The telephone
The telephone is now a day one of the most important things in live. Everyone has got one and although the telephone has changed a lot, it’s hard to imagine a world without the telephone. The telephone was one of the first inventions with which you could communicate at a long distance in an easy way. Therefore the telephone is one of the most important device in the society.
Alexander Graham Bell was a Schottische and American inventor and he has the patent of the telephone. Although he is the official inventor of the telephone, a lot of people concede Antonio Meucci as the real inventor. He was an Italian inventor and in 1871 he requested a patent on an invention witch looked really familiar to Bells telephone. The problem was that he couldn’t pay for the patent and 5 years later, in 1876, was it Alexander Graham Bell who got the patent for the telephone. So he was the official inventor of the telephone, despite a lot of protest from Meucci and a few trials about the official inventor. Bell won all of the trials and three days after the authorizing of the patent, he spoke the historic words to his assistant: “Mr Watson, come here. I want to see you”. In 1877 he founded together with his father the Telegraph Company, which became one of the largest phone companies. Later it became clear that the United States Patent Office probably had sold information to Alexander Graham Bell about the patent of Antonio witch he couldn’t pay. In this way Bell could finish his one design and requested the patent for the telephone. His design looked really similar to the design of Meucci and that is why the thought the information had been sold. At 11 June 2002 Meucci had been officially rewarded for his work on the invention of the telephone. After the invention the telephone which was made by Alexander Graham Bell was improved by Thomas Edison. He improved the clarity of the phone.
Especially in the last 20 years the telephone became more and more important in society. By the rising amounts of the mobile phone and later the smartphone it is now a day even more easier to contact someone. In this way, you don’t have to wait until someone gets home, but you can call him whenever you want to. The comfort level is very high, but also the social aspect is better now a days than 20 years ago. People can easier contact each other by the use of a mobile phone. Over 95% of the people in Holland have a mobile phone at home and in hole of Holland are more mobile phones than humans. It’s clearly that the numbers are saying enough about the influence on the society these days.
The smartphone is a phone with a little computer in it. A lot of people have one and especially youth is a group which has the most of those phones. The biggest opportunity of the smartphone is that it’s more than just calling someone. This is most because of the need of the 21 century, but I think that without a phone people had less knowledge. People are more connected by the telephone and in this way, they know about the situations in a different country. People are getting closer in this way. Not only Holland or Europe is connected through the phone, but the whole world is.
This is the most important ability of the phone. We can communicate with people who are living thousands of miles away. And of course you can send someone an email, but calling someone is way more direct. Also because of apps in the smartphone like WhatsApp or certain games people get connected to each other. I think that telecommunication makes Europe a unity. People can talk to each other without even be there and this is so important for the society in this time.
The smartphone has played a bigger role in our society. By companies as Apple and Samsung more and more people are connected. By telephones everybody can communicate with each other 24 hours a day. This is the reason why the telephone is in our list. It’s hard to imagine a world without it. This invention has made the world a little bit smaller. With over 4 billion telephones on the world people depend on the telephone and you can’t say that this invention doesn’t belong on our European list of inventions.
The modern steam engine
The modern steam engine is one of the biggest reasons why we can live the life we live. Together with a few other inventions, the steam engine had a big influence on the industrial revolution. This revolution was very important for Europe because it brought wealth to Europe and it was the beginning of the discovery of new technologies. Even today those inventions are very important in our daily life.
The modern steam engine isn’t actually an invention on itself. It was an improvement of the already existing steam engine. This improvement was made by James Watt. He had to repair a broken steam engine for the University of Glasgow. These machines had an efficiency of about 1% and were made 50 years earlier by Thomas Newcomen. The actual idea for the steam engine was formed in 10-70 AD by Heron of Alexandria. But only in 1500 AD was something like a steam engine created and in 1700 Thomas Savery requested a patent for his steam engine. Watt thought that the steam engine he had to fix, was to inefficient and he started thinking about some improvements for this machine. The improvements he came up with ensured that efficiency of the steam engine rose from 1% to 19%. In that period of time, it was a very high percentage of efficiency. Together with Matthew Boulton he started a company which improved old steam engines. With those improved machines the industrial revolution started.
