Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller Essay Example

Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller Essay Intro: Morning The death of salesman comes to an end when Wily loan commits suicide, who is to blame for Willis destruction? Wily is to blame for his destruction by the way he lives his life in denial and with arrogance, the arrogance and Jealousy inside Wilily brings him down in the play. The American dream that Wily chases is also to blame but its Wily who decides to follow this lifestyle, which only leads him to guilt and depression. The play teaches us about an individual that leads himself to self- destruction by being arrogant and living in denial. Wily is seen as egotistical in the lay especially after Charley his neighbor offers him a Job; Wily being offended by this declines the offer not only once but twice. Wily speaks l cant work for you, thats all, dont ask me why. This is Wily admitting he will never work for Charley. Charley loans Wily money whilst he doesnt have a Job, Wily is happy to take Charley money but doesnt want to work under Charley. Although he takes the money Wily is Jealous of the life Charley lives. Just as charley gives Wily the money, he is quoted saying muff been Jealous of me all your life, you damned fool. Here, pay your insurance. This shows Wily who is trying to obtain a high standard of living while doing nothing constructive. This is how he is envious of people who are higher than him but will never work for or under them to start of with. The reason for this is because Wily sees the only ideal life is living the great American dream. Wily sees the American dream within his neighbor Charley and his brother Ben who also tells Wily to enter the Jungle. We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This idea of the Jungle represents a interesting and exciting life, by stepping out into he Jungle Wily is obtaining a dangerous challenge that when overcome he can become rich and wealthy, like Ben his brother. This is how Wily arrogance keeps him out of work and leaves him to feel he has failed as a man. Wily lives his whole life in denial and his pride makes him believe he was liked and popular. Which is evident in act one, he said: They know me boys, they know me up and down New England. This is Willies arrogance making him believe that everyone knows him. Wily also lies to him self to make him believe that he has friends and is a high figure in society. This is apparent in act one, when he quotes Cause one thing, boys I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own. This is Wily living his life in denial and arrogance, this makes the realization harder and destroys him when he later comes to realism the true reality of his life it destroys him. This indicates Willis arrogance and his denial towards his work and life. , Which eventually leads to Willis destruction. Wily leads a guilty life. The Death of a Salesman illustrates us on how Wily Loans guilt leads him to an unhappy relationship with his family. Wily is left feeling guilty after his son biff caught him having an affair with another woman. Now look Biff, when you grow up youll understand about these things. You mustnt overemphasized a thing like this. This is Wily trying to explain to his son about life and trying to say that its normal to cheat and be unfaithful, this all ties together how Wily lives a life of denial and how he tells himself things to make himself believe that its okay to do these things. Biff makes his father feel guilty as he leaves he screams muff fake! You phony little fake! You fake! the repetition brings out what biff is emphasizing about the lies Wily lives, Biff storms off out of the room. This turns into Biff never forgetting what his father did and hating his father for it. Wily also feels guilty towards his loyal loving wife that he cheated on. He comes into the room Will you stop mending stocking? At least while Im in the house. It gets me nervous please! The stockings in the play are seen as a symbol for heartache. Wily constantly gave his mistress stocking, so whenever Wily sees the stocking its a reminder of how he should have given the stocking to his loyal wife. Symbolism is one technique Arthur Miller uses in the play to underline Willies mistakes and approach to life. This relationship failures lead to Wily taking his life. Conclusion Everyone has choices in life and Wily loan took the wrong path in life with both his family and Job. What if Wily didnt cheat on his wife? What if Wily had a strong family relationship with his boys? What if Wily wasnt Jealous of the people around him? What if Wily loan took the Job he was offered? What if Wily Didnt takes is life? All this is Why Wily Loan is to blame for his destruction? Apishly Main

Geothermal Systems essays

Geothermal Systems essays Geothermal systems are one of the most efficient ways to heat and cool a home and provide hot water. It is one of the most cost-effective and longest-lasting heating and cooling systems on the market today. Also known as underground-source heat pumps, geothermal systems provide many benefits to a homeowner. Some of these benefits include that they are cost effective, very durable, are low maintenance, can offer year long comfort, and have a very low environmental impact. Almost everyone likes to save money. Geothermal systems save money in operating and maintenance costs. While the initial price of a geothermal system is often higher than a gas-fired furnace and central air-conditioning system, it is more efficient, thereby saving money every month. Geothermal systems are also equipped with a device called a "desuperheater" that can heat the household water. In the summer, the heat that is taken from the house is used to heat the water for free. In the winter, water heating costs are reduced by about half. On average, a three ton unit can cost about $7,500. The geothermal system's high efficiency usually means much lower utility bills, which almost everyone would like to have. Geothermal systems are also very durable. They typically last twenty years or more. They may even come with twenty-five to fifty year warranties. Geothermal systems last a long time because the machinery is sheltered underground from items like leaves or dirt. This is one reason why they are highly reliable. Another benefit of geothermal systems is that they require very little maintenance. Geothermal systems have fewer maintenance requirements than most other systems. When properly installed, the underground components are practically worry free. The machinery in the home is also easily accessible. This helps to increase its convenience and ensure that the little maintenance that needs to be performed is done ...

Fundementals of computers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fundementals of computers - Essay Example The very aspect to frame the problem domain into effective planning is the key element one learns for fetching the large project scenario. The critical aspects of planning and designing the definite and thoughtful steps would make sure to widen ones thinking skills to bring an ability to predict an event before it actually occurs. The decision making abilities are promoted to a large extent as one needs to make crucial decisions with regard to the right methodology to solve a problem with an algorithm and reduce complexity at every cost. The knowledge would facilitate even further in understanding the computer science subject as a whole to design the various mechanisms to handle the computers activity domain and its intelligence in handling the various resources required. The knowledge of operating systems would help one to understand the various dependencies of the programs and the amount of integration achieved by computer science. It also helps one to learn the various platform issues the computer hardware and software requires binding itself for the running of application programs. The knowledge of operating systems helps one to understand the difference between the large programs and ancillary programs of a computer system. The large programs accommodate the working of aligned programs and one gets to visualize and grasp knowledge of the successful aggregation of such programs for achieving the objective. The knowledge of ancillary programs would make sure that the various integrations of the programs are handled well. The focus is on high penetration of thought process in framing better problem domain and solving abilities. The database systems are a branch of computer science that facilitates the knowledge to transform the storage of raw data into a retrieval format. It transforms ones knowledge to learn the use of data, to understand the various data structures involved, to measure up the definitions of

Externalities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Externalities - Assignment Example Externalities Before considering the five questions we must first recognize that the example of gas emission by a local power plant is that of a negative externality. This is because emissions of such gases cause pollution which is harmful for humans, animals and plants. Although the society is not involved in the emission of these gases but it has to bear the costs (Perloff 2003). Hence the given example is a perfect case of a negative externality. 1. Although there are a number of ways to combat the negative externality, a policy maker must carefully decide on a policy before implementing it. There are a few costs and benefits of each policy and the policy maker should first carry out a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of all the alternative policies before their final decision. Blinder (1987) has the following to say about solving the negative externality problem: â€Å"Especially when faced with environmental externalities, economists have almost universally objected to government re gulations that mandate specific technologies (especially â€Å"best-available technology†) or business practices. These approaches make environmental cleanup much more expensive than it has to be because the cost of reducing pollution varies widely from firm to firm and from industry to industry. A more efficient solution is to issue tradable â€Å"pollution permits† that add up to the target level of emissions. Sources able to cheaply curtail their negative externalities would drastically cut back, selling their permits to less flexible polluters.† Another solution proposed by Coase (1960 in his Coase Theorem is: â€Å"Under perfect competition, once government has assigned clearly defined property rights in contested resources and as long as transactions costs are negligible, private parties that generate or are affected by externalities will negotiate voluntary agreements that lead to the socially optimal resource allocation and output mix regardless of how t he property rights are assigned† Hence the two possible policies that a policy maker can adopt are using tradable pollution permits or government defined property rights. 2. In the first policy the government will give licenses to firms to pollute. Each license will specify the level of pollution allowed to the firm. Depending on its level of pollution a firm can buy a certain license. Firms that pollute less than the permissible level can trade their license with those firms who cannot keep their pollution levels low. In this way firms are given an incentive to pollute less (Bamford, Brunskill, Cain, Grant, Munday, Walton 2002). The second policy assumes that there are negligible transactions costs. According to Sloman (2007) making someone the owner of the air around the power plant eliminates the effect of a negative externality. Here the two parties involved are the power plant producing the negative externality and the society living in the vicinity of the power plant tha t is affected by the emissions. If the power plant owns property rights to the air then the society pays the power plant to reduce pollution by lowering its production to the optimal level. However if the society is the owner then the power plant will have to pay compensating money to the society for the pollution they cause by increasing production from the optimal level. 3. If the policy maker implements the tradable permits for gases emission it will have benefits for the power plant and government apart from reduced

