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Benvenuti in queste pagine dedicate a scienza, storia ed arte. Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, Torino

Showing posts with label Inventions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inventions. Show all posts

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The world's first seismometer was Chinese


Who was the inventor of the first siesmometer?
 Zhang Heng. He was  (AD 78–139) a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman. He lived under the Han Dynasty (AD 25–220) of China. He was a  Chief Astronomer, Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages, and then Palace Attendant at the imperial court.  He invented the world's first water-powered armillary sphere,  improved the inflow water clock by adding another tank and invented the world's first seismometer, which discerned the cardinal direction of an earthquake 500 km away. He improved previous Chinese calculations of the formula for pi. In addition to documenting about 2,500 stars in his extensive star catalogue. Some modern scholars have also compared his work in astronomy to that of Ptolemy (AD 86–161). (Adapted from Wiki)

 A replica of an ancient Chinese Siesmograph  (25-220 CE). Picture taken in July 2004  at Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland California.
"In 132 CE, after several serious earthquakes in China, astronomer Zhang Heng invented this instrument to warn people of the next one. When the ground shook, it moved a pendulum inside the jug. The pendulum pushed a lever that opened one dragon's mouth. A ball rolled out and into the toad's mouth below, sounding an alarm. The open dragon mouth pointed in the direction of the earthquake, notifying the Emperor."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EastHanSeismograph.JPG

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Bicycles - 1897

From
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great Round World and What Is Going On
In It, Vol. 1, No. 19, March 18, 1897, by Various

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY

Some lover of the wheel, who evidently cannot bear to lose the pleasure of wheeling even when the snow lies thick on the ground, has invented a sleigh attachment. This is a runner fastened beneath the driving-wheel of the bicycle. 





What a great thing this will be! Fancy wheeling away over the snow, propelling our wheels as fast as the pedals can make us go. The bicyclists ought to be very happy this year; so many clever brains are working for their comfort and pleasure. All who ride have been troubled at times what to do with the bicycles when they are standing still.


It may be there is damp grass, which would make it impossible to lay the precious wheel down; or there may be a thousand other little inconveniences. Some one has come to the aid of the bicyclist, and invented a bicycle support, which can be secured to the machine, and raised at will, so as not to interfere with the wheel when in motion. It is just the thing all bicyclists have been longing for.



Another busy brain has been at work in anticipation of the summer, and the glorious time in store, riding along the country roads. An umbrella support is the result. It consists of an attachment composed of portions which can be connected or removed at will. What a boon it will be, on a hot summer's day, to have an umbrella comfortably held over one's head, while the hands are free to guide the wheel!

The searchlight - 1897

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great Round World and What Is Going On
In It, Vol. 1, No. 15, February 18, 1897, by Various
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15325/15325-h/15325-h.htm
we find the following news

"INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.- 1897
A New York newspaper has been making some experiments in signalling ships at night, which, if as successful as it is claimed to be, will be of the greatest service to sailors for all time to come.
Ships have a regular way of talking to one another, by means of flags arranged in certain ways...
There has been one difficulty with the flag-signals, and that has been that they were useless at night. When it became too dark for the flags to be seen, sailors had no other means of communication.
The New York paper claims to have overcome this difficulty.
In saying that ships have no means of communicating with each other, it must not be forgotten that they can use lights and send certain messages with them. But the flag system enables them to say exactly what they wish to, while through the lights they can only show where they are, and call for help in case of accident.
The invention of the searchlight set men thinking, and at last the idea struck one man that if the searchlight were turned on the flags, it ought to be perfectly possible to see them in the darkest night.
A few nights ago two tugs went down to Sandy Hook to try if the experiment would work. To their great delight they found it did answer perfectly. The tugs were stationed about a mile and a half apart, and could read with ease the messages waved across the water.
More experiments will be made, and if on further trial the method is found to be practical, a great advance will have been made in navigation...
This invention is in the nature of a powerful foghorn. It is, however, made somewhat like a musical instrument, so that different tones can be produced by it; and the idea is to have these tones arranged into a signalling code, after the fashion of the flag-signals, so that a conversation can be kept up in a similar way to that done with flags. G.H.R."


Edison's searchlight cart, from the Smitsonian: http://americanhistory.si.edu/edison/ed_d21.htm

Of course, the use of the Morse Code is better. But we have to wait till the Aldis Lamp.
According to the Oxford Dictionary: Aldis lamp, a handheld lamp for signalling in Morse code. Origin:
First World War: named after Arthur C. W. Aldis (1878–1953), its British inventor
The Aldis Lamp is a  signal lamp, a visual signaling device for optical communication (typically using Morse code). Modern signal lamps are a focused lamp which can produce a pulse of light.