A Guide to Inventions and Discoveries From Adrenaline to
the Zipper
From Adrenaline to the Zipper
See also Famous Firsts in Aviation, Nobel
Prizes.
Adrenaline:
(isolation of) John Jacob Abel, U.S., 1897.
Aerosol can:
Erik Rotheim, Norway, 1926.
Air brake:
George Westinghouse, U.S., 1868.
Air conditioning:
Willis Carrier, U.S., 1911.
Airship:
(non-rigid) Henri Giffard, France, 1852;
(rigid) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Germany, 1900.
Aluminum manufacture:
(by electrolytic action) Charles M. Hall, U.S., 1866.
Anatomy, human:
(De fabrica corporis humani, an illustrated
systematic study of the human body) Andreas
Vesalius, Belgium, 1543; (comparative: parts of an
organism are correlated to the functioning
whole) Georges Cuvier, France, 17991805.
Anesthetic:
(first use of anestheticetheron
humans) Crawford W. Long, U.S., 1842.
Antibiotics:
(first demonstration of antibiotic effect) Louis
Pasteur, Jules-Franois Joubert, France, 1887;
(discovery of penicillin, first modern
antibiotic) Alexander Fleming, Scotland, 1928;
(penicillin's infection-fighting properties) Howard
Florey, Ernst Chain, England, 1940.
Antiseptic:
(surgery) Joseph Lister, England, 1867.
Antitoxin, diphtheria:
Emil von Behring, Germany, 1890.
Appliances, electric:
(fan) Schuyler Wheeler, U.S., 1882; (flatiron) Henry
W. Seely, U.S., 1882; (stove) Hadaway, U.S., 1896;
(washing machine) Alva Fisher, U.S., 1906.
Aqualung:
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Emile Gagnan, France,
1943.
Aspirin:
Dr. Felix Hoffman, Germany, 1899.
Astronomical calculator:
The Antikythera device, Greece, first century B.C..
Found off island of Antikythera in 1900.
Atom:
(nuclear model of) Ernest Rutherford, England,
1911.
Atomic structure:
(formulated nuclear model of atom, Rutherford
model) Ernest Rutherford, England, 1911;
(proposed current concept of atomic structure, the
Bohr model) Niels Bohr, Denmark, 1913.
Atomic theory:
(ancient) Leucippus, Democritus, Greece, c.
500 B.C.; Lucretius, Rome c.100 B.C.; (modern) John
Dalton, England, 1808.
Automobile:
(first with internal combustion engine, 250
rpm) Karl Benz, Germany, 1885; (first with practical
high-speed internal combustion engine, 900
rpm) Gottlieb Daimler, Germany, 1885; (first true
automobile, not carriage with motor) Ren
Panhard, Emile Lavassor, France, 1891;
(carburetor, spray) Charles E. Duryea, U.S., 1892.
Autopilot:
(for aircraft) Elmer A. Sperry, U.S., c.1910, first
successful test, 1912, in a Curtiss flying boat.
Avogadro's law:
(equal volumes of all gases at the same
temperature and pressure contain equal number of
molecules) Amedeo Avogadro, Italy, 1811.
Bacteria:
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, The Netherlands, 1683.
Balloon, hot-air:
Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, France, 1783.
Barbed wire:
(most popular) Joseph E. Glidden, U.S., 1873.
Bar codes (computer-scanned binary signal
code):
(retail trade use) Monarch Marking, U.S. 1970;
(industrial use) Plessey Telecommunications,
England, 1970.
Barometer:
Evangelista Torricelli, Italy, 1643.
Bicycle:
Karl D. von Sauerbronn, Germany, 1816; (first
modern model) James Starley, England, 1884.
Big Bang theory:
(the universe originated with a huge
explosion) George LeMaitre, Belgium, 1927;
(modified LeMaitre theory labeled Big
Bang) George A. Gamow, U.S., 1948; (cosmic
microwave background radiation discovered,
confirms theory) Arno A. Penzias and Robert W.
Wilson, U.S., 1965.
Blood, circulation of:
William Harvey, England, 1628.
Boyle's law:
(relation between pressure and volume in
gases) Robert Boyle, Ireland, 1662.
Braille:
Louis Braille, France, 1829.
Bridges:
(suspension, iron chains) James Finley, Pa., 1800;
(wire suspension) Marc Seguin, Lyons, 1825; (truss)
Ithiel Town, U.S., 1820.
Bullet:
(conical) Claude Mini, France, 1849.
Calculating machine:
(logarithms: made multiplying easier and thus
calculators practical) John Napier, Scotland, 1614;
(slide rule) William Oughtred, England, 1632;
(digital calculator) Blaise Pascal, 1642;
(multiplication machine) Gottfried Leibniz,
Germany, 1671; (important 19th-century
contributors to modern machine) Frank S. Baldwin,
Jay R. Monroe, Dorr E. Felt, W. T. Ohdner, William
Burroughs, all U.S.; (analytical engine design,
included concepts of programming, taping) Charles
Babbage, England, 1835.
Calculus:
Isaac Newton, England, 1669; (differential
calculus) Gottfried Leibniz, Germany, 1684.
Camera:
(hand-held) George Eastman, U.S., 1888; (Polaroid
Land) Edwin Land, U.S., 1948.
Canals of Mars:
Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italy, 1877.
Carpet sweeper:
Melville R. Bissell, U.S., 1876.
Car radio:
William Lear, Elmer Wavering, U.S., 1929,
manufactured by Galvin Manufacturing Co.,
Motorola.
Cells:
(word used to describe microscopic examination of
cork) Robert Hooke, England, 1665; (theory: cells
are common structural and functional unit of all
 living organisms) Theodor Schwann, Matthias
Schleiden, 18381839.
Cement, Portland:
Joseph Aspdin, England, 1824.
Chewing gum:
(spruce-based) John Curtis, U.S., 1848; (chicle-
based) Thomas Adams, U.S., 1870.
Cholera bacterium:
Robert Koch, Germany, 1883.
Circuit, integrated:
(theoretical) G.W.A. Dummer, England, 1952;
(phase-shift oscillator) Jack S. Kilby, Texas
Instruments, U.S., 1959.
Classification of plants:
(first modern, based on comparative study of
forms) Andrea Cesalpino, Italy, 1583; (classification
of plants and animals by genera and
species) Carolus Linnaeus, Sweden, 17371753.
Clock, pendulum:
Christian Huygens, The Netherlands, 1656.
Coca-Cola:
John Pemberton, U.S., 1886.
Combustion:
(nature of) Antoine Lavoisier, France, 1777.
Compact disk:
RCA, U.S., 1972.
Computers:
(first design of analytical engine) Charles Babbage,
1830s; (ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and
Calculator, first all-electronic, completed) John
Presper Eckert, Jr., John Mauchly, U.S., 1945;
(dedicated at University of Pennsylvania) 1946;
(UNIVAC, Universal Automatic Computer, handled
both numeric and alphabetic data) 1951; (personal
computer) Steve Wozniak, U.S., 1976.
Concrete:
(reinforced) Joseph Monier, France, 1877.
Condensed milk:
Gail Borden, U.S., 1853.
Conditioned reflex:
Ivan Pavlov, Russia, c.1910.
Conservation of electric charge:
(the total electric charge of the universe or any
closed system is constant) Benjamin Franklin, U.S.,
17511754.