Critique of Quantitative Methods Journal Paper Essay - 1

Critique of Quantitative Methods Journal Paper - Essay Example d in this regard that motivation is one of the key factors, which facilitates people to perform better for attaining their respective desired targets. Besides, modern organisations, in order to withstand in this competitive business world, are viewed to remain continuously engaged in making substantial changes in their policies, which lead towards raising the issue of distress amid the employees. In this respect, the article mainly drawn the framework of ‘transactional stress theory’ in order to evaluate the effectiveness of ‘affect-based model’ of ‘developmental job experience’ (DJE) through which both positive as well as negative outcomes of an individual could be measured (Dong & et. al., 2014). Correspondingly, the essay will critically interpret and evaluate the provided quantitative article, which is mainly concerned about determining the significance of an ‘affect-based model’ of ‘developmental job experience’ as well as the buffering effects of emotional intelligence. DJE refers to the experiences that an individual needs to carry for meeting the demands of the changing working assignment. This will certain provide them a significant opportunity of learning and enriching their inhaled competency of leadership in respect of knowledge, decision making skills, insightfulness and most vitally interpersonal capability (McCauley & Brutus, 2008). This particular approach i.e. DJE has been used by certain renowned organisations including IBM and NASA among others with the aim of developing on-the-job learning procedure of their respective employees. Based on this notion, it can be asserted that the approach aids in advancing the potential skills of the employees, which eventually result in making them high productive. In order to develop overall organisational competency, enhancing the employees’ skills and reducing the unwanted costs are quite important for any organisation in order to gain long-term success. It is often observed that most

