Famous Scientists
Archimedes of Syracuse (287 - 212 BC)
Due to the fact that Archimedes was a person with multiple interests, including
math, physics, astronomy and engineering, he managed to become a successful
inventor. He became famous for his innovative thinking and was the one to come
up with a lot of innovative machines, including the Archimedes screw that is
still used today to pump liquids, coal, grain and more. But probably his most
famous discovery is the way of finding the volume of objects that have an
irregular shape. It is worth mentioning that most of his works were meant to
help his home city.
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519)
Leonardo Da Vinci was a great inventor, being fond of engineering, astronomy,
aeronautics, mathematics and more. His drawings include a number of various
inventions, the basics of which more or less can be found in different
technologies today. Da Vinci is considered to be the father of modern science.
Some of his most important inventions include the hydraulic machine, the boat
and design of a flying machine.
Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647)
The famous Italian physicist and mathematician is the author of the barometer
(scientific tool used in the field of meteorology to estimate atmospheric
pressure), built in 1643. It would be interesting to note that a number of
Italian Navy submarines were named after the inventor.
Ferdinand Verbiest (1623 - 1688)
Verbiest was an astronomer and a mathematician. He was the one to invent the
world's first automobile. The inventor came up with the idea to create an
automobile while visiting China as a missionary. His automobile was powered by
steam, but could not carry humans.
Karl Drais (1785 - 1851)
The German inventor is the author of the Laufmaschine (German for "running
machine"), which was later called the velocipede and is believed to be the
forerunner of the bicycle and motorcycle. His invention represented the first
means of transport to use the two-wheeler principle and the starting point of
the mechanized personal transport.
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
The famous French chemist and microbiologist was the one who has come up with
the process of pasteurization, a process that involves heating a food, usually
liquid, to a certain temperature for a specific length of time, and then cooling
it instantly. Pasteurization is used today to slow the development of
microorganisms in food.
Levi Strauss (1829 - 1902)
Everyone knows that jeans were invented in the United States, some know that
Levi Strauss was the author of this invention but few know that Strauss was an
immigrant from Germany managed to found in San Francisco, California the
world's first firm to manufacture blue jeans. The company called Levi Strauss
& Co., started its operation back in 1853.
Gottlieb Daimler (1834 - 1900)
Daimler is another representative of German intelligentsia, being an engineer,
industrial designer and industrialist. He was the first to develop
internal-combustion engine and a pioneer in the field of automobile
development. Daimler is the author of the first high-speed petrol engine and
the world's first four-wheel vehicle.
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845 - 1923)
The famous German physicist Röntgen is the one who discovered the X-rays (also
known as Röntgen rays).
This invention allowed the German scientist to win the first Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1901
Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)
He is the author of a large number of inventions, but the most well-known one
is the electric bulb. Among other discoveries of Thomas Edison there are
telegraph devices, phonograph, carbon transmitter, direct current generator,
universal electric motor, and more.
Emile Berliner (1851 - 1929)
The German-born Jewish American scientist became known thanks to his disc
record gramophone (in the United States known as phonograph or record player).
Used for recording and reproducing sounds on a gramophone record, vinyl record,
the device (with certain modifications made once in a while) was popular until
1980s.
Alexander Graham Bell (1857 - 1922)
During the experiments he carried out with the telegraph, Bell came up with the
idea of the telephone.
The inventor of one of the most popular devices today thought that the
telephone was intruding, which is why he did not have one in his workplace.
Rudlf Christian Karl Diesel (1858 - last seen alive 1913)
Being a mechanical engineer, Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel managed to discover
the diesel engine.
The German inventor was also a well-known thermal engineer, a polyglot, an
expert in arts, and a social theorist
Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz (1873 - 1950)
She was born Amalie Auguste Melitta Liebscher. Bentz was a German business
lady, who invented the coffee filter back in 1908. Today her grandchildren,
Thomas and Stephen, are managing the family business (Melitta Group KG) based
in Minden in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
One of the greatest scientists of the 20th century is the author of numerous
inventions and theories that transformed a lot of concepts linked to space and
time, with the most important discovery being the theory of relativity. Other
discoveries of Einstein include the photoelectric effect and the Einstein
calculator.
Sir Alexander Fleming (1881 - 1955)
During the World War I Fleming worked as an army medical corp.
He is the inventor of penicillin that prevented a lot of soldiers from being
infected.
The discovery of penicillin managed to significantly boost the evolution of
medicine industry.
