Sir Isaac Newton developed the system of advanced

mathematical calculation that is now called calculus. And through his experiments with
light beams (shown here), he also discovered that white light is composed of a spectrum
of colors.

British Mathematician, Physicist, and Astronomer 1642–1727

Many consider Isaac Newton to be among the best mathematicians who ever lived, and
some scholars consider him the best mathematician to date. But in addition to his
mathematical prowess, his insight into the physical world was no less a part of his
greatness. Newton invented and applied a broad range of mathematics both to describe
natural phenomena as well as to gain a deeper insight into it. He is also considered to be
one of the greatest physicists who ever lived. Probably the only other man in history who
could rival Newton's contributions to both mathematics and physics was the Greek
mathematician and inventor Archimedes (287 B.C.E.–212 B.C.E.).

Newton was born Christmas Day, 1642, on a farm in Woolsthorpe, England. Newton
does not seem to have enjoyed a happy childhood. His father had died three months
before he was born. While still a small boy, his mother remarried and Isaac was reared
for some time by a grandmother. Nevertheless, Newton showed some academic promise,
and he entered Trinity College at age 18. It is thought that his education there was
initially leading to a law degree. Newton did not distinguish himself academically, but his
thirst for knowledge can be seen in this excerpt from his college notes: "Plato is my
friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth." Eventually an interest in
mathematics was sparked, and Newton read both contemporary books on mathematics as
well as classical works like Euclid's Elements.

Newton quickly went from reading about mathematics to developing it. By age 23,
Newton had devised the binomial theorem and formed a framework for what is known
today as differential calculus. At about this time Newton left for home because the
bubonic plague had closed Trinity College. Over the next year or so Newton further
developed his calculus, laid the foundation for his theory of gravitation, and performed
optical experiments. The latter led Newton to pronounce that white light is actually
composed of a combination of many colors.
The invention of infinitesimal calculus, what he termed as the "method of fluxions," is
Newton's greatest claim to fame. (Somewhat later than Newton, but independently,
Gottfried Wilhem Liebniz [1646–1716] also developed an infinitesimal calculus.)
Infinitesimal calculus encompasses differential calculus and integral calculus. Newton
was the first to understand that although the purpose of each seems quite different,
differentiation and integration are inverse procedures of one another.

In his book The Method of Fluxions and Infinite Series, Newton considered the curve
generated by a point in motion. Given an arbitrary curve formed in this way, Newton
used his methods of "fluxions," now called differentiation, to find (calculate) the tangent
and radius of curvature at any point on that curve. Newton went on to produce many
simple analytical methods to solve apparently unrelated problems, such as finding the
areas of various figures, the lengths of curves, and the maxima and minima of functions.

Though so many of his discoveries were of great importance to science and the world at
large, Newton was reluctant to publish his findings. For example, his book The Method
of Fluxions and Infinite Series, though written in 1671, was not published until 1736,
well after his death. Fortunately, Newton's friend Edmund Halley encouraged Newton to
write and publish (at Halley's expense) the Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica
(Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), which includes the formulation of
Newton's three laws of motion and his Universal Theory of Gravitation. The Principia, as
it is widely known, became Newton's masterpiece, and it made him internationally
prominent.
Encyclopedia of World Biography on
Thomas Alva Edison
The American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) held hundreds of patents, most
for electrical devices and electric light and power. Although the phonograph and
incandescent lamp are best known, perhaps his greatest invention was organized research.

Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, on Feb. 11, 1847; his father was a jack-of-all-
trades, his mother a former teacher. Edison spent 3 months in school, then was taught by
his mother. At the age of 12 he sold fruit, candy, and papers on the Grand Trunk
Railroad. In 1862, using his small handpress in a baggage car, he wrote and printed the
Grand Trunk Herald, which was circulated to 400 railroad employees. That year he
became a telegraph operator, taught by the father of a child whose life Edison had saved.
Exempt from military service because of deafness, he was a tramp telegrapher until he
joined Western Union Telegraph Company in Boston in 1868.

Early Inventions

Probably Edison's first invention was an automatic telegraph repeater (1864). His first
patent was for an electric vote recorder. In 1869, as a partner in a New York electrical
firm, he perfected the stock ticker and sold it. This money, in addition to that from his
share of the partnership, provided funds for his own factory in Newark, N.J. Edison hired
technicians to collaborate on inventions; he wanted an "invention factory." As many as
80 "earnest men," including chemists, physicists, and mathematicians, were on his staff.
"Invention to order" became very profitable.

