Microscope

The definition of a microscope: An instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen easily by the naked eye. Circa 1000AD The first vision aid was invented (inventor unknown) called a reading stone. It was a glass sphere that magnified when laid on top of reading materials. Circa 1284 - Italian, Salvino D'Armate is credited with inventing the first wearable eye glasses. 1590 Two Dutch eye glass makers, Zaccharias Janssen and son Hans Janssen experimented with multiple lenses placed in a tube. The Janssens observed that viewed objects in front of the tube appeared greatly enlarged, creating both the forerunner of the compound microscope and thetelescope. 1665 English physicist, Robert Hooke looked at a sliver of cork through a microscope lens and noticed some "pores" or "cells" in it. 1674 Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723).The father of microscopy, Anton van Leeuwenhoek of Holland, started as an apprentice in a dry goods store where magnifying glasses were used to count the threads in cloth. He taught himself new methods for grinding and polishing tiny lenses of great curvature which gave magnifications up to 270 diameters, the finest known at that time. These led to the building of his microscopes and the biological discoveries for which he is famous. He was the first to see and describe bacteria, yeast plants, the teeming life in a drop of water, and the circulation of blood corpuscles in capillaries. During a long life he used his lenses to make pioneer studies on an extraordinary variety of things, both living and non living, and reported his findings in over a hundred letters to the Royal Society of England and the French Academy. 18th century Technical innovations improved microscopes, leading to microscopy becoming popular among scientists. Lenses combining two types of glass reduced the "chromatic effect" the disturbing halos resulting from differences in refraction of light. 1830 Joseph Jackson Lister reduces spherical aberration or the "chromatic effect" by showing that several weak lenses used together at certain distances gave good magnification without blurring the image. This was the prototype for the compound microscope. 1872 Ernst Abbe, then research director of the Zeiss Optical Works, wrote a mathematical formula called the "Abbe Sine Condition". His formula provided calculations that allowed for the maximum resolution in microscopes possible 1903 Richard Zsigmondy developed the ultramicroscope that could study objects below the wavelength of light. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925. 1932 Frits Zernike invented the phase-contrast microscope that allowed for the study of colorless and transparent biological materials for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1953. 1931 Ernst Ruska co-invented the electron microscope for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. An electron microscope depends on electrons rather than light to view an object, electrons are

speeded up in a vacuum until their wavelength is extremely short, only one hundred-thousandth that of white light. Electron microscopes make it possible to view objects as small as the diameter of an atom. 1981 Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope that gives threedimensional images of objects down to the atomic level. Binnig and Rohrer won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. The powerful scanning tunneling microscope is the strongest microscope to date.

Computer
"Who invented the computer?" is not a question with a simple answer. The real answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention. This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers. Computer History Year/Enter 1936 1942 1944 1946 Computer History Inventors/Inventions Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry ABC Computer Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper Harvard Mark I Computer John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly ENIAC 1 Computer Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn Manchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube Computer History Description of Event First freely programmable computer. Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC. The Harvard Mark 1 computer. 20,000 vacuum tubes later...

1948

Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories.

1947/48

John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & No, a transistor is not a computer, but Wiliam Shockley this invention greatly affected the The Transistor history of computers. John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly UNIVAC Computer First commercial computer & able to pick presidential winners.

1951

1953 1954

International Business Machines IBM enters into 'The History of IBM 701 EDPM Computer Computers'. John Backus & IBM FORTRAN Computer Programming Language The first successful high level programming language.

1955 (In Use 1959) 1958

Stanford Research Institute, Bank The first bank industry computer - also of America, and General Electric MICR (magnetic ink character ERMA and MICR recognition) for reading checks. Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce Otherwise known as 'The Chip'

The Integrated Circuit 1962 1964 1969 1970 1971 Steve Russell & MIT Spacewar Computer Game Douglas Engelbart Computer Mouse & Windows ARPAnet Intel 1103 Computer Memory Faggin, Hoff & Mazor Intel 4004 Computer Microprocessor Alan Shugart &IBM The "Floppy" Disk Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Computer Networking Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston VisiCalc Spreadsheet Software Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby WordStar Software IBM The IBM PC - Home Computer Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System Apple Lisa Computer Apple Macintosh Computer Microsoft Windows TO BE The first computer game invented. Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end. The original Internet. The world's first available dynamic RAM chip. The first microprocessor.

