Nobel

Nobel was born on October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. Nobel, who invented dynamite, endowed a $9 million fund in his will. The interest on this endowment was to be used as awards for people whose work most benefited humanity. He wanted the profit from his invention to be used to reward human ingenuity. First awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize ,is still the. most honoured in the world. In 1842 Nobel's family moved to St. Petersburg, Russia where he obtained his education. He travelled widely as a young man, becoming fluent in five languages. Nobel was interested in literature and wrote novels, poetry and plays in his spare time. In the 1860s he began experiments with nitroglycerin in his father's factory. He tried many ways to stabilise this highly volatile material. Nobel discovered that a mix of nitroglycerin and a fine porous powder called kieselguhr was most effective. He named this mixture as dynamite, and received a patent in 1867. He set up factories around the world to manufacture dynamite and other explosives. Construction and mining companies, and the military ordered large quantities of this relatively safe explosive. Sales of dynamite brought Nobel great wealth. His other chemical research provided valuable information on the development. of artificial rubber, leather, silk and precious stones.   Background and Establishment of the Nobel Foundation Alfred Nobel died on Dec. 10, 1 896. The provisions of his will and their unusual purpose, as well as their partly incomplete form, attracted great attention and soon led to skepticism and criticism, also aimed at the testator due to his international spirit. Only after several years of negotiations and often rather bitter conflicts, and after various obstacles had been circumvented or overcome, could the fundamental concepts presented in the will assume solid form with the establishment of the Nobel Foundation. On. June 29, 1900, after series of alterations, suggestions, modifications, the Statutes of the newly created legatee, the Nobel Foundation, and special regulations for the Swedish Prize-Awarding Institutions were promulgated by the King in Council (Oscar II). The same year as the political union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905, special regulations were adopted on April 10, 1905, by the Nobel Committee of the Storting (known since January 1, 1977 as the Norwegian Nobel Committee), the awarder of the Nobel Peace Prize. Premises : To create a worthy framework around the prizes, the Board decided at an early stage that it would erect its own building in Stockholm, which would include a hall for the Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet as well as its own administrative offices. Ferdinand Boberg was selected as the architect. He presented an ambitious proposal for a Nobel Palace, which generated extensive publicity but also led to doubts and questions. On Dee. 19, 1918, a building at Sturegatan 14 was bought for this purpose. After years of renovation there, the Foundation finally left its cramped premises at Norrlandsgatan 6 in 1926 and moved to Sturegatan, 14, where the Foundation has been housed ever since. Objectives of the Foundation : The Nobel Foundation is a private institution. It is entrusted with protecting the common interests of the Prize Awarding Institutions named in the will, as well as representing the Nobel institutions externally. This includes informational activities as well as arrangements related to the presentation of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is not, however, involved in the selection process and the final choice of the Laureates (as Nobel Prize winners are also called). In this work, the Prize-Awarding Institutions are not only entirely independent of all government agencies and organisations, but also of the Nobel Foundation. Their autonomy is of crucial importance to the objectivity and quality of their prize decisions. One vital task of the Foundation is to manage its assets in such a way as to safeguard the financial base of the prizes themselves and of the prize selection process. Statutes and Significant Amendments during 100 Years : The Statutes, as revised in 2000, assign roles to the different bodies or individuals in the Nobel Foundation's activities. The first Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation was elected by the Trustees on September 27, 1900 (Hans Forsell, Ragrar Tornebladh, Henrik Santesson, and Ragnar Sdhlman, with Mauritz Salin and Oscar Montelius as Deputies). On the following day, former Prime Minister Erik Gustaf Bostrom was appointed Chairman of the Board by the King in Council with the Justice of the Supreme Court C. G. Hernmarck as Deputy. On October 3, 1900 the Board elected Assistant Circuit Judge Henrik Santesson as the first Executive Director of the Foundation. Effective on January 1, 1901 the Board assumed management of the Foundation's assets. Financial Management : The main task of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the financial base of the Nobel Prizes and of the work connected to the selection of the Nobel Laureates. In its role as a financial manager, the Nobel Foundation resembles an investment company. The investment policy of the Foundation is naturally of the greatest importance in preserving and increasing its funds, thereby ensuring the size of the Nobel Prizes. Then, in 1953, the Government approved a radical liberalisation of the investment rules. The Foundation was granted a more extensive freedom to manage its capital independently, as well as the opportunity to invest in stocks and real estate. Freedom of investment, coupled with tax-exemption and the financial expertise of the Board, led to a transformation from passive to active management. This can be regarded as a landmark change in the role of the Foundation's Board. During the 1960s and I 970s, the value of the Nobel Prizes multiplied in Swedish krona terms but rapid inflation meanwhile undermined their real value, leaving each prize largely unchanged. The same was true of the Foundation's capital. The first Nobel Prize in 1901 amounted to SEK 150,000, equivalent to SEK 7.4 million in 2006 money. By 1991, the Foundation had restored the Nobel Prizes to their 1901 real value. Today the nominal fund capital of the Nobel Foundation is about SEK 3.6 billion. In 2006 each of the five Nobel Prizes as well as the Economics Prize was worth SEK 10 million (about USD 1.45 million). This is well above the nominal value of the entire original fund, and higher than the real value of the original prizes. Since January I, 2000, the Nobel Foundation has also been permitted to apply the capital gains from the sale of assets toward the prize amounts. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel : On the occasion of its 300th anniversary in 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) made a large donation to the Nobel Foundation. A Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded since 1969. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is entrusted with the role of Prize Awarding-Institution, in accordance with Nobel Prize rules. The Board of the Nobel Foundation has subsequently decided that it will allow no further new prizes. Nobel Symposia : An important addition to the activities of the Nobel Foundation is its Symposium program, which was initiated in 1965 and has achieved a high international standing. Approximately 135 Nobel Symposia, dealing with topics at the frontiers of science and culture and related to the Prize categories, have taken place. Nobel Festivities : The Nobel Foundation is an "investment company" with rather unusual facets. Every year this investment company moves into show business by organising the Nobel Festivities and numerous related arrangements that take place in December. The Nobel Foundation is responsible for organising the Nobel Festivities in Stockholm, while in Norway the Norwegian Nobel Committee is in 'Charge of the corresponding arrangements. On December 10, 1901, the Nobel Prizes were awarded for the first time in Stockholm and in Christiania (now Oslo) respectively. Christiania / Oslo The King of Norway is present, but it is the Chairman of the Nobel Committee who hands over the Prize to the Laureate or Laureates. The Nobel Banquet in Norway is a dignified formal occasion, but much less pretentious than the Banquet in Stockholm. It takes place at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, with approximately 250 guests. A New Century : After more than a hundred years of existence, the Nobel Prizes - as well as the centenarian Nobel Foundation - have become solid institutions, based on a great tradition since their beginning. The original criticisms aimed at the whole idea of the Nobel Prizes have faded into oblivion. Both in Sweden and in Norway, the awarding of the prizes is regarded as an event of national importance. The Nobel Foundation has now entered a new century, with museum and exhibition projects, while being able to look back at its past successes in many fields.

