Four Engineers and a Mathematician

1. Four Engineers and a Mathematician ESE 251 Harry Wong

2. Joseph Louis Lagrange • Born in Italy during the mid-1700s • Inspired by a paper by Edmund Halley to enter mathematics while studying at Turin College in Italy • Later studied under Euler and eventually succeeded him as director of Mathematics at the Prussian Academy of Sciences. • Moved to France in 1786 • Survived the French Revolution • Reformed the systems of weights & measurements in France to what is currently used today • Made significant advances in diverse fields of mathematics

3. Achievements of Lagrange • Method of undetermined coefficients • Very useful technique developed by Lagrange • A method for finding solutions to inhomogenous differential equations • Lagrange Multipliers • Used often in optimization problems • In number theory • Proved every positive integer can be expressed as the sum of the squares of four other integers

4. Death Died in 1813 and was Buried in the Pantheon

5. Leonardo Da Vinci • Born in 1452 – Florence • To a notary and peasant • Phenomenal individual who accomplished many things as…….

6. Paintings A painter… 1452 - Tempera 1505 – Oil on poplar

7. Anatomy An anatomist…. Extremely detailed drawings of body parts via dissection

8. Da Vinci the Engineer And most importantly – as an engineer Made technical drawings/designs for machines way ahead of their times

9. The Helicopter • It consisted of a flat platform with a screw running through it • Instead of rotor blades seen in modern helicopters • Had no real hope of actually taking flight • Inspired Sikorsky - “father of helicopters” to start building helicopters • Made first mass produced helicopter Sketch of Leonardo’s Ornithopter Flying Machine

10. Sikorsky’s Helicopter Similar concept – use of rotors instead of screws to generate lift Igor Sikorsky Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 – First mass produced helicopter

11. The Parachute First modern conical parachute Linen cloths supported by wooden poles

12. Testing of Leonardo’s Parachute In 2000, Adrian Nicholas used the canvas/wood design set by Leonardo to make a parachute Test jump from 10,000 feet was successful Proved that Leonardo’s design worked!

13. Nikola Tesla • A Serbian scientist born in Austria [1856] • Trained as an electrical engineer • Immigrated to the US in 1884 • Worked for Thomas Edison for a while • Completely redesigned its direct current generators • Later formed his own company and made numerous advances in physics, computer science, and robotics • Died in 1943 after a long mental illness • The unit for magnetic induction was named Tesla in his honor

14. The Invention of The Radio • Credit usually attributed to Marconi • Tesla’s patent upheld by SCOTUS after death • Used a high voltage resonance transformer [Tesla Coil] to propagate radio waves • And a rather bulky receiver consisting of a strong magnet, a long steel wire, and various other components (like an antenna) • Used innovation to pilot a mechanical radio-controlled boat

15. Other Achievements of Nikola Tesla • Developed AC current (alternating current) • Electric current can reverse direction sinusoidally • Proved superior to DC • Transport electricity further at higher voltages • Used for domestic energy distribution • Developed induction motor • AC motor • Uses electromagnetic induction to get power to motor • “Electromagnetic induction is the production of voltage across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic field or a conductor moving through a stationary magnetic field.”

16. Charles Algernon Parsons • Sir Charles Algernon Parsons was born in 1854 • Graduated college with a degree in mathematics • Founded a company called C.A. Parsons and Company to market his invention of steam-turbines • Company is now part of Siemens • Died in 1931 in Jamaica

17. Achievements of Parsons • Primarily known for his invention of steam turbines • Uses pressurized steam to turn rotary blades producing energy • Showcased the capabilities of this technology in the Turbina, the first turbine-powered ship • Faster than any other ship at that time • Later used to power everything from locomotives to airplanes Left: steam turbine Right: Turbina

18. Achievements of Parsons Today Today, 80 percent of world electricity production is done via a steam turbine driving a electric generator Above: Generator powered by 3 steam turbines – 1000 MW

19. Alexander Graham Bell • Born in 1847 in Scotland • Had two other brothers who died of Tuberculosis • He immigrated to the US in the 1870 to establish a school for the deaf for the purpose of teaching them how to speak using special method set up by his father • One of the students was Helen Keller • Later abandoned the school to devote his full energy to the telephone • Died in 1922

20. The Telephone • Derived from Bell’s work on the harmonic telegraph • MAIN QUESTION: Can we use electric currents to represent sound waves? • ANSWER: YES • According to patent: the telephone was an "apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically” • Sound was converted into waves that were then transmitted by wires Alexander Bell speaking into a telephone prototype

21. The Metal Detector • Developed the first metal detector • Device that detects metals by electromagnetic induction • Used to detect (unsuccessfully) the bullet lodged in President Garfield’s body

22. Hydrofoil Boat • Bell with Casey Baldwin created first hydrofoil boat prototype • Based on the idea of hydroplanes • As speed of boat increases – hydrofoils lift boat steadily out of water – the hydrofoils generate lift • Allows the hydrofoil boat to reach amazing speeds • Created the Bell HD-4 that could reach speeds of 71 MPH

23. Questions