The History of Mechanical Clocks

During most of the Middle Ages, from roughly 500 to 1500 A.D., technological advancement was at a virtual standstill in Europe. Sundial styles evolved, but they didnt move far from ancient Egyptian principles.   Simple Sundials   Simple sundials placed above doorways were used to identify midday and four tides of the sunlit day in the Middle Ages. Several types of pocket sundials were being used by the 10th century -- one  English model identified tides and even compensated for seasonal changes of the suns altitude.   Mechanical Clocks In the early to mid-14th century, large mechanical clocks began to appear in the towers of several Italian cities. There is no record of any working models preceding these public clocks that were weight-driven and regulated by verge-and-foliot escapements. Verge-and-foliot mechanisms reigned for more than 300 years with variations in the shape of the foliot, but all had the same basic problem: The period of oscillation depended heavily on the amount of driving force and the amount of friction in the drive so the rate was difficult to regulate. Spring-Powered Clocks   Another advancement was an invention by Peter Henlein, a German locksmith from Nuremberg, sometime between 1500 and 1510. Henlein created  spring-powered clocks.  Replacing the heavy drive weights resulted in smaller and more portable clocks and watches. Henlein nicknamed his clocks Nuremberg Eggs. Although they slowed down as the mainspring unwound, they were popular among wealthy individuals because of their size and because they could be placed on a shelf or table instead of hung from a wall. They were the first portable timepieces, but they only had hour hands. Minute hands didn’t appear until 1670, and clocks had no glass protection during this time. Glass placed over the face of a watch didn’t come about until the 17th century. Still, Henleins advances in design were precursors to truly accurate timekeeping.   Accurate Mechanical Clocks   Christian Huygens, a Dutch scientist, made the first pendulum clock in 1656. It was regulated by a mechanism with a natural period of oscillation. Although Galileo Galilei  is  sometimes credited with inventing the pendulum and he studied its motion as early as 1582, his design for a clock was not built before his death. Huygens pendulum clock had an error of less than one minute a day, the first time such accuracy had been achieved. His later refinements reduced his clocks errors to less than 10 seconds a day.   Huygens developed the balance wheel and spring assembly sometime around 1675  and it’s still found in some of todays wristwatches. This improvement allowed 17th-century watches to keep time to 10 minutes a day. William Clement began building clocks with the new anchor or recoil escapement in London in 1671. This was a substantial improvement over the verge because it interfered less with the motion of the pendulum.   In 1721, George Graham improved the pendulum clocks accuracy to one  second a day by compensating for changes in the pendulums length due to temperature variations. John Harrison, a carpenter and self-taught clockmaker, refined Grahams temperature compensation techniques and added new methods of reducing friction. By 1761, he had built a marine chronometer with the spring and a balance wheel escapement that had won the British governments 1714 prize offered for a means of determining longitude to within one-half  a degree. It kept time aboard a rolling ship to about one-fifth of a second a day, nearly as well as a pendulum clock could do on land, and 10 times better than required.   Over the next century, refinements led to Siegmund Rieflers clock with a nearly free pendulum in 1889. It attained an accuracy of a hundredth of a second a day and became the standard in many astronomical observatories. A true free-pendulum principle was introduced by R. J. Rudd around 1898, stimulating the development of several free-pendulum clocks. One of the most famous, the W. H. Shortt clock, was demonstrated in 1921. The Shortt clock almost immediately replaced Rieflers clock as a supreme timekeeper in many observatories. This clock consisted of two pendulums, one a slave and the other a master. The slave pendulum gave the master pendulum the gentle pushes it needed to maintain its motion, and it also drove the clocks hands. This allowed the master pendulum to remain free from mechanical tasks that would disturb its regularity. Quartz Clocks   Quartz crystal clocks replaced the Shortt clock as the standard in the 1930s and 1940s, improving timekeeping performance far beyond that of pendulum and balance-wheel escapements.   Quartz clock operation is based on the piezoelectric property of quartz crystals. When an electric field is applied to the crystal, it changes its shape. It generates an electric field when squeezed or bent. When placed in a suitable electronic circuit, this interaction between mechanical stress and electric field causes the crystal to vibrate and generate a constant frequency electric signal that can be used to operate an electronic clock display.Quartz crystal clocks were better because they had no gears or escapements to disturb their regular frequency. Even so, they relied on a mechanical vibration whose frequency depended critically on the crystals size and shape. No two crystals can be precisely alike  with exactly the same frequency.  Quartz clocks continue to dominate the market in numbers because their performance is excellent and they are inexpensive. But the timekeeping performance of quartz clocks has been substantially surpassed by atomic clocks.   Information and illustrations provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Marketing Plan - Phase Iii - 1843 Words

