient games were held over five days, involving running, wrestling, the pentathlon, horse riding and chariot racing.

The games continued for over 1000 years before Roman Emperor Theodosius I brought the movement to an end in 393 AD, by banning all Pagan worship, which included the Olympic Games.

In the 1880’s a French historian Pierre de Coubertin formed the idea of a modern revival to the ancient Olympic Games. The idea was publicly launched in 1892, and by 1894 the International Olympic Committee was formed with the idea of staging the games every four years. A new marble stadium was constructed at Athens and the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896, four years before the beginning of the 20th century.

What is psycho-analysis?

What is psycho-analysis?

Psychoanalysis is a method for the investigation of human thought processes and behaviour, and for treating nervous disorders. The Father of modern psychoanalysis was an Austrian doctor named Sigmund Freud. He carried out a great deal of research into the physiology of the nervous system, and then set up as a specialist in nervous disorders.

Sigmund Freud gained fame as he cured hysteria through hypnosis, and also treated patients by allowing them to ramble on about anything that came into their mind while in a state of complete relaxation. This method of drawing memories from the unconscious to the conscious mind became known as ‘psycho-analysis’.

Freud had a great many followers, and their work into the subconscious processes of the mind had far reaching effects in changing attitudes to wards the mentally ill. Without doubt, Sigmund Freud, more than any other explorer of the psyche, has shaped the mind of the 20th century.

What are X-rays?

What are X-rays?

At sometime or other, the doctor must have told someone in your family to have an X-ray taken. But do you know what X-rays actually are?

X-rays seem to do the impossible: They see straight through clothing and flesh. That is, they let doctors see straight through human tissue to examine broken bones, cavities and swallowed objects with extraordinary ease.

X-rays are basically the same thing as visible light rays. Both are wavelike forms of electromagnetic energy carried by particles called photons. The difference between X-rays and visible light rays is the energy level of the individual photons. This is also expressed as the wavelength of the rays.

As with many of mankind’s monumental discoveries, X-ray Technology was invented by completely by accident. In 1895, a German physicist name Wilhelm Roentgen made the discovery while experimenting electron beams in a gas discharge tube. Roentgen noticed that a fluorescent screen in his lab started to glow when the electron beam was turned on.

Roentgen placed various objects between the tube and the screen, and the screen still glowed. Finally, he put his hand in front of the tube, and saw the silhouette of his bones projected onto the fluorescent screen!

The most important contributions of X-ray Technology have been in the world of medicine, but X-rays have played a crucial role in a number of other areas as well. X-rays have been pivotal in research involving quantum mechanics theory, crystallography and cosmology. In the industrial world, X-ray scanners are often used to detect minute flaws in heavy metal equipment. (Like plane, jet and rocket, ship bodies).

Is it any wonder then that Roentgen’s work on X-Rays won him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901?

Who were known as the French pioneer film makers?

Who were known as the French pioneer film makers?

Don’t you just love watching movies? Well, consider yourself lucky, because if you had lived before 1889, you could never have watched one! It was the great inventor Thomas Alwa Edison who first developed a peep-show machine to show moving pictures. But the men who actually made the films for the peepshow were two Frenchmen, Auguste Lumiere and his brother Louis Luniere. Later they patented a device which would both photograph and show films, and so they are considered to be the pioneers among film makers.

Auguste and Louis Lumiere are credited with the world’s first public film screening on December 28, 1895. They showed approximately ten shot films lasting only twenty minutes inn total. The showing was held in the basement lounge of a restaurant in Paris. It was the very first public demonstration of a device they called the Cinematograph, which effectively functioned as camera, projector and printer all in one.

Their work consisted mainly of moving images from scenes of everyday life. Their film sequence of a train pulling into the station reportedly had audiences screaming and ducking for cover, as they believed that the train itself was about to plow into the theater!

Who adapted radio waves for use in communication?

Who adapted radio waves for use in communication?

The invention of both the telephone and the telegraph in the nineteenth century marked significant advances in communication Technology. However, both these inventions needed the use of wires to connect the people using them. Without wires, the technology could not work.

The discovery of radio waves by the German scientist, Heinrich Hertz was a very important landmark. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves that have a long wavelength. These waves can be longer than a football field of as short as a football, and cannot be seen or heard by humans.

It was the Italian physicist Heinrich Marconi who adapted radio waves for communication. In 1895, he succeeded in transmitting a wireless electronic message over a distance of 2.4 kilometres. Communication without wires had arrived!

Radio waves transmit music, conversations, pictures and data visibly through the air, often over millions of miles-it happens every day in thousands of different ways! They have totally changed society. Whether we are talking about a cell phone, a cordless phone or any one of the thousands of other wireless technologies, all of them use radio waves to communicate

When was the Eiffel Tower built?

When was the Eiffel Tower built?

If you ever get a chance to go to Paris, one of the first places must visit is the Eiffel Tower. It is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris, France. It is the tallest structure in Paris and one of the most visited monuments in the world.

Name of its designer, engineer Gustavo Eiffel, the structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World fair that marked the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. It was inaugurated on 31 March 1889, and opened on 6th May.

At the time the tower was built, its daring shape shocked many people. Gustavo Eiffel was criticized for the design, but the shape of the tower was determined by mathematical calculation involving wind resistance. The tower soars three hundred metres into the sky, and offers breath taking views of the beautiful city of Paris.

During its lifetime, the Eiffel Tower has also witnessed a few strange scenes, including being scaled by a mountaineer in 1954, and parachuted off in 1984 by two Englishmen. In 1923 a journalist even rode bicycle down from the first level!