Contagion theory:
(infectious diseases caused by living agent
transmitted from person to person) Girolamo
Fracastoro, Italy, 1546.
Continental drift theory:
(geographer who pieced together continents into a
single landmass on maps) Antonio Snider-Pellegrini,
France, 1858; (first proposed in lecture) Frank
Taylor, U.S. 1912; (first comprehensive detailed
theory) Alfred Wegener, Germany, 1912.
Contraceptive, oral:
Gregory Pincus, Min Chuch Chang, John Rock, Carl
Djerassi, U.S., 1951.
Converter, Bessemer:
William Kelly, U.S., 1851.
Cosmetics:
Egypt, c. 4000 B.C.
Cosmic string theory:
(first postulated) Thomas Kibble, UK, 1976.
Cotton gin:
Eli Whitney, U.S., 1793.
Crossbow:
China, c. 300 B.C.
Cyclotron:
Ernest O. Lawrence, U.S., 1931.
Defibrillator:
Dr. William Bennett Kouwenhoven, U.S., 1932;
(implantable) M. Stephen Heilman, MD, Dr. Alois
Langer, Morton Mower, MD, Michel Mirowski, MD,
1980.
Deuterium:
(heavy hydrogen) Harold Urey, U.S., 1931.
Disease:
(chemicals in treatment of) crusaded by Philippus
Paracelsus, 15271541; (germ theory) Louis
Pasteur, France, 18621877.
DNA:
(deoxyribonucleic acid) Friedrich Meischer,
Germany, 1869; (determination of double-helical
structure) F. H. Crick, England and James D.
Watson, U.S., 1953.
Dye:
(aniline, start of synthetic dye industry) William H.
Perkin, England, 1856.
Dynamite:
Alfred Nobel, Sweden, 1867.
Electric cooking utensil:
(first) patented by St. George Lane-Fox, England,
1874.
Electric generator (dynamo):
(laboratory model) Michael Faraday, England,
1832; Joseph Henry, U.S., c.1832; (hand-driven
model) Hippolyte Pixii, France, 1833; (alternating-
current generator) Nikola Tesla, U.S., 1892.
Electric lamp:
(arc lamp) Sir Humphrey Davy,
England, 1801; (fluorescent lamp)
A.E. Becquerel, France, 1867;
(incandescent lamp) Sir Joseph
Swann, England, Thomas A. Edison,
U.S., contemporaneously, 1870s;
(carbon arc street lamp) Charles F.
Brush, U.S., 1879; (first widely
marketed incandescent lamp)
Thomas A. Edison, U.S., 1879;
(mercury vapor lamp) Peter Cooper Thomas Alva
Hewitt, U.S., 1903; (neon lamp)
Edison (18471931)
Library of Congress
Georges Claude, France, 1911;
(tungsten filament) Irving Langmuir, U.S., 1915.
Electrocardiography:
Demonstrated by Augustus Waller, Switzerland,
1887; (first practical device for recording activity of
heart) Willem Einthoven, 1903, Netherlands.
Electromagnet:
William Sturgeon, England, 1823.
Electron:
Sir Joseph J. Thompson, England, 1897.
Electronic mail:
Ray Tomlinson, U.S., 1972.
Elevator, passenger:
(safety device permitting use by passengers) Elisha
G. Otis, U.S., 1852; (elevator utilizing safety
device) 1857.
E = mc : 2
(equivalence of mass and energy) Albert Einstein,
Switzerland, 1907.
Engine, internal combustion:
No single inventor. Fundamental theory established
by Sadi Carnot, France, 1824; (two-stroke) Etienne
Lenoir, France, 1860; (ideal operating cycle for
four-stroke) Alphonse Beau de Roche, France, 1862;
(operating four-stroke) Nikolaus Otto, Germany,
1876; (diesel) Rudolf Diesel, Germany, 1892;
(rotary) Felix Wankel, Germany, 1956.
Evolution:
(organic) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, France, 1809; (by
natural selection) Charles Darwin, England, 1859.
Exclusion principle:
(no two electrons in an atom can occupy the same
energy level) Wolfgang Pauli, Germany, 1925.
Expanding universe theory:
(first proposed) George LeMaitre, Belgium, 1927;
(discovered first direct evidence that the universe
is expanding) Edwin P. Hubble, U.S., 1929; (Hubble
constant: a measure of the rate at which the
universe is expanding) Edwin P. Hubble, U.S., 1929.
Falling bodies, law of:
Galileo Galilei, Italy, 1590.
Fermentation:
(microorganisms as cause of) Louis Pasteur, France,
c.1860.
Fiber optics:
Narinder Kapany, England, 1955.
Fibers, man-made:
(nitrocellulose fibers treated to change flammable
nitrocellulose to harmless cellulose, precursor of
rayon) Sir Joseph Swann, England, 1883;
(rayon) Count Hilaire de Chardonnet, France, 1889;
(Celanese) Henry and Camille Dreyfuss, U.S.,
England, 1921; (research on polyesters and
polyamides, basis for modern man-made fibers)
U.S., England, Germany, 1930s; (nylon) Wallace H.
Carothers, U.S., 1935.
Frozen food:
Clarence Birdseye, U.S., 1924.
Gene transfer:
(recombinant DNA organism) Herbert Boyer,
Stanley Cohen, U.S., 1973; (human) Steven
Rosenberg, R. Michael Blaese, W. French Anderson,
U.S., 1989.
Geometry, elements of:
Euclid, Alexandria, Egypt, c. 300 B.C.;
(analytic) Ren Descartes, France; and Pierre de
Fermat, Switzerland, 1637.
Gravitation, law of:
Sir Isaac Newton, England, c.1665 (published
1687).
Gunpowder:
China, c.700.
Gyrocompass:
Elmer A. Sperry, U.S., 1905.
Gyroscope:
Jean Lon Foucault, France, 1852.
Halley's Comet:
Edmund Halley, England, 1705.
Heart implanted in human, permanent
artificial:
Dr. Robert Jarvik, U.S., 1982.
Heart, temporary artificial:
Willem Kolff, Netherlands, U.S., 1957.
Helicopter:
(double rotor) Heinrich Focke, Germany, 1936;
(single rotor) Igor Sikorsky, U.S., 1939.
Helium first observed on sun:
Sir Joseph Lockyer, England, 1868.
Heredity, laws of:
Gregor Mendel, Austria, 1865.
Holograph:
Dennis Gabor, England, 1947.
Home videotape systems (VCR):
(Betamax) Sony, Japan, 1975; (VHS) Matsushita,
Japan, 1975.
Ice age theory:
Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American, 1840.
Induction, electric:
Joseph Henry, U.S., 1828.
Insulin:
(first isolated) Sir Frederick G. Banting and Charles
H. Best, Canada, 1921; (discovery first published)
Banting and Best, 1922; (Nobel Prize awarded for
purification for use in humans) John Macleod and
Banting, 1923; (first synthesized), China, 1966.
Intelligence testing:
Alfred Binet, Theodore Simon, France, 1905.
Interferon:
Alick Isaacs, England, Jean Lindemann, Switzerland,
1957.
Isotopes:
(concept of) Frederick Soddy, England, 1912;
(stable isotopes) J. J. Thompson, England, 1913;
(existence demonstrated by mass spectrography)
Francis W. Aston, England, 1919.
Jet propulsion:
(engine) Sir Frank Whittle, England, Hans von
Ohain, Germany, 1936; (aircraft) Heinkel He
178, 1939.
