Sim's Electrical Companion
Pythagoras
Greek Mathematician / Philosopher 570 - 495 BC
Pythagoras spent his life trying to describe the world around him purely through mathematics and logic. Pythagorean's held a strong belief that everything could be described by mathematics. This view is held strong by modern physicists who are striving to find a Unified theory that can give an explanation for all phenomenon in the universe.
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Pythagoras is the name used to describe the relationship of the sides of right angled triangles which has made him a household name. Its great that he is remembered to this day even though it is quite clear that the rule was known and used in construction techniques by the Egyptians long before Pythagoras was born.
Pythagoras theorem is central to many concepts in electrical science. Examples include the relationships of True, apparent and reactive power, The relationship of pure resistance with reactive elements of inductance and capacitance, Phasors and phase angles etc. The rule as taught in schools today is:
"The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides"
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What is clear about the life and work of Pythagoras is that nothing is clear! He may have made no discernable discoveries or he may have discovered the world is round, five regions of climate on earth, proportionality, Venus, Pythagorean tuning based on cycle of perfect fifths. Who knows? I can only surmise that he most have been a very influential and convincing teacher whos ideas have endured for over two and a half millennia.
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Plato
Greek Philosopher
≈ 428 - 348 BC
Plato is undeniably one of the most influential philosophical writers in history. He set up the first academy of higher learning in Athens. Most remarkably it is thought that all of his major works have been preserved over the last 2500 years. He is thought to have been influenced by the likes of Pythagoras, Socrates, Heraclitus and Parmenides.
Plato may seem to be an odd choice for influence in the world of electrical science but what he did do was encourage higher learning, questioning and he greatly influenced western philosophy. He taught Aristotle who in turn influenced much of what we recognise as the modern scientific view.
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Aristotle
Greek Philosopher / Scientist 384 - 322 BC
A student of Plato, Aristotle took many platonic ideas and mixed them with his own. He was a prolific writer and had the opportunity to set up a library & school at the Lyceum in Athens where he tutored Alexander the Great. Although many of Aristotle’s assumptions and observations of the world were not entirely accepted.
He developed a popular western philosophy and fostered an interest in the pursuit of understanding the world around us.
Archimedes
Greek Mathematician, Philosopher & Inventor
287 - 212 BC
Archimedes was educated in Alexandria in Egypt. His has been attributed to many things, some of which may be stories that have carried over the centuries. His bath time 'eureka' moment, may not have been so graphically discovered, but it does make it stick in your mind. He discovered the law of hydrostatics which is used to successfully float enormous tankers. He also worked on the principle of Pi and other geometric principles.
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He is attributed with the invention of the Archimedes screw which has been used in modern hydro electric generation stations as it does not harm fish stocks as much as passing them through a high speed turbine! The Archimedes screw is also used to raise water by hand to irrigate mountainside or stepped crops.
His efforts in defending Syracuse from Roman invasion included many ingenious if despicable war machines. The Romans were warded off by his catapults and supposedly some ships were burnt from a distance by focusing the suns rays on them. The Romans did eventually successfully sack the city and it is said that Archimedes was to be spared and put to use by the Romans. Unfortunately the Roman soldier who found him was so annoyed by his indignant lack of interest in the soldiers' orders he ran him through.
Sir Isaac Newton
English Mathematician / Physicist
1642 - 1726
Newton truly made a great leap in our understanding of physics and why celestial bodies behave how they do. He figured out that mass and gravity and distance are inextricably linked. His equations are still used by NASA to plan space flights to distant planets. Although Einstein improved upon Newtonian methods they are still pretty accurate. I'm sure most folk have heard of the apple dropping incident. Once again this may or may not have happened but it is a good way of painting a mental picture.
Newton successfully predicted that due to the effect of gravity on mass that the Earth is in fact an Obloid spheroid as opposed to a perfect shere. The same applies to the moon facing earth from one direction for milenia. There is no dark side of the moon only a far side!
