Nobel Prize for Sir C.V.Raman...1930

Sir C.V.Raman

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born at Trichinopoly in Southern India on November 7th, 1888. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics so that from the first he was immersed in an academic atmosphere. He entered Presidency College, Madras, in 1902, and in 1904 passed his B.A. examination, winning the first place and the gold medal in physics; in 1907 he gained his M.A. degree, obtaining the highest distinctions.

His earliest researches in optics and acoustics - the two fields of investigation to which he has dedicated his entire career - were carried out while he was a student.

Since at that time a scientific career did not appear to present the best possibilities, Raman joined the Indian Finance Department in 1907; though the duties of his office took most of his time, Raman found opportunities for carrying on experimental research in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta (of which he became Honorary Secretary in 1919).

In 1917 he was offered the newly endowed Palit Chair of Physics at Calcutta University, and decided to accept it. After 15 years at Calcutta he became Professor at the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore (1933-1948), and since 1948 he is Director of the Raman Institute of Research at Bangalore, established and endowed by himself. He also founded the Indian Journal of Physics in 1926, of which he is the Editor. Raman sponsored the establishment of the Indian Academy of Sciences and has served as President since its inception. He also initiated the Proceedings of that academy, in which much of his work has been published, and is President of the Current Science Association, Bangalore, which publishes Current Science (India).

Some of Raman's early memoirs appeared as Bulletins of the Indian Associationfor the Cultivation of Science (Bull. 6 and 11, dealing with the "Maintenance of Vibrations"; Bull. 15, 1918, dealing with the theory of the musical instruments of the violin family). He contributed an article on the theory of musical instruments to the 8th Volume of the Handbuch der Physik, 1928. In 1922 he published his work on the "Molecular Diffraction of Light", the first of a series of investigations with his collaborators which ultimately led to his discovery, on the 28th of February, 1928, of the radiation effect which bears his name ("A new radiation", Indian J. Phys., 2 (1928) 387), and which gained him the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Other investigations carried out by Raman were: his experimental and theoretical studies on the diffraction of light by acoustic waves of ultrasonic and hypersonic frequencies (published 1934-1942), and those on the effects produced by X-rays on infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to ordinary light. In 1948 Raman, through studying the spectroscopic behaviour of crystals, approached in a new manner fundamental problems of crystal dynamics. His laboratory has been dealing with the structure and properties of diamond, the structure and optical behaviour of numerous iridescent substances (labradorite, pearly felspar, agate, opal, and pearls).

Among his other interests have been the optics of colloids, electrical and magnetic anisotropy, and the physiology of human vision.

Raman has been honoured with a large number of honorary doctorates and memberships of scientific societies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society early in his career (1924), and was knighted in 1929.

Facts about the human body..)(see my next post for more detailss)

Body Facts

• In one day, a human sheds 10 billion skin flakes. This amounts to approximately two kilograms in a year.
• Every square inch of the human body has about 19,000,000 skin cells.
• Approximately 25% of all scald burns to children are from hot tap water and is associated with more deaths than with any other liquid.
• Forty-one percent of women apply body and hand moisturizer at least three times a day.
• Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.
• The world record for the number of body piercing on one individual is 702, which is held by Canadian Brent Moffat.
• The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches around, and 22 feet long.
• The human body makes anywhere from 1 to 3 pints of saliva every 24 hours.
• The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries.
• The aorta, which is largest artery located in the body, is about the diameter of a garden hose.
• The adult human body requires about 88 pounds of oxygen daily.
• The width of your armspan stretched out is the length of your whole body.
• 41% of women apply body or hand moisturizer a minimum three times a day.
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• Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.
• Dead cells in the body ultimately go to the kidneys for excretion.
• By walking an extra 20 minutes every day, an average person will burn off seven pounds of body fat in an year.
• The human body is 75% water.
  (See my next post for more details about the human body)
  
  
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The Stethoscope

Who invented the stethoscope and when?

In 1816, the French physician Rene Theoplhie Laennec (1781-1826) introduced a perforated wooden cylinder which concentrated the sounds of air flowing in and out of the lungs, and described the sound which it revealed. The modern form of stethoscope, with flexible tubes connecting the earpieces to a circular piece placed against the chest, was developed later in the nineteenth century.