Kinetic theory of gases:
(molecules of a gas are in a state of rapid
motion) Daniel Bernoulli, Switzerland, 1738.
Laser:
(theoretical work on) Charles H. Townes, Arthur L.
Schawlow, U.S., N. Basov, A. Prokhorov, U.S.S.R.,
1958; (first working model) T. H. Maiman, U.S.,
1960.
Lawn mower:
Edwin Budding, John Ferrabee, England, 1830
1831.
LCD (liquid crystal display):
Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland, 1970.
Lens, bifocal:
Benjamin Franklin, U.S., c.1760.
Leyden jar:
(prototype electrical condenser) Canon E. G. von
Kleist of Kamin, Pomerania, 1745; independently
evolved by Cunaeus and P. van Musschenbroek,
University of Leyden, Holland, 1746, from where
name originated.
Light, nature of:
(wave theory) Christian Huygens, The Netherlands,
1678; (electromagnetic theory) James Clerk
Maxwell, England, 1873.
Light, speed of:
(theory that light has finite
velocity) Olaus Roemer, Denmark,
1675.
Lightning rod:
Benjamin Franklin, U.S., 1752.
Lock, cylinder:
Linus Yale, U.S., 1851. Benjamin
Locomotive: Franklin (1706
(steam powered) Richard 1790)
Trevithick, England, 1804; (first practical, due to
multiple-fire-tube boiler) George Stephenson,
England, 1829; (largest steam-powered) Union
Pacific's Big Boy, U.S., 1941.
Loom:
(horizontal, two-beamed) Egypt, c. 4400 B.C.;
(Jacquard drawloom, pattern controlled by punch
cards) Jacques de Vaucanson, France,
1745, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, 1801; (flying
shuttle) John Kay, England, 1733; (power-driven
loom) Edmund Cartwright, England, 1785.
Machine gun:
(hand-cranked multibarrel) Richard J. Gatling, U.S.,
1862; (practical single barrel, belt-fed) Hiram S.
Maxim, Anglo-American, 1884.
Magnet, Earth is:
William Gilbert, England, 1600.
Match:
(phosphorus) Franois Derosne, France, 1816;
(friction) Charles Sauria, France, 1831; (safety) J. E.
Lundstrom, Sweden, 1855.
Measles vaccine:
John F. Enders, Thomas Peebles, U.S., 1953.
Metric system:
revolutionary government of France, 17901801.
Microphone:
Charles Wheatstone, England, 1827.
Microscope:
(compound) Zacharias Janssen, The Netherlands,
1590; (electron) Vladimir Zworykin et al., U.S.,
Canada, Germany, 19321939.
Microwave oven:
Percy Spencer, U.S., 1947.
Motion, laws of:
 Isaac Newton, England, 1687.
Motion pictures:
Thomas A. Edison, U.S., 1893.
Motion pictures, sound:
Product of various inventions. First picture with
synchronized musical score: Don Juan, 1926; with
spoken dialogue: The Jazz Singer, 1927; both
Warner Bros.
Motor, electric:
Michael Faraday, England, 1822; (alternating-
current) Nikola Tesla, U.S., 1892.
Motorcycle:
(motor tricycle) Edward Butler, England, 1884;
(gasoline-engine motorcycle) Gottlieb Daimler,
Germany, 1885.
Moving assembly line:
Henry Ford, U.S., 1913.
Neptune:
(discovery of) Johann Galle, Germany, 1846.
Neptunium:
(first transuranic element, synthesis of) Edward M.
McMillan, Philip H. Abelson, U.S., 1940.
Neutron:
James Chadwick, England, 1932.
Neutron-induced radiation:
Enrico Fermi et al., Italy, 1934.
Nitroglycerin:
Ascanio Sobrero, Italy, 1846.
Nuclear fission:
Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, Germany, 1938.
Nuclear reactor:
Enrico Fermi, Italy, et al., 1942.
Ohm's law:
(relationship between strength of electric current,
electromotive force, and circuit resistance) Georg
S. Ohm, Germany, 1827.
Oil well:
Edwin L. Drake, U.S., 1859.
Oxygen:
(isolation of) Joseph Priestley, England, 1774; Karl
Scheele, Sweden, 1773.
Ozone:
Christian Schnbein, Germany, 1839.
Pacemaker:
(internal) Clarence W. Lillehie, Earl Bakk, U.S.,
1957.
Paper:
China, c.100 A.D.
Parachute:
Louis S. Lenormand, France, 1783.
Pen:
(fountain) Lewis E. Waterman, U.S., 1884; (ball-
point, for marking on rough surfaces) John H. Loud,
U.S., 1888; (ball-point, for handwriting) Lazlo Biro,
Argentina, 1944.
Periodic law:
(that properties of elements are functions of their
atomic weights) Dmitri Mendeleev, Russia, 1869.
Periodic table:
(arrangement of chemical elements based on
periodic law) Dmitri Mendeleev, Russia, 1869.
Phonograph:
Thomas A. Edison, U.S., 1877.
Photography:
(first paper negative, first photograph, on
metal) Joseph Nicphore Niepce, France, 1816
1827; (discovery of fixative powers of hyposulfite
of soda) Sir John Herschel, England, 1819; (first
direct positive image on silver plate, the
daguerreotype) Louis Daguerre, based on work
with Niepce, France, 1839; (first paper negative
from which a number of positive prints could be
made) William Talbot, England, 1841. Work of these
four men, taken together, forms basis for all
modern photography. (First color
images) Alexandre Becquerel, Claude Niepce de
Saint-Victor, France, 18481860; (commercial color
film with three emulsion layers, Kodachrome) U.S.,
1935.
Photovoltaic effect:
(light falling on certain materials can produce
electricity) Edmund Becquerel, France, 1839.
Piano:
(Hammerklavier) Bartolommeo Cristofori, Italy,
1709; (pianoforte with sustaining and damper
pedals) John Broadwood, England, 1873.
Planetary motion, laws of:
Johannes Kepler, Germany, 1609, 1619.
Plant respiration and photosynthesis:
Jan Ingenhousz, Holland, 1779.
Plastics:
(first material, nitrocellulose softened by vegetable
oil, camphor, precursor to Celluloid) Alexander
Parkes, England, 1855; (Celluloid, involving
recognition of vital effect of camphor) John W.
Hyatt, U.S., 1869; (Bakelite, first completely
synthetic plastic) Leo H. Baekeland, U.S., 1910;
(theoretical background of macromolecules and
process of polymerization on which modern plastics
industry rests) Hermann Staudinger, Germany,
1922; (polypropylene and low-pressure method for
producing high-density polyethylene) Robert
Banks, Paul Hogan, U.S., 1958.
Plate tectonics:
Alfred Wegener, Germany, 19121915.
Plow, forked:
Mesopotamia, before 3000 B.C.
Plutonium, synthesis of:
Glenn T. Seaborg, Edwin M. McMillan, Arthur C.
Wahl, Joseph W. Kennedy, U.S., 1941.
Polio, vaccine:
(experimentally safe dead-virus vaccine) Jonas E.
Salk, U.S., 1952; (effective large-scale field trials)
1954; (officially approved) 1955; (safe oral live-
virus vaccine developed) Albert B. Sabin, U.S.,
1954; (available in the U.S.) 1960.
Positron:
Carl D. Anderson, U.S., 1932.
