Blaise Pascal was born at Clermont, Auvergne, France on June 19, 1628. He was the son of Étienne Pascal, his father, and Antoinette Bégone, his mother who died when Blaise was only four years old. After her death, his only family was his father and his two sisters, Gilberte, and Jacqueline, both of whom played…
Apollonius was a great mathematician, known by his contempories as “The Great Geometer, “whose treatise Conics is one of the greatest scientific works from the ancient world. Most of his other treatises were lost, although their titles and a general indication of their contents were passed on by later writers, especially Pappus of Alexandria. As…
Ancient knowledge of the sciences was often wrong and wholly unsatisfactory by modern standards. However not all of the knowledge of the more learned peoples of the past was false. In fact without people like Euclid or Plato we may not have been as advanced in this age as we are. Mathematics is an adventure…
Gauss, Carl Friedrich (1777-1855). The German scientist and mathematician Gauss is frequently he was called the founder of modern mathematics. His work is astronomy and physics is nearly as significant as that in mathematics. Gauss was born on April 30, 1777 in Brunswick (now it is Western Germany). Many biographists think that he got his…
Satanism is the religion of the flesh. Happiness, to the Satanist must be found here and now. No heaven exists to go to after death and no Hell of burning punishment awaits the sinner. Strongly attached to our family and close associations, we make excellent friends. Satanists do not believe that you can love everyone…
Marshland is covered with grasses, reeds, sedges, and cattails. These plants all have their roots in soil covered or saturated with water and its leaves held above water. Marshes may be freshwater or salt. Freshwater marshes develop along the shallow edges of lakes and slow-moving rivers, forming when ponds and lakes become filled with sediment.…
Many people today, including scientists and doctors, are questioning the suffering and killing of animals for the sake of human beings. Is it morally correct to dissect a frog or a worm for the purpose of educating a high school student? On the other hand, must “We study life to protect life” (1:131) The issue…
There is currently much debate on the desirability of landfilling particular wastes, the practicability of alternatives such as waste minimisation or pre-treatment, the extent of waste pre-treatment required, and of the most appropriate landfilling strategies for the final residues. This debate is likely to stimulate significant developments in landfilling methods during the next decade. Current…
The scene is breathtakingly beautiful; a thick brush of purple flowers blankets Canada’s wetlands. This blanket silences the expected sounds of the wetland environment, birds chirping, ducks splashing, insects buzzing and animals thriving. This unnatural silence is disturbing, the favourite flowers that used to litter this landscape are no longer visible, the water that used…
John Muir was a man of great importance in the history of the United States and in the preservation of it’s beauty. His tireless efforts to protect natural wonders such as Yosemite Valley demonstrated his undying love for the outdoors. Muir took a stand against the destructive side of civilization in a dauntless battle to…
Hurricanes get their start over the warm tropical waters of the North Atlantic Ocean near the equator. Most hurricanes appear in late summer or early fall, when sea temperatures are at their highest. The warm waters heats the air above it, and the updrafts of warm, moist air begin to rise. Day after day the…
The ban on elephant ivory trading has slowed down the poaching of elephants, but now poachers are getting their ivory from another creature, the hippopotamus. For the poacher, the hippo is an easy target. They stay together for long hours in muddy water pools, as many as eighty-one can be found in a single square…
A plant exists that is so strong that it can be grown without requiring chemicals in almost every part of the world. Many have touted this plant as a possible way in which to wean society from its dependence on fossil fuels for energy and the need to log forests for pulp, paper and wood. …
The Branta sandvicensis, or Hawaiian goose looks similar to the Canada Goose except only the face, cap, and hindneck are black; and Nene have buff-colored cheeks. The males and female have the same plumage. The feet of this goose are not completely webbed like the other geese. Lots of calls have been described but the…
Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in almost all foods and water supplies. The fluoride ion comes from the element fluorine. Fluorine, the 13th most abundant element in the earth’s crust, is never encountered in its free state in nature. It exists only in combination with other elements as a fluoride compound. Fluoride is…
An estuary is a coastal area where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Many bays, sounds, and lagoons along coasts are estuaries. Portions of rivers and streams connected to estuaries are also considered part of the estuary. The land area from which fresh water drains into the estuary…
Typically, the level of ocean water around the world is higher in the western Pacific and lower in the eastern, near the Western coast of South and North America. This is due primarily to the presence of easterly winds in the Pacific, which drag the surface water westward and raise the thermocline relatively all the…
The subject of deforestation and the effects that it has on the environment have been heavily debated for a long time; particularly over the last few years. Governments and large lumber companies see large profits in the mass deforestation of forests and state that their actions are having few, if any, harmful effects on the…
A deciduous forest, simply described is a forest that is leafless during the winter. Strong species make up this type of forest, meaning that the species can tolerate a wide range of conditions. In the extreme northern latitudes, the growing season is short causing the trees to be leafless the majority of the year. The…
Among the many kinds of fish harvested each year by commercial fisheries is the Oncorhynchus tshawytscha or Chinook salmon. The United States catches an average of about three hundred million pounds of salmon each year. However some Chinook salmon have been recently listed as threatened. Man has been the main cause for the decline in…
