Biography of Charles Wheatstone, British Inventor

Biography of Charles Wheatstone, British Inventor Charles Wheatstone (February 6, 1802–October 19, 1875) was an English natural philosopher and inventor, perhaps best known today for his contributions to the electric telegraph. However, he invented and contributed in several fields of science, including photography, electrical generators, encryption, acoustics, and musical instruments and theory. Fast Facts: Charles Wheatstone Known For: Physics experiments and patents applying to sight and sound, including the electric telegraph, the concertina, and the stereoscopeBorn:  February 6, 1802 at Barnwood, near Gloucester, EnglandParents: William and Beata Bubb WheatstoneDied: October 19, 1875 in Paris, FranceEducation: No formal science education, but excelled in French, math, and physics at  Kensington and Vere Street schools, and took an apprenticeship in his uncles music factoryAwards and Honors: Professor of Experimental Philosophy at Kings College, Fellow of the Royal Society in 1837, knighted by Queen Victoria in 1868Spouse: Emma WestChildren: Charles Pablo, Arthur William Fredrick, Florence Caroline, Catherine Ada, Angela Early Life Charles Wheatstone was born on February 6, 1802, near Gloucester, England. He was the second child born to William (1775–1824) and Beata Bubb Wheatstone, members of a music business family established on the Strand in London at least as early as 1791, and perhaps as early as 1750. William and Beata and their family moved to London in 1806, where William set up shop as a flute teacher and maker; his elder brother Charles Sr. was head of the family business, manufacturing and selling musical instruments. Charles learned to read at age 4 and was sent to school early at the Kensington Proprietary Grammar School and Vere Street Board School in Westminster, where he excelled in French, math, and physics. In 1816, he was apprenticed to his Uncle Charles, but by the age of 15, his uncle complained that he was neglecting his work at the shop to read, write, publish songs, and pursue an interest in electricity and acoustics. In 1818, Charles produced his first known musical instrument, the flute harmonique, which was a keyed instrument. No examples have survived. Early Inventions and Academics In September 1821, Charles Wheatstone exhibited his Enchanted Lyre or Acoucryptophone  at a gallery in a music store, a musical instrument that appeared to play itself to amazed shoppers. The Enchanted Lyre was not a real instrument, but rather a sounding box disguised as a  lyre  that hung from the ceiling by a thin steel wire. The wire was connected to the soundboards of a piano, harp, or dulcimer played in an upper room, and as those instruments were played, the sound was conducted down the wire, setting off sympathetic resonance of the lyres strings. Wheatstone speculated publicly that at some time in the future, music might be transmitted in a similar manner throughout London laid on like gas. In 1823 acclaimed Danish scientist Hans Christian Ãâ€"rsted (1777–1851) saw the Enchanted Lyre and convinced Wheatstone to write his first scientific article, New Experiments in Sound. Ãâ€"rsted presented the paper to the Acadà ©mie Royale des Sciences in Paris, and it was eventually published in Great Britain in Thomsons Annals of Philosophy. Wheatstone began his association with the Royal Institution of Great Britain (also known as the Royal Institute, founded in 1799) in the mid-1820s, writing papers to be presented by close friend and RI member Michael Faraday (1791–1869) because he was too shy to do it himself.   Early Inventions Wheatstone had a wide-ranging interest in sound and vision and contributed many inventions and improvements on existing inventions while he was active. His first patent (#5803) was for a Construction of Wind Instruments on June 19, 1829, describing the use of a flexible bellows. From there, Wheatstone developed the concertina, a bellows-driven, free-reed instrument in which each button produces the same pitch regardless of the way the bellows are moving. The patent was not published until 1844, but Faraday gave a Wheatstone-written lecture demonstrating the instrument to the Royal Institute in 1830. Academics and Professional Life Despite his lack of a formal education in science, in 1834 Wheatstone was made a Professor of Experimental Philosophy at Kings College, London, where he conducted pioneering experiments in electricity and invented an improved dynamo. He also invented two devices to measure and regulate electrical resistance and current: the Rheostat and an improved version of what is now known as the Wheatstone bridge (it was actually invented by Samuel Hunter Christie  in 1833). He held the position at Kings College for the remainder of his life, although he continued working in the family business for another 13 years. In 1837, Charles Wheatstone partnered with inventor and entrepreneur William Cooke to co-invent an electric telegraph, a now-outdated communication system that transmitted electric signals over wires from location to location, signals that could be translated into a message. The Wheatstone-Cooke or needle telegraph was the first working communication system of its kind in Great Britain, and it was put into operation on the London and Blackwall Railway. Wheatstone was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) that same year. Wheatstone invented an early version of the stereoscope in 1838, versions of which became a very popular philosophical toy in the later 19th century. Wheatstones stereoscope used two slightly different versions of the same image, which when viewed through two separate tubes gave the viewer the optical illusion of depth. Throughout his professional life, Wheatstone invented both philosophical toys and scientific instruments, exercising his interests in linguistics, optics, cryptography (the Playfair Cipher), typewriters, and clocks- one of his inventions was the Polar Clock, which told time by polarized light. Marriage and Family On February 12, 1847, Charles Wheatstone married Emma West, the daughter of a local tradesman, and they eventually had five children. That year he also stopped working in a significant way at the family business to concentrate on his academic research. His wife died in 1866, at which point his youngest daughter Angela was 11 years old. Wheatstone gleaned a number of important awards and honors throughout his career. He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1859, made a Foreign Associate of the French Academy of Sciences in 1873, and became an honorary member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1875. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1868. He was named a Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) at Oxford and a doctor of law (LLD) at Cambridge. Death and Legacy Charles Wheatstone was one of the most inventive geniuses of his generation, combining combined science-based publication with business-focused patent applications and serious research with a playful interest in philosophical toys and inventions. He died of bronchitis on October 19, 1875, in Paris while he was working on yet another new invention, this one for submarine cables. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery near his home in London. Sources Bowers, Brian. Sir Charles Wheatstone, F.R.S. 1802–1875. London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 1975Anonymous. Wheatstone Collection. Special Collections. Kings College London, March 27, 2018. Web. Rycroft, David. The Wheatstones. The Galpin Society Journal 45 (1992): 123–30. Print.Wade, Nicholas J. Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875). Perception 31.3 (2002): 265–72. Print.Wayne, Neil. The Wheatstone English Concertina. The Galpin Society Journal 44 (1991): 117–49. Print.