SCIENTIFIC APPLIANCES AND THEIR WORKING PRINCIPLES

Aeroplane: An aeroplane usually consists of the following three parts: (i) Wings, (ii) The engine and the propeller; and (iii) The tail. Working: In order to operate an aeroplane, the propeller is made to revolve at a very high speed with the help of a powerful petrol engine. The direction of the blades is so adjusted as to push the air in a backward direction, thereby producing a relative velocity between the ’plane and air—thus pushing the aeroplane in a forward direction. The push should be large enough to overcome the drag  and should supply power for climbing. Air conditioning: is the process of controlling the humidity, temperature, purity and circulation of air in a certain factory, a public building, hotels or a private house. The major aim of air-conditioning is to regulate the temperature, thereby producing a “cooling effect” on the whole. Exhaust machines are devised at a particular place for driving out waste and dirty gases, thereby completely purifying the air. Binoculars: is an instrument used for seeing distant objects; the rays of light are twice reflected by means of right-angled prisms. Carburettor: It is an apparatus for getting liquid fuel mixed with air as it is taken into an automobile or other like engines. CD-Rom: It is a computer peripheral device that employs compact disk technology to store large amounts of digitized data for later retrieval. Cellular Phone: This phone allows you to make a telephone while on the move. It can be installed in vehicles or can be carried along. Cinematography: The  principle  of  persistence  of vision is utilised in cinematography. A cinematograph is an apparatus for projecting the pictures of moving objects on the screen. The instantaneous photographs of the successive positions of the moving body are photographed on a continuous film with the help of a special camera called the movie camera, with an automatic shutter at the rate of nearly 16 per second. The film duly developed is projected intermittently with a similar shutter as above so that it opens when the film is stationary and closes when it jerks off. Computer: A complicated electronic machine which can perform incredibly complex calculations at incomprehensible speeds. It was invented by Charles Babbage. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. A computer consists of a Central Processing Unit (C.P.U.) and a number of peripheral units. A computer does not do anything which a human being cannot do. Only that it does is much faster and accurately. Dewar Flask: is a double-walled glass flask, the inner surface of the outer vessel and the outer surface of the inner vessel of which have been silvered. The vacuum is created in the space between the two walls. This principle successfully prevents any interchange of temperature of the contents, because: (1) glass is a bad conductor (2) convection is not possible because there is vacuum between the walls and (3) a little radiation that takes place from the inner vessel is reflected by the inner surface of the outer wall. Daniel Cell: In this a rod of zinc is placed in dilute sulphuric acid contained in a cylindrical porous pot. The porous pot and its contents are placed in a large cylindrical copper vessel which also functions as positive pole of the cell. The space between the porous pot and the copper vessel is occupied by a solution of copper sulphate. The hydrogen produced by the action of the zinc on sulphuric acid travels towards the copper electrode. On delivering its electricity to the copper, it reacts with the copper sulphate turning copper out of the solution and forming sulphuric acid. The particles of copper liberated from the solution adhere to the outer copper vessel and thus the hydrogen is rendered harmless so far as polarisation is concerned. Diesel Engine: It is a particular type of internal combustion engine, known as compression ignition engine. The air inside the cylinder is usually compressed to over 500 lbs. per sq. in. and the temperature is attained up to 800°F. At this stage the oil is injected into the hot compressed air, which gets ignited immediately, thereby producing a continuous gas stream, which pushes the piston upward. And thereafter the engine gets into operation. Dynamo: The origin of the electricity in a dynamo is the transformation of mechanical energy into electrical energy. It depends on the principle of electro-magnetic induction whereby a current is produced on traversing a magnetic field. Electric Bell: In an electric bell, there is one horse-shoe electromagnet, which plays an important role. A soft iron armature which is connected to a hammer H, is placed in front of the pole pieces of the electromagnet. One end of the coil of the electromagnet is connected to the terminal T2  while the other end is connected indirectly to the terminal T1 (i.e., through the soft iron armature which rests on the spring contact as shown in the diagram). On connecting the terminals T1 and T2  through battery, the electromagnet attracts the soft iron piece, and the hammer H in turn strikes the gong G, which produces a sound. Simultaneously, the contact between the spring and the screw breaks which demagnetises the electromagnet and the soft iron piece falls back to make up the circuit once again. The process is repeated again and again, which produces a continuous sound. Electric Lamp: The electric lamp is based on the principle that when an electric current is passed through a very fine metallic filament inside an evacuated glass bulb, it is heated so as to render the wire white hot or incandescent. The wire being very thin offers great resistance to the passage of the current so that considerable heat is developed and the temperature rises to make it luminous and thus emit light. The resistance generally increases as the temperature rises and soon an equilibrium is reached and there is no further rise of temperature, the amount of heat radiated by the filament being equal to that generated in it by the electric current. In order that the metallic filament shall not oxidise or rust, oxygen is removed from the bulb by pumping out air or generally some inert gas such as nitrogen or some other gas is made to fill the bulb. Electric Motor: An electric motor is a device which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. A D.C. motor generally consists of several segments of a coil of a wire of a large number of turns wound over a soft iron cylinder called the armature. It is mounted on an axle about which it revolves and is placed between the poles of an electromagnet called the field magnets.  