-: Nicolaus Copernicus :-
(Father of modern astronomy)
(February 19, 1473)
Nicolaus Copernicus is born in Torun, a city in
north-central Poland on the Vistula River. The father of modern
astronomy, he was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.
Copernicus was born into a family of well-to-do merchants, and after
his father's death, his uncle--soon to be a bishop--took the boy under
his wing. He was given the best education of the day and bred for a
career in canon (church) law. At the University of Krakow, he studied
liberal arts, including astronomy and astrology, and then, like many
Poles of his social class, was sent to Italy to study medicine and law.
While studying at the University of Bologna, he lived for a time in the
home of Domenico Maria de Novara, the principal astronomer at the
university. Astronomy and astrology were at the time closely related and
equally regarded, and Novara had the responsibility of issuing
astrological prognostications for Bologna. Copernicus sometimes assisted
him in his observations, and Novara exposed him to criticism of both
astrology and aspects of the Ptolemaic system, which placed Earth at the
center of the universe.
Copernicus later studied at the
University of Padua and in 1503 received a doctorate in canon law from
the University of Ferrara. He returned to Poland, where he became a
church administrator and doctor. In his free time, he dedicated himself
to scholarly pursuits, which sometimes included astronomical work. By
1514, his reputation as an astronomer was such that he was consulted by
church leaders attempting to reform the Julian calendar.
The
cosmology of early 16th-century Europe held that Earth sat stationary
and motionless at the center of several rotating, concentric spheres
that bore the celestial bodies: the sun, the moon, the known planets,
and the stars. From ancient times, philosophers adhered to the belief
that the heavens were arranged in circles (which by definition are
perfectly round), causing confusion among astronomers who recorded the
often eccentric motion of the planets, which sometimes appeared to halt
in their orbit of Earth and move retrograde across the sky.
In
the second century A.D., the Alexandrian geographer and astronomer
Ptolemy sought to resolve this problem by arguing that the sun, planets,
and moon move in small circles around much larger circles that revolve
around Earth. These small circles he called epicycles, and by
incorporating numerous epicycles rotating at varying speeds he made his
celestial system correspond with most astronomical observations on
record.
The Ptolemaic system remained Europe's accepted
cosmology for more than 1,000 years, but by Copernicus' day accumulated
astronomical evidence had thrown some of his theories into confusion.
Astronomers disagreed on the order of the planets from Earth, and it was
this problem that Copernicus addressed at the beginning of the 16th
century.
Sometime between 1508 and 1514, he wrote a short
astronomical treatise commonly called the Commentariolus, or "Little
Commentary," which laid the basis for his heliocentric (sun-centered)
system. The work was not published in his lifetime. In the treatise, he
correctly postulated the order of the known planets, including Earth,
from the sun, and estimated their orbital periods relatively accurately.
For Copernicus, his heliocentric theory was by no means a watershed,
for it created as many problems as it solved. For instance, heavy
objects were always assumed to fall to the ground because Earth was the
center of the universe. Why would they do so in a sun-centered system?
He retained the ancient belief that circles governed the heavens, but
his evidence showed that even in a sun-centered universe the planets and
stars did not revolve around the sun in circular orbits. Because of
these problems and others, Copernicus delayed publication of his major
astronomical work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi, or "Six
Books Concerning the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs," nearly all his
life. Completed around 1530, it was not published until 1543--the year
of his death.
In the work, Copernicus' groundbreaking argument
that Earth and the planets revolve around the sun led him to make a
number of other major astronomical discoveries. While revolving around
the sun, Earth, he argued, spins on its axis daily. Earth takes one year
to orbit the sun and during this time wobbles gradually on its axis,
which accounts for the precession of the equinoxes. Major flaws in the
work include his concept of the sun as the center of the whole universe,
not just the solar system, and his failure to grasp the reality of
elliptical orbits, which forced him to incorporate numerous epicycles
into his system, as did Ptolemy. With no concept of gravity, Earth and
the planets still revolved around the sun on giant transparent spheres.
In his dedication to De revolutionibus--an extremely dense scientific
work--Copernicus noted that "mathematics is written for mathematicians."
If the work were more accessible, many would have objected to its
non-biblical and hence heretical concept of the universe. For decades,
De revolutionibus remained unknown to all but the most sophisticated
astronomers, and most of these men, while admiring some of Copernicus'
arguments, rejected his heliocentric basis. It was not until the early
17th century that Galileo and Johannes Kepler developed and popularized
the Copernican theory, which for Galileo resulted in a trial and
conviction for heresy. Following Isaac Newton's work in celestial
mechanics in the late 17th century, acceptance of the Copernican theory
spread rapidly in non-Catholic countries, and by the late 18th century
it was almost universally accepted.
-: Shivaji Bhosale :-
Shivaji Bhosale was
an Indian warrior king from the 17th century. An aristocrat of the
Bhosle Maratha clan, Shivaji, in 1674, carved out an enclave from the
declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital.
Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with the
help of a disciplined military and well-structured administrative
organisations. He innovated military tactics, pioneering the guerilla
warfare methods (Shiva sutra or ganimi kava), which leveraged strategic
factors like geography, speed, and surprise and focused pinpoint attacks
to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies. From a small contingent
of 2,000 soldiers inherited from his father, Shivaji created a force of
100,000 soldiers; he built and restored strategically located forts
both inland and coastal to safeguard his territory. He revived ancient
Hindu political traditions and court conventions, and promoted the usage
of Marathi and Sanskrit, rather than Persian, in court and
administration.
Shivaji's legacy was to vary by observer and
time, but began to take on increased importance with the emergence of
the Indian independence movement, as many elevated him as a
proto-nationalist and hero of the Hindus. Particularly in Maharashtra,
debates over his history and role have engendered great passion and
sometimes even violence as disparate groups have sought to characterise
him and his legacy.
-: Abraham Lincoln :-
Born: February 12, 1809
Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of greatest President due to both
his incredible impact on the nation and his unique appeal. His is a
remarkable story of the rise from humble beginnings to achieve the highest office in the land; then,
a sudden and tragic death at a time when his country needed him most to
complete the great task remaining before the nation. Lincoln's
distinctively human and humane personality and historical role as savior
of the Union and emancipator of the slaves creates a legacy that
endures. His eloquence of democracy and his insistence that the Union
was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations
strive to achieve.
Childhood :-
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log
cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks
Lincoln. Thomas was a strong and determined pioneer who found a moderate
level of prosperity and was well respected in the community. The couple
had two other children: Abraham's older sister Sarah and younger
brother Thomas, who died in infancy. Due to a land dispute, the Lincolns
were forced to move from Kentucky to Perry County, Indiana in 1817,
where the family "squatted" on public land to scrap out a living in a
crude shelter, hunting game and farming a small plot. Thomas was
eventually able to buy the land.
