The History of the Clock

The History of the Clock The history of clocks is very long, and there have been many different types of clocks over the centuries. Not all historians agree on the history of the clock. The word clock was first used in the 14th century (about 700 years ago). It comes from the word for bell in Latin (clocca). Using the Sun The first way that people could tell the time was by looking at the sun as it crossed the sky. When the sun was directly overhead in the sky, it was the middle of the day, or noon. When the sun was close to the horizon, it was either early morning (sunrise) or early evening (sunset). Telling the time was not very accurate. Sundial Clocks The oldest type of clock is a sundial clock, also called a sun clock. They were first used around 3,500 B.C. (about 5,500 years ago). Sundials use the sun to tell the time. The shadow of the sun points to a number on a circular disk that shows you the time. In the big picture below on the right, the shadow created by the sun points to 9, so it is nine oclock. Since sundials depend on the sun, they can only be used to tell the time during the day. Water Clocks Around 1400 B.C. (about 3,400 years ago), water clocks were invented in Egypt. The name for a water clock is clepsydra (pronounced KLEP-suh-druh). A water clock was made of two containers of water, one higher than the other. Water traveled from the higher container to the lower container through a tube connecting the containers. The containers had marks showing the water level, and the marks told the time. Water clocks were very popular in Greece, where they were improved many times over the years. Look at the picture below. Water drips from the higher container to the lower container. As the water level rises in the lower container, it raises the float on the surface of the water. The float is connected to a stick with notches, and as the stick rises, the notches turn a gear, which moves the hand that points to the time. Water clocks worked better than sundials because they told the time at night as well as during the day. They were also more accurate than sundials. Dividing the Year into Months and Days The Greeks divided the year into twelve parts that are called months. They divided each month into thirty parts that are called days. Their year had a total of 360 days, or 12 times 30 (12 x 30 = 360). Since the Earth goes around the Sun in one year and follows an almost circular path, the Greeks decided to divide the circle into 360 degrees. Dividing the Day into Hours, Minutes, and Seconds The Egyptians and Babylonians decided to divide the day from sunrise to sunset into twelve parts that are called hours. They also divided the night, the time from sunset to sunrise, into twelve hours. But the day and the night are not the same length, and the length of the day and night also changes through the year. This system of measuring the time was not very accurate because the length of an hour changed depending on the time of year. This meant that water clocks had to be adjusted every day. Somebody finally figured out that by dividing the whole day into 24 hours of equal length (12 hours of the day plus 12 hours of the night), the time could be measured much more accurately. Why was the day and night divided into 12 parts? Twelve is about the number of moon cycles in a year, so it is a special number in many cultures. The hour is divided into 60 minutes, and each minute is divided into 60 seconds. The idea of dividing the hour and minute into 60 parts comes from the Sumerian sexagesimal system, which is based on the number 60. This system was developed about 4,000 years ago. Pendulum Clocks Before pendulum clocks were invented, Peter Henlein of Germany invented a spring-powered clock around 1510. It was not very precise. The first clock with a minute hand was invented by Jost Burgi in 1577. It also had problems. The first practical clock was driven by a pendulum. It was developed by Christian Huygens around 1656. By 1600, the pendulum clock also had a minute hand.http://www.arcytech.org/java/clock/images/pendulum2.gif The pendulum swings left and right, and as it swings, it turns a wheel with teeth (see the picture to the right). The turning wheel turns the hour and minute hands on the clock. On the first pendulum clocks, the pendulum used to swing a lot (about 50 degrees). As pendulum clocks were improved, the pendulum swung a lot less (about 10 to 15 degrees). One problem with pendulum clocks is that they stopped running after a while and had to be restarted. The first pendulum clock with external batteries was developed around 1840. By 1906, the batteries were inside the clock. http://www.arcytech.org/java/clock/images/pendulum_mechs3.gif As you already learned, a clock only shows 12 hours at a time, and the hour hand must go around the clock twice to measure 24 hours, or a complete day. To tell the first 12 hours of the day (from midnight to noon) apart from the second 12 hours of the day (from noon to midnight), we use these terms: A.M.Ante meridiem, from the Latin for before noon P.M. Post meridiem, from the Latin for after noon Quartz Crystal Clocks Quartz is a type of crystal that looks like glass. When you apply voltage, or electricity, and pressure, the quartz crystal vibrates or oscillates at a very constant frequency or rate. The vibration moves the clocks hands very precisely. Quartz crystal clocks were invented in 1920. Time Zones Because the Earth turns, it is daytime in part of the world when it is nighttime on the other side of the world. In 1884, delegates from 25 countries met and agreed to divide the world into time zones. If you draw a line around the middle of the Earth, it is a circle (equator). The delegates divided the 360 degrees of the circle into 24 zones, each 15 degrees (24 x 15 = 360). They decided to start counting from Greenwich (pronounced GREN-ich), England, which is 0 degrees longitude. In the continental United States, there are four time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. Each time zone varies by one hour, so when it is 7 p.m. in the Eastern time zone, it is 6 p.m. in the Central time zone, 5 p.m. in the Mountain time zone, and 4 p.m. in the Pacific time zone. Time Time, a central theme in modern life, has for most of human history been thought of in very imprecise terms. The day and the week are easily