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Wiki Article #1: Heron of Alexandria

Background Information

Heron of Alexandria, or Hero as he was sometimes called, is said to have been born in Alexandria, Egypt where he completed many of his life works.There have been speculations around his actual date of birth as there were three potential time periods in which he was suspected to be alive; 150 B.C; 250 A.D, and 62 A.D. Scholars found that he lived during 10 - 62 A.D. This was based on a reference to an eclipse that was made in one of his works. He was a Greek mathematician, scientist, and inventor and did exceptional work in mathematics, physics, and mechanics, where he was given the name " Michanikos; the Machine Man." Scholars believe that he worked in the museum of Alexandria, which was not like the museums that host precious artifacts, but instead a place where people would go and discuss thoughts and new ideas.

Inventions

There are many inventions that Heron of Alexandria has been credited with, but unforuntately, many of these creations were lost over time. Of those that can be accounted for is the first steam engine, which is known as the aeolipile [1] or the Hero engine. Another great invention of Heron of Alexandria is the first model of what many would consider an automatic door. He figured out a way to manipulate fire, air, and water to create a lever that would lower as it was filled with water and close and the water was removed.

  • Coin Operated Slot Machine

One reason Heron of Alexandria's inventions were so instrumental is because of it's original intention. He lived in a time where going to Temple was very important. However, many temples struggled with getting members to give monetary offering, which would help with the temple's upkeep. Another issue came with people's desire to obtain holy water blessed by the priest. Because the priest would have to bless each and every individual cup of holy water, it was very time consuming and potentially cost the temple more money than it made. In order to solve this problem, Heron of Alexandria invented a coin operated slot machine holy water dispenser. It became more time efficient for the priest and potentially increased their monetary intake as it became easier (and less time consuming) to obtain the high valued holy water. Noteworthy Works

He also made great discoveries in math as well. These discoveries include the field of geometry. His most famous mathematical works could be found in a three book (over seven series included) titled Metrica. This book was lost until around 1896. The book included formulas for triangles, cylinders, and volume. It also includes a host of definitions, about 133 geometrical terms that include the definition of point and line. Along with this important work are others that pertain to architect as written in the Mechanican, mechanical devides worked by air, water, and steam pressure as written in pneumatica, and how to construct engines of war as written in belopoeica.

His many works have helped in many areas and have provided the backbone and structure for a host of current amenities.


Work Cited

History Channel. "History Channel - Ancient Discoveries - Heron of Alexandria." YouTube. YouTube, 01 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6hSv9xqEWI>.

Lahanas, Michael. "Heron of Alexandria, Inventions, Biography, Science (1/2)." Heron of Alexandria, Inventions, Biography, Science (1/2). Web. 27 May 2012. <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/HeronAlexandria.htm>.

O'Connor, J. J., and E. F. Robertson. "Heron of Alexandria." Heron of Alexandria. 1999. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Heron.html>.

ThinkQuest Team. "Biography Hero of Alexandria." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, 2000. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://library.thinkquest.org/C006011/english/sites/heron_bio.php3?v=2>.


Wiki Article #2: Magnavox Odyssey

Before you can accurately explain the Odyssey, you must begin at the beginning of the commercialization of video games and Ralph Baer

In the beginning, there was Ralph Baer

Ralph Baer [2], a World Ward II veteran, began working at Loral Company as a T.V engineer in 1951. Here, his job was to work on and develop different T.Vs and he began thinking about the possibilities behind T.V as an interactive device, versus a just a machine you viewed active connection. He presented this idea to the executives of the Loral Company and it was soon shot down. In the years to come, he would leave the Loral Company and began working with Sanders Associates, a government contractor, in 1956. While waiting for a friend one day, he composed multiple sheets full of information pertaining to the design, purpose, and goal for a device that would allow for interaction with a television. The machine would have different programmed games that would range from puzzles and sports to educational based games. He presented the idea to Sanders Associates and they approved. With the help of technicians at Sanders Associates, Baer was able to create a functioning prototype of system by 1966. It would be called the Home TV Game.

Home TV Game to commercialized

Once the prototype was completed, executives at Sanders Associates decided that they wanted to distribute this game, but they did not want the responsibility of the games' mass production. They came up with the idea to link up with a company to help them produce and distribute the gaming system. They shopped the game around to a number of different television companies and Magnavox responds to the call. Because they are so interested in the device, they license all the information and gets a patent for the device and all of the rights and essentially buys the device from Baer, who is the creator of the machine. Over the course of a few years, Magnavox takes Baer's idea and transforms it into a new device that they will sell. This device was released in 1972 and called the Odyssey.