When young Abraham was 9 years old
his mother died of tremetol (milk sickness) at age 34 and the event was
devastating on him. The 9-year-old Abraham grew more alienated from his
father and quietly resented the hard work placed on him at an early age.
A few months after Nancy's death, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a
Kentucky widow with three children of her own. She was a strong and
affectionate woman with whom Abraham quickly bonded. Though both his
parents were most likely illiterate, Sarah encouraged Abraham to read.
It was while growing into manhood that he received his formal
education—an estimated total of 18 months—a few days or weeks at a time.
Reading material was in short supply in the Indiana wilderness.
Neighbors recalled how Abraham would walk for miles to borrow a book. He
undoubtedly read the family Bible and probably other popular books at
that time such as Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrims Progress and Aesop’s Fables.
Law Career :-
In March, 1830, the family again migrated, this time to Macon County,
Illinois. When his father moved the family again to Coles County,
22-year-old Abraham Lincoln struck out on this own, making a living in
manual labor. At six feet four inches tall, Lincoln was rawboned and
lanky, but muscular and physically strong. He spoke with a backwoods
twang and walked with a long-striding gait. He was known for his skill
in wielding an ax and early on made a living splitting wood for fire and
rail fencing. Young Lincoln eventually migrated to the small community
of New Salem, Illinois where over a period of years he worked as a
shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner. It was here
that Lincoln, working with the public, acquired social skills and honed
story-telling talent that made him popular with the locals.
When the Black Hawk War broke out in 1832 between the United States and
Native Americans, the volunteers in the area elected Lincoln to be their
captain. He saw no combat during this time, save for "a good many
bloody struggles with the mosquitoes," but was able to make several
important political connections.
After the Black Hawk
War,Abraham Lincoln began his political career and was elected to the
Illinois state legislature in 1834 as a member of the Whig Party. He
supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and
protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to formulate
his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an
impediment to economic development. It was around this time that he
decided to become a lawyer, teaching himself the law by reading William
Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. After being admitted
to the bar in 1837, he moved to Springfield, Illinois and began to
practice in the John T. Stuart law firm.
It was soon after this
that he purportedly met and became romantically involved with Anne
Rutledge. Before they had a chance to be engaged, a wave of typhoid
fever came over New Salem and Anne died at age 22. Her death was said to
have left Lincoln severely depressed. However, several historians
disagree on the extent of Lincoln’s relationship with Rutledge and his
level of sorrow at her death may be more the makings of legend.
In 1844, Abraham Lincoln partnered with William Herndon in the practice
of law. Though the two had different jurisprudent styles, they
developed a close professional and personal relationship. Lincoln made a
good living in his early years as a lawyer, but found that Springfield
alone didn't offer enough work, so to supplement his income, he followed
the court as it made its rounds on the circuit to the various county
seats in Illinois.
Entering Politics :-
Abraham Lincoln
served a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1847 to
1849. His foray into national politics seems to be as unremarkable as it
was brief. He was the lone Whig from the state of Illinois, showing
party loyalty, but finding few political allies. He used his term in
office to speak out against the Mexican-American War and supported
Zachary Taylor for president in 1848. His criticism of the war made him
unpopular back home and he decided not to run for second term, but
instead returned Springfield to practice law.
By the 1850s, the
railroad industry was moving west and Illinois found itself becoming a
major hub for various companies. Abraham Lincoln served as a lobbyist
for the Illinois Central Railroad as its company attorney. Success in
several court cases brought other business clients as well—banks,
insurance companies and manufacturing firms. Lincoln also did some
criminal trials. In one case, a witness claimed that he could identify
Lincoln's client who was accused of murder, because of the intense light
from a full moon. Lincoln referred to an almanac and proved that the
night in question had been too dark for the witness to see anything
clearly.
His client was acquitted.
About a year after the
death of Anne Rutledge, Lincoln courted Mary Owens. The two saw each
other for a few months and marriage was considered. But in time Lincoln
called off the match. In 1840, Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd, a
high spirited, well educated woman from a distinguished Kentucky family.
In the beginning, many of the couple's friends and family couldn't
understand Mary’s attraction, and at times Lincoln questioned it
himself. However, in 1841,the engagement was suddenly broken off, most
likely at Lincoln's initiative. They met later, at a social function and
eventually married on November 4, 1842. The couple had four children,
of which only one, Robert, survived to adulthood.
Elected President :-
In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the
Missouri Compromise, and allowed individual states and territories to
decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. The law provoked violent
opposition in Kansas and Illinois. And it gave rise to the Republican
Party. This awakened Abraham Lincoln's political zeal once again, and
his views on slavery moved more toward moral indignation. Lincoln joined
the Republican Party in 1856.
In 1857, the Supreme Court
issued its controversial decision Scott v. Sanford, declaring African
Americans were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Though Abraham
Lincoln felt African Americans were not equal to whites, he believed the
America's founders intended that all men were created with certain
inalienable rights. Lincoln decided to challenge sitting U.S. Senator
Stephen Douglas for his seat. In his nomination acceptance speech, he
criticized Douglas, the Supreme Court, and President Buchanan for
promoting slavery and declared "a house divided cannot stand."
The 1858 Senate campaign featured seven debates held in different cities
all over Illinois. The two candidates didn't disappoint the public,
giving stirring debates on issues ranging from states' rights to western
expansion, but the central issue in all the debates was slavery.
Newspapers intensely covered the debates, often times with partisan
editing and interpretation. In the end, the state legislature elected
Douglas, but the exposure vaulted Lincoln into national politics.
In 1860, political operatives in Illinois organized a campaign to
support Lincoln for the presidency. On May 18th at the Republican
National Convention in Chicago, Abraham Lincoln surpassed better known
candidates such as William Seward of New York and Salmon P. Chase of
Ohio. Lincoln's nomination was due in part to his moderate views on
slavery, his support for improving the national infrastructure, and the
protective tariff. In the general election, Lincoln faced his friend and
rival, Stephan Douglas, this time besting him in a four-way race that
included John C. Breckinridge of the Northern Democrats and John Bell of
the Constitution Party. Lincoln received not quite 40 percent of the
popular vote, but carried 180 of 303 Electoral votes.
Abraham
Lincoln selected a strong cabinet composed of many of his political
rivals, including William Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates and
Edwin Stanton.
