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GIANTS OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION 9

Dr. SIMO JELAČA

ADOLF von BAYER (1835-1917), German chemist

Bayer was a professor of chemistry at the University of Munich. In 1863, he discovered barbituric acid, which was used as a drug during hypnosis. Medicines based on barbituric acid are collectively called barbiturates. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1905.

ROBERT KOH (1843-1910), German physician

Robert Koch was the first in the world to develop a technique for isolating and testing bacteria. His system became the basis of the modern science of bacteriology. He isolated and identified the bacterium that causes anthrax (Anthrax). He also discovered the organism that causes cholera. In 1905, he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in the discovery and treatment of tuberculosis.

WILHELM KONRAD RONTGEN (1845-1923), German physicist

The discovery of X-rays made William Roentgen famous, although Nikola Tesla discovered them before him. As usual, Tesla did not attach much importance to the given discovery and was in no hurry to patent it. He took pictures of his own hand and ankle, left them in a drawer, and even communicated his findings to other scientists, including Roentgen. When Roentgen announced the discovery of X-rays on November 8, 1895, Tesla himself congratulated him on the same. This made William Roentgen the first winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901. Furthermore, Mihajlo Pupin, experimenting with X-rays, discovered Secondary X-rays in February 1896, which significantly shortened the time of X-ray imaging in medicine (from about an hour to just a few seconds), which established the widest application in medicine. Thus, two prominent Serbian scientists proved themselves in the discovery and application of X-rays, without either of them profiting or gaining special world recognition.

Roentgen himself, not yet knowing enough about the harmful effects of X-rays, was exposed to them, as were his colleagues. It took time to determine the harmful effects of X-ray radiation, which was achieved by Antoine-Henri Becqереl (1852-1908).

THOMAS ALVA EDISON (1847-1931), American inventor

Thomas Edison left school at the age of twelve due to hearing loss. He devoted himself to experimentation, trying to find a solution to every problem. He officially registered 1,093 patents by the time he was 83 years old. He first constructed the phonograph (voice recording device) in 1877. His first significant invention was the electric light bulb in 1879 (see Inventions of Joseph Swan 1828-1914 forward). Edison founded the General Electric company in 1882, and in 1883 a joint company with Jozef Swan Edison & Swan United Electric Lighting Company. Then comes the discovery of the cinematograph and the kinetoscope, for showing moving images, in 1894, then the carbon transmitter, which is used in telephones, as well as the dictaphone, mimeograph, electronic voting machine and others.

Because he got rich, and he was very hardworking, he forced all his engineers and scientists to work day and night. He used the ideas of all his collaborators for his inventions. He had a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey from 1876. Edison is considered the father of direct current, which lost its primacy in competition with Tesla's alternating currents.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (1847-1922), American inventor

After his birth Scott immigrated to Canada in 1870, and already in 1871 he got a job in Boston. He gave lectures for the deaf and dumb, using visual signals. He thought about the possibility of converting sound waves from the mouth into signals using an electric current. There were no problems with further signal transmission. So already in 1876, he constructed the first Bell telephone. With this, he made a significant profit and founded the company AT&T, within which he also built a laboratory for his further experiments. Bell's telephone was improved by incorporating Edison's carbon conductors (it is suspected that this Edison invention was also Bell's work). Bell also worked on sonar, the phonograph, and other sound-transmitting devices. At the same time, he continued to work with the deaf and dumb, improving teaching methods for them and started working with the blind. He is one of the founders of the international scientific journal Science.

IVAN PAVLOV (1848-1936), Russian scientist

Ivan Pavlov, the son of a priest, became interested in science, especially medicine, from an early age. As the director of the experimental institute in St. Petersburg studied the digestive system, the secretion of saliva and the role of enzymes in digestion, as well as the role of the nervous system. His discoveries became the basis for the study of human psychological disorders, and for his scientific achievements he received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1904.

ANTOINE-HENRI BECKEREL (1852-1908), French physicist

After Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895, the Frenchman Becquerel continued their studies and already in 1896 determined their radioactivity, thus opening a new field of study for many researchers. Becquerel's family included all researchers, his grandfather and father, and even his son. He was elected president of the Polytechnic School in Paris, and in 1899 a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

Becquerel hypothesized that X-rays could glow fluorescently. It was therefore expected that they could react to the photographic plate. A uranium experimenter discovered that when uranium is exposed to sunlight, the material actually leaves traces on a photographic plate. He further noticed that uranium radiates even in the dark, thus establishing that it is not X-rays but a new phenomenon. These radiations, after Becquerel, were defined by Marie Curie (1867-1934). So Becquerel, Marie and Pierre Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for achievements in the field of radioactivity. The International System of Measurement established a unit for measuring radioactivity called the Becquerel, in recognition of Becquerel for his scientific contributions.

EMIL von BEHRING (1854-1917), German bacteriologist

Emil Behring graduated in medicine in 1878. Working at the Institute of Hygiene in Berlin, he proved that it was possible to infect an animal with acquired immunity against tetanus with the serum of another animal already infected with the given disease, without it dying. Bering called this procedure Antitoxic Immunity and began to apply it in cases of diphtheria. For his achievements in these fields, he received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1901, and during the First World War, his vaccine against tetanus, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross medal, saved many lives.

GEORGE EASTMAN (1854-1932), American inventor

George Eastman made the first roll film for cameras in 1884, and the first Kodak camera in 1888, when the development of amateur photography officially began. He developed the motion picture industry while working for Thomas Edison. In 1892 he founded the Eastman Kodak company, and in 1900 he produced the first Brownie camera. In 1924, Eastman gave $75 million to charity, for the development of education.

PAUL ERHLICH (1854-1915), German bacteriologist

After Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur discovered vaccines against smallpox and rabies, the German Ehrlich created a vaccine against tuberculosis and syphilis. In 1892, he established that mothers transfer antibodies to milk during breastfeeding. He hypothesized the use of arsenic to kill bacteria, even though arsenic itself is fatal to human health. He created a compound based on arsenic, which he used to destroy the organisms that cause syphilis. For his achievements, he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1908, which he shared with Elie Mechnikoff.

IVAN VLADIMIROVICH - MICHURIN (1855-1935), Russian botanist

After finishing school, Michurin worked as a worker on the Ural Railway and devoted his whole life to horticulture. He inherited that love from his father, and even further from his great-grandfathers and grandfathers. With his salary, he bought a plot of land, on which he built his own orchard and carried out practical experiments in it. His first experiments were related to the acclimatization of foreign fruits, then to increase the yield and finally to the creation of new varieties by hybridization. He personally carried out tens of thousands of experiments, because of which he had to enlarge his orchard, without opening classic nurseries. He never received a single kopeck of help from the state for all his efforts, which he did not ask for. He had no one to help him in performing so many experiments, so he worked alone for 59 years.

Due to his achievements, he became known all over the world, and based on his research, numerous institutions were later created and numerous world experts were founded. Michurin personally created 45 varieties of apples, 20 varieties of pears, 19 varieties of cherries, 8 varieties of grapes, 2 varieties of almonds and many others, a total of 153 varieties of fruit.

To be continued ... 

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