The Magnavox Odyssey

The actual production of the game took around nine months, because not all of the Magnavox executives were certain of its potential success. Before it was released to the public, Magnavox held many showcases where their dealers could come and test the game. They used this as a way to test its popularity and soon was shown how popular this gaming system could be. They finally released the game in 1972. The game came with 6 game discs (like cartridges that would be used for game systems like Nintendo). This design choice saved the company money as it used less circuits. In addition to the game discs, they also included a number of colored screen sheets, which helped them save on costs as well. The graphics were considered child like and were far off from what Baer had imagined. Although the Magnavox sold 130,00 game systems by Christmas (over the course of nine months), there were many issues that prevented selling more games. The first issues came from marketing and sales. Advertisements lead customers to believe the game system would only work with a Magnavox television and that, coupled with high prices, deterred many customers. The add on games were placed below the service counter of stores, but because they were not properly trained in selling additional items, very few additional games were sold. The biggest issue stemmed from the fact that you could only buy the game system from a Magnavox store, which made it difficult for people who were not close to a Magnavox center.

The game system was bigger then executives from Loral would have ever projected, but not as popular as Magnavox would have hoped. Baer's idea opened for door for the many gaming systems of today and a whole new level of interactive television.

Works Cited

Winter, David. "Pong-Story : Magnavox Odyssey." Pong-Story : Magnavox Odyssey, the First Video Game System. 1996. Web. 02 June 2012. <http://www.pong-story.com/odyssey.htm>.


Wiki Article #3: The World WIde Web

Since the beginning of the technical revolution, mankind has undergone some very drastic changes. From the developments with computing to the more efficient ways of communication, and the same is true in regards to the evolution of the world wide web. Before proceeding, definitions need to be explained as the world wide web is often mistaken for the internet.

Internet v. World Wide Web

The internet is is a network that allows personal computers from all over the world to connect to one another by means of hardware and cables. The world wide web, on the other hand, is a useful component within the internet. A great example of the relationship between the internet and world wide web is given by Paul Gil About Paul Gil. It states, " The internet is the restaurant and the world wide web is its most popular dish." It also makes it easier to understand if you know other "popular dishes" used to access the internet. They include email, I.M, and chat amongst others.

In the Beginning ...

Prototypes for the internet first began in the 1960s. In 1962, a guy by the name of Doug Engelbart prototyped an "oNLine System (NLS)" that is multifunction and can email, hypertext browsing, and much more. During this time, he also created the mouse in order to navigate through the prototype. About seven years later in 1969, ARPA creates ARPANET which connects the networks of a few major universities, such as UCLA, SRI International, University of California at Santa Barbara. Within 2 years, over 15 universities were connected through ARPANET. In the 1980s, a consultant in CERN CERN and the Web by the name of Tim Bermers-Lee created a program that would link different computer information points. The program was called EQUIRE "Enquire-Within-Upon-Everything". During this time, he also wrote "Information Management: A proposal" and "HyperText and CERN". This became the proposal that would lead to the World Wide Web.

In the Midst of it All

In the 1990s, Tim Bremers-Lee invented the World Wide Web, HTML, and a text web browser by using a NeXT computer. This included him establishing the first connection between HTTP (hypertext transfer prototype) and server via the internet. While he considered other names like Mesh and Information Mine, Bremers-Lee ultimately settled for World Wide Web. By December of 1990, the world wide web browser was able to be demonstrated. The first web page was http://nxoc01.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html. However, this web page is not longer supported by CERN and is not available. Its original purpose was to be able to connect scientist and scholars from all different universities in order for them to connect and share information in a more efficient manner.

Life after 1990...

After this ingenious invention, the world wide web has aided in the expansion of the use of the internet and the expansion of businesses world wide. By 1994, over two million computers were connected to the internet, but were mainly scientist, researchers, and academics. The creation of the web allowed for many inventions like Yahoo search engine and for new forms of information to arise, such as the university of North Carolina's college station (WXYC), which was the first in the world to broadcast a radio show over the internet.

Thanks to Tim Bremers-Lee for expanding the lives of billions with his invention, making the use of the internet more practical.

Work Cited

Connolly, Dan, and Robert Cailliau. "A Little History of the World Wide Web." A Little History of the World Wide Web. W3C, 1995. Web. 24 June 2012. <http://www.w3.org/History.html>.

Curtis, Ph.D, Anthony. "A Brief History of the World Wide Web." A Brief History of the World Wide Web. Mass Communication Dept., University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 2011. Web. 23 June 2012. <http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/WebHistory.html>.

Gil, Paul. "What Is the Difference Between the Internet and the Web?" About.com Internet for Beginners. About.com Guide, n.d. Web. 24 June 2012. <http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/internet101/f/the_difference_between_internet_and_web.htm>