Formed out the adage "Hold your friends close
and your enemies closer," Lincoln's Cabinet became one of his strongest
assets in his first term in office… and he would need them. Before his
inauguration in March, 1861, seven Southern states had seceded from the
Union and by April the U.S. military installation Fort Sumter, was under
siege in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. In the early morning hours
of April 12, 1861,the guns stationed to protect the harbor blazed toward
the fort signaling the start of America’s costliest and most deadly
conflict.
Civil War :-
Abraham Lincoln responded to the
crisis wielding powers as no other present before him. He distributed $2
million from the Treasury for war material without an appropriation
from Congress; he called for 75,000 volunteers into military service
without a declaration of war; and he suspended the writ of habeas
corpus, arresting and imprisoning suspected Confederate sympathizers
without a warrant. Crushing the rebellion would be difficult under any
circumstances, but the Civil War, with its preceding decades of
white-hot partisan politics, was especially onerous. From all
directions, Lincoln faced disparagement and defiance. He was often at
odds with his generals, his Cabinet, his party and a majority of the
American people.
The Union Army's first year and a half of
battlefield defeats made it especially difficult to keep morale up and
support strong for a reunification the nation. With the hopeful, but by
no means conclusive Union victory at Antietam on September 22, 1862,
Abraham felt confident enough to reshape the cause of the war from
"union" to abolishing slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation
on January 1, 1863, which stated that all individuals who were held as
slaves "henceforward shall be free."
Gradually, the war effort
improved for the North, though more by attrition then by brilliant
military victories. But by 1864, the Confederacy had hunkered down to a
guerilla war and Lincoln was convinced he'd be a one-term president. His
nemesis, George B. McClellan, the former commander of the Army of the
Potomac, challenged him for the presidency, but the contest wasn't even
close. Lincoln received 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 243
Electoral votes. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee, commander of
the Army of Virginia, surrendered his forces to Union General Ulysses S.
Grant and the war for all intents and purposes was over.
Assassination :-
Reconstruction began during the war as early as 1863 in areas firmly
under Union military control. Abraham Lincoln favored a policy of quick
reunification with a minimum of retribution. But he was confronted by a
radical group of Republicans in the Senate and House that wanted
complete allegiance and repentance from former Confederates. Before a
political battle had a chance to firmly develop, Lincoln was
assassinated on April 14, 1865, by well-known actor and Confederate
sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
Lincoln was taken from the theater to a Petersen House across the street
and laid in a coma for nine hours before dying the next morning. His
body lay in state at the Capitol before a funeral train took him back to
his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois.
-: Galileo Galilei :-
Galileo Galilei was born on 15 February 1564
near Pisa, the son of a musician. He began to study medicine at the
University of Pisa but changed to philosophy and mathematics. In 1589,
he became professor of mathematics at Pisa. In 1592, he moved
to become mathematics professor at the University of Padua, a position
he held until 1610. During this time he worked on a variety of
experiments, including the speed at which different objects fall,
mechanics and pendulums.
In 1609, Galileo heard about the
invention of the telescope in Holland. Without having seen an example,
he constructed a superior version and made many astronomical
discoveries. These included mountains and valleys on the surface of the
moon, sunspots, the four largest moons of the planet Jupiter and the
phases of the planet Venus. His work on astronomy made him famous and he
was appointed court mathematician in Florence.
In 1614,
Galileo was accused of heresy for his support of the Copernican theory
that the sun was at the centre of the solar system. This was
revolutionary at a time when most people believed the Earth was in this
central position. In 1616, he was forbidden by the church from teaching
or advocating these theories.
In 1632, he was again condemned
for heresy after his book 'Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World
Systems' was published. This set out the arguments for and against the
Copernican theory in the form of a discussion between two men. Galileo
was summoned to appear before the Inquisition in Rome. He was convicted
and sentenced to life imprisonment, later reduced to permanent house
arrest at his villa in Arcetri, south of Florence. He was also forced to
publicly withdraw his support for Copernican theory.
-: Charles Robert Darwin :-
Charles Robert Darwin’s scientific achievement can be equaled by very
few -- either for breadth or depth. Biology came of age as a science
when Darwin published “On the Origin of Species”. Darwin’s writing
is remarkably clear and persuasive. His style of writing has a charm
seldom encountered in scientific works. As Nicolaus Copernicus showed
that the Earth has no privileged position in the universe, Darwin
convincingly proved that human’s ancestry is no different from the other
animals. Darwin was ridiculed for his theory. Even Darwin himself
towards the later part of his life was not very convinced of his theory.
But today his theory is regarded as the cornerstone of modern biology.
And as Julian Huxley said that Darwin’s idea “is the most powerful and
most comprehensive idea that has ever arisen on earth. It helps us
understand our origins…We are part of a total process, made of the same
matter and operating by the same energy as the rest of the cosmos,
maintaining and reproducing by the same type of mechanism on the rest of
life.
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 at
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He was the fifth child of Dr. Robert
Waring Darwin, (the son of physician scientist Erasmus Darwin) and his
wife Susannah, the daughter of the pottery magnate Josiah Wedgwood.
Darwin’s mother died in July 1817 when he was eight years of age and he
was brought up by his sister, Caroline.
Darwin was enrolled in
Dr. Butler’s Shrewsbury School in 1818 at the age of nine. Darwin did
not enjoy learning at school. For him, studies at his Shrewsbury School
were a complete bore. Commenting on his school education Darwin wrote :
“The school as a means of education to me was simply a blank. I learned
absolutely nothing except by amusing myself reading and experimenting
with chemistry”. However, he had an intense curiosity about natural
world. Since his childhood he developed a thirst for discovery and
adventure. He liked to collect unusual objects both living and
non-living. Luckily for Darwin his home was surrounded by woods and
wildlife. The River Severn flowed right by The Mount, his family home.
There were always things to discover, places to explore. He took
interest in the birds, fish and frogs found in the surrounding areas. He
had a great fascination for collecting beetles, the rarer the species
the better. At the age of 13, he had even described, in a scientific
journal, a new species he had captured in the neighborhood. In his
autobiography he describes a particular beetle hunt in detail : “I will
give a proof of my zeal : one day on tearing off some old bark, I saw
two rare beetles and seized one in each hand ; then I saw a third and
new kind, which I could not bear to lose, so that I popped the one which
I held in my right hand into my mouth. Alas it ejected some intensely
acrid fluid, which burnt my tongue so that I was forced to spit the
beetle out, which was lost, as well as the third one.”
Darwin’s
father once said to him “you care for nothing but shooting dogs, and
rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all of your
family.’ But Darwin commented, “…my father, who was the kindest man I
ever knew and whose memory I love with all my heart, must have been
angry and somewhat unjust when he used such words”.
