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61 Grimthorpe (of Grimthorpe), Edmund Beckett, Baron
SUBJECT AREA: Horology[br]b. 12 May 1816 Newark, Nottinghamshire, Englandd. 29 April 1905 St Albans, Hertfordshire, England[br]English lawyer and amateur horologist who was the first successfully to apply the gravity escapement to public clocks.[br]Born Edmund Beckett Denison, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics, graduating in 1838. He was called to the Bar in 1841 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1854. He built up a large and lucrative practice which gave him the independence to pursue his many interests outside law. His interest in horology may have been stimulated by a friend and fellow lawyer, J.M. Bloxham, who interestingly had invented a gravity escapement with an affinity to the escapement eventually used by Denison. Denison studied horology with his usual thoroughness and by 1850 he had published his Rudimentary Treatise on Clock and Watchmaking. It was natural, therefore, that he should have been invited to be a referee when a disagreement arose over the design of the clock for the new Houses of Parliament. Typically, he interpreted his brief very liberally and designed the clock himself. The most distinctive feature of the clock, in its final form, was the incorporation of a gravity escapement. A gravity escapement was particularly desirable in a public clock as it enabled the pendulum to receive a constant impulse (and thus swing with a constant amplitude), despite the variable forces that might be exerted by the wind on the exposed hands. The excellent performance of the prestigious clock at Westminster made Denison's form of gravity escapement de rigueur for large mechanical public clocks produced in Britain and in many other countries. In 1874 he inherited his father's baronetcy, dropping the Denison name, but later adopted the name Grimthorpe when he was created a Baron in 1886.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPeerage 1886. President, British Horological Institute 1868–1905.BibliographyHis highly idiosyncratic A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks and Watchmaking first published in 1850, went through eight editions, with slight changes of title, and became the most influential work in English on the subject of public clocks.Further ReadingVaudrey Mercer, 1977, The Life and Letters of Edward John Dent, London, pp. 650–1 (provides biographical information relating to horology; also contains a reliable account of Denison's involvement with the clock at Westminster).A.L.Rawlings, 1948, The Science of Clocks and Watcher, repub. 1974, pp. 98–102 (provides a technical assessment of Denison's escapement).DVBiographical history of technology > Grimthorpe (of Grimthorpe), Edmund Beckett, Baron
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62 Nobel, Alfred Bernhard
[br]b. 21 October 1833 Stockholm, Swedend. 10 December 1896 San Remo, Italy[br]Swedish industrialist, inventor of dynamite, founder of the Nobel Prizes.[br]Alfred's father, Immanuel Nobel, builder, industrialist and inventor, encouraged his sons to follow his example of inventiveness. Alfred's education was interrupted when the family moved to St Petersburg, but was continued privately and was followed by a period of travel. He thus acquired a good knowledge of chemistry and became an excellent linguist.During the Crimean War, Nobel worked for his father's firm in supplying war materials. The cancellation of agreements with the Russian Government at the end of the war bankrupted the firm, but Alfred and his brother Immanuel continued their interest in explosives, working on improved methods of making nitroglycerine. In 1863 Nobel patented his first major invention, a detonator that introduced the principle of detonation by shock, by using a small charge of nitroglycerine in a metal cap with detonating or fulminating mercury. Two years later Nobel set up the world's first nitroglycerine factory in an isolated area outside Stockholm. This led to several other plants and improved methods for making and handling the explosive. Yet Nobel remained aware of the dangers of liquid nitroglycerine, and after many experiments he was able in 1867 to take out a patent for dynamite, a safe, solid and pliable form of nitroglycerine, mixed with kieselguhr. At last, nitroglycerine, discovered by Sobrero in 1847, had been transformed into a useful explosive; Nobel began to promote a worldwide industry for its manufacture. Dynamite still had disadvantages, and Nobel continued his researches until, in 1875, he achieved blasting gelatin, a colloidal solution of nitrocellulose (gun cotton) in nitroglycerine. In many ways it proved to be the ideal explosive, more powerful than nitroglycerine alone, less sensitive to shock and resistant to moisture. It was variously called Nobel's Extra Dynamite, blasting gelatin and gelignite. It immediately went into production.Next, Nobel sought a smokeless powder for military purposes, and in 1887 he obtained a nearly smokeless blasting powder using nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose with 10 per cent camphor. Finally, a progressive, smokeless blasting powder was developed in 1896 at his San Remo laboratory.Nobel's interests went beyond explosives into other areas, such as electrochemistry, optics and biology; his patents amounted to 355 in various countries. However, it was the manufacture of explosives that made him a multimillionaire. At his death he left over £2 million, which he willed to funding awards "to those who during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind".[br]Bibliography1875, On Modern Blasting Agents, Glasgow (his only book).Further ReadingH.Schuck et al., 1962, Nobel, the Man and His Prizes, Amsterdam.E.Bergengren, 1962, Alfred Nobel, the Man and His Work, London and New York (includes a supplement on the prizes and the Nobel institution).LRD -
63 Talbot, William Henry Fox
