Microscope The microscope derives it’s name from the two Greek words `Mikros’ meaning small and `Skopos’ meaning watcher. This aptly defines the purpose of a microscope i.e. to observe small things. The microscope was invented sometime between 1585 and 1610 and though the credit of it’s invention, is given to Galileo, it is also said that a man called Leeuwenhoek may have invented it. The microscope consists of a series of...

Thermometer   We often ask ourselves or someone, how hot or how cold it is. The answer to this simple question would not have been possible without the thermometer. In 1592 Galileo made a device which could measure temperature, it was a crude version of the modern thermometer and was called an ‘air thermoscope’. This device had a glass tube open at one end and a glass bulb at the other....

Compass A magnetic needle balanced on a pivot is the simplest form of a magnetic compass. Since this needle is free to swing in any direction, it would on it’s own move and point to the Earth’s magnetic pole in the north. This is immensely helpful in finding one’s direction since all land and water areas are charted on this basis. The Chinese were among the first people to use the...

Aqualung Inability to breathe under water and increasing water pressure at greater depths were two major deterrents which prevented man from being able to explore the underwater world. In the earlier days cumbersome deep sea suits were used, these were connected to the ships overhead through hoses and air constantly had to be pumped in by seamen. It was only in the year 1943 that a Frenchman called Jacques Cousteau working...

X-Rays In 1895 a scientist called Wilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with cathode rays, electricity discharged under high voltage through a series of tubes, in partial vacuum. He noticed that some crystals lying nearby were glowing. Wilhelm knew that cathode rays could not penetrate glass, thus it was quite possible that some other type of rays also existed. Since these rays were invisible and unknown, he decided to call them `X-Rays’. These...

Sound Recording In the year 1877 Thomas Edison made the first sound recording with a machine comprising of a cylinder, a stylus and a funnel. Above this cylinder was a blunt stylus connected to a flexible membrane, this in turn was connected to a ‘V’ shaped funnel. When a person spoke into the funnel, the membrane underneath vibrated thus causing the stylus to move and leave an indentation on the tin...

Motion Pictures In the nineteenth century experiments were carried out to photograph a moving object with a series of separate cameras. In the late Nineteenth century the roll film was invented. This was followed by the development of cameras which were capable of photographing a series of images in action on a roll of film. When these were developed and rerun, they reproduced the same action. These pictures were first called...

Camera and Photographs The camera and photography were not invented by a single person, they developed in stages over a period of time. In the 12th century an image transferring device called the ‘camera obscura’ was used for the purpose of showing an image on plain paper so that it could be traced, this camera however did not take any pictures. In 1568 a lens was fitted to this camera, in...