Industrial building and copper material

Industrial building and copper material 1.Introduction â€Å"I grow more intense as I age.† (Florida Scott-Maxwell) Copper is one of the most durable and aesthetically pleasing roofing and cladding options available for domestic to bigger commercial and industrial buildings. The copper forms a protective barrier around it as soon as it reacts to the atmosphere. This allows the material to improve and to stand against the test of time. 2. Aim The aim of this report is to introduce the reader to copper as a roofing material in the building industry. Standing seam copper roofing and cladding to multi-storey buildings will be the focus of this report. 3. Why copper? Copper is used in the building industry because of its durability and the ease of instalment and workability. A properly installed copper roof will outlast other types of roofing systems. Copper is 100%recyclableand does not lose any quality whether in a raw state or after it was used as a manufactured product. According to the Copper Development Association (CDA. 2010), copper is one of the most recycled metals, roughly 80% of the copper ever mined is still used in some form today. 4. History of copper roofs Copper has been a very important material to man since ancient times. So much so that one of the main stages of mankinds history is named after a copper alloy, bronze-age. Copper and its many alloys have had a vital role in many civilizations. In the Roman period it was mined in Cyprus, this resulted to the metal being named Cyprium, this name was later shortened to Cuprum and ultimately we know it in English as copper. Today, most copper is mined from open cast mines around the world. The copper is extracted from smelting large amounts of copper ore, before being refined to the copper we use and know. In the early 18th century about 90% of the worlds copper was smelted in South Wales (COPPER Africa. 2010). Copper has been used as a waterproof roofing material since ancient times. It can be seen on roofs and domes on todays buildings. It is recognizable by its greenish colour. This colouring is because of the atmosphere reacting with the copper to form a protective barrier against corrosion around it. Initially, exposed Copper atoms react with the air to form the pink oxide, this is called cuprite. This slowly oxidizes more to the black oxide, called tenorite. When this black oxide gets wet it reacts with sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide from the air to ultimately form the patina, which gives it a green glimmer. Technology and improved techniques make copper the perfect building material for roofing, cladding and the accessories going with roofing systems. More and more pre-fabricated copper products on the market have reduced the cost and this enabled copper to be used in more buildings than in the past. 5. Types of roofing systems. Copper roofs have been known to last for over 700 years; the substructure rather than the copper itself ultimately fails. The ductility and malleability of copper allows it to form over irregular roof forms and structures. Domes and other curved roof shapes are a speciality when it comes to copper. New tools and construction methods have been introduced that give support to the quick, correct, and cost-effective installation of copper roofs. Types of copper roofing systems include: 5.1. Standing Seam Roofing Standing seam, the most common system, roofing consists of pre-fabricated or in-situ formed pans. The copper pans and are joined together with double locked standing seams. Copper cleats lock into these seams to fix the roofing to the base structure. This method prevents the pans or sheets from slipping down the roof. 5.2. Batten Seam Roofing Batten seam roofing consists of copper pans that runs parallel to the angle of the roof and is separated by wood battens. The battens are then covered with copper copings that are fixed to the battens. These copings lock the loose pans into adjacent pans. 5.3. Chevron Roofing A common Chevron roof design is based on normal batten seam construction, but secondary battens are fixed to the roof. These extra battens are purely decorative and do not add to the functionality or structure of the roof. 5.4. Flat Seam Roofing Flat seam roofing systems are generally used on roofs that are flat or have a very low pitch. Flat seam roofing is constructed of rectangular copper sheets. Two neighbouring sides of the sheets are folded over and two are folded under to lock them in place. Copper cleats are then installed seams to make the roof waterproof. 5.5. Horizontal Seam Roofing Horizontal seam roofs consist of copper pans that run horizontally across the roof pitch. At each fixing point or edge a step is used to allow neighbouring pans to lock successfully. 5.6. Mansard Roofing A Mansard roof is, based and is very similar to standing seam or batten seam construction. 6. Standing Seam Copper Roofing and Cladding Standing seam, the most common system, roofing consists of pre-fabricated or in-situ formed pans. The pans and are joined together with double locked standing seams. Copper cleats lock into these seams to fix the roofing to the base structure. This method prevents the pans or sheets from slipping down the roof. When preformed copper pans are used, they are joined at the top and lower ends by slanting seams. In-situ formed pans involve the use of copper sheets on rolls which are shaped into pans by electrical pan formers. This allows one to form long, continuous pans, this eliminates the need for seams, but if this method is used, one must allow for expansion joints due to the expansion and contraction properties of the copper. 6.1. General design considerations 6.1.1. High Winds In areas where high winds occur, the roof design must be evaluated to make sure the roof can resist the wind forces. High winds can put great positive or negative pressures on roofs, especially the edges, so the detailing must ensure that the roof is secure. 6.1.2. Heavy Rain Where heavy rain is likely, the designer must give allot of thought and attention to the slope, seam details, valleys, gutters and downpipes of the roof. The seam heights can be adjusted if it is necessary. 6.1.3. Ice and Snow In areas where there is allot of ice and snow, the designer should make provision for the loads that act on the roof from the weight of the snow or ice. Increasing the slope so that the snow can slide of the roof must be considered. 6.1.4. Temperature Range When the temperature fluctuates, the copper and any adjacent materials will expand and contract in different ways. This should be taken into consideration. This is important when installing components with potential limits to movement in one direction. 6.1.5. Building Orientation Consideration should be given to the relationships between the roof and the direction wind, rain, and sun. The issues discussed above will depend on the orientation of the building. 6.1.6. Staining Staining occurs when water that was in contact with the copper runs of and gets absorbed by other materials. Staining of the other materials can be avoided with good design. Copper salts form on the surface of a copper sheet due to the natural weathering of copper. When these salts are mixed with rain water and the water run on to other materials, it will cause the typical green stains. To prevent such stains, the designer must take all option into consideration to prevent run-off onto other adjacent materials. One can use a clear, silicon-based finish on cement surfaces to help protect the surface during the first and most harsh weathering of the copper. 6.1.7. Patination The natural weathering process that leads to the green patina to form on the exposed copper takes allot of years. There are processes available to speed up this process. 6.2. Material 6.2.1. Types of copper in the building industry Copper in the building industry is 99.9 % pure copper. There are three different types of copper used in the building industry, namely: 6.2.1.1. Deoxidized copper This is copper that contains no oxygen. It is used in plumbing applications where welding is required or for engineering purposes. 6.2.1.2. Fire refined tough pitch copper This copper contains oxygen and is stronger than deoxidized copper. It has higher thermal and electrical conductivity and has a higher resistance to corrosion than deoxidized copper. This type of copper is used mainly for roof and cladding applications. 6.2.1.3. Electrolytic tough pitch copper This copper contains fewer impurities than fire refined tough pitch copper and is used for electrical conductors because of its high. 6.2.1.4. Lead-Coated Copper Lead-coated copper is a strong, lightweight, durable and easy to install, gray metal finish option of copper. It does not add to the life of a copper roof, but it provided another colour to architectural copper applications. In-addition, the gray finish offers a solution to the staining issue. The run-off of this metal is less than that of conventional copper, and it doesnt stain the other materials. 6.2.2. Hardness in Copper Sheets 6.2.2.1. Quarter-hard is defined by its ability to be bent back onto itself along the grain boundary without breaking. 6.2.2.2. Half-hard can be bent 90 °. 6.2.2.3. Soft is good for decorative applications. The hardness of the metal determines the application. If your copper project involves supporting any kind of weight, stick to harder tempers. 6.2.3. Cold Rolled Copper Sheets Copper comes in many forms and strengths. It is very important to specify the correct grading and type of copper to be used with the specific application. Copper used for a standing seam roofing system comes as a sheet, rolled up in a spool, called roofing copper (Copalcor). The width of the sheet is 600mm and comes in thicknesses of 0.50 to 0.70mm. 6.2.4. Corrosion Resistance Copper does not respond to water, but it gradually reacts with the oxygen in the atmosphere. This results in a brown-black copper oxide deposit forming on the surface. This creates a protective layer on the surface that prevents the copper against additional corrosion. Verdigris, a green layer of copper carbonate can be seen on aged copper constructions, like on the Statue of Liberty. 6.2.5. Electrical and Thermal Conductivity Copper and its alloys are excellent conductors of electricity and heat. Copper is the most common of all metals in these applications because of its great properties. Copper alloys have less electrical and thermal conductivity than pure copper. 6.2.6. Ease of Fabrication Copper can be shaped to the required form and dimensions by any of the common fabricating processes. It is normally rolled, pressed, extruded, forged and formed at high temperatures. 6.2.7. Joining Mechanical fasteners, such as screws, bolts, and rivets are the simplest joining method. They typically do not need specific tools for installation, and it can be taken apart and be reassembled again. Adhesives can also be used in some applications. The strength and reliability of the bond depends on the surface preparation, adhesive selection, and the design of the joint. The three common ways of joining copper and alloys are soldering, brazing, and welding. Where a water tight seal is required, soldering may be used. Lead or tin-based filler metals are typically used. Soldered joints typically depend on mechanical fasteners for strength. This method is used for sealing joints in gutters, roofing, and flashings. Because the filler material does not match copper in colour, soldering should just be used in hidden joints. Brazing is the most preferred method for joining copper pipes and tubes. Colour matching is a problem again. The final metallurgical joining method, welding, is seldom used with copper. Welding uses high temperature or pressure to fuse the metals together. 6.2.8. Finishes There are three generic categories of finishes for copper alloys. 6.2.8.1. Mechanical treatments Mechanical treatments are finishes that are typically applied at the shop by mechanical means. They usually affect only the surface of the copper. There are five standard mechanical designated finishes: * As Fabricated: This is the finish after its production process, such as rolling, extrusion, or casting. * Buffed: Polishing the copper to a smooth, mirror-like appearance. This is the brightest mechanical finish available. * Directional Textured: Wheel or belt polishing with fine aggregates is required for this finish and results in a continuous pattern of very fine, almost parallel scratches. * Non-directional Textured: This matte finish is mainly used on castings. The copper is usually sandblasted to achieve a certain degree of roughness. * Patterned: A process in which a copper alloy sheet is pressed between two rolls to produce a pattern. 6.2.8.2. Chemical treatments 6.2.8.3. Coatings. 6.3. Preparation 6.3.1. Surface Preparation The surface preparation is the same for all copper roofing systems. The surface must be dry, smooth and free from any sharp edges or objects like nails or screws. 6.3.2. Supporting Substrate Standing seam roofing and cladding requires the installation of a backing substructure that support the copper finish layer, This substrate usually consists of 20 – 22mm S.A.P tongue and grooved boarding fixed to the main structure. However, any substrate can be installed, as long as the copper has the necessary support. Other backing options include: * Chipboard * Plywood This decking can be fixed to any main structure like steel or concrete. The design must, however, provide for the installation and fixing of the wood substrate. 6.3.3. Fastening the pans to the substrate There are three ways of fixing the copper sheets to the substrate namely: 6.3.3.1. Cleating This is the most frequently used fixing method, because it allows the copper to move, because of expansion and compression under different temperatures. Cleating minimizes the potential for buckling. The cleats are usually spaced at a minimum of 600mm centre to centre and are fixed to the substructure with 2.8 x 22 mm copper clout-headed nails. 6.3.3.2. Nailing Nails are used to fix the cleats to the substrate or in special cases where no movement is wanted, usually at base flashing or at eave strips. Only one edge of a strip should be nailed, to allow movement at the other end of the stip. All nails should be flathead, wire slating nails made from hard copper, brass, or bronze. 