Body of Stalin Removed From Lenins Tomb

Body of Stalin Removed From Lenins Tomb After his death in 1953, Soviet leader Joseph Stalins remains were embalmed and put on display next to Vladimir Lenin. Hundreds of thousands of people came to see the Generalissimo in the mausoleum. In 1961, just eight years later, the Soviet government ordered Stalins remains removed from the tomb. Why did the Soviet government change their mind? What happened to Stalins body after it was removed from Lenins tomb? Stalin's Death Joseph Stalin had been the despotic dictator of the Soviet Union for nearly 30 years. Though he is now considered responsible for the deaths of millions of his own people through famine and purges, when his death was announced to the people of the Soviet Union on March 6, 1953, many wept. Stalin had led them to victory in World War II. He had been their leader, the Father of the Peoples, the Supreme Commander, the Generalissimo. And now he was dead. Through a succession of bulletins, the Soviet people had been made aware that Stalin was gravely ill. At four in the morning of March 6, 1953, it was announced: [T]he heart of the comrade-in-arms and continuer of genius of Lenins cause, of the wise leader and teacher of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union, has ceased to beat.1 Joseph Stalin, 73 years of age, had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died at 9:50 p.m. on March 5, 1953. Temporary Display Stalins body was washed by a nurse and then carried via a white car to the Kremlin mortuary. There, an autopsy was performed. After the autopsy was completed, Stalins body was given to the embalmers to prepare it for the three days it would lay-in-state. Stalins body was placed on temporary display in the Hall of Columns. Thousands of people lined up in the snow to see it. The crowds were so dense and chaotic outside that some people were trampled underfoot, others rammed against traffic lights, and some others choked to death. It is estimated that 500 people lost their lives while trying to get a glimpse of Stalins corpse. On March 9, nine pallbearers carried the coffin from the Hall of Columns onto a gun carriage. The body was then ceremoniously taken to Lenins tomb on the Red Square in Moscow. Only three speeches were made - one by Georgy Malenkov, another by Lavrenty Beria, and the third by Vyacheslav Molotov. Then, covered in black and red silk, Stalins coffin was carried into the tomb. At noon, throughout the Soviet Union, came a loud roar - whistles, bells, guns, and sirens were blown in honor of Stalin. Preparation for Eternity Though Stalins body had been embalmed, it was only prepared for the three-day lying-in-state. It was going to take much more preparation to make the body seem unchanged for generations. When Lenin died in 1924, Professor Vorobyev had done the embalming. It was a complicated process that resulted in an electric pump being installed inside Lenins body to maintain a constant humidity.2 When Stalin died in 1953, Professor Vorobyev had already passed away. Thus, the job of embalming Stalin went to Professor Vorobyevs assistant, Professor Zharsky. The embalming process took several months. In November 1953, seven months after Stalins death, Lenins  tomb was reopened. Stalin was placed inside the tomb, in an open coffin, under glass, near the body of Lenin.   Secretly Removing Stalin's Body Stalin had been a dictator and a tyrant. Yet he presented himself as the Father of Peoples, a wise leader, and the continuer of Lenins cause. After his death, people began to acknowledge that he was responsible for the deaths of millions of their own countrymen. Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the Communist Party (1953-1964) and premier of the Soviet Union (1958-1964), spearheaded this movement against the false memory of Stalin. Khrushchevs policies became known as de-Stalinization. On February 24-25, 1956, three years after Stalins death, Khrushchev gave a speech at the Twentieth Party Congress that crushed the aura of greatness that had surrounded Stalin. In this Secret Speech, Khrushchev revealed many of the horrible atrocities committed by Stalin. Five years later, it was time to physically remove Stalin from a place of honor. At the Twenty-second Party Congress in October 1961, an old, devoted Bolshevik woman, Dora Abramovna Lazurkina stood up and said: My heart is always full of Lenin. Comrades, I could survive the most difficult moments only because I carried Lenin in my heart, and always consulted him on what to do. Yesterday I consulted him. He was standing there before me as if he were alive, and he said: It is unpleasant to be next to Stalin, who did so much harm to the party.This speech had been pre-planned yet it was still very effective. Khrushchev followed by reading a decree ordering the removal of Stalins remains. The further retention in the mausoleum of the sarcophagus with the bier of J. V. Stalin shall be recognized as inappropriate since the A few days later, Stalins body was quietly removed from the mausoleum. There were no ceremonies and no fanfare. About 300 feet from the mausoleum, Stalins body was buried near other minor leaders of the Russian Revolution. Stalins body was placed near the Kremlin wall, half-hidden by trees. A few weeks later, a simple dark granite stone marked the grave with the very simple, J. V. STALIN 1879-1953. In 1970, a small bust was added to the grave. Notes As quoted in Robert Payne,  The Rise and Fall of Stalin  (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965) 682.Georges Bortoli,  The Death of Stalin  (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975) 171.Dora Lazurkina as quoted in  Rise and Fall 712-713.Nikita Khrushchev as quoted in  Ibid  713. Sources: Bortoli, Georges.  The Death of Stalin. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975.Hingley, Ronald.  Joseph Stalin: Man and Legend. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1974.Hyde, H. Montgomery.  Stalin: The History of a Dictator. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971.Payne, Robert.  The Rise and Fall of Stalin. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965.

The marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children Essay

The marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children. Setting the research agenda - Essay Example 182-84). In that context, four issues in marketing that need more research to help correct where the problem is and save the children from childhood conditions arise, which include: This paper analyses the article on the basis of the four issues, which includes supporting the available evidences. According to Hastings (2003), in the UK, children are exposed to widespread advertising, and the advertised diet does not meet health standards recommended by healthcare experts (p. 5). In the same perspective, a study by Kelly, Baur, Bauman, King, Chapman, and Smith (2011) noted that sport sponsorship by food firms is extensive and investment of the industry in this marketing is enhanced. Companies in this group include KFC, and McDonalds amongst others. According to Hastings, McDermott, Angus, Stead and Thomas (2006), corporate sponsorship of organizations and events represents a kind of food and beverage where children are highly exposed. According to IEG sponsorship report (2010), sponsorship represents the fastest expanding kinds of marketing with industry spending on the entire sponsorship promotions augmenting by 22% from 2007 to a worldwide value of US$46.3 bil lion. It further indicates that this growth in spending on sponsorship surpasses that of other sales and advertising promotions. Kelly and colleagues (2006) sought to explain why children are very exposed and found in the study by Story and French (2004) that children are Key stakeholders in their parents’ choices. Story and French (2004) found that children are seen by the food industry as a pivotal market sector, as they influence their own purchases and their parents. According to them, developing brand loyalty at that young stage of life also looks for guaranteeing lifelong product purchases. Therefore, it is necessary for the food and beverage companies to advertise to children as they are Key stakeholders. However,

Experience of vendor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experience of vendor - Essay Example Being a vendor even with a simple product such as selling lemonade to our community made me appreciate the basic principles of business. One important principle is that my sales must be higher than my expenses. Although most of my supplies came from our kitchen, I still have to think about profit and that my sales should be more than the things that I bought from the grocery such as cups, containers etch. The experience also taught me valuable lesson that it is tough to make money. Customers are fickle and ask a lot of questions even with just a simple lemonade and they could be demanding. As a vendor and seller, I cannot of course complain because customers are always right (I learn that somewhere). We teenagers often do not realize how hard it is to earn money because we just ask it for our parents who in turn has to earn them to provide for the family and that includes us who as a lot of things from then even if many of it are not important. Vending which involves an effort to make money made me realize that money does not grow on trees and it has to be earned sometimes, the hard way. My experience as a vendor selling lemonade and sandwiches to our community may be tough but it has its rewards as well. After the vacation where I did the selling, I saved all my sales and was surprised and happy to have earned that much. I made few hundred dollars and at that time, it was the biggest amount of money that I ever got hold of and it felt good. It felt very good to have that money not because I felt rich but because I earned them by myself. I can still remember when I had that money the things that I can with it. But since I cannot decide, I asked my parents who in turn took the significant portion of it to open a savings account for me and only gave me enough to spend. The reaction of my parents on how to handle my earnings from vending also taught me a valuable lesson to be financially wise. Being financially wise meant not spending all the

Confidence and Arrogance Essay Example for Free

Confidence and Arrogance Essay â€Å"Life for both sexes — and I looked at them, shouldering their way along the pavement — is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are as babes in the cradle. â€Å" - Virginia Wolf, A room of one’s own, chapter 2 (1929). I was going through the writing of Virginia wolf last night and I realized how practically relevant these phrases are. I engrossed myself into my abilities and the struggle I do everyday to push myself towards the invisible boundaries. This is something make me explore more on my own way. I am determined not to look through books or dictionaries which can only define these words but I am feeling an urge to define from my surrounding. Within my experiences what are those mental-images and facts that I can link to confidence and arrogance. From corporate world to academics, we encountered various situations and people around them responded to these in a variety of different ways. I believe we would be able to develop a marathon debate on this topic. It would be better to cut the long story into short. One of those controversial misunderstanding, I would love to introduce here. The famous astronomer and philosopher Galileo was often considered as arrogant while he was opposing Pope and geocentric ideas. The arrogant ideas of him put him into the daylight and the truth came out of superstitions that already had been embedded on people’s minds. If we look around we would be able to spot so many examples of how arrogance and confidence are often misunderstood. Someone said earlier that confidence is arrogance under control. But distinct characteristics can be differentiated within these two separate categories of people. Confident persons dwell within a sea of tranquility. They are aware of their limitations and strengths. They deal with the situation seizing an immense positivity and work hard enough to produce result. These types of people can be easy to cooperate with. Confident guys would not be baffled by criticisms and what other people think about them. Arrogant are those who are having overbearing pride and belief in him. They treat others as inferiors and often people get annoyed by these activities. They can only value themselves by putting others down. I think confessing truth or mistake is a significant sign of confidence. But arrogance people most likely to hide their own mistake and they will accuse others for any blunders. We as a human being more civilized than any other life forms. Our superior intelligence is not only giving us freedom to make a comfortable world for us but also to become more responsible than before. Confidence and arrogance of human civilization can be used as a positive and fruitful way for a more harmonized world.

