Earth Sciences

Hydroponics, the growing of plants without soil, has developed from the findings of experiments carried out to determine what substances make plants grow and the composition of plants. Such work on plant constituents dates back as early as the 1600s. However, plants were being grown in a soilless culture far earlier than this. Hydroponics is at least as ancient as the pyramids. A primitive form has been carried on in Kashmir for centuries.
The process of hydroponics growing in our oceans goes back to about the time the earth was created. Hydroponic growing preceded soil growing. But as a farming tool, many believe it started in the ancient city of Babylon with it's famous hanging gardens, which are listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and was probably one of the first successful attempts to grow plants hydroponically.

This web site is devoted to the Institute for History and Foundations of Science, which is part of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. The Institute consists of two distinct Sections: the History of Mathematics and the Natural Sciences Section and the Foundations of Physics Section, both located in De Uithof at the edge of the city of Utrecht.

Dmitrii Mendeleev (1834-1907; see photo at Edgar Fahs Smith Collection, University of Pennsylvania) was born in Tobolsk, in Western Siberia. His chief contribution to chemistry was the establishment of the periodic system of elements. Mendeleev was one of a number of independent discoverers of the periodic law in the 1860s--that number ranging from one [Leicester 1948] to six [van Spronsen 1969] depending on the criteria one adopts. Mendeleev's formulation was clearly superior in several respects to the work of contemporary classifiers: it was the clearest, most consistent, and most systematic formulation, and Mendeleev made several testable predictions based on it. It was not, however, free from error. Scientists, even great scientists, trying to see further than others have in the past, do not always see the whole picture clearly. As noted below, Mendeleev himself corrected some of the errors within a few years; others persisted well into the 20th century.

Ptolemy Latin in full Claudius Ptolemaeus (fl. AD 127-145, Alexandria), ancient astronomer, geographer, and mathematician who considered the Earth the centre of the universe (the "Ptolemaic system"). Virtually nothing is known about his life.

Accomplishments and Awards
Articles, Quotes and Other Writings of George Washington Carver
Caring for the Fruits of Creation
Creative Quotes from George Washington Carver
Poem: "Equipment" (recited at the 1942 Selma University commencement address)
Articles of Interest

Everything's relative. Speed, mass, space and time are all subjective. Nor are age, motion or the wanderings of the planets measures that humans can agree on anymore; they can be judged only by the whim of the observer. Light has weight. Space has curves. And coiled within a pound of matter, any matter, is the explosive power of 14 million tons of TNT. We know all this, we are set adrift in this way at the end of the 20th century, because of Albert Einstein.

The transitional period falls between the pre 17th century alchemy and the 18th century chemistry. The climax of this period is probably with the English scientist Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) and his book "Principia Mathematica" (1687). In this book, Newton introduced three laws of motion which served well for over two centuries in mechanical sciences. He also expanded his theories of gravitation and provided some useful explanations of the work of the Italian Scientist Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642) who in the 1590's studied the behavior of falling bodies.

During the 1998-1999 academic year, Iowa State University celebrated the legacy of its first African American student and faculty member, George Washington Carver. Renowned for developing innovative uses for a variety of agricultural crops such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes, Carver's legacy at Iowa State is even more than academic achievement. He was an accomplished musician, artist, orator, athletic trainer and student leader. Iowa State's land-grant heritage provided a rich environment where he could take root and blossom. It is an environment that remains rich in academic, cultural, artistic and athletic opportunities.

The "Irish Lives" project grew out of the radio programme PRISM's decision to include a regular look-back section that gave a brief biography of Irish scientists in history. The following pages are the scripts of those talks. IRSA and the "PRISM" team would like to thank Dr Charles Mollan of SAMTON Ltd for preparing the scripts and for giving permission to publish them on the World Wide Web.
Down along the lefthand side are the names of the people in our series. We are still anxious to collect more biographies. Our present collection includes some held at sites other than our own server.

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