Class Act; Michael Faraday & the Law of Electromagnetic Induction

Every scientist that I have read so far each have a unique way of starting their successful life story. I'm starting to notice that fate is what brings them to their success; like the fact that Michael Faraday's father had to come to that town in London which can be the reason why Faraday grew up to be interested in electricity so much. It strikes me that each scientist has their unique way to be introduced to the field that they are in love with. The way that their brain works is so amazing and the way that they never gave up on anything they want to achieve even if it means to work hard all your life. Just like that fact that Faraday grew up working in the book binding business, but then getting interested in science he wanted to bring himself to the Royal Society.The breaking point of Faraday that brought him success was going to the lectures while he was young and having a chance to send notes to Davy to gain a spot in Royal Society. But even this scientist had a heart break of his own role model being jealous of the success he soon began to show. It also amazed me at first that Faraday was the first scientist that explained the theory of electromagnetic induction in plain English rather than in mathematical terms like Daniel Bernoulli & Isaac Newton. I also loved the way how Faraday said " I must remain plain Michael Faraday.." which meant he did not do it for the fame or to change the way he was. It showed that he was very humble in the things that he did.

Between A Rock and a Hard Life; Bernoulli & Law of Hydrodynamic Pressure

When Bernoulli was young he had accomplished to win 1st prize along with his father. But his father got mat that his son was equal to him, which was the sign of the relationship going in a bad direction. Bernoulli came from a family dominated mathematics for 50 years. Growing up in steps of his father was well, just a negative that his father was so selfish; he wanted everything for himself. Daniel Bernoulli grew up admiring his father and his work along with Isaac Newton which his father did not really have same view with. He was the first to try to both Leibniz and Newton's work into one, when both never seen eye to eye about anything. It was also really unfair how his father took credit for the Hydrodynamic work after Daniel had tried his whole life which was the reason he had gave up on mathematics. It was ironic how his father was why he wanted to go into the math, but again at the end it was his father that pushed him into giving up on math. It was well that the people afterward thought about how to name the equation which they used the family name Bernoulli instead of having one specific name to represent it. I just believe that it sucked for Bernoulli to try so hard at something he loved very much and at the end have to be uncredited because of his own father. =(

I'm rereading the book and I can't help wondering at how far we've come in about 400 years...from observing natural phenomenon to figuring out the mathematic "truths" to applying these truths to fly, to cure, to build. Two themes strike me: how the early scientists were naturally curious about everything they saw and experienced and how persistent they were in trying for years to figure things out. I try to imagine myself back in time observing but not actually understanding the things that we take for granted now...atomic theory for instance. We haven't even gotten to Dalton yet. I wonder if nowadays we are somehow stifling the curiosity of our young people. What are they wondering about? What are they going to discover in the future? Another thing that strikes me: the discussion about the "marriage" and "divorce" of science and religion. Do they have to be mutually exclusive? We're still having the same disagreements today...creationists vs. evolutionists....What do you think?

Albert Einstein and Theory of Special Relativity

Although it was believed that Einstein would never be successful at anything, he showed great committment and dedication in proving the relationship between speed, mass, energy, and time. I think that Einstein proved himself and by doing this, he created a theory on special relativity. He studied Michael Faraday's studies about electricity and magnetism. Also, he studied James Clerk Maxwell's ideas that light consisted of waves made out of electricity and magnetism. When Einstein was young, he studied concepts related to the speed of light. In Einstein's equation, he combined the equation for kinetic energy with the shrinking factor equation. I believe that Einstein had to study the teachings of different scientists and mathematicians to understand the way the concepts related to his theory would work together to prove him correct. He learned that mass and energy was interchangable.

Apples & Oranges - Isaac Newton, Universal Law of Gravity

Well, first off one of the things that was good for Isaac Newton was being sent to grammer school, being at Cambridge where he loved it.It was good for Isaac to be far away from the house where he didn't have to interact with his mother most of the time. Even though family issues were not well for Isaac, he was interested in school and tried his hardest. He loved what he did, and at times even put himself through hard times to prove to people that he would not be brought to the bottom and picked on. The idea that reallly got Isaac Newton thinking hard was when the apple fell on his head, it was when studying and experimenting started for him. It was amazing to read about how a little idea such as an apple falling from the tree could get a person so caught up in its amazement, where at the end it brought Isaac to be one of the greatest scientist to date. One of the other things that really touched me about Isaac Newton was when he returned to his mothers' house and took care of her as long as she survived and was really regretful about how he had treated her. So I believe and as it was said in the book, the biggest reason Newton always worked hard to do something good in his life was to prove to his mother how well he could do, which she can be proud of him for.

Rudolf Clasius and second law of thermodynamics

I believe that there will always be people to disagree with the ideas being presented and try to prove these theories wrong. Like all of the mathematicians before him, they all took some of their ideas from the great philosopher Aristotle. Clausius's idea originated with steam engines, because they conducted heat into energy. He used the idea of refridgerators to help prove his ideas. There are other scientists/mathematicians from Clausius time period, such as Daniel Farenheit, Anders celsius, and James Joule, that contribute to Clausius's theories. They are all directly related to his study of heat and fire. Clausius concluded that heat is a mixture of different kinds of energies. I think that by Clasius having the second law, that he has improved the other theories that were acknowledged. He conducted numerous experiments and although being challenged by Thomson, he was still successful. I think that without his discovery, then many scientists would find it difficult to conduct experiments.

Michael Faraday and Law of Electromagnetic Induction

I believe that Faraday's discovery is still very useful to many scientists today. Because of Faraday, it has been proven that whenever electricity is present, then so is magnetism. Michael Faraday was not a very smart man, but he chose to educate himself and attend lectures. He was committed to gaining more knowledge about electricity and learning more from his idol, Davy. I think that he made his way from the bottom to the top. His experiments and theories have help lead to more discoveries in science. It is interesting that Faraday, as well as Bernoulli, had gotten some of their ideas and research from Isaac Newton.