6.3.3.3. Screwing This method is used where the copper must be held in place, such as at a ridge cap in areas with high winds. It is also used to secure copper to brickwork. Screws must have a wide or big head to prevent the screw from cutting into the copper. Lead washers may be used for additional protection. Where the screw must be water tight, a small copper cap is soldered over the screw head. All fasteners must be of copper or copper alloys to prevent the different materials to react with each other and speed up the corrosion process. 6.3.4. Roofing Felt The entire surface should be covered with an accepted and properly specified underlay material secured to the decking with copper clout nails. The underlay, which is usually soaked roofing felt, acts as a pillow, as well as providing temporary weather protection for the roof deck. A sheet of building paper must be applied over the felt. Some roofing felt contains tarmac and, because copper conduct heat, the rising temperatures can cause the tarmac to melt and bond the copper to the roofing felt. This restricts the movement of the copper roof and can result in the failure of the system. The building paper acts as a slip sheet to prevent such bonding. 6.4. Equipment and Tools 6.4.1. Pan formers and seamers A wide selection of power pan formers and power seamers are available to help with the construction of copper roofs. Power pan formers can take flat sheets of copper and make standing seam roofing pans on site. The machines form high quality, consistent pans in any length. The length is only limited by the contractors ability to transport and handle the material. Pan formers can work with various sheet widths and can make pans with varying seam heights. The standing seam is typically 150mm high. Power seamers are used to produce finished standing or batten seams. The seamers clamp onto the sheet of copper and then propel themselves under electrical power to form the seam. They can form seams of almost any length. 6.4.2. Panel curving machine This machine allows the contractor to curve the panels to any radius. Convex or concave forms can be curved. 6.4.3. Gutter forming machine This machine allows the contractor to make gutters on site and install them in workable lengths or sections. 6.5. Construction and Detailing This birds-eye view of a standing seam copper roof shows the basic concept. 6.5.1. Pans Standing seam roofing consists of pre-fabricated or in-situ formed pans. Copper cleats lock into these seams to fix the roofing to the base structure. This method prevents the pans or sheets from slipping down the roof. 0.6 mm Copper sheeting with a width of 600 mm is used to form the pans. The end product is pans of 510 mm wide that is joined by forming a 30 mm double welded standing seam as shown below. 6.5.2. The Standing Seam System 6.5.3. Detail at Parapet Wall A copper coping is attached to the higher edge of copper siding using a single lock seam. This cover extends over the parapet and is fixed into a continuous lock strip that is on the back side of the parapet wall. 6.5.4. Stepped Flashing Detail Stepped flashing is used where a sloped roof meets a masonry wall. A typical example is where a brick chimney rises above a roof. The details shown concentrate on such chimney flashings, but apply to other situations as well. There are two ways of installing stepped flashings. One type uses pieces of copper base flashing installed with each course of shingles. The second, most common type uses a single copper runner under the roof covering. This runner is attached before the roofing material is installed. The roof portion of this runner flashing has a hooked edge and is cleated at 300 mm c.c. The base flashing is extended up the wall a minimum of 170 mm (two bricks). This requires the cap flashing to be in two pieces, a flashing and a counter flashing. This stepped flashing is used on the two sloped sides of the chimney. The lower sides are flashed with a copper apron that covers the roof covering. 6.5.5. Detail at Valley This detail shows an option for resolving the waterproofing at a valley of a standing seam roof. The copper roofing overlaps the valley flashing a minimum of 150mm and is folded and fixed into a continuous copper strip. The locking strip is soldered to the valley flashing. An alternative option is to use a double fold in the valley flashing, as a replacement for of a locking strip. Both methods are shown. 6.5.6. Detail at Hip This detail shows a standing seam of a copper hip roof. This method allows the standing seam to be hidden by a ridge cap which allows for both a clean facade and weather tight seal. 6.5.7. Detail at Gutter The detail shows the recommended method for the installation of a gutter with copper roofs. A copper gutter is supported by a brass bracket. The upper edge of the gutter extends at least 150 mm onto the roof and is folded over and held by cleats at 300 mm c.c. Copper braces at 750 mm centres can be placed at the mid-points between brackets. If the gutter width is more than 150 mm or in areas with ice and snow, brass straps should also be used to increase the strength of the gutter. These must extend at least 150 mm onto the roof. The area around screws and the strap must be soldered to ensure water tightness. 6.5.8. Detail at Ridge Two options of detailing a ridge are shown. The seams are laid to overlap a minimum of 150 mm from the ridge. InDetail 1, a copper ridge cap is used to fix the standing seams along the ridge. The ridge cap is locked into the top edges of the copper pans. This allows for expansion and contraction. InDetail 2, the ridge is created by a wood batten that is cladded with a copper cap. 12.1.1. Detail at Gable 12.1.2. Expansion Great care must be given to the contraction and the expansion of copper due to the thermal characteristics of the material. Detail should always allow for expansion and contraction. 6.6. Maintenance Because of coppers long life as a building material it is exposed to long term pollutants or dirt. The main problem of cleaning copper roofing is that you can permanently stain or damage the copper. The cleaning methods of copper have been perfected over many years. 6.6.1. To remove encrusted dirt deposits The most common cleaning method is to blow the surface with Walnut shell dust at a pressure of about 2 3 bar. This forces the dirt crust to lift off the surface without damaging the copper. 6.6.2. To clean unevenly patinated copper: Use a sponge to clean the copper. Use a mixture of six parts concentrated phosphoric acid to one part concentrated nitric acid diluted by 50 percent distilled water. Leave the acid solution on the copper for one minute. After the minute wash the roof again with a sponge soaked in sodium bicarbonate solution. Rinse of all the acid with fresh water afterwards. Then you apply ammonium oxalate as a second neutralizer to even out any remains left by the first neutralizer. Rinse off with fresh water afterwards and wipe the cleaned copper with a clean cotton cloth until no colour shows on the cloth. Wipe the surface again with a cloth soaked with mineral spirits until no colour shows on the cloth. Apply a thin coat of carnauba wax. When the wax wears off, the copper will start its repatination again. This procedure can be used when you replace sections of a patinated copper roof or when you do an addition to an existing copper roof. Treating the existing copper roof will let the new addition patinate together with the existing roof, resulting in an even colour for both the old and the new roofs. 7. Availability When people think about installing a new roof, copper is not a material that normally comes to mind. Nevertheless, copper has been used on roofs for centuries. The one big disadvantage of copper in South-Africa is that it is expensive and that copper is a material that is stolen and sold for money all around the country. Copper is a good roofing option and there are many locally available manufacturers. One of the biggest suppliers of copper products is Copalcor. â€Å"Copalcor offers solutions incorporating a wide range of rolled, extruded and forged non-ferrous metal products for the local and international market. Through ongoing development and expansion the company maintains its position as a leader in the field of service to South African strategic industries and continues to grow as an exporter worldwide† (Copalcor, 2010) Copper roofing is a very specialized industry and therefore there is not such a wide variety of copper roofing contractors available in South-Africa. A few manufacturers and contactors are: Clotan Steel (Pty) Ltd. Global Roofing Solutions (Pty) Ltd. Cupric Tectonics. 8. Cost Copper is a very expensive building material. Because copper roofs are very expensive compared to conventional tile roofs, the demand of copper roofs is not so high in South-Africa. Copper is considered a specialized roof and is therefore a specialized construction, this makes copper roofing expensive. If you consider that a copper roof will outlast almost any other roof and that copper is 100% recyclable, it will be a good investment or addition to any building. It requires almost no maintenance that keeps the cost down. The initial cost for the construction and installation of a copper roof is high but the advantages over shadow the price of the roof. 9. Case study 9.1. Freedom Park //hapo Museum Category: Culture Location: Pretoria, South-Africa Architect: Office of Collaborative Architects GAPP Architects / Urban Designers; Mashabane Rose Associates; MMA Architects, Johannesburg, South Africa Design Architect: Jeremy Rose Project Architect: Dieter Brandt 9.1.1. Project Description The vision for //hapo (the dream), an interpretive centre and Pan-African archive, was to provide an interactive exhibition space which would convey the history of South Africa over 3.6 billion years. The faà §ade of the building is completely clad with copper sheeting. Frans du Toit, managing director of Cupric Tectronics, said that Freedom Park is the first copper-clad building of its size in South Africa. â€Å"Installing the roof sheeting was challenging because there are so many detailed design elements,† says du Toit. â€Å"We used a specialised machine that rolled the copper into long, straight sheets that were placed directly onto the building.† The contractor had to change their normal installation methods to suit the specific needs of the design. Because there are almost no straight lines, the installation had some degree of difficulty. Copper, which fades over time and is already showing visible colour differences on the facade of Freedom Park, was chosen for a number of reasons. Dieter Brandt says that: â€Å"Copper is an African resource,† â€Å"The idea is that the material will age over time and the patina gives a sense of ancientness. We wanted a material with monochromatic feel and we needed a material to blend in with the brickwork that is typical to Salvokop rail village. The metaphor of boulders is enhanced by the varying stages at which the weathering of each copper-clad boulder that is exposed to prevailing weather takes place,† says Brandt. 9.1.2. Construction The specialists in copper roofing and cladding, Cupric Tectonics, used 70 tonnes of copper on the roof and side cladding of the building. The 0.6 mm copper sheets was profiled and installed on site, directly on the building. Over 9000 m2 of area was covered with copper supplied by Copalcor. The material is 99% pure phosphorous deoxidized copper alloy. (ASTM B152C 12200 half hard copper). A team of 16 well trained specialists worked on the project to complete the copper installations to the building. This was done to ensure that the long pans did not bend out of shape before it could be installed. The copper forms a natural wave like look, also known as â€Å"oil canning†. A state of the art Schlebach manufactured Quadro and profile machine was used to form the pans of the building. The machine was placed on the scaffolding so that the pans could be placed directly on the building for installation. The method used to install the copper to the building is called double standing seam system. This system is based on concealed fixing which means that there is no fixing through the sheets ensuring a water tight seal that will last for many years Due to the size of the building and because the copper pans are formed on site, large pans could be made and fitted directly onto the building. On site, pans are formed by using copper in flat sheets on rolls which are bent into pans by electrical pan formers. Long pans can be made that eliminates the need for transverse seams. Long Pan construction details are designed to accommodate for the movement as a result of the expansion and contraction over long spans of copper sheets. The points of stress relief are typically accommodated at eaves, transverse joints (if any), and ridge and base conditions by ensuring that the copper sheet is provided with proper clearances and is secured by expansion fastening devices that will not obstruct thermal Particular building dynamics should be considered before specific copper details are designed. Building expansion joints must be accommodated and properly detailed. Also, building orientation should be taken into consideration. A north sloping roof, for example, will gain more heat than a south sloping roof. All roof penetrations should allow for expansion in the same amounts as the roof panels, voids or spaces should be filled with loose insulation or compressible joint filler 10. Conclusion Copper has been use as a roofing material since ancient times. Technology and improved techniques make copper the perfect building material for roofing, cladding and the accessories going with roofing systems. More and more pre-fabricated copper products on the market have reduced the cost and this enabled copper to be used in more buildings than in the past. Standing Seam Construction offers many advantages. The greatest advantages are that it creates a water tight seal because of no sheets are penetrated with concealed fixing and this allows for fast construction that reduces labour costs. Copper Standing Seam construction is a long lasting roof construction with a life time of changing aesthetics.