Pressure cooker:
(early version) Denis Papin, France, 1679.
Printing:
(block) Japan, c.700; (movable type)
Korea, c.1400, Johann Gutenberg,
Germany, c.1450; (lithography,
offset) Aloys Senefelder, Germany,
1796; (rotary press) Richard Hoe,
U.S., 1844; (linotype) Ottmar
Mergenthaler, U.S., 1884.
Johann
Probability theory: Gutenberg
Ren Descartes, France, (c. 14001468)
and Pierre de Fermat,
Switzerland, 1654.
Proton:
Ernest Rutherford, England, 1919.
Prozac:
(antidepressant fluoxetine) Bryan B. Malloy,
Scotland, and Klaus K. Schmiegel, U.S., 1972;
(released for use in U.S.) Eli Lilly & Company, 1987.
Psychoanalysis:
Sigmund Freud, Austria, c.1904.
Pulsars:
Antony Hewish and Jocelyn Bell Burnel, England,
1967.
Quantum theory:
(general) Max Planck, Germany, 1900; (sub-
atomic) Niels Bohr, Denmark, 1913; (quantum
mechanics) Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrdinger,
Germany, 1925.
Quarks:
Jerome Friedman, Henry Kendall, Richard Taylor,
U.S., 1967.
Quasars:
Marten Schmidt, U.S., 1963.
Rabies immunization:
Louis Pasteur, France, 1885.
Radar:
(limited to one-mile range) Christian Hulsmeyer,
Germany, 1904; (pulse modulation, used for
measuring height of ionosphere) Gregory Breit,
Merle Tuve, U.S., 1925; (first practical radarradio
detection and ranging) Sir Robert Watson-Watt,
Scotland, 19341935.
Radio:
(electromagnetism, theory of) James Clerk Maxwell,
England, 1873; (spark coil, generator of
electromagnetic waves) Heinrich Hertz, Germany,
1886; (first practical system of wireless
telegraphy) Guglielmo Marconi, Italy, 1895; (first
long-distance telegraphic radio signal sent across
the Atlantic) Marconi, 1901; (vacuum electron tube,
basis for radio telephony) Sir John Fleming,
England, 1904; (triode amplifying tube) Lee de
Forest, U.S., 1906; (regenerative circuit, allowing
long-distance sound reception) Edwin H.
Armstrong, U.S., 1912; (frequency modulationFM)
Edwin H. Armstrong, U.S., 1933.
Radioactivity:
(X-rays) Wilhelm K. Roentgen, Germany, 1895;
(radioactivity of uranium) Henri Becquerel, France,
1896; (radioactive elements, radium and polonium
in uranium ore) Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Pierre
Curie, France, 1898; (classification of alpha and
beta particle radiation) Pierre Curie, France, 1900;
(gamma radiation) Paul-Ulrich Villard, France, 1900.
Radiocarbon dating, carbon-14 method:
(discovered) Willard F. Libby, U.S., 1947; (first
demonstrated) U.S., 1950.
Radio signals, extraterrestrial:
first known radio noise signals were received by
U.S. engineer, Karl Jansky, originating from the
Galactic Center, 1931.
Radio waves:
(cosmic sources, led to radio astronomy) Karl
Jansky, U.S., 1932.
Razor:
(safety, successfully marketed) King Gillette, U.S.,
1901; (electric) Jacob Schick, U.S., 1928, 1931.
Reaper:
Cyrus McCormick, U.S., 1834.
Refrigerator:
Alexander Twining, U.S., James Harrison, Australia,
1850; (first with a compressor device) the
Domelse, Chicago, U.S., 1913.
Refrigerator ship:
(first) the Frigorifique, cooling unit designed by
Charles Teller, France, 1877.
Relativity:
(special and general theories of) Albert Einstein,
Switzerland, Germany, U.S., 19051953.
Revolver:
Samuel Colt, U.S., 1835.
Richter scale:
Charles F. Richter, U.S., 1935.
Rifle:
(muzzle-loaded) Italy, Germany, c.1475; (breech-
loaded) England, France, Germany, U.S., c.1866;
(bolt-action) Paul von Mauser, Germany, 1889;
(automatic) John Browning, U.S., 1918.
Rocket:
(liquid-fueled) Robert Goddard, U.S., 1926.
Roller bearing:
(wooden for cartwheel) Germany or France,
c.100 B.C.
Rotation of Earth:
Jean Bernard Foucault, France, 1851.
Royal Observatory, Greenwich:
established in 1675 by Charles II of England; John
Flamsteed first Astronomer Royal.
Rubber:
(vulcanization process) Charles Goodyear, U.S.,
1839.
Saccharin:
Constantine Fuhlberg, Ira Remsen, U.S., 1879.
Safety pin:
Walter Hunt, U.S., 1849.
Saturn, ring around:
Christian Huygens, The Netherlands, 1659.
Scotch tape:
Richard Drew, U.S., 1929.
Screw propeller:
Sir Francis P. Smith, England, 1836; John Ericsson,
England, worked independently of and
simultaneously with Smith, 1837.
Seat belt:
(three point) Nils Bohlin, Sweden, 1962.
Seismograph:
(first accurate) John Milne, England, 1880.
Sewing machine:
Elias Howe, U.S., 1846; (continuous stitch) Isaac
Singer, U.S., 1851.
Solar energy:
First realistic application of solar energy using
parabolic solar reflector to drive caloric engine on
steam boiler, John Ericsson, U.S., 1860s.
Solar system, universe:
(Sun-centered universe) Nicolaus Copernicus,
Warsaw, 1543; (establishment of planetary orbits
as elliptical) Johannes Kepler, Germany, 1609;
(infinity of universe) Giordano Bruno, Italian monk,
1584.
Spectrum:
(heterogeneity of light) Sir Isaac Newton, England,
16651666.
Spectrum analysis:
Gustav Kirchhoff, Robert Bunsen, Germany, 1859.
Spermatozoa:
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, The Netherlands, 1683.
Spinning:
(spinning wheel) India, introduced to Europe in
Middle Ages; (Saxony wheel, continuous spinning
of wool or cotton yarn) England, c.15001600;
(spinning jenny) James Hargreaves, England, 1764;
(spinning frame) Sir Richard Arkwright, England,
1769; (spinning mule, completed mechanization of
spinning, permitting production of yarn to keep up
with demands of modern looms) Samuel Crompton,
England, 1779.
Star catalog:
(first modern) Tycho Brahe, Denmark, 1572.
Steam engine:
(first commercial version based on principles of
French physicist Denis Papin) Thomas Savery,
England, 1639; (atmospheric steam
engine) Thomas Newcomen, England, 1705;
(steam engine for pumping water from collieries)
Savery, Newcomen, 1725; (modern condensing,
double acting) James Watt, England, 1782; (high-
pressure) Oliver Evans, U.S., 1804.
Steamship:
Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans, France, 1783; James
Rumsey, U.S., 1787; John Fitch, U.S., 1790; (high-
pressure) Oliver Evans, U.S., 1804. All
preceded Robert Fulton, U.S., 1807, credited with
launching first commercially successful steamship.
Stethoscope:
Ren Lannec, France, 1819.
Sulfa drugs:
(parent compound, para-
aminobenzenesulfanomide) Paul Gelmo, Austria,
1908; (antibacterial activity) Gerhard Domagk,
Germany, 1935.