From 1870 to 1875 Edison invented many telegraphic improvements: transmitters;

receivers; the duplex, quadruplex, and sextuplex systems; and automatic printers and
tape. He worked with Christopher Sholes, "father of the typewriter," in 1871 to improve
the typing machine. Edison claimed he made 12 typewriters at Newark about 1870. The
Remington Company bought his interests.

In 1876 Edison's carbon telegraph transmitter for Western Union marked a real advance
toward making the Bell telephone practical. (Later, Émile Berliner's transmitter was
granted patent priority by the courts.) With the money Edison received from Western
Union for his transmitter, he established a factory in Menlo Park, N.J. Again he pooled
scientific talent, and within 6 years he had more than 300 patents. The electric pen (1877)
produced stencils to make copies. (The A. B. Dick Company licensed Edison's patent and
manufactured the mimeograph machine.)

The Phonograph

Edison's most original and lucrative invention, the phonograph, was patented in 1877.
From a manually operated instrument making impressions on metal foil and replaying
sounds, it became a motor-driven machine playing cylindrical wax records by 1887. By
1890 he had more than 80 patents on it. The Victor Company developed from his patents.
(Alexander Graham Bell impressed sound tracks on cylindrical shellac records; Berliner
invented disk records. Edison's later dictating machine, the Ediphone, used disks.)

Incandescent Lamp

To research incandescence, Edison and others, including J. P. Morgan, organized the

Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. (Later it became the General Electric Company.)
Edison made the first practical incandescent lamp in 1879, and it was patented the
following year. After months of testing metal filaments, Edison and his staff examined
6,000 organic fibers from around the world and decided that Japanese bamboo was best.
Mass production soon made the lamps, although low-priced, profitable.

First Central Electric-Light Power Plant

Prior to Edison's central power station, each user of electricity needed a dynamo
(generator), which was inconvenient and expensive. Edison opened the first commercial
electric station in London in 1882; in September the Pearl Street Station in New York
City marked the beginning of America's electrical age. Within 4 months the station was
lighting more than 5,000 lamps for 230 customers, and the demand for lamps exceeded
supply. By 1890 it supplied current to 20,000 lamps, mainly in office buildings, and to
motors, fans, printing presses, and heating appliances. Many towns and cities installed
central stations.

Increased use of electricity led to Edison-base sockets, junction boxes, safety fuses,
underground conduits, meters, and the three-wire system. Jumbo dynamos, with drum-
wound armatures, could maintain 110 volts with 90 percent efficiency. The three-wire
system, first installed in Sunbury, Pa., in 1883, superseded the parallel circuit, used 110
volts, and necessitated high-resistance lamp filaments (metal alloys were later used).

In 1883 Edison made a significant discovery in pure science, the Edison effect--electrons
flowed from incandescent filaments. With a metal-plate insert, the lamp could serve as a
valve, admitting only negative electricity. Although "etheric force" had been recognized
in 1875 and the Edison effect was patented in 1883, the phenomenon was little known
outside the Edison laboratory. (At this time existence of electrons was not generally
accepted.) This "force" underlies radio broadcasting, long-distance telephony, sound
pictures, television, electric eyes, x-rays, high-frequency surgery, and electronic musical
instruments. In 1885 Edison patented a method to transmit telegraphic "aerial" signals,
which worked over short distances, and later sold this "wireless" patent to Guglielmo
Marconi.
World of Invention on The Wright
Brothers
Wilbur and Orville were born in Indiana and Ohio, respectively; neither sought education
beyond high school, though both showed an aptitude for mechanics and independent
study from an early age. In 1878 the Wright brothers first became interested in flight
when their father brought a toy whirligig home for them to play with. They tinkered with
the basic design and built their own models, displaying an inventiveness that would stay
with them throughout their lives.

When the brothers heard of Otto Lilienthal's fatal glider crash in 1896, they began to
seriously consider the problem of flight. They meticulously studied contemporary
aeronautical research--including that of American engineer Octave Chanute (1832-1910),
a pioneer of the biplane --and observed the flights of soaring birds.