Human Creativity and Spirit :: History Essays

Human Creativity and Spirit ABSTRACT: Values provide evidence of spirit in human life. Spirit is a creative mental force for realizing values, a force which shows signs of a superindividual growth and decline, a life of its own. This paper documents the historic rise and decline of several waves of human creativity. I also consider possible factors that would account for the rise and fall: the presence of new material, social encouragement and/or patronage, temperamental egotism on the part of creators, the attraction of pioneering talent, or a collective or superindividual spirit. Evidence for the life and character of spirit is furnished by the historical rise and fall of waves of human creativity. Examples of such waves are classical music, the Italian Renaissance, the German Renaissance, Greek philosophy, Christianity, modern science. The concept of spirit is meaningful. Our experience of value requires it. What are the sources of value? What gives them their authority? Reason, social conditioning, biological drives based on natural selection have all been proposed as sources. There is a great deal of truth in these proposals. However, reflection convinces us that none of these sources is alone sufficient, and even the three working together are not enough to account for all the values that motivate us. We shall support this conviction by argument in due course. Spirit is a hypothesis, as yet in early stages of definition, which provides a ground for otherwise unaccountable value phenomena. What is spirit? Negatively defined, spirit is a susceptibility to values that motivate us through our minds but need no rational foundation, outstrip and overpower socialization, and have no findable relation to species survival. Positively defined, spirit is a creative mental force for realizing values, a force which lives in us as individuals and which shows signs of a super-individual growth and decline, a life of its own. In this paper I search for the nature of spirit and its values in a wide-optic synthesis of waves of creation. As this synoptic view must range over many specialties, it is bound to raise doubts and objections in the minds of specialists. One cannot be a specialist in all the fields I shall discuss; as the same time, someone must take an overall view. Nothing is more obvious than that unrelieved specialization leads to loss of coordination and direction; the community of scholars is replaced by a collection of quarrelsome property owners. I ask specialists to take my communication as something to focus and correct, and I hope it will serve them as a stimulus to panoptic thinking.

