1. Thin Him properties — свойства тонкой пленки

2. To simulate — ад. Моделировать, создавать

A FEW UNITS NAMED AFTER FAMOUS SCIENTISTS

Words like volt or watt have become part of our lan­guage so completely that we sometimes forget that these are the names of famous scientists.

Let us recall a few such units...

An ampere ['aempeal is a unit of electric current in common use. It is that current which, when passed through a solution of silver nitrate¹ in water, will deposit silver at the rate of 0.001118 grams per second. The unit is named after Andre-Marie Ampere (1775-1836), the fa­mous French physicist and mathematician.

A bel is a unit for comparing two values of power. It Is ten times the size ² of the more frequently used decibel, which is used as a measure of response ⁸ in all types of electrical communication circuits. The unit is named after Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the American inventor of the telephone.

A coulomb ['ku:bm] is a unit of electric charge equal to the quantity of electricity transferred in one second by a current of one ampere. It is named after Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806), the prominent French physicist.

A curie (Cu) lkju:'ri:J is a unit of the measurement of radioactivity. It is named after Pierre and Marie Curie, French physicists.

A farad I'fserad] is a unit of electrical capacitance. It is named after Michael Faraday (1791-1867), the famous English physicist.

A gal is a unit of acceleration used in describing the effects of gravity. It is an acceleration of one centimetre per second each second. The unit is named after Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the famous Italian scientist.

A kelvin is a degree on the thermometric scale that takes absolute zero as its starting point (0° K)- It is named after William Thomson (1824-1907), who later became Lord Kelvin, a British professor, the inventor of mirror galvanometer.

A newion is a unit of force in the International Meas­urement System (SI). It is named after Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), the English scientist, a professor of Cam­bridge University.

• An oersted l^orstedJ is a unit of magnetic field inten­sity. It is named after Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851), the Danish physicist.

A roentgen [fontjan] is a unit of radiation. It is named after Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845-1923), the famous German physicist.

A volt houltl is the difference of potential between two points if one joule of work is required to transport one coulomb of charge from one point to the other. It is named after Alessandro Volt a (1745-1827), the Italian physicist.

A watt [wot] is a unit of power. It is named after James Watt (1736-1819), the English inventor of a steam-engine.

Notes

1. Silver nitrate — азотнокислое серебро

2. It is ten times the size — в десять раз больше

3. A measure of response — мера чувствительности

SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727)

Isaac Newton is universally recognized as one of the greatest scientists of all times.

Isaac Newton was born in 1642. In his youth he was known as a "silent, thinking boy". At the age of 19 he entered Cambridge University where he displayed remark­able ability in science.¹ At 26 Newton became a profes­sor at the University. His main interests were mathemat­ics, electrical mechanics and physical optics. .

At twenty-two he began studying the theory of grav_T ity. Many people already knew that the planets moved endlessly round the sun. But nobody could explain what kept them moving. Newton showed that the motions of the planets were the natural result of universal laws of nature. His great work, the "Principia" ² was published in 1687. In this book Newton clarified all that he had discovered about the movements of planets and their satellites. He said that a body in motion would continue to travel in a straight line forever unless some force was applied to stop it.

The laws of gravity enabled him to explain many mys­teries of the structure of the universe. Newton showed how the mass of the sun could be calculated from the speed and distance of any planet. He calculated the force of gravity between the sun and the planets and the quantity of matter in all these objects. He showed that the weight of the same body would be twenty-three times greater at the surface of the sun than at the surface of the earth. He found the true size and shape of the earth.

The "Principia" created a wave of interest all over Europe and made many scientists become angry. Most of them could not believe that great planets were hanging in empty space, and were kept in their orbits by an un­seen power of the sun.

Newton's results were better than anything that hu­man reason had reached before Newton. He proved that mechanical laws acting on the earth, that is, in the world in which we live, are connected with mechanical laws of the whole universe.

That Newton discovered the three most important laws of motion is known to everybody. For all practical pur­poses these laws of motion are true to this day,⁸ but they are only part of Newton's contribution to physical science.

Newton died in 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Notes