Darwin was
influenced by his grandfather Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), who was
professionally a physician but he also established himself as a
philosopher, naturalist and poet. Erasmus’ books Zoonomia : or the Laws
of Organic Life and The Botanic Garden or Lovers of the Plants were
famous. Erasmus had even offered a theory of evolution. He helped found
the Lunar Society. Its members called “Lunatics”, met only during full
moons, so that they find their way home in their horse-drawn carriages
by bright moonlight. Among its members were inventor James Watt
(1736-1819), the industrialist Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), the chemist
Joseph Priestly (1733-1804) and potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95). Among
Darwin’s other heroes were Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), the great
zoologist, Karl von Linne or Carolus Linnaeus (1707-78), who classified
thousands of plants and animals and Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859),
the explorer who traveled over much of the world making discoveries.
In his early years Darwin developed interest in geology, zoology,
botany and to a lesser extent in astronomy. Darwin’s interest in natural
science did not mean much to his father because there were hardly any
jobs in natural science. After seeing that his son was not doing good at
school Dr. Robert Darwin sent Charles to the University of Edinburgh to
be trained as a physician. While studying medicine Darwin continued to
pursue his old hobbies – beetle collection, bird watching and so on. He
made friends with a few other scholars older than himself but having
interest in natural history. Robert Edmond Grant (1793-1874), a
Professor of Zoology, took him on field trips. John Edmonston, a
talented taxidermist, taught him how to mount birds and mammals specimen
for collection.
Darwin could not complete his studies in
medicine, and it had to be abruptly terminated. As Darwin did not have
the courage to face his father he took refuge with his maternal uncle
Joshia Wedgwood II at the Wedgwood home called Maer Hall, at
Staffordshire about 30 km from Shrewsbury. His maternal uncle who was
very fond of him took him on tours of Scotland, Ireland, London and
Paris much to the dislike of Darwin’s father.
After seeing
Darwin’s failure at becoming a physician, his father sent him to the
Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1827 to study theology with a view to be
ordained as a clergyman. But here again Darwin could not concentrate in
his studies. Here he became attached with two scholars -- the Reverend
Adam Sedgwick, a geology professor and the Reverend John Henslow, a
botanist. The latter played a major role in shaping Darwin’s career. Of
his Cambridge years, Darwin says, “…my time was wasted, as far as the
academic studies were concerned as completely as at Edinburg and at
school.” According to Darwin the only things he enjoyed in his studies
at Cambridge were geometry, and the works of William Paley (1743-1805), a
distinguished eighteenth century theologian. Darwin admired his
beautiful logic and clear expression.
Darwin returned home from
Cambridge in 1831 without having completed his studies. With Professor
Henslow’s encouragement Darwin had turned to be a promising naturalist
and he had developed a specific interest in learning geology but he had
no formal educational degree. At this stage something unexpected and
dramatic appeared that was to change Darwin’s life and also the course
of scientific discovery forever. It was a letter from Darwin’s favourite
professor Henslow. Henslow was requested to help Robert FitzRoy, the
captain of HMS Beagle to find a naturalist. Henslow himself wanted to
join the expedition but after realizing the fact that he could not be
away from his home, he offered the job to his brother-in-law, the
Reverend Leonard Jenyns, a qualified naturalist. However, he also could
not accept it as he was tied with Church responsibilities. After this
Henslow wrote to Darwin urging him to take up the assignment. In a
letter dated 24 August 1831 Henslow while explaining that the captain
was seeking a young man to serve as ship’s naturalist not a `mere
collector’ but also to be intelligent companion for the captain. He
further wrote : “I consider you to be the best qualified person I know
of who is likely to undertake such a situation… I state this not in the
supposition of your being a finished naturalist, but as amply qualified
for collection, observing and noting, anything worthy to be noted in
Natural History.. Don’t put on any modest doubts or fears about your
qualifications, for I assure you I think you are the very man they are
in search of.”
It may be noted here that though FitzRoy is
mostly remembered as “Darwin’s Captain’, he made his mark as seaman,
explorer, surveyor, mapmaker and meteorologist. He also became governor
of New Zealand. His family name is from the French fils roy meaning “son
of the king”. Robert FitzRoy graduated from the Royal Naval College at
Portsmouth. He served on several vessels. In 1828, he was given the
command HMS Beagle which had been sent to map the southern coasts of
South America, including Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. During his
first command of Beagle (1828-1830) FitzRoy became interested in the
Indian tribes of Tierra del Fuego and he brought four young members of
the tribe including a nine-year old girl to England. His idea was to
teach them English, and the plainer truths of Christianity, reading,
gardening and “the use of common tools” and subsequently return them to
their homeland. FitzRoy named the girl Fuegia Basket and the other three
boys were called : York Minster, Boat Memory and Jemmy Button. One of
the tribal youths, called Boat Memory died soon after reaching England.
Among the other three Jemmy Button and Fuegia Basket made good progress
in their learning and attracted the attention of the Press. After a few
months of their stay in England FitzRoy wanted to take back these tribal
youths to their homeland. The British Admiralty, however, did not show
any interest in financing the project. But FitzRoy was determined to
keep his word. Accordingly he took a year’s leave and arranged the money
for hiring a ship. At this juncture one of his uncles came in his
rescue by persuading the Admiralty to sponsor another surveying voyage
for the Beagle. The British Admiralty commissioned Beagle for a
five-year voyage with the purpose of mapping the coasts of Patagonia,
Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Peru and then continue on around the globe
to survey longitudes. Besides other normal crew FitzRoy wanted a
naturalist preferably a young one to accompany him. It was a common
practice to take a naturalist on a voyage of this kind. The main purpose
of engaging a naturalist was to provide intelligent and gentlemanly
company for the ship’s captain as British captains were expected to
remain aloof from their hired crews. The post of naturalist was an upaid
one.
Darwin was very much interested in taking up the job but
his father was not in its favour. He said that no man of common sense
would approve such a foolish idea. His father thought that his son was
trying to escape the responsibility of preparing a sensible career. He
advised his son to forget about it and return to Cambridge to complete
his studies to be qualified as clergyman. So young Darwin had no option
other than to inform Henslow his inability to accept the offer. However,
Darwin did not give up the hope of convincing his father. His only hope
was that his father had said, “If you can find any man of common sense
who advise you to go, I will give my consent”. Dawin went to his
maternal uncle Josiah Wedgwood II (or uncle Josh as Darwin called him)
to persuade him to convince Darwin’s father. Josiah Wedgwood II after
listening Darwin carefully explained the risks involved in such a
journey. And after seeing that Darwin was not only aware of the risks
but he was perfectly willing to accept them, Josiah Wedgwood II decided
to take up the matter with Darwin’s father. Darwin provided him a list
of objections raised by his father. Josiah Wedgwood II wrote a letter
answering every objection. In answer to the very first objection that
the voyage would be “disreputable to (Darwin’s) character as a
clergyman” Wedgwood replied, “The pursuit of Natural History, though
certainly not professional, is very suitable to a clergyman”. Answering
Dr. Robert Darwin’s objection that “it would be a useless undertaking”
Wedgwood replied, “Looking upon Charles as a man of enlarged curiosity
it (the voyage) affords him such an opportunity of seeing men and things
as happens to few”. Darwin attached a separate note stating that he
would accept his father’s decision on the subject as final and “he would
never mention the subject again”. Instead of waiting for a reply Darwin
and Josiah Wedgwood II went to Shrewsbury to meet Dr. Robert Darwin.
