My Science School

          Throughout the human history, man has shown a penchant for displaying his physical strength and prowess. For many prehistoric tribes, the true test of manhood was to lift some special rock. Many such stones, with inscriptions of the athlete’s names that first lifted them, can still be found in Greece and Scottish castles. Stone-throwing competitions still survive in Germany and Switzerland, and rock lifting is still popular in the Basque region of Spain.

          The modern weightlifting began in the late 18th and 19th centuries, fostered by the feats of professional strongmen such as Eugene Sandow and Arthu Saxon of Germany, George Hackenschmidt of Russia, Louis Apollon of France and others who performed in circuses and music halls.

          The first open world championship was held at the Cafe Monico, Piccadilly, London in 1891 and won by the Englishman Lawrence Levy. Two weightlifting competitions were included in the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. The winner of the one hand lift competition was Launceston Elliot of Great Britain who lifted a 71 kg weight. And the winner of the two hand lift competition was Viggo Jensen of Denmark who lifted 111 kg weight.

          The one and two-hand events were held again in 1904 and then in 1920. However, later at the suggestion of the International Olympic Committee, the International Weightlifting Federation was formed to control the sport and to formulate its technical rules. Since then weightlifting has been included in the Olympic Games. The International Federation originally included 14 member countries, but in the mid 1970s this number rose to 100. France and Germany were the leaders in this sport up to 1930s. But then Egypt took over as the leader. After the World War II U.S.A. remained supreme in this sport until 1953. Since then erstwhile Soviet Union created most of the world records in this event.

          The modern weightlifting device consists of an iron bar to which weights, in the form of cast iron discs, of different sizes are attached. The weights are attached to each end of the bar on a revolving sleeve. The individual weights include discs of 25 kg, 15 kg, 10 kg, 5 kg, 2.5 kg, and 1.25 kg. The lifting exercises are performed on a wooden platform, 4 mts square. And if the lifter steps off this platform during the course of a lift, that lift is considered disqualified and not counted in the score.

 

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The roots of modern fencing can be traced to the historical traditions of swordsmanship. In the olden days, swordsmanship was considered to be a great martial art and provided a high social status to the warrior. But the modern fencing is a friendly competitive duel and not meant for fighting battles as was the case in old days.

It is now a sport involving the skilful use of swords for attack or defence according to the set rules and regulations. In France it is called Escrime and in Italy Schoma. It has a long and fascinating history, and its roots can be traced to the traditions of chivalry. The sport has been a permanent feature of every Olympic Games ever since their revival in Athens in 1896, and today it is increasingly practiced throughout the world.

Fencing is divided into three major branches depending upon the weapons employed. The three different types of weapons used are: foils, sabres and epees. The fencer scores point by touching the opponent’s target area with the sword point, and loses when touched the same way by the opponent.

Some of the main advantages of this sport are that it provides concentrated physical exercise in a short duration of time, independent of weather and without much expenditure. It develops a co-ordination of mind and body. It is a game of skill, speed and finesse in which brute strength doesn’t have much role to play. It is suitable for both men and women. It is a complex and difficult art to master.

The fencing equipment is relatively inexpensive. This requires a fencing jacket, a mask, a glove, a foil or any other such weapon with trousers or fencing breeches, white stockings and rubber sole gym shoes or flat sole fencing shoes.

The fencer’s weapon consists of a blade and mounting. The stronger half of the blade, which is nearer to the guard, is called the forte and the remainder, the foible. The mounting consists of a guard, the form of which varies according to the weapon and within which there is often a small cushion to protect the fingers. It has a handle or grip with which the weapon is held and manipulated. 

Continue reading "What is the sport of Fencing? "

            It is an indoor game played on a table with a lightweight ball. The table is divided into two equal courts by a low net fixed across its width at the middle. The ball is made of celluloid or a similar plastic. It is propelled back and forth across the net by small rackets (also called bats or paddles) held by the players. The objective is to win points by making shots which an opponent is unable to return.

            Over the years it has become a popular game all over the world, especially, in Europe and Asia. The International Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1926. The founder members were England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Wales. By the 1970s, more than 90 national associations were members of the federation and there were six continental federations: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania. The first world championships were held in London in 1927 and from then until 1939 the game was dominated by players from the central Europe. Hungary and Czechoslovakia produced some of the greatest players of the game. However, by the mid 50s Asia began to gain supremacy. In 1954-56 the Asians became the champions. 

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            Hang gliding is a popular American sport today. A hang glider looks something like a huge kite. It is shaped like a triangle. At its widest point, a glider is about as wide as the length of a car. The flier wears a harness attached to a glider. He holds onto the glider and races down a hill into the wind or else jumps off a cliff. The wind lifts the glider into the air. The pilot uses a control bar to change the directions. A hang glider is made with Dacron sails and aluminium frames. Some other gliders are made from rigid materials such as wood and glass fiber.

            A hang glider usually travels as fast as a car on a busy street. A person learning to hang glide usually flies 3 to 6 metres above the earth. A trained pilot might go much higher. They sometimes carry equipments like maps, compasses, parachutes, radios etc. Pilots flying over mountainous areas often carry oxygen. The hang gliders never fly as high as airplanes.