Theme of Fate in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare Essay -- Shakespeare,

Some people may not believe that destiny is something that truthfully exists in the world. These people doubt that there is anything that is actually meant to be, or supposed to happen, thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it is not necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event is laid out before them like a road map to life, in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial element which makes fate as important as any character in the production. The events leading up to and during the party were definitely caused by fate. The moment that Romeo and Juliet meet is the exact incident that leads to their death, however unaware these "star-crossed lovers" are to that fact. T hus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the couple's tragedy. It is not merely a coincidence that Romeo and Juliet meet in the first place. A serving man comes across Romeo and Benvolio in the first act, unaware that they are Montague?s, and informs them about the Capulet party: "My master is the great rich Capulet, and, if you be not / of the house of Montague?s, I pray come and crush a / cup of wine." (Romeo and Juliet I ii, 86-88) It is by fate that Romeo and Benvolio run into the Capulet serving man and discover the party. It is not just a simple accident that the serving man tells the two cousins about the party at which Romeo is destined, yet unaware, that he will meet his love. Furthermore, before Romeo attends the Cap... ...nowingly help Romeo kill himself, and indirectly kill Juliet in the process. Fate is the controlling force of the events that lead up to, and cause, the deaths of Rome and Juliet. It is no coincidence that Romeo meets the Capulet servant and is invited to the party. Fate brought him to the house of the Capel?s where he was destined to meet his future wife, Juliet. At the risk of being killed, the two lovers married their supposed loathà ©d enemy and consummated the marriage without even the slightest hint of detection from anyone who did not know of the wedding. Unfortunately, their sweet success would be short lived and their lives would be a downward spiral staring with Romeo?s banishment and ending with their deaths. Taking into consideration that Romeo and Juliet are predetermined to meet, love and die together, fate is clearly the dominant force of the play.