There are the commutator, brushes and the leads. It is based on the principle that a conductor carrying current experiences a force when placed in a magnetic field. Electro Cardio-gram (E.C.G.): It is actually a graphic picture of the heart-beat which the physician can make use of in the diagnosis. When the heart beats, its muscles contract and this causes a change in the electrical potential of the system. This change in potential is recorded on a paper by an electrical instrument known as electrocardiograph. The electrodes are connected to the two wrists and the left leg of the patient, and the machine acts like a galvanometer, the needle of which rests on a rotating drum covered with a paper, and thus the movements of the needle are recorded. Electromagnet: whenever an electric current passed through a coil of wire, a large number of turns, wound round a soft iron core, the iron core gets magnetised and it becomes a powerful magnet, and is known as an electromagnet. This magnetism is temporary and lasts so long as the current passes through the coil. Looking at the end of the soft iron bar if the current in the coil is clockwise in direction that end of the bar is South Pole; if the current is counter-clockwise, that end is a North Pole. Electron Microscope: It is just analogous to optical microscope in a way that beams of electrons are focused by magnetic lenses in a similar way to the focusing of light beams in the ordinary optical microscope. Germans were the pioneer to invent the electron microscope, during the year 1930. Direct  magnification up to 10,000 times is possible. Still higher magnification is possible with the Proton Microscope. FAX: Short for facsimile, it is a device that transmits pictures, drawings, text to a similar device at the receiving end, using telephone lines. Fibre Optics: It is a branch of physics based on the transmission of light through transparent fibres of glass or plastic. These optical fibres can carry light over distances ranging from a few inches or centimetres to more more than 100 miles (160 kilometres). Such fibres work individually or in bundles. Some individual fibres measure less than 0.004 millimetre in diameter. Optical fibres have a highly transparent core of glass or plastic surrounded by a covering called a cladding. Light impulses from a laser, a light bulb, or some other source enter one end of the optical fibre. As light travels through the core, it is typically kept inside it by the cladding. The cladding is designed to bend or reflect-inward-light rays that strike its inside surface. At the other end of the fibre, a detector, such as a photosensitive device or the human eye, receives the light. Uses of Optical Fibres: Optical fibres have a number of uses. Various industries use optical fibres to measure temperature, pressure, acceleration, and voltage. In fibre-optic communication systems, lasers transmit coded messages by flashing on and off at high speeds. The messages travel through optical fibres to interpreting devices that decode the messages, converting them back into the form of the original signal. Fibre-optic communication systems have a number of features that make them superior to systems that use traditional copper cables. For example, they have a much larger information-carrying capacity and are not subject to electrical interference. In addition, signals sent over long-distance fibre-optic cables need less amplification than do signals sent over copper cables of equal length. Optical fibres are well-suited for medical use. They can be made in extremely thin, flexible strands for insertion into the blood vessels, lungs, and other hollow parts of the body. Optical fibres are used in a number of techniques that enable physicians to look and work inside the body through tiny incisions. Fire Extinguisher: works by spraying continuous streams of carbon dioxide gas, which does not support combustion, and so acts as a fire extinguishing agent. Fire extinguisher is a medium size metallic cylinder fitted with a head-knob and a handle. At the time of emergency, the knob is struck against the floor, and carbon dioxide gas begins to evolve. Inside this cylinder a bottle of dilute solution of sulphuric acid is embedded in sodium carbonate powder. When the bottle is broken, sulphuric acid reacts with sodium carbonate to produce large quantities of the gas. Fusion Torch: is an instrument to be evolved by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. It will use the power of the Hydrogen bomb to vaporise solid waste like junk-cars and bearcans, into their basic elements. The idea is based on the assumption that within a few years scientists will be able to harness the energy of the Hydrogen bomb—Controlled thermo-nuclear fusion—for use in electrical power plants. Geiger Counter: A G.M. counter or Geiger-Muller counter is a device used for detecting and/or counting nuclear radiation and particles. Heart Lung Machine: A machine which operates the function of the heart and lung at the time when the heart or lung is under operation. It directs the circulation of blood into body. Incandescent lamp: If a body of sufficiently high melting point say platinum wire is raised to a high temperature, some of the radiations coming out fall within the range termed “light”. The range comprises of radiation of short wave lengths and high frequencies. When such a body is heated it emits different colours at different temperatures, and ultimately, it gives dazzling white light at 1500°C and above. So the incandescent lamp consists of a metal of a high melting point (generally tungsten) enclosed in an evacuated glass globe and heated by an electric current. The filament is either in the form of an open spiral of straight wire or in the form of a ring of coiled wire. This lamp consumes about 1.4 watt per candle. Internal Combustion Engine: is an engine in which energy supplied by a burning fuel is directly transformed into mechanical energy by the controlled combustion of the fuel in an enclosed cylinder behind a piston. It is usually applied to the petrol- burning or Diesel oil-burning engine. Jet Engine: The essential