Quiz for lower middle school. Question with answers

What does your heart pump?	Blood
Which is the nearest star?	The sun
Which is heavier, gold or silver?	Gold
How many sides does a triangle have?	Three
What is H2 0?	Water
How many legs does a butterfly have?	Six
Triton is a moon of which planet?	Neptune
For what process do plants need sunlight, CO2 and water?	Photosynthesis
Which physicist wrote a book called 'A Brief History of Time'?	Stephen Hawking
Which chemical element is represented by the symbol Zn?	Zinc
In which organ of the body is the cerebrum found?	the brain
What do we call the study of birds?	Ornithology
Who discovered the electron?	Sir J J Thomson
Which is the longest bone in the human body?	Thigh born
At which temperature do both the Centigrade and Fahrenheit show the same reading?	(-) 40c equals (-)40 F
Who invented the bifocal lens?	Benjamin Franklin
Why we do not feel pains to cut our nails?	Nails are not connected with blood vessels or nerves.

 

Nobel Prize in 1986

Stanley Cohen

Rita Levi-Montalcini

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986 was awarded jointly to Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini "for their discoveries of growth factors"

Discovery of Safety Razor.

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Gillette Razors

On November 15, 1904, patent #775,134 was granted to King C. Gillette for a safety 'razor'. King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1855. To support himself when the family’s home was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871, Gillette became a traveling salesman. This work led him to William Painter, the inventor of the disposable Crown Cork bottle cap, who assured Gillette that a successful invention was one that was purchased over and over again by satisfied customer.
In 1895, after several years of considering and rejecting possible inventions, Gillette suddenly had a brilliant idea while shaving one morning. It was an entirely new razor and blade that flashed in his mind—a razor with a safe, inexpensive, and disposable blade.

It took six years for Gillette’s idea to evolve. During that time, technical experts told Gillette that it would be impossible to produce steel that was hard, thin, and inexpensive enough for commercial development of the disposable razor blade. Then in 1901, MIT graduate William Nickerson agreed to try.

By 1903, he had succeeded. Production of the Gillette ® safety razor and blade began as the Gillette Safety Razor Company started operations in South Boston. Sales grew steadily. During World War I, the U.S. Government issued Gillette safety razors to the entire armed forces. By the end of the war, some 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades were put into military hands, thereby converting an entire nation to the Gillette safety razor.

Accidental or Serependitous discoveries

There have been many accidental discoveries.
For example, the drug penicillin was discovered by a slob who didn't clean up after himself. Biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming neglected to wash his staphylococci bacteria culture before he went away on vacation. When Fleming returned a few weeks later, he observed mold on the plate that the bacteria would not grow around. This fortuitous discovery eventually led to the development of the wonder drug penicillin.
Physicist Wilhelm Conrad R�ntgen wasn't out to revolutionize the medical field, but that's exactly what he did when he discovered X-rays. The curious R�ntgen wished to see if cathode rays could escape "a glass tube covered in black cardboard." R�ntgen eventually discovered these rays could be used to photograph the human skeleton, and, like Fleming, he won a Nobel Prize for his efforts.

General Knowledge For children

Who first climbed Mount Everest?

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The highest mountain peak in the world is Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with a height of 8848 metres. The Himalayas lie to the north of India from Kashmir to the north-eastern states. Most of the Himalayan ranges are in Nepal and so is Mount Everest. It is always covered with ice and snow. Everest is a very dangerous mountain to climb because of sheer rocks faces and storms. Many Mountaineers failed to climb the peak. But a New Zealand mountaineer, Edmond Hillary along with his guide Tenzin Nargay, became the first person to scale summit of the world on May 29, 1953.

Who became the first woman to sail around the world?

