UNIT 3: INVENTORS

Part I Match the names of scientists to their contribution:

Name Invention Nationality

William Gillbert
Invented the term 'electricity'. British
Was a key figure in the scientific revolution and
Isaac Newton British
formulated the laws of motion.
Benjamin Franklin
Invented the lightning rod. American
Alessandro Volta
Invented the first electric battery. Italian
Carl Friedrich Gaus Established a measureable relationship between
German
magnetic fields and electricity.
James Clerk Maxwell
Established a way of measuring magnetic field. Scottish
Georg Ohm Defined the relationship between potential, current
German
and resistance.
Andre Marie Ampere
Created the theory of electromagnetic field. French
Michael Faraday Invented the first electric motor. British
Joseph Henry Developed the electromagnet into a practical
American
device.
Guglielmo Marconi Broadcast the first transatlantic radio signal. Italian
Alexander Graham Bell Patented the first telephone. Canadian (Scottish)
Tomas Edison
Invented the light bulb. American
Nikola Tesla Invented an electric alternator for producing
Serbian
alternating current (AC).
Heinrich Herz Proved the existence of electromagnetic waves. German

II Answer the questions:

1. Which scientist lived from 1856 to 1943? Nikola Tesla
2. Which scientist lived in the 16th century? Willian Gillbert
3. Which scientist carried out a very dangerous experiment in 1752? Benjamin Franklin
4. Which of these events took place in March 1876? The invention of telephone
5. Which of these events took place on 12 December 1901? The broadcasting of the 1 st transatlantic
radio signal.

III Complete the table

science scientist
invention inventor
physics physicist
mathematics mathematician
chemistry chemist

1
Part II: WORD FORMATION REVISION

I Complete Nikola Tesla quotes with appropriate forms of the words in

capitals, deciding on the part of speech and spelling.

“Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomolishments. The
present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.”

“Electrical science has disclosed to us the more intimate relation existing between widely different
forces and phenomena and has thus led us to a more complete comprehension of Nature and its many
manifestations to our senses.”

“Electrical science has revealed to us the true nature of light, has provided us with innumerable
appliances and instruments of precision, and has thereby vastly added to the exactness of our
knowledge.”

“The universal utilization of water power and its long-distance transmission will supply every
household with cheap power and will dispense with the necessity of burning fuel. The struggle for
existence being lessened, there should be development along ideal rather than material lines.”

“Of the various branches of electrical investigation, perhaps the most interesting and immediately the
most promising is that dealing with alternating currents.”

“My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up
in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvement, and operate the device entirely in my
mind. “

2
II Complete Mihajlo Pupin's biography with appropriate forms of the
words in capitals, deciding on the part of speech and spelling.

A holder of 34 patents, Mihajlo Pupin was a prolific electrical inventor whose many discoveries
included devices widely used in telegraphy and telephony. His oscillating circuit made possible the
simultaneous transmissions of several messages while his inductance coil increased the range of long-
distance telephone communication. He also contributed to substantial advances in the use of X-rays. A
long-time member of the Columbia faculty, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in
1904. Pupin was born in the Serbian Village of Idvor, then in Austria-Hungary, and as a boy worked in
the fields tending sheep; his autobiography, From Immigrant to Inventor, which won a Pulitzer Prize in
1924, tells of his transformation into a great scientist.

Pupin attended Columbia College on a scholarship and graduated with honors in 1883, becoming a U.S.
citizen the day before his graduation. He earned his doctorate in mathematical physics at the University
of Berlin in 1889 before returning to Columbia to assume the position of teacher of mathematical
physics. Here he remained for the rest of his academic career. He left a significant portion of his estate
to the University, and Columbia honored Pupin posthumously in 1935 by naming its 1927 physics
building Pupin Hall.

He was elected as a consul of the Kingdom of Serbia to the US. He was an influential diplomat and even
spoke to the US Congress. He did a lot for his home country through organizations and foundations he
set up in order to support education and development.

3
 Part III: Word formation revision

Choose the correct word to complete each sentence. You may have to change some words slightly:
1 electron, electronic, electronics, electronically
a) An electronic pen is one example of an input device.
b) A computer solves problems electronically.
c) Many electronics students go on to work as engineers. (the field is called electronics)

2 technology, technological, technologically, technologist

a) The computer is the greatest technological invention of the twentieth century.
b) There are two technologies involved in a clipboard PC.
c) Today’s computers are technologically for superior to those used a few years ago.

3 identify, identifying, identifiable, identity

a) The clipboard’s pattern recognition software immediately identifies the letters and numbers written by the
stylus.
b) Most computer companies will not allow people without an identity card to enter their premises.
c) A password is a mechanism for identifying the computer-user and allowing access.

4 compute, computing, computation, computerize, computerization

a) The computerizaion of the manufacturing division will be expensive in the short term, but cost-effective
in the long term.
b) We should be able to compute our profit for next year fairly accurately with the new program.
c) I could tell from all the computation on the board that a maths lesson was in progress.

5 specification, specify, specific, specified, specifically

a) Our company bought three packages with very specific applications: payroll, accounts receivable, and
accounts payable.
b) An application program is designed to do a specified type of work, such as calculating the stress factor of
a roof.
c) Did the analyst give the new programmer the specification necessary to start the project?

6 instruction, instruct, instructed, instructor

a) Our maths instructor explained to us the principles of binary arithmetic.
b) We were instructed to document our programs very carefully.
c) Both instructors and data have to be changed to machine code before the computer can operate on them.

7 analyse, analysed, analysis, analyst

a) When a text is analysed, all pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and verb forms are automatically
identified.
b) This analysis shows that most PC users are not aware of the full potential of the software products they
buy.
c) The DBMS first receives the request and analyses it for syntax errors.

Source: Boeckner & Brown, Oxford English for Computing