In 1687 Newton published his book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica often referred to as Principia. This ground shaking book changed the world of physics and essentially was the birth of modern mechanics. His observations were so astute that many hold today and are taught in our schools.
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Some examples of what is in the principia:
Newtons law of universal gravitation states that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a strength that is relative to its mass and distance. The strength of the attraction is proportional to the mass and inversely proportional to the distance.
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F = The gravitational force between two objects, G = Gravitational constant (6.674×10−11 N·kg–2·m2), r2 is the distance between the centre of the two objects and m1m2 are the objects masses.
Newtons laws of motion simplified:
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First law:
Inertia: An object remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by another force.
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Second law:
The sum of the forces F on an object = mass x acceleration of the object:
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Third Law:
Action / reaction law. A force is not in isolation it will be met with equal and opposite reaction .e.g. Pushing a car will be met with the opposite reactions of the mass, friction etc. opposing the initial push.
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'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'
So was born the essential starting ingredients for modern mechanics... Pure Genius!
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Ewald Georg von Kleist
German Physicist
1700 - 1748
Kleist invented the Kleistian jar three years before his death in 1745. The jar was effectively a capacitor that could store electrical charge. This discovery was adopted by many physicists and enthusiasts as a way to experiment with this mysterious force.
This invention was of great significance and later, controversially in my opinion, came to be known as the Leyden jar named by Pieter van Musschenbroek who developed the idea in 1746.
There are several sites on the internet where you can get information on how to build your own Kleistian jar but be careful capacitors can have enough potential to kill you!
Benjamin Franklin
American Polymath 1705 - 1790
Franklin was a man of many talents but my interest is in his experimentation with electricity and his fascination with lightning. After attending a lecture by Archibald Spencer, who demonstrated the effects of static electricity with a Leyden Jar, he became an avid experimenter with electricity. He is famously known for his suggestion that lightning and the electricity from the Leyden jar were the same thing. Which sadly ended the likes of some enthusiastic storm chasing kite flyers.
He was responsible for naming positive and negative charge and surmised that charge is conserved in an isolated system which became the Charge conservation theory which still stands. He can also be thanked for saving many of our historic buildings by proving that a lightning conductor can effectively and safely direct a lightning strike to earth with minimal or no damage to the building. So the lightning conductor was born.
Faraday would later prove why this was so effective at preserving life with his construct of a Faraday cage. Franklin was awarded the Copley Medal in 1753 by the Royal society in recognition of his work with electricity which was published as a series of letters entitled Experiments and observations on electricity in 1751.
John Carl Wilke
Swedish Physicist
1732 - 1796
A brief but relevant entry Johan invented an electrostatic generator in 1764, unlike the Leyden Jar, electricity was mechanically produced.
His invention was famously polarised by Allessandro Volta. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal society in 1789. In his work he focused on thermodynamics and coined the terms specific heat and specific gravity.
James Watt
Scottish Engineer / Chemist 1736 - 1819
James Watt may seem to be an unusual choice for this line up but to be fair many of the ways we generate electricity rely on the expansion of steam. He is well known for his improvements on steam engines and has many patents associated with his work. He developed a method of comparing the power of engines which he named horsepower. Later on in his honour the SI unit for the measurement for power became Watt (W).
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He came up with the parallel motion linkage which transferred rotary motion to reciprocal motion without undue stress which is still used today in pumping systems electrical generation and in modern inte3rnal combustion engines. Essentially the 'nodding donkey' which vastly sped up the industrial revolution along with his more efficient steam engines.
James may have been more dedicated to the power of steam but that power fuelled the advances of industry. This was capitalised by scientists in the field of electrical engineering and invention.
Alessandro Volta
Italian Physicist & Chemist
1745 - 1827
Conte Allessandro Guiseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta for short! Most famous for developing the first working DC battery called the Voltaic pile in 1799. He discovered that dissimilar metals when separated by an electrolyte would create a steady voltage when a circuit was completed as shown in the picture left.
By this invention Volta essentially became the father of electrochemisty by proving to the Royal society that an electromotive force could be created chemically.