They first tackled the problem of controlling the machine in all three axes of movement
(up and down, side to side, forward and backward) without resorting to the pilot twisting
or shifting his body weight as Lilienthal had. After observing buzzards control their flight
by twisting their wing tips, they settled on wing warping as the best method of
maintaining balance.

To test their theories, the Wrights traveled to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, an ideal site
for wind and terrain. Following experiments with a biplane kite, they built several gliders,
each more sophisticated than its predecessor. During the process they discovered errors in
the mathematical tables that Lilienthal had created to explain lift. To achieve the correct
calculations, they built their own wind tunnel with a homemade pressure-testing device to
check the amount of lift in various wing configurations.

By the time they returned to Kitty Hawk in 1902 with their last glider, the Wright
brothers had solved the basic problems of control. They gave this glider narrower wings
which curved much less than the previous ones. They also mounted a tail assembly on the
back that acted as a rudder, with control wires linking it to the wing-warping mechanism.
Before returning to Dayton, Wilbur Wright flew the glider 622 feet (189.71 m) in just 26
seconds.

The Wrights immediately prepared for powered flight the following year at Kitty Hawk.
They needed a gasoline engine to provide the power, but none in existence was light
enough. Consequently, the resourceful brothers designed and built their own four-
cylinder, 12-horsepower engine.

They also worked on propellers for the craft, only to discover that little was known about
how they worked. They soon realized that a propeller was nothing more than a wing
moving in a circular course and finally designed and built two blades that would be
mounted at the rear of the plane so the craft would be undisturbed by propeller
turbulence. In addition, the blades would spin in opposite directions to prevent torque
from pulling the craft to one side.

The Wrights returned to Kitty Hawk in September 1903, ready to try their powered
machine. Storms, engine problems, and the need to devise a takeoff system slowed
progress. Then, on December 14, 1903, the brothers were ready and Wilbur, who had
won a coin toss, took the first ride. Unaccustomed to the engine's power, he rose too
steeply, stalled, and then plowed into the sand, slightly damaging the craft. On December
17, Orville took his turn. He rose into the air, climbing to about 10 feet (3 m), and landed
12 seconds later, some 120 feet (37 m) beyond the takeoff point. The Wrights flew three
more times that day, with Wilbur covering 852 feet (259 m) in a 59-second flight. In the
next two years, the brothers built improved models of their aircraft and, by 1905, they
were staying aloft for as long as 38 minutes and covering a distance of 24 miles.

In 1908, they sold the first military airplane to the U.S. Department of War; this same
year Orville established several aloft records in excess of one hour before crashing and
injuring himself. Fortunately, he fully recovered and the Wrights formed both a German
and an American company to manufacture airplanes. Although they never became
wealthy due to patent infringements and lawsuits, the brothers were universally hailed as
the first to unlock the secrets of flight through their determination, experimentation, and
inventiveness.
Einstein, Albert

German-born, Swiss-educated Physicist 1879-1955

Albert Einstein was a scientist who revolutionized physics in the early twentieth century
with his theories of relativity. Born in Ulm, Germany, in 1879, Einstein was interested in
science from an early age. While he performed well in school, he disliked the academic
environment and left at the age of fifteen. He took an entrance exam for the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich but failed; only after completing
secondary school was he able to gain entrance to ETH, where he graduated in 1900.
Unable to find a teaching position, Einstein accepted a job in the Swiss patent office in
1902.

During his time as a patent clerk Einstein made some of his most important discoveries.
In 1905 he published three papers, which brought him recognition in the scientific
community. In one he described the physics of Brownian motion, the random motion of
particles in a gas of liquid. In another paper he used the new field of quantum mechanics
to explain the photoelectric effect, where metals give off electrons when exposed to
certain types of light. Einstein published his third, and arguably most famous, paper in
1905, which outlined what later became known as the special theory of relativity. This
theory showed how the laws of physics worked near the speed of light. The paper also
included the famous equation E=mc2, explaining how energy was equal to the mass of an
object times the speed of light squared.

These papers allowed Einstein to exchange his patent clerk job for university positions in
Zurich and Prague before going to Berlin as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of
Physics. Shortly thereafter he published the general theory of relativity, which describes
how gravity warps space and time. This theory was confirmed in 1919 when astronomers
measured the positions of stars near the Sun during a solar eclipse and found that they
had shifted by the amount predicted if the Sun's gravity had warped the light.

