Joule's 1840 manuscript on the production of heat by voltaic electricity

Author(s):  
Roberto de Andrade Martins

In 1840, James Prescott Joule submitted to the Royal Society a paper describing experimental research on the heat produced by electric currents in metallic conductors, and inferring that the effect was proportional to the resistance of the conductors and to the square of the intensity of the current. Only an abstract of this paper was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society , although a full paper with a similar title was printed in the Philosophical Magazine in 1841. Several authors have assumed that the content of the 1841 publication was the same as the rejected 1840 paper; however, the unpublished manuscript has been found within the archives of the Royal Society and is published here for the first time, along with a detailed analysis and comparison with the 1841 paper. The unpublished version is much shorter, and is different in certain respects from the published article. A detailed comparison throws light on several shortcomings of the unpublished version. The present work also studies the assessment of Joule's paper by the Royal Society, and elucidates the roles of Peter Roget and Samuel Christie in this connection.

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Hodgkinson ◽  
John E. Whittaker

ABSTRACT: In spite of his many other interests, Edward Heron-Allen also worked for nearly 50 years as a scientist on minute shelled protists, called foraminifera, much of it in an unpaid, unofficial capacity at The Natural History Museum, London, and notably in collaboration with Arthur Earland. During this career he published more than 70 papers and obtained several fellowships, culminating in 1919 in his election to the Royal Society. Subsequently, he bequeathed his foraminiferal collections and fine library to the Museum, and both are housed today in a room named in his honour. In this paper, for the first time, an assessment of his scientific accomplishments is given, together with a full annotated bibliography of his publications held in the Heron-Allen Library. This is part of a project to produce a bibliography of his complete publications, recently initiated by the Heron-Allen Society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Blinkhorn ◽  
Huw S. Groucutt ◽  
Eleanor M. L. Scerri ◽  
Michael D. Petraglia ◽  
Simon Blockley

AbstractMarine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, ~ 130 to 71 thousand years ago, was a key period for the geographic expansion of Homo sapiens, including engagement with new landscapes within Africa and dispersal into Asia. Occupation of the Levant by Homo sapiens in MIS 5 is well established, while recent research has documented complementary evidence in Arabia. Here, we undertake the first detailed comparison of Levallois core technology from eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5, including multiple sites associated with Homo sapiens fossils. We employ quantitative comparisons of individual artefacts that provides a detailed appraisal of Levallois reduction activity in MIS 5, thereby enabling assessment of intra- and inter-assemblage variability for the first time. Our results demonstrate a pattern of geographically structured variability embedded within a shared focus on centripetal Levallois reduction schemes and overlapping core morphologies. We reveal directional changes in core shaping and flake production from eastern Africa to Arabia and the Levant that are independent of differences in geographic or environmental parameters. These results are consistent with a common cultural inheritance between these regions, potentially stemming from a shared late Middle Pleistocene source in eastern Africa.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 516 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
SHAHID NAWAZ LANDGE ◽  
RAJENDRA D. SHINDE

During the taxonomic study of the genus Bothriochloa from India, B. ewartiana was reported for the first time in Asia from India. Earlier, it was known only from Australia, Lesser Sunda Island (Sumbawa, Timor), Philippines (Luzon), and Papua New Guinea (Madang). We have discussed about its amphitropical disjunct distribution over a vast continental gap with respect to some variability reported in the morphological attributes. A hypothesis behind its seclusion from Far East is also discussed. The images of the habitat and habit of B. ewartiana along with its detailed comparison with a close species B. woodrovii are provided. The taxonomic limits of each Indian species of Bothriochloa along with their ranges of morphological variations and distribution have been discussed in a detail. The Indian endemic B. parameswaranii (synonym nova) has been relegated, based on the morphological study, as a new taxonomic synonym of B. insculpta. Moreover, keys to identify closely allied genera and the species of Bothriochloa in India are provided. At the end, identification, taxonomic notes and the range of variations of Dichanthium foulkesii, D. jainii & D. concanense have been discussed in a detail.


The eminent Georgian scientist John MacCulloch (1773—1835) is remembered today chiefly as a practical geologist but his many publications show that he also made notable contributions in such fields as chemistry, medicine and natural history; indeed his wide scientific competence seems to have been a significant factor in his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society, for it is noted on his certificate of application that he was ‘very conversant with various branches of science’. Elsewhere it is recorded that MacCulloch ‘was as willing to impart information as he was eager to acquire it’ and in this context his activities as a teacher in the East India Company’s Military Seminary at Addiscombe deserve study: first, because the later part of his life, during which he taught geology, is poorly understood; and secondly, since his last two geological books were affected by his teaching commitment at Addiscombe. In this paper MacCulloch’s connexion with the college is investigated using hitherto unpublished manuscript records and some of his geological work is re-assessed in terms of the facts revealed.


Palaios ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARLES MARTÍN-CLOSAS ◽  
JEAN GALTIER

Abstract The Late Pennsylvanian Graissessac-Lodève basin is a small, fluvio-palustrine depocenter located in the southern part of the Massif Central (France). A taphonomic and sedimentologic study carried out in this area allows a reconstruction of Late Carboniferous vegetation in an intramontane context. The paleoecology of such limnic settings is poorly known, and this study permits detailed comparison with paralic basins for the first time. The Graissessac peat mires developed in abandoned fluvial channels, in floodplains, and above distal alluvial fans. The vegetation was dominated by monospecific stands of the arborescent lycopsid Sigillaria brardii, whereas the tree fern Psaronius occurred during the later stages of mire accretion. This is in contrast to coeval North American peat mires, which generally were dominated by tree ferns and pteridosperms throughout the mire profile. Stephanian floodplains and distal alluvial fans of the Graissessac-Lodève Basin were devoid of vegetation, with the exception of isolated thickets of sphenopsids that were composed of Calamites and Sphenophyllum. These plants were found growing in situ in the floodplain mudstones as well as in fine-grained sands of secondary channels. Parautochthonous foliage assemblages of ferns and pteridosperms found in floodplain mudstones represent the most diverse plant community. The plants supplying these remains were growing in exposed areas close to floodplains. Large logs attributed to cordaitaleans and monotypic assemblages of large Cordaites leaves were found in fluvial sediments, and suggest that the plants were riparian elements in the basin.


Author(s):  
Gerri Kimber

This chapter introduces a newly discovered play-fragment by Tennessee Williams, which comprises two separate scenes: the first, eight-page scene is called ‘The Night of the Zeppelin’ and the second, two-page scene is called ‘Armistice’. There are four characters in the play: Katharine Mansfield [sic], John Middleton Murry, D. H. Lawrence, and his wife Frieda Lawrence. The chapter offers a biographical overview of the complex relationship between the two couples, followed by a detailed analysis of the play fragment, which is published here in its entirety for the first time.


Author(s):  
Oliver Schürer

At this workshop, the transdisciplinary research group H.A.U.S. presented a new experimental research method (TPT) for the first time. Classic methods like “Living Lab” and “Wizard of Oz” are widely used and well established in social robotics research, but they imply explicit limits and raise methodological concerns. The epistemology of TPT’s performances draws on concepts related to Hans-Jörg Rheinberger’s “epistemic thing” and Michel Serres’ “quasi-object”. These theoretical underpinnings are discussed, alongside limitations of TPT and benefits of this approach compared to classic methods.


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