Charles Babbage

CHARLES BABBAGE

The dawn of the computer age begins with the invention of the analytical engine. This mechanical 19th century computer had a processing unit inventor Charles Babbage called the "mill" that could store number programs. Data was inputted using punch cards then Babbage's computer would solve the problem and provide a printed answer. Charles Babbage invented the analytical engine, a computing device. He developed the analytical engine project after an earlier computing project the difference engine that Babbage started in 1822. The difference engine could solve polynomial equations using a numerical method called the "method of differences". However, the analytical engine was the first general computational device, with the ability to solve different types of equations. The use of punch cards to record a program was inspired by the Jacquard loom, which used similar punch cards to control the pattern being woven by the loom. Being mechanical rather than electrical, the analytical engine worked by a series of gears and levers. Charles Babbage started building his analytical engine in 1833 and continued to tinker with the machine until the day he died. Charles Babbage's motive for inventing the difference engine and analytical engine was the desire to create absolutely accurate mathematical tables. During a public lecture on Charles Babbage held at the University of Witwatersrand, historian Philip Machanick stated, "What made the analytical engine such a feat of engineering was that it was built before the discovery of electronics, and was entirely mechanical. Its memory consisted of gears, while the processing unit, or mill, consisted of cams, clutches, cranks and gears."

GREGORIO Y. ZARA

Gregorio Zara born in Lipa City, Batangas, is one of the best known scientists from the Philippines. In 1926, Gregorio Zara graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1927, he received his Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan. In 1930, he graduated with a Doctorate of Physics from Sorbonne University. On September 30, 1954 Gregorio Zara's alcohol-fueled airplane engine was successfully tested and flown at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Scientist Gregorio Y. Zara (D.Sc. Physics) invented, made improvements to, or discovered the following: • invented the two-way television telephone or videophone (1955) patented as a "photo phone signal separator network" • discovered the physical law of electrical kinetic resistance called the Zara effect (around 1930) • invented an airplane engine that ran on plain alcohol as fuel (1952) • improved methods of producing solar energy including creating new designs for a solar water heater (SolarSorber), a sun stove, and a solar battery (1960s) • invented a propeller-cutting machine (1952) • designed a microscope with a collapsible stage • helped design the robot Marex X-10 Gregorio Zara's list of accomplishments also includes the following awards: • Presidential Diploma of Merit • Distinguished Service Medal (1959) for his pioneering works and achievements in solar energy research, aeronautics and television. • Presidential Gold Medal and Diploma of Honor for Science and Research (1966) • Cultural Heritage Award for Science Education and Aero Engineering (1966)

AGAPITO FLORES

Agapito Flores was born in Guiguinto, Bulacan, Philippines on September 28, 1897. He worked as an apprentice in a machine shop and later moved to Tondo, Manila where he trained at a vocational school to become an electrician. It has been reported that Agapito Flores received a French patent for a fluorescent bulb and that the General Electric Company bought Flores' patent rights and manufactured and sold his fluorescent bulb (making millions from it). However, all the inventors named above and more predate Agapito Flores' possible work on any fluorescent bulb. According to Dr. Benito Vergara of the Philippine Science Heritage Center, "As far as I could learn, a certain Flores presented the idea of fluorescent light to Manuel Quezon when he became president. At that time, General Electric Co. had already presented the fluorescent light to the public."

The Agapito Flores controversy continues - Agapito Flores has been acclaimed by some as being the inventor of the first fluorescent lamp. However, the dates are all wrong for this being possible. The following points have been taken from "The History of Fluorescent Lights" In 1857, the French physicist Alexandre E. Becquerel who had investigated the phenomena of fluorescence and phosphorescence, theorized about the building of fluorescent tubes similar to those made today. American, Peter Cooper Hewitt (1861-1921) patented (U.S. patent 889,692) the first mercury vapor lamp in 1901. The low pressure mercury arc lamp of Peter Cooper Hewitt is the very first prototype of today's modern fluorescent lights. Edmund Germer (1901 - 1987) who invented a high pressure vapor lamp, also invented an improved fluorescent lamp. In 1927, Edmund Germer co-patented an experimental fluorescent lamp with Friedrich Meyer and Hans