Finally Dr. Robert Darwin consented and agreed to pay all Darwin’s
expenses.
The Beagle set sail on December 27, 1831. Darwin was
only twenty two years old. There was no proper accommodation for Darwin.
He had to share a cabin with the captain and there was virtually no
room for keeping his instrument. Darwin wrote in his Journal: “The
absolute want of room is an evil that nothing can surmount”. Darwin was
plagued with sickness throughout the voyage.
Darwin took four
books with him for the journey – the Bible, a copy of Milton’s work,
Alexander von Humboldt’s account of his exploration of Venezuela and the
Orinoco basin and Volume One of Lyell’s Principle of Geology. The other
two volumes of Lyell’s book was sent to him during the journey by
Henslow. Darwin sent frequent reports on his observations to Henslow.
Many of these reports were read by Henslow at meetings of the
Philosophical Society of Cambridge.
The Beagle visited many
lands in the southern Pacific seas before returning to England in
October 1836 via the Southern Cape of Africa in an effective
circumnavigation of the globe. The ship visited amongst other places the
Cape Varde Islands, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
After coming
back from the voyage Darwin started working on his “Journal of
Researches”, a work based upon this journal which he had kept during the
voyage of the Beagle. This was published in 1839 and become an
immediate’ success. The success of his first “literary child” always
pleased Darwin more than that of any of his other books.
Following the continued deterioration of his health Darwin moved to a
country residence at Downe, Kent. Darwin lived a life of a country
gentleman of independent means among his gardens, conservatories,
pigeons and fowls. However, he conducted extensive experiments
especially in variation and interbreeding. It was at Downe that most of
his life’s work was done. Because of his continual health problem
Darwin’s activities were mainly confined to writing books. The books
written by Darwin are given at the end of the article. The first of his
major geological works., The structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs”,
was published in 1842. In this book Darwin presented a theory of the
structure and mode of formation of coral reefs. Darwin’s theory was very
different from the one existed them. However, his keen observation and
accurate thinking made his theory acceptable to most of the geologists.
In fact his theory is even now generally accepted among geologists.
Darwin based on his observation of various facts of paleontology and
biogeography, saw the possibility that species might not be immutable.
But then he had no theory to work upon. However, he decided to apply the
method adopted by Lyell in solving geological problems. Lyell had
attacked geological problems by accumulating all applicable data in the
absence of a working theory, in the hope that the sheer weight of facts
might throw some light upon his problems. Darwin decided to adopt the
same method to the species problem. Accordingly he started in July 1837
his work on variation in plants and animals, both under domestication
and in nature. Darwin did not want to overlook any possible source of
information. Thus he looked into personal observations and experiments,
published papers of other biologists, conversations with breeders and
gardeners, correspondence with biologists at home and abroad and so.
Based on the analysis of accumulated facts from various sources Darwin
realized that man’s success in producing useful varieties of plants and
animals depended upon selections of desired variation for breeding
stock. However, Darwin had no clue on how selection could be applicable
to nature.
But then he stumbled upon a theory to work upon. In
October 1838, Darwin happened to read for sheer amusement “Malthus on
Population”. The book written by Thomas Robert Matlhus (1766-1834) was
first published anonymously in 1789. It was titled An Essay on the
Principle of Population. The book was not about biology. In his book
Malthus proposed that human population increase geometrically (e.g.,
2,4,8,16…), while means to support them increase only arithmetically
(e.g.1,2,3,4,5…). Accordingly natural selective forces such as
overcrowding, disease, war, poverty and vice take over to remove those
who are not fit and thus only the fittest survive. Darwin extended
Malthus’s ideas and developed the idea of natural selection in species, a
concept that is often referred to as “survival of the fittest”. The
phrase “survival of the fittest” is often used synonymously with natural
selection. The phrase is both incomplete and misleading. The word
survival is only one component of selection and perhaps one of the less
important ones in many populations. Aso, the word `fit’ is often
confused with physically fit. Fitness, in an evolutionary sense, is the
average reproductive output of a class of genetic variation in a gene
pool . `Fit’ does not necessarily mean biggest, fastest or strongest.
The theory of natural selection answers the question of who made the
selection of what is to be evolved. The species that do survive in the
competition for existence will go on to produce the next generation. The
environment an organism lives in helps to determine which organisms
survive and produce young, and which do not.
Commenting on
Malthus’s work, Darwin wrote : “In October 1938, that is fifteen months
after I had began my systematic enquiry, I happened to read for
amusement Malthus on Population, and being well prepared to appreciate
the struggle for existence which goes on from long-continued observation
of the habits of animals and plants, it at once struck me that under
these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved,
and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the
formation of new species. Here, then, I had at last got a theory by
which to work…”
However, Darwin took four years to write the
first outline of his theory. This is because he had to collect a great
deal of more data. In 1842 Darwin produced a pencil draft of thirty-five
pages. By 1844 Darwin enlarged this draft to 230 pages. Early in 1856
following the advice given by Lyell, Darwin began his work on a much
larger scale with a view to prepare a full account of his ideas on the
origin of species. But while Darwin was half on its way in completing
his work a certain development took place which forced Darwin for early
publication of his work. Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913) sent Darwin a
short essay on the “Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from
the Original Type” with a request that if Darwin think it worthy he
should forward it to Lyell for his comments. Darwin liked it very much
because he recognized his own theory in it. Darwin sent Wallace’s paper
to Lyell along with a covering letter. Darwin wrote: “Your words have
come true with a vengeance – that I should be forestalled; if Wallace
had my MS. Sketch written out in 1842, he could not have made a better
short abstract”. At one point Darwin decided to withhold his own
publication in favour of Wallace. However, Lyell and Joseph Hooker
(1817-1911) had for years been familier with Darwin’s work on the
transmutation of species. Lyell had read Darwin’s outline of 1842. Lyell
and Hooker therefore suggested that Darwin write a short abstract of
his theory and that it be published jointly with Wallace’s paper in the
Journal of the Linnean Society. These papers appeared in that Journal in
1859 together with portion of a letter which Darwin had written to Asa
Gray (1810-88), the great American botanist, in September 1857, in which
Darwin set forth his views on natural selection and the origin of
species.