Beside the effect of the rise of better and bigger factories and more prosperity, the steam engine was the reason why the transport of goods became more quickly. This was because of the rise of trains and ships which rode on steam engines. Therefore the goods could delivered more quickly and cheaper. Ships were able to get faster than before and 20 years later ships travelled at about 45 km/h while in the past they relayed on the wind. The effect in Europe was that people could travel a lot more and a lot further. People could met each other and discover the world of Europe. Before the industrial revolution, this was impossible. People often didn’t go any further than the borders of the city where they lived. By this invention Europe became a little smaller, although only rich people could travel throughout the Europe because of the high price levels.
The invention of the steam engine changed the way of life in Europe a lot. People developed from horsepower to the power of a machine. Wind and watermills were familiar but it didn’t work the whole year long, because it relayed on the wind and water flow. By the steam engine big factories raised like factories witch produced textile. In this way goods were produced much cheaper and faster and the prosperity rose. The industrial revolution had an impact on life which was and still is unknown. Life chanced irrevocable. The direction of life at our age was created in that period. By the abundance of energy people could worked longer and this raised they prosperity of Europe. A side effect of this advantage was that the class difference became bigger. Still, this period is the reason why we live the life we live.
The development of the steam engine was not only the reason of a better prosperity, but also a leaded to another vision of people. Everybody got more connected to each other and more inventions were done because of more knowledge about a certain subject. In this way, the 18th and 19th century were not just two centuries, but were the centuries that have determined our life’s. Because of the higher level of prosperity, people got the chance to travel and learn more about other cultures and knowledge. This was for Europe the biggest reason for the success in these centuries. When people can work with each other and share their knowledge, people will come sooner to a success. The steam engine of James Watt had a big influence on this way of thinking. The industrial revolution witch raised because of the steam engine is the reason why we live the life we live.
The invention of James Watt has such a big influence on the life we live now in Europe and that is why you can’t make a list without this invention. Without this invention, the world would have looked way different and there are not a lot of invention witch had such an impact on life. That is why we think this invention belongs to the list.
René Laennec - stethoscope
René Laennec
René ThéophileHyacinthe Laennec was born on February 17, 1781 in Quimper. He was raised by his uncle because his mother died of tuberculosis when he was six. His uncle was a doctor. Laennec studied medicine in Paris at the Hôpital de la Charité. In 1804 he passed his exams and in 1815 he got a job in the Hospital Necker.
After a year of working in the Hospital Necker, in 1816, Laennec invented the stethoscope. The idea came when he had to examine a patient with a heart disease. He thought it was not appropriate to put his ear on her bosom, so he picked up a piece of paper and rolled it up into a cylinder, so he could listen to her heart. Like the principal of the paper cylinder he made a wooden sheath. He called the paper cylinder a stethoscope (stethos = chest). Laennec described various conditions such as bronchiectasis, melanoma, (liver)cirrhosis and tuberculosis.
Laennec died on August 13,1826 in Ploaré. So he became 45 years of age. In Quimper there is a bronze statue in honor of Laennec and at the Hôpital Necker is a plaque applied.
The history of the stethoscope
In 1816 René Laennec invented the stethoscope. It was made out of wood and consisted of one hose. Arthur Leared improved Laennec’s model in 1851. He gave the new model two hoses. In 1852 George Cammann improved the model of Laered. He made the stethoscope ready for commercial production and he wrote an article about the stethoscope as a diagnostic tool.
In 1940, Sprague and Rappaport came up with a new model. The model consisted of two sides: the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. With the respiratory system, you could listen to the lungs and with the cardiovascular system, you could listen to the heart. This stethoscope quickly became the new standard.
The model of Sprague and Rappaport was later made by Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett Packard's medical department, Agilent Healthcare, was eventually acquired by Philips. In 2004, the medical division of Philips, Philips Medical, retired from the model.
Until the beginning of 1960 there were minor adjustments to the model of Sprague and Rappaport made. In early 1960 Dr. David Littmann, a professor at Harvard Medical School, introduced a new stethoscope, which was lighter and had more improved acoustic performances. In 1970 3M Littmann introduced a special kind of membrane. The new membrane was made out of extra hard plastic and the edges were flexible. Doctors could hear high and low sounds with this new stethoscope. In order to hear the higher sounds, the doctor had to press on the chest piece, so that the vibrating surface of the membrane would decrease. In order to hear the lower sounds, the pressure on the chest piece had to be decreased, so that the vibrating surface of the membrane would be increased. This new model is stillusedtoday.