Superconductivity:
 (theory) John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, John Scheiffer, William Stanley, U.S., 1885.
U.S., 1957. Transistor:
Symbolic logic: John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, William B.
George Boule, 1854; (modern) Bertrand Shockley, U.S., 1947.
Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, England, 1910 Tuberculosis bacterium:
1913. Robert Koch, Germany, 1882.
Tank, military: Typewriter:
Sir Ernest Swinton, England, 1914. Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, U.S., 1867.
Tape recorder: Uncertainty principle:
(magnetic steel tape) Valdemar Poulsen, Denmark, (that position and velocity of an object cannot both
1899. be measured exactly, at the same time) Werner
Teflon: Heisenberg, Germany, 1927.
DuPont, U.S., 1943. Uranus:
Telegraph: (first planet discovered in recorded history) William
Samuel F. B. Morse, U.S., 1837. Herschel, England, 1781.
Telephone: Vaccination:
Alexander Graham Bell, Edward Jenner, England, 1796.
U.S., 1876. Vacuum cleaner:
Telescope: (manually operated) Ives W. McGaffey, U.S., 1869;
Hans Lippershey, The (electric) Hubert C. Booth, England, 1901; (upright)
Netherlands, 1608; J. Murray Spangler, U.S., 1907.
(astronomical) Galileo Van Allen (radiation) Belt:
Galilei, Italy, 1609; (around Earth) James Van Allen, U.S., 1958.
(reflecting) Isaac Samuel F. B.
Newton, England, 1668. Morse (17911872) Li Video disk:
brary of Congress Philips Co., The Netherlands, 1972.
Television:
(IconoscopeT.V. camera table) Vladimir Zworykin, Vitamins:
U.S., 1923, and also kinescope (cathode ray tube) (hypothesis of disease deficiency) Sir F. G.
1928; (mechanical disk-scanning method) Hopkins, Casimir Funk, England, 1912; (vitamin A)
successfully demonstrated by J.L. Baird, Scotland, Elmer V. McCollum, M. Davis, U.S., 19121914;
C.F. Jenkins, U.S., 1926; (first all-electric television (vitamin B) McCollum, U.S., 19151916; (thiamin,
image) Philo T. Farnsworth, U.S., 1927; (color, B1) Casimir Funk, England, 1912; (riboflavin, B2) D.
mechanical disk) Baird, 1928; (color, compatible T. Smith, E. G. Hendrick, U.S., 1926; (niacin) Conrad
with black and white) George Valensi, France, Elvehjem, U.S., 1937; (B6) Paul Gyorgy, U.S., 1934;
1938; (color, sequential rotating filter) Peter (vitamin C) C. A. Hoist, T. Froelich, Norway, 1912;
Goldmark, U.S., first introduced, 1951; (color, (vitamin D) McCollum, U.S., 1922; (folic acid) Lucy
compatible with black and white) commercially Wills, England, 1933.
introduced in U.S., National Television Systems Voltaic pile:
Committee, 1953. (forerunner of modern battery, first source of
Thermodynamics: continuous electric current) Alessandro Volta, Italy,
(first law: energy cannot be created or destroyed, 1800.
only converted from one form to another) Julius Wallpaper:
von Mayer, Germany, 1842; James Joule, England, Europe, 16th and 17th century.
1843; (second law: heat cannot of itself pass from Wassermann test:
a colder to a warmer body) Rudolph Clausius, (for syphilis) August von Wassermann, Germany,
Germany, 1850; (third law: the entropy of ordered 1906.
solids reaches zero at the absolute zero of
temperature) Walter Nernst, Germany, 1918. Wheel:
(cart, solid wood) Mesopotamia, c.38003600 B.C.
Thermometer:
(open-column) Galileo Galilei, c.1593; (clinical) Windmill:
Santorio Santorio, Padua, c.1615; (mercury, also Persia, c.600.
Fahrenheit scale) Gabriel D. Fahrenheit, Germany, World Wide Web:
1714; (centigrade scale) Anders Celsius, Sweden, (developed while working at CERN) Tim Berners-
1742; (absolute-temperature, or Kelvin, Lee, England, 1989; (development of Mosaic
scale) William Thompson, Lord Kelvin, England, browser makes WWW available for general use)
1848. Marc Andreeson, U.S., 1993.
Tire, pneumatic: Xerography:
Robert W. Thompson, England, 1845; (bicycle Chester Carlson, U.S., 1938.
tire) John B. Dunlop, Northern Ireland, 1888. Yellow Fever:
Toilet, flush: (transmission of) Walter Reed, U.S., 1900.
Product of Minoan civilization, Crete, c. Zero:
2000 B.C. Alleged invention by Thomas Crapper is India, c. 600; (absolute zero temperature, cessation
untrue. of all molecular energy) William Thompson, Lord
Tractor: Kelvin, England, 1848.
Benjamin Holt, U.S., 1900. Zipper:
Transformer, electric: W. L. Judson, U.S., 1891.
The 12 Constellations of the Zodiac
The zodiac is a band of 12 constellations along The Constellations of the Northern Hemisphere
the ecliptic. (some are seasonally visible in the Southern
Hemisphere):
Aquarius, the water bearer
Aries, the ram Andromeda, the princess
Cancer, the crab Antlia, the pump
Capricorn, the goat Aquila, the eagle
Gemini, the twins Auriga, the chariot driver
Leo, the lion Bootes, the herdsman
Libra, the scales Caelum, the chisel
Pisces, the fish Camelopardalis, the giraffe
Sagittarius, the archer Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs
Scorpius, the scorpion Canis Major, the big dog
Taurus, the bull Canis Minor, the little dog
Virgo, the virgin Cassiopeia, the queen
Cepheus, the king
The Constellations of the Southern Cetus, the whale
Hemisphere (some are seasonally visible Columba, the dove
in the Northern Hemisphere): Coma Berenices, Berenice's hair
Corona Australis, the southern crown
Apus, the bird of paradise Corona Borealis, the northern crown
Ara, the altar Corvus, the crow
Carina, the ship's keel Crater, the cup
Centauras, the centaur Cygnus, the swan
Chamaeleon, the chameleon Delphinus, the dolphin
Circinus, the compass Draco, the dragon
Crux, the southern cross Equuleus, the little horse
Dorado, the swordfish Fornax, the furnace
Eridanus, the river Hercules, the hero
Grus, the crane Horologium, the clock
Hydrus, the water snake Hydra, the water snake
Indus, the Indian Lacerta, the lizard
Lepus, the rabbit Leo Minor, the little lion
Mensa, the table Lupus, the wolf
Musca, the fly Lynx, the lynx
Norma, the surveyor's level Lyra, the harp
Octans, the octant Microscopium, the microscope
Pavo, the peacock Monoceros, the unicorn
Phoenix, the phoenix Ophiuchus, the sepent holder
Pictor, the easel Orion, the hunter
Reticulum, the net Pegasus, the flying horse
Triangulum Australe, the southern triangle Perseus, the Medusa killer
Tucana, the toucan Pisces Austrinus, the southern fish
Vela, the ship's sails Puppis, the ship's stern
Volans, the flying fish Pyxis, the ship's compass
Sagitta, the arrow
Sculptor, the sculptor
Scutum, the shield
Serpens, the snake
Sextans, the sextant
Telescopium, the telescope
Triangulum, the triangle
Ursa Major, the big bear
Ursa Minor, the little bear
Vulpecula, the little fox

Astronomical Terms
The Milky Way, the galaxy
containing our solar
system, is about 100,000
light-years in diameter and
about 10,000 light-years
thick.