In his autobiography, Darwin wrote : “Early in 1856
Lyell advised me to write out my views pretty fully, and I began at once
to do so on a scale three or four times as extensive as that which
afterwards followed by my Origin of Species : yet it was only a abstract
of the materials which I had collected, and I had got through about
half the work on this scale. But my plans were overthrown far early in
the summer of 1858. Mr. Wallace, who was in the Malaya Archipelago, sent
me an eassy “On the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from
the original type” and this eassay (arrived June 18th) contained exactly
the same theory as mine. Mr. Wallace expressed the wish that if I
thought well of this essay, I should send it to Lyell for perusal. The
circumstances under which I consented at the request of Lyell and Hooker
to allow an extract from my own M.S., together with a letter to Asa
Gray, dated September 5, 1857 to be published at the same time with
Wallace’s assay, are given in the Journal of the Linnean Society 1858 p.
45. I was at first very unwilling to consent, as I thought that Mr.
Wallace might consider my doing so unjustifiable, for I did not then
know how generous and noble was his disposition.”
Following
this Lyell and Hooker persuaded Darwin to prepare for early publication
of a book on transmutation of species. Accordingly, he condensed the
manuscript he had begun in 1856 to about one-third or even one-fourth
its original size. The “Origin of Species” thus produced, was finally
published in November 1859.
The original title of the
manuscript was “An Abstract of an Essay on the Origin of Species and
Varieties through Natural Selection”. However, his publisher, John
Murrey, persuaded Darwin to reduce this to On the Origin of Species, but
Darwin insisted on keeping the words by means of Natural Selection as a
kind of subtitle. Darwin also included on the title page the words Or
the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Every copy
of the original 1, 250-copies printed was sold on the VERY first day.
Commenting on the success of Origin Darwin wrote :
“The success
of the `Origin’ may, I think, be attributed in large part to my having
long before written two condensed sketches, and to my having finally
abstracted a much larger manuscript, which was itself an abstract. By
this means I was enabled to select the more striking facts and
conclusions. I had, also, during many years followed a golden rule,
namely that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought came
across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a
memorandum of it without fail at once; for I had found by experience
that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory
than favorable ones, owig to this habit, very few objections were
raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted
to answer.”
Darwin always referred to his Origin of Species as
abstract. He wrote in its introduction: “This Abstract, which I now
publish, most necessarily be imperfect. I cannot have given reference
and authorities for my several statements, and I must trust to the
reader reposing some confidence in my accuracy. No doubt errors will
have crept in though I hope I have always been cautious in trusting to
good authorities alone. I can have given only the general conclusions at
which I have arrived, with a few facts in illustration, but which, I
hope in most cases will suffice. No one can feel more sensible than I do
of the necessity of hereafter publishing in detail all the facts, with
references, on which my conclusions have been grounded ; and I hope in a
future work to do this. For I am well aware that scarcely a single
point is discussed in this volume on which facts cannot be adduced,
after apparently leading to conclusions directly opposite to those at
which I have arrived. A fair result can be obtained only by fully
stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each
question; and this cannot possibly be here done.”
Darwin is
mostly known for his hypothesizing the pattern of common descent and
proposing a mechanism for evolution -- natural selection. Darwin’s
theory of evolution is no longer just a theory -- an overwhelming amount
of evidence has accumulated since Darwin. This it may be said that
Darwin discovered a law as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton discovered
laws -- natural laws. According to Darwin’s law life has come into being
and exists and is depended on the process of natural selection. In
Darwin’s theory of natural selection, new variants arrives continually
with in population. Some of the variation may be neutral, but others
help or hinder the organism in its struggle for survival. What Darwin
did not know was the mode of inheritance.
Today we know that
the true mode of inheritance was discovered by Gregor Mendel through his
experiments on hybrid peas. In fact Mendel mailed his paper to Darwin,
but Darwin never opened it.
The idea of evolution was not new
to Darwin. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in his book Novum organum (1620)
noted the way in which species vary naturally from one generation to the
next. Bacon observed that such natural variation could be used by the
breeders of plants and animals to produce “many rare and unusual
results:” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), the German
mathematician, speculated that species had changed because of difference
in environmental conditions. Leibniz’s observation was based on his
studies of fossils and the possible relationship between the extinct
ammonites and living species such as the nautilus. The term evolution
was first used in its modern biological context in 1826 by Robert
Jameson. In the eighteenth century Georges Louis Lecrec, Comte de Buffon
(1707-88) suggested that the North American bison might be descended
from an ancestral variety of ox that had migrated there. Darwin’s
grandfather Erasmus Darwin was convinced about the importance of
evolution. However, Erasmus mistakenly though, that individual members
of a species developed different characteristics during their, lifetime.
And once acquired these advanced characteristics are passed on to their
offsprings.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) proposed a
theory of evolution in 1809. He believed that species arose continually
from nonliving sources. These species were initially very primitive, but
increased in complexity over time due to some inherent tendency. Such
type of evolution is called orthogenesis. Further Lamarck proposed that
an organism’s acclimation to environment could be passed on to its
offspring. For example Lamarck thought proto-giraffes stretched their
necks to reach higher twigs and which caused their offspring to be born
with longer necks. This is known as the inheritance of acquired
characteristics. Lamarck also believed that species never went extinct,
although they may change into newer forms. Lamarck’s ideas have been
proved to be wrong. The observations made by a number of scientists
implicitly included the concept of evolution and also the notion that
species have evolved to fit their environments -- adaptation. Darwin
offered an explanation of how evolution works – that is natural
selection.
Darwin’s theory of evolution made him many enemies
among orthodox scientists and churchmen since beliefs in the Creation
and divine guidance were threatened by Darwin’s revelations. Apelike
cartoons of Darwin appeared in newspapers. Essays and sermons
proliferated everywhere. Among the scientific opponents were Richard
Owens, a renowned geologist at Oxford, Louis Agassiz at Harvard
University in the USA and Adam Sedgwick, an old-school geologist from
Cambridge. Darwin was not in a position to combat the furor, raised
against his theory because of his continued illness. Moreover, he never
recovered from the untimely death of his daughter Annie.
