Kids Research Express

Fallopio, Gabriello (1523?-1562), also known as Gabriello Fallopio and Gabriel Fallopius, Italian anatomist, physician, botanist, and surgeon. Born in Modena, Fallopio studied medicine at the University of Ferrara, and after receiving his degree he worked and studied at various European medical schools. Fallopio became professor of anatomy at Ferrara in 1548 and professor of surgery and anatomy at the University of Pisa about a year later. In 1551 Cosimo I dè Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, called him to a similar post at Pisa to succeed Andreas Vesalius , the Belgian anatomist. There he also held the chair of botany and materia medica and was superintendent of the botanical gardens. Fallopio's work dealt primarily with cranial anatomy , and he added considerably to the knowledge of the ear. He was the first to use the ear speculum instrument to diagnose diseases of the ear and the first to show the connection between the mastoid, a part of the skull that houses the ear, and the mid

Vesalius, Andreas (1514-1564), Belgian anatomist and physician, whose dissections of the human body and description of his findings helped to correct misconceptions prevailing since ancient times and to lay the foundations of the modern science of anatomy . Vesalius was born in Brussels. The son of a celebrated apothecary, he attended the University of Leuven and later the University of Paris, where he studied from 1533 to 1536. At the University of Paris he studied medicine and showed a special interest in anatomy. Through further study at the University of Padua in 1537, Vesalius obtained his medical degree and an appointment as a lecturer on surgery. During his continuing research, Vesalius showed that the anatomical teachings from antiquity of the Greco-Roman physician Galen , then revered in medical schools, were based on dissections of animals, even though they were intended to provide a guide to the structure of the human body. Vesalius went on to write an elaborate anatomi

Galen (129-199?), the most outstanding physician of antiquity after Hippocrates. His anatomical studies on animals and observations of how the human body functions dominated medical theory and practice for 1400 years. Galen was born of Greek parents in Pergamum, Asia Minor, which was then part of the Roman Empire. A shrine to the healing god Asclepius was located in Pergamum, and there young Galen observed how the medical techniques of the time were used to treat the ill or wounded. He received his formal medical training in nearby Smyrna and then traveled widely, gaining more medical knowledge. About 161 he settled in Rome, where he became renowned for his skill as a physician, his animal dissections, and his public lectures. Galen dissected many animals, particularly goats, pigs, and monkeys, to demonstrate how different muscles are controlled at different levels of the spinal cord. He noted the functions of the kidney and bladder and identified seven pairs of cranial nerves. He also

Ultrasonics, branch of physics dealing with high-frequency sound waves, usually in the range above 20,000 hertz (Hz), that is, above the audible range. It is to be distinguished from supersonics (see Aerodynamics), which deals with phenomena arising when the velocity of a solid body exceeds the speed of sound. Modern ultrasonic generators can produce frequencies up to more than several gigahertz (1 GHz = 1 billion Hz) by transforming alternating electric currents into mechanical oscillations. Detecting and measuring ultrasonic waves are accomplished mainly through the use of a piezoelectric receiver or by optical means (see Crystal ), because ultrasonic waves are rendered visible by the diffraction of light. The science of ultrasonics has many applications in various fields of physics, chemistry, technology, and medicine. Ultrasonic waves have long been used for detection and communication devices called sonar, of great importance in present-day navigation, and especially in submarine

Aerodynamics, branch of fluid mechanics that deals with the motion of air and other gaseous fluids, and with the forces acting on bodies in motion relative to such fluids. The motion of an airplane through the air, the wind forces exerted on a structure, and the operation of a windmill are all examples of aerodynamic action such as airplanes. One of the fundamental forces studied in aerodynamics is lift, or the force that keeps an airplane in the air. Airplanes fly because they push air down. The leading edge of an airplane wing is slightly higher than the trailing edge when the plane is maintaining altitude. As the wing moves through the air, it deflects the air that flows underneath it downward. Air flowing over the top of the wing follows the surface of the wing and is also deflected downward. The third law of motion formulated by English physicist Sir Isaac Newton states that every action causes an equal and opposite reaction (see Newton’s Third Law of Motion ). As the wing pushes

Fluid Mechanics, physical science dealing with the action of fluids at rest or in motion, and with applications and devices in engineering using fluids. Fluid mechanics is basic to such diverse fields as aeronautics, chemical, civil, and mechanical engineering meteorology, naval architecture, and oceanography.. Fluid mechanics can be subdivided into two major areas, fluid statics, which deals with fluids at rest, and fluid dynamics, concerned with fluids in motion. The term hydrodynamics is applied to the flow of liquids or to low-velocity gas flows where the gas can be considered as being essentially incompressible. Aerodynamics is concerned with the theory of flight, and compressible fluid flow or gas dynamics with the behavior of gases under flow conditions, where velocity and pressure changes are sufficiently large to require inclusion of the compressibility effects. Applications of fluid mechanics involve all kinds of flow machinery, including jet propulsion, hydraulics, turbine,

Newton’s third law of motion states that an object experiences a f orce because it is interacting with some other object. The force that object 1 exerts on object 2 must be of the same magnitude but in the opposite direction as the force that object 2 exerts on object 1. If, for example, a large adult gently shoves away a child on a skating rink, in addition to the force the adult imparts on the child, the child imparts an equal but oppositely directed force on the adult. Because the mass of the adult is larger, however, the acceleration of the adult will be smaller. Newton’s third law also requires the conservation of momentum, or the product of mass and velocity. For an isolated system, with no external forces acting on it, the momentum must remain constant. In the example of the adult and child on the skating rink, their initial velocities are zero, and thus the initial momentum of the system is zero. During the interaction, internal forces are at work between adult and child, bu