1971 1973

Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility. Networking.

1974/75 1976/77 1978 1979

The first consumer computers. More first consumer computers. Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire winner. Word Processors.

1981 1981

From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century. The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface. The more affordable home computer with a GUI. Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple. CONTINUED

1983 1984 1985 SERIES

Electronoics
600 B.C.-Thales of Miletus writes about amber becoming charged by rubbing - he was describing what we now call static electricity. 1600-English scientist, William Gilbert first coined the term "electricity" from the Greek word for amber. Gilbert wrote about the electrification of many substances in his "De magnete, magneticisique corporibus". He also first used the terms electric force, magnetic pole, and electric attraction. 1660-Otto von Guericke invented a machine that produced static electricity. 1675-Robert Boyle discovered that electric force could be transmitted through a vacuum and observed attraction and repulsion. 1729-Stephen Gray's discovery of the conduction of electricity. 1733-Charles Francois du Fay discovered that electricity comes in two forms which he called resinous()and vitreous(+). Benjamin Franklin and Ebenezer Kinnersley later renamed the two forms as positive and negative. 1745-Georg Von Kleist discovered that electricity was controllable. Dutch physicist, Pieter van Musschenbroek invented the "Leyden Jar" the first electrical capacitor. Leyden jars store static electricity. 1747-Benjamin Franklin experiments with static charges in the air and theorized about the existence of an electrical fluid that could be composed of particles. William Watson discharged a Leyden jar through a circuit, that began the comprehension of current and circuit. Henry Cavendish started measuring the conductivity of different materials. 1752-Benjamin Franklin invented the lightening rod - he demonstrated lightning was electricity. 1767-Joseph Priestley discovered that electricity followed Newton's inverse-square law of gravity. 1786-Italian physician, Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses when he made frog muscles twitch by jolting them with a spark from an electrostatic machine. 1800-First electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta. Volta proved that electricity could travel over wires. 1816-First energy utility in US founded. 1820-Relationship of electricity and magnetism confirmed by Hans Christian Oersted who observed that electrical currents effected the needle on a compass and Marie Ampere, who discovered that a coil of wires acted like a magnet when a current is passed thorough it. D. F. Arago invented the electromagnet. 1821-First electric motor invented by Michael Faraday. 1826-Ohms Law written by Georg Simon Ohm states that "conduction law that relates potential, current, and circuit resistance" 1827-Joseph Henry's electromagnetic experiments lead to the concept of electrical inductance. Joseph Henry built one of the first electrical motors. 1831-Principles of electromagnetism induction, generation and transmission discovered by Michael Faraday. 1837-First industrial electric motors. 1839-First fuel cell invented by Sir William Robert Grove, a Welsh judge, inventor and physicist. 1841-J. P. Joule's law of electrical heating published. 1873-James Clerk Maxwell wrote equations that described the electromagnetic field, and predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves traveling with the speed of light. 1878-Edison Electric Light Co. (US) and American Electric and Illuminating (Canada) founded.