SUBJECT AREA: Photography, film and optics[br]b. 11 February 1800 Melbury, Englandd. 17 September 1877 Lacock, Wiltshire, England[br]English scientist, inventor of negative—positive photography and practicable photo engraving.[br]Educated at Harrow, where he first showed an interest in science, and at Cambridge, Talbot was an outstanding scholar and a formidable mathematician. He published over fifty scientific papers and took out twelve English patents. His interests outside the field of science were also wide and included Assyriology, etymology and the classics. He was briefly a Member of Parliament, but did not pursue a parliamentary career.Talbot's invention of photography arose out of his frustrating attempts to produce acceptable pencil sketches using popular artist's aids, the camera discura and camera lucida. From his experiments with the former he conceived the idea of placing on the screen a paper coated with silver salts so that the image would be captured chemically. During the spring of 1834 he made outline images of subjects such as leaves and flowers by placing them on sheets of sensitized paper and exposing them to sunlight. No camera was involved and the first images produced using an optical system were made with a solar microscope. It was only when he had devised a more sensitive paper that Talbot was able to make camera pictures; the earliest surviving camera negative dates from August 1835. From the beginning, Talbot noticed that the lights and shades of his images were reversed. During 1834 or 1835 he discovered that by placing this reversed image on another sheet of sensitized paper and again exposing it to sunlight, a picture was produced with lights and shades in the correct disposition. Talbot had discovered the basis of modern photography, the photographic negative, from which could be produced an unlimited number of positives. He did little further work until the announcement of Daguerre's process in 1839 prompted him to publish an account of his negative-positive process. Aware that his photogenic drawing process had many imperfections, Talbot plunged into further experiments and in September 1840, using a mixture incorporating a solution of gallic acid, discovered an invisible latent image that could be made visible by development. This improved calotype process dramatically shortened exposure times and allowed Talbot to take portraits. In 1841 he patented the process, an exercise that was later to cause controversy, and between 1844 and 1846 produced The Pencil of Nature, the world's first commercial photographically illustrated book.Concerned that some of his photographs were prone to fading, Talbot later began experiments to combine photography with printing and engraving. Using bichromated gelatine, he devised the first practicable method of photo engraving, which was patented as Photoglyphic engraving in October 1852. He later went on to use screens of gauze, muslin and finely powdered gum to break up the image into lines and dots, thus anticipating modern photomechanical processes.Talbot was described by contemporaries as the "Father of Photography" primarily in recognition of his discovery of the negative-positive process, but he also produced the first photomicrographs, took the first high-speed photographs with the aid of a spark from a Leyden jar, and is credited with proposing infra-red photography. He was a shy man and his misguided attempts to enforce his calotype patent made him many enemies. It was perhaps for this reason that he never received the formal recognition from the British nation that his family felt he deserved.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS March 1831. Royal Society Rumford Medal 1842. Grand Médaille d'Honneur, L'Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1855. Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Edinburgh University, 1863.Bibliography1839, "Some account of the art of photographic drawing", Royal Society Proceedings 4:120–1; Phil. Mag., XIV, 1839, pp. 19–21.8 February 1841, British patent no. 8842 (calotype process).1844–6, The Pencil of Nature, 6 parts, London (Talbot'a account of his invention can be found in the introduction; there is a facsimile edn, with an intro. by Beamont Newhall, New York, 1968.Further ReadingH.J.P.Arnold, 1977, William Henry Fox Talbot, London.D.B.Thomas, 1964, The First Negatives, London (a lucid concise account of Talbot's photograph work).J.Ward and S.Stevenson, 1986, Printed Light, Edinburgh (an essay on Talbot's invention and its reception).H.Gernsheim and A.Gernsheim, 1977, The History of Photography, London (a wider picture of Talbot, based primarily on secondary sources).JWBiographical history of technology > Talbot, William Henry Fox
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64 Cognitive Science
The basic idea of cognitive science is that intelligent beings are semantic engines-in other words, automatic formal systems with interpretations under which they consistently make sense.... [P]eople and intelligent computers turn out to be merely different manifestations of the same underlying phenomenon. (Haugeland, 1981b, p. 31)2) Experimental Psychology, Theoretical Linguistics, and Computational Simulation of Cognitive Processes Are All Components of Cognitive ScienceI went away from the Symposium with a strong conviction, more intuitive than rational, that human experimental psychology, theoretical linguistics, and computer simulation of cognitive processes were all pieces of a larger whole, and that the future would see progressive elaboration and coordination of their shared concerns.... I have been working toward a cognitive science for about twenty years beginning before I knew what to call it. (G. A. Miller, 1979, p. 9)Cognitive Science studies the nature of cognition in human beings, other animals, and inanimate machines (if such a thing is possible). While computers are helpful within cognitive science, they are not essential to its being. A science of cognition could still be pursued even without these machines.Computer Science studies various kinds of problems and the use of computers to solve them, without concern for the means by which we humans might otherwise resolve them. There could be no computer science if there were no machines of this kind, because they are indispensable to its being. Artificial Intelligence is a special branch of computer