recognized and recorded though an accurate calendar for the year is hard to achieve. The forenoon is easily distinguishable from the afternoon, provided the sun is shining, and the position of the sun in the landscape can reveal roughly how much of the day has passed. By contrast the smaller parcels of time hours, minutes and seconds have until recent centuries been both unmeasurable and unneeded. Sundial and water clock: from the 2nd millennium BC The movement of the sun through the sky makes possible a simple estimate of time, from the length and position of a shadow cast by a vertical stick. (It also makes possible more elaborate calculations, as in the attempt of Erathosthenes to measure the world see Erathosthenes and the camels). If marks are made where the suns shadow falls, the time of day can be recorded in a consistent manner. The result is the sundial. An Egyptian example survives from about 800 BC, but the principle is certainly familiar to astronomers very much earlier. However it is difficult to measure time precisely on a sundial, because the suns path throug the sky changes with the seasons. Early attempts at precision in time-keeping rely on a different principle. The water clock, known from a Greek word as the clepsydra, attempts to measure time by the amount of water which drips from a tank. This would be a reliable form of clock if the flow of water could be perfectly controlled. In practice it cannot. The clepsydra has an honourable history from perhaps 1400 BC in Egypt, through Greece and Rome and the Arab civlizations and China, and even up to the 16th century in Europe. But it is more of a toy than a timepiece. The hourglass, using sand on the same principle, has an even longer career. It is a standard feature on 18th-century pulpits in Britain, ensuring a sermon of sufficient length. In a reduced form it can still be found timing an egg. A tower clock in China: AD 1094 After six years work, a Buddhist monk by the name of Su Song completes a great tower, some thirty feet high, which is designed to reveal the movement of the stars and the hours of the day. Figures pop out of doors and strike bells to signify the hours. The power comes from a water wheel occupying the lower part of the tower. Su Song has designed a device which stops the water wheel except for a brief spell, once every quarter of an hour, when the weight of the water (accumulated in vessels on the rim) is sufficient to trip a mechanism. The wheel, lurching forward, drives the machinery of the tower to the next stationary point in a continuing cycle. This device (which in Su Sungs tower must feel like a minor earthquake every time it slams the machinery into action) is an early example of an escapement a concept essential to mechanical clockwork. In any form of clock based on machinery, power must be delivered to the mechanism in intermittent bursts which can be precisely regulated. The rationing of power is the function of the escapement. The real birth of mechanical clockwork awaits a reliable version, developed in Europe in the 13th century. Meanwhile Su Sungs tower clock, ready for inspection by the emperor in 1094, is destroyed shortly afterwards by marauding barbarians from the north. Clockwork in Europe: 13th 14th century AD Europe at the end of the Middle Ages is busy trying to capture time. The underlying aim is as much astronomical (to reflect the movement of the heavenly bodies) as it is to do with the more mundane task of measuring everybodys day. But the attraction of that achievement is recognized too. A textbook on astronomy, written by Robert the Englishman in 1271, says that clockmakers are trying to make a wheel which will make one complete revolution in each day, but that they cannot quite perfect their work. What prevents them even beginning to perfect their work is the lack of an escapement. But a practical version of this dates from only a few years later. A working escapement is invented in about 1275. The process allows a toothed wheel to turn, one tooth at a time, by successive teeth catching against knobs projecting from an upright rod which oscillates back and forth. The speed of its oscillation is regulated by a horizontal bar (known as a foliot) attached to the top of the rod. The time taken in the foliots swing can be regulated by moving weights in or out on each arm. The function of the foliot is the same as that of the pendulum in modern clocks, but it is less efficient in that gravity is not helping it to oscillate. A very heavy weight is needed to power the clock, involving massive machinery and much friction. Nevertheless the foliot works to a degree acceptable at the time (a clock in the Middle Ages is counted a good timekeeper if it loses or gains only a quarter of an hour a day), and in the 14th century there are increasingly frequent references to clocks in European cities. A particularly elaborate one is built between 1348 and 1364 in Padua by Giovanni de Dondi, a professor of astronomy at the university who writes a detailed description of his clock. A 14th-century manuscript of his text has the earliest illustration of a clock mechanism with its escapement. The worlds three oldest surviving examples of clockwork date from the last years of the 14th century. The famous clock in Salisbury cathedral, installed by 1386 and still working today with its original mechanism, is a very plain piece of machinery. It has no face, being designed only to strike the hours. Striking is the main function of all early clocks (the word has links with the French cloche, meaning bell). In 1389 a great clock is installed above a bridge spanning a street in Rouen. It remains one of the famous sights of the city, though its glorious gilded dial is a later addition and its foliot has been replaced by a pendulum (in 1713). The historical distinction of the Rouen clock is that it is the first machine designed to strike the quarter-hours. In 1392 the bishop of Wells instals a clock in his cathedral. The bishop has previously been in Salisbury, and the same engineer seems to have made the new clock. It not only strikes the quarters. It steals a march on Rouen by having a dial, showing the movement of astronomical bodies. With escapements, chiming mechanisms and dials, clocks are now set to evolve into their more familiar selves. And the telling of time soon alters peoples perceptions of