Tuesday, March 31, 2020

The Gold Fish And The Fisherman Essays - Go, Ko Fight, Fishing

The Gold Fish And The Fisherman Once upon a time there was an old man named `Ko'. Ko was a fifty-year old fisherman. He liked children very much but unfortunately he and his wife Jean did not have any of their own. Sometimes he felt quite lonely at home. Ko and Jean lived close to the harbour. One thing that Ko did not like about Jean was her temper. Very often she yelled at him for no reason at all. One morning while Ko was still sleeping Jean yelled at him, "Wake up! Its very late now. You should go fishing. Every day you go fishing and do not become bored. Why don't you build a house in the middle of the ocean?" said Jean said with much criticism. Ko did not reply. "Hey! do you hear me?" asked Jean. "Yes dear," Ko replied. "Then why didn't you answer me? Some day you're going to drive me crazy", said Jean. "I was waiting for you to finish talking. Don't be so angry. I'm leaving right now", said Ko. Ko quickly got dressed and left for the harbour. On his way to the harbour he met his good friend `Sun'. As they were walking down the trail to their fishing boats they started a conversation. "Hey, today's weather is very good eh? I bet there will be a lot of fish," said Sun. "It's hard to say nowadays. During this season we can't tell if there will be any fish," replied Ko. "Yes, I agree. During the last few days it appeared as though the fish were all hiding. You're lucky that you only have a wife to feed while I have a whole family to take care of. Sometimes my whole family had to starve if there was no fish.", said Sun. "Don't say that. To me I think we're all the same. As a matter of fact I think you are more fortunate than I.", said Ko. "Why? " asked Sun. "At least you have grand children and family members. In fact you don't even have to go fishing anymore," said Ko. "No way! Fishing is my hobby. I've been fishing for many years. If I stop fishing suddenly I just don't feel comfortable," said Sun. "Isn't that the truth? Just look at the ocean. It's beautiful isn't it?" said Ko. "It sure is" answered Sun. Ko and Sun had arrived at their boat. They wish each other good luck. Then they got on to there boats. The day passed very quickly and soon it was sunset. Ko lifted his last net to see if he had caught anymore fish. When he pulled up the net he noticed he had caught a Gold Fish. "This is strange! I didn't know that there were Gold Fish in the ocean.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Alfred Nobel and the History of Dynamite

Alfred Nobel and the History of Dynamite The Nobel prizes  were established by none other than inventor Alfred Nobel. But besides being the namesake behind  one of the most prestigious awards given annually for academic, cultural and scientific achievements, Nobel is also well-known for making it possible for people to blow things up.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before all that, however, the Swedish  industrialist, engineer, and inventor  built bridges and buildings in his nations capital Stockholm. It was his construction work that inspired Nobel to research new methods of blasting rock. So in 1860, the Nobel first started experimenting with an explosive chemical substance called  nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin and Dynamite Nitroglycerin was first invented by Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1846. In its natural liquid state, nitroglycerin is very volatile. Nobel understood this and in 1866 discovered that mixing nitroglycerine with silica would turn the liquid into a malleable paste called dynamite. One advantage that dynamite had over nitroglycerin was that it could be cylinder-shaped for insertion into the drilling holes used for mining. In 1863, Nobel invented the Nobel patent detonator or blasting cap for detonating nitroglycerin. The  detonator used a strong shock rather than heat combustion to ignite the explosives. The Nobel Company built the first factory to manufacture nitroglycerin and dynamite. In 1867, Nobel received U.S. patent number 78,317 for his invention of dynamite. To be able to detonate the dynamite rods, Nobel also improved his detonator (blasting cap) so that it could be ignited by lighting a fuse.  In 1875, Nobel invented blasting gelatine, which was more stable and powerful than dynamite  and patented it in 1876. In 1887, he was granted a French patent for  ballistite, a smokeless  blasting powder  made from nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. While Ballistite was developed as a substitute for black gunpowder, a variation is used today as a  solid fuel rocket propellant. Biography On October 21, 1833, Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His family moved to St. Petersburg in Russia when he was nine years old. Nobel prided himself on the many countries he lived in during his lifetime and considered himself a world citizen. In 1864, Albert Nobel founded Nitroglycerin AB in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1865, he built the Alfred Nobel Co. Factory in Krà ¼mmel near Hamburg, Germany. In 1866, he established the United States Blasting Oil Company in the U.S. In 1870, he established the Socià ©tà © gà ©nà ©ral pour la fabrication de la dynamite in Paris, France. When he died in 1896, Nobel  stipulated the year before in his last will and testament that 94 percent of his total assets go toward the creation of an endowment fund to honor achievements in  physical science, chemistry, medical science or physiology, literary work and service toward peace.  Hence, the Nobel prize is awarded yearly to people whose work helps humanity. In total, Alfred Nobel held three hundred and fifty-five patents in the fields of electrochemistry, optics, biology, and physiology.