            Though many people have contributed to the development of the glider, the pioneer was a German, Otto Lilienthal (1848-96). Along with his brother Gustav, he began experimenting in this direction in 1867 on the buoyancy and resistance of air. After a lot of experiments he succeeded in 1891 in making his first man-carrying craft, with which he could take off by running downhill into the wind. He made numerous flights between 1893 and 1896.

            This was the beginning after which many developments were made in the design of gliders by Octave Chanute — a French-born American Engineer, Orville and Wilbur Wright etc. In the 1950s Professor Francis Rogallo of the National Space Agency, USA, relying on his space capsule re-entry researches, developed a wing.

            In the case of most of the early gliders the flying speed was very low. The normal practice was to fly into a wind so that the actual acceleration required was not too much. These days the favoured launching techniques are the airplane tow and automobile tow. The tow rope is usually 60 metres long with a steel ring attached at each end, fitting the tow hooks with the towing vehicle and the glider.

            Many records of long distance gliding and of greatest altitude gliding have been set in the world. Heights of 10,000 ft have been attained by some hang gliding pilots flying in mountainous areas. Since 1935 hang gliding has earned a reputation as tools for aeronautical and meteorological research. 

                Since its inception cinema has always been a popular source of entertainment, particularly after the beginning of the era of talkies. Due to the wide acceptance and popularity of this medium, the world of cinema has always produced its own breed of celebrities and stars that are always remembered, cherished and indexed in the chronicle of the cinema world. Besides their talent, the glamourous screen image they produce creates a mass euphoria among the audience. Marilyn Monroe, the legendary actress of yesteryears of occidental cinema, was one such star whose name still stirs the popular memory. Her magnetic personality, both on and off the screen, made her a great newsmaker of those days.

               Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 1, 1926. Her original name was Norma Jean Baker. She had a very unhappy childhood, engulfed by miseries and hardships. She spent her childhood days in foster homes and orphanages. Later she became a model and subsequently got bit roles in motion pictures.

               To begin with her film career, she was first featured as a ‘dumb blonde’ and later as a symbol of glamour and passion, though with an appealing wholesomeness and vulnerability. In 1952 and 1953 she attained stardom when she played waiflike characters in films like ‘Don’t bother to knock’ etc. Her real achievement came in 1953 for her attractive role in a film titled ‘Gentlemen prefer blondes’. Thereafter a series of box office hits followed with the release of films like ‘How to marry a millionaire’, ‘The seven year itch’, ‘Bus stop’ and so on.

               Ambitious to be a serious actress, Marilyn studied at the Actor’s studio in New York City. In spite of her professional successes she was a very disturbed person due to her deep-seated anxieties and the three broken marriages. Her last leg of life was full of tension and mental agony. Ultimately she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in Los Angeles on August 5, 1962. Thus the life and career of a great American film artist met an abrupt and tragic end. Her scarred and insecure life claimed as much attention as her glamourous acting career.

 

            The Beatles were the most successful of all the groups in the world of popular music. The group of four musicians comprising of John Lenon, Paul McCarthy, George Harrison and Ringo Starr became famous in the 1960s. Their early years were mostly spent in Liverpool and Hamburg. Among them, Ringo Starr (whose real name was Richard Starkey) joined the group at a later stage.

            In fact this group became most successful in 1962 with their song titled “Love Me Do” followed by another bigger hit “Please Please Me” in 1963. They never looked back for several years after that. The new wave of popular songs generated a hilarious effect among the young generation all over the world, particularly during 1963-65. Rock ‘n’ roll, a pop music with rhythmic body movements on the beat of drums, were greatly influenced by Beatles’ songs.

         

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          Like treble, bass too describes a range of sound in terms of tone quality as well as musical notes. But they are opposite voices.

          Bass defines tones of low frequency, pitch and range from 16-256 Hz. Hence, it forms the lowest part of the harmony in songs. If we increase the bass up in a note, we get a deeper sound. On the other hand, if we volume up a treble, we get a higher sound.

          In choral music, bass is provided by adult male bass singers, while in an orchestra, the lines are played by the double bass and cellos, bassoon or contrabassoon, low bass such as the tuba and bass trombone, and the timpani or kettledrums. In popular music, the bass part or the ‘bassline’ provides a rhythmic support to the band.

           The main bass instruments used by musicians are keyboard bass and bass drum. 

            We know that all objects in the Universe have their natural frequencies. Some may be simple but some, complex. A renowned example for an object with a simple natural frequency is the tuning fork. It is an acoustic resonator that appears as a two-pronged fork with the prongs or tines formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal like steel. Depending on the length and mass of the two prongs, the fork produces a pitch. Generally, it is used as a standard of pitch to tune musical instruments.

            As mentioned earlier, a tuning fork has a natural frequency. When set vibrating by striking against a surface, or by an object, the fork resonates at a specific pitch and emits a musical tone once the high overtones have died out.

            Traditionally, the forks have been used to tune musical instruments. But today, electronic tuners are replacing them in applications.