The
task of defending his theory was left to Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95), a
brilliant zoologist who became famous as “Darwin’s bulldog”. Huxley did
his job quite well notably at the famous Oxford debate on June 30,
1860, where Huxley confronted Samuel Wilberforce, the powerful Bishop of
Oxford. Besides Huxley and Wilberforce those present on the platform
included : Darwin’s old teacher and anti evolutionist J.S. Huxley’s
friends Joseph Hooker and John Lubbock, John Draper of New York
University and Sir Benjamine Brodie, the Queen’s physician and President
of the Royal Society. Seven hundred people were crowded into the
University Museum where the debate was organized. In this debate Huxley
instead of being ridiculed had won a wider interest and fair hearing for
the new theories.
Besides Huxley, Darwin’s prominent
supporters were Charles Lyell and James Hooker. Lyell though convinced
that Darwin was correct but he refused to come out squarely in favour of
evolution in his public statements and writings before 1868 when he
embraced the theory at the age of 71.
Though the debate
following the publication of the Origin of Species led to wide
acceptance of Darwin’s theory among the scientists but it was far from
being established during Darwin’s lifetime. The main reason for this was
that Darwin could not explain how characteristics passed on from one
generation to another and why there are variations from one individual
to another. Variation is found among individuals who share the same
parents. It is important to note that in the successive revisions to the
Origin of Species Darwin himself backed away from natural selection. In
the first edition of his Descent of Man Darwin wrote : “In the earlier
editions of my “Origin of Species” I probably attributed too much to the
action of natural selection or the survival of the fittest”. The first
reason for Darwin’s retreat was the failure to explain the cause of
variation, a key component in Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The
second important reason was the enormous timescale required for
evolution. In the second half of the nineteenth century the scientists
believed that the Sun could not have been hot for more than a few
millions years as there was no process known to scientists which could
supply energy to keep the Sun shining for hundreds of millions of years
required for the variety of forms of life on Earth to have evolved
through small steps. Scientists of the twentieth century have
established that the long time-scale required for evolution by natural
selection is not a problem as the Sun has essentially remained unchanged
for about 4.5 billion years, a more than sufficient time for evolution
to happen. Today we know that the energy is supplied by nuclear
processes. In the twentieth century biologists developed an
understanding of genetics and how characteristics are inherited by
offspring from their parents. As mentioned earlier it was Mendel who had
first initiated work in this direction.
By the 1940s Darwin’s
theory of natural selection as spelt out in the first edition of the
Origin of Species had become firmly established. So today, Darwin’s
theory of evolution and common descent are considered facts by the
scientific community. Though debates continue how various aspects of
evolution work. For examples, all the details of pattern of relationship
are not fully worked out.
Evolution is regarded as the
cornerstone of biology. While it is possible to do research in biology
with little or no knowledge of evolution but then without evolution
biology becomes a disperate sets of fields. Evolutionary explanations
pervade all fields of biology and brings them together under one
theoretical umbrella.
The process of evolution can be
summerised in three sentences: Genes (hereditary units) mutate.
Individuals are selected. Population evolve. Evolution requires genetic
variation. In order to continue evolution there must be mechanism to
increase or create genetic variation and mechanism to decrease it .
Mutation is a change in a gene. These changes are the source of new
genetic variation. Natural selection operates on this variation. Natural
selection favours traits or behaviours that increase a genotype’s
inclusive fitness. The opportunity or natural selection to operate does
not induce genetic variation to appear. Selection only distinguishes
between existing variants. Selection merely favours beneficial genetic
changes when they occur by chance — it does not contribute to their
appearance. The potential for selection to act may long precede the
appearance of selectable genetic variations. Natural selection does not
have any foresight. It only allows organisms for adapt to their current
environment. Structures or behaviours do not evolve for future utility.
An organism adapts to its environment at each stage of its evolution. As
the environment changes, new traits may be selected for.
Darwin died on April 19, 1882 after prolong illness. Following a
suggestion from of a group of members of British Parliament, he was
accorded the honour of being buried in Westminster Abbey. (A burial
place for English monarchs, outstanding statesmen etc).
We
would like to end this article by quoting Julian Huxley on Darwin.
“Darwin’s work…put the world of life into the domain of natural law. It
was no longer necessary or possible to imagine that every kind of animal
or plant had been specially created, not that the beautiful and
ingenious devices by which they get their food or escapes their enemies
have been thought out by some supernatural power, or that there is any
conscious purpose behind the evolutionary process. If the idea of
natural selection holds good, then animals and plants and man himself
have become what they are by natural causes, as blind and automatic as
those which go to mould the shape of a mountain, or make the earth and
the other planets more in ellipses round the sun. The blind struggle for
existence, the blind process of heredity, automatically result in the
selection of the best adopted types, and a steady evolution of the stock
in the direction of progress…
Darwin’s work has enabled us to
see the position of man and of our present civilization in a truer
light. Man is not a finished product incapable of further progress. He
has a long history behind him, and it is a history not of a fall, but of
an ascent. And he has the possibility of further progressive evolution
before him. Further, in the light of evolution we learn to be patient.
The few thousand years of recorded history are nothing compared to the
million years during which man have been on earth, and the thousand
million years of life’s progress. And we can afford to be patient when
the astronomers assure us of at least another thousand million years
ahead of us in which to carry evolution to new heights”.
Books written by Charles Darwin
1. Voyage of the Beagle or Journal of Researches. London. 1839
2. Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. London. 1842
3. Geological observations on Volcanic Island. London. 1844
4. Geological observation on South America. London. 1846
5. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. London. 1859
6. The Various Contrivances by which orchids are Fartilised by Insects and on the Good Effects of Intercrossing. London. 1862.
7. The Variations of Plants and Animals under Domestication. London. 1868.
8. Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. London. 1871
9. The Expression of the Emotion in Men and Animals. London. 1872
10. Insectivorous Plants. London. 1875
11. Climbing Plants. London. 1875
12. The Effects of Cross- and Self-Fertilisation in Vegetable Kingdom. London. 1876
13. Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species. London. 1877
14. The Power of Movements in Plants. London. 1880
15. The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms with Observations on Their Habits. London. 1881
16. Autobiography of Charles Darwin (Nora Barlow.ed). New York. 1958
Books on Darwin and His Theory
1. Allan, Mea, Darwin and His Flowers . New York, Taplinger, 1977
2. Brent, Peter, Charles Darwin : A Man of Enlarged Curiosity. New York : Harper & Row
3. Clark, Ronald. The Survival of Charles Darwin. New York : Random House. 1984
4. Colp, Ralph. To Be an Invalid : The Illness of Charles Darwin. Chicago : University of Chicago 1977.
5. Gould, Stephen Jay, Ever Since Darwin. New York : Norton , 1979.
6. Hyman, Stanley. The Tangled Bank : Darwin, Marx, Frazer and Freud as Imaginative Writers. New York: Atheneum. 1962.
7. Irivine, William Apes, Angles and Victorians; The Story of Darwin,
Huxley and Evolution. London : Wedden field & Nicholson, 1956.
