Showing posts with label SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2011
Science:Humphry Davy Inventor of the First Electric Light Connection Post
I think this can relate to Frankenstein because obviously people needed a way to light there houses or light there way while in a dark area. Also when the people went after the creature or when Frankenstein was looking for body parts he could have been using Humphry Davys Electric Light.
Science:Humphry Davy Inventor of the First Electric Light.
Humphry Davy invented the first electric light in 1809. He created this light by connecting two wires to a battery. Then he connected a charcoal strip between the other ends of the wires. The carbon would glow from this thus creating the first electric (arch) lamp.
Source
Source
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Halloween Special
At the University of Bologna in Italy, noted surgeon Luigi Galvani was investigating the effects of electricity on animals. It was not an unusual line of inquiry. Researchers knew electrical shocks produced violent spasms and speculated that electricity might cause muscular contractions.
On January 26, 1781, while dissecting a frog near a static electricity machine, Galvani's assistant touched a scalpel to a nerve in its leg, and the frog's leg jumped. Galvani repeated this and several other experiments, observing the same violent muscle spasms. He also noticed that frog legs occasionally twitched when they were hung from a brass hook and allowed to touch an iron trellis, so Galvani joined a length of each metal together to form a brass and iron arc that made the leg muscles contract when touched.
But where did the electricity come from?
Galvani, who called it "animal electricity," believed it resided in the frog itself. He thought that the bimetallic arc merely conducted the electricity from one part of the frog to the nerve, causing the leg to jump. He published his findings in 1791 and, as the story goes, came to be known as the frog dancing master.
On January 26, 1781, while dissecting a frog near a static electricity machine, Galvani's assistant touched a scalpel to a nerve in its leg, and the frog's leg jumped. Galvani repeated this and several other experiments, observing the same violent muscle spasms. He also noticed that frog legs occasionally twitched when they were hung from a brass hook and allowed to touch an iron trellis, so Galvani joined a length of each metal together to form a brass and iron arc that made the leg muscles contract when touched.
But where did the electricity come from?
Galvani, who called it "animal electricity," believed it resided in the frog itself. He thought that the bimetallic arc merely conducted the electricity from one part of the frog to the nerve, causing the leg to jump. He published his findings in 1791 and, as the story goes, came to be known as the frog dancing master.
Friday, April 8, 2011
How the Voltaic Pile Relates to Frankenstein
I feel since the Voltaic Pile was a source of electricity it related to Frankenstein because one of the key elements to bringing the creature to life was electricity. Although the source that brought the creature to life was lighting the machines that Frankenstein had used electricity possibly running on a Voltaic Pile.
Alessandro Volta And The Invention of the Voltaic Pile
In 1800 a man by the name of Alessandro Volta invented the "Voltaic pile". He also invented the first practical way to generate electricity. Volta also made many inventions in the fields of electrostatics, meteorology and pneumatics. The voltaic pile consisted of alternating disks that were made of zinc and copper and had cardboard soaked in brine between the metals. The pile created an electrical current and it was a steady electrical current.
Volta Info Link
Volta Info Link
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Industrial Revolution and Mary Shelly
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the times. It began in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world.
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. In the two centuries following 1800, the world's average per capita income increased over 10-fold, while the world's population increased over 6-fold.
Starting in the later part of the 18th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual labour and draft-animal–based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.
**Frankenstein in jail Britain was in the middle of the Industrial Revolution when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein
The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. In the two centuries following 1800, the world's average per capita income increased over 10-fold, while the world's population increased over 6-fold.
Starting in the later part of the 18th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual labour and draft-animal–based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.
**Frankenstein in jail Britain was in the middle of the Industrial Revolution when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein
Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature, is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science. It is considered to be the precursor of natural sciences such as physics.
Forms of science historically developed out of philosophy or more specifically natural philosophy. At older universities, long-established Chairs of Natural Philosophy are nowadays occupied mainly by physics professors. Modern notions of science and scientists date only to the 19th century. Before then, the word "science" simply meant knowledge and the label of scientist did not exist. Isaac Newton's 1687 scientific treatise is known as The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Luddite influence in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
While the Industrial Revolution was intended to increase prosperity, some, like the anti-machine protesters of the early 19th century, saw it as a de-humanizing movement. In the novel, the monster is feared by the people he encounters because of his appearance and greater strength. When the monster tries to become a part of the community, in a parallel with the introduction of machines, Felix, like the Luddite protesters, fights back against his infiltration. Felix then moves away from his cottage with his family because he feels unsafe and doesn’t want to subject them to the monster’s influence. In the novel, mechanization is associated with the horrific aspects of the story, while the natural world represents the monster’s idyllic respite from his problems and the possibility of acceptance by the family he observes. This fear of mechanization reflects the ambivalence towards the use of machines in peoples’ lives in the 19th century, and is echoed in subsequent science fiction stories about artificial beings, as well as film adaptations of Frankenstein. This interpretation shows how the novel reflects on real-life events in England, with which Mary and Percy Shelley were directly associated. The natural world is valued over the mechanized world due to its more authentic associations and perceived increased worth.
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