Aphelion: see Orbit.
Apogee: see Orbit.
Black hole: the theoretical end-product of the
total gravitational collapse of a massive star or
group of stars. Crushed even smaller than the
incredibly dense neutron star, the black hole
may become so dense that not even light can
escape its gravitational field. In 1996,
astronomers found strong evidence for a
massive black hole at the center of the Milky
Way. Recent evidence suggests that black holes
are so common that they probably exist at the
core of nearly all galaxies.
Conjunction: the alignment of two celestial
objects at the same celestial longitude.
Conjunction of the Moon and planets is often
determined with reference to the Sun. For
example, Saturn is said to be in conjunction
with the Sun when Saturn and Earth are aligned
on opposite sides of the Sun.
Mercury and Venus, the two planets with orbits
within Earth's orbit, have two positions of
conjunction. Mercury, for example, is said to be
in inferior conjunction when the Sun and Earth
are aligned on opposite sides of Mercury.
Mercury is in superior conjunction when
Mercury and Earth are aligned on opposite sides
of the Sun.
Dwarf planet: see Planet.
Elongation: the angular distance between two
points in the sky as measured from a third
point. The elongation of Mercury, for example,
is the angular distance between Mercury and
the Sun as measured from Earth. Planets whose
orbits are outside Earth's can have elongations
between 0 and 180. (When a planet's
elongation is 0, it is at conjunction; when it is
180, it is at opposition.) Because Mercury and
Venus are within Earth's orbit, their greatest
elongations measured from Earth are 28 and
47, respectively.
Galaxy: gas and millions of stars held together
by gravity. All that you can see in the sky (with
a very few exceptions) belongs to our galaxya
system of roughly 200 billion stars. The
exceptions you can see are other galaxies. Our
own galaxy, the rim of which we see as the
Milky Way, is about 100,000 light-years in
diameter and about 10,000 light-years in
thickness. Its shape is roughly that of a thick
lens; more precisely, it is a spiral nebula, a term
first used for other galaxies when they were
discovered and before it was realized that these
were separate and distinct galaxies.
Astronomers have estimated that the universe
could contain 40 to 50 billion galaxies. In 2004,
the Hubble Space Telescope and observers at
the Keck Observatory in Hawaii discovered a
new galaxy 13 billion light-years from Earth.
Neutron star: an extremely dense star with a
powerful gravitational pull. Some neutron stars
pulse radio waves into space as they spin;
these are known as pulsars.
Occultation: the eclipse of one celestial object
by another. For example, a star is occulted
when the Moon passes between it and Earth.
Opposition: the alignment of two celestial
objects when their longitude differs by 180.
Opposition of the Moon and planets is often
determined with reference to the Sun. For
example, Saturn is said to be at opposition
when Saturn and the Sun are aligned on
opposite sides of Earth. Only the planets whose
orbits lie outside Earth's can be in opposition to
the Sun.
Orbit: the path traveled by an object in space.
The term comes from the Latin orbis, which
means circle or disk, and orbita, orbit. new planets, the smallest yet found, about the
Theoretically, there are four mathematical
figures, or models, of possible orbits: two are
open (hyperbola and parabola) and two are
closed (ellipse and circle), but in reality all
closed orbits are ellipses. Ellipses can be nearly
circular, as are the orbits of most planets, or
very elongated, as are the orbits of most
comets, but the orbit revolves around a fixed,
or focal, point. In our solar system, the Sun's
gravitational pull keeps the planets in their
elliptical orbits; the planets hold their moons in
place similarly. For planets, the point of the orbit
closest to the Sun is the perihelion, and the
point farthest from the Sun is the aphelion. For
orbits around Earth, the point of closest
proximity is the perigee; the farthest point is
the apogee. See also Retrograde.
Perigee: see Orbit.
Perihelion: see Orbit.
Planet: the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) issued the definition for planet (from the
Greek planetes, wanderers) at their General
Assembly in August 2006. A planet is a body
that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) is
massive enough that its self-gravity gives it a
nearly-spherical shape, and (c) has cleared the
neighborhood around its orbit. A body that
fulfills the first two criteria but not the third is
a dwarf planet, provided that it (d) is not a
satellite.
While the exact definition of clearing the
neighborhood was not established at press
time, the eight planets from Mercury through
Neptune have either assimilated or repulsed
most other objects in their orbits, and each has
more mass than the combined total of
everything else in its area. The same cannot be
said for Pluto, which has now been reclassified
as a dwarf planet. There are currently eight
planets and three dwarf planets recognized in
the solar system, and more dwarf planets are
expected to be admitted.
In 1994, Dr. Alexander Wolszcan, an astronomer
at Pennsylvania State University, presented
convincing evidence of the first known planets
to exist outside our solar system. These
particular extrasolar planets circle a pulsar, or
exploded star, in the constellation Virgo.
In 1995, several of these extrasolar
planets were discovered orbiting stars similar to
our Sun. Swiss astronomers found the first
extrasolar planet (HD 209458b, nicknamed
Osiris) to circle a normal Sun-like star. As of
May 2006, 170 such planets have been
discovered.
In Feb. 2004, using the Hubble Space Telescope,
a team of scientists at the Institut
d'Astrophysique de Paris announced that they
had discovered oxygen and carbon in the
atmosphere of Osiris.
In Aug. 2004, NASA and the National Science
Foundation announced the discovery of two
size of Neptune. The discovery opens up the
possibility of smaller, Earth-sized extrasolar
planets.
In April 2005, a team of American and European
astronomers reported that the first image of
an extrasolar planet had been made. The planet
is orbiting a brown dwarf near the constellation
Hydra, 230 million light-years from Earth.
Pulsar: a celestial object, believed to be a
rapidly spinning neutron star, that emits intense
bursts of radio waves at regular intervals.
Quasar: quasi-stellar object. Originally
thought to be peculiar stars in our own galaxy,
quasars are now believed to be the most
remote objects in the universe.
Quasars emit tremendous amounts of light and
microwave radiation. Although they are not
much bigger than Earth's solar system, quasars
pour out 100 to 1,000 times as much light as an
entire galaxy containing a hundred billion stars.
It is believed that quasars are powered by
massive black holes that suck up billions of
stars.
Retrograde: describes the clockwise orbit or
rotation of a planet or other celestial object,
which is in the direction opposite to Earth and
most celestial bodies. As viewed from a position
in space north of the solar system (from some
great distance above Earth's North Pole), all the
planets revolve counterclockwise around the
Sun, and all but Venus, Uranus, and Pluto rotate
counterclockwise on their own axes. These
three planets have retrograde motion.
Sometimes retrograde is also used to describe
apparent backward motion as viewed from
Earth. This motion happens when two objects
rotate at different speeds around another fixed
object. For example, the planet Mars appears to
be retrograde when Earth overtakes and passes
by it as they both move around the Sun.
Satellite (or moon): an object in orbit around a
planet. Until the discovery of Jupiter's four main
moons by GalileoGalilei, celestial objects in
orbit around a planet were
called moons. However, upon Galilei's
discovery, Johannes Kepler(in a letter to Galileo)
suggested satellite (from the
Latin satelles, which means attendant) as a
general term for such objects. The
word satellite is used interchangeably
with moon, and astronomers speak and write
about the moons of Neptune, Saturn, etc. The
term satellite is also used to describe man-
made devices of any size that are launched into
orbit.
