A Brutal Fight

Both Hook and Huygens  wanted to claim that they made the first balance spring watch. The problem was only one of them could have that priveledge. The balance spring watch would be used by fishermen  to tell time out at see. Huygens  claimed the invention was his but Hook thoroughly upset, declared to the Royal Society. After a while, the Royal Society declared Huygens the sole owner but that was not okay with Hook. Hook went to the King and declared the invention and offered a sample of the watch itself. In the end Hook may have won the fight but he ended up stealing one of Huygens ideas.

A People's History of Science

I really enjoyed reading A People's History of Science by Clifford Conner because it went through how they navigated the sea,  the problem that was encountered with longitude, and finally the magnetic compass. I thought it was interesting to learn that sailor's determined their speed by spitting in the water. Athough this method didn't use any technology I still think it was an efficient way to determine the speed at which the sailors were traveling. I also enjoyed reading how mermaids were proven to be a myth.

Sailors and Astronomy

I never knew or even thought about before Copernicus, Ptolemy, and even Aristotle astronomy was shaped by mariners; although it does makes sense because they were never stationary so they had the best views of the night sky, and they were able to identify and changes. It was also interesting to read that historians had trouble discovering this due to the mariners ever writing anything down. Everything was learned by word of mouth or actual hands on experience in those sailing situations.

Sea of Blood

Navigating and charting the seas took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Although it was a lot of other people's blood that was spilt. When Vasco de Gama sailed to India he came upon a ship full of Muslims, de Gama stole all the goods on boards and burnt the ship and all the people on it. Not only did he commit this act, but in an act of intimidation he would capture fishermen, cut them into pieces, and send the pieces to the local rulers. These acts were sponsored by the state! Now de Gama was not the only one to spill blood, even Magellan did as well. Magellan was used to using his artillery to frighten natives into submission. Although when he tried this at Mactan, the natives fought back. Magellan was hacked to pieces, instead of the natives.

Planes, Trains, and Boats..... Oh My

The technical museum in Berlin housed a wide variety of exhibits; textiles, computers, jewelry making. Although my favorite exhibits were the trains, planes, and boats. It was really interesting to see how the trains progressed along with the city. It was also interesting to see one of the train cars that took holocaust victims to the camps. It really tied in with our trip to Auschwitz. The planes were cool to see the different models and prototypes that were created. There was the plane that was only made of wings. It was also cool to see some of the planes that had crashed or been shot down. My favorite part of the museum was the boats. There was a boat that I was able to climb aboard and look in the kitchen and under the deck. There was also mini replicas of a lot of ships that I found cool. Some of these replicas were made from jade or ivory.

Navigation

Navigation had been a special subject throughout history.  Many new technologies and ideas were created to make navigation easier.  However first what needs to be mentioned is the myth that is prominent about early navigation.  That myth is that the earth was flat.  However Renassance people knew that the earth was found and that myth was created to discredit people and make them look foolish.  The biggest discover was the magnetic piles that allowed for people to tell what direction they are facing.  This discovery and other numerous ones made navigation easier and safer.

Sailing

In the reading "A People's History of Science" it was really interesting to learn about sailors and how they used their knowledge of ocean currents to navigate the water. For me, I think it's really interesting to read about people and actually applying it to real world actions. This shows how science can be applied in the real world, which is pretty interesting. When it comes to science and math, it seems like people always feel that these two subjects aren't important and can't have an impact on anything in "real" life. I was glad that this article gave a fantastic example of it being applied.