Online learning versus traditional classroom learning

DistanceA learningA – is a set ofA technologiesA that provideA pupils withA the basic deliveryA ofA survey stuff, A synergistic communicating betweenA studentsA andA teachersA in larning procedure, A providingA pupils withA the possibilityA of independent workA on development ofA survey stuff, asA good asA in theA acquisition procedure. Now the term distance acquisition has become synonymous with e-learning or on-line acquisition, significance, in fact, non merely larning via the Internet.A Prerequisite for the outgrowth and subsequent development of distance acquisition was the enlargement of the Internet engineerings use in all domains of life and activities, including in education.A Study of Internet engineerings and package for the Internet is an indispensable portion of any high school ( and sometimes school ) plan. Over clip, the Internet has become non merely an object of survey, but besides turned into an environment where you can bask full preparation applicants.A Harmonizing to The Differences Between Online and Traditional Classroom Educations ( 2010 ) , modern computing machine telecommunications are able to supply cognition transportation and entree to a assortment of educational information on a par, and sometimes much more effectual than traditional learning tools.A Experiments have confirmed that the quality and construction of preparation classs, every bit good as the quality of learning in distance instruction is frequently much better than traditional signifiers of education.A New electronic engineerings such as synergistic Cadmiums CD-ROM, electronic bulletin boards, multimedia hypertext, accessible via the Internet, can non merely guarantee the active engagement of pupils in the acquisition procedure, but besides let you to pull off this procedure in contrastA from most traditional acquisition environments.A The integrating of sound, motion, image and text creates a new remarkably rich in its capablenesss larning environment with t he development of which will increase and the grade of pupils ‘ engagement in the acquisition procedure. Synergistic characteristics used in the LMS plans and bringing systems allow the information to set and even excite feedback, duologue, and supply ongoing support, which is impossible in most traditional systems of instruction. Harmonizing to E-learning vs Traditional Classroom Instruction ( 2010 ) , distance acquisition allows work out several jobs built-in in traditional instruction methods.A Its chief advantage is in work outing the job of entree to instruction, which means general handiness of educational resources irrespective of geographic location.A In add-on to the advantages of geographical freedom in taking the topographic point of survey, will work out the job of handiness, distant engineering has many other virtuousnesss. Pedagogical characteristics of this engineering include chiefly independent work pupil at a convenient clip for him.A Thus, self-management preparation agenda makes it attractive for busy people who wish to obtain a 2nd grade, or better their skills.A It should be mentioned that the same advantage is besides a â€Å" trap † for those who believe that by analyzing distantly, you can work on educational stuff on occasion, from clip to clip. Typically, larning is constructed in such a manner: the pupil sporadically receives from the instructor ‘s assignment for the reappraisal of the theoretical stuff, go throughing the concluding trial, based on the theory and besides, possibly, practical tasks.A If the assignments and trials will non be delivered on clip, the following phase lessons will non be sent to student.A Besides that there are a figure of distance acquisition advantages among them: Flexible agenda for pupil, it can even alter the pupil himself, uniting instruction with work and other activities, salvaging clip on the route to the school or university. Typically, pupils are given the chance to pass on with an single instructor or the writer of the curriculum.A Illustrations, diagrams, charts, presentations, online trials to increase the visibleness of information, doing larning fun.A Often the cost of Internet instruction is much lower compared to full-time.A There is besides a alone proposition.A Thus, the Internet University of Computer Science gives everyone a free instruction ( pick of classs is besides rather wide – more than 180 ) .A Many establishments that provide services to distance instruction, after school has issued the relevant document.A Harmonizing to Somer Flaherty ( 2010 ) , distance instruction ( as, possibly, any other ) have its disadvantages: The pick of fortes every bit long as sufficiency is extended – most of them are related to computing machine engineering or commercialism. If you are more receptive to hearing information, distance acquisition, you may happen it deadening and hard. If you can non alter unrecorded communicating with the instructor and other pupils to match via electronic mail, on-line instruction is barely accommodating you. Due to the fact that distance instruction is deriving impulse, it is non ever vie with the traditional. In the distance larning pupil merely uses Internet engineering in all types of preparation activities.A A user to login, acquire entree to larning stuffs ( sometimes after the payment of class ) .A Modern engineerings allow topographic point non merely textual information but besides pictures, picture and audio.A All of this is provided with convenient pilotage system on subdivisions of the course.A There is typically in distance acquisition when pupil receives non merely the layout of educational stuffs, and proving, but besides communicating with the instructor and other students.A Harmonizing to Somer Flaherty ( 2010 ) , distance acquisition can be group or individual.A There is non wholly right position that distance acquisition pupils are non available techniques and learning methods of group larning that, state, the pupils, being off from each other, can non to the full pass on and prosecute in collaborative work.A In fact, modern system to the proposed figure of communicating: the same forums and confab suites have become an built-in portion of the methodology.A Another of import point in the organisation larning procedure is a manner pupil and teacher pass oning each other.A Such interaction is organized synchronously or asynchronously.A The first method provides for communicating of pupils and instructors in existent time.A Basically, this uses the internal confab systems of distance acquisition. Sometimes, the system besides contains tools for picture conferencing.A Asynchronous acquisition is carried out when the pupil and the instructor can non pass on in existent clip, and so up to the organized, chiefly through e-mail correspondence. It should be noted that instructor ‘s audiences ( both synchronal and asynchronous ) – is a requirement of successful distance larning class, and without it larning will non be complete. In my sentiment distance larning system give equal chances to students, pupils, civil and military professionals, the unemployed in all parts of the state and abroad to recognize their human right to instruction and information.A This system can be most adequately and flexibly react to the demands of society and guarantee the execution of the constitutional right to instruction of every citizen.A I am really sympathetic to the fact that in the bosom of distance acquisition is the student.A Considering my experience I can state that most information is remembered by a pupil with self-learning, independently. I strongly believe that distant larning – is the hereafter of instruction system.