science that investigates the extent to which the mental powers of human beings can be captured by means of machines.There could be cognitive science without artificial intelligence but there could be no artificial intelligence without cognitive science. One final caveat: In the case of an emerging new discipline such as cognitive science there is an almost irresistible temptation to identify the discipline itself (as a field of inquiry) with one of the theories that inspired it (such as the computational conception...). This, however, is a mistake. The field of inquiry (or "domain") stands to specific theories as questions stand to possible answers. The computational conception should properly be viewed as a research program in cognitive science, where "research programs" are answers that continue to attract followers. (Fetzer, 1996, pp. xvi-xvii)What is the nature of knowledge and how is this knowledge used? These questions lie at the core of both psychology and artificial intelligence.The psychologist who studies "knowledge systems" wants to know how concepts are structured in the human mind, how such concepts develop, and how they are used in understanding and behavior. The artificial intelligence researcher wants to know how to program a computer so that it can understand and interact with the outside world. The two orientations intersect when the psychologist and the computer scientist agree that the best way to approach the problem of building an intelligent machine is to emulate the human conceptual mechanisms that deal with language.... The name "cognitive science" has been used to refer to this convergence of interests in psychology and artificial intelligence....This working partnership in "cognitive science" does not mean that psychologists and computer scientists are developing a single comprehensive theory in which people are no different from machines. Psychology and artificial intelligence have many points of difference in methods and goals.... We simply want to work on an important area of overlapping interest, namely a theory of knowledge systems. As it turns out, this overlap is substantial. For both people and machines, each in their own way, there is a serious problem in common of making sense out of what they hear, see, or are told about the world. The conceptual apparatus necessary to perform even a partial feat of understanding is formidable and fascinating. (Schank & Abelson, 1977, pp. 1-2)Within the last dozen years a general change in scientific outlook has occurred, consonant with the point of view represented here. One can date the change roughly from 1956: in psychology, by the appearance of Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin's Study of Thinking and George Miller's "The Magical Number Seven"; in linguistics, by Noam Chomsky's "Three Models of Language"; and in computer science, by our own paper on the Logic Theory Machine. (Newell & Simon, 1972, p. 4)Historical dictionary of quotations in cognitive science > Cognitive Science
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См. также в других словарях:
outside interests — outside interests/experience/knowledge/etc phrase interests experience knowledge etc that are not connected with, or not a result of, the work that you do in your present job You must not let your outside interests interfere with your work.… … Useful english dictionary
outside experience — outside interests/experience/knowledge/etc phrase interests experience knowledge etc that are not connected with, or not a result of, the work that you do in your present job You must not let your outside interests interfere with your work.… … Useful english dictionary
outside knowledge — outside interests/experience/knowledge/etc phrase interests experience knowledge etc that are not connected with, or not a result of, the work that you do in your present job You must not let your outside interests interfere with your work.… … Useful english dictionary
outside — out|side [ ,aut saıd, aut,saıd ] function word *** Outside can be used in the following ways: as a preposition (followed by a noun): He was sitting at a table outside the café. as an adverb (without a following noun): Why don t you go and play… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
outside — out|side1 W1S1 [autˈsaıd] adv, prep 1.) a) not inside a building = ↑outdoors ≠ ↑inside ▪ When we got up, it was still dark outside. ▪ Go and play outside. see usage note ↑out1 b) … Dictionary of contemporary English
outside */*/*/ — UK [ˌaʊtˈsaɪd] / US / US [ˈaʊtˌsaɪd] adjective, adverb, noun, preposition Summary: Outside can be used in the following ways: as a preposition (followed by a noun): He was sitting at a table outside the café. as an adverb (without a following… … English dictionary
outside — 1 /aUt saId, aUtsaId/ preposition 1 out of a particular building or room: As soon as we were outside the door we burst out laughing. opposite inside 3 (2) 2 out of a building but still close to it: I ll meet you outside the hardware store at 2 o… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
outside — [[t]a͟ʊtsa͟ɪd[/t]] ♦ outsides (The form outside of can also be used as a preposition. This form is more usual in American English.) 1) N COUNT: usu the N, oft N of n The outside of something is the part which surrounds or encloses the rest of it … English dictionary
outside — I. noun Date: 1502 1. a. a place or region beyond an enclosure or boundary: as (1) the world beyond the confines of an institution (as a prison) (2) often capitalized, in Alaska the world beyond the territory or state of Alaska; especially the 48 … New Collegiate Dictionary
outside — n. /owt suyd , suyd /; adj. /owt suyd , owt /; adv. /owt suyd /; prep. /owt suyd , owt suyd /, n. 1. the outer side, surface, or part; exterior: The outside of the house needs painting. 2. the external aspect or appearance. 3. the space without… … Universalium
outside — out•side n. [[t]ˈaʊtˈsaɪd, ˌsaɪd[/t]] adj. [[t]ˌaʊtˈsaɪd, ˈaʊt [/t]] adv. [[t]ˌaʊtˈsaɪd[/t]] prep. [[t]ˌaʊtˈsaɪd, ˈaʊtˌsaɪd[/t]] n. 1) the outer side, surface, or part; exterior 2) the external aspect or appearance 3) the space beyond an… … From formal English to slang