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Volta has his name honoured by naming the SI unit for electromotive force Volts (V). He was awarded the Copley medal by the Royal society for his contribution to science in 1794. Other distinguishments include becoming a knight with The order of the Iron crown from emperor Franz 1 of Austria & National order of the Legion of honour (Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur) awarded to Volta by Napoleon (France).
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In his exploration of electricity Alessandro made advancements in the production of static electricity via the Electrophorus. This was essentially a capacitive generator of emf. His invention the voltaic pile pictured left has alternating discs of zinc & copper with a solution of salt water soaked into felt spacers it produces a steady DC voltage and was adopted by many scientists working on electrical experiments around the world.
Andres Marie Ampere French Physicist & Mathematician
1775 - 1836
Ampere was a self taught very driven man he conceived the idea that there was an electric molecule which we later came to name the electron. He did extensive work on electromagnetism and discovered the effect of current and magnetic fields causing movement. He established that this the magnetic field could be increased by increasing the length of the conductor (in coils) or increasing the current. This became known as Amperes law.
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He produced many books and papers but the most significant was 'Memoir on the Mathematical Theory of Electrodynamic Phenomena, Uniquely Deduced from Experience'. This created the term electrodynamics which is now a branch of physics that deals with rapidly changing magnetic fields and electromagnetism.
His name is now the SI unit for current Ampere (A). Where 1 Ampere is a charge of 1 coulomb per second. 1 Coulomb being 6.24x10^18 electrons.
Sir Humphrey Davy
English Chemist
1778 - 1829
He worked extensively with electricity and its effect on chemicals. He used electricity to isolate elements and essentially invented electro chemistry.
He successfully isolated potassium, sodium, strontium, barium, magnesium, calcium and boron.
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He is well known for creating the Davy Lamp (above right) which was a self contained arc lamp that could be used in explosive atmospheres e.g. mines with pockets of natural gas/methane in them.
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Famously he said his greatest discovery was his assistant Michael Faraday.
Georg Ohm
Bavarian / German Physicist & Mathematician 1789 - 1854
He lent his name to the most fundamental law in electrical science. Ohm's law describes the relationship between voltage, current & resistance. Resistance is measured in Ohms and is given the symbol Omega Ω.
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He is acknowledged for proposing Ohm's phase law / Ohm's acoustic law which is concerned with how the ear perceives sound and intimates that phase does not effect the perception of sound just frequency and amplitude.
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Ohm's law was first published in George’s work 'The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically' in 1827. Although it was initially mostly overlooked at first by the turn of the century it was acknowledged as one of the most significant discoveries of fundamental importance. George was awarded the Copley medal by the Royal society for his contribution to physics.
Charles Babbage
English Polymath
1791 - 1871
Although Babbage was not really an electrical engineer he designed the first working mechanical computer which essentially made him the father of computer science. He did some work with his eldest son Benjamin Herschel Babbage on the theory of eddy currents which was later expanded upon by Michael Faraday.
Michael Faraday
English Scientist
1791 - 1867
Although not classically trained Faraday is a household name because of the extent of his pursuit in the study of science. Faraday's experiments led to a far deeper understanding of electromagnetism, electrolysis and electromagnetic induction. Faraday’s work on electromagnetic induction proved that magnetism and electric current were in fact related and a current could be induced into a coil by moving a magnet in range of it.
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Faraday discovered that light is affected by magnetic fields essentially proving that light is a type of electromagnetic radiation. This was expanded upon by Maxwell who unified a theory relating light to magnetism and electricity.
Faraday was a prolific experimenter and built many successful projects that have advanced our understanding. Examples include the Faraday wheel (the first electric generator), Faraday cage (Which effectively blocks electromagnetic fields). He has been acknowledged by using his name as the SI unit for capacitance Farad (F).