components of the jet engine is the Gas turbine. It drives the rotary air compressor, which supplies compressed air to the combustion chamber, where a fuel like kerosene oil or gasoline enters and burns. The hot exploded gases are then expelled to the rear in a high velocity jet exhaust. It is the reaction of the plane on this jet of ejected gases that drives it forward. Jet Propulsion: It is now being commonly employed for propulsion of aircraft and the underlying principle is Newton’s third law of motion, that is, “to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Here a gas turbine drives the rotary air compressor which supplies compressed air to the combustion chamber, where the fuel-like gasoline enters and burns. The hot exploded gases are expelled to the rear in a high velocity jet exhaust. It is the reaction of the ‘plane on this jet of fastly ejected gases that drives it forward. It has made possible supersonic speeds. Difference between Rocket and Jet Engine: The essential difference between the propulsion of a jet engine and a rocket is that the gas turbines used in a jet engine require air to supply oxygen for the burning of the fuel. Rockets contain both fuel and an oxidizer to make them burn. Liquid oxygen is often used. So a jet engine would work only in the lower strata of the atmosphere where sufficient oxygen can be supplied by the air-compressors. The high velocity jet from a rocket is available for thrust in the upper atmosphere and even beyond the limits of our atmosphere. For rocket flights of course, the wings and rudders would be absolutely useless since there would be no air to exert force on them. LASER: or Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, LASER is a device that harnesses light to produce an intense beam of radiation of a very pure, single colour. The power of the beam can be low (as in a food store laser scanner which reads prices on packages) or high (as in lasers used to cut metals). The first laser was built in 1960. Lightning Conductor: It consists of a metal rod, the upper part of which is made up of copper with a number of conical points, the lower portion being an iron strip which extends deep into the earth’s moist layers. A lightning conductor protects the building from the effect of lightning in two ways: (i) The pointed conductors are charged by induction oppositely thus setting up an opposite wind which brings about a slow and silent discharge of the cloud. (ii) If however the lightning does strike, the discharge may be carried to the earth through the metal strip without doing any damage to the building. In ships also, lightning conductors are fixed to the masts and carried down through the ship’s keel-sheathing. Loud Speaker: It is a device for converting electrical energy into sound energy. There are various types of loud speakers but the commonest and most efficient type used now-a-days is the moving coil type. It is based on the principle that when a varying current is passed through a conductor in a magnetic field, the conductor is acted on by a variable force and if the current is oscillatory, the conductor is set into vibrations. Mariner’s Compass: is an apparatus which is used to guide the sailors. The needle always points north-south. It consists of a magnetised bar with a card bearing the directions viz., north, south, east etc. The card is correctly mounted above and firmly attached to the magnetised bar. When the magnet moves in relation to the ship’s course, the card automatically moves with it. Motor-Car: A motor-car usually consists of the following working parts: (i) Internal combustion engine (ii) Gear Box (iii) Battery (iv) Carburettor (v) Dynamo (vi) Radiator. Working: In order to operate a motor-car, the petrol from a container is ignited with the help of the battery. The vapours produced thereof are allowed to mix with air in the carburettor section, and thereafter the mixture is allowed to enter the cylinder of the internal combustion engine. The gases on expansion push the piston upwards thereby moving the crank-shaft, which in turn moves the main axle of the car. The motion of axle is controlled by the gear box. Periscope: It is a device for viewing objects which are above the eye-level of the observer, or are placed so that direct vision is obstructed. It is usually used by the crew of a submarine to survey the ships etc., on the surface of the sea while the submarine is under water. It also enables sailors to observe objects on the other side of an obstacle without exposing themselves. It consists of a long tube, at each end of which is a right-angled prism, so situated that, by total internal reflection at the longest faces, light is turned through an angle of 90° by each prism. The light from a viewed object thus enters the observer’s eye in a direction parallel to, but below, the original direction of the object. Phytotron: is a big machine costing two million dollars and capable of producing any type of climate to order. It has been installed in Duke University, Durham, North Carolina to facilitate studies of environmental biology—particularly growing of plants under varying climatic conditions. The machine can duplicate any set of climatic conditions from the tropical to the Arctic in the brick and glass building in which it is housed. It has six specially equipped green houses and 40 controlled plant chambers. It is a useful device for the study of environmental biology. Radar: precisely means: Radio, Angle, Detection And Range. It is one of the interesting developments of wireless waves the principle of which has been utilised in the radio location technique or popularly known as RADAR. It is an electrical device used for the detection and location of the aircraft with the help of radio frequency waves. Working: Wireless waves having very short wavelengths are set free in the shape of concentrated beam to flood or cover the required area of the sky. An aircraft entering that particular area is supposed to intercept the spreading waves, and an echo is reflected back to the transmitting station. In addition to detection of the aircraft, its distance from a particular place can also be calculated by recording the time taken by the wireless waves in travelling back. A discrimination between the aircraft of an enemy and a friendly nation can be made by understanding the nature of Echo. Refrigerator: It is an apparatus