time itself. Hours, minutes and seconds are units which only come into existence as the ability to measure them develops. Domestic clocks: 15th century AD After the success of the clocks in Europes cathedrals in the late 14th century, and the introduction of the clock face in places such as Wells, kings and nobles naturally want this impressive technology at home. The first domestic clocks, in the early 15th century, are miniature versions of the cathedral clocks powered by hanging weights, regulated by escapements with a foliot, and showing the time to the great mans family and household by means of a single hand working its way round a 12-hour circuit on the clocks face. But before the middle of the 15th century a development of great significance occurs, in the form of a spring-driven mechanism. The earliest surviving spring-driven clock, now in the Science Museum in London, dates from about 1450. By that time clockmakers have not only discovered how to transmit power to the mechanism from a coiled spring. They have also devised a simple but effective solution to the problem inherent in a coiled spring which steadily loses power as it uncoils. The solution to this is the fusee. The fusee is a cone, bearing a spiral of grooves on its surface, which forms part of the axle driving the wheels of the clock mechanism. The length of gut linking the drum of the spring to the axle is wound round the fusee. It lies on the thinnest part of the cone when the spring is fully wound and reaches its broadest circumference by the time the spring is weak. Increased leverage exactly counteracts decreasing strength. These two devices, eliminating the need for weights, make possible clocks which stand on tables, clocks which can be taken from room to room, even clocks to accompany a traveller in a carriage. Eventually, most significant of all, they make possible the pocket watch. Watches: 16th 17th century AD The first watches, made in Nuremberg from about 1500, are spherical metal objects, about three inches in diameter, designed to hang on a ribbon round the neck. They derive from similar metal spheres used as pomanders, to hold aromatic herbs which will protect the wearer against disease or vile odours. The first watchmakers place their somewhat primitive mechanism inside cases of this sort. A single hand set into a flat section at the base makes its way round a dial marked with the division of twelve hours. For their first century and more, watches are worn outside the clothes and are regarded more as jewels than as useful instruments (a comment also on their timekeeping abilities). The best of them are exquisitely decorated in enamel. The spherical watch of this kind evolves in the late 17th century into the slimmer pocket watch, thanks largely to Christiaan Huygens. This distinguished Dutch physicist makes two important contributions to time-keeping the pendulum clock and the spiral balance spring. The pendulum clock: AD 1656-1657 Christiaan Huygens spends Christmas day, in the Hague in 1656, constructing a model of a clock on a new principle. The principle itself has been observed by Galileo, traditionally as a result of watching a lamp swing to and fro in the cathedral when he is a student in Pisa. Galileo later proves experimentally that a swinging suspended object takes the same time to complete each swing regardless of how far it travels. This consistency prompts Galileo to suggest that a pendulum might be useful in clocks. But no one has been able to apply that insight, until Huygens finds that his model works. A craftsman in the Hague makes the first full-scale clock on this principle for Huygens in 1657. But it is in England that the idea is taken up with the greatest enthusiasm. By 1600 London clockmakers have already developed the characteristic shape which makes best use of the new mechanism that of the longcase clock, more affectionately known as the grandfather clock. The pocket watch: AD 1675 Nineteen years after making his model of the pendulum clock, Huygens invents a device of equal significance in the development of the watch. It is the spiral balance, also known as the hairspring (an invention also claimed, less convincingly, by Robert Hooke). This very fine spring, coiled flat, controls the speed of oscillation of the balance wheel. For the first time it is possible to make a watch which is reasonably accurate and slim. Both elements are important, for the sober gentlemen of the late 17th century are less inclined than their ancestors to wear jewels round the neck. A watch which will keep the time and slip into a waistcoat pocket is what they require. Thomas Tompion, the greatest of English clock and watchmakers, is one of the first to apply the hairspring successfully in pocket watches (of which his workshop produces more than 6000 in his lifetime). The new accuracy of these instruments prompts an addition to the face of a watch that of the minute hand. The familiar watch face, with two concentric hands moving round a single dial, is at first considered confusing. There are experiments with several other arrangements of the hour and minute hand, before the design which has since been taken for granted is widely accepted. Chronometer: AD 1714-1766 Two centuries of ocean travel, since the first European voyages of discovery, have made it increasingly important for ships captains whether on naval or merchant business to be able to calculate their position accurately in any of the worlds seas. With the help of the simple and ancient astrolabe, the stars will reveal latitude. But on a revolving planet, longitude is harder. You need to know what time it is, before you can discover what place it is. The importance of this is made evident when the British government, in 1714, sets up a Board of Longitude and offers a massive  £20,000 prize to any inventor who can produce a clock capable of keeping accurate time at sea. The terms are demanding. To win the prize a chronometer (a solemnly scientific term for a clock, first used in a document of this year) must be sufficiently accurate to calculate longitude within thirty nautical miles at the end of a journey to the West Indies. This means that in rough seas, damp salty conditions and sudden changes of temperature the instrument must lose or gain not more than three seconds a day a level of accuracy unmatched at this time by the best clocks