1 Farad = 1 Coulomb / 1 Volt 1 Coulomb = 1 Ampere x 1 second
1 Coulomb is a huge amount of electrons approximately 6.242 x 10^18
Joseph Henry -American Scientist
1797– 1878
Henry was a widely respected electrical engineer / scientist and was the scientific advisor to President Lincoln. He expanded upon William Sturgeon's work and discovered if insulated copper wire was wrapped around an iron core the core could become magnetised when a current was flowing through it. He essentially set the ground work for inductors, transformers and motors which all still use this simple but ground-breaking discovery.
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Henry managed to create a massive working electromagnet that was designed to sort iron called the Ore separator. He later produced some of the worlds first electric motors. He met with Michael Faraday and shared his findings as they were both working on the same principles but from different directions.
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Henry is the unit for inductance. When an alternating current of a constant frequency of 1 ampere per second a 1 Henry inductor will have a volt drop across it of 1V.
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Countess Lovelace
(Augusta Ada King-Noel)
English Writer / Mathematician 1815-1852
The famous daughter of Lord Byron although not necessarily an electrical engineer my love of computing ensures that the countess deserves a mention. She worked with Charles Babbage on his analytical engine and designed an algorithm to essentially program the machine.
Her ability to see applications for the machine beyond the scope of simple calculation essentially made her the first ever computer programmer. She was able to see beyond the pure numeracy of the machine and how this in effect could represent other values or effects.
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The Lovelace medal is awarded every year as a reward for outstanding contributions to computing. The medal was first awarded to Michael Jackson* in 1998 by the British Computer Society. Ada is also the name coined for an American military computer language in honour of the countess.
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* Michael A Jackson the computer scientist, not the popular performance artist!
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Earnst Werner von Siemens
German Inventor
1816 - 1892
Gave his name to the SI unit for conductivity the opposite of resistance. He built the worlds first electric elevator and worked in telecommunications.
He developed a system of telegraph that pointed at individual letters so you did not need Morse code.
He founded the Siemens company in 1847 which is still in operation today and is the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe.
Gustav Kirchhoff
German Physicist
1824 - 1887
Kirchhoff made several important contributions to the world of physics. For electricians the most significant is his circuit laws for parallel and series circuits. He determined that in series circuits current is constant and there is a volt drop across each component. In parallel circuits voltage is constant but current is divided between each leg of the circuit.
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Kirchhoff coined the term black body radiation and determined that an electrical signal in a conductor with no resistance would travel at the speed of light.
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As well as his contributions to electrical science Kirchhoff determined three laws in spectroscopy and in alliance with Robert Bunsen discovered the two alkali metallic elements Rubidium (Rb) and Caesium (Cs) in 1861.
Sir Joseph Swan
English Physicist / Chemist - 1828 - 1914
Famous for his independent work on the electric light bulb. His carbon filament lamps were the first to be used to light his own home Underhill in Gateshead and the first public building The Savoy theatre in London 1881.
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His experimentation helped to improve the brightness and lifespan of the first working lamps by evacuating oxygen from the bulb. He collaborated with Thomas Edison and created Ediswan (Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company) where they collaborated to further improve the production methods and lifespan of electric lamps.
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He was awarded the Legion of Honour for his work illuminating Paris in 1881's international expose of electricity. In 1904 he was awarded the Hughes medal by the Royal society and was knighted by King Edward the VII for his work.
In 1906 he received the Albert Medal by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) for his work on the incandescent light and his invention of carbon photographic printing.
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James Clarke Maxwell
Scottish Mathematician & Physicist 1831 - 1879
Heralded as one of the greatest contributors to science alongside the likes of Albert Einstein and Isaac newton. His theory's explained how light, electromagnetism and electricity are all related. He established that electromagnetic waves travel through space at the speed of light. From this observation he predicted the existence of radio waves.
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His work helped unify some of the most important questions in physics which ushered in a new era of discovery and was essential in Einstein's formulation of the General theory of relativity. Maxwell is a legend in Electrotechnical history his name is attributed to Maxwell's screw rule, Maxwell coil, Maxwell’s equations, displacement theory as well as many other contributions to mathematics and physics.