Marketing Plan Ââ€" Phase III Introduction Wal-Mart s third phase of its marketing plan to market and sell furniture in the new Wal-Mart furniture stores will describe the attributes of its product and services in greater detail than in the first two phases presented by Team B. Furthermore, the third phase will describe the pace at which Wal-Mart s newly proposed product line will move through the product life cycle as well as the factors that will likely impact its movement. Team B will be laying out the product life cycle and the impact it has on the marketing of the product. This paper will identify the positioning and differentiation strategies for Wal-Mart furniture stores. Additionally, the paper will identify the appropriate†¦show more content†¦Realization of profits on products in the introduction stage is highly unlikely. Products at this stage have to be carefully monitored to ensure they start to grow in the market and generate sales (Tutor2U [TU], n.d., 1). Team B believes the Wal-Mart name will help in troduce Wal-Mart furniture stores into the market. The growth stage of Wal-Mart Furniture is characterized by rapid growth in sales and profits. Profits arise due to an increase in output (economies of scale) and possibly better prices. Because this product will be introduced into the market at the competitive Wal-Mart prices, Team B believes that Wal-Mart furniture can capture a significant portion of the market. The main purpose of this stage is to persuade customers to buy the product and retain the customers throughout the product life cycle. The growth stage is typically when competition develops. Competition can erode the company s market share. Marketing efforts in the growth stage tend to focus on product differentiation and expanded distribution (Kerin, Berkowitz, Hartley Rudelius, 2006). As the industry slows down and sales decline, the product enters the maturity stage. 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The Insider Essay Free Essays

The Insider Ethics in the Capital Society Jeong Pyo Son 09/17/2012 Business Ethics Johns Hopkins University The Insider: Essay The Insider is a great example of the whistle blowing problem and way for us to discuss right – versus – right ethics. I would like to analyze the essay focusing on the two main characters and how they made their decisions when they are standing at their turning points. The main two characters are Jeffrey Wigand who is the whistle blower of Brown Williamson Corporation, and Rowell Bergman, who is a TV producer of the show 60 Minutes, who sets up an interview with Wigand, in the film. We will write a custom essay sample on The Insider Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the movie, I think both characters are facing defining moments. For Jeffrey, one right is consistent with his role as an honorable scientist who knows the misconduct his company is involved with; and the other is in his role as an executive member in his company who is obliged to keep confidentiality. His actions could impact a large number of stakeholders. Blowing the whistle could have a serious impact on the company’s brand image. It would also affect competing companies since the problem involves the entire tobacco industry. Bergman is also frustrated because he is supposed to disclose the interview to the public as a producer but at the same time he is opposed by CBS, for the interview poses a high potential financial risk for the company. If CBS airs the film it could be liable for â€Å"tortuous interference† and be sued by Brown and Williamson. Eventually Wigand and Bergman both decide to become whistle blowers. So what factors would have made them make these decisions? The most difficult factor for Jeffrey making his decision is probably choosing between his personal/professional rights and duties. Personally he has a family to sustain. He has a mortgage to pay-off and has a sick daughter who needs expensive medical treatments. It was affordable for him to solve these problems while he was still working for Brown Williamson. He knows that by choosing to side with the press, revealing the dirty truth about his firm, his family’s safety would be put at stake. This is one of the major reasons why whistle blowing is particularly difficult for him. If he were alone, he would just have to worry about himself, but in this case he has to take responsible of his family. According to Sissela Bok(1980), although one is expected to show more