in the calmest London drawing rooms. The challenge appeals to John Harrison, at the time of the announcement a 21-year-old Lincolnshire carpenter with an interest in clocks. It is nearly sixty years before he wins the money. Luckily he lives long enough to collect it. By 1735 Harrison has built the first chronometer which he believes approaches the necessary standard. Over the next quarter-century he replaces it with three improved models before formally undergoing the governments test. His innovations include bearings which reduce friction, weighted balances interconnected by coiled springs to minimize the effects of movement, and the use of two metals in the balance spring to cope with expansion and contraction caused by changes of temperature. Harrisons first sea clock, in 1735, weighs 72 pounds and is 3 feet in all dimensions. His fourth, in 1759, is more like a watch circular and 5 inches in diameter. It is this machine which undergoes the sea trials. Harrison is now sixty-seven, so his son takes the chronometer on its test journey to Jamaica in 1761. It is five seconds slow at the end of the voyage. The government argues that this may be a fluke and offers Harrison only  £2500. After further trials, and the successful building of a Harrison chronometer by another craftsman (at the huge cost of  £450), the inventor is finally paid the full prize money in 1773. He has proved in 1761 what is possible, but his chronometer is an elaborate and expensive way of achieving the purpose. It is in France, where a large prize is also on offer from the Acadà ©mie des Sciences, that the practical chronometer of the future is developed. The French trial, open to all comers, takes place in 1766 on a voyage from Le Havre in a specially commissioned yacht, the Aurore. The only chronometer ready for the test is designed by Pierre Le Roy. At the end of forty-six days, his machine is accurate to within eight seconds. Le Roys timepiece is larger than Harrisons final model, but it is very much easier to construct. It provides the pattern of the future. With further modifications from various sources over the next two decades, the marine chronometer in its lasting form emerges before the end of the 18th century. Using it in combination with the sextant, explorers travelling the worlds oceans can now bring back accurate information of immense value to the makers of maps and charts. A millennium clock: AD 1746 In 1746 a French clockmaker, Monsieur Passemont (his first name is not known), completes a clock which is almost certainly the first in the world to be able to take account of a new millennium. Its dials can reveal the date of the month in any year up to AD 9999. It is a longcase clock, in an ornate baroque casing which conceals a mechanism consisting of more than 1000 interconnecting wheels and cogs. Their related movements, as they turn at their different speeds with each swing of the pendulum, are designed to cope with the complexities of the Julian calendar. Thus, for example, one large brass wheel has the responsibility of inserting February 29 in each leap year. This particular wheel takes four years to complete a single revolution. When it has come full circle, it pops in the extra day. (M. Passemont decides, however, not to grapple with Gregorian refinements; the absence of February 29 in 1700, 1800 and 1900 has had to be manually achieved.) Louis XV buys the clock in 1749, three years after its completion. It is still ticking away two and a half centuries later in the palace of Versailles. The minutiae of daily time-keeping are also adjusted by hand (the clock loses a minute a month), but Monsieur Passemonts masterpiece requires no assistance in making a significant change in the first digit of its year display from 1 to 2, at midnight on 31 December 1999.

Controlling Illegal Street Racing :: essays research papers

The automobile was invented around 1890, ever since then people have been trying to push the limits of the automobile. With the desire to push the limits of automobiles competition was created, and spawned racing. Racing comes in many forms, from circle track racing to drag racings. Many of these racing events are held in controlled areas and are sanctioned by governing bodies with rules and regulations to make the sport safe. The downside to this notion of competition has created amateurs who try to duplicate racing in uncontrolled environments causing death and carnage. This brings us to the idea of street racing, it is a derivative of drag racing, but as the name implies it is done on the street. Since street racing takes place on public roads it is hard to control every variable that may occur resulting in crashes that involve innocent bystanders. There are ways however, to combat street racing and to help amateurs participate in drag racing in controlled and safe environments in stead of public roads. Out of these many ways to combat street racing are two ways to help stop this problem. One of these ways is the sectioning of new drag strips, and racing events that are taken off the road and into areas that can become controlled environments. The other way is to implement stricter enforcement and more severe punishments for those caught street racing. Street racing can be controlled if done correctly. Opening racetracks and getting existing tracks to stay open longer and later for the people that normally race illegally is a step in the right direction. By opening tracks in and around large cities you make it easier for people who might other wise partake in street racing and endanger the lives of others. Often times in large metropolitan areas you would have to travel one, two, three, maybe even four hours away to find a legal drag strip. This makes it less convenient to people that are interested in racing and ultimately leads them to just race where and whenever they can in the local area. Another way is for organizations to help sponsor these types of events. They do not have to build a racetrack on every corner, but it is the idea, that you can make a large parking lot or old airport runway a legal and safe place for people to race. Some programs have had great success with this, for instance Race Legal holds events in southern California to help get the young kids that parti cipate in dangerous street racing off of the streets and give them a safe and legal place to race.