Small Solar System Objects: at the 2006 IAU
General Assembly, solar system bodies not
defined as planets, dwarf planets, or satellites
were placed in this category. These include
most asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects,
comets, and other small bodies.
Star: a celestial object consisting of intensely
hot gases held together by gravity. Stars derive
their energy from nuclear reactions going on in
their interiors, generating heat and light. Stars
are very large. Our Sun has a diameter of
865,400 mia comparatively small star.
A dwarf star is a small star that is of relatively
low mass and average or below-average
luminosity. The Sun is a yellow dwarf, which is
in its main sequence, or prime of life. This
means that nuclear reactions of hydrogen
maintain its size and temperature. By contrast,
a white dwarf is a star at the end of its life, with
low luminosity, small size, and very high
density.
A red giant is a star nearing the end of its life.
When a star begins to lose hydrogen and burn
helium instead, it gradually collapses, and its
outer region begins to expand and cool. The
light we see from these stars is red because of
their cooler temperature. There are also red
super giants, which are even more massive.
A brown dwarf lacks the mass to generate
nuclear fusion like a true star, but it is also too
massive and hot to be a planet. A brown dwarf
usually cools into a dark, practically invisible
object. The existence of brown dwarfs, also
called failed stars, was confirmed in Nov. 1995
when astronomers at Palomar Observatory in
California took the first photograph of this
mysterious object.
Supernova: a celestial phenomenon in which a
star explodes, releasing a great burst of light.
There are two basic types of supernova. Type Ia
happens when a white dwarf star draws large
amounts of matter from a nearby star until it
can no longer support itself and collapses. The
second more well-known kind of supernova,
type IIa, is the result of the collapse of a
massive star. (Massive is a classification for a
star that is at least eight times the size of our
Sun.) Once the star's nuclear fuel is exhausted,
if its core is heavy enough, the star will collapse
in on itself, releasing a huge amount of energy
(the supernova), which may be brighter than
the star's host galaxy.
On Feb. 24, 1987, Canadian astronomer Ian
Shelter at the Las Campanas Observatory in
Chile discovered a supernovaan exploding
starfrom a photograph taken on Feb. 23 of the
Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy some 160,000
light-years away from Earth. Astronomers
believe that the dying star was Sanduleak
69202, a 10-million-year-old blue supergiant.
Supernova 1987A was the closest and best-
studied supernova in almost 400 years. One
was previously observed by Johannes Kepler in
1604, four years before the telescope was
invented.
12 Science Laws And Theories To
Enhance Life Success -Part 1
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but
to myself I seem to have been only like a boy
playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in
now and then finding a smoother pebble or a
prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of
truth lay all undiscovered before me.- Sir Isaac
Newton, Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and
Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton
Science has long been a matter of great curiosity
and intrigue for humans. Ever since the ancients
watched the celestial skies and other natural
phenomena in wonder, our hunger for science has
only increased.
Over the millennia as humans interacted with the
physical, chemical and biological world, they made
great discoveries. It was tempting for people to
separate those phenomena as happening out there,
discrete from themselves.
But humans also implicitly understood that they
belonged to the same planet and under the umbrella
of the same laws and principles.
What can those timeless laws and theories of
science that have stood the tests of history reveal to
us?
1. Newtons Law Of Universal Gravity
The famous story that everyone has heard of is that
Newton, the young scientist was sitting under an
apple tree. Deep in contemplation, his reverie broke
when he got hit on the head with an apple. In a flash
of brilliant insight, Newton went oh or yes or When applied to your success, this law translates to
some form thereof and discovered the law of gravity.
The real story is not too far from the truth. William
Stukeley wrote the first biography of Newton
called Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newtons Life. Newton
told the story of the apple to Stukeley who wrote in
the biography:
After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into
the garden and drank thea, under the shade of some
apple treeshe told me, he was just in the same
situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation
came into his mind. It was occasiond by the fall of
an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood. Why
should that apple always descend perpendicularly to
the ground, thought he to himself
Read the complete manuscript here and the original
manuscript is available at the Royal Societys Turning
The Pages project.
The Law of Universal Gravitation states that any two
objects in the universe attract each other with a
force that is directly proportional to the product of
their individual masses.
They also attract each other with a force inversely
proportional to the square of distance between
them. Read more here.
What this means is that the larger the mass of the
bodies, the more the force of attraction. The further
apart they are from each other, the weaker the force
between them.
How does this translate to our life and success?
You are attracted with a strong force and power to
your largest goals and highest purpose.
The smaller and less ambitious your goals and
purpose, the less enthusiasm and power you feel
towards them. Tie your goals to a big picture or a
dharma that most appeals to you, and you feel a
strong attraction to it. When you do this, You feel
enthusiastic, passionate and you come alive.
When you are far away from your goals or your big
picture, you feel less attracted to them because of
the distance. The closer your big picture is to your
imagination and your real life, the stronger the pull
towards it.
Make your dharma, purpose and big picture
large enough and adventurous enough to feel
a great power of attraction to them.
Keep the evidence of work towards your great
goals close to your imagination and close to
your actions.
2. Einsteins Theory Of Special Relativity
The world as we have
created it is a process of
our thinking. It cannot be
changed without changing our thinking. Albert
Einstein
Einsteins theory of relativity states that the laws of
physics are the same everywhere in the universe. If
you are on planet earth, you will observe the same
laws of light and gravity as an object somewhere far
away in space. Einstein introduced the idea of time
and space continuum and that everything is relative.
According to an article in live science:
The universality of physics means that history is
provincial. Different viewers will see the timing and
spacing of events differently. What for us is a million
years may just be a blink of an eye for someone
flying in a high speed rocket or falling into a black
hole.
Einstein discovered special relativity by experiments
that showed that the speed of light was constant
when the earth orbited around the sun.
the idea that the laws of success are universal. This
is true because with the correct systems and
structures, anyone can become successful.
Read that again!
This law also says that success, time and space are
relative to the observer. Success is relative based on
the beliefs and conditioning that you hold or the
society that you are working in.
Some people believe that you need 10k hours to
achieve mastery. This idea became popular by
Malcolm Gladwells book Outliers. Others believe
that it can be much shorter.
Success depends on the yardsticks and the
frames of reference used to measure it.
Achieving success is universal like the speed of light.
Anyone can achieve success if they work at it.
However, the time and space and the measure of
success is relative to your unique vantage point.
Time expands or shrinks based on what we are
doing. Objects or projects feel heavier or
burdensome or lighter based on your relative
position on them. A successful attitude takes
into account this changing time-space
continuum and its relative nature.
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine
your altitude. Zig Ziglar
3. Newtons Laws Of Motion
If I have seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of Giants. Isaac Newton
Newtons laws of motion describe the relationship
between an object and the different forces that act
upon it. They also describe whether the object stays
in rest or gets displaced or moves under the
influence of the forces that act on it.
The three laws of motion were first compiled by
Isaac Newton in his Philosophi Naturalis Principia
Mathematica.
The first law is also the law of inertia. It states that
every body maintains and continues its state of rest
or of uniform motion until it is acted by an external
force.
The second law states that force is in direct
proportion to the mass of an object and its
acceleration. The greater the mass of an object, the
more force you need to increase its acceleration.