loyalty to one’s country and for the public rather than other individuals or organizations, people are still afraid of losing their careers and the capability to support households. Emotionally, people want to dissent over wrongdoings, but they cannot do it rationally. It was as difficult for Bergman as Wigand to make his decision, but he only had his career at risk. His personal and professional values are centered on being an honest, straight forward journalist. These values conflict with his duties as an employee working for CBS, which might face a huge law suit if it airs the interview with Wigand that he has arranged. His whistle blowing was easier because he valued his career and his virtuous character more highly than his responsibilities to CBS, and he saw his character being destroyed in front of him by his company. People hold different values and reason about them in different ways. How did Wigand and Bergman think in philosophical terms we have learned in class? From a Utilitarian perspective, Wigand basically made the right choice. In the Utilitarian way of thinking, he needed to make decisions that could maximize the satisfaction, or happiness, or benefits for the largest number of stakeholders. (Hartman DesJardins, 2011). In that case, his actions could be regarded as a success since he let the public know the truth and the benefit to the public would be greater than that to the company if he were not to disclose the inside information. It is the same for Bergman in making his decision. Insisting on airing the interview might cause trouble for CBS, and certainly would damage the reputation of Brown and Williamson and the tobacco industry but along with Wigand he chose to reveal the truth to the world. Does the deontological way of thinking apply to Wigand’s decision? Deontology is a matter of principle. Legally thinking, Wigand broke the law for not keeping the confidentiality of his company. Even if the information he held was lethal to the public, a law is still a law and it is a principle promised in the society. It is mentioned n the textbook that the Deontological way of thinking creates duties for the person to follow. (Hartman DesJardins, 2011) But Wigand not only has a duty as an executive who is banned from opening his mouth; he also has a duty as a father and as a scientist. His role in his family as a father is to maintain a secure household. Facing the company would leave his family in danger. Also his duty and principle as a scientist collides w ith his role as an employee in his company. It was one of the reasons he got fired from his company too. In this Deontological way of thinking, Bergman did not really have to have inner conflicts as Wigand because he did not break any important ethical principles. Although, he would have felt guilty for leaking information to another press, he still maintained his principle as a journalist to publish the facts out in the public. Also he did not have major damages for his family too. His wife is working in the same industry and would have understood him for his decisions. So did Wigand value his personal integrity more than his family and loyalty to his company? Can we say he is a good person and made the right decision? According to Kidder(1995), kind people make tough decisions too. Although their values are clearly defined, it is difficult for people to find the right thing to do. There is a good example introduced in the article of Kidder. A manager is taking charge of a broadcasting filming scene taken at his company parking lot. After the film shooting was over, the film director tried to credit the manager for helping them borrow the location. The manager now is facing a decision making situation whether he should receive credits on behalf of the company or not. Kidder(1995) said, â€Å"For him, it was hardly that simple because of his core values of honesty, integrity, and fairness, and his desire to avoid even the appearance of evil. All in all, he felt that there was some right on both sides, which it was right for him to be compensated. †This explains that even when someone has a strong self integrated value; it is still tough for him or her to make ethical decisions. This also applies to Wigand and Bergman. Joseph Bardaracco(1997) made a term â€Å"Defining Moments† to illustrate the choice of right-versus-right problem. There are 3 characteristics of Defining Moments which are Reveal, Test, and Shape. Bardaracco(1997) said, â€Å"Right-versus-right decision can reveal a manager’s basic values and, in some cases, those of an organization. At the same time, the decision tests the strength of the commitments that a person or an organization has made. Finally, the decision casts a shadow forward and shapes the character of the person or the organization. † So how did Wigand and Bergman decide their defining moments for the decision? Wigand was a person of honesty; however he was forced to keep the secret from his company. His family wanted to keep the secret and live safely. But after he and his family got threatened by Brown and Williamson, he decides to step out to the