Dover Beach Essay -- essays research papers

In the poem "Dover Beach",witten in 1867 Matthew Arnold creates the mood of the poem through the usage of different types of imagery. He uses a dramatic plot in the form of a soliloquy. Arnold also uses descriptive adjectives, similes and metaphors to create the mood. Through the use of these literary elements, Arnold portrays the man standing before the window pondering the sound of the pebbles tossing in the waves as representation of human suffering. The man arrives at the vision of humanity being helpless against nature. Arnold creates the mood by suggesting mental pictures, actions, sights and sounds the man sees. Some examples are "folds of a bright girdle furled", "lie before us like a land of dreams" and "moon-blanched land". Arnold's use of different types of imagery and descriptive adjectives to induce sensory impressions of the setting, create the fluctuating mood of the poem, which is the eternal struggle of nature over man. In "Dover Beach", Matthew Arnold uses detailed adjectives and sensory imagery to describe the setting and portray the beginning mood, which begins with the illusion of natural beauty and ends with tragic human experience. The poem begins two-part stanzas, the first which is promising and hopeful; the second replaces optimism with a reality which is grim. Arnold uses contrast when he appeals to the sense of sight in the first section and to hearing in the second. Arnold starts with the descriptions of the "calm sea", "fair tide" and the "vast" cliffs which create a calming, innocent appearance. This sets the mood of peace and contentment which the speaker feels when he gazes out upon the sea. "Come to the window, sweet is the night-air", gives the reader the impression of a cool, summer night. The mood begins to be soothing and calming to the reader. Arnold then however, begins to change the tone. Arnold describes, "The grating ro ar of pebbles, Of the pebbles which the waves draw back", with "a tremulous cadence". This portrays the image of an imaginary battle on the land of Dover. Arnold writes of the horrible sound of the pebbles beating away at the land. The pebbles are eroding the land away, which the speaker thrives off of and adores. Arnold illustrates the man's internal battle with the land destroying his home... ...t". This metaphor ties together how the speaker's battle is very similar to a soldier's battle. The speaker's battle however, is futile to fight, because he knows he will never win. All in all, the fluctuating mood and usage of descriptive adjectives to illustrate the setting, tie the poem together and create the mood Arnold was looking to achieve. The image of the tides battling with the land when they meet, is merged with the consequent destiny of humanity to battle fruitless fights with nature. Arnold's method of illustrating the setting is different than the other two poems because he uses detailed imagery almost completely to reveal the mood of the story. He also uses a fluctuating plot that goes back and forth from human defeat to contentment. Jown Cowper, writer of "Suspended Judgements", critiqued Maupassant on "Dover Beach". Cowper said "Maupassant develops the mood by dividing the poem into three stanza to represent the speaker' s fluctuation from peace of mind to despair. This proves to be very effective, by showing the indecisiveness of the speaker. Maupassant also uses images of the setting to create the mood" (Cowper, 1919, 43).

National Honors Society Essay Essay

To me, National Honors Society’s four pillars are essential elements to being a member of this society. Scholarship and leadership are the two pillars that I feel complement each other because one should be a leader in the community and school without forgetting to be a good student and scholar. Service and character go well together because in order to provide services to students or members of the community, it is necessary to have a good character in order to help others. Leadership is one of the most important traits to have not only in school but outside too. In school, one can take up the position of being a leader by tutoring classmates. By helping a peer understand a topic they were confused about, a feeling of accomplishment and happiness comes along. One can also be a leader by being a part of a club and helping the club officers and other members reach their club goals. For example, I am part of the Environmental Club and I have been an active member since freshmen year. I have participated in many of the events put together by this club and have helped them in planning these events to ensure things run smoothly. At the moment, I am working with two friends on a marketing project for the tower gardens in school. If I am accepted into the National Honors Society, I will be able to gain more experience in being a leader and I will then be able to help the Environmental Club more in fulfilling more club goals. If accepted, I plan to take everythi ng I learn from being a part of this society and apply it to my life. Along with leadership comes the other pillar: scholarship. To me, this pillar is essential because one can be an outstanding leader with good but have bad grades. So although those two pillars are important, the scholarship pillar is equally as important. If someone is capable of having all those good traits while having good grades and being a scholar, they are perfect for joining NHS. I always try to make time for everything like doing homework and studying while also doing volunteer work and helping friends. It’s  difficult to do, but I try my best to make time to accomplish things I need to get done without feeling like I’m tipping the scale on one side more than the other. If I am selected to join this society, I will not forget about my schoolwork. Instead, it would motivate me to do better in my classes in order to keep my GPA in the right place so I would be able to continue participating in NHS without forgetting the importance of being a scholar. The next pillar, service, is one of great importance. I am aware that National Honors Society is a service organization. There will be many activities that will help not only our school but also members of the community and others who are in need of help. Personally, I feel that serving others should be done with a kind heart and not expecting anything in return. One should provide services to those in need because it is the right thing to do and it is truly helpful to those who need it. In the past, I have helped members of my church raise money to give to kids who cannot afford to go on field trips the church goes on. And I have helped raise money for the American Cancer Society each year since freshmen year because the money goes to a good cause and benefits many people. If I am inducted into NHS I will be happy to get the opportunity to participate in other events and activities that help people in need. This would help me give back to the community and our school and also show m e how I should be grateful to have what I have. The last pillar, character, is something we work on everyday to try to improve. Abraham Lincoln once said: â€Å"Reputation is the shadow. Character is the tree.† What I love about this quote is that he is stating that our character is not just what we show to others, but whom we are when no one is around. If one has a superb character, then it is likely that one also has the other three pillars as well. Having a good character helps you in becoming a great leader without forgetting to be a scholar. And in order to provide services to others, having a good character is a must. To me character includes being responsible, trustworthy, respectful, fair, and caring. If I were chosen to be part of the NHS, I would definitely try to improve my character in all of those areas because it is important. Character is what makes people believe in you and it also helps you succeed  in your personal life. I strongly believe that all four pillars: leadership, scholarship, service, and character, are crucial not only for National Honors Society but also crucial for life. If I were to join NHS, I would be given the opportunity to improve in all of these areas and learn from others who are doing the same. I would be able to get to know students that I’ve never seen before or talked to before, and I would get time to spend helping others which is truly gratifying. Joining NHS would be an honor and would help me become a better student, classmate, and friend.