Reflection on my experience in the OB team Essay

Organizational behavior is concern with the study of the behavior of the people with in an organizational setting. It helps to understand predict and to control human behavior. In a working environment, we meet people with different ideas and characters. Therefore it is essential to understand how to cooperate with individual personalities to develop team working skills in different environments. Organizational behavior analyzes how people behave as individuals and as members of a group. With regard to the module Organizational Behavior, our module tutor divided our entire class into various groups of five and I found myself entitled with four other tremendously enthusiastic classmates of mine, namely Gayani, Jayan, Tharuka and Maheshi who I was very eager to work with. Our challenge was to imagine ourselves as external consultants and analyze the issues about a large planning consultancy named as Alpha Planning. The requirements were to relate the issues to specific organizational behavioral theories that we have discussed in class and as a group, we had to recommend solutions for the relevant issues as to how they could improve further in order to succeed. This reflective essay analyzes the individual basis theoretical areas covered by the module and integrates with my experience on team working with regard to the group course work. I have chosen to elaborate on the way Motivation interacts with Team Working. Team work is the key to a successful organization or a project. The notion of united we stand and divided we fall applies very well. Today there are many organizations employing hundreds of thousands of people all working together to build and keep the brand of companies. Having a team may be one issue and building cohesion within a team is another. It is not always easy to achieve unity but can be diligently sought through various levels of motivation. Motivation is stimulation or triggering of behavior and directing to achieve certain end goals. Many sociologists and psychologists have studied  motivation and developed certain theories to explain the concept of motivation. F. Herzberg was famous for his two factor theory while Abraham Maslow developed the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Different people are stimulated differently and will need a different trigger for action. In other words, there is no dearth of opportunities to learn on how to motivate a team. Individual differences and perceptions are common in team work as there will be people from all walks of life. Each of them comes from different backgrounds so they will have various characters, personalities, abilities, attitudes, perceptions and experiences. Therefore as a team, it is the responsibility of the team members to make sure that these personalities do not clash, but push other team members to forget about their differences and achieve their goal. The first and foremost question that appeared in my mind when I was asked to participate on a team to complete the course work was that, ‘why should I be a part of a team?’ Immediately the decision-making process began as follows. What is the purpose of the team? Is it a topic that interests me? Who will be on the team with me? What kind of authority will I have? What is the reward for participating? and What is the risk for not participating? These were the typical questions which related to my motivation to participate in the team. There are times when individuals are not given the opportunity to refuse participation on a team. For example, as in this scenario when it is a group course work for the partial fulfillment of a particular module, by default, I was a part of the team. The purpose of this team was the successfully completion of the module course work. The question, ‘who will be on the team with me’ didn’t create much of a concern as I had the opportunity to work with all of my team members a few times earlier. As soon as we were divided into group, we decided to appoint Maheshi as the Group Leader as we felt she was the best person to be in-charge of the team and decided to work under her guidance. We all realized that the reward for participating in the team is the successfully completion of the module course work and risk for not participating is the failure of the module course work. Therefore, I determined to contribute to the course work at my level best and assist my fellow team members in every way I can. Team motivation can rise or fall depending on a myriad of factors. For long-term motivation, there must be a purpose or mission that the team members find aligns with their personal wants and needs. Our purpose was to complete the course work successfully and all of us had one single motive in our mind with regard to the course work. That was to achieve an overall good grade for the Organizational Behavior module. A team member can be asked to participate on a temporary task force. If the mission is clear, he or she might be able to sustain motivation for the duration if he or she feels it is important. However, if it is a topic that is not in line with their needs, their motivation may to continue diminish. This didn’t create much of a concern as all of had the chance to clarify our doubts about our mission from the first group meeting. Throughout my life, I have heard many people say that their most rewarding team experiences resulted from some sort of challenge. When presented with a challenge, our defenses are alerted to move us to action or to run away from danger or address it directly. The challenge itself was the motivator. An additional criterion for a challenge is the level of difficulty. If a challenge is too difficult, perhaps perceived as impossible, then team members may give up before they start. However, the same result may occur if the members perceive the challenge as too easy. Little energy is required to accomplish something so easily obtained. Our course work was indeed a challenge, but it is safer to state that it was achievable as we were provided the theoretical knowledge throughout the whole semester during the module lectures. Yet it wasn’t a bed of roses as we had to do quite a lot of research to apply our theoretical knowledge on a practical working environment. We had to face some difficulties as not only we were informed to identify the organizational issues of the case study, but also to suggest recommendations and methods of implementations. Accordingly for our team, periodic stimulation in the form of a worthy challenge was another factor to maintain the team motivation. In general, people and teams are stimulated by being given responsibility. Having ownership of an identifiable block of work is a long-held principle of motivation in groups. However, responsibility can be tricky. It is important to understand that the responsibility comes along with authority to make the necessary changes. Teams that have both the responsibility and authority tend to maintain motivation over longer periods of time. Responsibility can be demotivating if the consequences of error or failure  are too great. The short-term performance may be good, but long-term motivation will suffer. It is difficult to sustain high performance when energy is being sapped by fear. We initialized the course work by reading the case study as a group. The discussion was informal and friendly and everyone had an idea to contribute and did not hold back thoughts as plenty of suggestions were being thrown. At the end of the discussion we came up with a list of possible issues and each of us were given two Organizational Behavior topics to research on, where we had to focus on finding theories, recommendations and implementations that we could relate to the issues. Therefore according to the task allocation which was conducted by our team leader, the responsibility was divided among the team fairly and each and every one of us was responsible for the total outcome of the course work. Another factor that motivates successful teams is camaraderie, meaning comradeship, fellowship, and loyalty. It’s a lot easier to perform as a team when the team members have a good relationship with each other. The outcome of this kind of relationship building is open and direct communication, frequent praising of each others’ contributions, and mutual support. Much of the time we like or dislike someone, it relates more towards how well we understand them. And since our formal training has not addressed this, most of us enter adulthood ill-equipped to deal with the myriad of personalities, temperaments, cultures, values, beliefs, ideologies, religions, and eccentric behaviors of those we meet. One way to break down these barriers is to expand our understanding on our own species. During the course work, the most important fact which I was able to realize was that the team members in our team as individuals had different talents and capabilities. Some of us were good in understanding the theoretical aspects when the others had a hard time understanding the theory and some of us had a wider knowledge in dealing with practical situations and were able to help others. Therefore we were able to use these various capabilities for different types of tasks. Each of us completed separate parts of the course work and this assisted us a great deal to finish the entire course work before the deadline. During the brainstorming session, I was able to help my team mates who were unable to grasp the organizational theories by explaining the case study thoroughly in much simpler terms. This act led  towards building camaraderie within the team. At the beginning, there were issues with regard to the fact that our team leader tended to take the entire burden and some of the team members weren’t aware of the work that has been done. However, after the submission of the Report Plan we were able to solve that issue by communicating directly with the Team Leader and expressing our ideas to her. Thereafter, there were no conflicts with regard to dissatisfaction in members’ work and there was no depression or tension even at the last minute. Therefore we all were motivated to work as a team and were able to finish the relevant tasks much easily. Personal and team growth can provide another basis for sustained team motivation. When people feel they are moving forward, learning new concepts, adding to their skill base, and stretching their minds, motivation tends to remain high. Personal growth adds value to the individual, enhancing self-esteem and self-worth. Accordingly, team members and team leaders should look for opportunities that help add knowledge and skills. Enrolling in the module, Organizational Behavior has enabled me to understand and analyze the way people interact within the organizations both now and in the future. As a second year student, I will be able to gain the exposure of a real working environment during my placement year. Therefore acquiring some of the career management and higher education skills through team working is essential for my career development. This was indeed a motivational factor for me to engage in this course work and provide my level best contribution to the team. As my team mates had the same motive, it was a motivational factor for the entire team. Being a part of this team made me realize that there are both the visible and invisible benefits of a highly motivated team. Highly motivated team members look forward in completing the tasks successfully, actively and consciously contribute to the team, get more done and have more ideas, focus their energy on the positives rather than the negatives and reinforce the team culture. Creating and sustaining motivation requires open communication, honesty and respect. Essentially, motivation is about bonding with the fellow team mates. If we make an effort to know them, listening to them and valuing them for their particular contributions and potential, they are more likely to work with us in meeting the challenges. In conclusion, I would like to state that in a team, whose members are  aligned with its purpose, feel a challenge in their task, have a strong sense of camaraderie, feel responsibility for the outcome, and experience growth as a team and in their personal lives, will tend to sustain motivation over the long haul. This is not to say that the team will not have difficulties at times, or the members’ needs won’t change over time. In these cases, sometimes changes will have to be made. But, as much as it is possible to sustain motivation indefinitely the factors which I mentioned above will tend to create the best possible environment for it. In fact I would like to state that those factors helped us as a team to be motivated in reaching our goal and as well as to develop our team working skills. The knowledge gained and skills that I have enhanced through successful interaction among team members will undoubtedly be useful in future. It has built up my confidence and ability to voice my concerns and opinions within a group as required. In addition this would enhance my leadership skills in terms of the ability to understand individual experiences and factors influencing motivation which could be effectively made use of in project management.