            The tuning fork was invented in 1711 by British musician John Shore, who was a trumpeter and lute player. 

           Synthesizers are one of the most important musical instruments today. Although they look like small electronic pianos, the uses of synthesizers are much more than one can imagine.

           Technically, it is an electronic keyboard that can generate or copy, any kind of sound. For instance, it can mimic the sound of a traditional instrument like a violin or piano, or create brand new sounds like the crunch of footsteps on the surface of Mars!

           The very meaning of ‘synthesize’ is to make something new, often by putting together things from existing pieces. This is exactly what the synthesizer instrument does. It has got a number of oscillators or sound tone generators, each of which can produce waves of different shapes. They combine the waves to make complex sounds. Depending on this combination, the sounds vary, and mimic existing instruments.

             Based on how they function, synthesizers are classified into analogue and digital.

             The changes caused by synthesizers in the field of music are unparalleled. Since the 1970s, they have been used in popular music, and today, there is no pop record made without featuring an electronic keyboard of this kind. 

Mixing console is a device that used for mixing and changing the volume, and dynamics of audio signals. The sources of these signals could be many- microphones used by singers, or mics picking up the beats from drums.

The device is known by different names like audio mixer, audio console, or mixer.

There are numerous applications for which a mixing console is used. For instance, it is commonly used in recording studios, public address systems, sound reinforcement systems, musical concerts, broadcasting, television, and film post-production.

Let’s look at a few of its applications in detail. When two singers are singing, say a duet, a mixing console combines signals from the two microphones into an amplifier that drives one set of speakers. Then, during a live performance, the signals from the mixer go directly to an amplifier plugged into speaker cabinets.

Almost all bands use a mixer to combine musical instruments and vocals. This mix can then be amplified through a public address system.

Radio broadcasts too use it in order to select audio from different sources like CD players, and in-studio live bands. 

          The telephone is a communication tool that has become an integral part of human life since its invention in 1876.

          Technically, it is a device that transmits voices over a distance, using a wire or radio. The transmission is made possible by converting sound signals to electric signals.

          There are many reasons why the device is important to us. The first and foremost reason is that it enables communication without the hassle of travelling far.

             It is perhaps the cheapest mode of communication that facilitates talking to a person abroad at a relatively fair price. Hence, the device has played a major role in better socialization and interaction among people.

            Although it was originally meant for voice communication, telephones have evolved over the years. From wired phones emerged mobile phones that could be used anywhere.

             The telephone that we see around today was certainly not the first model developed for communication. Prior to its invention, many people had attempted to make different types of phones. However, Graham Bell’s telephone, invented in 1876 was the most successful.

             Most of the earliest models were mechanical acoustic devices that transmitted speech over a distance greater than that of normal speech.

             One important discovery during the 17th century was by Robert Hooke. He made an acoustic string phone in 1667. By the 19th century, various types of telegraphs were developed. It was after improvements of the electrical telegraph that the telephone emerged.

             There were many people who worked on this invention. However, it was Alexander Graham Bell, who won the patent for the device. 

          Sound recording and reproduction refers to the inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects.

          The inscription could be electrical, mechanical, electronic or digital in nature. The earliest method of music reproduction was done through mechanical systems.

          Today, there are two main classes of sound recording technology - analogue recording and digital recording.

               Acoustic analogue recording is done with the help of a microphone diaphragm that can detect and sense the changes in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustic sound waves. It then records the waves as a mechanical representation on a medium such as a phonograph record.

              In digital recordings, analogue signals picked by a microphone are converted to a digital form by a process called digitization.

              The first all-digitally-recorded popular music album, Ry Cooder’s ‘Bop till You Drop’ was released in 1979. 

            The phonautograph was perhaps the first device in history that could record sounds. It was patented by French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville in 1857.

            Phonautograms or phonautograph recordings made in 1857 were the earliest known recordings of the human voice. They consisted of sheets of paper with sound-wave-modulated white lines created by a vibrating stylus that cut through a coating of soot as the paper passed under it. That means the recordings were visual representations of the sound.

           The earliest known recording of intelligible spoken words is the phonautogram containing the opening lines of Torquato Tasso’s pastoral drama ‘Aminta’. It is believed to have been recorded in April or May, 1860.

           Luckily, a few recordings have been recovered over the past few years. The phonautogram of Au Clair de la Lune, a French folk song made in 1860 was played as sound for the first time in 2008. 

          Invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison, the phonograph was a device meant for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.

          The significance of this device was that it was the first to reproduce a recorded sound. Till then, other inventors had produced devices that could only record sounds.

          Edison’s phonograph originally recorded sound on to a tinfoil sheet wrapped around a rotating cylinder. He patented it in 1878. The invention became popular across the globe very soon. Over the next two decades, the commercial recording, distribution, and sale of sound recordings became a new international industry.

          The next important invention was the gramophone disc. The waveform of sound vibrations were recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a spiral groove engraved into the surface of a rotating cylinder called the ‘record’.

          To recreate the sound, the surface was similarly rotated. Then, the playback stylus would trace the groove, and start vibrating. As a result, the recorded sound would be faintly reproduced.