The modern stethoscope
A stethoscope is an instrument which enables sounds to be amplified. The instrument consists of a membrane that is stretched over a cavity which is otherwise closed off. In the cavity is a hose that flows into two earpieces. These earpieces close the user's ear canal airtight. Vibrations from the diaphragm of the stethoscope are transmitted directly to the user's eardrum. Since the surface of the diaphragm of a stethoscope is larger than the surface of the human tympanic membrane, this creates amplification. Some modern stethoscopes that are used nowadays use microphones and amplifiers.
A stethoscope is mainly used in medicine for auscultation. Auscultation means listening to the sounds in the body with a stethoscope. The doctor often listens to the heart and lungs to make a diagnosis. Making a diagnosis is not easy. The doctor has to listen carefully and draw precise conclusions. For auscultation experience is much needed and is thus rarely done by someone who is not a doctor.
The stethoscope is in most medical specialties a permanent part of the equipment of a doctor. It is therefore often used as a symbol for the terms 'doctor' and 'medicine'. Most doctors should always have their stethoscope with them. For this reason, small and lightweight models have entered the market. These models are very compact, but are of very good quality. A good stethoscope consist of thick hoses and a solid head.
Wilhelm Röntgen - x-radiation
Wilhelm Röntgen
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was born on March 27, 1845 in Lennep, Remscheid. Röntgen was a German physicist who is best known for his discovery of X-radiation.
In 1894 Röntgen began investigating canal rays. Canel rays were cathode rays in a emptied glass tube with embedded electrodes. By means of a Ruhmkorff-induction coil, high voltage shocks were put on these electrodes. The tube that was used in this study would later develop further into the X-ray tube, electron tube, and gas discharge lamp. In early November 1985 Röntgen repeated a trial of Lenard. In this experiment, a thin aluminum window is made in the tube. In this window the cathode rays were supposed to be reflected in the glass tube.
Röntgen wrapped a black cardboard around his discharge tube to shut out all the light. Despite the carton he saw in his fully darkened laboratory a screen with barium platinocyanide light up. This light is called fluorescence. On Friday, November 8th, Röntgen repeated this study with a thicker tube of Crookes. Still, there was fluorescence. Röntgen thought that the fluorescence was caused by the radiation that came free when the cathode rays bumped at the end of the tube. These rays have a greater range in air than the cathode rays and can go through soft materials.
In November and December of 1895, he systematically investigated the properties of these new radiation. He called it X-radiation. X stands for the unknown variable in mathematics.
After Röntgen had first seen his own skeleton, he continued his experiments in secret. He wanted to prevent osing his reputation if it turned out that he had been mistaken. On December 22, he took the first photo of the hand of his wife.
After his discovery was published he wrote three articles about X-rays between 1895 and 1897. Röntgen was regarded as the father of diagnostic radiology. This is the medical specialty that uses imaging to diagnose. In 1901 he got the first Nobel Prize of Physics.
Röntgen died of cancer on February 10, 1923 in Munich. He became 77 years of age.
X-radiation
X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with a slightly greater energy than visible light and ultraviolet light. Its spectrum lies between the ultraviolet light and gamma irradiation. X-ray radiation consists of electromagnetic waves. These waves have a wavelength of about 1 picometer to 10 nanometers. This corresponds to an energy of 124 kilo-electron volts to 1240 electron volts.
X-radiation is stopped by the earth's atmosphere. The X-radiation of the sun can not reach us. The radiation is in fact very dangerous. It is an ionizing radiation and can cause chemical reactions when it comes into contact with other substances. If the radiation comes into contact with living tissue, this may cause damage to the DNA, leading to mutations. So it has chemical effects, as well as optical, biological and thermal effects. X-radiation, like other electromagnetic radiation, has the properties phase, polarization, refraction and reflection.
X-radiation can be caused by black rays, bremsstrahlung, the inverse Compton scattering, synchrotron, electron capture, and (X-ray)fluorescence.
Typically, X-radiation in an X-ray tube is generated as bremsstrahlung. This radiation is produced when accelerated electrons collide with an object. This object must consist of a hard material and needs to have a melting point of 2000 degrees Celsius or more. By means of an electric field, the electrons are accelerated in vacuum. This field between the cathode and the anode is generated by an electric voltage. The cathode is heated by a filament, so that the electrons are released. The electrons are accelerated from the negative cathode to the positive anode, because they themselves are negatively charged. The maximum energy of the radiation and the applied voltage are proportional to each other. The energy of the X-radiation that arises is expressed in kilo-electron volts. The electric current is measured in milliampere. X-ray tubes are cooled off because the target gets very hot when generating intense beams of radiation.