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The first woman to sail around the world single-handed was a 28-year old New Zealander, Naomi James. In September 1977, she set sail from Dartmouth on the south coast of England. Her 16-metre yacht, named Express Crusador, was fitted with all modern navigation aids and steering gear. Her 48,000-kilometer journey was full of adventure. At sea, after four weeks, her radio broke and after another five weeks, the self-steering gear was smashed in a storm. By putting into port for sometime, Naomi had to get it repaired. In June 1978 she successfully completed the sail and was made Dame Commander of the British Empire. She set another record becoming the first woman to cross Atlantic single-handed in 1980.

Who was Buddha?

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A prince of North Indian Kingdom Kapilvastu, Siddhartha Gautama was given the title, Buddha, who founded the Buddhist religion. Siddhartha turned into Buddha after he came across two truths of life. One day he saw an old man with bent back moving with the help of a stick. Second time he saw a dead man being taken for cremation. He felt very sad by seeing this. Why this happens in life is what he wanted to know. Siddhartha left home when he was young to look for an answer to life's problems. He found enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi tree in Gaya. He realized that Nirvana, a state of absolute peace and happiness, could bring release from the pressures of life. Only by giving up all desires for worldly things, this state could be reached.

Who was Aristotle?

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Aristotle was a Greek thinker, educator and Scientist. Than those of almost any other person, his ideas have had more influence on the thinking of the Western World. For 20 years, he was a pupil of the Philosopher Plato and these two men are regarded as the most important of the Ancient Greek thinkers. Aristotle was the tutor of Alexander the Great. He founded lyceum, a school in Athens. He deeply taught and wrote on many subjects, including Science, Politics, Astronomy, Religion and Logic. Aristotle's philosopher is characterized by its emphasis on reason and practicality. He was accused by the people of Athens for not worshiping their gods properly and so he left Athens to avoid a sentence of death.

Who was Martin Luther King, Jr.?

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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Negro who led the fight for fair treatment for his fellow Negroes. In 1955, King first gained national attention, when he organized a boycott of segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama. He used non-violent methods like Gandhi. During a massive demonstration in Washington, he made an inspired speech. In his struggle for the social rights for Negroes, this was a turning point. To give Negroes equal rights with whites, laws were passed soon. For his efforts he received the Noble Peace Prize. Like Gandhi, King was killed by some fanatic who opposed his ideas.

What is International Court?

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In Holland, a group of statesmen met to discuss ways of stopping wars and solving disagreements between nations in 1899. To set up the International Court of Justice, this was one of the ways they found. Countries who quarrel should go to the international court where fifteen judges from different countries decide who is in the right. Decisions are based on a majority of judges present. The countries in dispute have to agree to accept the decision before they go to court. Disputes are very often about where exactly frontiers between countries are drawn. The European Court of Justice is another international court that sits in Luxembourg. This was set up by the countries of the European Community. It makes sure that all the countries of the common market obey the rules and it can fine countries, who disobey, very heavily. Every member country appoints a judge.

Who fought World War I?

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The World War which started in August 1914 went on for 4 years to end November 1918. On one side were the two empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary, later joined by Bulgaria and Turkey. They were called the Central Powers. Against them were Allies-the Russian Empire to the east, the French to the west, the British and the Belgium. Later the Italy, the Japan, United States, and many smaller nations joined the Allies. Because so many countries were involved, it later came to be called a World War. After four years, these nations that had started the war were weary and exhausted. More than ten million soldiers had been killed. By coming fresh into the struggle, the United States tipped the scale, and the Central powers collapsed in defeat.

Why World War II began ?

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When Adolf Hitler, the German dictator sent his soldiers to attack two small neighbouring countries, Austria and Czechoslovakia, nobody stopped him. This was the time, the second world war began. But on 1st September, 1939, when Hitler attacked Poland, the polish fought back. To help them, the British and the French stepped in. Over-running Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium and France, he conquered Poland and then launched a surprise attack in the west. He then tried to break the spirit of the British but in 1941 lost the battle of Britain against the R.A.F. Meanwhile, the Italian dictator Musolini an ally of Hitler along with Japan had come in the war. The American, British and other forces landed on the Normady beaches and forced the Germans out of France. They swept across Germany to meet their Russian allies in 1945. In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the allied forces. A few months later i.e in August 1945 the first atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In September 1945, Japan surrendered and the war ended.