Archives October 2013

"The development involved more than $30,000 In experimentation and marketing." Lloyd E. Griscom, The Historic County of Burlington For almost a millennium the farming practices of the Saxons remained unchanged. To plow the ground, farmers used the primitive scratch plow developed in Mesopotamia in 5500 B.C.E. The work was laborious. In 1797 Charles New bold (1764-1835), a blacksmith from New Jersey, patented a practical plow in which the three main parts were made as one solid piece of cast iron. These were the moldboard (a curved iron plate), the share (the cutting edge of the plow attached to the moldboard), and the landslide (the stabilizing mechanism that counteracts the sideways motion of turning over the soil). Newbold also integrated a runner that allowed directional control and therefore straighter furrows. Farmers were initially wary of Newbold's plow, believing that the cast iron would poison their fields and ruin their crops. Eventually more...

When pioneer automobile makers, searching for an effective braking system, looked back to the horse- powered carriages on which their vehicles were based, they realized, unfortunately, that no one had ever actually managed to design one. So for several years, brake technology dragged along behind that of engines and transmissions. Carriage brake evolution had peaked in 1838 with the spoon brake—in essence, a crude lever and shoe system that forced a block of wood directly against the tire. Henry Ford avoided the dilemma of which braking system to fit to his Quadricycle in 1896 by not installing any. Instead, a lever released a drive belt and the vehicle (eventually) coasted to a stop. Drivers could assist the process by pressing their feet against the front wheels.                         The introduction of pneumatic tires rendered a block-on-tire system impracticable. A leap more...

 “I have now made an engine that shall not waste a particle of steam. It shall be boiling hot" James Watt to his friend John Robison Scottish engineer James Watt (1736-1819) was responsible for some of the most important advances in steam-engine technology. Steam engines had been in use since the 1710s, mainly to pump water from mines. These machines depended upon steam condensing inside a large cylinder after the cylinder was cooled with cold water. As the steam condensed, it took up less space, allowing atmospheric pressure to push down on a movable piston inside the cylinder. In 1765 Watt made the first working model of his most important contribution to the development of steam power; he patented it in 1769. His innovation was an engine in which steam condensed outside the main cylinder in a separate condenser; the cylinder remained at working temperature at all times. Watt made more...

A democratic country has more citizen participation in the form of voting for elected representatives, implies more accountability of the government and protects the political and personal rights of citizens, including those in the minority. Citizens are those persons who live m a state permanently and enjoy civil and political rights. In return they are expected to owe allegiance to the State and the State is obliged to protect the citizen's life, liberty, property and political rights. A civil society that functions well is perhaps indicative of how well a democracy works. Whether democratic processes work better in homogeneous or heterogeneous societies is a matter of speculation, but India with her culturally and ethnically diverse groups is known to be the world's largest democracy. The success of democracy is largely measured by the public's participation in the process and the responsiveness of the system to popular demands. Many people think more...

Both men and woman have intentions and act, so both are capable of virtue. Virtue ethics as a theory of morality has existed, most notably, since Aristotle. Courage is one such virtue and to display this, persons need to experience fear and perceive danger. The circumstances surrounding an act of courage need to be proportionate to perceived risk to avoid the activity becoming an enterprise of foolishness. Also the potential costs associated with the risk must be proportionate to the ends concerning the bravery. These elements associated with courage are undoubtedly equally available to both sexes and in the  sense of equality feminism woman can and have been courageous. However, in light of difference feminism, another facet may need to be added to the modem meaning of courage, as an acknowledgement that virtues are characterised with respect to attitudes held within the context of definition. A virtue is a prescription more...

The worth of a civilization can be judged by the place given to women in the society. One of several factors that justify the greatness. Of India’s ancient culture is the honourable place granted to women. The Muslim influence on India caused considerable deterioration in the status of women. They were deprived of their rights of equality with men. Raja Ram Mohan Roy started a movement against this inequality and subjugation. The contact of Indian culture with that of the British also brought improvement in the status of women. The third factor in the revival of women's position was the influence of Mahatma Gandhi who induced women to participate in the Freedom Movement. As a result of this retrieval of freedom, women in Indian have distinguished themselves as teachers, nurses, air-hostesses, booking clerks, receptionists, and doctors. They are also participating in politics and administration. But in spite of this amelioration more...

Shri Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India from May 16-31,1996 and a second time from March 19, 1998 to May 13, 2004. With his swearing-in as Prime Minister, he has been the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three successive mandates. Shri Vajpayee has also been the first Prime Minister since Smt. Indira Gandhi to lead his party to victory in successive elections. Born on December 25,1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Shri Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and Smt. Krishna Devi, Shri Vajpayee brings with him a long parliamentary experience spanning over four decades. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1957. He was elected to the 5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha and again to the 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Lok Sabha and to Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again been elected to Parliament more...

My favourite pasttime is to spend time on the computer, even at a tender age I liked computer systems. to have a computer was a dream, an almost impossible dream. I had a friend named Akash at that time, we were in the same school, same grade and we had a very good relationship. At that time he had a computer system and we used to spend our free time playing games, printing greeting cards, banners, we also did our school home work. It was very nice and playful. Even then I yearned to own my own computer, so I could spend more time learning how to use the computer. One day my parents went to market without me because I was in school at that time so I stayed back till evening with my grandmother until my parents came back. "When my parents returned home they arrived with a more...

Indian economy in the early period was a self-sufficient economy Comprising of several villages. Indian villages produced and met their requirement according to division of labour and their economic activity was restricted to village economy. Barter system prevailed as an exchange mechanism. Basically, the primary activity was agriculture. Other services like carpentry, weaving, hair dressing, etc. were offered by labourers who extended their services based on heredity. They received their wages as food products. In short, Indian villages functioned as independent republics and the only interference was from the King to whom they paid taxes in kind. Thus, India had happy villages. Prior to the British rule, religion, system of the society and king's law influenced the economy to a great extent. There prevailed caste system which decided the division of labour for the benefit of the society's economy. Further, the prevalence of joint-family system helped them to pool their more...

The world is in a sorry and sad state as we pass from the festivities of the holidays to the hard realities of our working and daily lives. We find divisions and strife - between continents, between countries, between cultures, and between different ethnic or racial groups. There is separation and conflict between the rich and the poor, between the powerful and the powerless, between religions, between ideologies, between classes, between families and even between members of the same family or group. Perhaps it was ever thus' or perhaps it is, as it appears, even more dire and dreadful than ever before. What is certainly true is that what applies to continents, and countries, and groups, and families, also applies within the individual's own self. So many people feel tom and divided within. they are not at peace with themselves or with their surroundings. They feel anxiety, stress and strain. more...