Explore the presentation of Nick as a narrator in the first three chapters of The Great Gatsby

Nick comes across as an unreliable narrator throughout the first three chapters of ‘The Great Gatsby’, especially during Chapter two at the party, where his use of ellipses suggests to the reader that his knowledge is distorted. Also, nick is unable to give an accurate account of what has occurred in the society he has become acquainted with before he moved to West Egg and therefore his insights into events are based on hearsay and rumours. Jordan has become a source of Nick’s intelligence, and he demands information from her at Gatsby’s party – about Gatsby himself – however he then goes on to describe her as ‘incurably dishonest’, casting doubt on everything she has said previous to this. Furthermore, Nick does not confirm whether the information he has been told is truthful or not, he merely states what he has been informed without expanding on this, thus it is unclear to the reader if Jordan is a reliable source of information . Nick himself is going through an internal conflict, implying that he cannot give an accurate, unbiased account of what is going on in other people’s lives. It is clear that he is struggling between two contrasting lifestyles – the pleasure-orientated, fast-paced life of New York and the conventional, fairly nondescript background he came from where, he believes, morality is still valued. This suggests that he is so concerned with his own problems that he cannot afford to think through the events of other people. Despite this, Nick seems drawn towards the garishly ostentatious lifestyle that he is introduced to at Gatsby’s party and appears to forget his morals and ideals – ‘on my way to get roaring drunk’; this story is set whilst prohibition was in place, and so to get ‘roaring drunk’ was to go against the law. This contradicts his earlier statement, ‘wanting the world to be in uniform’ which implies that he wants the strict discipline and uniformity of society during the Great War back, despite him participating in many activities that would strongly go against this – for instance, his drunken fiasco at Myrtle’s apartment. Incidentally, the morals he so strongly believes in are questioned through his meeting with Myrtle – she is Nick’s cousins husbands mistress and yet he seems to have no objection to their affair, despite the seemingly close relationship he has with Daisy. Furthermore, the ease at which he has adapted his characteristics is similar to the ease that the disciplined society of the Great War changed at its sudden abrupt end; although he is being critical about the changes that have happened since that point in time he is actually changing in the same way, thus emphasising his hypocritical mannerisms. Nick seems to have been caught up in the moral decay of the society; the only mention of his engagement is from Daisy in Chapter 1, and in the form of the ‘certain girl’ that played tennis at the end of chapter three, but the lack of detail given about her suggests that he doesn’t believe that fact to be entirely important – especially considering that Nick is writing about past events. Based on the romantic imagery that he uses – ‘one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance’ – and the romantic ideals he appears to believe in, it seems out of character for him to skip over his engagement, thereby suggesting that he has been caught up in the moral decay within the society. Nicks character portrays something different to what Nick as a narrator thinks. Nick believes he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgements’, however he immediately contradicts this by stating he has been made ‘victim of not a few veteran bores’, reiterating his obvious hypocrisy. This is the narrator’s attempt to make the reader aware that although many opinions are not voiced, they are still there and various techniques are used throughout to novel to allow the reader to draw their own conclusion – especially symbolism. Whilst Nick realises that Tom, Daisy and Jordan are dishonourable people, he still spends a great deal of time with them, choosing to neglect their faults; it is more important for him to fit in with these rich, sophisticated people that to risk his friendship with them by pointing out their imperfections. It is this reservation of the truth that leads the reader to question Nick’s reliability and honesty, and it is also this that makes him conform to the majority of society; most people are dishonest and they sacrifice their honesty to fit in with the rest of society. Nick seems to be a bit of a wallflower throughout the first three chapters in that he doesn’t get involved in the events that are happening all around him and appears to blend in with the background. This is especially apparent in Chapter Two; whilst Nick is at Myrtle and Tom’s apartment he merely sits and watches everyone else in the room. It implies that he doesn’t have a mind of his own – he would rather sit and watch from the side-lines than actually get involved – and this is emphasised when Tom drags him off the train to meet Myrtle, ‘I followed him’. The valley of ashes appears to intrigue and repulse Nick almost simultaneously – this is made apparent through his use of imagery, ‘spasms of dust’. This is perhaps because, whilst Nick thinks that he has seen the ‘real world’ he has in fact only seen a shaded version of reality as he comes from a reasonably well-off background – implies through his great-uncle being able to send a ‘substitute to the Civil War’ in his place, which was something that only the rich could achieve. Part of Fitzgerald’s skill in ‘The Great Gatsby’ shines through the way he cleverly makes Nick a focal point of the action, whilst simultaneously allowing him to remain sufficiently in the background, thereby being able to comment on what events were unfolding; throughout the novel, Nick functions as Fitzgerald’s voice.