The acceptance of Einstein's general theory turned him into an international celebrity.
During the 1920s he toured the world, giving lectures.In 1922 he won the Nobel Prize for
physics, although it was officially awarded for his work studying the photoelectric effect,
not relativity. In 1932 he accepted a part-time position at Princeton University in
Princeton, New Jersey, and planned to split his time between Germany and the United
States. But when the Nazis took power in Germany one month after he arrived at
Princeton, Einstein decided to stay in the United States.

Einstein spent the rest of his scientific career in an unsuccessful pursuit of a theory that
would explain all the fundamental forces of nature. He also took a greater role outside of
physics. In 1939 he cowrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, urging him to
investigate the possibility of developing an atomic bomb and warning him that Germany
was likely doing the same. After the war he urged world leaders to give up nuclear
weapons to preserve peace. In ill health for several years, he died in Princeton in 1955.
Encyclopedia of World Biography on
Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman, Sir
The Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman (1888-1970) was awarded the
Nobel Prize in 1930 for his work on the scattering of light and the discovery of the
Raman effect, which has to do with changes in the wavelength of light scattered by
molecules.

On Nov. 7, 1888, C. V. Raman was born at Trichinopoly, Madras, where his father taught
physics in a church college. A few years later the family moved to Vizagapatam, when
the father was appointed as lecturer in the local college. Raman received his early
education there until he entered Presidency College in Madras in 1902. He graduated
with a bachelor's degree in 1904, standing first in his class and winning the Gold Medal
in physics. By the time he completed his master's degree in physics in 1907, he had
already done original work in optics and acoustics, but since at that time there was little
scope for scientific research in India, he took the competitive examination for a post in
the Finance Department of the government of India. Again he won first place and as a
result was appointed assistant accountant general in the central government offices in
Calcutta.

During the next 10 years, while working in the Finance Department, Raman continued
his scientific researches on his own in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science. The importance of his work was recognized by his appointment in
1917 to the first endowed chair in physics at Calcutta University. He kept this post until
1933.

Raman's years at Calcutta University were marked by great creativity and intellectual
excitement, although by Western standards his laboratory facilities were meager. Many
honors came to him as the significance of his work was acknowledged in India and
abroad, as in 1929, when he was invited to do research at the California Institute of
Technology. The most tangible evidence of this recognition came in 1927, when the
British government conferred a knighthood on him, and in 1930, when he was awarded
the Nobel Prize.

Raman Effect

Raman's early scientific interests were centered on phenomena associated with the
scattering of light, the most familiar example of which is the effect created when light
enters a darkened room through a small hole. The beam of light is then clearly seen
because the light is scattered by the particles of dust in the air. That scattered light
contained wavelengths in different proportions from the wavelengths of the main beam of
light had been known since Tyndall's experiments in 1868, but a fully satisfactory
analysis of the phenomenon had not been made.
It was this and related problems that Raman was studying at Calcutta when he discovered
that when an intense light was passed through a liquid and was scattered by the molecules
in the liquid, the spectrum of the scattered light showed lines not in the spectrum of the
incident light. This discovery was the Raman effect, which had such great influence on
later work on molecular structure and radiation that Raman was recognized as one of the
truly seminal minds in the history of modern physics.

After Raman retired from Calcutta University, he became director of the Indian Institute
of Science in Bangalore, where he remained until 1948, when he became head of the new
Raman Research Institute in the same city. Here he continued to guide research and to
inspire his students and coworkers. They spoke of his intense enthusiasm and volcanic
energy and of his great generosity in acknowledging the contribution of others.
According to one former student, he would "give away whole lines of research which
lesser men would be tempted to keep for themselves."

Raman's attractiveness as a person was rooted in his esthetic approach to science, with his
choice of subjects for investigation reflecting his love of music, color, harmony, and
pattern. He told how his great discovery of the Raman effect was stimulated during a
voyage to Europe in 1921, when he saw for the first time "the wonderful blue
opalescence of the Mediterranean Sea" and began to think that the phenomenon was due
to the scattering of sunlight by the molecules of water.

Raman influenced Indian scientific development through the Indian Journal of Physics,
which he helped found and which he edited. He was also a gifted popularizer of modern
scientific ideas, and he lectured widely to lay audiences. He died in Bangalore on Nov.
21, 1970.