Church, Home, Household, Family Essay

It is written in the bible that every house is built by some man but all things are built by God. These words seem to compare the ordinary material house built by man with the great universe of God. This thought was present in the writers mind when he wrote this verse down. The writer remembered that the creative power that is exhibited in every conception of mortal wit and mortal hands presupposes a mightier creative power of which it is derived. If one is to follow the thought of any structure through the hands that built it to the mind of the one who devised and suggested it, one is bound to arrive at last to the Mind which separated light from the darkness and firm land from water. The word house does not only imply a collection of timber and stones, it reminds every individual of the household. To build a house is synonymous with building a family. Every house is built by a particular man but God built all things. Every family has a founder, an individual to whom its origin it refers. Each member of the family feels that their relationship with it is more precious to them in every way than their relationship with the material goods or grounds which are at their possession (Clinton, 1990). They only delight in talking about the goods or grounds as an inheritance. If it was purchased, they trust that those who come after them will inherit it. The ground for national life has been the existence of this feeling of family and its preservation. Wise legislators and moralists have desired to cultivate this conception and feeling and any causes which may have threatened it have seen the certain presages of destruction to laws, morals, and social order. If this family order is of such great importance, can it be assumed that it has no foundation like the one possessed by all creation of man? Does a universal family, which is implied by the presence of particular families, exist? Can it be said that a particular family is founded by God, just like a particular family is founded by man? The whole of the human race belong to God, just like the rest of creation but man is bestowed with greater capacities. Through the scriptures, God revealed to man his purpose and the institution of the church was meant to further this purpose. The church has been identified with dispatching moral codes as required by the scriptures to the most basic of the human associations, the family. As such, the church has had an important role to play in the lives of individuals as well as the moral being of a society. This has however changed with changes in the family structure and the constitution of the church. The role of the church has shifted so much and the society itself has changed. Immorality has been the order of the day and very few individuals see the churches as divine institutions. The relationship between the church and the family has weakened during the modern times and this has led to much moral decay. However, the actual reason why there contemporary society has decayed morally is a subject of much contention and social scientists, religious and secular moralists seem to attribute this phenomenon to various aspects of human nature. What is apparent though is that the relationship between the family and the church has changed and many individuals view the church with much suspicion. The main question that this paper deals with is whether the current moral decay can be attributed to the withering relationship between the family and the church. This paper looks at various materials, both religious and secular in an attempt to answer this question. It particularly argues that even though there are some, other factors which can be attributed to the societal moral decay, the major factor is the deterioration of the family in the church. The church has served very important function in the society, a function which is today becoming obsolete. The family on the other hand has ceased to play the role which it was meant to play traditionally and hence, children grow up with loose values which make them become delinquent youths with no restraint. Families are also so much absorbed into looking for sustenance in this materialistic era to the extent that parents have forgotten that it is their responsibility to pass values to their kids. Very few people no longer have time to go to church as most parents work overtime. These, together with some other factors, have contributed to the decaying morals within the society. It can therefore be said that the failure of families to actively participate in church has partly led to this phenomenon. Men should seek the right way of carrying on their duties as this world belongs to God and he did not leave men to stray. He chose the institution of the church to dispatch the necessary and vital moral codes to the human race. Church as a guide to Humans God chose the church as an instrument through which he can do His work on Earth during the time between the first and second coming of Christ, a period marked with Christ’s physical absence. The church is seen as the body of Christ on Earth and is thus meant to complete the work that he begun in his physical body. As such, the church is the messenger of God on Earth meant to spread the gospel of Christ to the human race. However, in recent times, the human race is characterized by anti-church thinking as many people who claim to be Christians have abandoned the church. The impact has been felt especially in families. The basic human institution is suffering now more than ever. There are increased incidences of absent fathers and single mothers, abandoned children and increased rate of divorce. People have moved away from the church. Many individuals think in terms of themselves and Jesus, a relationship that excludes the Church. Others on the other hand view organized religion as a form of evil. Some modern day prophecy teachers view the church as some kind of emergency measure that has been put by God until he institutes his true Kingdom. None of these views is however correct. The importance of the church cannot be overlooked. It is the kingdom of God in the present time and every individual must actively participate in it. It has been observed that individuals who actively participate in church are healthier than individuals who hardly participate. These individuals observe high moral standards as compared to those who often do not participate in church. The lifestyle of Christians encourages healthy habits and attitudes which have positive effects on the overall morality. When one develops a Christian attitude, it becomes difficult for negative emotions to influence his or her way of life. It is clear that the task of Jesus was to draw men towards God and thus the church was to continue in this task. The teachings of Jesus were of high moral worth and these are what have been taught by the churches. As such, it is important that every family goes to church so as to acquire those values that Jesus Christ worked to reveal to human beings. With a negative attitude towards the church, it becomes difficult for any moral principles to be furthered as men are naturally inclined towards evil. However, there are some arguments to the effect that men have the capacity to be moral regardless of whether they go to church or not. Church and Family: Historical Background A new pattern of relationship between religion and family was ushered in by the reformation. It was required that an individual make a voluntary and personal decision to embrace the official doctrines of a particular church and to take part in its formal ritual instead of being seen as part of a religion simply because one is a member of a particular family, village or ethnic group. Protestantism thus brought about a shift from community cult to that which one automatically belonged to a religious community by virtue of birth. These were constituted through and by the association and congregation of individuals in reaction to religious messages. There were risks that this associational model posed, both for the family and the church. Voluntary associations are often dynamic since people adopt and abandon group loyalties. Individuals may opt not to join the church which may result into members splitting and forming sects. The family thus lost the assurance that their children would be part of the same religious system as the parents and other adult relatives. These worries are more intense in the present time among the families that still participate actively in church. Both the church and the family thus devised a mutually beneficial sharing of roles. The parents’ role was to socialize their children so that they may be able to make personal decision for Christ and also to encourage one another in living out their own religious commitment. The role of the church on the other hand was to aid the family in this endeavor by supplying the structures and activities. The nuclear family was thus the mode through which protestant voluntarism was filtered rather than through a larger clan or ethnic grouping. A mutual relationship thus existed between the church and the family within the protestant community. The churches were to aid families to have healthy relationships and to raise well disciplined and religious children. Families on the other hand were expected to teach the children the doctrines of the church. This mutual relationship that existed between the family and the church was formalized in the Pretest ant America during the 1950s in the theory of Talcott Parsons. According to Parsons, the modern society had grown to become institutionally differentiated with the public fulfilling much of the roles that were traditionally under the sphere of the family. The basic role of the family had become expressive: satisfying emotional needs of its members, training the succeeding generation of the required values and discipline and comforting its members from the frustration got from the public arena. The family’s childrearing practice provides the mental model or plausibility structure which enables the children to become productive members of the society if these practices are internalized. Religion is thus assigned the status of home in the modern times understood as the abiding place of an individual’s affection rather than the physical space of the household. Love, expression, intimacy, subjectivity, irrationality, morality, spirituality and religion are all found within the sphere of home. According to Parson, the Church no longer had any direct influence on the values of the larger society. It could however assert indirect influence in aiding the parents to socialize their children and to achieve emotional satisfaction with each other (Parsons, 1960). This role is relevant in the modern society with its extensive impersonal government and industrial bureaucracies. The major function of the church and the family is thus to provide a lead in ascertaining a moral and just society through their teachings and practices. These theories have however been questioned by social scientists. Social scientists are doubtful of whether values and valued behavior are transmitted to the next generations by the church through the family. They also doubt whether family and churches should mediate community and intimacy in a dynamic and large scale society. This conception of church and church as havens from the contemporary society leads to three powerful by misleading conclusion. First, that modernity destroys the community morally; second, that the family and church have not been permeated by the larger cultural reorganizing process; and third, that the family and the church provide protection from the negative consequences of change (Green et al, 1823). The family and the church have dramatically changed according to these critics and the major question is the extent to which they will continue to satisfy this mutual bargain of protecting and passing on religious values and beliefs. The family has undergone dramatic changes over the last few decades. Today, the family is not what it used to be traditionally. Many couples are living together without marriage, many children are being raised by single parents, there is an increase in the rate of divorce and many individuals hardly ever live in families. Couples are having fewer children. Married women with young children are also likely to be working outside the home and quite a large percentage of preschool children are being taken care of outside the home. The marriage age has also gone up with quite a majority opting not to marry at all. Most families are being headed by single parents, in most cases the mother. These have been attributed to the effects of industrialization and modernity. In simple terms, the family of today is different from the family of the past decades. The question that one is bound to ask is the extent to which the church has adapted to these changes. This issue is complicated further by the fact that churches have also changed. The increased institutional fragmentation of the American society and the emergence of expressive individualism in the United States culture are among the causes of these changes (Conner, 2007). Another occurrence is the second de-establishment where each sphere of institution had developed its own set of normative system. Religion has thus become a means of personal fulfillment and integration owing to this isolation from any meaningful political, economic or moral responsibility within the public sphere. The power and authority of the church over the society has been lost (Carter, 2001). It has also lost its power and authority over individuals in the society and even over the people within it, the majority of whom can be described as in the church but not of the church. The church has thus become an institution of service which functions to help individuals achieve authenticity and transcendental subjectivity. Very few American Protestants have complete allegiance to a specific denomination. It has been found that individuals who marry and get children are more likely to increase their religious participation. Marriage may neutralize other factors which may result in disaffiliation. With this regard, the church and the family may be considered to have some form of link. This link may help in raising a moral society through active participation in church. Every individual belongs to a particular family and if these families can adopt the teachings of the church then moral decay cannot reach the levels that are seen today.