Why Do We Loe Music Essay

Why Do We Loe Music Essay Why Do We Loe Music Essay Why Do We Love Music? What is music? There’s no end to the parade of philosophers who have wondered about this, but most of us feel confident saying: ‘I know it when I hear it.’ Still, judgments of musicality are notoriously malleable. That new club tune, obnoxious at first, might become toe-tappingly likeable after a few hearings. Put the most music-apathetic individual in a household where someone is rehearsing for a contemporary music recital and they will leave whistling Ligeti. The simple act of repetition can serve as a quasi-magical agent of musicalisation. Instead of asking: ‘What is music?’ we might have an easier time asking: ‘What do we hear as music?’ And a remarkably large part of the answer appears to be: ‘I know it when I hear it again.’ Psychologists have understood that people prefer things they’ve experienced before at least since Robert Zajonc first demonstrated the ‘mere exposure effect’ in the 1960s. It doesn’t matter whether those things are triangles or pictures or melodies; people report liking them more the second or third time around, even when they aren’t aware of any previous exposure. People seem to misattribute their increased perceptual fluency – their improved ability to process the triangle or the picture or the melody – not to the prior experience, but to some quality of the object itself. Instead of thinking: ‘I’ve seen that triangle before, that’s why I know it,’ they seem to think: ‘Gee, I like that triangle. It makes me feel clever.’ This effect extends to musical listening. But evidence has been accumulating that something more than the mere exposure effect governs the special role of repetition in music. To begin with, there’s the sheer amount of it. Cultures all over the world make repetitive music. The ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl at the University of Illinois counts repetitiveness among the few musical universals known to characterise music the world over. Hit songs on American radio often feature a chorus that plays several times, and people listen to these already repetitive songs many times. The musicologist David Huron at Ohio State University estimates that, during more than 90 per cent of the time spent listening to music, people are actually hearing passages that they’ve listened to before. The play counter in iTunes reveals just how frequently we listen to our favourite tracks. And if that’s not enough, tunes that get stuck in our heads seem to loop again and again. In short, repetition is a startlingly prevalent feature of music, real and imagined. In fact, repetition is so powerfully linked with musicality that its application can dramatically transform apparently non-musical materials into song. The psychologist Diana Deutsch, at the University of California, San Diego, discovered a particularly powerful example – the speech-to-song illusion. The illusion begins with an ordinary spoken utterance, the sentence ‘The sounds as they appear to you are not only different from those that are really present, but they sometimes behave so strangely as to seem quite impossible.’ Next, one part of this utterance – just a few words – is looped several times. Finally, the original recording is represented in its entirety, as a spoken utterance. When the listener reaches the phrase that was looped, it seems as if the speaker has broken into song, Disney-style. The transformation is truly bizarre. You’d think that listening to someone speak and listening to someone sing were separate things, distinguished by the objective characteristics of the sound itself. It seems obvious: I hear someone speak when she’s speaking, and sing when she’s singing. But the speech-to-song illusion reveals that the exact same sequence of sounds can seem either like speech or like music, depending only on whether it has been repeated. Repetition can actually shift your perceptual circuitry such that the segment of sound is heard as music: not thought about as similar to music, or contemplated in