1879-First commercial power station opens in San Francisco, uses Charles Brush generator and arc lights. First commercial arc lighting system installed, Cleveland, Ohio. Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent lamp, Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1880-First power system isolated from Edison. In Grand Rapids Michigan: Charles Brush arc light dynamo driven by water turbine used to provide theater and storefront illumination. 1881-Niagra Falls, New York; Charles Brush dynamo, connected to turbine in Quigley's flour mill lights city street lamps. 1882-Edison Company opens Pearl Street power station. The first hydroelectric power station opens in Wisconsin. 1883-The electric transformer is invented. Thomas Edison introduces the "three-wire" transmission system. 1884-Steam turbine invented by Charles Parsons. 1886-William Stanley develops transformer and Alternating Current electric system. Frank Spraguebuilds first American transformer and demonstrates use of step up and step down transformers for long distance AC power transmission in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. TheWestinghouse Electric Company is organized. 40 to 50 water powered electric plants reported on line or under construction in the U.S. and Canada. 1887-In San Bernadino, California, the High Grove Station, first hydroelectric plant in the West is opened. 1888-Rotating field AC alternator invented by Nikola Tesla. 1889-Oregon City Oregon, Willamette Falls station, first AC hydroelectric plant. Single phase power transmitted 13 miles to Portland at 4,000 volts, stepped down to 50 volts for distribution. 1891-60 cycle AC system introduced in U.S. 1892-General Electric Company formed by the merger of Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric. 1893-Westinghouse demonstrates "universal system" of generation and distribution at Chicago exposition. In Austin, Texas, the first dam designed specifically for hydroelectric power built across Colorado River is completed. 1897-Electron discovered by J. J. Thomson. 1900-Highest voltage transmission line 60 Kilovolt. 1902-5-Megawatt turbine for Fisk St. Station (Chicago). 1903-First successful gas turbine (France). Worlds first all turbine station (Chicago). Shawinigan Water & Power installs worlds largest generator (5,000 Watts) and worlds largest and highest voltage line136 Km and 50 Kilovolts (to Montreal). Electric vacuum cleaner. Electric washing machine. 1904-John Ambrose Fleming invented the diode rectifiervacuum tube. 1905-in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan the first low head hydro plant with direct connected vertical shaft turbines and generators is opened. 1906-In Ilchester, Maryland, a fully submerged hydroelectric plant is built inside Ambursen Dam. 1907-Lee De Forest invented the electric amplifier. 1909-The first pumped storage plant is opened in Switzerland. 1910-Ernest R. Rutherford measured the distribution of an electric charge within the atom. 1911-Willis Haviland Carrier disclosed his basic Rational Psychrometric Formulae to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The formula still stands today as the basis in all fundamental calculations for theair conditioning industry. R. D. Johnson invents the differential surge tank and Johnson invents hydrostatic penstock valve. 1913-Electric refrigerator is invented. Robert Millikan measured the electric charge on a single electron.

1917-Hydracone draft tube patented by W. M. White. 1920-First U.S. station to only burn pulverized coal is opened. Federal Power Commission (FPC) is established. 1922-Connecticut Valley Power Exchange (CONVEX) starts, pioneering interconnection between utilities. 1928-Construction of Boulder Dam begins. Federal Trade Commission begins investigation of holding companies. 1933-Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) established. 1935-The Public Utility Holding Company Act is passed. The Federal Power Act is passed. The Securities and Exchange Commission is established. The Bonneville Power Administration is established. The first night baseball game in major leagues is played made possible by electric lighting. 1936-Highest steam temperature reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 600 degrees Fahrenheit in early 1920s.-287 Kilovolt line runs 266 miles to Boulder (Hoover) Dam. The Rural Electrification Act is passed. 1947-The transistor is invented . 1953-The first 345 Kilovolt transmission line is laid. The first nuclear power station ordered. 1954-The first high voltage direct current (HVDC) line (20 megawatts/1900 Kilovolts, 96 Km). The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows private ownership of nuclear reactors. 1963-The Clean Air Act is passed. 1965-The Northeast Blackout occurs. 1968-The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) is formed. 1969-The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is passed. 1970-The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formed. The Water and Environmental Quality Act is passed. The Clean Air Act of 1970 is passed. 1972-The Clean Water Act of 1972 is passed. 1975-Browns Ferry nuclear accident occurs. 1977-The New York City blackout occurs. The Department of Energy (DOE) is formed. 1978-The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) is passed, and ends utility monopoly over generation. The Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act limits the use of natural gas in electric generation (repealed 1987). 1979-The Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurs. 1980-The first U.S. windfarm is opened. The Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act establishes regional regulation and planning. 1981-PURPA ruled unconstitutional by Federal judge. 1982-U.S. Supreme Court upholds legality of PURPA in FERC v. Mississippi (456 US 742). 1984-Annapolis, N.S., tidal power plantfirst of its kind in North America (Canada) opened. 1985-Citizens Power, first power marketer, goes into business. 1986-Chernobyl nuclear accident (USSR) occurs. 1990-Clean Air Act amendments mandate additional pollution controls. 1992-The National Energy Policy Act is passed. 1997-ISO New England begins operation (first ISO). New England Electric sells power plants (first major plant divestiture). 1998-California opens market and ISO. Scottish Power (UK) to buy Pacificorp, first foreign takeover of US utility. National (UK) Grid then announces purchase of New England Electric System. 1999-Electricity marketed on Internet.

FERC issues Order 2000, promoting regional transmission