Fritz Pfleumer (1881 - 1945)
The German-Austrian engineer is the author of the magnetic tape used for
recording sound. Pfleumer decided to grant the right of use to the AEG, a
German manufacturer of electrical equipment. The event took place on December
1, 1932. Based on Pfleumer's magnetic tape, the German firm created the world's
first practical tape recorder dubbed Magnetophon K1.
Frederick Banting (1891 - 1941)
Initially Banting was dedicated to politics but later decided to shift to
medicine. In 1916 he completed his MD and during the World War I worked as a
doctor. He was very interested in diabetes and continuously worked on a cure
for it. It would be worth noting that the Banting searcher for cure for
diabetes together with Dr. Charles Best. In 1923 the researcher was awarded
with the Nobel Prize for discovering insulin.
Edwin Herbert Land (1909 - 1991)
The co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation was the first who came up with
low-cost filters for polarizing light (useful system of in-camera instant
photography). His most popular invention, Polaroid instant camera, was
officially launched in late 1948 and allowed users to take and develop a
picture in just under 60 seconds.
ORGAN SYSTEMS OF THE BODY
• INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM
• Forms the external body covering
• Composed of the skin, sweat glands, oil glands, hair, and nails
• Protects deep tissues from injury and synthesizes vitamin D
• SKELETAL SYSTEM
• Composed of bone, cartilage, and ligaments
• Protects and supports body organs
• Provides the framework for muscles
• Site of blood cell formation
• Stores minerals
• MUSCULAR SYSTEM
• Composed of muscles and tendons
• Allows manipulation of the environment, locomotion, and facial expression
• Maintains posture
• Produces heat
• NERVOUS SYSTEM
• Composed of the brain, spinal column, and nerves
• Is the fast-acting control system of the body
• Responds to stimuli by activating muscles and glands
• CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
• Composed of the heart and blood vessels
• The heart pumps blood
• The blood vessels transport blood throughout the body
• LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
• Composed of red bone marrow, thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, and lymphatic
vessels
• Picks up fluid leaked from blood vessels and returns it to blood
• Disposes of debris in the lymphatic stream
• Houses white blood cells involved with immunity
• RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
• Composed of the nasal cavity, pharynx, trachea, bronchi, and lungs
• Keeps blood supplied with oxygen and removes carbon dioxide
• DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
• Composed of the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large
intestine, rectum, anus, and liver
• Breaks down food into absorbable units that enter the blood
• Eliminates indigestible foodstuffs as feces
• URINARY SYSTEM
• Composed of kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra
• Eliminates nitrogenous wastes from the body
• Regulates water, electrolyte, and pH balance of the blood
• MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
• Composed of prostate gland, penis, testes, scrotum, and ductus deferens
• Main function is the production of offspring
• Testes produce sperm and male sex hormones
• Ducts and glands deliver sperm to the female reproductive tract
• FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
• Composed of mammary glands, ovaries, uterine tubes, uterus, and vagina
• Main function is the production of offspring
• Ovaries produce eggs and female sex hormones
• Remaining structures serve as sites for fertilization and development of the
fetus
• Mammary glands produce milk to nourish the newborn
ASTRONOMY NOTES
• Largest circular storm in our solar system is found in Jupiter.
• The rapidly moving stream of charged particles that is being driven away from
the sun is known as Solar Wind.
• Biggest known asteroid is Ceres.
• One Mercurian year is equal to 88 Earth days.
• Largest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons found on Mars.
• One Jupiter day is equal to 9 hours 50 minutes.
• Between 1979 and 1998, the farthest planet from the sun was Neptune.
• The sunspot cycle is 11 years.
• The Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram directly compares temperature and luminosity
of stars.
• The Andromeda galaxy is spiral.
• The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light years across.
• The smallest planet in our solar system is Pluto.
• The only planet with a moon almost as big and as heavy as the planet itself
is Pluto.
• Neil Armstrong landed on the moon on 1969.
• The only planet with a day longer than its year is Venus.
• Pluto’s moon is called Charon.
• The area between Saturn’s two rings is called Cassini’s division.
• Heliocentric means around the sun; geocentric means around the earth.
• Neptune’s moon Triton has an ocean made of liquid Nitrogen.
• The first man to classify stars according to their brightness was Hipparchus.
• The nearest star to the sun is Proxima Centauri, also known as Alpha
Centauri.