public. He thought Bergman and the press were on his side, so he got his courage to take action. This was Wigand’s defining moment and after it was finished, he needed some time to shape himself because his whole family had left him. After the defining moment passed, Wigand became a truthful and honest scientist as he wished to be from the beginning. In case of Bergman, we could say that he already shaped his character relating this issue since the beginning of the movie. He was a professional journalist with integrated value of honesty. Unlike Wigand, he did not have much inner conflicts about making his decision. He argued with the CBS board members and revealed the interview to other presses and he was not as serious as Wigand making his decision. His priority was airing the interview and he had to make it happen as an honest journalist. In conclusion, I was very interested to discuss about this subject with this movie because I was grown in a family associated with the press. Both of my parents are journalists and I have seen them discuss about this subject once in a while. I thought that I should ask them when their defining moments were next time I meet them. It also made me think when my defining moments were and how they shaped my character. As Pinker(2008) questioned in his article about the Universal Morality, everyone’s moral value is different after our stirrings of morality emerge early in childhood. We all make decisions in our own life with our principle and value that has been shaped by defining moments. It is time for me to think what my true values are in my life. References Badaracco, J. (1997) Defining moments, when managers must choose between right and right. (pp. 5-24). Harvard Business Press. Bok, S. (1980). Whistleblowing and professional responsibility. In Donaldson, T. , Werhane, P. H. (2008). Ethical issues in business, a philosophical approach. (8 ed. , p. 128,131). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Hartman, L. P. , DesJardins, J. (2011). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. (2 ed. , pp. 109-110). New York, NY: McGraw-Hll. Kidder, R. (1995). How good people make tough choices. (1st ed. , pp. 24-25). New York, NY: Fireside. Kidder, R. (1995). How good people make tough choices. (1st ed. , pp. 26). New York, NY: Fireside. Pinker, S. (2008, 01 13). The moral instinct. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com How to cite The Insider Essay, Essay examples

Rural and Agriculture Based Industries †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Rural and Agriculture Based Industries. Answer: Introduction The dairy industry in Australia is one of the biggest employers of the rural and agriculture based industries. The dairy industry in Australia constitutes almost $1.3 billion export, farm, and manufacturing industry (Research and Markets: Analyzing the Australian Dairy Industry, 2015). The dairy industry is a significant contributor to Australias economy and ranks fourth among the agricultural exports from the country. Australia accounts for approximately 2% of the milk production in the world but on the global level is the fourth largest exporter of dairy and dairy products (Dairy Australia, n.d.). The Australian dairy industry has been facing some tough challenges in the last few years and the fluctuations in the international and domestic market have augmented the crisis being faced by the industry (Research and Markets: Analyzing the Australian Dairy Industry, 2015). Some of the challenges are: The average lifespan of a cow is 20 to 25 years but the dairy cows in Australia have a much shorter life span which is just 6 to 7 years. This is because the cows that are being used in the Milk production are being continuously subjected to impregnation, and forcefully induced calving to have a regular supply of milk production. This has a negative impact on the complete lifecycle of the dairy cows negatively impacting the whole industry (Villanueva, 2016). Livestock and dairy farming accounts for almost 70% of the available agricultural and pastoral land and accounts for 3% of the total greenhouse emissions in Australia. This has a significant impact on the environmental and climatic conditions in Australia (Villanueva, 2016). The seasonal nature of Australian farming, the lack of expertise in grazing and herd management, and the changing weather and climatic conditions have all had a negative impact on the Australian Dairy sector which has resulted in a lack of capital investment in the dairy sector (Dairy Industry Overview, 2016). Further, the increasing age of the dairy farmers is making way for the natural exit of many of the dairy producers in the coming few years which would negatively impact the milk supply (Theme 5 - Market growth - Australian Dairy Farmers, 2014). The constraints on milk supply, in turn, affect the whole supply chain process and result in lower investments in technology and scale of operations in dairy manufacturing. As a consequence of this factor the Australian dairy supply chain loses out on cost-competitiveness to the other global competitors (Growing