II. Read, translate the text and retell it.

Placing a kettle full of cold water on the fire is quite an ordinary thing. This time we shall do it to carry out a simple experiment. Placing a finger into the kettle from time to time, we find, of course, that the water is gradually becoming hotter and hotter, until it boils at last. In scientific language we describe this phenomenon by saying that the temperature of the water is rising.

However, we need some more exact means of measuring the difference of temperature than the use of our finger. In effect, the finger can give us neither exact information, nor numerical data.

As a matter of fact, the very first step in the development of heat engineering made it necessary to find a device for indicating temperature and for measuring its changes. As it is well known, the thermometer is the very instrument that serves this purpose.

As early as 1602, Galileo invented an air thermometer. It consisted of
a glass bulb containing air and connected to a glass tube, the latter being immersed into a coloured liquid. Galileo's air thermometer was sensitive not only to temperature changes but also to changes of atmospheric pressure.

The type of thermometer familiar to everyone at present was first put into general use as early as 1654. Making the first measuring instruments was not an easy thing at all. Needless to say, the most difficult problem of all was that of marking the degrees on the thermometer, in other words, of graduating the scale. It was decided, at last, to take two fixed points and to divide the interval between them into the same number of degrees. And then, in 1701, Isaak Newton, the famous English scientist, whose name is known all over the world, constructed a scale in which the freezing point of water was taken as zero and the temperature of the human body as 12°.

Some time later the German physicist Fahrenheit proved that the temperature of boiling water was always the same at the same atmospheric pressure. It might therefore be used as a second fixed point instead of the temperature of the human body. As for the liquid used, it was mercury which has been mostly employed since that time.

On the Fahrenheit scale the boiling point of water is taken as 212° and the freezing point as 32°, the interval being divided into 180 equal parts. The scale under consideration is indicated by writing the letter F after the temperature, as for example, 212 °F. This scale is mainly used in English-speaking countries.

So far we have not mentioned the Centigrade scale. On the Centigrade scale the freezing point of water is marked 0° and the boiling point is marked 100 °C, the letter С indicating this scale. This temperature scale is employed in Russia as well as in most other countries of the world.

Speaking of thermometers, one must make reference to the pyrometer. We know of its being used for measuring temperatures that are too high for mercury thermometers. We also know of its finding wide application in industry.

Unit 8. Lomonosov

I. Read the text, translate it using the dictionary in the appendix.

Lomonosov

The great Russian scientist, outstanding poet and enlightener, Lomonosov, was born in the village of Denisovka (now Lomonosovo), far off in the North, on November 19, 1711. He was very young when he easily mastered reading and writing. The boy longed for knowledge, he longed to master science. That longing was so great that at the age of 19 he left his father's home and started on foot for Moscow in spite of the long distance and the cold winter.

He experienced great want and countless hardships during his student years both in Moscow and later on in Germany where he had been sent to complete his education. Studying at the academy, he got only 3 copecks a day, that scholarship being his only means of living.

He mastered natural sciences as well as history, philosophy and engineering. In addition to the Russian language, he had a good knowledge of foreign languages, namely German, French, Greek and, last but not least, Latin which was the international language of science at that time. At the age of 35 Lomonosov was already an experienced professor and an academician.

It is quite impossible to name a scientific problem he did not turn his attention to. Nevertheless, theory alone left him dissatisfied. He knew by experience that it was useless and unreliable if it did not find practical application and could not, therefore, serve the good of his people and his country. He always tried to find practical application for the phenomena studied.

Lomonosov possessed an unusual capacity for work. His scientific activity lasted but 25 years but in these 25 years he carried out an extraordinary amount of useful, educational work in various fields of scientific and cultural life. He carried on scientific research in natural sciences and made numerous reports on the results of his achievements. He lectured to students and translated the works of various foreign scientists into Russian for he wanted to educate "our own Newtons". For this very purpose he founded Moscow University and wrote his odes as well as numerous books on the Russian language and literature, on physics and so on.

For many years the great scientist carried on systematic laboratory-experimental work both in physics and chemistry for, according to him, without observation and experiment there could be no progress in science. In this connection, one might ask: "Do you know that Lomonosov organized the first chemical laboratory in our country?" One more question: "Who built the first glass-making factory in Russia?" It was Lomonosov, of course!

As a materialist, Lomonosov studied physical properties of bodies on the basis of the molecular and atomic theory. He developed the kinetic theory of gases, the molecular kinetic theory of heat and first discovered the law of conservation of matter and momentum. He also found that light, heat and electricity are different forms of motion. As a result, many of his discoveries became invaluable contribution to world science.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1379