Thomas Edison - The Inventor With 1,093 Patents

Thomas Edison - The Inventor With 1,093 Patents Thomas Edison was one of historys most influential inventors, whose contributions to the modern era transformed the lives of people the world over. Edison is best known for having invented the electric light bulb, the phonograph, and the first motion-picture camera, and held an astonishing 1,093 patents in total. In addition to his inventions, Edisons famous laboratory in Menlo Park  is considered the forerunner of the modern-day research facility. Despite Thomas Edisons incredible productivity, some consider him a controversial figure and have accused him of profiting from the ideas of other inventors. Dates: February 11, 1847 October 18, 1931 Also Known As: Thomas Alva Edison, Wizard of Menlo Park Famous Quote: Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Childhood in Ohio and Michigan Thomas Alva Edison, born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847, was the seventh and last child born to Samuel and Nancy Edison. Since three of the youngest children did not survive early childhood, Thomas Alva (known as Al as a child and later as â€Å"Tom†) grew up with one brother and two sisters. Edisons father, Samuel, had fled to the U.S. in 1837 to avoid arrest after having openly rebelled against British rule in his native Canada. Samuel eventually resettled in Milan, Ohio, where he opened a successful lumber business. Young Al Edison grew into a very inquisitive child, constantly asking questions about the world around him. His curiosity got him into trouble on several occasions. At three years old, Al climbed a ladder to the top of his fathers grain elevator, then fell in as he leaned over to look inside. Fortunately, his father witnessed the fall and rescued him before he was suffocated by the grain. On another occasion, six-year-old Al started a fire in his fathers barn just to see what would happen. The barn burned to the ground. An enraged Samuel Edison punished his son by giving him a public whipping. In 1854, the Edison family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. That same year, seven-year-old Al contracted scarlet fever, an illness that possibly contributed to the future inventors gradual hearing loss. It was in Port Huron that eight-year-old Edison started school, but he only attended for a few months. His teacher, who disapproved of Edisons constant questions, considered him somewhat of a mischief-maker. When Edison overheard the teacher refer to him as addled, he became upset and ran home to tell his mother. Nancy Edison quickly withdrew her son from school and decided to teach him herself. While Nancy, a former teacher, introduced her son to the works of Shakespeare and Dickens as well as to scientific textbooks, Edisons father also encouraged him to read, offering to pay him a penny for each book he completed. Young Edison absorbed it all. A Scientist and Entrepreneur Inspired by his science books, Edison set up his first lab in his parents cellar. He saved his pennies to purchase batteries, test tubes, and chemicals. Edison was fortunate that his mother supported his experiments and didnt close down his lab after the occasional small explosion or chemical spill. Edisons experiments didnt end there, of course; he and a friend created their own telegraph system, crudely modeled upon the one invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1832. After several failed attempts (one of which involved rubbing two cats together to create electricity), the boys finally succeeded and were able to send and receive messages on the device. When the railroad came to Port Huron in 1859, 12-year-old Edison persuaded his parents to let him get a job. Hired by the Grand Trunk Railroad as a train boy, he sold newspapers to passengers on the route between Port Huron and Detroit. Finding himself with some free time on the daily trip, Edison convinced the conductor to let him set up a lab in the baggage car. The arrangement did not last long, however, for Edison accidentally set fire to the baggage car when one of his jars of highly flammable phosphorus fell to the floor. Once the Civil War began in 1861, Edisons business really took off, as more people bought newspapers to keep up with the latest news from the battlefields. Edison capitalized upon this need and steadily raised his prices. Ever the entrepreneur, Edison bought produce during his layover in Detroit and sold it to passengers at a profit. He later opened his own newspaper and produce stand in Port Huron, hiring other boys as vendors. By 1862, Edison had started his own publication, the weekly Grand Trunk Herald. Edison the Telegrapher Fate, and an act of bravery, handed Edison a most welcome opportunity to learn professional telegraphy, a skill which would help determine his future. In 1862, as 15-year-old Edison waited at the station for his train to change cars, he spotted a young child playing on the tracks, oblivious to the freight car heading straight for him. Edison leaped onto the tracks and lifted the boy to safety, earning the eternal gratitude of the boys father, station telegrapher James Mackenzie. To repay Edison for having saved his sons life, Mackenzie offered to teach him the finer points of telegraphy. After five months of studying with Mackenzie, Edison was qualified to work as a plug, or second-class telegrapher. With this new skill, Edison became a traveling telegrapher in 1863. He stayed busy, often filling in for men who had gone off to war. Edison worked throughout much of the central and northern United States, as well as parts of Canada. Despite unglamorous working conditions and shabby lodgings, Edison enjoyed his work. As he moved from job to job, Edisons skills continually improved. Unfortunately, at the same time, Edison realized that he was losing his hearing to the extent that it might eventually affect his ability to work at telegraphy. In 1867, Edison, by now 20 years old and an experienced telegrapher, was hired to work in the Boston office of Western Union, the nations largest telegraph company. Although he was at first teased by his co-workers for his cheap clothes and countrified ways, he soon impressed them all with his rapid messaging abilities. Edison Becomes an Inventor Despite his success as a telegrapher, Edison longed for a greater challenge. Eager to advance his scientific knowledge, Edison studied a volume of electricity-based experiments written by 19th-century British scientist Michael Faraday. In 1868, inspired by his reading, Edison developed his first patented invention an automatic vote recorder designed for use by legislators. Unfortunately, although the device performed flawlessly, he could not find any buyers. (Politicians didnt like the idea of locking in their votes immediately without the option of further debate.) Edison resolved to never again invent something for which there was no clear need or demand. Edison next became interested in the stock ticker, a device that had been invented in 1867. Businessmen used stock tickers in their offices to keep them informed of changes in stock market prices. Edison, along with a friend, briefly ran a gold-reporting service that used the stock tickers to transmit gold prices into subscribers offices. After that business failed, Edison set about improving the performance of the ticker. He was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with working as a telegrapher. In 1869, Edison decided to leave his job in Boston and move to New York City to become a full-time inventor and manufacturer. His first project in New York was to perfect the stock ticker that he had been working on. Edison sold his improved version to Western Union for the enormous sum of $40,000, an amount that enabled him to open his own business. Edison established his first manufacturing shop, American Telegraph Works, in Newark, New Jersey in 1870. He employed 50 workers, including a machinist, a clockmaker, and a mechanic. Edison worked side-by-side with his closest assistants and welcomed their input and suggestions. One employee, however, had captured Edisons attention above all others Mary Stilwell, an attractive girl of 16. Marriage and Family Unaccustomed to courting young women and hampered somewhat by his hearing loss, Edison behaved awkwardly around Mary, but he eventually made it clear that he was interested in her. After a brief courtship, the two married on Christmas Day, 1871. Edison was 24 years old. Mary Edison soon learned the reality of being married to an up-and-coming inventor. She spent many evenings alone while her husband stayed late at the lab, immersed in his work. Indeed, the next few years were very productive ones for Edison; he applied for nearly 60 patents. Two notable inventions from this period were the quadruplex telegraph system (which could send two messages in each direction simultaneously, rather than one at a time), and the electric pen, which made duplicate copies of a document. The Edisons had three children between 1873 and 1878: Marion, Thomas Alva, Jr., and William. Edison nicknamed the two eldest children Dot and Dash, a reference to the dots and dashes from the Morse code used in telegraphy. The Laboratory at Menlo Park In 1876, Edison erected a two-story building in rural Menlo Park, New Jersey, conceived for the sole purpose of experimentation. Edison and his wife bought a house nearby and installed a plank sidewalk connecting it to the lab. Despite working close to home, Edison often became so involved in his work, he stayed overnight in the lab. Mary and the children saw very little of him. Following Alexander Graham Bells invention of the telephone in 1876, Edison became interested in improving the device, which was still crude and inefficient. Edison was encouraged in this endeavor by Western Union, whose hope it was that Edison could create a different version of the telephone. The company could then make money from Edisons telephone without infringing upon Bells patent. Edison did improve upon Bells telephone, creating a convenient earpiece and mouthpiece; he also built a transmitter that could carry messages over a longer distance. Invention of the Phonograph Makes Edison Famous Edison began to investigate ways in which a voice could not only be transmitted over a wire, but recorded as well. In June 1877, while working in the lab on an audio project, Edison and his assistants inadvertently scratched grooves into a disc. This unexpectedly produced a sound, which motivated Edison to create a rough sketch of a recording machine, the phonograph. By November of that year, Edisons assistants had created a working model. Incredibly, the device worked on the first try, a rare outcome for a new invention. Edison became an overnight celebrity. He had been known to the scientific community for some time; now, the public at large knew his name. The New York Daily Graphic christened him the Wizard of Menlo Park. Scientists and academics from around the world praised the phonograph and even President Rutherford B. Hayes insisted upon a private demonstration at the White House. Convinced that the device had more uses than as a mere parlor trick, Edison started a company devoted to marketing the phonograph. (He eventually abandoned the phonograph, however, only to resurrect it decades later.) When the chaos had settled down from the phonograph, Edison turned to a project that had long intrigued him the creation of an electric light. Lighting the World By the 1870s, several inventors had already begun to find ways to produce electric light. Edison attended the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 to examine the arc light exhibit displayed by inventor Moses Farmer. He studied it carefully and came away convinced that he could make something better. Edisons goal was to create an incandescent light bulb, which was softer and less glaring than arc lighting. Edison and his assistants experimented with different materials for the filament in the light bulb. The ideal material would withstand high heat and continue to burn for longer than just a few minutes (the longest time they had observed up until then). On October 21, 1879, the Edison team discovered that carbonized cotton sewing thread exceeded their expectations, staying lit for nearly 15 hours. Now they began the work of perfecting the light and mass-producing it. The project was immense and would require years to complete. In addition to fine-tuning the light bulb, Edison also needed to consider how to provide electricity on a large scale. He and his team would need to produce wires, sockets, switches, a power source, and an entire infrastructure for delivering power. Edisons power source was a giant dynamo a generator that converted mechanical energy into electric energy. Edison decided that the ideal place to debut his new system would be downtown Manhattan, but he needed financial backing for such a grand project. To win investors over, Edison gave them a demonstration of electric light at his Menlo Park lab on New Years Eve, 1879. Visitors were enthralled by the spectacle and Edison received the money he needed to install electricity to a portion of downtown Manhattan. After more than two years, the complex installation was at last completed. On September 4, 1882, Edisons Pearl Street Station delivered power to a one square mile section of Manhattan. Although Edisons undertaking was a success, it would be two years before the station actually made a profit. Gradually, more and more customers subscribed to the service. Alternating Current Vs. Direct Current Soon after the Pearl Street Station had brought power to Manhattan, Edison became caught up in the dispute over which type of electricity was superior: direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). Scientist Nikola Tesla, a former employee of Edisons, became his chief rival in the matter. Edison favored DC and had used it in all of his systems. Tesla, who had left Edisons lab over a pay dispute, was hired by inventor George Westinghouse to build the AC system which he (Westinghouse) had devised. With most of the evidence pointing to AC current as the more efficient and economically feasible choice, Westinghouse chose to support AC current. In a shameful attempt to discredit the safety of AC power, Edison staged some disturbing stunts, purposely electrocuting stray animals and even a circus elephant using AC current. Horrified, Westinghouse offered to meet with Edison to settle their differences; Edison refused. In the end, the dispute was settled by consumers, who preferred the AC system by a margin of five to one. The final blow came when Westinghouse won the contract to harness Niagara Falls for the production of AC power. Later in life, Edison admitted that one of his biggest mistakes had been his reluctance to accept AC power as superior to DC. Loss and Remarriage Edison had long neglected his wife Mary, but was devastated when she died suddenly at the age of 29 in August 1884. Historians suggest that the cause was probably a brain tumor. The two boys, who had never been close to their father, were sent to live with Marys mother, but twelve-year-old Marion (Dot) stayed with her father. They became very close. Edison preferred to work from his New York lab, allowing the Menlo Park facility to fall into ruin. He continued to work on improving the phonograph and the telephone. Edison married again in 1886 at the age of 39, after proposing in Morse code to 18-year-old Mina Miller. The wealthy, educated young woman was better suited to life as the wife of a famous inventor than had been Mary Stilwell. Edisons children moved with the couple to their new mansion in West Orange, New Jersey. Mina Edison eventually gave birth to three children: daughter Madeleine and sons Charles and Theodore. West Orange Lab Edison built a new laboratory in West Orange in 1887. It far surpassed his first facility at Menlo Park, comprising three stories and 40,000 square feet. While he worked on projects, others managed his companies for him. In 1889, several of his investors merged into one company, called Edison General Electric Company, the forerunner of todays General Electric (GE). Inspired by a series of groundbreaking photos of a horse in motion, Edison became interested in moving pictures. In 1893, he developed a kinetograph (to record motion) and a kinetoscope (to display the moving pictures). Edison built the first motion picture studio on his West Orange complex, dubbing the building the Black Maria. The building had a hole in the roof and could actually be rotated upon a turntable in order to capture the sunlight. One of his best-known films was The Great Train Robbery, made in 1903. Edison also became involved in mass-producing phonographs and records at the turn of the century. What had once been a novelty was now a household item and it became very lucrative for Edison. Fascinated by the discovery of X-rays by Dutch scientist William Rontgen, Edison produced the first commercially-produced fluoroscope, which allowed real-time visualization inside the human body. After losing one of his workers to radiation poisoning, however, Edison never worked with X-rays again. Later Years Always enthusiastic about new ideas, Edison was thrilled to hear about Henry Fords new gas-powered automobile. Edison himself attempted to develop a car battery that could be recharged with electricity, but was never successful. He and Ford became friends for life, and went on yearly camping trips with other prominent men of the time. From 1915 until the end of World War I, Edison served on the Naval Consulting Board a group of scientists and inventors whose goal it was to help the U.S. prepare for war. Edisons most important contribution to the U.S. Navy was his suggestion that a research laboratory be built. Eventually, the facility was built and led to important technical advances that benefited the Navy during World War II. Edison continued to work on several projects and experiments for the remainder of his life. In 1928, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, presented to him at the Edison Laboratory. Thomas Edison died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey on October 18, 1931 at the age of 84. On the day of his funeral, President Herbert Hoover asked Americans to dim the lights in their homes as a way of paying tribute to the man who had given them electricity.