His awards include:
The Smiths prize (1854) & The Adams Prize (1857) From the University of Cambridge,
The Rumford Medal (1860) The Royal Society & the Keith medal from Scotland’s Royal society of Edinburgh.
Thomas Edison
American Inventor / Entrepreneur
1847 – 1931
Edison was fascinated by chemistry and invention from a very early age. His experimentation made his early job history a bit chequered as he was responsible for blowing up a baggage cart and a setting fire to a telegraph office in his pursuit of advances in technology. Edison is credited as one of the most prolific inventors in the world having filed over 1000 patents.
His approach was to gather together great minds like Swan, Woods, Sprague, Stanley Jr. & Tesla etc. to mass produce experiments which gave rise to his famous quote:
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“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
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This indicates his unending tenacity. His ability to make his experiments marketable was what made him more of an exception.
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His production line approach brought us the phonograph, longer life incandescent lamps, stock tickers, telegraph equipment, telephony, DC generators and many more.
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Alexander Graham Bell
Scottish Inventor / Engineer 1847 - 1922
Alexander was an inquisitive and inventive person from a young age. He developed a working de-husking machine for use in a mill when he was a young boy. He studied acoustics, musical language and designed methods of communication so he could talk to his profoundly deaf mother.
He is most notably well known for his invention of the telephone in 1876. This revolutionised business, commerce, government and public communications where letters and telegrams were the only previous method of remote communication.
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Sir John Ambrose Fleming
English Engineer
died 1849 - 1945
Fleming made many advancements in the field of electrical science. One of his most important inventions was the thermionic valve which was used in long distance telephony and radar technology. These valves were essentially the birth of electronics and preceded the modern solid state devices that were developed over 50 years after the vacuum tube. Fleming also discovered the relationship between current, emf, velocity, length of conductor and magnetic field strength and came up with the Left hand motor rule and Right hand generator rule. These rules are detailed in the science section of this site.
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The left hand Right hand
Motor rule: Generator rule:
F = BLI E = BLV
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He coined the term Power factor regarding efficiency which is also covered in the science section of this site.
Power factor is the pythagorean relationship between true power, apparent power and reactive power. Which takes into account reactive elements of inductance and capacitance with regard to efficiency.
Pf = Kw / KVA
As well as these accomplishments he was interested in the properties of light, television and wireless communications.
Fleming was a prolific writer and has published over 20 books.
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Oliver Heaveside
English Polymath
1850 - 1925
A self taught polymath who focused on mathematics, physics & electrical engineering.
Many of the terms in electrical science today are attributed to him.
In order of date terms he coined include:
1885 Permeability How susceptible a material is to magnetic fields.
1885 Conductance The ability of an element to transmit an electrical current.
1886 Inductance Given the symbol L in honour of Heinrich Lenz
1886 Impedance Resistance to the flow of current allowing for phase angle
1886 Elastance Inverse of capacitance (Farad -1 = F-1)
1887 Permittance Replaced by Susceptance
1887 Permittivity Response of a substance to an electric field, farads per metre.
1887 Admittance How easily a circuit or device will allow a current to flow.
1887 Susceptance Inverse of reactive impedance measures in Siemens.
1888 Reluctance The inverse of Inductance Henry H-1
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Quite a contribution to the language of electrical engineering also an acknowledgement of how much he wrote about his experimentation and discoveries.
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Oliver rewrote Maxwell's equations into the more commonly used form in use by modern physicists.
Nicola Tesla
Serbian /American
Engineer / Physicist
1856 - 1943
Tesla is a well documented figurehead in electrical history. Tesla used to work at Edison's laboratories but they fell out of favour and he went to work with George Westinghouse at Westinghouse electric in 1888. He strived to create a public generation & distribution system and famously wanted to make it free! This was one of the main reasons Tesla and Edison had their famous battle of the currents AC/DC. Tesla crested a working generation station at Niagara and AC won the war of the currents.
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He was a prolific inventor and held over 700 patents including the rotary transformer, induction motor, Tesla coil, turbines, remote controlled torpedo, generators, transmission and distribution systems.