• The greatest distance of a planet from the sun is called aphelion (A for
Away). The smallest distance of a planet from the sun is called perihelion (P
for Proximal or near).
• The main component of the atmosphere of Mars is Carbon Dioxide.
• Jupiter has a mass greater than the combined masses of all the planets.
• The summer solstice usually occurs on June 21.
• The only two planets that do not have their moons or natural satellites are
Venus and Mercury.
• The constellation Andromeda is also called the Chained Maiden.
• Taurus is the brightest star in Aldebaran.
• A comet’s tail always points away from the sun.
• Spectral line splitting due to the influence of magnetic fields is called
Zeeman Effect.
• 99.8 percent of asteroids have orbits between Mars and Jupiter.
• A Red Giant has a low effective temperature (3000 to 4000 Kelvin) and a
radius of around 100 times the Sun’s.
• When three celestial bodies are in a line or collinear, it is called a
syzygy.
• Pluto has the most eccentric orbit around the sun.
• Beads of light visible around the rim of the moon at the beginning and end of
a total solar eclipse are called Baily’s Beads.
• The last planet Voyager II visited is Neptune.
• Only 0.001% of the Sun’s mass has been converted into energy.
BRANCHES OF SCIENCE
• Geology: the science that deals with the earth's physical structure and
substance, its history, and the processes that act on it.
• Meteorology: the branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena
of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather.
• Paleontology: the branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.
• Oceanography: the branch of science that deals with the physical and
biological properties and phenomena of the sea.
• Volcanology: the scientific study of volcanoes.
• Chemistry: the branch of science that deals with the identification of the
substances of which matter is composed; the investigation of their properties
and the ways in which they interact, combine, and change; and the use of these
processes to form new substances.
• Physics: the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of
matter and energy. The subject matter of physics, distinguished from that of
chemistry and biology, includes mechanics, heat, light and other radiation,
sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms.
• Thermodynamics: the branch of physical science that deals with the relations
between heat and other forms of energy (such as mechanical, electrical, or
chemical energy), and, by extension, of the relationships between all forms of
energy.
• Mechanics: the branch of applied mathematics dealing with motion and forces
producing motion.
• Astronomy: the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space,
and the physical universe as a whole.
• Biology: the study of living organisms, divided into many specialized fields
that cover their morphology, physiology, anatomy, behavior, origin, and distribution.
• Zoology: the scientific study of the behavior, structure, physiology,
classification, and distribution of animals.
• Botany: also called plant science(s), plant biology or phytology, is the
science of plant life and a branch of biology.
• Genetics: the study of heredity and the variation of inherited
characteristics.
• Agriculture: the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the
soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool,
and other products.
• Forestry: the science or practice of planting, managing, and caring for
forests.
• Engineering: the branch of science and technology concerned with the design,
building, and use of engines, machines, and structures.
• Metallurgy: the branch of science and technology concerned with the
properties of metals and their production and purification.
• Optics: the scientific study of sight and the behavior of light, or the
properties of transmission and deflection of other forms of radiation.
LABORATORY TOOLS AND
SAFETY MEASURES
a. Beaker: hold and heat liquids
b. Reagent bottle: storage, mixing and displaying
c. Bunsen burner: heating and exposing items to flame
d. Buret: chemical analysis; measure precisely how much liquid is used in
titration
e. Crucible: heat small quantities of substances in very high temperatures
f. Erlenmeyer flask: heat and store liquids; bottom is wider than the top
g. Evaporating dish: heat and evaporate liquids
h. Florence flask; heat substances that need to be heated evenly; mostly used
in distillation experiments
i. Funnel: transfer liquids into another container to avoid spillage
j. Microspatula: transfer small amounts of solid from one container to another
k. Mortar and pestle: crush solids into powders
l. Pipet: move small amounts of liquid from one container to another
m. Ring stand: used to items being heated; used with clamps or rings
n. Stirring rod/ glass rod: stir solutions to dissolve substances
o. Stopper/cork: seal test tubes and flasks
p. Test tube brush: easily clean the inside of a test tube
q. Test tube holder: hold test tubes while being heated
r. Test tube rack: hold test tubes upright while observing reactions
s. Thermometer: take temperature
t. Tongs: hold flasks, crucibles and evaporating dish when they are hot
u. Clay triangle: used to hold crucibles when they are being heated
v. Volumetric flask: measure one specific volume; used in preparing solutions