Opera Development in Italy essays

Opera Development in Italy essays Although opera did not originate in Venice...it found a most nurturing environment in the Most Serene Republic (Rosand, p. 8). Much of Europes music was dominated by Italian opera during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The wealthier upper class would commission huge works that combined music, drama, and dance for the first time in history. This combination of the fine arts was the birth of opera. Several cities in Italy, Florence, Naples, Rome, and Venice in particular, contributed to the development and perfection of the new genre (Kimbell, p. 26). The entire opera movement was born in Florence, Italy. It all started with Bardi and the Florentine Camerata, which met in an attempt to recreate Greek drama. At the time, it was assumed that early Greek tragedies were sung, and therefore, people wanted to recreate this sound (Sternfeld, p. 56). This camerata influenced the rise of music in Florence, but the city was not eager to support opera. One distinct characteristic of opera that was partially developed in Florence is monody. Monody is an accompanied solo song. It soon became an almost essential part to any opera. Florence also produced such musical geniuses as Cavalieri, Peri, and Caccini. Florences upper-class, wealthy community supported the opera greatly, which helped to establish Italy as one of the centers of opera during the entire Baroque movement. Naples is most known for the opera buffa, or the comic opera. This Neapolitan opera, as it was called at the time, was only successful within the city, though. Its relevance to everyday life and the rise of dialect comedies caused people to fall in love with this different type of opera. The dialect comedies put emphasis on local plot settings, in order to further bring out the humor (Galatopoulos, p. 44). In Rome, the Catholic Church, rather than the wealthy public, gre ...

Psychology human development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Psychology human development - Essay Example Identify the theorist (s) associated with cognitive development? The development of cognition in infancy starts when the child becomes aware of his surroundings and begins to explore it. The process of exploration however entails the use of intellect which is a product of adaptation and organization. For the child to adjust to his environment, assimilation and accommodation has to take place. On the other hand, a child is said to have organized his thoughts when he systematically combines structural schemes that are accompanied with ideas and actions. According to the theory of Piaget, the development of the child’s cognition undergoes different stages to include sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and period of formal operations. The child’s cognition becomes refined in each stage thus the child has different reasoning ability as he grows older. For instance, at age two months, the child thoughts are symbolic in nature without thinking of the consequences of his ac tions, as he reaches the next stage, he can associate single and simple words with objects until he can be able to use numbers, size and can relate to time and eventually he knows to reason out. 2.

Trends Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Trends - Assignment Example to the technological advancements and democratization of the society, there has been a decline of violent crimes but an increase of non-violent crimes like cyber crimes where unsuspecting individuals and even organizations are conned lots of money. According to Rosenfeld (2010), violent crimes like murder rape and robbery have been on a downward trend while non-violent crimes like cyber crime and bank fraud are increasing. This is because of technological advancements and exposure, since criminals are able to reach many within a short time through the internet. Authorities all over the world are working hard towards detection, prevention and reduction of crime through criminal justice system. There are ethical considerations that are embraced in the 21st century that have really helped in ensuring proper dispensation of justice. Just to illustrate, it is a requirement by the law of most authorities that accused persons are treated with dignity and accorded the right to defend th emselves in a court of law. Another ethical requirement that has ameliorated the criminal justice system is the entrenchment of integrity rules in the practice. Those who are charged with the responsibility of dispensing justice are required to uphold high moral standards and to shun compromising, for example soliciting personal gains for favor. Such ethical perspectives have improved the quality of justice and will still help in future and therefore should be embraced and made better. Rosenfeld Richard. (2010). Comprehensive and current data and information on crime trends in the United States and other nations.