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His awards for his contributions were many including:
The order of the white eagle, order of the white cross, Order of St. Sava, Order of the Yugoslav crown, Medal of the university of st Clement, Order of the white lion, Eliot Cresson medal and amusingly The Edison medal in 1916 presented to him by the American institution IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
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Considering Tesla was so on the mark with his methods of distribution and transmission he died a very poor man. He spent all his wealth on his laboratories and repairing generator stations that he destroyed in the process of his experimentation.
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Tesla's name has been used as a company name since 2003 by a group of engineers striving for sustainability in energy production. They construct electric cars, motors, batteries and storage capacitors as well as clean energy production methods like photovoltaic. To further demonstrate their willingness to improve sustainability Elon Musk the co-founder of Tesla has announced that they will not legally pursue any company that uses their developments and technology in good faith. I'm sure Nicola Tesla would approve.
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Granville Woods
American Inventor / Engineer
1856 - 1910
Granville was mostly interested in electrified railway systems and telegraph / telephone technology. His contributions were often contested and he spent many a time in court defending his patents. One particular victory against Edison earned him a job at the Edison company.
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'If you can't beat them, join them' one thing that Edison was renowned for doing to improve his advantage. Granville held over 50 patents for electrification of railways, tunnel construction for rail, Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, Overhead rail conductors, Telephone & phonograph.
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Although much of his work was not entirely original he was responsible for making vast improvements in the safety and efficiency of public transport systems.
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He was a well spoken and well dressed man and liked to wear his (and my own) favourite colour Purple. He was even referred to in the press as the 'Purple Edison' and in some cases less favourably 'The Black Edison'.
Heinrich Rudolph Hertz German Physicist
1857 - 1894
Hertz (Hz) is the SI unit for frequency, an honour bestowed upon him for proving Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic waves. The frequency of electromagnetic waves determines the type of wave as shown in the diagram below.
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The frequency is measured in cyles per second and is given by the equation: t = 1/ f
Where t = time in seconds and f = frequency
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He discovered the Photoelectric effect where electrons or other free carriers are released upon the absorption of electromagnetic radiation.
This is put to good use in photovoltaic cells and widely in astronomy. He studied under Gustav Kirchhoff in Germany. He also developed the cathode ray tube which was used for TV and monitors.
Frank Julian Sprague American Inventor
1857 - 1934
Frank was known as 'The father of Electric Traction'. He worked extensively on developing urban environments so they could support larger populations. The main method of achieving this was providing elevators that made skyscrapers an option for developing up instead of out. He also worked on electrification of rail and developed motor technology to be more powerful and efficient.
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Sprague was yet another inventor that was attracted to the Edison Laboratories in Menlo park and developed a mathematical model to reduce the costs of Edison's often hit and miss approach to research and development.
After working with Edison Sprague established the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor company. He developed a motor that could run at constant speed under varying loads using a method he called regenerative braking. This made elevator development possible. For example you would not want to plummet to the ground because more people have got in!
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Sprague received: The Elliot Cresson Medal in 1903 for his work on electrical traction and the Franklin Medal in 1921 both given by the Franklin institute. The IEEE Edison medal in 1910 for Engineering. Finally after his death he was awarded the John Fritz Medal in 1935 by the American association of engineering societies for outstanding scientific or industrial achievements.
William Stanley Junior
English Physicist
1858 – 1916)
William worked extensively on electric lighting and filed many patents for incandescent lamps and methods of fitting them as well as control and protective systems. His work on electrical generation, Transmission and distribution systems is considered to be the basis of the system we use today. For this work the IEEE ranked his achievement as a milestone in Electrical history. The IEEE awarded him the Edison Medal in 1912.
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An avid inventor he filed 129 patents in his lifetime. One of which was for the all steel vacuum bottle for which he established The Stanley Bottle Company in 1913 which is now operating in China. The original bottles were used to transport liquids, drugs, organs and foods that needed a vacuum to stay fresh and a hard-wearing container. His leap from electrical engineering to bottle making came from his work on transformer production techniques where he applied a welding technique used on transformers to produce the bottles.