or chamber for producing and maintaining a low temperature. The principle employed in the working of a refrigerator is that heat is absorbed by a liquid as it evaporates, thus producing a cooling effect. The substance commonly employed is liquid ammonia sulphur dioxide. Rocket: The underlying principle of the flight of a rocket is Newton’s Third Law of Motion viz., To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. It is a self-propelled vehicle which depends upon the force provided by a fuel carried along with it. As the fuel burns, products of combustion are forced out at terrific speed at the rear of the vehicle and ejection imparts motion to it in the forward direction. It has its own oxygen supply for burning the fuel and therefore, there is no dependence on air for combustion or propulsion. Rocket Bomb: If a rocket engine is used as a missile to carry an explosive charge it is termed as a Rocket Bomb. The principle of a rocket engine is the same as that of a jet engine but unlike the jet engine it carries its supply of oxygen with it to burn the fuel and is thus independent of the oxygen of the air. The hot gases formed in the combustion of the fuel are led through a nozzle. If a quantity of gas of mass m leaves the nozzle in time t with a velocity v, the force exerted on the mass of gas and hence the force also on the rocket = mv/t. Such a rocket bomb can be hurled from a place outside our atmosphere. Safety Lamp, Davy’s: It is based on the principle of rapid conduction of heat by a metal. In the miner’s safety lamp, the flame of the lamp is surrounded by glass and above this is a space surrounded by five copper gauzes. Inflammable gases which may be present in the mine can pass through and burn inside the lamp. The copper gauze conducts away the heat so rapidly and effectively that the ignition point of the gas outside the gauze is never reached and thus the possibility of an explosion is avoided. Seismograph: It is an instrument used for the registration of earth tremors, and consists of principle of a heavy pendulum system, the supporting framework following the ground movements and the bob remaining at rest on account of its large inertia thereby setting up a relative movement between the two parts of the seismograph. This movement is recorded with the help of electromagnetic transducers, galvanometers and electronic amplifiers. In order to record the displacements completely, usually three seismographs are made to set at one particular station. Sound Barrier: Before the advent of aircraft with supersonic speeds, it was apprehended that when the speeds of the aircraft and sound were equal, the compressional waves produced by the flight of the aircraft will be unable to get away and will give rise to a sound barrier which will offer a considerable resistance to the motion of the aircraft and huge structural stresses and strains will be called into play attended by great noise likely to react unfavourably on the crew. But no such effects have been observed now that the speed of the jet-propelled aircraft and rockets far exceeds that of sound. Spring Balance: A Spring Balance is used for measuring weights. The principle involved is that the stretching in the case of a Spring is proportional to the load suspended and if a load of 1 kilogram produces a stretching of 1 cm, a load of two kilograms will stretch it by 2 cm and so on. The spring is held at the upper end and load is suspended by a hook attached to the lower end with a pointer attached to the upper end of the spring which moves over a scale. Steam Engine: is a machine utilizing steam power through a device by virtue of which heat is converted into mechanical energy. The steam engine has two main parts: (i) boiler, and (ii) proper engine. It consists essentially of a cylinder in which a piston is moved backwards and forwards by the expansion of steam under pressure. Stereoscope: It is an optical device that makes photographs seem to have three dimensions. An ordinary camera sees things only in a flat plane and never in the round. But if two cameras set several inches apart photograph the same object simultaneously, and if these two photographs are then mounted side by side and viewed through a combination of lenses and prisms in such a manner that the two units enter the two eyes without strain, the resulting mental picture (image) appear to have three dimensions. Everything is seen in the round, the way our two eyes normally view things. These are employed in aerial survey and in astronomical telescopes. Submarine: may be regarded as a ship having a variable and controllable specific gravity. It is equipped with large ballast tanks (in the low, the middle and the stern of the ship) into which water can be admitted through valves so that the vessel can be made to sink when desired. On the water being expelled again by pumps worked by compressed air, the ship rises to the surface. Inside the water it is the electric motors which drive it forward and there are horizontal rudders (or hydroplanes) which are fitted on both sides of the vessel so that by tilting them the vessel is gradually submerged, the same rudders help to maintain it at a desired depth of submergence. Tape Recorder: It is an instrument which converts sound waves into electrical impulses which are recorded as a wavy groove on the tape.  When it is required to produce the voice, the electrical impulses are again converted into sound waves. Telephone: It is a device to produce sound to enable two persons to talk to each other from distance. The circuit, which is closed when the line is connected, consists of a transmitter and a receiver connected by an electrical conductor. The transmitter which is usually a carbon microphone causes variable electrical impulses to flow through the circuit. In the telephone-receiver, these impulses flow through a pair of coils of wire wound upon soft iron pole-pieces which are attached to the poles of a magnet. An iron diaphragm near these coils experiences variable pulls and vibrates so as to produce sounds corresponding to those made into the microphone. Telephotography: is a process by which the transmission of moving objects is made by radio from one place to another. A succession of still pictures is transmitted at the rate of twenty-five per second which gives an illusion of continuous movement. The television camera changes the