the NSW Dairy Industry, 2014). On the global level, the dairy industry has been facing an increasing competition from the European countries, USA, and New Zealand. This has resulted in reducing international rates for milk and milk products which have affected the dairy industry (Worthington, 2017). The trade war which resulted from the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine has lead to trade bans being imposed by Russia on all the Western imports. This prevented the western dairy and dairy related products from entering Russia and this directly impacted the dairy farming in Australia. The European countries with their surplus supply of milk and milk products turned to the Asian and the other markets where Australia was a major supplier (Villanueva, 2016). Growth Opportunities and Potential for Australian dairy Industry Rising income levels lead to increase in the per capita expenditure on food and also on the dietary composition of people. The rising urban lifestyle, especially in the developing countries and increasing disposable incomes, have led to diverse diets and increase in the consumption of protein rich foods like meat, dairy, and eggs, leading to an increase in the demand for dairy and dairy products all over the world. This presents a unique opportunity to Australias dairy industry to grow and expand their export operations across the world (Growing the NSW Dairy Industry, 2014). Many of the developing countries do not have sufficient domestic production to meet their growing dietary requirements of milk and milk related products due to the lack of infrastructure, natural resources, and inhospitable climate. So, these nations are dependent on the imports from other countries to meet their growing demand providing a growth opportunity for Australian dairy industry (Theme 5 - Market growth - Australian Dairy Farmers, 2014). Australia has been maintaining a competitive advantage over its rivals by targeting the high-value segments and gradually moving away from the increasingly competitive volume market globally. Asian economies like the Philippines which recorded an approximately 31% growth in international milk imports to the country in 2014 and Indonesian market which has over twenty million children under the age of four, present tremendous opportunities for growth for the Australian dairy industry (Bennet, 2015). China already accounts for almost nineteen percent of the export of dairy and dairy related products from Australia. With the Chinese government lifting the ban on one child policy, the dairy market in China is expected to grow even further. In todays market scenario the total milk import requirement of China far exceeds the total milk production in Australia. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement provides a huge opportunity for growth to the Australian dairy industry as it gives Australia a chance to capitalise on the increasing demand from the Chinese market (Bennet, 2015). Conclusion There have been investments from the multinational companies and the government in developing the dairy industry in Australia with a commitment to address the ethical and environmental concerns along with addressing the infrastructure development issues (Dairy Australia, n.d.). The growth in the international dairy demand is stemming from the very competitive Asian markets and the other developing economies. To meet this demand in a more profitable manner and maintain a competitive advantage over rivals is a challenge which Australian dairy industry has to meet with its developmental policies and strategies (Research and Markets: Analyzing the Australian Dairy Industry, 2015). References: Bennet, M. (2015, November 4). Can Australia meet Asia's growing dairy demand? Retrieved from: https://bluenotes.anz.com/posts/2015/11/can-australia-meet-asias-growing-dairy-demand Dairy Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/ Dairy Industry Overview. (2016, June). Retrieved from: https://www.kollinscapital.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/DairyIndustryOverview-WEB-SINGLE.pdf Growing the NSW Dairy Industry. (2014, September). Retrieved from: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/526688/Growing-the-dairy-industry.pdf Research and Markets: Analyzing the Australian Dairy Industry. (2015, January 27). Retrieved from: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150127005850/en/Research-Markets-Analyzing-Australian-Dairy-Industry-2015 Theme 5 - Market growth - Australian Dairy Farmers. (2014, March 13). Retrieved from: https://www.australiandairyfarmers.com.au/PDF/Theme-Market-Growth.pdf Villanueva, G. N. (2016, May 24). There are a lot more problems with the dairy industry than the price of milk. Retrieved from: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/there-are-a-lot-more-problems-with-the-dairy-industry-than-the-price-of-milk-2016-5 Worthington, B. (2017, January 29). Understanding the dairy industry and why it soured to the point of crisis. Retrieved from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-01-27/understanding-the-dairy-crisis/8184510