Submarines and Ships The development of ships began with reed boats and rafts more than 6000 years ago. The first boats were used by the Egyptians and they were made of a wicker frame covered with the skins and hides of animals, these were small crafts and could he used by one or two persons. Subsequent to this they invented the sails in the year 3200 B.C. and larger boats made...

Aeroplane Man always had a fascination to be able to do the things he was not physically capable of doing and some how or the other he always found a way of doing it. Though never meant to but man had always wanted to fly. Lot of attempts were made unsuccessfully till the year 1890 when a German engineer called Otto Lilienthal developed, what we know today as, a hang glider...

Transportation In the earlier days man was his own beast of burden, i.e. if you wanted something transported, you had to carry it. As man learned how to tame animals like donkeys, buffaloes, horses etc he shifted his weight on to their backs. Thus the first forms of transportation came into being. These crude means sufficed for many years but then with the need to travel frequently, also developed the need...

The Automobile Unlike other inventions, the credit of inventing the automobile cannot be given to one single person. This necessity of our life was developed with the consolidated efforts of many scientists and engineers over the years. Today a new car is being made almost every second and we take it as a part of our lives, yet in the 1880s people laughed at these contraptions and called them `horseless carriages’...

The Petrol Engine The petrol engine was first developed by a German called Nicholas Otto in 1878. And subsequently Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in 1880. This engine did not require a separate furnace like the steam engine as a result of which it was much smaller and lighter compared to a steam engine of equivalent horsepower. The modern engines are however far more efficient than the ones used in those...

Steam Engine   When we heat water in a kettle, there comes a point in time when the water begins to boil and steam begins to come out of the snout, at this point if the snout is plugged with something, the pressure of the steam lifts up the lid of the kettle and it begins to escape. Based on this effect a steam engine was invented by James Watt. He...

Bicycles The beginning of the bicycle goes back to the year 1817 when a German called Baron von Drais invented a machine called the ‘Draisine’. This machine had two wheels connected by a wooden bar. The rider sat on the wooden bar and propelled himself by pushing himself forward with his feet. The changing of direction or steering was done with the help of a handle in the front. Around the...

Refrigeration Refrigeration is the process of removing heat from substances and keeping things cold. Though a relatively modern technique, the ancients knew ways of extracting heat from water and making it cool. They knew that if chemicals like ammonium nitrate and saltpeter were added to water, it would make it cool by lowering the temperature. Besides this the earliest method of refrigeration was by using ice or snow. Today the process...