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William Petrie (electrical Engineer)
William Petrie (1821–1908) was an English electrical engineer, known for the development of the arc lamp. Life Born at King's Langley, Hertfordshire, on 21 January 1821, he was eldest of four sons of William Petrie (born 1784), a War Office official, and his wife Margaret Mitton, daughter of the banker Henry Mitton, of the Chase, Enfield. In 1829 his father was sent to the Cape of Good Hope, where he acted until 1837 as deputy commissary-general, with as neighbour Sir John Herschel, the astronomer, who was a significant influence on the younger William Petrie's interest in science. After home education in Cape Town, Petrie, with his brother Martin, entered the South African College. In 1836 Petrie became a medical student at a hospital in Cape Town, but next year the family returned to London and he went to King's College, London. Later (1840) he studied electromagnetism in Frankfurt. He returned to England in 1841, and took out a patent for an electric generator. From 1846 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King's Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village is divided between two local government districts by the River Gade with the larger western portion in the Borough of Dacorum and smaller part, to the east of the river, in Three Rivers District. It was the location of Kings Langley Palace and the associated King's Langley Priory, of which few traces survive. It is situated south of Hemel Hempstead and north of Watford. The earliest mention in surviving documents of the manor of ''Langalega'' is in a Saxon charter dated ''circa'' 1050. It appears as ''Langelai'' in the Domesday Book of 1086, and is recorded as ''Langel' Regis'' ("Langley of the King") in 1254. The name means "long wood or clearing". History A Roman villa has been excavated just south of the village. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1821 Births
Events January–March * January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. * January 26 – Congress of Laibach convenes to deal with outstanding international issues, particularly the outbreak of a revolution in southern Italy. * January 28 – Alexander Island, the largest in Antarctica, is first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. * February 9 – Columbian College in the District of Columbia is chartered by President James Monroe (it becomes George Washington University). * February 10 – In Mexico, the Embrace of Acatempan takes place between Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero, which seals the peace between the viceroyalty troops and the insurgents. * February 28 – Congress of Laibach formally comes to an end. However the leading participants remain as fresh uprisings break out in Northern Italy and Greece. * March 7 – The Battle of Rieti is fought in Italy between intervening Aust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Flinders
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland (Australia), New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to utilise the name ''Australia'' to describe the entirety of that continent including Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), a title he regarded as being "more agreeable to the ear" than previous names such as ''Terra Australis''. Flinders was involved in several voyages of discovery between 1791 and 1803, the most famous of which are the circumnavigation of Australia and an earlier expedition when he and George Bass confirmed that Van Diemen's Land was an island. While returning to Britain in 1803, Flinders was arrested by the French at the colony of Isle de France (Mauritius), Isle de France. Although Britain and France were at war, Flinders thought t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Society Of Arts
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, social progress, and sustainable development. Through its extensive network of changemakers, thought leadership, and projects, the RSA seeks to drive transformative change, enabling “people, places, and the planet to thrive in harmony.” Committed to social change and creating progress, the RSA embodies a philosophy that values the intersection of arts, industry, and societal well-being to address contemporary challenges and enrich communities worldwide. From its "beginnings in a coffee house in the mid-eighteenth century", the RSA, which began as a UK institution, is now an international society for the improvement of "everything and anything". An "ambitious" organisation, the RSA has "evolved and adapted, constantly reinventing itself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief Executive is Hannah Russell. The BSA's mission is to get more people engaged in the field of science by coordinating, delivering, and overseeing different projects that are suited to achieve these goals. The BSA "envisions a society in which a diverse group of people can learn and apply the sciences in which they learn." and is managed by a professional staff located at their Head Office in the Wellcome Wolfson Building. The BSA offers a wide variety of activities and events that both recognise and encourage people to be involved in science. These include the British Science Festival, British Science Week, the CREST Awards, For Thought, The Ideas Fund, along with regional and local events. History Foundation The Association was founded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophical Magazine
The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006, accessed 17 Feb 2010 in 1822 Richard Taylor (editor), Richard Taylor became joint editor and it has been published continuously by Taylor & Francis ever since. Early history The name of the journal dates from a period when "natural philosophy" embraced all aspects of science. The very first paper published in the journal carried the title "Account of Mr Cartwright's Patent Steam Engine". Other articles in the first volume include "Methods of discovering whether Wine has been adulterated with any Metals prejudicial to Health" and "Description of the Apparatus used by Lavoisier to produce Water from its component Parts, Oxyg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrochemistry
Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronically conducting phase (typically an external electrical circuit, but not necessarily, as in Electroless nickel-phosphorus plating, electroless plating) between electrodes separated by an ionically conducting and electronically insulating electrolyte (or ionic chemical species, species in a Solution (chemistry), solution). When a chemical reaction is driven by an electrical Voltage, potential difference, as in electrolysis, or if a potential difference results from a chemical reaction as in an electric battery or fuel cell, it is called an ''electrochemical'' reaction. Unlike in other chemical reactions, in electrochemical reactions electrons are not transferred directly between atoms, ions, or molecules, but via the aforementioned electron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Wheatstone
Sir Charles Wheatstone (; 6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875) was an English physicist and inventor best known for his contributions to the development of the Wheatstone bridge, originally invented by Samuel Hunter Christie, which is used to measure an unknown electrical resistance, and as a major figure in the development of telegraphy. His other contributions include the English concertina, the stereoscope (a device for displaying three-dimensional images) and the Playfair cipher (an encryption technique). Life Charles Wheatstone was born in Barnwood, Gloucestershire. His father, W. Wheatstone, was a music-seller in the town, who moved to 128 Pall Mall, London, four years later, becoming a teacher of the flute. Charles, the second son, went to a village school, near Gloucester, and afterwards to several institutions in London. One of them was in Kennington, and kept by a Mrs. Castlemaine, who was astonished at his rapid progress. From another he ran away, but was captured ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hungerford Suspension Bridge
The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (who use its official name of Charing Cross Bridge) it is a steel truss railway bridge flanked by two more recent, cable-stayed, pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's foundation piers, and which are named the Golden Jubilee Bridges. The north end of the bridge is Charing Cross railway station, and is near Embankment Pier and the Victoria Embankment. The south end is near Waterloo station, County Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and the London Eye. Each pedestrian bridge has steps and lift access. History The first Hungerford Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened in 1845 as a suspension footbridge. It was named after the then Hungerford Market, because it went from the South Bank, specifically a northern point of Lambeth, soon close to London Waterloo station to that place on the north side o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi. The National Gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its collection belongs to the government on behalf of the British public, and entry to the main collection is free of charge. Unlike comparable museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein in 1824. After that initial purchase, the gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, especially Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which now account for two-thirds o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candlepower
Candlepower (abbreviated as cp or CP) is a unit of measurement for luminous intensity. It expresses levels of light intensity relative to the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents. The historical candlepower is equal to 0.981 candelas. In modern usage, ''candlepower'' is sometimes used as a synonym for ''candela''. History The term candlepower was originally defined in the United Kingdom, by the Metropolitan Gas Act 1860, as the light produced by a pure spermaceti candle that weighs and burns at a rate of . Spermaceti is a material from the heads of sperm whales, and was once used to make high-quality candles. At the time the UK established candlepower as a unit, the French standard of light was based on the illumination from a Carcel burner, which defined the illumination that emanates from a lamp burning pure colza oil (obtained from the seed of the plant '' Brassica campestris'') at a defined rate. Ten standard candles equaled about one Carcel burner. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