Man as a social being Essay

Man is a social being and can never live a mundane routine always. Man undergoes different swings and moods in his daily life. Hence,the saying â€Å"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy† holds very true. Unlike a computer or any mechanical tool,man gets worn out or gets tired easily.He cannot perform any repeated activity continuously without a break. Let me take an example of a particular student who was a typical bookworm .He was very hardworking and he did studies and nothing else the whole day.Ironically,his marks never used to show the efforts he used to take.The reason for this paradox was that he always kept poring into books. He never used to take even a small interval of rest.This forced his mind to start daydreaming and remain in reveries. This would naturally affect his academic and over all performance in school activities. There is another reason to support this statement. On taking a break from a usual activities,say ,studies would give a pinch to the person. He/she would feel somewhat guilty for wasting his/her time into other activities.This would instigate the person to study harder and go in a faster rate with full concentration in his studies.Thus, even a half an hour break would save hours of time which would just be wasted in reveries . Taking a small interval of break would give a change to the mind .The person would feel refreshed to go back to work in a better mood. A person weared out or in a bad swing would feel joyous and happy if he/she takes a break by doing something interesting or even by taking rest for a while. One could take a break by involving in any sport activity or spend some time with a hobby. Going for sports could be a good time-pass.This will improve one’s health and naturally enrich one’s mind because a sound mind always dwells in a sound body.It would also improve a person’s talent in sports or other co-corricular activities like drawing,music etc.A person could improve himself in an over-all way,not only in work but also in play. Hence ,I strongly believe in this thought provoking phrase for it is not  always just work but also play that would make Jack a boy of brilliance.

Henry Ford Paper

This paper will go into detail about the young life, career and adult life of Henry Ford. Henry ford’s young life, in this paper will consist of his childhood. The paper will then describe all of his education and early jobs. Finally, this paper will conclude with Henry Ford’s adult life and home life (what he did when he wasn’t working), his career’s work and the impact Henry had on American History. This paper should help the reader better understand the life of Henry Ford: Who he was? Who he is? And why he was so vital to our American History.Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, was the first of William and Mary Ford’s six children. He grew up on a prosperous family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. Henry enjoyed a childhood typical of the rural nineteenth century, spending days in a one-room school and doing farm chores. At an early age he showed an interest in mechanical things and a dislike for farm work. He instead preferred to work with m echanical objects, particularly watches. He repaired his first watch when he was thirteen. Fixing watches was something he continues to do as sort of a hobby for the rest of his life.Being a farm boy and working on a farm for most of his childhood taught Ford that working hard and being responsible was of great value. Henry attended school until the age of fifteen. He had little interest in school and had poor grades as a child. He never learned to spell or read well, so when he wrote he used extremely simple words in his sentences. At the age of sixteen, Henry left home for the nearby city of Detroit to work as an apprentice machinist, although he did sometimes return to do work on the family farm. Ford eventually went back to apprentice and stayed that way for 3 years until he returned to Dearborn.As an apprentice he received 2. 50 a week. He later worked for Westinghouse, locating and repairing road engines. Henry’s dad was persistent that his son should be a farmer and of fered him forty acres of timberland, provided he would give up machinery. Henry accepted his dad’s offer, but didn’t use the acres for farming. He built a first-class machinist’s workshop on the property. His father was disappointed, but Ford did use the two years on the farm to win a bride, Clara Bryant. They had one child:  Edsel Ford  (1893–1943). Ford began to work for the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit.In 1891 he was gone and had left the farm for good. 1n 1893, he became chief engineer at Detroit Edison Company, where he met Thomas Edison who eventually became one of Henry’s closest friends. Ford used all of his money, from the promotion to chief engineer, and spare time in experimenting on an internal combustion engine. This engine was a type of engine where a combination of fuel and air is burned inside of the engine to produce mechanical energy to perform useful work. Ford completed his first car in 1896. It was a small car dri ven by a two-cylinder, four-cycle motor and by far the lightest made at the time weighing only 500 ponds.His first car was mounted on bicycle wheels and had no reverse gear. In 1899 Henry Ford was forced with the decision of choosing between his job and automobiles by the Detroit Edison Company. Without hesitation Ford chose cars and in that same year Ford formed the Detroit Automobile Company, which collapsed after he had a disagreement with his financial helpers. After the collapse of the Detroit Automobile Company, Ford tried again in the unsuccessful Henry Ford Automobile Company. Ford only had none successful car venture and that was through his racing cars, about 999 were sold one driven by the famous Barney Oldfield.After two unsuccessful attempts to establish a company to manufacture automobiles, Henry incorporated the Henry Ford Company in 1903 with himself as Vice President and Chief Engineer. At the start of the company it only produces a few cars a day. Groups of men, ab out two or three per group, were to work on each car one at a time. Henry Ford then realized the future of transportation was his dream and destiny. He later introduced the Model T, a reliable, easy to maintain vehicle that could handle