light pattern of the transmitted scene into a series of electrical signals which modulate a very high frequency radio carrier wave. The received signals are changed into light variations and reassembled on the screen of a cathode-ray tube at the receiver. Teleprinter: It is an instrument which prints automatically messages sent from one place to another. It consists of a telegraph transmitter with a type-writter key-board by which characters of a message are transmitted electrically in combination of 5 units, being recorded similarly by the receiving instrument. The receiving instrument then translates the matter mechanically into printed characters. Telescope: A simple refracting astronomical telescope is an optical arrangement for seeing very distant objects. Two convex lenses are mounted at the ends of two tubes so that by sliding one tube within the other, the distance between the lenses can be changed and the images thereby can be focused correctly. The lens at the larger end of the telescope is of considerable focal length and is called the object glass and a smaller lens of short focal length is called the eye-piece. Parallel rays proceeding from a distant object form its real image at the principal focus of the object glass. The position of the eye-piece is adjusted so that a magnified virtual image of it is seen. Since the real image is inverted, this virtual image is also upside down—a fact of little importance in astronomical work. For viewing terrestrial objects, the real image formed by the object glass is re-inverted by another convex lens before it is magnified by the eye-piece. Television: It is the transmission of images of moving objects by radio waves. The scene to be transmitted or its image on a photo-mosaic inside an iconoscope camera is scanned with the help of a fine beam of light traversing horizontally and vertically. The reflected pulses in the former case are picked up by photoelectric cells which convert light energy into varying electric currents, or in the latter case, the photo-mosaic with the help of suitable electrical circuits generates varying currents. These currents are amplified with the help of valve amplifiers and are then made to modulate the carrier waves from a transmitter. At the receiving station, the electrical vibrations are reconverted into light waves which are collected on the fluorescent screen of a cathode ray oscilloscope at the same rate with which they are generated at the sending station. With the help of the property of persistence of vision possessed by the eye, we can see on the screen an exact photograph of the transmitted scene. Thermometer, Clinical: A clinical thermometer is used to note the temperature of a human body and has graduations from 65°F to 100°F. It consists of a thin glass bulb connected with a thick walled capillary tube known as the stem. There is a constriction in the bore near the bulb. When the thermometer is placed below the tongue (or in the arm-pit) of a person, mercury in the bulb gets heated and expands. The force of expansion pushes the mercury past the constriction, which thus rises into the stem. When thermometer is removed, the temperature falls and mercury contracts. But the level remains intact as the thread is now broken at the constriction. The temperature can thus be conveniently read. The mercury can be again brought into the bulb by giving it a slight jerk. Thermos Flask (Vacuum Flask): It is used to keep hot liquids hot and cold liquids cold. The principles involved in its construction are: (i) It is made of glass which is a bad conductor of heat; (ii) As there is vacuum between the walls, convection is not possible; (iii) The outer face of the inner vessel is silvered, so there is very little radiation as polished surfaces are bad radiators. The inner surface of the outer vessel is polished which serves as a good reflector of any small radiation from the inner surface. Tokamak T-3: is a machine designed by Russians to harness fusion reaction for peaceful purposes. A fusion reaction takes place under extreme pressure and temperatures such as exist in the core of the sun. In this machine such conditions are created by generating a hot gas or plasma. The Russians are already at work on an improved version of the machine which should achieve self-supporting generation of fusion-energy. Transformer: It is an apparatus by which the voltage of an alternating current is made higher (step-up Transformer) or lower (step-down Transformer) or its frequency. Transformer is made up of two coils, one of a small number of turns of thick wire and the other of a great number of turns of thin wire. A current going through the first of these causes an induction current of higher voltage in the second. If the main current goes through the second one, induction current of a lower voltage is generated in the first coil. Transistor: It is an active component of an electric circuit which may be used as an amplifier or detector. It consists of a small block of a semi-conducting material to which at least three electrical contacts are made, two of them being closely spaced rectifying contacts generally and one ohmic or loose (non-rectifying) contact. Transistors are now being used in radio receivers, in electronic computers, in electronic control equipments, in place of vacuum tubes where the required voltages are not too high. They are much smaller than their vacuum tube counterparts, consume less  power and have no filaments to burn out. Ultrasonoscope: It is a compact, diagnostic instrument designed to measure and use ultrasonic sound (with a frequency higher than 20,000 cycles per second, beyond human hearing). It emits brief bursts of ultrasound which are reflected back by bone, fluid or tissue in the body and give an “echo-gram”. The instrument can be helpful in detecting deep-seated brain tumours, defective heart valves and abnormal growths. Videophone: The world’s first commercial videophone service was started for limited experimental use in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is as much of an advance on the ordinary telephone as the addition of sound and colour was to the movies. The visual dimension also increases the functional utility of this communication apparatus, but the trouble so far has been in designing and making videophones which will be cheap enough to be installed and used by thousands of people.