The third law states that for every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction.
When applied, newtons laws state that we are
resistant to change when we are at rest or moving at
a constant pace. We love to keep on doing or
moving as we currently are and resist change.
Do you want to increase the speed of your motion or
stop doing what you do not want to do? You need a
force that acts to overcome this inertia.
Where can we find such forces that allow us to
gather speed on paths that are suitable for success
or slow us down on paths that we do not wish to be
on?
Find great mentors.
Set up accountability partners.
Create and participate in mastermind groups.
Engage in personal power developing
practices.
Also, become aware of the forces and the situations
that are causing you to slow down or have inertia.
These could be:
Jealous coworkers
Well meaning family and friends.
Unsuitable work environment.
Excess stress and tension.
Lack of organization.
Unclear or fuzzy steps forward.
The laws also state that mountains or big projects
need greater force to move and need higher
acceleration. The larger the project, the more the
force and directed attention that you will have to
impose upon it for success.
You may need to become aware of the heaviness
of a project or a goal by:
Breaking it up into small parts.
Assessing how much time and effort you will
have to give to each part.
The understanding that huge projects are
more difficult to act upon as a whole.
The third law answers itself and acts as a reminder
of constant success.
Understand that every action that you take has an
equal and opposite reaction. Now the reaction can
allow you to move forward in your goals or take you
a step backwards.
At the launch of a space rocket, the action of the
powerful engines pushes the ground. This causes a
huge reaction to launch the rocket into geostationary
orbit or perhaps move it towards another planet.
In the same way, when you make a huge effort
in the right direction, you will reap the
benefits of your actions. You need to be
continually assessing if you are moving in the
right direction or not.
4. The Principles Of Enzymes, Substrates and
Catalysts
Enzymes are biological catalysts that increase the
speed of a reaction. They also decrease the
activation energy or the energy required for the
reaction to proceed in the right direction.
The size of a cell is tiny at 15 to 25 microns. Most
cells would not be able to provide the energy
required for all the complex chemical reactions by
themselves. Cells require chemical reaction
assistance in the form of enzymes.
Enzymes provide this facilitation and enhancement.
Enzymes alter the conformation of their active site
to allow substrate or the reactants to fit together like
a lock and key mechanism.
After they reduce the activation energy, enzymes
help alter reactants into products. Thereafter,
enzymes release products from the active site and
return back to their original form.
This means that sometimes to be successful,
we need the assistance of enzymes or
catalysts.
These catalysts understand what the problem is and
allow us to move forward. These life catalysts lower
the resistance and energy required for projects and
forward motion.
What are some example of catalysts in life?
A collaborative and encouraging
environment.
Forming connections with other like-minded
individuals.
Having a great support system.
Having a work space that fits individual ideas
and ideals like a lock and key.
Having optimal nutrition and exercise habits
that work.
Habits that enhance energy and lower the
resistance or exhaustion.
Having encouragers and bright side thinkers.
Feedback and honest reviewers and reviews
of work and success.
What catalysts do you have in your life to propel
your success forward?
5. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
The more precisely the position is determined, the
less precisely the momentum is known in this
instant, and vice versa.Heisenberg, Uncertainty
paper, 1927
This one comes straight to us from Quantum
Mechanics. This principle was discovered by Werner
Heisenberg in 1927 at Niels Bohrs institute in
Copenhagen. Heisenberg received the nobel prize in
Physics in 1932 for being one of the pioneers of the
field of Quantum Mechanics.
In a PBS article, the story of Heisenbergs discovery
is described.
Heisenberg was alone while Bohr was on a skiing
holiday. He had the opportunity during this time to
think about the nature of matter. It shocked him to
have a clear realization that subatomic particles
could change while someone observed them.
While measuring the tiny subatomic electrons,
scientists used a measuring device in the form of
light or radiation.
Electrons were so small and light that even the
tiniest light energy altered their position and
momentum.
Short but high energy wavelength light measured
position well but threw off the momentum. Using low
energy and longer wavelength light, the momentum
would be more accurate but the position would be
off.
The principle states that we cannot measure the
position and the momentum of a particle with a high
degree of precision. Since electrons around atoms
are clouds of charge of tiny mass, their position and
momentum is uncertain.
How is this principle applicable to our life and
success?
You may want to control all the events of your plans
and actions for a desired outcome. Even with great
effort, there will still be uncertainty that you need to
account for.
The best-laid plans are sometimes not the best
option available. This is because the landscape of
results changes constantly. Changes and results are
full of uncertainty and you need to prepare yourself ideas and projects have the greatest survival
for that. chance.
How do you prepare for uncertainty? Apply the idea of continuous improvement while
Become all right with uncertainty. adapting to a work place that is ever changing. This
Train yourself to be comfortable with the adaptation is a wonderful success strategy.
discomfort of not knowing everything and taking How can we adapt?
small risks. Keep up with the trends in technology, social
Have alternate plans, paths and ideas if your media and new ideas.
original idea does not work out. Collaborate and improvise in an effective way.
Trying to keep everything balanced and firing Be a life long learner and implementer of new
on all cylinders may just not be possible and a ideas.
setup for failure. Create ideas and processes that are
Build in some uncertainty into your short adaptable and have a higher rate of success.
term and long term planning. Use small and quick improvements to make
Like the uncertainty principle but not the same is the your products and projects better and better.
observer effect in science. While uncertainty is The quickest, most efficient and the most
inherent in systems, this is an imposed effect. The value providing service will have a higher rate of
idea that observer biases can alter the state of an survival.
experiment and cause different results is the Every day, in every way, Im getting better and
observer effect. better -mile Cou
Different observers view results and progress in a
different way. If you take feedback from one
observer, it may not be favorable. Robust
feedback includes several observers and
taking the option that best suits you.
6. Evolution And Natural Selection
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind,
too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise
most effectively have prevailed. -Charles Darwin
Theory of Evolution states that species change
gradually over time. This change happens under the
influence of the environment and selection
pressures. The species best adapted to their
environment are the ones likely to do better.
In 1831, a young Charles Darwin took up the position
of a naturalist aboard the ship the HMS Beagle. He
had a great interest in science, biology and geology
and was a dedicated student of the natural world
and a collector of insects.
Darwin arrived at the Galapagos Islands as part of
his voyage. The richness of the local floor and fauna
captured his attention. The islands located 965 kms
off the coast of South America were too far for
mainland species to colonize.
Darwin observed that even with the remoteness, life
was abundant in the islands. Different islands also
differed in life based on the location and the physical
environment there.
How can we use the theory of Evolution to enhance
life success?
One of the things inherent in life is change.
Everything is changing and in constant flux. Our
minds and consciousness are also changing over
time. If you can use this change as a vehicle for
transformation, life becomes an exciting
adventure.
One of the concepts that I love is the Japanese idea
of Kaizen or constant and continuous change and
improvement.
Now, we all know that success is not a straight line
forward. It looks more like a curved and crooked
circular path where we are going one step forward
and sometimes one step backwards.
Hold an intention of forward and positive
evolution of life and success.
Nature uses the principle of the survival of the
fittest. The most vigorous and well-adapted species
have a better chance in their survival.
The giraffes with the longer necks had a better
chance of survival when compared to the ones with
short necks when food ran out.
We can use this principle for greater success in our
life. The idea is that the most fit and well adapted