8. Moore, James and Adrian Desmond, Darwin. New York : Warner Books, 1992.
9. Bowler, Peter J. Evolution : The History of an Idea, Berkeley : University of California Press. 1984.
10. Futuyma, Dauglas. Science on Trial : The Case for Evolution. New York : Patheon. 1982..
11. Moorchead, Alan. Darwin and the Beagle. New York ; harper and Row. 1969.
12. Darwin, Fancis (Ed.) Life and Letters of Charles Darwin. New York : Appleton, 1966.
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-: Thomas Alva Edison :-
People often say Edison was a genius. He answered, "Genius is hard work, stick-to-it-iveness, and common sense."
Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio (pronounced MY-lan). In 1854, when he was seven, the family moved to Michigan, where Edison spent the rest of his childhood.
"Al," as he was called as a boy, went to school only a short time. He
did so poorly that his mother, a former teacher, taught her son at home.
Al learned to love reading, a habit he kept for the rest of his life.
He also liked to make experiments in the basement.
Al not only
played hard, but also worked hard. At the age of 12 he sold fruit,
snacks and newspapers on a train as a "news butcher." (Trains were the
newest way to travel, cutting through the American wilderness.) He even
printed his own newspaper, the Grand Trunk Herald, on a moving train.
At 15, Al roamed the country as a "tramp telegrapher." Using a kind of
alphabet called Morse Code, he sent and received messages over the
telegraph. Even though he was already losing his hearing, he could still
hear the clicks of the telegraph. In the next seven years he moved over
a dozen times, often working all night, taking messages for trains and
even for the Union Army during the Civil War. In his spare time, he took
things apart to see how they worked. Finally, he decided to invent
things himself.
After the failure of his first invention, the
electric vote recorder, Edison moved to New York City. There he improved
the way the stock ticker worked. This was his big break. By 1870 his
company was manufacturing his stock ticker in Newark, New Jersey. He
also improved the telegraph, making it send up to four messages at once.
During this time he married his first wife, Mary Stilwell, on Christmas
Day, 1871. They had three children -- Marion, Thomas, Jr., and William.
Wanting a quieter spot to do more inventing, Edison moved from Newark
to Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876. There he built his most famous
laboratory.
He was not alone in Menlo Park. Edison hired
"muckers" to help him out. These "muckers" came from all over the world
to make their fortune in America. They often stayed up all night working
with the "chief mucker," Edison himself. He is sometime called the
"Wizard of Menlo Park" because he created two of his three greatest
works there.
The phonograph was the first machine that could
record the sound of someone's voice and play it back. In 1877, Edison
recorded the first words on a piece of tin foil. He recited the nursery
rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and the phonograph played the words back
to him. This was invented by a man whose hearing was so poor that he
thought of himself as "deaf"!
Starting in 1878, Edison and the
muckers worked on one of his greatest achievements. The electric light
system was more than just the incandescent lamp, or "light bulb." Edison
also designed a system of power plants that make the electrical power
and the wiring that brings it to people's homes. Imagine all the things
you "plug in." What would your life be like without them?
In
1885, one year after his first wife died, Edison met a 20-year-old woman
named Mina Miller. Her father was an inventor in Edison's home state of
Ohio. Edison taught her Morse Code. Even when others were around, the
couple could "talk" to each other secretly. One day he tapped a question
into her hand: would she marry him? She tapped back the word "yes."
Mina Edison wanted a home in the country, so Edison bought Glenmont, a
29-room home with 13-1/2 acres of land in West Orange, New Jersey. They
married on February 24, 1886 and had three children: Madeleine, Charles
and Theodore.
A year later, Edison built a laboratory in West
Orange that was ten times larger than the one in Menlo Park. In fact, it
was one of the largest laboratories in the world, almost as famous as
Edison himself. Well into the night, laboratory buildings glowed with
electric light while the Wizard and his "muckers" turned Edison's dreams
into inventions. Once, the "chief mucker" worked for three days
straight, taking only short naps. Edison earned half of his 1,093
patents in West Orange.
But Edison did more than invent. Here
Edison could think of ways to make a better phonograph, for example,
build it with his muckers, have them test it and make it work, then
manufacture it in the factories that surrounded his laboratory. This
improved phonograph could then be sold throughout the world.
Not only did Edison improve the phonograph several times, but he also
worked on X-rays, storage batteries, and the first talking doll. At West
Orange he also worked on one of his greatest ideas: motion pictures, or
"movies." The inventions made here changed the way we live even today.
He worked here until his death on October 18, 1931, at the age of 84.
By that time, everyone had heard of the "Wizard" and looked up to him.
The whole world called him a genius. But he knew that having a good idea
was not enough. It takes hard work to make dreams into reality. That is
why Edison liked to say, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration."
-: Nelson Mandela :-
Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end
South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years on
February 11, 1990.
In 1944, Mandela, a lawyer, joined the African National Congress (ANC), the oldest black political organization
in South Africa, where he became a leader of Johannesburg's youth wing
of the ANC. In 1952, he became deputy national president of the ANC,
advocating nonviolent resistance to apartheid--South Africa's
institutionalized system of white supremacy and racial segregation.
However, after the massacre of peaceful black demonstrators at
Sharpeville in 1960, Nelson helped organize a paramilitary branch of the
ANC to engage in guerrilla warfare against the white minority
government.
In 1961, he was arrested for treason, and although
acquitted he was arrested again in 1962 for illegally leaving the
country. Convicted and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison,
he was put on trial again in 1964 on charges of sabotage. In June 1964,
he was convicted along with several other ANC leaders and sentenced to
life in prison.
Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in
jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison. Confined to a small cell
without a bed or plumbing, he was forced to do hard labor in a quarry.
He could write and receive a letter once every six months, and once a
year he was allowed to meet with a visitor for 30 minutes. However,
Mandela's resolve remained unbroken, and while remaining the symbolic
leader of the anti-apartheid movement, he led a movement of civil
disobedience at the prison that coerced South African officials into
drastically improving conditions on Robben Island. He was later moved to
another location, where he lived under house arrest.
In 1989,
F.W. de Klerk became South African president and set about dismantling
apartheid. De Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, suspended executions, and
in February 1990 ordered the release of Nelson Mandela.
Mandela subsequently led the ANC in its negotiations with the minority
government for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a
multiracial government. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. One year later, the ANC won an electoral
majority in the country's first free elections, and Mandela was elected
South Africa's president.
Mandela retired from politics in
1999, but remained a global advocate for peace and social justice until
his death in December 2013.