CAPITALS OF COUNTRIES

Afghanistan: Kabul Albania: Tirana Algeria: Algiers Angola: Luanda Antigua & Barbuda: St John’s Argentina: Buenos Aires Armenia: Yerevan Australia: Canberra Austria : Vienna Azerbijan: Baku Bahamas: Nassau Bahrain: Manama Bangladesh: Dhaka Barbados: Bridgetown Belgium: Brussels Belarus: Minsk Belize: Belmopan Benin: Porto Novo Bhutan: Thimpu Bosnia-Herzegovina : Sarajevo Botswana: Gaberones Bolivia: La Paz Brazil: Brasillia Brunei: Bandar Seri Begawan Bulgaria: Sofia Burkina Faso: Ouagadougau Burundi : Bujumbura Cambodia: Phnom Penh Cameroon: Yaounde Canada: Ottawa Cape Verde: Praia Central African Republic: Bangui Chad: Fort Lamy Chile: Santiago China: Beijing Colombia: Bogota Congo: Brazzaville Costa Rica: San Jose Croatia: Zagreb Cuba: Havana Cyprus: Nicosia Czech Republic: Prague Denmark: Copenhagen Djibouti : Djibouti Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo East Timor: Dilli Ecuador: Quito Egypt: Cairo Equatorial Guinea: Santa Isabel Eritrea: Asmara Estonia: Tallion Ethiopia: Addis Ababa Fiji: Suva Finland: Helsinki France: Paris Gabon: Libreville Gambia: Banjul Georgia: Tiblisi Germany: Berlin Ghana: Accra Greece: Athens Grenada: St George’s Guatemala: Guatemala City Guinea: Conakry Guinea-Bissau: Bissau Guyana: Georgetown Honduras: Tegucigalpa Hungar: Budapest India: New Delhi Indonesia: Jakarta Iran: Tehran Iraq: Baghdad Ireland (or Eire): Dublin Israel: Jerusalem Italy: Rome Ivory Coast: Abidjan Jamaica: Kingston Japan: Tokyo Jordan: Amman Kenya: Nairobi Kazakhstan: Alma-Ata Kirghiztan: Bishkek Kiribati: Tarawa Korea (North): Pyongyang Korea (South): Seoul Latvia: Riga Latvia: Riga Laos: Vientiane Lebanon: Beirut Lesotho: Maseru Liberia: Verduz Libya: Tripoli Liechtenstein: Vaduz Lithuania: Vilnius Luxembourg: Luxembourg Macedonia: Skopje Madagascar: Antananarivo Malawi: Zomba Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur Maldives: Male Mali: Bamako Malta: Valletta Mauritius: Port Louis Mauritania: Nouakchott Mexico: Mexico City Moldova: Chisinan Monaco: Monaco Mongolia: Ulan Bator Morocco: Rabat Mozambique: Lourenco Marques Myanmar (Burma): Rangoon Namibia: Windhoek Nauru: Yaren Nepal : Kathmandu Netherlands: Amsterdam New Zealand : Wellington Niger: Niamey Nigeria: Abuja Northern Ireland: Belfast Norway : Oslo Oman: Muscat Pakistan: Islamabad Palau: Koror Palestine: Jericho (Headquarters) Panama: Panama City Papua New Guinea: Port Moresly Paraguay: Asuncion Peru: Lima Philippines: Manila Poland: Warsaw Portugal: Lisbon Qatar: Doha Romania: Bucharest Russia: Moscow Rwanda: Kigali Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Senegal: Dakar Serbia: Belgrade Seychelles: Victoria Sierra Leone: Freetown Singapore: Singapore City Slovakia: Bratislava Slovenia: Ljubejana South Africa: Pretoria and Cape Town Somalia: Magadishu Spain: Madrid Sri Lanka: Colombo Sudan: Khartoum Suriname: Paramaribo Swaziland: Mbabne Sweden: Stockholm Switzerland: Berne Syria: Damascus Tajikistan: Dushanbe Taiwan: Taipei Tanzania: Dodoma Thailand: Bangkok Togoland: Lome Tonga: Nuku’alofa Trinidad and Tobago: Port-of-Spain Tunisia: Tunis Turkey: Ankara Turkmenistan: Ashkhabad Uganda: Kampala Ukraine: Kiev United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi United Kingdom: London Upper Volta: Quagadougon Uruguay: Montivideo U.S.A.: Washington Uzbekistan: Tashkent Vanuatu: Port Vile Vietnam: Hanoi Western Samoa: Apia Yemen: San’a Zaire Republi: Kinshasa Zambia: Lusaka Zimbabwe: Harare

Highest, Biggest, Longest, Largest, Deepest etc.

Airliner, Largest: Boeing 747
Animal, Tallest: Giraffe
Animal, Fastest: The Peregerine Falcon
Archipelago, Largest: Indonesia
Bird, Fastest: Swift
Bird, Largest: Ostrich
Bird, Smallest: Humming Bird    
Bridge, Longest Railway: Huey P. Long Bridge (U.S.A.)
Building, Tallest in Asia: The Connaught Centre in Hong Kong (195 metres tall; has 46 floors)
Building, Highest in the world: Sears Tower in Chicago (440-metre high. It is a 110-storey tower which is nearly 60 metres taller than the Empire State building in New York)
Canal, Longest, small ship: Beloye (White Sea) Baltic Canal (CIS) 226 km long
Canal, Longest, big ship: Suez Canal (U.A.R.) (161 km)
Canalised System, Longest: Volga-Baltic Canal (2960 km)
Capital, Highest: Lhasa (Before domination of Tibet by China) 3684 metres above sea-level 
City, Highest: Wenchuan (China) 5,100 metres above sea-level La Paz (capital of Bolivia) stands at an altitude of 3632 metres above sea-level
City, Largest in population: Shanghai  followed by: Tokyo, New York, Beijing, London and Moscow 
Conference Hall, World’s Highest: At Nathu-La Pass on Indo-China border in Sikkim
Continent, Largest: Asia
Continent, Smallest: Australia
Coral Formation, Largest: The Great Barrier Reef (North-east coast of Australia)
Country, Largest in Population: China  followed by India 
Country, Largest (in area): Russia
Country (with largest electorate): India.
Creature, Largest: Blue Whale is the largest creature in the world today. It can grow up to a weight of 150 tonnes.
Dam, Highest: The Grande (Switzerland)
Day, Longest: June 21 (in Northern Hemisphere)
Day, Shortest: Dec 22 (in Northern Hemisphere)
Delta, Largest: The world’s largest delta is that created by the Ganges and Brahmaputra in  Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. 
Desert, Largest  (in the world): Sahara (Africa)
Desert, Largest (in Asia): Gobi (Mongolia)
Diamond, Largest: The Cullinan (over 1½  lb.)
Dome, Largest: “Astrodome” in Housten, Texas (U.S.A.); outside dia: 216 metres and inside 196 metres. (The largest dome in India is Gol Gumbaz (Bijapur) 44 metres in Dia.)
