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William Gravatt
William Gravatt FRS (14 July 1806 – 30 May 1866), was a noted English civil engineer and scientific instrument maker. Apprenticed as a mechanical engineer in London from aged 15, after interview he worked with Sir Marc Isambard Brunel on the Thames Tunnel, and then designed bridges for the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Whilst surveying the route for the South Eastern Railway to Dover, he devised the more transportable dumpy level, which is now universally employed. He then supervised the northern engineering team under Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, where the deployment of his "curve of sines" theorem speeded construction. Dismissed from the project in 1841, after losing money during the railway mania period, Gravatt helped to construct both the Craig telescope and a copy of the Difference machine, distinguishing himself in a number of papers submitted to the Institution of Civil Engineers. He died after being accidentally poisoned by an over do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, recognising excellence in science, supporting outstanding science, providing scientific advice for policy, education and public engagement and fostering international and global co-operation. Founded on 28 November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II as The Royal Society and is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world. The society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the Society's President, according to a set of statutes and standing orders. The members of Council and the President are elected from and by its Fellows, the basic members of the society, who are themselves elected by existing Fellows. , there are about 1,700 fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS (Fellow of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Mania
Railway Mania was an instance of a stock market bubble in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further increased the price of railway shares, until the share price collapsed. The mania reached its zenith in 1846, when 263 Acts of Parliament for setting up new railway companies were passed, with the proposed routes totalling . About a third of the railways authorised were never built—the companies either collapsed due to poor financial planning, were bought out by larger competitors before they could build their line, or turned out to be fraudulent enterprises to channel investors' money into other businesses. Causes The world's first recognizably modern inter-city railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (the L&M), opened its railway in 1830 and proved to be successful for transporting both passengers and freight. In the late 1830s an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which are designed first and foremost for sailing. A dinghy's main use is for transfers from larger boats, especially when the larger boat cannot dock at a suitably-sized port or marina. The term "dinghy towing" sometimes is used to refer to the practice of towing a car or other smaller vehicle behind a motorhome, by analogy to towing a dinghy behind a yacht. Etymology The term is a loanword from the Bengali ', Urdu ', and Hindi '. Types Dinghies usually range in length from about . Larger auxiliary vessels are generally called tenders, pinnaces or lifeboats. Folding and take-down multi-piece (nesting) dinghies are used where space is limited. Some newer dinghies have much greater buoyancy, giving them more carrying capacity than older ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Tunnel Construction 1830
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury, Essex and Gravesend, Kent, via the Thames Estuary. From the west it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London. In August 2022, the source of the river moved five miles to beyond Somerford Keynes due to the heatwave in July 2022. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of . From Oxford to the Estuary the Thames drops by 55 metres. Running through some of the drier parts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO, learned society , status = Registered charity , purpose = To promote the sciences of astronomy & geophysics , professional_title = Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) , headquarters = Burlington House , location = Piccadilly, London , coords = , region_served = , services = , membership = , language = , general = , leader_title = Patron , leader_name = King Charles III , leader_title2 = President , leader_name2 = Mike Edmunds , leader_title3 = Executive Director , leader_name3 = Philip Diamond , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , key_peop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track Transition Curve
A track transition curve, or spiral easement, is a mathematically-calculated curve on a section of highway, or railroad track, in which a straight section changes into a curve. It is designed to prevent sudden changes in lateral (or centripetal) acceleration. In plane (viewed from above), the start of the transition of the horizontal curve is at infinite radius, and at the end of the transition, it has the same radius as the curve itself and so forms a very broad spiral. At the same time, in the vertical plane, the outside of the curve is gradually raised until the correct degree of bank is reached. If such an easement were not applied, the lateral acceleration of a rail vehicle would change abruptly at one point (the tangent point where the straight track meets the curve) with undesirable results. With a road vehicle, a transition curve allows the driver to alter the steering in a gradual manner. History On early railroads, because of the low speeds and wide-radius curves em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sine Wave
A sine wave, sinusoidal wave, or just sinusoid is a curve, mathematical curve defined in terms of the ''sine'' trigonometric function, of which it is the graph of a function, graph. It is a type of continuous wave and also a Smoothness, smooth periodic function. It occurs often in mathematics, as well as in physics, engineering, signal processing and many other fields. Formulation Its most basic form as a function of time (''t'') is: y(t) = A\sin(2 \pi f t + \varphi) = A\sin(\omega t + \varphi) where: * ''A'', ''amplitude'', the peak deviation of the function from zero. * ''f'', ''frequency, ordinary frequency'', the ''Real number, number'' of oscillations (cycles) that occur each second of time. * ''ω'' = 2''f'', ''angular frequency'', the rate of change of the function argument in units of radians per second. * \varphi, ''phase (waves), phase'', specifies (in radians) where in its cycle the oscillation is at ''t'' = 0. When \varphi is non-zero, the entire waveform appears to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Wollaston
George Wollaston (1738–1826) was an English Anglican priest. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ... in 1763. He was the son of Francis Wollaston (1694-1774). He was educated at Charterhouse School and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated second wrangler in 1758. He married in 1765 Elizabeth Palmer of Thurnscoe Hall and they had a single daughter Elizabeth Palmer Wollaston who died in infancy (17 April 1766). References {{DEFAULTSORT:Wollaston, George 1738 births 1826 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Second Wranglers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Troughton
Edward Troughton FRS FRSE FAS (October 1753 – 12 June 1835) was a British instrument maker who was notable for making telescopes and other astronomical instruments. Life Troughton was born at Corney, Cumberland, the youngest of six children to Francis Troughton, a husbandman on a farm, and his wife, Mary Stable. Originally raised to tend animals, Edward went to London in 1773. He then served an apprenticeship with his uncle, John Troughton (b.c.1716) alongside his elder brother, also John Troughton, and in 1779 he became his business partner and soon established himself as the top maker of navigational, surveying and astronomical instruments in Britain. They were based at 136 Fleet Street in central London. Their shop was called the "Sign of the Orrery". In 1795 he delivered what is now known as the Troughton Equatorial telescope to the Armagh Observatory, a 2-inch aperture refractor telescope mounted equatorially, and its first major instrument since its founding in 179 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Smeaton
John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed "civil engineer", and is often regarded as the "father of civil engineering".Mark Denny (2007). "Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World". p. 34. JHU Press. He pioneered the use of hydraulic lime in concrete, using pebbles and powdered brick as aggregate. Smeaton was associated with the Lunar Society. Law and physics Smeaton was born in Austhorpe, Leeds, England. After studying at Leeds Grammar School he joined his father's law firm, but left to become a mathematical instrument maker (working with Henry Hindley), developing, among other instruments, a pyrometer to study material expansion. In 1750, his premises were in the Great Turnstile in Holborn. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753 and in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps. RMA Woolwich was commonly known as "The Shop" because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal. History Origins in the Royal Arsenal An attempt had been made by the Board of Ordnance in 1720 to set up an academy within its Arsenal (then known as the Warren) to provide training and education for prospective officers of its new Regiment of Artillery and Corps of Engineers (both of which had been established there in 1716). A new building was being constructed in readiness for the Academy and funds had been secured, seemingly, through investment in the South Sea Company; but the latter's collapse led to plans for the Academy being placed on hold. After this false start, the acade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army. Modern usage varies greatly, and in some cases, the term is used as an honorific title that may have no direct relationship to military service. The rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general. In some smaller military forces, such as those of Monaco or the Vatican, colonel is the highest rank. Equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth's air force ranking system, the equivalent rank is group captain. History and origins By the end of the late medieval period, a group of "companies" was referred to as a "column" of an army. According to Raymond Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
