In devising ways of communicating with the right hemisphere ,RW Sperry won the 1981 Nobel Prize for medicine , by showing the right hemisphere is " indeed a conscious system in its own right, perceiving, thinking, remembering & reasoning, " —Roger Wolcott Sperry CALTEC
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ENGINEERS
StephensonStephenson, George (1781-1848), was a British engineer whose inventions helped create the British railway system. Stephenson's skill in repairing coal-hauling engines in the mines earned him the title of "engine doctor." He finally decided to build a locomotive of his own. His first locomotive, Blucher (1814), was able to pull eight coal wagons at 6 kilometres per hour. Stephenson soon introduced the use of steam exhausted from the cylinders to increase the draught in the firebox. The fire in turn became hotter and made steam of a higher pressure. His locomotive Rocket (1829) travelled at the then unheard-of speed of 46 kph. It was a model for later steam locomotives. Stephenson invented many useful things besides engines, including a miner's lamp and an alarm clock. He became well known for building the world's first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington, which opened in 1825. Then he built the difficult Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Here he used his ideas for tunnels, grading, and bridges to make a level roadbed. Stephenson was born in Wylam, near Newcastle, England. As a boy, he made models of engines of clay and sticks which later helped him work out some of his great projects. He was consulted on railway projects in many countries, and spread his ideas for safety and passenger comfort. With the wealth from his inventions and locomotives, he became a philanthropist. His night schools for miners, and libraries, music clubs, recreation rooms, and schools for miners' children, were as original in his day as were his inventions.
DaimlerDaimler, Gottlieb (1834-1900), a German engineer, developed an internal-combustion engine light enough to power a car. He and Wilhelm Maybach worked with motors for years, and produced a motor-bicycle in 1885. They made a four-wheeled car in 1886. The Daimler Company was founded in 1890, and produced the Mercedes car. The Daimler and Benz companies merged to make the Mercedes-Benz car in 1926.
NiemeyerNiemeyer, Oscar (1907-...), is a Brazilian architect. He is best known as the designer of the principal buildings of Brasilia, the Brazilian capital (see BRASILIA). Niemeyer often uses decorative shapes for entire buildings, and in repetitious architectural elements. He has said that his designs are inspired by Brazilian climatic and social conditions, and the nation's colonial baroque art heritage. Niemeyer was born in Rio de Janeiro. His early work was influenced by brief contact with the architect Le Corbusier. An example of this work is the Ministry of Education (1937-1943) in Rio de Janeiro. It is shaped like a concrete slab, with windows set deeply into the building to provide sun shades. During the early 1940's, Niemeyer served as chief architect for Pampulha, a new residential suburb near Belo Horizonte.
McCoyMcCoy, Elijah (1844?-1929), was a black American engineer and inventor who developed the automatic lubricator. His invention, the lubricator cup, continuously supplies lubricants to moving parts of machines. Before McCoy's invention in the early 1870's, machines had to be shut down frequently for lubrication. The lubricator cup saves both time and money because it oils machine parts as they operate. Throughout his life, McCoy worked to design and improve lubricating systems for locomotives and other machines. The expression the real McCoy, meaning the real thing, may have originated with machinery buyers who insisted that their new equipment have only McCoy lubricators. McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario. He was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer and later worked as a fireman-oilman for several railways in Michigan, U.S.A.
WrenWren, Sir Christopher (1632-1723), was an English architect, scientist, and mathematician. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, he redesigned part or all of 55 of the 87 churches that had been destroyed. The most famous one is St. Paul's Cathedral (1710). The grace and variety of many of Wren's church spires are still a feature of the London skyline. His other major buildings include the churches of St. Bride (about 1678) and St. James (about 1684), Chelsea Hospital (about 1691), and Greenwich Hospital (about 1715). Wren was born in the village of East Knoyle in the county of Wiltshire. His early interests and training were in science and mathematics. From 1641 to 1646, he attended Westminster School in London, where the poet John Dryden and the philosopher John Locke were fellow students. Wren received his B.A. degree from Oxford University in 1651 and his M.A. degree there in 1653. Wren also studied anatomy and physiology and prepared models to show how muscles function. In 1657, Wren was appointed professor of astronomy at Gresham College in London. His lectures in Latin and English became popular and helped spread his reputation among European scientists. In 1661, King Charles II appointed Wren to the important architectural position of assistant surveyor-general. In 1663, Wren attracted attention with his proposal for a unique roofing system over the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. Unlike other English architects of his day, Wren never went to Italy to gain firsthand knowledge of classical architecture. He did visit France in 1665, and the architecture he saw there probably influenced his work. Wren was a founding member of the Royal Society in 1660. According to a biography written by his son, Wren was responsible for 53 inventions, experiments, and theories.
LutyensLutyens, Sir Edwin Landseer (1869-1944), was one of the most important English architects of the early 1900's. His designs show the influence of Palladian Revival and other English architectural styles of the 1700's (see ARCHITECTURE [The Palladian Revival]). Lutyens first became prominent for country houses he designed with the English landscape architect Gertrude Jekyll. Their best-known country houses included Munstead Wood (1896) near Godalming, Surrey, and Deanery Garden (1901) in Sonning, Berkshire. Later in his career, Lutyens turned to town planning. Two of his most important projects were the village centre in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, and the layout for the city of New Delhi, India. His other works include the Cenotaph war memorial (1920) in London and the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1930). Lutyens was born in London.
JonesJones, Inigo (1573-1652), was the first major architect of the English Renaissance. He introduced the Palladian influence of northern Italy into English architecture. The term Palladian comes from the name of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (see PALLADIO, ANDREA). Its qualities appear in Jones's most admired building, the Banqueting House (1622) at Whitehall Palace in London. Jones was also famous as a designer of sets, costumes, and stage machinery for dramatic spectacles called masques. The works he created for the courts of James I and Charles I influenced later theatrical design. Jones was born in London. He studied Palladio's architecture during trips to Italy in about 1600 and again in 1613-1614. Jones served as surveyor (architect) to King James I from 1615 to 1625 and to King Charles I from 1625 to 1642.
Goddard
EiffelEiffel, Alexandre Gustave (1832-1923), was the French structural and aeronautical engineer who designed the 300-metre Eiffel Tower in Paris for the World's Fair of 1889. His notable bridges include the wrought iron bridge at Porto, Portugal, and the Garabit viaduct in southern France. Eiffel also designed many other iron structures, including the framework for the Statue of Liberty in New York. Eiffel was born in Dijon, France.
BrunnelIsambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) was a bridge and railway engineer. In 1831, he designed the Clifton suspension bridge over the River Avon, in Bristol, England. Work on the bridge started in 1836, but was abandoned for lack of funds. It was eventually completed in 1864. He also built the Hungerford bridge over the River Thames, completed in 1845, and the Tamar bridge over the River Tamar, in southwest England, completed in 1859. In 1833, he was appointed engineer to the Great Western Railway. He constructed railways in Italy, and was consultant for railways built in Australia and Asia. In the 1840's, Brunel designed the Great Britain, which was the first iron-built steamship to be screw-propelled across the Atlantic. The Great Britain made its first transatlantic crossing in 1845. During the 1850's, Brunel worked on the Great Eastern, the largest steamship to have been built at that time. The work and worry of building the Great Eastern broke Brunel's health, and he died soon after the start of its trial voyage in 1859. Isambard Brunel was born at Portsmouth, in Hampshire, England. In 1823, he joined his father in working on the Rotherhithe Tunnel, under the River Thames. |