Charles Steinmetz
German / American
Mathematician & Electrical Engineer - 1865 - 1923
Charles did extensive work on the effect of hysteresis which led to improvements in inductors, transformers, generators & motors which all suffer from the unwanted effects of creating magnetic fields. He created Steinmetz's equation (Power equation) that is used to calculate core loses in electromagnetic equipment.
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The modern version of his original formula has added frequency which we now know to be a major factor in calculating reactance, power factor plus the effects of hysteresis and eddy currents.
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He created an equation for establishing losses in transmission systems which radically reduced the costs involved in researching developing transmission and distribution systems. Previously systems were built and then tested an expensive hit and miss method.
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His third strike was at protection against transients. Most transients are caused by high load switching or lightning. What Steinmetz figured out is how to protect high power electrical systems from these short lived but highly damaging effects. In his efforts to this effect he was nicknamed 'The forger of thunderbolts' because of his 120kV generators that could create lightning like arcs in his massive laboratory.
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His writing history is extensive and covers many subjects in development of the field of electrical Engineering.
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Guglielmo Marconi
1st Marquis of Marconi
Italian Electrical Engineer
1874 - 1937
Marconi is most commonly known for being the father of Radio radio. He worked on increasing the distance of long range radio signals and determined that the height and effective range were related and coined Marconi's law.
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H = Height D= Distance
c is a constant regarding the type of apparatus that is being used.
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He was also a savvy businessman and set up the Wireless and Telegraph signalling company later re-branded in honour of his death as The Marconi Company. He is acknowledged as the first person to successfully build and demonstrate a working radio transmitting and receiving signals over distance. He discovered in his attempts to communicate across the Atlantic that medium & long wave radio waves travelled further at night and was the first person to establish a link.
Marconi was acknowledged as a saviour of many souls by establishing a means of communication at sea which was highlighted most terribly when the RMS Titanic sank in 1912. The fact that there were ships in range that could receive information about the plight of the passengers & crew meant some people did survive the tragedy.
Albert Einstein
German Theoretical Physicist - 1879 - 1955
Einstein is one of the few physicists that has an equation that most of the world knows. He is probably the most influential scientist in the last 100 years. He established the relationship between mass, energy & the speed of light. His shortened version of the theory of general relativity is the most well known equation in physics.
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Einstein acknowledged Maxwell's work on electromagnetic radiation and without which may not have come to his conclusions. For more information look up Einstein-Maxwell equations.
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In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel prize for his work on the Photoelectric effect which gave rise to the advancement of Quantum theory. The Photoelectric effect is related to the interaction of photons of light releasing electrons from a solid with regard to its electromagnetic frequency.
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His awards are multitude & justly deserved:
Barnard Medal - 1920 Columbia University, Matteucci Medal - 1921 Italian society of science, ForMemRS (Foreign Member of the Royal Society) -1921, The Copley Medal - 1925 Royal Society, Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society 1926, Max Planck Medal - 1929 German physical society, Time Person of the Century - 1999 Time magazine.
His work towards a unified theory in physics is in my opinion the greatest leap in our understanding of universal forces since Newton determined that mass and gravity are related. What a good fellow!
Walter Houser Brattain
American Physicist
1902 - 1987
John Bardeen*
American Physicist / Engineer
1908 - 1991
William Shockley
American Physicist / Inventor
1910 - 1989
These three came up with what I consider to be the largest revolution that has transformed the modern world. The semiconductor effect and the advent of the transistor without which modern electronics and computing would not exist. In 1956 they were awarded the Nobel prize for their contribution. Thanks to their accomplishments Silicone Valley became famous for research, development and large scale production of semi-conductors.
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They essentially started the information age. Gordon Moore later accurately predicted that the power of computers was proportional to the transistor count on the Central Processing Unit (CPU). He gauged that the power & speed of the CPU's would double every 18-24 months which has stood since 1965.
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*John Bardeen won a further Nobel prize for his collaborative work on superconductivity in 1972.