Andromeda Was a Legendary Princess in Greek Mythology

Andromeda Was a Legendary Princess in Greek Mythology Today we know of Andromeda as a galaxy, as the Andromeda Nebula, or as the Andromeda constellation located near the Pegasus constellation. There are also movies/TV programs bearing the name of this ancient princess. In the context of ancient history, she is a princess featured in the heroic Greek legends. Who Was Andromeda? Andromeda had the misfortune to be the daughter of the vain Cassiopeia, wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. As a result of Cassiopeias boast that she was as beautiful as the Nereids (sea nymphs), Poseidon (sea god) sent a great sea monster to ravage the coastline. An oracle told the king that the only way to get rid of the sea monster was to surrender his virgin daughter Andromeda to the sea monster; so he did, much as happened in the Roman story of Cupid and Psyche. King Cepheus chained Andromeda to a rock in the sea where the hero saw her. Perseus was still wearing the winged sandals of Hermes that he had used in the task of carefully decapitating Medusa while watching what he was doing only through a mirror. He asked what had happened to Andromeda, then when he heard, he promptly offered to rescue her by killing the sea monster, but on condition that her parents give her to him in marriage. With her safety uppermost in their minds, they instantly agreed. And so Perseus slew the monster, unchained the princess and brought Andromeda back to her many-relieved parents. The Wedding of Andromeda and Perseus Afterward, however, during wedding preparations, the happy celebrating proved premature. Andromedas fiance the one from before her enchaining, Phineus, showed up demanding his bride. Perseus argued that the surrender-to-her-death had invalidated the contract (and if he had really wanted her, why hadnt he slain the monster?). Then since his non-violent technique failed to persuade Phineus to gracefully bow out, Perseus pulled out the head of Medusa to show his rival. Perseus knew better than to watch what he was doing, but his rival didnt, and so, like many others, Phineus was instantly lithified. Perseus would go on to found Mycenae where Andromeda would be queen, but first, she gave birth to their first son Perses, who stayed behind to rule when his grandfather died. (Perses is considered the eponymous father of the Persians.) Perseus and Andromedas children were sons, Perses, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Heleus, Mestor, Electryon, and a daughter, Gorgophone. After her death, Andromeda was placed among the stars as the Andromeda constellation. The monster who was sent to ravage Ethiopia was also turned into a constellation, Cetus. Pronunciation: Ã ¦n.dra.mÉ ª.dÉ™ Examples: Andromeda was the name of a TV series by Gene Roddenberry, starring Kevin Sorbo, the actor who played Hercules in the TV series. This is interesting because Andromeda was Hercules great grandmother.

Strategy and Operations Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategy and Operations Assignment - Essay Example Additionally, the CEO is required to communicate on behalf the company to the employees, shareholders, government, as well as the public. The duty of the Board of Directors is much related apart from the role of hiring the CEO. Essentially, the boards of directors are responsible for hiring directors of a company. In addition, it is the role of the directors to assess the strategies and the overall direction of the organization. The bankruptcy of Enron is most associated with the failures CEO and board of directors’. It is the responsibility of the CEO to ensure that all expenditures within an organization are within the endorsed yearly budget. Additionally, it is the duty of the CEO to protect the interest of its shareholders by ensuring that the price of the company’s share does not reduce in value. Lay-Skilling Fastow leadership failed to protect the interest of the shareholders as the stock of share drastically reduced as well as EPS (Earning per Share). A decrease in the value of shares means that few investors will be interested in investing in the company and hence the company will struggle to raise adequate capital for its operation (Johnson, 2003, p. 45). Organization culture is human behavior within an organization and the ability of individuals to attach to those behaviors. Organizational cultures signify the beliefs, principles, as well as corrective values of the members the organization. Various cultures can be represented in an organization including values, norms, visions, systems, symptoms, assumptions, symbols, habits among others. Organizational culture is critical to the success of organizations. Enron organizational cultures were based on communication, integrity, as well as excellence. The organization ensured that client, vendors among other individuals or organizations are reverently treated without any form of arrogance and callousness. Enron also if integrity is enforced in every business transacting that is within

Rational and irrational decision is best for the organization Research Paper

Rational and irrational decision is best for the organization - Research Paper Example This because, formulation of rules and policies requires that the relationship between the organization and its stake holders, as well as its relationship with the outside world is well defined. This being the case, it becomes vital for the process of formulating such rules to apply the rational decision making model, where the issue at hand is clearly defined, the possible problem areas identified, alternatives weighed and a final decision reached (Niu & Zhang, 2009). Additionally, such a situation warrants rational decision making, since the policies and rules formulated form the basis of the organization’s operations. This is yet another situation that calls for managers to apply rational decision. The process of resolving a dispute highly determines the welfare of the parties involved. Thus, reaching a decision that is not well evaluated and reasoned-out can be detrimental to the parties involved (Ariely, 2010). Therefore, it is essential that all the necessary procedures are followed while making such decisions, to ensure that the dispute is resolved amicably, without jeopardizing the interest or welfare of any of the parties involved. Thus, dispute resolution is an aspect of management where rational decision is not an option (Niu & Zhang, 2009). In a situation where a manager is faced by circumstances that dictates that he/she has to act in a certain way only, then irrational decision becomes the best for the organization (Ariely, 2010). For example, during a fire breakout within the organizations premises, the manager has no option but to let the employees free for their safety. This is because; the manager does not have an alternative of retaining the workers within the premises as he/she contemplates on the next move (Knights & Willmott, 2007). Another situation is when the business has to continue running, yet the