Employer, Largest of India: Indian Railways
Epic, Longest: Mahabharata
Forest, Largest: Coniferous forest of Northern Russia
Gulf, Largest: Gulf of Mexico
Highest Motorable Road: Khardungla-Leh-Manali sector 5682 Mt
Highest Non-military Airport: Leh 3256 Mt
Island, Largest: Greenland
Islands, Largest (Group of): Malaya Archipelago
Lake, Largest Artificial: Lake Mead (Boulder Dam)
Lake, Deepest: Baikal (Siberia); average depth 701 metres
Lake, Highest: Titicaca (Bolivia) 3854 metres above sea level
Lake, Largest Fresh Water: Superior (50,200 sq km)
Lake, Largest Salt Water: Caspian Sea (26 metres below sea-level)
Largest Crater of India: The Lonar in Vidharba region of Maharashtra
Largest Inland Waterway of India: Kerala
Largest Barrage of India: Farakka 224 mt
Largest Stadium of India: Salt Lake Stadium Kolkata, 1,20,00 capacity
Largest Tribe of India: Gond
Largest Library of India: National Library Kolkata
Largest Exhibition Ground  of India: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi 150 Acres
Largest Ocean Island of India: Middle Andaman
Largest River Basin of India: Ganga Basin
Largest Estuary: at the mouth of the river Hooghly
Library, Largest: United States Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (more than 59,000,000 items). 
Longest Ropeway in India: connecting Joshimath in Uttranchal 4.15 km long
Longest Train in India: Prayag Express running between Delhi and Allahabad (24 bogies)
Longest Road Tunnel in India: Chiplin—Koya Nagar, Maharashtra 1 km long
Longest National Highway of India: NH-7, 2369 km
Longest Cave of India: Krem um Kwan Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya
Mountain Peak, Highest in the world: Everest (Nepal)
Mountain Peak, Highest in India: Godwin Austen (8,611 m)
Mountain Peak, Highest in Africa: Kilimanjaro (5,888 m)
Mountain Peak, Highest in Europe: Elbruz (5,633 m )
Mountain Range, Highest: Himalayas
Mountain Range, Longest: Andes (S. America), 8,800 km in length 
Museum, Largest: American Museum of Natural History, New York city. It comprises 19 inter-connected buildings with 23 acres of floor space.
Nuclear Reactor, Biggest: France
Ocean, Deepest and Biggest: The Pacific
Palace, Biggest: Vatican
Park, Largest: Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta Canada. Area : 28260 sq km.
Peninsula, Largest: Arabia
Pilot, Youngest of India: Capt Nivedita Bhasin, at age 26 in 1990 became youngest pilot to command a jet aircraft
Place, Coldest: Verkhoyansk (Russia); Temperature 85° below zero
Place, Dryest: Death Valley (California); rainfall 1.5 inch
Place, Hottest: Azizia (Libya, Africa 58°C (136°F)
Place, Rainiest: Cheerapunji (Meghalaya, India)
Planet, Biggest: Jupiter
Planet, Brightest: Venus
Planet, Farthest (from the sun): Pluto
Planet, Nearest (to the sun): Mercury
Planet, Smallest: Mercury
Planetarium, biggest: Tsukuba, Japan
Plateau, Highest: Pamir (Tibet)
Platform, Longest: Kharagpur platform in West Bengal (India)
Railway, Longest: Trans-Siberian Railway (9,600 km long)
Railway Station, Largest: Grand Central Terminal, New York City, covers 48 acres. On an average more than 550 trains and 180,000 people per day use it.
River, Longest: Nile (6,679 km)
Sea-bird, Largest: Albatross
Sea, Largest: South China Sea
Star, Brightest: Sirius (also called Dog Star)
Statue, Tallest : “Motherland” an enormous female figure on Mamayev Hill, outside Volgagrad (Russia).
Swimming Course, Longest recognised: English Channel
Tallest TV Tower of India: Rameshwaram, T.N. 1000 feet
Telescope, Largest Radio: The world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, Y-shaped with each arm 21 km long with 27 mobile antennae on rails, built in New Mexico (USA).
Telescope, Largest Solar: Kit Peak National Observatory, Arizona USA
Telescope, Largest Reflector: Mount Semirodriki, in the Caucasus  (CIS)
Telescope, Largest Refractor: Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin (USA)
Tunnel, Longest Railway: Secken Tunnel (Japan)
Tunnel, Longest Road: St Gothard tunnel in Switzerland (16.32 km)
Village, Highest: Andean (Chile) 5334 metres above sea-level
Volcano, Highest: Cotopaxi (Andes, Ecuador)
Volcano, Largest: Mauna Lea (Hawaii); crater
Wall, Longest: Great Wall of China (2400 km)
Water Falls, Greatest in the world: Victoria Falls on river Zambesi (Zambia) 1700 metres wide
Waterfall, Highest: Angel (Venezuela)
Water, Lowest body of: Dead Sea

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
(1) The Pyramids of Egypt; (2) the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; (3) the temple of Artemis at Ephesus; (4) the statue of Zeus at Olympia; (5) the mausoleum at Halicarnassus; (6) the Colossus of Rhodes; (7) The Pharos (Lighthouse) at Alexandria.

Seven Wonders of the Mediaeval World
The Colosseum of Rome; (2) the Great Wall of China; (3) the Procelain Tower of Nanking; (4) the Mosque at St Sophia (Constantinople); (5) the Stonehenge of England; (6) the Catacombs of Alexandria; (7) the Leaning Tower of Pisa.