off roads and immediately became a huge success.By 1918 half of the cars in America were Model T’s. The amount of cars being sold was so high that he had to build another factory in Michigan in 1910, to supply enough Model T’s to the customers. In Michigan is where Henry Ford combines precision manufacturing, standardized and interchangeable parts, a division of labor and, in 1913 a continuous moving assembly line. The assembly line was an essential part in revolutionizing American history. The assembly line was a way of manufacturing multiple cars all at once without having groups of men working on one car all at once.Workers remained in place, adding one component to each automobile as it moved past them on the line. Delivery of parts by conveyer belt to the workers was carefully timed to keep the assembly line moving smoothly and efficiently. The assembly line significantly reduced assembly time per vehicle, thus lowering costs. Ford’s production of Model T’s made his company the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. The company began construction of the world’s largest industrial complex along the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan, during the late 1910s and early 1920s.This massive plant included all the elements necessary to produce automobiles: a steel mill, glass factory, and the famous automobile assembly line. By 1926, flagging sales of the Model T finally convinced Henry to make a new model. He pursued the project with a great deal of technical expertise in design of the engine, chassis, and other mechanical necessities, while leaving the body design to his son. Edsel also managed to prevail over his father's initial objections in the inclusion of a sliding-shift transmission.The result was the successful  Ford Model A, introduced in December 1927 and produced through 1931, with a total output of more than 4  million. Subsequently, the Ford Company adopted an annual model change system similar to that recently pioneered by its competitor General Motors (and still in use by automakers today). Ford, like other automobile companies, entered the aviation business during  World War I, building Liberty engines. After the war, it returned to auto manufacturing until 1925, when Ford acquired the  Stout Metal Airplane Company.Ford's most successful aircraft was the  Ford 4AT Trimotor, often called the â€Å"Tin Goose† because of its corrugated metal construction. It used a new alloy called  Alclad  that combined the corrosion resistance of aluminum with the strength of  duralumin. Ford was a pioneer of â€Å"welfare capitalism†, designed to improve the lot of his workers and especially to reduce the heavy  turnover  that had many departments hiring 300 men per year to fill 100 slots. Efficiency meant hiring and keeping the best workers. Ford astonished the world in 1914 by offering a $5 per day wage ($120 today), which more than doubled the rate of most of his workers.The move proved extremely profitable; instead of constant turnover of employees, the best mechanics in Detroit flocked to Ford, bringing their human capital and expertise, raising productivity, and lowering training costs. Ford had opposed America's entry into World War II  and continued to believe that international business could generate the prosperity that would head off wars. Ford â€Å"insisted that war was the product of greedy financiers who sought profit in human destruction†; in 1939 he went so far as to claim that the torpedoing of U.S. merchant ships by German submarines was the result of conspiratorial activities undertaken by financier war-makers. The financier to whom he was referring was Ford's code for J ews; he had also accused Jews of fomenting the First World War. Following a series of strokes in the late 1930s he became increasingly debilitated and was more of a figurehead; other people made the decisions in his name. [47]  After Edsel Ford's premature death, Henry Ford nominally resumed control of the company in 1943, but his mental ability was fading.In reality the company was controlled by a handful of senior executives led by  Charles Sorensen, an important engineer and production executive at Ford, and  Harry Bennett, the chief of Ford's Service Unit, Ford's paramilitary force that spied, and enforced discipline, on employees. As Ford became increasingly sidelined, he grew jealous of the publicity Sorensen received; Ford forced Sorensen out in 1944. Ford's philosophy was one of economic independence for the United States. His River Rouge Plant became the world's largest industrial complex, pursuing  vertical integration  to such an extent that it could produce its own steel.Ford's goal was to produce a vehicle from scratch without reliance on foreign trade. He believed in the global expansion of his company. He believed that international trade and cooperation led to international peace, and he used the assembly line process and production of the Model T to demonstrate it. In ill health, Ford ceded the presidency to his grandson  Henry Ford II  in September 1945 and went into retirement. He died in 1947 of a  cerebral hemorrhage  at age 83 in  Fair Lane, his Dearborn estate. A public viewing was held at Greenfield Village where up to 5,000 people per hour filed past the casket.Funeral services were held in Detroit's  Cathedral Church of St. Paul  and he was buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit. Henry Ford had at least three major impacts on society. First, he introduced the assembly line. By breaking down production into very simple tasks, he lowered the skill level needed to work in a factory (any factory not just automobile s). This allowed huge amounts of products to be created at lower prices. Second, just as importantly, he introduced the living wage concept. Before Ford, most large companies based their pay structure on immediate cost needs.They paid their employees the bare minimum they could to get workers and control costs. Third, an unpleasant impact was that he reinvigorated anti-Semitism in America. Ford deeply disliked Jews. Before WWII, Hitler actually gave Ford a medal and celebrated Ford's birthday. Until America entered the war, Ford refused to produce or sell to the British war effort. His bigotry was oddly contradictory in that he was a great patron of Detroit's black community. Still, Ford was the most high-profile anti-Semite in the country.